Rising on a Monday holiday, I have thoughts totally different from other Mondays, even when I awake to a headache, like this morning. First, it’s after noon. Yes, I sleep late…whenever I can. No work day starts so late, though if I worked an afternoon helpdesk shift I might not truly wake up until after noon, but Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have to be alert and ready at 8:00 am, or as soon after that as I arrive. Tuesday and Thursday I get a small break and I man the helpdesk from 10:00 to 12:00. Add to that, one lunch shift every 7 days (not once a week, but 7 work days) and you have the most visible part of my job, and the only part that is scheduled…well, except for 8:00-5:00.
I like my job…sort of. The people I work with are nice…mostly. I just don’t like working…well, even that isn’t quite true. There are only a few things about my job that I don’t really like. I don’t like getting up in the morning. I don’t like dealing with the same stupid question day after day.
“Why isn’t my password working?”
“Because you’ve forgotten it for the 3rd time this week.”
We don’t have anyone quite that bad, but when you are resetting a password for the fifth time that morning for people who call every couple of weeks…well, you get the picture.
Then, there are the people who seem to feel that they are doing you a favor by letting you fix their computer…even when it is their fault, like they clicked on the “would you like to be infested with a virus?” link.
Working an IT helpdesk can give you a very poor opinion of people. They do really stupid things, they never learn, and so you spend your time fixing the same thing that you fixed last week, and they can never understand why things go wrong.
Then you have the people who think they know what they are doing. Obviously, most of them don’t, but you have to be polite. A few of them do, and that can be an even bigger problem, because for each knowledgeable user to shows it by staying out of trouble, you have two who think they know enough to fix the problem, and end up calling after they have really screwed things up. Some say that you need a computer to really screw things up, but that computer needs a thinks-he-knows-more-than-he-does user before it will really get screwed up.
So, on this Monday that isn’t, I am just happy that I don’t have to answer any of those questions this morning.
And now, if only I could get rid of this headache.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Great Austin Burger Hunt
Whataburger
11135 N. I-35
Austin, TX
Well, being in Austin and looking for burgers it was inevitable that I would end up at Whataburger. There are many in Texas who consider Whataburger one of the all-time great burger places, but I didn’t grow up here and I am not among them. I often call it Wait-a-burger. They take a long time to deliver your burger. Now, if you take longer to deliver a burger then ought to deliver A burger worth the wait.
Well, I cannot say that I think they do. I ordered a double Whataburger with cheese, waited my half hour (okay, it only seemed long) and then sat down to eat.
The burger was hot, fresh, juicy and utterly…average. There was nothing wrong with it. It was tasty, but it wasn’t really any better than a McDonald’s burger and I waited twice as long for it.
They ask if you want mayo or mustard and when you say both, they slop it on like they have an investment in French’s and Hellmann’s. The lettuce was thick and chewy, as if cut only from the base of a head of Iceberg. I don’t do pickles, onions or tomatoes so maybe that is where they earn that reputation, I don’t know.
The fries were hot but still a little limp and they had no legs at all.
Now, at the start I may have come off a bit harsh. I like Whataburger and I stop there with some regularity. Of course, what I really enjoy is the biscuit and gravy for breakfast. I suspect that some of Whataburger’s rather grand reputation in Texas comes from small towns where the only competition is Dairy Queen, and there is no doubt that Whataburger is a big step up from DQ when it comes to burgers.
11135 N. I-35
Austin, TX
Well, being in Austin and looking for burgers it was inevitable that I would end up at Whataburger. There are many in Texas who consider Whataburger one of the all-time great burger places, but I didn’t grow up here and I am not among them. I often call it Wait-a-burger. They take a long time to deliver your burger. Now, if you take longer to deliver a burger then ought to deliver A burger worth the wait.
Well, I cannot say that I think they do. I ordered a double Whataburger with cheese, waited my half hour (okay, it only seemed long) and then sat down to eat.
The burger was hot, fresh, juicy and utterly…average. There was nothing wrong with it. It was tasty, but it wasn’t really any better than a McDonald’s burger and I waited twice as long for it.
They ask if you want mayo or mustard and when you say both, they slop it on like they have an investment in French’s and Hellmann’s. The lettuce was thick and chewy, as if cut only from the base of a head of Iceberg. I don’t do pickles, onions or tomatoes so maybe that is where they earn that reputation, I don’t know.
The fries were hot but still a little limp and they had no legs at all.
Now, at the start I may have come off a bit harsh. I like Whataburger and I stop there with some regularity. Of course, what I really enjoy is the biscuit and gravy for breakfast. I suspect that some of Whataburger’s rather grand reputation in Texas comes from small towns where the only competition is Dairy Queen, and there is no doubt that Whataburger is a big step up from DQ when it comes to burgers.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
And Now For Something Completely Different…
…a man with a stoat through his head.
Yes, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, I first discovered the show back in High School on PBS. I had to be home early-ish on Saturday nights, but my parents didn’t seem to mind if I stayed up late to watch silly TV.
I think the sheer absurdity is what first drew me in. Skits that didn’t have a punch line, segues that made no sense, which is what made them funny, men in drag, and the even-more-absurd-than-the-rest-of-the-show cartoons.
It wasn’t until years later that I found them again and once again on PBS and managed to see all of them…well, almost all of them. Despite watching them for many years it wasn’t until I bought them on DVD that I found I had never seen The Money Programme.
From Spam to Dead Parrots, the six Pythons have given the world some of the funniest moments ever recorded. In The Lumberjack Song, Oh you’re no fun anymore, Whizzo Butter, Nudge Nudge, Confuse a Cat, Upper Class Twit of the Year, the Fish License, Crunchy Frog, the Dirty Vicar and the Ministry of Silly Walks, they have given us comic bits that have become part of our collective psyche.
Every so often I am overcome by the desire to see them again and that time has come again. This time I found them on Netflix and I hope that a little of my monthly fee goes to the five surviving members. They have brought so many smiles to my face and giggles to my lips that I don’t mind sending a little money their way.
Yes, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, I first discovered the show back in High School on PBS. I had to be home early-ish on Saturday nights, but my parents didn’t seem to mind if I stayed up late to watch silly TV.
I think the sheer absurdity is what first drew me in. Skits that didn’t have a punch line, segues that made no sense, which is what made them funny, men in drag, and the even-more-absurd-than-the-rest-of-the-show cartoons.
It wasn’t until years later that I found them again and once again on PBS and managed to see all of them…well, almost all of them. Despite watching them for many years it wasn’t until I bought them on DVD that I found I had never seen The Money Programme.
From Spam to Dead Parrots, the six Pythons have given the world some of the funniest moments ever recorded. In The Lumberjack Song, Oh you’re no fun anymore, Whizzo Butter, Nudge Nudge, Confuse a Cat, Upper Class Twit of the Year, the Fish License, Crunchy Frog, the Dirty Vicar and the Ministry of Silly Walks, they have given us comic bits that have become part of our collective psyche.
Every so often I am overcome by the desire to see them again and that time has come again. This time I found them on Netflix and I hope that a little of my monthly fee goes to the five surviving members. They have brought so many smiles to my face and giggles to my lips that I don’t mind sending a little money their way.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Tablets
I have been giving a lot of thought to tablets lately. The iPad has put tablets on the map and a number of manufacturers seem to be scrambling to get something on the market.
Tablets generally come in two varieties. The iPad is the flagship for the limited type of tablet, which runs on an ARM processor and runs an OS similar (or identical) to a smartphone. The second type generally runs a low power, low heat version of a desktop processor and a desktop OS, like Windows. Without meaning to demean either type, you could think of these as being netbooks without keyboards and large screen smartphones. I am careful about my insult warning because I don’t want to offend iPad buyers. I can certainly talk at length about the deficiencies of the iPad, but that isn’t my point now.
While many feel that the iPad has the tablet market to itself, that is only because they never looked for a tablet until the iPad came along. In addition, it looks like the market will soon be flooded with competitors. Many of those competitors will be equipped with ARM processors and will run Android, which will place them as direct competitors of the iPad in the first segment mentioned above. Android is a smartphone OS.
To truly understand the tablet market you must understand the limitations and advantages of these two types of tablets. A new nomenclature has been suggested for this market. Slate would refer to the more limited giant smartphone device, while tablet would be reserved for devices running a desktop OS. I like it, so I’ll be using it.
Slate (Giant Smartphone)
Since the iPad is the best known tablet I will use it as the example.
I have disparagingly referred to the iPad as a glorified iPod Touch. This is correct for the simple reason that the iPad does nothing more than an iPod Touch. They run the same OS and the same apps. Anything and iPad can do, an iPod Touch can do. This is true for any tablet that runs Android, except of course you must compare it to an Android phone.
Now, that doesn’t mean that this type of tablet is worthless. If you have used a smartphone for any length of time you know that one of its biggest limitations is the tiny screen. The tablet relieves that problem. Whether watching videos, reading or surfing the web, the experience is better because of that larger screen.
Tablet (Keyboardless Netbook)
Now, on to the second type of tablet.
So far, most of the more powerful tablets run Windows. They aren’t really any bigger than the lesser tablets, though they may be a bit thicker because of the extra heat from the more powerful processor. Many netbooks run Linux and you should be able to run any variety of Linux on Tablet devices.
Tablets offer many advantages over Slates, though some of these advantages may be shared by Android Slates, which will have their own advantages over the iPad.
As I used the iPad above, I am going to use a Windows Tablet as my example here. It is no accident that I am going to use a Samsung Q1U as my example, I am writing this on my Samsung Q1U right now.
My Tablet has a full version of Microsoft Office on it, not the Mobile Version that you find on Windows Phone, but the full version, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, even Access. Now, you may think that a boast, but actually it is just an example. With A Windows Tablet you can run any application that will run on Windows.
My Samsung also has two USB ports, a network jack, a VGA port and an SD card slot. You won’t find any of those on an iPad, though you may find SD card slots on Android Tablets. And yes, my Samsung has WiFi and Bluetooth.
Now, my old Samsung is a bit of a dinosaur in the Tablet World, but you can see that a true Tablet will have capabilities that no Slate can match.
The price for choosing A Tablet over a Slate are cost and weight. The fan on my Samsung is running right now.
I am not offering any judgments today. I am not here to declare one better than the other, only to define the market.
Tablets generally come in two varieties. The iPad is the flagship for the limited type of tablet, which runs on an ARM processor and runs an OS similar (or identical) to a smartphone. The second type generally runs a low power, low heat version of a desktop processor and a desktop OS, like Windows. Without meaning to demean either type, you could think of these as being netbooks without keyboards and large screen smartphones. I am careful about my insult warning because I don’t want to offend iPad buyers. I can certainly talk at length about the deficiencies of the iPad, but that isn’t my point now.
While many feel that the iPad has the tablet market to itself, that is only because they never looked for a tablet until the iPad came along. In addition, it looks like the market will soon be flooded with competitors. Many of those competitors will be equipped with ARM processors and will run Android, which will place them as direct competitors of the iPad in the first segment mentioned above. Android is a smartphone OS.
To truly understand the tablet market you must understand the limitations and advantages of these two types of tablets. A new nomenclature has been suggested for this market. Slate would refer to the more limited giant smartphone device, while tablet would be reserved for devices running a desktop OS. I like it, so I’ll be using it.
Slate (Giant Smartphone)
Since the iPad is the best known tablet I will use it as the example.
I have disparagingly referred to the iPad as a glorified iPod Touch. This is correct for the simple reason that the iPad does nothing more than an iPod Touch. They run the same OS and the same apps. Anything and iPad can do, an iPod Touch can do. This is true for any tablet that runs Android, except of course you must compare it to an Android phone.
Now, that doesn’t mean that this type of tablet is worthless. If you have used a smartphone for any length of time you know that one of its biggest limitations is the tiny screen. The tablet relieves that problem. Whether watching videos, reading or surfing the web, the experience is better because of that larger screen.
Tablet (Keyboardless Netbook)
Now, on to the second type of tablet.
So far, most of the more powerful tablets run Windows. They aren’t really any bigger than the lesser tablets, though they may be a bit thicker because of the extra heat from the more powerful processor. Many netbooks run Linux and you should be able to run any variety of Linux on Tablet devices.
Tablets offer many advantages over Slates, though some of these advantages may be shared by Android Slates, which will have their own advantages over the iPad.
As I used the iPad above, I am going to use a Windows Tablet as my example here. It is no accident that I am going to use a Samsung Q1U as my example, I am writing this on my Samsung Q1U right now.
My Tablet has a full version of Microsoft Office on it, not the Mobile Version that you find on Windows Phone, but the full version, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, even Access. Now, you may think that a boast, but actually it is just an example. With A Windows Tablet you can run any application that will run on Windows.
My Samsung also has two USB ports, a network jack, a VGA port and an SD card slot. You won’t find any of those on an iPad, though you may find SD card slots on Android Tablets. And yes, my Samsung has WiFi and Bluetooth.
Now, my old Samsung is a bit of a dinosaur in the Tablet World, but you can see that a true Tablet will have capabilities that no Slate can match.
The price for choosing A Tablet over a Slate are cost and weight. The fan on my Samsung is running right now.
I am not offering any judgments today. I am not here to declare one better than the other, only to define the market.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Great Austin Burger Hunt
Chili’s Oldtimer
Chili’s
12901 N IH 35
Austin, TX 78753-1018
512-251-2442
“I want my baby back, baby back, baby back…..”
Okay, not really. Purely by accident, Chili’s is second on my Great Austin Burger Hunt. Accident, because I went out with my wife and my mother-in-law and that is where we ended up. Now, what I really love at Chili’s is the Skillet Queso, but when it comes to dinner, you can do a lot worse than the Oldtimer. I picked the Oldtimer, because I wanted to try the burger, somewhat plain-ish, if you will. I didn’t want a burger buried in BBQ sauce, or bacon, or what have you. I wanted a burger, plain and simple.
Funny thing, well actually 2 funny things, when I ordered it the waitress didn’t ask how I wanted it. I expect that in a sit-down restaurant, and I seem to remember it from past trips to Chili’s. I told her medium well anyway, and asked for some mustard and mayo. I asked her to leave off the red onions, but forgot to mention the tomato, and pickles, which I didn’t want either, my bad.
So, I finished my Skillet Queso, with a little help from my Mother-in-Law (my wife does not eat meat) and waiting for my burger. It wasn’t long in coming and that is when I noticed the second funny thing. The burger was considerably smaller than I remember. They are called Big Mouth Burgers, and it wasn’t exactly tiny, but it was not the same enormous burger that you used to get at Chili’s.
It was good though. Once again, not spectacular, but it was good nonetheless. They put plenty of mayo on it, but I did have to ask for some mustard. Now, that does not really detract from the burger, so much as from the overall dining experience, but it is something to note. The meat was juicy and tender and cooked perfectly. I ordered Swiss Cheese, which was nicely melted. There wasn’t nearly enough lettuce, especially after I removed the tomato and pickles (again, my fault).
Chili’s Fries are very good and these did not disappoint. They may not travel well, but they don’t need to and they remained crisp and tasty until I finished them, and never turned greasy or soggy. I am not a big fan of pepper on fries, but it works for Chili’s.
So, for a conclusion…the burger itself was good, but not great, and the fries were very good.
If I had to compare them to Five Guys (do I? why yes, I suppose I do) I would probably put them about even. Neither excelled into the burger stratosphere, but both left me willing to come back for more, and isn’t that what a restaurant is really looking for, repeat customers?
Chili’s
12901 N IH 35
Austin, TX 78753-1018
512-251-2442
“I want my baby back, baby back, baby back…..”
Okay, not really. Purely by accident, Chili’s is second on my Great Austin Burger Hunt. Accident, because I went out with my wife and my mother-in-law and that is where we ended up. Now, what I really love at Chili’s is the Skillet Queso, but when it comes to dinner, you can do a lot worse than the Oldtimer. I picked the Oldtimer, because I wanted to try the burger, somewhat plain-ish, if you will. I didn’t want a burger buried in BBQ sauce, or bacon, or what have you. I wanted a burger, plain and simple.
Funny thing, well actually 2 funny things, when I ordered it the waitress didn’t ask how I wanted it. I expect that in a sit-down restaurant, and I seem to remember it from past trips to Chili’s. I told her medium well anyway, and asked for some mustard and mayo. I asked her to leave off the red onions, but forgot to mention the tomato, and pickles, which I didn’t want either, my bad.
So, I finished my Skillet Queso, with a little help from my Mother-in-Law (my wife does not eat meat) and waiting for my burger. It wasn’t long in coming and that is when I noticed the second funny thing. The burger was considerably smaller than I remember. They are called Big Mouth Burgers, and it wasn’t exactly tiny, but it was not the same enormous burger that you used to get at Chili’s.
It was good though. Once again, not spectacular, but it was good nonetheless. They put plenty of mayo on it, but I did have to ask for some mustard. Now, that does not really detract from the burger, so much as from the overall dining experience, but it is something to note. The meat was juicy and tender and cooked perfectly. I ordered Swiss Cheese, which was nicely melted. There wasn’t nearly enough lettuce, especially after I removed the tomato and pickles (again, my fault).
Chili’s Fries are very good and these did not disappoint. They may not travel well, but they don’t need to and they remained crisp and tasty until I finished them, and never turned greasy or soggy. I am not a big fan of pepper on fries, but it works for Chili’s.
So, for a conclusion…the burger itself was good, but not great, and the fries were very good.
If I had to compare them to Five Guys (do I? why yes, I suppose I do) I would probably put them about even. Neither excelled into the burger stratosphere, but both left me willing to come back for more, and isn’t that what a restaurant is really looking for, repeat customers?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Creative Process
Something my wife said started me thinking about creativity. I was thinking about the process of creativity and about why people can be very creative in one area and yet not another. For example, I think that my writing and my armoring (Red Dragon Armoury) show that I have creativity but yet I cannot seem to express that creativity in visual arts, like drawing and painting.
Back in college, my second try at college (it took three tries to get a degree), I was a commercial art major. It started off as a sleeping stone to architecture, which is what I had decided on in High School. I was very excited by what I saw produced by illustrators and that is what I wanted to be able to do, book covers, movie posters and especially album covers. This is lack in the days when vinyl was still king and I especially loved the glorious album cowers of Roger Dean.
Unfortunately, I just wasn’t very good at it. I couldn’t translate what I saw or what I imagined onto the canvas. And more than just being unable, I was extremely frustrated by my lack of ability and therefore by the whole process of creating my art. Eventually, I gave it up.
My point about creativity is that it is a process, and a love of the finished product is not enough. You must love the process that leads to that product or you will never truly be successful in that creative endeavor.
I never really enjoyed the process of producing a painting or drawing enough to power through my lack of skill. I enjoy the process that ends in a finished piece of armor. I never really enjoyed the process that produced a piece of flat art. I never tried sculpture when I was at school and what I do now is partially metal sculpture.
Finally, I come to another of my creative endeavors, an endeavor that has been causing me some frustration of late, my writing. I enjoy writing but for a long time I struggled with trying to become a professional writer. When I look back at those days, more than 30 years ago, I think that I wanted to be a writer more than I wanted to write. I wanted the product more than process.
The only writing that I have done with any consistency is the journal that I have kept for more 35 years. It has been a constant companion and yet it has sat unused for long periods.
I don’t know if I will ever sell anything, but I have finally learned to love the process of writing…as long as I don’t push too hard. When I try to force myself to write I generally find that things go badly.
Back in college, my second try at college (it took three tries to get a degree), I was a commercial art major. It started off as a sleeping stone to architecture, which is what I had decided on in High School. I was very excited by what I saw produced by illustrators and that is what I wanted to be able to do, book covers, movie posters and especially album covers. This is lack in the days when vinyl was still king and I especially loved the glorious album cowers of Roger Dean.
Unfortunately, I just wasn’t very good at it. I couldn’t translate what I saw or what I imagined onto the canvas. And more than just being unable, I was extremely frustrated by my lack of ability and therefore by the whole process of creating my art. Eventually, I gave it up.
My point about creativity is that it is a process, and a love of the finished product is not enough. You must love the process that leads to that product or you will never truly be successful in that creative endeavor.
I never really enjoyed the process of producing a painting or drawing enough to power through my lack of skill. I enjoy the process that ends in a finished piece of armor. I never really enjoyed the process that produced a piece of flat art. I never tried sculpture when I was at school and what I do now is partially metal sculpture.
Finally, I come to another of my creative endeavors, an endeavor that has been causing me some frustration of late, my writing. I enjoy writing but for a long time I struggled with trying to become a professional writer. When I look back at those days, more than 30 years ago, I think that I wanted to be a writer more than I wanted to write. I wanted the product more than process.
The only writing that I have done with any consistency is the journal that I have kept for more 35 years. It has been a constant companion and yet it has sat unused for long periods.
I don’t know if I will ever sell anything, but I have finally learned to love the process of writing…as long as I don’t push too hard. When I try to force myself to write I generally find that things go badly.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Writing About Boredom
Fundamentally, I am bored.
Now, this is not much in the way of a revelation, at least to me, but once again I was struck by the fact that this may be the base motivation for much of what I do.
I play Mass Effect 2 for the third and a half time because I’m bored.
I watch videos because I’m bored.
I don’t want to mow the yard, or wash dishes, or clean my room, or do any of a hundred other necessary things because they are boring and I am already fundamentally bored.
I don’t write because I’m bored.
This is the one that is bothering me at the moment. I enjoy writing and I think that I have a certain amount of skill at it, but lately I have found it hard to get myself to sit down and just write. Then, to top it all off, the last time I tried to force myself to sit and write was a disaster. I may have squeezed out a few paragraphs I but they were pretty awful.
It could be a problem with the story I was working on, but I think it might have to do with how I write fiction. I find that I have to see the scene in my head before I can write it. One story I wrote for an online game forum seemed to take forever, because some of the scenes wouldn’t quite come to me.
But, I think the real problem is that I am so fundamentally bored that I find it hard to let my mind wander in the way that helps me imagine the stories.
I am so fundamentally bored that I work at distracting myself and I end up distracting myself from writing as well as almost anything else useful.
Unless of course you consider it useful to catch up on the unwatched videos that you have been meaning to watch.
Now, this is not much in the way of a revelation, at least to me, but once again I was struck by the fact that this may be the base motivation for much of what I do.
I play Mass Effect 2 for the third and a half time because I’m bored.
I watch videos because I’m bored.
I don’t want to mow the yard, or wash dishes, or clean my room, or do any of a hundred other necessary things because they are boring and I am already fundamentally bored.
I don’t write because I’m bored.
This is the one that is bothering me at the moment. I enjoy writing and I think that I have a certain amount of skill at it, but lately I have found it hard to get myself to sit down and just write. Then, to top it all off, the last time I tried to force myself to sit and write was a disaster. I may have squeezed out a few paragraphs I but they were pretty awful.
It could be a problem with the story I was working on, but I think it might have to do with how I write fiction. I find that I have to see the scene in my head before I can write it. One story I wrote for an online game forum seemed to take forever, because some of the scenes wouldn’t quite come to me.
But, I think the real problem is that I am so fundamentally bored that I find it hard to let my mind wander in the way that helps me imagine the stories.
I am so fundamentally bored that I work at distracting myself and I end up distracting myself from writing as well as almost anything else useful.
Unless of course you consider it useful to catch up on the unwatched videos that you have been meaning to watch.
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