Leelanau Whippersnapper » Hacks http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com The Northwoods Is No Place For A Pink Flamingo Sun, 05 Sep 2010 00:21:07 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 I’ve Had It http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/2010/04/ive-had-it/ http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/2010/04/ive-had-it/#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:41:01 +0000 leelanau2010 http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/?p=858 Ok, I know I rant and holler and bitch and whatever else all the time about Charter, my Internet provider and yet I continue to use them.  Well, I’ve finally had it with them.  I won’t say where I’m getting the connection right now to write this blog post but it’s not coming from Charter, all I’ll say is there are some pretty dumb ass people living around me.  So, likely this next Tuesday I will be making phone calls to AT&T, Verizon, and any other DSL service provider I can locate in town to see what kind of deals I can get for Internet.  Any way I look at it, the new service I find will mean shittier speeds meaning I won’t be able to watch as much video in as high a quality, and I won’t be able to download things as fast, I won’t be able to stream music as flawlessly and it will just all around suck donkey balls.  The cable TV is going away entirely at this point, perhaps if I decide that I really do need TV in the future I will get satellite service.  The folks down at the Charter office are going to get an ear full from me, I’ll say my peace and just be done with them forever.  I suppose if living up here means being able to sit on a boat in the summer, it also means putting up with the fact that this town is not set up for geeks like me who actually understand how to utilize technology to our advantage rather than just putz around looking at porn and reading blogs.  It’s no wonder at all to me why there are no significant tech companies located in Northern Michigan.  They would simply collapse given the lack of understanding people have about the Internet and how it works and how it could work SOOOOOOO much better up here than it actually does.  Charter has this region by the balls and they are not going to let go for any reason.  My best choice is to rid myself of their horrendous services before it just drives me fucking nuts.

To top off my day today, I came home and received a summons for Jury Duty.  This is just the qualification questionnaire at this point so I’ve not actually been selected but shit, this could not be a worse time to have to do that.  I am buried up to my eyes at work right now and my team is a mess mainly because of their inability to live up to my standards.  I’m pissed off at most of them right now for various reasons and they know it which makes working with them rather tense at times.  All I want them to do is do their fucking jobs.  I want them to work the hours I schedule them, sell things to people when there are people there to sell to, and put stock away when there are no customers.  The job could not be simpler.  I can’t leave them for a single day without walking back into a disaster.  Thank GOD it’s just an internal one and they are so far not pissing off customers.  The sad thing is, most of them are so comfortable in their positions that they don’t understand they can be replaced at the drop of a hat….for that matter so can I.  300 applications a week STILL coming in from people looking for a job.  It’s unbelievable how big the prospective employee pool is at this point but yet, those who are applying?  Out of 300, maybe 5 are potential candidates AT BEST.  When you aren’t even qualified to work as a stocker in a big box store there is a problem not only with the economy but with the entire job pool.  I digress.  So lets all hope I don’t get called to sit on a jury right now.  I really just don’t have the time or the patience to put my life on hold in order to determine someone else’s fate.

I have been able to do a little photography lately.  So click on over to leelanauphotography.com and take a look at the gallery.  I’ve been adding to it recently.

]]> http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/2010/04/ive-had-it/feed/ 0 Finished http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/2008/10/finished/ http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/2008/10/finished/#comments Wed, 22 Oct 2008 03:10:49 +0000 leelanau2010 http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/?p=124 Alright then.  I’ve settled on a new theme for my blog and at least for the time being I’m going to keep it.  It’s a little simpler than the previous one and maybe a little easier to read now that it’s on a white background.  I have added A TON of new links on the sidebars that you can feel free to check out.  I’ll be adding lots more in the future as I continue to expand this blog to make it useful not just to keep up with what I’m doing but also to keep up with what is going on in the world etc.  Now I’m off to bed, tomorrow brings another day of work, god I hope traffic starts to pick up a little bit…it’s going to be a LONG winter up here.

]]> http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/2008/10/finished/feed/ 2 New Theme http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/2008/10/new-theme/ http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/2008/10/new-theme/#comments Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:32:36 +0000 leelanau2010 http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/?p=123 OK, my ADD is acting up again and I’m getting tired of this blog ‘theme’ that I have.  I’m going to be playing around with new designs for a while tonight and will eventually settle on something new.  Just warning you!

]]> http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/2008/10/new-theme/feed/ 0 Toys http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/2008/04/the-cost-of-life/ http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/2008/04/the-cost-of-life/#comments Thu, 01 May 2008 02:43:59 +0000 leelanau2010 http://leelanauwhippersnapper.com/?p=34 OK, so I will be the first to admit that being single with a full time, well paying job has distinct advantages. I’ll also be the first to say that my bills could be MUCH lower than they are. I have (and likely always will) live well beyond my means. That said, I’ve come a long way in learning how to manage my cash flow. Granted, I still get nailed sometimes with expenses that I’ve not planed for but for the most part, I’ve finally arrived to that point where I’m not running to Mom and Dad every other week for a loan like I was years ago (but thank God they still have the willingness to bail me out once in a while). It’s amazing how much better you can feel about life when you actually have a few months of standard expenses in the bank as a buffer and you aren’t living paycheck to paycheck. This is the only time of year I can enjoy that…I hope that since I am no longer required to share my “wealth” with anyone else, I can maintain that buffer for quite a while now.

That said, I am a tech geek in many ways. I always have to have the latest toys. Jirar told me the other day that he was planning on taking back his iPod. I have grown pretty fond of the little mp3 player since my entire music collection is now in digital form. I don’t have much use for a CD player any more. Well, it is his iPod and it would have been hard for me to just say no so I went out and decided to just buy my own. I looked at a few options and it was a toss up between the 80gig iPod classic which would have been large enough to hold my 20gig music collection as well as video and podcasts -OR- the 8gb iPod Touch which is the latest and greatest thing from Apple with an awesome touch screen, WiFi enabled so I can get on the internet anywhere there is an access point (important now that I’ll be moving into town) and LOTS of other toys that are just fun. The biggest drawback however was that it is 10 times smaller in capacity. There was really no significant price difference between the 2, only a HUGE size difference. The iPod Classic would hold 10 times the number of mp3′s that the iPod Touch would.

Well, I decided to go with the iPod Touch. At best, and at any given time, I only listen to around 2-3gb worth of my mp3 files (about 150 songs). My taste in music fluctuates and these things are accommodating enough that I can just rotate my music collection as my taste evolves and changes. And now I can sit in my living room and watch YouTube videos on my iPod.

This thing also comes as a phone but you have to have AT&T as your provider right now and I can not justify switching cell phone providers, especially after I just got a new cell phone too!

Anyhow, I think my recent spending spree is pretty much over now. The last thing I need to do is get Gavin updated on his shots at the vet but selling off my firewood to Uncle Lou will pay for that. The only other thing I have to invest in now is half the fee of a storage unit that Jirar and I will be sharing starting in July. Beyond that, I’m pretty well up to date for the year.

Writing should be picking up a little although I am going into a stretch now of 3 weeks in a row without a weekend off. My assistant is having surgery so in order to keep things going I’ve had to pick up some slack. Lucky for me, she will be paying me back later this summer by working several days for me so I can have a break (even though she doesn’t know it now). Cheers for now!

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