Very interesting, isn't it?
No sooner do I make a post regarding my reformat woes at home, do I land a job where I have to reformat computers daily.
So, I've left the convenience store, and am now in a career that actually makes some use of my technical skills. Compared to some of the things I am capable of, this is still "Trained Monkey" work, but I am happy to finally be in a place where I can gain experiences that will point me in the right direction for the future.
As far as the work itself goes, the reformatting process has been greatly simplified. Various automated setup softwares have been put in place to make the required human interaction minimal. Meanwhile, the unattended process takes a good couple hours, so you can feasably handle several of these "migrations" at one time.
Right now, we're only being put to work on one at a time, but I'm sure this is just warm-up. There will likely soon be a point when I may have too many laptops on the desk to have any room for my own workstation keyboard. (From which I am currently publishing my blog.)
The working hours are a bit of a shift to make as well. Having worked from 2200-0600 for the past two years, I have become quite unaccustomed to seeing so much daylight, or spending so much time awake when my wife is (or - slightly more difficult to adjust to - so much time asleep when she is). A real nice schedule benefit is that I finally have a job where weekends and holidays will actually make a difference on the work calendar, and I can actually have more time (and energy) to spend with my wife and daughter.
Also, my posts on here should be a bit more regular as the computer use regulations around here seem to be relatively lax. As long as I'm not doing anything illegal or inappropriate, or letting casual computer usage interfere with my work, it would appear that things like posting to my blog and checking my webmails is ok.
Anyway, I'd better go. I've written enough here. I'll catch you up on some more stuff later.
Glad to be back,
- Iszi
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Friday, September 30, 2005
Twiddle
Well, you would think that by now they might have developed software that could format a 40 GB hard drive in less time, eh? Nope. After I started the re-format, I went to take a bathroom break, stopped at the fridge on the way back for a swig of Juicy Juice (We keep it in there for my daughter, but I tend to mooch a bit for myself now and then.) and still the format was barely past 30%.
Guess I should be glad he doesn't have one of those monster 200 GB drives or something. I might as well kill some time by checking to see if my favorite webcomics have updated. Links are at the left if you'd care to join me. Not that we'll likely be doing it simultaneously or anything, but just for the fun of the thought, go ahead.
Guess I should be glad he doesn't have one of those monster 200 GB drives or something. I might as well kill some time by checking to see if my favorite webcomics have updated. Links are at the left if you'd care to join me. Not that we'll likely be doing it simultaneously or anything, but just for the fun of the thought, go ahead.
Reformatting Bites
Hey, it's been awhile.
Sorry I haven't written in a bit. I've just been tied up in this whole moving business. We've been living here a month and we're still not nearly as settled in as we could be. But that's another bunny trail.
Right now, I'm just sitting here waiting for a backup to finish on a friend's computer that I'm working on, so I can reformat it. He was having some issues with his internet configurations which came down to turning up some nasty Operating System corruption, and the fact that he's running his computer on way too little RAM doesn't help anything either.
So, here I am just watching the files "fly" across the screen as they are transferred from his computer to a special folder on mine over the network. Then I get the joy of wiping that puppy clean, and re-installing Windoze XP, which is almost equally exciting.
Sounds bleak? Well, that's just the mood I'm in right now. Sorry about that. The past few weeks, particularly at work, haven't been the greatest. And this piece of beef stuck in my teeth isn't putting me in any better mood. Be right back, after I get a toothpick.
There we go, much better. Now, in the good news department, it would appear that my life as a 3rd shift convenience store clerk is shortly to come to an end. Last week, a guy from some staffing company saw my resume online, and sent me an e-mail about a sub-contract position with a very large company doing some OS migrations. The contract would only garuntee me work until February, but I figure that's plenty of time to work out any future details I need to worry about.
It's funny how a computer will lie to you. It tells you that there's 3 minutes remaining in an operation, then 3 minutes later it says 7 minutes. What's up with that? Some MS geek's sick idea of a joke?
Ah well, enough for this rant. Looks like we're really almost done with the backup, so I'd better get back to it. Maybe I'll write again during the setup.
Blog ya later,
- Iszi
Sorry I haven't written in a bit. I've just been tied up in this whole moving business. We've been living here a month and we're still not nearly as settled in as we could be. But that's another bunny trail.
Right now, I'm just sitting here waiting for a backup to finish on a friend's computer that I'm working on, so I can reformat it. He was having some issues with his internet configurations which came down to turning up some nasty Operating System corruption, and the fact that he's running his computer on way too little RAM doesn't help anything either.
So, here I am just watching the files "fly" across the screen as they are transferred from his computer to a special folder on mine over the network. Then I get the joy of wiping that puppy clean, and re-installing Windoze XP, which is almost equally exciting.
Sounds bleak? Well, that's just the mood I'm in right now. Sorry about that. The past few weeks, particularly at work, haven't been the greatest. And this piece of beef stuck in my teeth isn't putting me in any better mood. Be right back, after I get a toothpick.
There we go, much better. Now, in the good news department, it would appear that my life as a 3rd shift convenience store clerk is shortly to come to an end. Last week, a guy from some staffing company saw my resume online, and sent me an e-mail about a sub-contract position with a very large company doing some OS migrations. The contract would only garuntee me work until February, but I figure that's plenty of time to work out any future details I need to worry about.
It's funny how a computer will lie to you. It tells you that there's 3 minutes remaining in an operation, then 3 minutes later it says 7 minutes. What's up with that? Some MS geek's sick idea of a joke?
Ah well, enough for this rant. Looks like we're really almost done with the backup, so I'd better get back to it. Maybe I'll write again during the setup.
Blog ya later,
- Iszi
Saturday, August 27, 2005
"Word Verification"
Well, turns out I had some "comment spam" dropped in here in my absence. In one post, I had 3 comments from "Anonymous" users, advertising their blogs about weddings, women's shoes, and gambling. Fortunately, Blogger has now implemented (and I have now activated) optional "word verification" for comment posts. This means that, whenever you want to post a comment here, you will be presented with a random set of letter images, which you will have to verify for your comment to be posted. This is much like the verification process used in many registration forms. While it adds an extra step to the comment-posting process, it does prevent some (possibly) less pleasurable sites from having a software program just drop a link to themselves in this blog.
Nothing else real important to say here. Just wanted to give you guys (and gals) the heads-up.
- Iszi
Nothing else real important to say here. Just wanted to give you guys (and gals) the heads-up.
- Iszi
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Where's Something When You Want It?
Seriously, where? Especially things that you should want more often, and should keep better track of, but typically don't? In this case, such an object would be my One Year Bible. Given to me by my Cell Group leader, it is supposed to be a tool to help me keep up with regular Bible reading, but I haven't used it quite that much lately. In fact, I maybe stuck with it for a solid week at most. But now, without any blogging material in mind, I was hoping that I could find some inspiration there, and yet I cannot find it at all.
Actually, gimme a few seconds... I will find this.
*sigh*
It's sad the things you'll find on your bedroom floor, when you let that become such a clutter zone as mine. Oh, and for the record, Diet Sprite Zero has (like all other Coca-Cola products) way too much carbonation. Unfortunately, it's the only thing cold in the fridge right now.
Okay, let's crack this thing open here. I guess technically it is the 25th now, so I'll flip there. Ah, I have missed a good while. The last time I checked, the Old Testament study was still somewhere in Kings. Now, it's a good deep bit into Job. It appears we're somewhere in the dialogue between Job and his three friends who had come to visit him as he wallows in pain and self-pity, being tormented by Satan.
Bah, I can't stand this Sprite. Almost done with it though; the quicker, the better.
Anyway, the way the One Year Bible (In case you don't have one - which I highly recommend you do.) is laid out, you get a bit of OT, a bit of NT, and a Psalm and Proverb to read every day. I'll just hyperlink the passages that it has laid out, and comment as things come to me.
So, first we have Job 16:1-19:29
Here's something of interest. Now, it is said by some that the story of Job may just be more legend than literal truth. Nonetheless it is Scripture, and therefore known to be divinely inspired. So, in either case, we have written here the accounts of words of a servant of God, in Old Testament times. The fact that it was written many centuries BC is what particularly makes this piece interesting:
(Job 16:19-21 NIV - Job is speaking)
Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend.
Long before Mary and Joseph were around, perhaps even before the days of Abraham, Job is speaking of a heavenly intercessor standing in his defense, whom we now know as Jesus. Just one of the many instances in Old Testament scripture, where we see foreshadowing of the events meant to take place between 0 and 33 BC.
Bah, I'm getting tired now. Guess Job will do that to you at 4 in the morning. Let's at least check out what Proverbs has to say today, before I go to bed. Ah, very good sense here indeed, as if any less was to be expected:
(Proverbs 22:1 NLT)
Choose a good reputation over great riches, for being held in high esteem is better than having silver or gold.
Also, please pardon the lack of the hyperlinks that I promised. I'll fix that next time I log on here. Meanwhile, just check out http://www.biblegateway.com/ for all the verses.
Now to quote Red Skelton: "Good night, and God Bless."
- Iszi
Actually, gimme a few seconds... I will find this.
*sigh*
It's sad the things you'll find on your bedroom floor, when you let that become such a clutter zone as mine. Oh, and for the record, Diet Sprite Zero has (like all other Coca-Cola products) way too much carbonation. Unfortunately, it's the only thing cold in the fridge right now.
Okay, let's crack this thing open here. I guess technically it is the 25th now, so I'll flip there. Ah, I have missed a good while. The last time I checked, the Old Testament study was still somewhere in Kings. Now, it's a good deep bit into Job. It appears we're somewhere in the dialogue between Job and his three friends who had come to visit him as he wallows in pain and self-pity, being tormented by Satan.
Bah, I can't stand this Sprite. Almost done with it though; the quicker, the better.
Anyway, the way the One Year Bible (In case you don't have one - which I highly recommend you do.) is laid out, you get a bit of OT, a bit of NT, and a Psalm and Proverb to read every day. I'll just hyperlink the passages that it has laid out, and comment as things come to me.
So, first we have Job 16:1-19:29
Here's something of interest. Now, it is said by some that the story of Job may just be more legend than literal truth. Nonetheless it is Scripture, and therefore known to be divinely inspired. So, in either case, we have written here the accounts of words of a servant of God, in Old Testament times. The fact that it was written many centuries BC is what particularly makes this piece interesting:
(Job 16:19-21 NIV - Job is speaking)
Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend.
Long before Mary and Joseph were around, perhaps even before the days of Abraham, Job is speaking of a heavenly intercessor standing in his defense, whom we now know as Jesus. Just one of the many instances in Old Testament scripture, where we see foreshadowing of the events meant to take place between 0 and 33 BC.
Bah, I'm getting tired now. Guess Job will do that to you at 4 in the morning. Let's at least check out what Proverbs has to say today, before I go to bed. Ah, very good sense here indeed, as if any less was to be expected:
(Proverbs 22:1 NLT)
Choose a good reputation over great riches, for being held in high esteem is better than having silver or gold.
Also, please pardon the lack of the hyperlinks that I promised. I'll fix that next time I log on here. Meanwhile, just check out http://www.biblegateway.com/ for all the verses.
Now to quote Red Skelton: "Good night, and God Bless."
- Iszi
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Long-Winded?
I've been told in the past that I tend to be a bit long-winded with posts such as the one below (just previous) this one. Yet, I personally almost never feel that I've completely expressed myself here. I always end up feeling like I've edited myself for length, like a director cuts a film sometimes.
I'd like some feedback on this. Although it won't likely change anything (this is my blog, after all - if you don't like it, you can leave. ;-)) but I am just curious to see what other bloggers think about this.
Thanks in advance for the feedback.
- Iszi
P.S.: If you're a Blogger member, please do login before posting a reply. I see a few fellow bloggers replying here, but leaving little if any way for me to contact them for a direct reply since they are posting "Anonymous"-ly. Thanks again in advance.
I'd like some feedback on this. Although it won't likely change anything (this is my blog, after all - if you don't like it, you can leave. ;-)) but I am just curious to see what other bloggers think about this.
Thanks in advance for the feedback.
- Iszi
P.S.: If you're a Blogger member, please do login before posting a reply. I see a few fellow bloggers replying here, but leaving little if any way for me to contact them for a direct reply since they are posting "Anonymous"-ly. Thanks again in advance.
"Home" Again
Well, I'm at my mom's house right now. I'm here mostly at the bequest of my wife, whom I hadn't seen in almost a week prior to coming over this time. We're still not entirely moved in by any measure, and the room meant for us is still far from prepared, so we're making our own space in the front living room for now, which is also to be ours anyway. (The house has a "Family Room" in the middle, and a "Living Room" in front, the latter of which my mother decided should be ours so we have our own living area outside the bedroom.)
I find myself with a strange feeling of coming home, yet not really being "at home". Almost as if one has been out of school for a year or so, and then returned. Although I myself have never been through that, I can probably now imagine what it would be like. The school itself would be the same, with most of the same people still there, but there would be many more new faces to see than in the typical school-year changeover, and many more old faces gone. Possibly some of the decor may have changed, some extra/co-curricular programs discontinued or newly begun. So, although it is the same school, it's not quite "your school" anymore.
I know this feeling will pass in time. Probably once we're settled into our actual room, with everything firmly in its place, it will be easier. A piece of me feels like having my own computer here would be helpful too. (It's still at my Aunt's house. - This post is being made on my wife's computer.)
It's strange when I think about it that way. The saying goes "home is where the heart is", and while my heart is with my family, a large part of it has been spilled online through a computer that I personally assembled in - and have personally cared for since - summer of 2000.
Odd. Now I also consider not having my bicycle is also a particular emotional hinderance here. Odd, yet it makes so much sense when I consider how I purchased both, and how much of my life has gone into both. Without going into much detail, I will say that there was a large sum of money given to me through my Grandmother when I was 18, and a large portion of that money went into the purchase for the parts to my computer, and the purchase of my bicycle and all the accessories added onto it at that time. They also represent (to my memory) the two largest purchases that I have ever made exclusively with my own money, paid upfront.
That being the monetary (physical) connection, the emotional connection comes when considering that a large portion of my life (as previously mentioned) has been lived out in the computer world, and another large portion of my life has been lived with that bicycle as my primary (or often-used alternative) form of transportation. So, to some degree, both represent to me a connection to independance and freedom.
Like anyone else, I feel rather confined when using someone else's computer, even when it's my wife's. None of the software is in the right place, I have no bookmarks (as if I use them), I have to manually fill out password forms, and the security is never tight enough. Without my bicycle, I have no expedient means of going anywhere outside of a two-mile radius on my own. With it, I could easily go anywhere within about 15 miles in one hour, and farther if I was to connect with the bus system. And around this area, that covers a lot of places.
I guess to some degree, it could be said that it's not good for me to feel such a strong "home" connection to a computer. To have that be "where your heart is" and be a Christian, is almost self-contradictory. Supposedly, I guess that kind of connection would better be placed in a Bible, or made in those "quiet times" that one should have every day.
Getting to that place though, is much harder than flipping some internal switch. My whole life I've known inside that that's where I really should be, yet here I still am. What it is that's keeping me here, a million psychiatrists and pastors could probably say, but the real question I want answered is, "What is it going to take to pull me out of here?". The answer might not be pretty, but I hope it comes soon. While computers and the internet have played a heavy role in my life, I know that they can't be my life forever. So, now that I know it, (as if I never have?) what needs to come to make me do it?
A part of me doesn't, but a part of me really does want to find out soon.
- Iszi
Quote of the day:
"Wars come and go, but my soldiers stay eternal." - Tupac
I find myself with a strange feeling of coming home, yet not really being "at home". Almost as if one has been out of school for a year or so, and then returned. Although I myself have never been through that, I can probably now imagine what it would be like. The school itself would be the same, with most of the same people still there, but there would be many more new faces to see than in the typical school-year changeover, and many more old faces gone. Possibly some of the decor may have changed, some extra/co-curricular programs discontinued or newly begun. So, although it is the same school, it's not quite "your school" anymore.
I know this feeling will pass in time. Probably once we're settled into our actual room, with everything firmly in its place, it will be easier. A piece of me feels like having my own computer here would be helpful too. (It's still at my Aunt's house. - This post is being made on my wife's computer.)
It's strange when I think about it that way. The saying goes "home is where the heart is", and while my heart is with my family, a large part of it has been spilled online through a computer that I personally assembled in - and have personally cared for since - summer of 2000.
Odd. Now I also consider not having my bicycle is also a particular emotional hinderance here. Odd, yet it makes so much sense when I consider how I purchased both, and how much of my life has gone into both. Without going into much detail, I will say that there was a large sum of money given to me through my Grandmother when I was 18, and a large portion of that money went into the purchase for the parts to my computer, and the purchase of my bicycle and all the accessories added onto it at that time. They also represent (to my memory) the two largest purchases that I have ever made exclusively with my own money, paid upfront.
That being the monetary (physical) connection, the emotional connection comes when considering that a large portion of my life (as previously mentioned) has been lived out in the computer world, and another large portion of my life has been lived with that bicycle as my primary (or often-used alternative) form of transportation. So, to some degree, both represent to me a connection to independance and freedom.
Like anyone else, I feel rather confined when using someone else's computer, even when it's my wife's. None of the software is in the right place, I have no bookmarks (as if I use them), I have to manually fill out password forms, and the security is never tight enough. Without my bicycle, I have no expedient means of going anywhere outside of a two-mile radius on my own. With it, I could easily go anywhere within about 15 miles in one hour, and farther if I was to connect with the bus system. And around this area, that covers a lot of places.
I guess to some degree, it could be said that it's not good for me to feel such a strong "home" connection to a computer. To have that be "where your heart is" and be a Christian, is almost self-contradictory. Supposedly, I guess that kind of connection would better be placed in a Bible, or made in those "quiet times" that one should have every day.
Getting to that place though, is much harder than flipping some internal switch. My whole life I've known inside that that's where I really should be, yet here I still am. What it is that's keeping me here, a million psychiatrists and pastors could probably say, but the real question I want answered is, "What is it going to take to pull me out of here?". The answer might not be pretty, but I hope it comes soon. While computers and the internet have played a heavy role in my life, I know that they can't be my life forever. So, now that I know it, (as if I never have?) what needs to come to make me do it?
A part of me doesn't, but a part of me really does want to find out soon.
- Iszi
Quote of the day:
"Wars come and go, but my soldiers stay eternal." - Tupac
Sunday, August 21, 2005
"A [vision], which misinterpreted may have been..."
Digging through my archives (a shallow dig, mind you) I noticed that my most recent post mentioned my preparation for my A+ Certification, and a vision of a new home for my family. Given that a lot has changed since then, I thought I should mention a couple things about that while I'm on here. (Yes, this could be another delaying tactic to keep me from that pile on the bed, but if I really cared I guess I wouldn't be doing this now, would I?)
I received my A+ Certification on March 1 this year. That day, I just decided I was fed up with running through these practise tests, and wanted to get the real thing done and over with. Two tests that were scheduled to take a total of three hours took me all of an hour and a half to run through. When I came out of the testing room from the second test, the instructor that came to print my test scores was astounded that I'd finished both tests already. (The instructor who handled the first test, and got me started on the second, had left for the day, and the instructor who checked me out from the second test originally presumed I'd just finished the first.) They were also quite surprised that both my test scores were over 150 points above the passing requirements (on a 100-900 scale).
Unfortunately, this has done little for me in the job market. My lack of related work experience, coupled with my transportation limits has effectively nullified the value of my certification in my job hunt. So, for the past (almost) six months, I've had this certification and gone nowhere with it. This has also dampened my motivation to study for the Network+ exam that I had originally planned on taking by the end of this year.
So, without a better job lining up soon, I'm left having to move back into my mom's house. Other contributing factors aside, this still leaves me wondering about the vision mentioned in my February post - the one about us being in a house of our own by the end of the year. While not entirely impossible, this has made it very much improbable. So, I took another look into that vision, and began to wonder if maybe I had just misread it. It is quite probable that I am meant to be at my mother's house this year. And, when I think about it, I can't imagine too many other places that I could be, and truly feel "at home" in by this Christmas. Maybe this is the way it is supposed to turn out, or maybe I could be wrong still. Only time will tell.
Speaking of time, It's now almost 0530, and my wife is supposed to pick me up at 1200 to go back to my mom's house for more moving work. So, I should go and clear off that bed if I want any chance at a nap.
Good night.
- Iszi
I received my A+ Certification on March 1 this year. That day, I just decided I was fed up with running through these practise tests, and wanted to get the real thing done and over with. Two tests that were scheduled to take a total of three hours took me all of an hour and a half to run through. When I came out of the testing room from the second test, the instructor that came to print my test scores was astounded that I'd finished both tests already. (The instructor who handled the first test, and got me started on the second, had left for the day, and the instructor who checked me out from the second test originally presumed I'd just finished the first.) They were also quite surprised that both my test scores were over 150 points above the passing requirements (on a 100-900 scale).
Unfortunately, this has done little for me in the job market. My lack of related work experience, coupled with my transportation limits has effectively nullified the value of my certification in my job hunt. So, for the past (almost) six months, I've had this certification and gone nowhere with it. This has also dampened my motivation to study for the Network+ exam that I had originally planned on taking by the end of this year.
So, without a better job lining up soon, I'm left having to move back into my mom's house. Other contributing factors aside, this still leaves me wondering about the vision mentioned in my February post - the one about us being in a house of our own by the end of the year. While not entirely impossible, this has made it very much improbable. So, I took another look into that vision, and began to wonder if maybe I had just misread it. It is quite probable that I am meant to be at my mother's house this year. And, when I think about it, I can't imagine too many other places that I could be, and truly feel "at home" in by this Christmas. Maybe this is the way it is supposed to turn out, or maybe I could be wrong still. Only time will tell.
Speaking of time, It's now almost 0530, and my wife is supposed to pick me up at 1200 to go back to my mom's house for more moving work. So, I should go and clear off that bed if I want any chance at a nap.
Good night.
- Iszi
The Real Me
Okay, I give up.
My last update to this blog is listed as sometime in June, on my Blogger dashboard, but the most recent post is over 6 months old. I could go into a long spiel about why this is, but I'll leave that to your vivid imagination.
Meanwhile, I'm left wondering what I'm going to actually do with my little (idle) corner of the web here. And I've decided. I'm giving up. Not giving up on maintaining this blog, mind you. Just giving up on keeping up appearances. One thing that may have been holding me back here is that I just don't have that great positive feeling these days, that I would like to have when I write this blog. So, I'm giving up on bothering with that "happy feeling" style of writing.
If I write now, it's just going to be me talking in whatever mood I may be in, about whatever may come to my mind. Otherwise, this blog could go dead for another year or more. Who knows, it just might be anyways. We'll see.
Meanwhile, in life news: I'm moving again. Okay, not really "again" to you, since I have lived in the same house for the duration of this blog so far, but this will be the (counting...) fifth time I've moved in my life, and the third time I've gone back to the particular house that I'm moving into - my mom's house.
A lot of factors are contributing to this, but all you should be aware of right now (or rather, all I have energy left to mention) is that if I don't blog much in the next week or so (as if it would be different from any other recent time period) it can particularly be attributed to the moving process.
Now, I must go. I've got a large mass of schtuff that's been just sitting on my bed, keeping me awake (since I've been too lazy to deal with it) for the past four hours. Hopefully, I'll be able to pull myself back up into writing more on this soon. I really do want to, I just seem to have a hard time getting myself to do it (like I've been having a hard time getting myself to clear off my bed for the past four hours so I can go to sleep).
l8rz
- Iszi
My last update to this blog is listed as sometime in June, on my Blogger dashboard, but the most recent post is over 6 months old. I could go into a long spiel about why this is, but I'll leave that to your vivid imagination.
Meanwhile, I'm left wondering what I'm going to actually do with my little (idle) corner of the web here. And I've decided. I'm giving up. Not giving up on maintaining this blog, mind you. Just giving up on keeping up appearances. One thing that may have been holding me back here is that I just don't have that great positive feeling these days, that I would like to have when I write this blog. So, I'm giving up on bothering with that "happy feeling" style of writing.
If I write now, it's just going to be me talking in whatever mood I may be in, about whatever may come to my mind. Otherwise, this blog could go dead for another year or more. Who knows, it just might be anyways. We'll see.
Meanwhile, in life news: I'm moving again. Okay, not really "again" to you, since I have lived in the same house for the duration of this blog so far, but this will be the (counting...) fifth time I've moved in my life, and the third time I've gone back to the particular house that I'm moving into - my mom's house.
A lot of factors are contributing to this, but all you should be aware of right now (or rather, all I have energy left to mention) is that if I don't blog much in the next week or so (as if it would be different from any other recent time period) it can particularly be attributed to the moving process.
Now, I must go. I've got a large mass of schtuff that's been just sitting on my bed, keeping me awake (since I've been too lazy to deal with it) for the past four hours. Hopefully, I'll be able to pull myself back up into writing more on this soon. I really do want to, I just seem to have a hard time getting myself to do it (like I've been having a hard time getting myself to clear off my bed for the past four hours so I can go to sleep).
l8rz
- Iszi
Monday, February 07, 2005
Last Laps
Greetings, Readers.
I hate to sound like I'm doing this as a chore, but right now that's what my whole life seems to feel like. I'm not entirely sure if I completely understand why, but it just seems as if even waking up to face the day is something I don't want to do anymore. If it's a night I have to work, I almost have to twist my own arm to get myself out of bed and get ready to go. While I'm at work, I constantly am having to fight the urge to just say "forget this, I'm going home".
Part of it, I think, is the combination of my body and mind coming into that "last lap of the race" feeling. It's the bittersweet sensation that tells you "I've been running so long, and I'm so tired I just can't run anymore," while at the same time it says "I'm almost there, jsut a little bit further and I'll be finished." By this, I am referring to the fact that I am almost ready to take my A+ Certification exam. I've completed all the lessons and exercises offered in the course that I'm taking, and am now just putting myself through the practice tests until I am fully confident I'm ready for the real thing. While I continue to do this, however, my body, mind, and spirit are all in the back seat screaming "Are we there YET?!?!"
I guess the only driving force I have going now is the fact that I know, once this part of the "race" is over with, I'll be accelerating quickly towards several long-awaited goals. The first of these would be a better paying, and slightly less stressful job than the one that I'm in now, with a much more flexible schedule. Granted, third shift allows for a great deal of flexibility in the sense that you're almost never working during typical "business" hours, and therefore have the whole day to get things accomplished without having work get in the way of the daytime schedule. However, it does make things difficult when you want to cram a lot of stuff into one week, particularly when all the stuff runs during different portions of the day, and then have to work your sleep schedule around that.
The next goal would be a place of our own to stay in. My outlook on this is helped very much by a small vision I had last year around Christmas. It's actually quite odd the way it happened, because my prayer life hadn't been any better then than it ever has in any other point in my life, and I wasn't particularly engaged in conversation with God at the time, or even really thinking about this particular subject. In fact, for me, it was just another night at work. For everyone else in the world, it was Christmas Eve, a wonderful time of celebration in preparation for the next day, meant to be spent at home with the family. But, for me, it was just another night at work. In the middle of this mild depression over spending a "holiday night" at work instead of at home, God must have known (since he knows everything anyway) that I needed a little more fuel in my fire.
As I was reaching down to get a plastic bag for a customer (one of a great many we had that night), just going about my typical business, a vision entered my mind completely out of nowhere. I saw my daughter, not much older than she was at the time, sitting in a room that I did not recognize. I don't recall anything more about the scene itself than that, but there was a feeling of festivity in the room, along with a unique feeling of belonging. Then, the vision was gone, leaving behind an immense feeling of hope, and I knew immediately what it meant. This time (Christmas) next year (2005), I would not be in the place that I am in right now. It would be a place of our own. Whether it be a house, trailer, or apartment, it would be one that belonged to us. That brightened my Christmas more than anything else that year.
Meanwhile, however, life still goes on. The battle to keep one's head above water remains a burdensome one. All I can do is just keep running the race until I finally reach the finish line. And then, It'll be another race to run. But this time, it will be with a renewed energy, and in much more enjoyable surroundings.
- Iszi
I hate to sound like I'm doing this as a chore, but right now that's what my whole life seems to feel like. I'm not entirely sure if I completely understand why, but it just seems as if even waking up to face the day is something I don't want to do anymore. If it's a night I have to work, I almost have to twist my own arm to get myself out of bed and get ready to go. While I'm at work, I constantly am having to fight the urge to just say "forget this, I'm going home".
Part of it, I think, is the combination of my body and mind coming into that "last lap of the race" feeling. It's the bittersweet sensation that tells you "I've been running so long, and I'm so tired I just can't run anymore," while at the same time it says "I'm almost there, jsut a little bit further and I'll be finished." By this, I am referring to the fact that I am almost ready to take my A+ Certification exam. I've completed all the lessons and exercises offered in the course that I'm taking, and am now just putting myself through the practice tests until I am fully confident I'm ready for the real thing. While I continue to do this, however, my body, mind, and spirit are all in the back seat screaming "Are we there YET?!?!"
I guess the only driving force I have going now is the fact that I know, once this part of the "race" is over with, I'll be accelerating quickly towards several long-awaited goals. The first of these would be a better paying, and slightly less stressful job than the one that I'm in now, with a much more flexible schedule. Granted, third shift allows for a great deal of flexibility in the sense that you're almost never working during typical "business" hours, and therefore have the whole day to get things accomplished without having work get in the way of the daytime schedule. However, it does make things difficult when you want to cram a lot of stuff into one week, particularly when all the stuff runs during different portions of the day, and then have to work your sleep schedule around that.
The next goal would be a place of our own to stay in. My outlook on this is helped very much by a small vision I had last year around Christmas. It's actually quite odd the way it happened, because my prayer life hadn't been any better then than it ever has in any other point in my life, and I wasn't particularly engaged in conversation with God at the time, or even really thinking about this particular subject. In fact, for me, it was just another night at work. For everyone else in the world, it was Christmas Eve, a wonderful time of celebration in preparation for the next day, meant to be spent at home with the family. But, for me, it was just another night at work. In the middle of this mild depression over spending a "holiday night" at work instead of at home, God must have known (since he knows everything anyway) that I needed a little more fuel in my fire.
As I was reaching down to get a plastic bag for a customer (one of a great many we had that night), just going about my typical business, a vision entered my mind completely out of nowhere. I saw my daughter, not much older than she was at the time, sitting in a room that I did not recognize. I don't recall anything more about the scene itself than that, but there was a feeling of festivity in the room, along with a unique feeling of belonging. Then, the vision was gone, leaving behind an immense feeling of hope, and I knew immediately what it meant. This time (Christmas) next year (2005), I would not be in the place that I am in right now. It would be a place of our own. Whether it be a house, trailer, or apartment, it would be one that belonged to us. That brightened my Christmas more than anything else that year.
Meanwhile, however, life still goes on. The battle to keep one's head above water remains a burdensome one. All I can do is just keep running the race until I finally reach the finish line. And then, It'll be another race to run. But this time, it will be with a renewed energy, and in much more enjoyable surroundings.
- Iszi
Monday, January 17, 2005
Stopping In...
Greetings, Readers.
I'm just swinging by to say "Hi", and update my blog templates (read: links section) a little bit. Not really much to say right now.
Only big thing is our car's acting real buggy all of a sudden. It started a few days ago, when it just wouldn't start for some reason. Popped the hood to look at things, jiggled the battery cables a little, turned the key again and it came on. Couple days later (yesterday) the same thing happened. Popped the hood, smacked the battery a bit, and it fired right up with the next turn of the key. Now, however, the bugger's dead. I mean totally flat-line, not starting for anything's sake. Power is obviously flowing, as the lights, radio, and dashboard console all work. However, a "low battery" light is still showing, and nothing starts when the key is turned. Not even after a jump.
So, it should be interesting to see how things pan out from here. My wife has a cousin who works on cars and lives not far from here, so hopefully he'll be able to come over sometime soon and figure out what's going on, and hopefully it'll be soemthing cheap to replace. If not, I could be stuck with the ol' two-wheeler for awhile.
Anyway, I'm off to get that template clean-up done. Might even squeeze in a couple updates to My World In Pictures while I'm at it. After that, it's bedtime since I have cell group tonight, and work after that.
See y'allz later!
- Iszi
I'm just swinging by to say "Hi", and update my blog templates (read: links section) a little bit. Not really much to say right now.
Only big thing is our car's acting real buggy all of a sudden. It started a few days ago, when it just wouldn't start for some reason. Popped the hood to look at things, jiggled the battery cables a little, turned the key again and it came on. Couple days later (yesterday) the same thing happened. Popped the hood, smacked the battery a bit, and it fired right up with the next turn of the key. Now, however, the bugger's dead. I mean totally flat-line, not starting for anything's sake. Power is obviously flowing, as the lights, radio, and dashboard console all work. However, a "low battery" light is still showing, and nothing starts when the key is turned. Not even after a jump.
So, it should be interesting to see how things pan out from here. My wife has a cousin who works on cars and lives not far from here, so hopefully he'll be able to come over sometime soon and figure out what's going on, and hopefully it'll be soemthing cheap to replace. If not, I could be stuck with the ol' two-wheeler for awhile.
Anyway, I'm off to get that template clean-up done. Might even squeeze in a couple updates to My World In Pictures while I'm at it. After that, it's bedtime since I have cell group tonight, and work after that.
See y'allz later!
- Iszi
Friday, January 14, 2005
Studying
Greetings, Readers.
Something else that may add to my distractions from posting in the near future that I should mention, is studying. Through SmartCertify Direct, I am now studying for my CompTIA A+ Certification, and more to come. If I can stay steady with the schedule I've been following lately, I should be ready to take the exams (there's two parts) by the end of this month, if not middle of next.
With A+ Certification in hand, I shouldn't have much trouble working my way out of this rut of a convenience store job that I've been in for the past (nearly) year and a half. I don't plan on stopping there, however. With the program that I've purchased (and a cheap enough loan for it wasn't easy to find, either), I have a full year's access to SmartCertify's complete course library. Again, assuming I can continue approximately at the same pace I've been running for the past week or so that I've been enrolled, it shouldn't be too hard for me to have completed courses for, and passed the CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+ Certifications by the end of the year.
All this would be laying the foundation for what has long been my career goal: Network Administration. Where that might lead me, I do not know. But I do know that I've always had an aptitude and love for working with computers, so that is the best target I could think of to set my sights on.
So, if I don't post too often, this could be one reason why. Still, if all of you could please help keep me accountable to the once-per-week minimum, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you all for your support, and your concern in my absence.
- Iszi
Something else that may add to my distractions from posting in the near future that I should mention, is studying. Through SmartCertify Direct, I am now studying for my CompTIA A+ Certification, and more to come. If I can stay steady with the schedule I've been following lately, I should be ready to take the exams (there's two parts) by the end of this month, if not middle of next.
With A+ Certification in hand, I shouldn't have much trouble working my way out of this rut of a convenience store job that I've been in for the past (nearly) year and a half. I don't plan on stopping there, however. With the program that I've purchased (and a cheap enough loan for it wasn't easy to find, either), I have a full year's access to SmartCertify's complete course library. Again, assuming I can continue approximately at the same pace I've been running for the past week or so that I've been enrolled, it shouldn't be too hard for me to have completed courses for, and passed the CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+ Certifications by the end of the year.
All this would be laying the foundation for what has long been my career goal: Network Administration. Where that might lead me, I do not know. But I do know that I've always had an aptitude and love for working with computers, so that is the best target I could think of to set my sights on.
So, if I don't post too often, this could be one reason why. Still, if all of you could please help keep me accountable to the once-per-week minimum, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you all for your support, and your concern in my absence.
- Iszi
Thursday, January 13, 2005
TLR Website Up!
Greetings, Readers!
Finally, the website for The Living Room is up! Not much to look at just yet, but I can't wait to see what it finally develops into. URL is: http://www.thelivingroomorlando.com/ . Link is also in my Links list on the left of this page, just ignore the "(Under Construction)" note that is under that link until I get to updating my template, please.
- Iszi
Finally, the website for The Living Room is up! Not much to look at just yet, but I can't wait to see what it finally develops into. URL is: http://www.thelivingroomorlando.com/ . Link is also in my Links list on the left of this page, just ignore the "(Under Construction)" note that is under that link until I get to updating my template, please.
- Iszi
On-again, Off-again - My Bad Habit
Greetings, Readers.
First, let me say to everyone: Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
Okay, so that's quite a bit belated, but there it is nonetheless. Next, let me apologize for my absence. Several factors fell into play in causing this, one of the least of which was a (much-needed) re-formatting of my computer, yet the most of which would be a bad habit of mine when it comes to most projects I undertake which require my regular attention. You see, I have this bad habit of going through an "on-again, off again" cycle with many things I involve myself in. Such things included, to one degree or another, have been: church, online games (fortunately freebies, not subscription-ware like UO or EQ), forum memberships, and - of course - my blogs.
For a few of these, the cycle isn't such a bad thing to go through. For instance, leaving one game for another for awhile doesn't hurt my life or personal development in the least. Taking a break from posting in a forum I frequent doesn't hurt much aside from leaving some people that I've gotten to know there to wonder what's going on in my life. For others, however, the cycle does have an adverse effect on my life, whether noticeable or not. For instance, when I go through an "off-again" phase with church, I do end up feeling slightly disconnected from my "family", or feeling like I'm not doing as much as I should during times that I am usually helping out. "Off-again" phases with my Bible reading and prayer life (which typically have dominated my life, unfortunately still to this day) put a tight freeze on my spiritual growth, although the rest of my life seems to be running along reasonably fine. And this "off-again" phase with my blogs has left you all wondering what's going on here (thanks for the e-mails, by the way) and also left me feeling like something's just been missing here, yet I can't return to it because there's so much to catch up on.
So, here's the deal now. From here on, I will do my best to keep my posting to a minimum frequency of once a week. For my regular readers (if I still have any of you left), I would appreciate if you could help keep me accountable for this. If there's one week that I'm missing a post for, please e-mail me and just give me a little "tap on the shoulder" so to speak.
As for bringing things up to date here, I may or may not cover quite all the ground left open between my last post and this one. If I'm not mistaken, there's still a draft of my election post lying around here somewhere, so I may finish that up or otherwise break the topics up into separate posts. I will also try to bring My World In Pictures up to date also, but that's a LOT of pictures to sort through and upload, so that may take some time.
Thank you all for sticking with me through my absence, and thank you in advance for helping hold me to my commitments here.
- Iszi
First, let me say to everyone: Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
Okay, so that's quite a bit belated, but there it is nonetheless. Next, let me apologize for my absence. Several factors fell into play in causing this, one of the least of which was a (much-needed) re-formatting of my computer, yet the most of which would be a bad habit of mine when it comes to most projects I undertake which require my regular attention. You see, I have this bad habit of going through an "on-again, off again" cycle with many things I involve myself in. Such things included, to one degree or another, have been: church, online games (fortunately freebies, not subscription-ware like UO or EQ), forum memberships, and - of course - my blogs.
For a few of these, the cycle isn't such a bad thing to go through. For instance, leaving one game for another for awhile doesn't hurt my life or personal development in the least. Taking a break from posting in a forum I frequent doesn't hurt much aside from leaving some people that I've gotten to know there to wonder what's going on in my life. For others, however, the cycle does have an adverse effect on my life, whether noticeable or not. For instance, when I go through an "off-again" phase with church, I do end up feeling slightly disconnected from my "family", or feeling like I'm not doing as much as I should during times that I am usually helping out. "Off-again" phases with my Bible reading and prayer life (which typically have dominated my life, unfortunately still to this day) put a tight freeze on my spiritual growth, although the rest of my life seems to be running along reasonably fine. And this "off-again" phase with my blogs has left you all wondering what's going on here (thanks for the e-mails, by the way) and also left me feeling like something's just been missing here, yet I can't return to it because there's so much to catch up on.
So, here's the deal now. From here on, I will do my best to keep my posting to a minimum frequency of once a week. For my regular readers (if I still have any of you left), I would appreciate if you could help keep me accountable for this. If there's one week that I'm missing a post for, please e-mail me and just give me a little "tap on the shoulder" so to speak.
As for bringing things up to date here, I may or may not cover quite all the ground left open between my last post and this one. If I'm not mistaken, there's still a draft of my election post lying around here somewhere, so I may finish that up or otherwise break the topics up into separate posts. I will also try to bring My World In Pictures up to date also, but that's a LOT of pictures to sort through and upload, so that may take some time.
Thank you all for sticking with me through my absence, and thank you in advance for helping hold me to my commitments here.
- Iszi
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