The problem of "why" Dreamed 3 days ago | Comment | 522 words

The journey into why is a frightening one. For most of my life I have lived by the 10 Commandments. Not on a conscience level but as a general rule for how I conduct myself.

Most importantly, I have lived by the golden rule do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.

Treat people how you wish to be treated. I never really considered why I lived this way. I credit it to good parenting and upbringing. It always seemed like the right way to live. Why should I hurt others when I could work for the greater good? That way everyone benefits. I live for the greater good. I never really questioned why. Until now.

In recent months I’ve been dipping my toes into religion. Don’t worry, I’m not going full on born again. I have been exploring Mormonism. My girlfriend is Mormon. The biggest reason is their belief of an eternal family. They believe once you die you go on living with your family forever. None of that “til death so us part” nonsense. The process is not automatic (and honestly not one I fully understand yet) and involves a temple marriage and being “sealed” to each other.

So once you’re sealed in a temple, you live with your family forever.

I’ve never given much thought to an afterlife but if there is one, being with your family sounds pretty good to me. Where is all thing backstory taking us? The questioning of WHY?

Why do we live like we do? Why do we act as we do?

I often think about introspection and try to look inward as much as I can because It’s the key to understanding yourself. Part of that is questioning why.
I have not questioned myself why in a long time. I realized this as I found myself incredibly sad one Sunday afternoon and couldn’t figure out why. I had just come from church. And I was a mental mess. I just wasn’t feeling it.

I hear all the time of people speaking of the comfort religion brings them. I didn’t see it. Maybe I need to try harder.

In my discussion with my girlfriend she pointed out how I was basically a good person as far as religion goes. I don’t smoke. I don’t drink. Never touched drugs. I’m pretty boring.

The other trigger was the message from church itself. The message was about giving yourself to God and letting him into your life. The message was presented well and in a sensical, applicable way.

However, that is a main point of contention for me because I’ve seen it taken too far to often. You can’t expect God to run your own life. You can’t look at thing and go, “God will take care of me” and not help yourself. God will only take it so far. You need to help.

God will help you out and nudge you on the right direction. He will be your guide to life and try to push you down the right path. He won’t drove the car or be your gps. He’ll ride along and suggest routes along the way.

Video Games Live Dreamed 31 days ago | Comment | 140 words

Proving my uberdorkdom, I am going to see Video Games Live with 3 friends in July at Wolf Trap near D.C.

Tickets are still available so if the thought of seeing all your old favorite games played by a symphony excites you, this is the show for you!

I have two friend who saw it in Richmond already and are seeing it again with me and they said it was completely awesome! I am so stupidly excited over this show words cannot properly describe it.

There is a high quality promo on their site in .wmv format. Or if you look in the video folder, there’s a listing of all the files including Quicktime versions of the promo and other videos.

If you love video games, do yourself a favor and go see this. I can’t wait!

Hulu Desktop Mini review Dreamed 32 days ago | Comment | 275 words

I love the new Hulu Desktop app from Hulu labs. I downloaded it last week when it was released. I’ve been enjoying it everyday since. I am in love with this application. It allows full access to the entire Hulu site with a sleek and clean navigation.

While logged in, I can do everything I can do in the site. I can add videos to my queue, rate, subscribe and of course, play. Which leads me to the killer feature as far as I’m concerned.

I can watch full screen video on a second monitor while continuing to use my MacBook normally. That’s right, full screen video on monitor 2 while using my MacBook to write this review.

Before this app was release, I watched Hulu primarily using the pop-out video feature then pulling that window full screen and enjoying the video. The app takes it to the next level. The video looks gorgeous but is not without its problems.

A couple of times at the end of the commercial break, the video would restart from the beginning. Not a show stopper but a little annoying. Every now and again the video will stop and seem to lose its place. Even after pausing it, the buffer would not refill nor would the video continue.

I filed a big report using the little bug icon from the menu and the support tech told me they’d received lots of reports of the commercial resetting video issue.

Both bugs are minor and neither really detract that much from the application. I am sure in later iterations these will be taken care of and the app will get even better.

Since the move... Dreamed 76 days ago | | 354 words

This was originally written on Feb. 23, 2009 and never posted. I am posting it now.

Let’s step back.
I moved.

I picked up my life of 8 years from Richmond and moved to Alexandria earlier this month. I lived in Richmond from 2000 when I left Berryville for college and have been there for about 4 years after graduating working a combination of design, IT Support, and printing jobs.

On a whim I went for a job interview in Washington, D.C. for a real, full-time, non-contracting job. And much to my surprise, I got it!

I am now living in Alexandria near Old Town and its beautiful architecture and river. I’m taking a subway to work everyday then a brisk walk to The Watergate Complex where I am working as a Desktop Support Tech for The Atlantic Media Company.

I no longer drive daily. I get in the car two or three times per week at most. I get to use the wonderful public transportation system to get me to and from work. I am also excited to use it to explore Washington.

I love the subway. Two weeks in to the job, I still love the subway! There’s much to be said about commuting via car or letting someone else do the driving. I love no longer driving everyday. It’s much more relaxing.

I love my job. I love having benefits, the perks (bagels and juice in the AM, popcorn/crackers and sodas in the afternoon everyday), I love paid time off. I love being part of a team and a full time employee. I love the projects I’ll get to work on. I love building my MacPro fort as I test them.

Most of all, I love the stability. It’s a major weight off my head now that I am fully employed and no longer contracting. I am now fully in control of my future and my career. I no longer get a chunk of my salary taken off the top every payday. I no longer have to worry about the contract changing hands and me being out in the cold.

And it’s been very, very cold.

The Struggle Dreamed 76 days ago | Comment | 425 words

The struggle is real. The struggle is never ending.

There come times in life where I need to evaluate where I’m at, where I’d like to be, and how I am to get there. There comes times in life where the place I am and the place I want to be are not going to ever connect. You can’t get there from here.

So it’s time to change. Big change. Little change. But change.

Change is the catalyst that’s led to my greatest struggles and my greatest triumphs. Even with change, the best laid plans can go awry and lead me right back to struggle. As they have many times before. Forcing moves. Forcing financial and personal loss. But in the end, I come out a better person for it. Even if it doesn’t seem like it.

After each change, there is learning. Learning what I did right. Learning what I did wrong. But there is learning. Maybe I did well. Maybe I screwed it all up and ignored some major things I shouldn’t have but what’s done is done.

I always feel it is important to look back. Looking back provides context. Clarity. Using the 20/20 hindsight is important to evaluate a situation long after being in the thick of it trying the best I could at the time. Hoping for the best.

It all comes back to the struggle.

Life is a struggle. Even in the best of times, unexpected hardships can take easy street to a sketchy drug-filled gang corner. All it takes is a second.

A single moment in time can make all the different in the world.

It can define the struggle. Or it can define us.

I will not be defined by my struggles. I do the best I can with what I have and move towards where I want to be. I’m moving faster than ever now.

It’s been a struggle. It’s still a struggle. Everyday.

But there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s been a long.
Dark.
Long.
Submerged.
Tunnel.

But I can finally see the end. See the light. Bask in its warmth and tiny glow. There’s still months before the glow, but I can see it. I know it’s there. That’s the important part of the struggle.

Knowing it will come to an end. We always tell ourselves it’ll get better. Things will improve. However, it’s hard to believe that when all you see is more struggle.

But when you see the end, you know there is hope. And it lights your spirits.

At the end of every struggle, there is hope.

I’m at the hope phase.

Everything changes Dreamed 135 days ago | Comment | 25 words

I moved to a new city.
Got a new job.
Picked up my life and moved it 100 miles north.

And everything changed.
For the better.

Dream Job Dreamed 163 days ago | Comment | 141 words

I just got the job I an interviewing for today… in my dream.

It was a nice dream, I got there an hour early, changed into nice clothes, talked with some of the other guys who worked there and was going to be about 4 minutes late to the actual interview.

Then the interviewer walked in and said I had the job and they’d mail me the offer letter this week.

With that, I left and walked back…. somewhere (that’s where I woke up) though I think it was to a subway.

I love the subway.

I leave for this interview in D.C. in about 40 minutes. I hope it goes as well as the dream version of it did.

That being said, does anyone know of a good, safe, studio apartment near the Kennedy Center / Watergate Complex in DC that’s available come Feb? crosses fingers

Best Buy /teabags Circuit City Dreamed 167 days ago | Comment | 71 words

During a discussion at work about the fall of Circuit City. Someone mentioned Best Buy was going to match CC’s prices during their liquidation.

Someone else mentioned it was like kicking a dead horse. However, I feel the appropriate metaphor is a noob in Halo getting spawn camped and killed. From behind. With a Sword. Over and over again. Then tea bagged. Each. Time.

Which leads us to Best Buy /teabags Circuit City.

Thought Train Derailment Dreamed 174 days ago | Comment | 229 words

Caller: I am trying to login to my work PC from home and I am having problem.

Tech: OK, what seems to be the problem.

Caller: I am getting “remote PC not found, connection timed out.”

Tech: OK, what is the IP address or computer name of the PC you’re trying to access.

Caller: *provides IP*

Tech: OK, let me see if the machine is on the network pings PC I don’t see it responding. Are you sure the PC is on? Is it a laptop or a desktop?

Caller: It’s a laptop. I brought it home with me.

Tech: …*puzzled* So, to be clear, what are we trying to remote into with what? What PC are you on now?

Caller: I am on my personal PC, it’s a desktop and trying to access my work laptop which they just gave me this week which I brought home with me.

Tech: OK…. so you’re trying to remote to the laptop you brought home with you?

Caller: Yes, I brought it home because I haven’t had a chance to set it up.

Tech: OK, this is not going to work because your laptop is not on the network. I need you get on your corporate laptop and access the VPN site and choose Option 1, remote into the network with a corporate PC.

Caller: OK, I’ll try that. click

Tech: *thinks* I wish I understood the thought process where that made sense.

Who is being served? Dreamed 204 days ago | Comment | 417 words

Today, during the role playing we were doing in our call center training, we took turns troubleshooting different issues the trainer through at us. I hate role playing. I have been taking calls with the help of my mentor for two days now. I don’t need to be babied through the process. But I do understand it helps others who have not worked in a help desk environment before.

Normally, when people call in to the center, they have entered their user ID into the phone system which gets sent to the technician and their name/address/phone number/etc is pulled up on the technician’s screen. So when you call me, if you’ve entered your ID correctly, I know who you are, where you are and the system opens a ticket so I am ready to help you.

In the course of taking calls the past two days, I have hit on a couple people who either skipped that prompt, or did not enter their number correctly. As a result, I get no record of a “fake person” record appear so the ticket is still able to open.

To me, logic would dictate you’d ask their name to be polite, then ask for their ID so you can pull up their record to verify their information and assist them.

I was told this is incorrect.

We must ask the user’s name, search for them, and try to pull the record up that way. The idea being people are not numbers and we emphasize that.

OK.

I have no problem with making people feel special and individual and important. Great!

However, instead of having an ID I can look up and get the correct record (one person to one ID), I have to ask their name and search.

Possible failure points here include:

Possible point of failure for look up via ID?

By the time the user has gotten to me, they’ve been waiting. Be it a long or short wait, there’s no difference to the frustrated user. They had to wait, and in this industry, they’re losing money. In addition, I want to make the transition from phone to human as smooth as possible and get them up and running quickly and correctly.

Now, I don’t possess any degrees of certifications in IT, customer service, or finance but it would seem to me the quickest and most accurate way to assist the user would be best.

Once again, the corporation wins over the user’s best interests.