First off work sucked.. Basically same song as yesterday, different verse today. Luckily we found the cause of the problem, and I figured out how we can solve it, but I don’t have the information to do it and once again I’m relying on another team to help me.
Also I got my pictures from the disposable back… Basically this was the biggest disappointment of the day. NONE of them really turned out. They basically looked like this:
And this…
Ooooo the colors changed… But yeah, you really couldn’t see anything. I guess the heads of the people in the commonwealth of Virginia look nice, but that’s just about it… Oh well… It was a nice experiment while it lasted.
I did have a few nice pictures, like one of my friend Meghan who went to the concert with me:
Thanks again for going with me Meghan! It was a blast!
So yeah, next time I’ll have to smuggle in the digital, which is what I should have done in the first place. Now I’m just hoping that the guy that was next to me that night emails me his pictures.
I’m sorry if I’m in a complaining mood tonight, but there are two things that really are annoying me that I’d like to rant about a bit…
First off, I walk out of work today and check my cell phone to find 4 voice mails. 3 of them were love from some friends, but the last one was from some people from church. They called me because they left me a message trying to follow up on a message some guy left for me yesterday, and that they got a new computer in but they don’t know how to connect it up to the network over there and they’d like to transfer their email files over to the new computer, but they don’t know where the files are, but now they’re stuck and they really need me to come over and get things set up for them….
There are so many things wrong with that, I just had to laugh right there… First off, I’M NOT THEIR COMPUTER REPAIRMAN! The last time I checked my work badge it didn’t say the name of my church. That being said, I don’t mind helping my friends out where I can, but my #1 PET PEEVE is when people ONLY call me because their’s something wrong with their computer. I think it’s important to be a good steward with your gifts and give them affectionately. God’s blessed me with the ability to understand technology and I’m happy to do what I can, but that doesn’t mean that I need to be on your beck and call and am somehow accountable for your computers not working.
Secondly, the reason I haven’t returned calls is not because I’m frustrated, but because I’M WORKING DURING THE DAY! I’m up to my neck here being busy at work, and quite frankly I can’t take off in the middle of the afternoon and skip out of work, drive across town to take a look at something that is not really job related at all.
Thirdly, I’m frustrated that people equate all computer problems on the same level.. I don’t fix computers at work, I’m a web developer. I write programs. I have a strong technical background and have an MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) credential (which is actually outdated now ), but I am not a networking guru. I’m not an expert in OS problems.. And there’s a big difference with helping people with my expertise and being leaned on like a crutch… It’d be one thing if they asked me to help them in redesigning their web site or with a web application.. That’d be right up my ally and enjoyable. But when people call me wanting me to figure out their networking problems…. It’s like asking a gourmet chef to work the fry machine over at McDonald’s – *I guess* it’s related in the "food field", but in the end you’re not the right person for the job and no one is really happy.
I’m sorry about the big rant – and please don’t think that I’m mad at THE church, or hate volunteering or helping our friends or anything like that, but this is just a built up frustration with MY church and the complainant attitude that they’ve developed towards volunteers. There seems to be such a lack of appreciation and value of Volunteers there that they’re really burning people out – and I’m finding myself included in that number. They wouldn’t be in this situation if they ran off the original guy that set up their machines and networking…
Okay so that’s rant #1, but there is one more thing that bothered me a bit tonight….
(So if you didn’t think I wasn’t nerdy enough) I subscribe to PC Magazine to keep up on some of the technology issues., and I bought and issue of PC World to read on the plane for the DC trip… Both had reviews on headphones this last month. Then on the way home on the trip I found that my stock headphones on my iPod are starting to split and exposing wire, so I’m like. "Hmmmm might be a good idea to check this out and see what I can do to replace them. Oh how convenient, they’re reviewing headphones, maybe I’ll find one in there."
Except virtually EVERY ONE they reviewed was at least $80, and their editor’s choice was $250+!! Now how practical is that? It frustrates me to see how out of touch some of these "consumer guides" are. I would be comfortable spending $25-35 on ear buds, maybe if I was persuaded to I could drop ~$40 on a really nice pair, but $80?!? Let alone $250?!? I’m not going to buy headphones that cost just as much as my iPod did.
In reality, who can afford to pay that much for head phones? If I was a sound engineer working in a recording studio, or a VERY frequent traveler that was always on a plane and needed noise cancellation, I could maybe see that, but for EAR BUDS?!?
And let me remind you how I got in this situation in the first place – the ear buds I got with my iPod are now 7 months old, trashed and exposing wire… What do you expect from things are either in your backpack or ear canal??? It’s just frustrating to think how out of touch people in these magazines are with their consumers. What do you think the demographic for PC Magazine is? – PC enthusiasts & IT folks that probably make $50-90k per year.. Now $90k is a lot, but still could you drop $250 for EAR BUDS, especially with a family to provide for? COME ON, get practical! Thanks for nothing!
Sorry for the rants tonight…