November 2011 – Moby Files: Blog

Woof

In case you’ve been living under a rock, encased in a food coma from Thanksgiving, or just happened to miss it, I got a new doggie last week!

Meet little Cooper (aka Roman). I ask you, how could you not love that face? He is 16 months old and a rescue. His name was originally Norman but that was so boring (for a dog). We decided to try a few names out and find one that fit. Roman was my first choice and Apple guy came up with Rio or Cooper. Well, the doggie seems to be responding to Cooper so looks like we’ll be going with that. I’m not sure if it’s the phonetics or strong consonant sounds but he does seem to like it.

I was vocally apprehensive about getting another dog. Apple guy had expressed an interest in getting another one a few times. I was slowly coming around. Frankly, I think he also got tired of me bursting into tears every time I saw a bulldog on the street. He put in the application to rescue Cooper and as luck would have it, we got him. At the time he did it, I was still a bit undecided over the idea. That being said, it got stuck in my craw like a piece of gravel. As they days went by it became all I could think of. I kept asking every other day if he’d heard anything. Finally, impatience got the best of me and I emailed the rescue site. To my delight, they replied back the same evening with the news he was still available and we just needed to pick a time to come see him.

We drove up to Folsom, CA to meet him and it was truly love at first sight. He came bouncing into the room so full of energy and excitement my heart just melted. Up until that moment, I was still apprehensive about getting a new dog. Even months later, I still can’t talk about Spike for more than few minutes without tearing up and getting profoundly sad. I still miss him very much and not a day goes by that I don’t think of him in some fashion. He was only in my life for a short time but had such a profound effect on me. Surprisingly, I don’t feel guilty like I thought I would. Even with the new pup, I still remember and miss Spike. He is not forgotten nor replaced in my heart. I’m happy to know I can love a new doggie w/o forgetting him.

So little Cooper was an owner-surrender. We didn’t get a whole lot of details on why the previous owner gave him up. They did mention he came to them a little malnourished. He was also shedding a tad more hair than he should be. Otherwise, he was in good condition. He is adapting quickly to his new home and already seems happy. He is a little ball of energy to say the least! I mean it, he bounces around like a ping-pong ball. lol I think he has some separation-anxiety from being left alone a lot. He constantly follows us around. It could just be that he hasn’t any stability in his life or a little of both. Either way, we’ve been giving him lots of lovin’ and attention.

Apple guy jokes that he is the bad parent because he is often more strict with him than I am. I’ll admit I don’t like being harsh with him but I do put my foot down when the need warrants it. He might learn slower my way but I still think he’ll learn. Both of us have been making sure to reward good behavior and admonish bad behavior. He’s only had 1 potty accident so far. This weekend I’m going out bedding shopping, one for the living room and one for the bedroom. That way he can choose where he likes to sleep. While we have been letting him lay on the couch, I won’t let him in the bed. He still sheds quite a bit. I’ll deal with doggie hair anywhere except the bed. Plus, he needs his own little spot to call his own.

So there you have it. For all my rants, I’m happy to have him. He will have a happy life and most definitely be loved.

Big Load

You were so thinking something dirty weren’t you? lol

Am I the only one that has become desensitized to FB and twitter? It just seems to be so much random info that I have begun tuning it all out. FB drives me absolutely nuts. The new layout is horrific and not at all user friendly. Not to mention, they sprung new ‘groups’ on my friend lists which annoyed the holy hell out of me. And on top of that, I got a lovely message from FB last week telling me they are phasing out RSS feed support. That means no more posts from my blog showing up on FB. I can still manually cross post them of course but that defeats the purpose. I’m not sure who is in charge at FB but from my perspective they are putting nail after nail in their own coffin. I’ve completely stopped adding new people on FB unless it’s someone I actually know. And it’s fine that they are phasing out support. I can share once from Google+ and bounce it out to twitter and FB at the same time so take that bitches.

I think I spend more of my time on Google+ these days primarily because the streams are more about data vs crap. People share funny, cutesy stuff galore but I’m also finding tons of news links as well. And the sharing just seems more intuitive to me. I’m also being careful on how many folks I follow or circle. I’m trying really hard to avoid info overload again. Its actually been quite nice logging on and only having to sift thru 10-20 updates compared to 100’s.

As an early-adopter I’m not at all dismayed by the current small amount of updates. This will change once Google starts releasing more API’s for developers to integrate with Google. Its a double-edged sword but it really does seem as if Google is moving into Plus being centric to the entire Google experience. The changes across their many services already indicate a gradual shift to total integration, which I love! Even better, managing, using, and updating is so much easier and nicer than FB. twitter still gets props for being the easiest site to update but its a one-trick pony and Google has a whole stable.

Heavy Roller

Well, my listing today on Amazon and I have ten, yes count them, 10 whole subscribers! lolol I didn’t really expect anything major mind you. 🙂

I also discovered changing the RSS feed being pushed to Amazon is very VERY easy. I was a tad worried how I could mantain control over certain types of content that isn’t necessarily for public consumption. *snicker* You very long time readers know what I mean.

I also have a lot of random drivel that I don’t share. One of the ways I keep myself blogging is I try to log on at least once a day (or so) to post my meanderings, basically “dear diary” sort of stuff. While completely boring and mundane, it keeps me talking not only to myself but to you. I didn’t want all that cluttering up everyone’s stream.

Annnnyway…. I just tweak the feed link on my dashboard for Amazon and hit publish. I can custom string basically any category that I want. *whew* So far it has handled pretty much everything I’ve thrown at it. I added categories, hid categories, etc and it worked. Most excellent.

I’m also trying to expand my list of blogs I read again. It’s been so long since I’ve followed anyone new, I really need to start blog hopping again. I really miss having personal blogs to follow and keep up with. I’m down to about 10 and that’s fewere than my first month all those years ago.

On a side note, I’ve been checking my site analytics and after filtering out FB, Google, and twitter, Large Tony is still the number one referal to my blog. And ironically enough, brettcajun was a distant second. I guess I should pop over and thank them for having such loyal blog jumpers. hehehe And speaking of Brett, he is ever the attention whore of the blog world. 🙂 It seems he and Jimbo are having a war to see who can flame the other the most.

References[+]

References
↑1	or not
↑2	jumping from blogroll to blogroll exploring friends of friends of friends, so to speak

Riddance

I’ve finally rid myself of BofA (Bank of America) this week. What started as a loving relationship almost 20 years ago has blossomed into a gaping hell of constant annoyances, hidden fees, and gross incompetence. I’ve been threatening to leave for years but the hassle of changing everything to a new bank was a significant hindrance. One major annoyance with BofA, besides the overly-high ATM fees, has been not getting my monthly statements. Somehow they kept trying to email an old old OLD email account from way back when I lived in Texas and had a different account number. No matter how many times I changed it online, called had them change it, they kept trying to email the old invalid email address. I somehow got all my bill-pay reminders by email but getting a monthly statement was beyond them. Well that is up until recently. Suddenly, I’m not even getting my reminders on-time. Some would come thru and others wouldn’t. Every time I logged in online I’d get a big glaring message about problems with my account. After incurring several late fees from various outside accounts, the Occupy protests, and the sudden move to charge customers a monthly fee to actually use our money, I’d had enough. ^[1]They’ve retracted the plan to charge customers but I fully expect it to pop up somewhere else.

I know with recent changes in the law, courtesy of Prez Obama, they are loosing a very lucrative service aka exorbitant fees. That being said, they’ve always known this was an unregulated area and its their own fault for getting greedy and ruining it. They had plenty of time to self-regulate and failed to do so. Anyway, I guess they counted on the usual customer indifference to fee hikes and passed on a new fee structure to the customer. They got a massive wake up call and have helped ignite a very vocal and visible contingent of the American people. ^[2]I personally think the occupy protests aren’t helping but I support their right to do so. Instead of camping out in a homemade slum for days/weeks at a time, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and move my money to a local credit union. I’ve had an account with them for years and they’ve also had both my motorcycle loans. On top of that, the credit union reimburses me for ATM fees instead of charging me for access to my money. I know, what a novel idea, right? lol

I should have made the switch years ago but, as mentioned, the hassle was daunting. Its amazing how much crap gets linked to your bank account over time. Zipcar, Fastrak, Muni, insurance, Paypal, etc are just a few. It took me almost 2 months to track everything down and get it all switched over to my CU account. I was smart and kept a list of everything this time so I have it, just in case. lol

So now, I am officially Bofa-free. And to my delight, my credit union online service is almost as robust and fast as BofA. There are a few minor differences but nothing overtly problematic. The only real hassle is making a cash deposits. While I can use a variety of ATMs around town for depositing checks, (including one 2 blocks from my apt) depositing cash has to be done at an affiliated CU ATM. I don’t deposit cash often as I use direct deposit so again its not the end of the world. I’m already enjoying my new credit union account and am loving the ATM-fee reimbursements as well. I’d encourage anyone reading this to bite the bullet and make the switch. Tell the greedy giant corps they can’t abuse you as a customer anymore.

References[+]

References
↑1	They’ve retracted the plan to charge customers but I fully expect it to pop up somewhere else.
↑2	I personally think the occupy protests aren’t helping but I support their right to do so.

Sign Here

*This applies to everyone reading, not just locals*

Integrity and honesty seems to be going out the window more and more every day. I’ve had more than one episode w/paid signature gatherers lying about the petitions they are asking people to sign. I’ve also seen stories all over the national media regarding similar instances. The last episode occurred before our most recent local elections here in SF last week. I was on a lunch break from work and ran by Safeway to grab some grub. A man was soliciting signatures for a local proposition that deals w/City employees and retirement benefits. I’m nowhere near retirement age yet but I still pay attention to such things as frankly, I already give 38% of my salary in various taxes. . Right off the bat, the guy is lying in his spiel to gain interest from people walking by. I feigned ignorance and asked him to explain it to me. He proceeds to flat out lie even more on the several key points of the proposition. I waited for him to finish and then laid into him very loudly. I basically told him in none too polite terms he should be ashamed of himself for lying in an attempt to pass a proposition. He gets sarcastic and replies, “look! I’m paid to be here gathering signatures and that’s what I’m doing.” Really? You’re paid to lie? I was so furious I had to walk away as I honestly felt the need to pummel his face repeatedly. I encourage everyone to read documents before you sign. You would think its a no-brainer but often times we are lulled into a sense of trust based on very believable progaganda. The reality is you could very well be signing your rights away out of ignorance. If you can’t take the time to read what you’re signing, no matter how good it sounds to you, don’t sign it. My maw-maw was fond of saying, “believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.” Never has it been more true than today.

References[+]

References
↑1	like myself
↑2	The petition failed thankfully!
↑3	or what we want to believe

Know Thyself

People really crack me up sometimes. They say perception is 9/10’s reality but there are also times when you need to use your head for something besides a hat rack. I just had a rather odd email conversation with a distant Facebook friend who was pissed at me for not knowing what was going on with him. Apparently, he’s been going thru some drama and updating FB with it. It was somehow my fault for not knowing. I saw him online, sent a polite message, and proceeded to get attitude because I was being jovial. Excuse the hell out of me!

On a similar rant, a while back I had another FB friend (who found me thru twitter) get pissy with me because I didn’t want to have cyber sex with him over cam. I first politely explained it wasn’t my thing even if I thought he was attractive. Sex over cam is so 90’s and boring to me. I realize it may be fun for some but that doesn’t mean everyone is into it. Finally after like the 4th or 5th push to show my junk, I got rather direct and let him know it was never going to happen. He has since unfriended me, to my delight.

So yes, all these sites can be wonderful mechanisms for communication. But lets face it, none of us only friend people we actually know in real life. Hell some folks have thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of friends on these sites. It is unrealistic to think every one of your “friends” keeps up with your every update. Frankly, it borders on impossible for anyone who has a life offline. For myself, I’m not so foolish to think everyone on my list knows everything I post. Most of what I post on FB and such is absolute drivel anyway. lol That’s when I’m even on. Most of my updates on FB come from my Google+ account (or twitter).

Yes, I have some nice friends online whom I’ve never met. I have some I’d love to meet someday as well. That still doesn’t mean I’m all up in their grill 24/7. If I’m a real friend to you or vice versa, then I’ll take the time to talk, text, email, or see you. in person. In person isn’t always possible but a friendship is only as good as the effort you put into it, not what you get out of it. And posting online is not what I would call effort.

The sex thing is funny. But again, don’t get all twisted because not everyone is into the same thing. I clearly have no problem with sex and/or hookups. That doesn’t mean every profile I have online is filled with a insatiable desire to get laid. Even still, if I politely decline 2 even 3 times, take the hint.

At the end of the day, just use your brain people. Don’t get pissy because some random stranger doesn’t know you’re having a bad day/week. Be happy someone actually took the time to reach out to you in the first place.

/ rant

Theme

I loaded a new theme on the ole blog site this week. I like the fact that is has tons of custom options, many of which I haven’t even begun to tinker with yet. The theme itself is clean, easy to read, as well as being easy on the eyes. ^[1]Or at least I think so. 🙂

The design also suits my mobile theme plugin. They are completely separate items but I like the symmetry of the look. The header can be set to slide to different images or load a new header on each page load. I’ll probably swap out headers at some point. Right now the one provided is nice and clean. I was gonna use one based on the new Google+ layout but it was too simplistic. I didn’t like it.

Anyway, the right column looks soooo much nicer now. It’s very easy to browse, read, and find info. I’m planning on deleting some of the Dandy ID links. Many of them I don’t use that often, if at all. Having them clutter up my blog is pointless. Sometimes less is better. I’ve already removed the “recent comments” box. It really didn’t add much. I’ll probably add a different one at some point but for now its gone.

I’m thinking of adding a photo slide/viewer in the right column. Ideas? Feedback? Suggestions? Hate it/Love it?

References[+]

References
↑1	Or at least I think so. 🙂

Stay

Well I’m back at work after being on a stay-cation last week. Money is tight and couldn’t really afford to do a whole lot. Regardless, I enjoyed the down time. I’ve been staggering my vacations evenly throughout the year and its really helping. Of course, it didn’t help that I strained my back on Tuesday. I was pretty much confined to the house for a couple days. I laid around and dozed courtesy of modern pharmacology. heehee

Speaking of work, I applied to be a supervisor a couple weeks ago. I figured it was time considering I’m often a go-to resource for others already. On the up side, it would be more money. On the down side, I’d probably lose my weekends off for awhile. All the supervisor shifts are 4-10’s as well. I’m not excited about that but it is what it is. However, there are enough slots turning over I’d probably have at least a partial weekend off within the year. If I get really lucky I could have a full weekend slot in less than 2 years.

I have up to a year to revert back to my current position without losing any seniority. The department starts testing and interviews soon. I’ll let ya know how it goes.