Mike got married.. so I took pictures. It was good seeing all my friends that lived out near Chicago again, and I got to quick drop by my parents place, which is always good. So congratulations, Mike and Tami. Go have sex.
So I mentioned a little while ago that the RAM that got sent for my entertainment machine was faulty. I ran a few tests on it, and it failed spectacularly on each one… so yeah.. bad RAM. I went to the website, tried filling out the “I need to return this POS you sent me” form, but it was broken, so I composed and email to them… then through a series of pages found another link to a return request form, and I filled that one out, and it went through, and after sending the thing in, the resulting page said this:
Dear Customer:
Thank you for contacting us regarding your RMA issue.
We will get back to you as soon as possible. If you didn’t heard any answer from us within 24–48 business hours.
Um… what? Okay, they’ll be getting back to me as soon as possible.. and if I haven’t heard from them withing 2 days….. Then what!? Also, “didn’t heard” ?! Whatever… I’m just looking to be done with these people.
24 hours pass….
24 more hours pass…
I sent another email, explaining that I had filled out the form in order to return the faulty RAM, and had run tests proving that the RAM was bad, and hadn’t received anything in 2 days, and wanted them to respond as soon as possible.
The next day, I got an email saying they had received my email (the latest one, I’m assuming) and that they were going to personally going to pass it along to the RMA department, and I should be receiving a phone call from them the next morning [Friday].. and if I didn’t get a call, I should call them [and of course no phone number was given.]
To no one’s surprise, Friday came and went without a phone call… I was off in Chicago, if you’ll recall, so yeah.. So finally, on Monday, with still no calls and no emails, I gave them a call. Here’s a snippet of that conversation:
Me: Hi, This is Ron Veenstra. I sent in a return request, and filled out the RMA form, and eventually got an email saying I was supposed to talk to you about getting an RMA number (The RMA number was all I needed. I slap that on package, along with the order number and address, and I can send it off and get the RAM replaced).
Ass-Clown: Okay. [long pause] Did you fill out the RMA form?
Me: Yeah, I filled out the form… and I didn’t hear anything from you in 2 days, so I sent an email, and I got a response from that a day later, saying you guys were going to call me… but I never got that call.
Ass-Clown: [long pause] What was the email address for that?
Me: Um… [thinking: wouldn't indexing it by order number make more sense? Whatever...]
* I give him my email address
Ass-Clown: [long pause] Um… [another long pause] Yeah, we never received that email.
Me: What email didn’t you receive?
Ass-Clown: The email from that address
Me: I sent 4 from that address, and you replied to one of them. You must have gotten at least one of them, then, right?
Ass-Clown: [Long Pause] Okay… I’m going to put you on hold.
Me: [WTF?]
Eventually he returned, and asked for my order number, and issued me a RMA number, and I was all set to return the thing, which I did today. If they
.. if they do any of those things, I will kill all the humans
I’ve been keeping myself busy lately.. (Busy –> Each day is filled with enough activities to keep me occupied for a week or so.) Anyway, as a result, I haven’t written in a while. I used to write later on in the evenings. (i did a few mysql queries, and of the 208 or so entries I’ve made to date, 70 were posted between midnight and 5 a.m. 189 were between 10:00 and 5 am., and 31 were posted after 2:00 am [and before 5].. so yeah, quite a few are written at night.) Anyway, yeah, I’d write in the evenings when everyone else had gone to sleep, and I had nothing to do but watch my stored TV shows and movies, and bitch about the world. It’s now become difficult to find a time when there’s not something better to do, as there’s no longer really a time when everyone else is a sleep. Besides the whole “not getting to write often” thing, I’m fairly pleased with the situation. Anywho… I’ve got some time now, so I’ma write a bit.
I’ll start out with what I’ve been up to, as that’s typically what I end up writing about anyway. Here’s hoping I find something more interesting to talk about as I go along…
The last time I wrote, I was talking about my media machine, and the inbred space nazis that sold me faulty RAM. Well, since I bought the stuff online, I went back to their site, and they said I had to fill out some form to get a return authorization number or something.. so I tried that.. only the form page was broken… So I composed them an email… then tried the form again, and it was working, so I filled it out and submitted that… The form thinger said they’d contact me within 48 hours… they did not. So I emailed them again, telling them the whole deal, and requesting they be swift with their reply, and time was a factor. I got an email back form them a day later, saying they would be calling me the following day. They did not call. So I will be calling them, and I will not be polite. I’ve stolen the RAM from my other machine, and am slowly installing stuff as I see fit, and have time. I’ve got it playing music quite well, and that’s the key thing for right now. Soon I’ll want it playing TV shows and DVDs as well… but all in good time.
I’ve already slightly altered my budget. Now that $100 is for [just about] everything: groceries, food, evenings out, etc. The only exceptions now are : dates and preplanned purchases. Money not spent during a week is split in half.. Half goes back into savings, and half is added to the $100 for the following week. The only exception to that is this: Say that there’s something I want that is released next week. It costs $50. I can put down $25 right now, say it’s for that purchase, and then next week that $25 [which technically I did not spend during the week] is not chopped in half, as it was “spent” in my head already. Thus purchasing something pricey, (like $100+ pricey) will require some planning ahead… which is a good thing.
I managed to spend the remainder of my Best Buy gift cards (from Christmas)… I finally found Futurama Season 3 [one of the greatest shows ever, I've decided], along with the Critic, which I’ve always liked, and Chappelle’s Show season 1 (which is a house favorite). I’ve been trying to find the DVD version of Unreal Tournament 2004 as well, but no one seems to have it.. at least not the 1 store I repeatedly check. If anyone happens to see it, gimme a call, and I’ll give you $ for it. Thanks.
I’ve been having a hard time remembering what it is I’ve been doing each day, as each one has started blending into the other, but a quick recap is worth a shot [standard disclaimer that much of it is a blur, and if you notice something that is wrong, lemme know, so I can fix it... I've also given up on complete sentences]:
Work, (I slept in, then had to drive in by myself, and got lost, cause I’m retarded). After work, Joel came over, we went out for some food (Damons.. I had a giant steak and it was wonderful). I would assume we played some sort of game like Mario Party or watched something afterwords.
I worked from home. had Lunch with Vroom out at Buffalo Wild Wings. Headed out to Tuuk and Mark’s for some Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles, then the Pickwick. I think Rachel and I watched Cinderella after that.
Work…Rachel and I watched the Emperor’s New Groove and the Aristocats.
Worked from home. Skipped lunch. um… then a blur..
Work, Then Josh and Ann came over, and the 3 of us headed to Damons for dinner (I had another giant steak, and it was wonderful.) We headed home, and met up with Robb, and played some cards and Mario Party for a while. After that, they took off, and I headed to Rachel’s to watch Memento with Rachel and Heather.
Lan Party 7. Then Max and Ermas with Joel, Tuuk,Jplant, BDF, Mark VA, Caroline, and myself. After that, Rachel and Heather came over and we (Rachel, Heather, Mandace, and I) played Cranium til late.
My parents were in town, so I got to hang out with the whole family at Jeff, Rebecca, and Steven’s place. After church, I headed off with Rachel on a little road trip and got to see the aftermath of a pretty wretched looking accident. A Jeep Grand Cherokee looked to have rolled a bit, and was pretty well burned. The backup on that side of the highway stretched on for miles and miles, and they eventually shut down that side of the highway. So the return trip involved some back-road adventures, but it would appear Rachel is far better with directions than I am, as she was able to bypass the entire backup without getting us lost. I was impressed. After that, we had dinner at Bennigens, then I helped her study for a psych test.
Work, then counting money for church, then I headed over to Rachel’s to help finish up studying for the psych exam.
Work from home, Lunch with Vroom. Rearranged my room, then Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles, then Pickwick, then Mulligans [Green Beer] then Tuuk and Mark’s …then [eventually] home. I enjoyed the green beer.
Work, then over to Sven and Julie’s w/ Mindy for pizza and euchre [i love euchre], then over to Rachel’s to watch to watch Moulin Rouge and Big Trouble.
Work from home, Skipped lunch, then headed out to GR to pick up Mandace, who was having some car trouble. Returned home, and Gwen came over for a while while I worked. Kristin called, and she and I headed out for dinner at Max and Ermas, and she got to meet Rachel. After that, Kristin took off, and I eventually headed over to Rachel’s place to watch part of Cruel Intentions and then Babe.
After work, Sven and I headed out to Chicago for Mike’s bachelor party. We went to Dave and Buster’s , a bar/arcade type place that Steve and I realized we had been to a few years back when we lived at 711 Ethel, and had headed out to Chi-Town with the roommates to visit Timbus. Anyway, we all had big meals, drank beer, and played video games, which is just plain fun. I am still a big fan of the multiplayer Daytona 500… you just drive all nice and normal, and when someone goes to pass, you ride them right into the wall, and they flip… It’s gorgeous. After many games and many beers, we left that place, and after an adventure, we ended up in Indiana, at the Trump “Riverboat” casino. Apparently, it counts as a boat if it’s kinda near water, or something. Anyway, we stood around and watched some friends make money (nicely done, Josh) and others repeatedly make and then lose money (just let it ride on black.) Sven and I finally got home around 6:30 am. We were exhausted.
I got a number of phone calls from about 9 through 11… I doubt I was coherent to anyone that called. Anyway, Rachel and I went out for lunch (Max and Ermas) Joe was our server.. and he hooked us up with some snazzy deals (like where food doesn’t cost money). After that, I returned home, and since is was a perfect day outside, I went back to sleep. I woke up around 8:30, and quick got myself ready, and headed out to downtown GR to meet up with Lindsay Veldhof, and her brother David, sister Erin, and some of her friends, including Rebecca. Rebecca was Lindsay’s roommate a while back, and that’s how I met her. She’s the one who introduced me to Guster, in fact. Anyway, Rebecca moved back home to the east coast [NJ] and was just in town to visit, so seeing her again was kewl. We met up at 48 West, which was a fairly nice place. I had my fair share of drinks while hanging out there for a few hours, talking with Rebecca, Lindsay, Erin, David, and Erin’s roommate Jen. Good stuff. As I was walking back to my car with Erin and her roommate, we passed the Black Rose, and I peeked in to see Jonathan’s band, Craic Wisely playing. I thought that was pretty kewl. Eventually I headed home, watched a Futurama, then slept.
I headed off to the Veldhof’s for lunch, and got to hang out with Rebecca and Jen who were both there as well. After heading home, I fell asleep.. and continued to sleep pretty much all day. I woke up to see Arrested Development, Home Movies, and Chappelle’s Show, and now I’m wide awake at 4 am. That was some poor planning on my part.
A series of improperly entered URL’s eventually led me to this picture:
Thanks to Joel, we got to watch the movie/documentary Trekkies. It’s a documentary about star trek fans, obviously, and it’s one of those things where, as a trek fan myself, I wasn’t every really sure if I should be laughing, be horribly embarrassed, or what.. Now, granted, they picked the weirdest of the weird, and the most socially awkward people they could find to follow around. Some of them were just kinda.. well.. weird.. Like the dentist family that decked out the entire dentist office with Star Trek stuff. I can pass that off as being a marketing decision…. Nevermind the wearing the uniforms outside of the workplace (*coughfreakcough*)… It’s frightening when these are the people are the ones that seem relatively normal.. it’s all a matter of comparison. My favorite was the geeky kid who was trying so hard to come across as a serious trek fan / visionary / not complete social reject-nerd-teenager freak kid. Sadly, he failed. You mix his frightening obsession (which I’m completely willing to ignore.. teenagers have a lot of free time, and a tendency to go overboard on things) with trek, and add that to his repeated misuse/mispronunciation of “big words” like debacle and plethora, and then top it all off with his general jackassiness when it came to the new uniforms that were made for him (I believe for his part in the home made Star Trek movie he helped write, and was doing the special effects for). This is the kid that makes every other Trek fan look bad to non-Trek fans. I’m not sure whether to laugh at him, or just kick his ass. There were other people there that, quite frankly, have some sort of disorder(s?) that really require treatment. Maybe sometimes telling someone that it’s not okay to pretend you’re a captain on a spaceship when you’re a freaky 40+ year old working at printing ship is a good thing. And no, I will not call you commander.
I guess I draw the line between okay and not okay with whether or not you’re willing to laugh at yourself about it. Some of these fans recognize it for what it is. They’re fans, but they realize there’s a real life out there too, and the width of the stripe on the cuff of your “First Contact” uniform isn’t really a life or death issue. Just push up the bridge of your glasses and let out a nasally laugh and call it good. Just don’t dress up like a woman and start singing… the experience as a whole: disturbing
I should sleep..
The parts for my media machine arrived last week Wenesday…. all except the RAM, which still has not arrived. Anyway, I documented the building process, cause I’m a huge nerd. So far, it looks sexy, but I need the RAM, so I can install linux on it, and start whipping up some nice user interface stuff, and get things working.
[Update: The RAM arrived today! And it doesn't work! Even though I paid extra $ to have it tested before it was sent. I am not pleased at all. So if you see me on your block with two glocks screaming "F#^< the world" like Tupac...]
Okay, you missed me.. Admit it, you really did. Never mind the fact that the majority of you people that read this see me on a weekly [if not daily] basis. You missed the clever witticisms and intelligent observations that have made this site such a treat to read for the last year and a half. Not so much? You’re just avoiding work at this point, aren’t you? Well, whatever.. like you’re so freaking interesting.
So here’s some interesting things for you. I was sleeping the other day (I’m as surprised as you are), and I had a dream where sideburns went behind your ears… Yeah, I know.. messed up, right? Anyway, it meant that people’s ears were kinda pushed forward on their heads.. not quite on their cheeks, but pretty close. and then sideburns.. then a freaky looking gap, then normal hair… I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean.. but I’ve got sideburns now, and I’m told they make me look good. Compliment me the next time you see me. I’d appreciate that.
So I ordered all the parts for my entertainment machine, and they should be arriving next week some time. I’ve built machines before, but I’ve always ordered the motherboard and the processor from the same place, and so they’d come preassembled, with the thermal compound and heat-sync already [correctly] attached to the processor, so I’m not too worried about it bursting into flames as soon as I power the thing up. Well this time I was pretty picky about parts, and a bit choosy about prices, and I ended up buying parts from all over. Motherboard and DVD-Rom from one place, the case from somewhere else. CPU, heat-sync, and fans from another place [along with a wireless keyboard and mouse]. Power supply and RAM from yet another place. So I’ve got 5 boxes coming my way… and there exists the slim possibility that I’ll dick it up and the thing will explode on me. I’m not all that worried… In fact, I’m pretty excited. I did something the last time I wired up a motherboard to a case, and now the light turns on whenever I turn the machine off, and it turns off when I power it on. I want to not do that this time.
So, when I went to church with Rachel a few weeks back, and we listened to her father preach, he mentioned how people give things up for lent, and Rachel wrote to me (In jest) that I should give up girls for lent.(I had, the previous evening, regaled her tales of my not so stellar history with the ladies.).. Well, after a bit of thought, I decided that that was kinda a good idea… so that’s what I did / am doing. Not giving up on girls completely, as, let’s face it, that more or less defines me as a person…. When people ask “Hey, do you know Ron?” they say “Oh yeah.. he’s that guy that chases after women, right?” “Yeah that’s the one.” Anyway, what all does that entail? I’m not certain. I’m no longer making decisions based solely on the hope of it somehow bettering my chances with a female… which is a pretty big deal for a guy that has frequently passed on social outings based on the slim hope that someone might magically show up for one reason or another. Turns out, that’s a lousy way to live… You end up alone by the fireplace watching the same damn movie over and over again trying to figure out what it was that you did that made her not show up. Anyway, I’m not doing that anymore. Also, you’ll recall I spend far too much time thinking about things that I can’t change, have no control over, and don’t understand.. I can’t say I’ve stopped doing that.. but now when I catch myself thinking about such things (it’s always woman related), I just say “whew.. good thing I don’t have to think about this for another month or so” and then stop… for a while. the cycle continues over and over again, but at least I never get to the part where I start getting pissed, self-deprecating, or depressed. See, progress! (Avoidance is always the answer!) Anyway, so far, it’s been quite nice.. cause if I were my normal self, I’d be going hella insane by now. Instead, I’m just kinda enjoying life, and not thinking too much about it… and it seems to be working out quite well for me thus far.
[this too shall pass]
Here’s a little sleep math for you:
6 hours + 3 hours + 2 hours + 3 hours + 0 Hours + 11 Hours + 10 Hours ? 5 Hours + 5 Hours + 5 Hours + 5 Hours + 5 Hours + 5 Hours + 5 Hours.
I know.. it’s strange, but true.
I’ve finally started a budget. I know, it only took, what, a year and 3 months to make that resolution come true. Well.. shut up. Anyway, I think this one has a shot at working for a while. The idea is this: I give myself $100 cash each week… and that money is supposed to cover all my food, and any entertainment expenses that may come up through the week (movies, beer, game/movie purchases, outings, etc.). The exceptions are :
So anyway, that’s my new budget. So far, so good. I cooked a number of meals at home last week (including a slightly sketchy spaghetti that ended up not killing me [thanks, Serita :)] So here’s hoping I save tons of money, eat better, and eventually get my solid gold house and rocket car.
In the off chance you didn’t know, Unreal Tournament 2004 is excellent.
So, I’m building an entertaiment machine. The machine is being designed to do the following:
So I’ve been looking for parts, off and on, and the biggest problem I had was finding a case that I liked, but I think I finally have. So now I’m hoping you guys can help me out with the other parts… I have a few ideas (I think I’m all set with the video capture dealie, and the hard drive), but if you guys have any suggestions, I’d very much like to hear them. Anyway, here’s what I’ve got so far:
Cooler Master ATC-620 Desktop Micro ATX PC Chasis (ATC-620C-BX1)
400 – 450 Watt ATX Power Supply
MicroATX 333FSB, DDR333, AGP8X, USB2.0, LAN, (Good) Audio, Socket A [Athlon XP] (Chaintech 7VIF4 ?)
Athlon XP > 2200+ Socket A
512MB 333MHZ PC2700 DDR
ATI RADEON 9200se 128MB DDR AGP 8X
Maxtor 250 GB 7200 RPM 8 MB Cache
WinTV-PVR-usb2
WinXP or Redhat Fedora
Black wireless keyboard
Black wireless optical mouse.
Microsoft Sidewinders
Oh yeah, here’s what the case looks like: (Admit it, it’s sexy)
