Things that might be decidedly odd…

Working From Home on the Mac

Without going into too much detail (it’s probably confidential or something anyways), I have to use a smart card reader to work from home. The problem is that the necessary software only works on Windows. Being that I have a Mac this is somewhat of a hassle. I have a dedicated Windows PC, but it’s loud and takes up its own extra space on my desk (actually my dining room table–I still need to get more furniture).

When I bought my first Intel-based Mac, I was excited that I’d be able to use Parallels Desktop. Unfortunately, its USB support is very limited and it just refused to work with my smart card reader. Since then, I’d pretty much given up on getting this to ever work.

Well, a few months ago I heard that VMware, the industry standard for this sort of software was going to create a Mac version of their software. I gave them my email for the beta announcement, which was sent out just a couple days ago. This morning, I installed the VMware Fusion Beta to see if I could get things set up for working from home. After downloading the software, installing Windows, getting the stuff setup for working from home, etc. it’s actually working!

So far I’ve been very impressed with VMware’s product. Unlike Parallels, I don’t have to fight with it to get things done. Resources like the CD/DVD drive and the USB smart card reader connect automatically without any arcane tricks. It just works for the most part, which is exactly how every Mac (and non-Mac) product should ideally work. It’ll be interesting to see what the final released version is like and how much it will cost. Comparable software for the PC is nearly $200. I might be willing to pay that much I suppose, but I’ll just have to wait and see.

Old Car Update

I finally got around to calling the mechanic today about making an appointment to get the headlight fixed and wiper blades replaced. These are the two outstanding issues on the car that I want taken car of before I can sell it. The guy said he’d have to order the part before I come down. He said he’d call back, but so far I haven’t heard anything. I may have to call back tomorrow to see what progress they’ve made. Looking around online, a replacement passenger side headlamp assembly for my car appears to run around $65. So it’s going to cost a little to get this all taken care of.

I also need to have the car washed and vacuumed, but there’s a place nearby that will do all that for like $10 after a discount for MS employees. Basically, I want the car to be fully ready to go by the time I put it on the market. I want prospective buyers to see the car and think “wow, this is a great car that’s all ready to go” so that I can get the best price. In my ownership of it, I’ve put about 20,000 miles plus new CV joints, a new timing belt, a new battery, 4 new tires, new brakes (new front pads, new back pads and new back rotors) on this thing, so I’m expecting to be able to get about what I paid for it. It’s a Toyota so it still has a lot of miles left on it to say the least.

I got a letter in the mail for the bill to renew my car tabs the other day. It needs to be done by 2/15, so I definitely want to sell the car by then. My insurance policy expires about a week before that as well and since I’m considering switching companies, it would be much easier to do comparison shopping with just the one car.

So that it doesn’t sit around all the time (never good for a car), I’m trying to drive the car every day while I’m at work. Today, I went over to get lunch/dinner at Baja Fresh and took my old car. It’s interesting how it handles differently than my new car. The steering is less precise, the braking is less sensitive, it has less pickup. From what I’ve been able to ascertain, it tends to get better gas mileage on non-highway driving than my new car. It’s just a different car more than anything with different strengths and weaknesses. Still, I get nostalgic driving it. It’s a perfectly good car, which makes it hard to get rid of. If it was breaking down all the time or had other serious problems, I’m sure I’d just want to part with it as soon as possible.

Sore Throat Update

Today I woke up without much of a sore throat at all. My throat still feels kind of funny, but is definitely not painfully sore. The doctor’s office also called this afternoon to inform me that my throat swab came back negative for strep throat, so presumably it was some sort of virus. That means I can stop taking the amoxicillin he started me on yesterday, which is good because it makes my spit taste funny to myself (and presumably others–not that anybody else has been tasting my bodily fluids lately).

Pictures from Christmas

I only took a couple of random pictures while I was down in SoCal for Christmas.

Since I was staying in a hotel in the neighborhood where I grew up (until I was 11), I drove by my childhood home and took a picture of it:

The paint job on the place is pretty hideous (teal and beige) and the lawn is rather dead. Where the bench is now, there used to be a palm tree whose top stuck up through a hole in the roof. There also used to be a very tall tree on the park strip, but even I remember when that had to be cut down since it would drop large, heavy branches occassionally. I also remember when the block wall on the right side was built.

I also drove by my old elementary school. Here’s a picture:

Yes, I really went to Walt Disney Elementary School. I’m not sure if that’s bizarre or tragic or what, but I generally liked going to school there. In fact, I attended no less than 3 elementary schools as a kid. Mattie Lou Maxwell School for Kindergarten and for maybe a couple weeks of first grade, Disney until about March of 6th grade and then finally Ole Hanson Elementary in San Clemente for those remaining few months. I’m still not sure who Mattie Lou Maxwell was. Everybody knows who Walt Disney is. Ole Hanson was the founder of San Clemente and Twenty-Nine Palms and oddly enough a former mayor of Seattle.

Sore Throat Saga Continues

This morning when I woke up on the futon (see the previous entry about the leak above my bed), I noticed that my throat didn’t hurt quite as bad as it has the last few days when I woke up. Still, I have a couple swollen lymph nodes and my throat (now not just the left side) does still definitely hurt. I was trying to decide whether to call the doctor or not. In the end, I figured it was better to error on the side of going than not, being that it’s my health and all we’re talking about.

I called up the doctor’s office and apparently they’re totally swamped this week because of the holidays. The receptionist told me that if I could get down there right now, the doctor could see me. Otherwise, it sounded like I’d have to wait until next week or see a different doctor. So I threw some clothes on and went down there. I didn’t even have time to shave or take a shower. I saw the doctor without much waiting at all. He said what I expected–that I either have strep or a virus. He cultured my throat, gave me a prescription for amoxicillin and said they’d call tomorrow with the results of the culture. In the mean time, I’ve already filled the prescription and started taking the pills.

One way or another, I hope I continue to feel better and better.

Leaky Roof, Wet Bed

Last night, I jumped into bed, tired from all my traveling and sickness only to notice that the edge of my blanket was wet. Further investigation with the lights on revealed that in fact there was water dripping from a ceiling tile onto my bed. There was a big wet spot right smack dab in the middle of my mattress. I moved the bed out the way and put down a towel underneath the drip, then went to bed on the futon in the dining room.

I actually slept really well on the futon. When I woke up in the morning, there was no water on the towel I’d put down which would indicate that the dripping had stopped along with the rain. For all I know, this could have been very slow dripping over the five days I was gone.

Anyhow, I called the building management and they said they’d come out to take a look some time this afternoon.

Christmas with the Family

On Christmas Eve, we all (me, my parents, my aunt, my uncle, my grandfather, his girlfriend with her daughters and their husbands and partners) gathered at my grandfather’s house in Fullerton. A light meal was served and we opened gifts. We mostly sat around at chatted and watched old home movies. It was a nice time although it was too bad certain family members couldn’t make it do to work or obligations to visit other relatives.

On Christmas Day, most of us from the first day reassembled but both my brothers Kevin and Dan (they had to work the previous day), and my Kevin’s fiance Francine came as well. This time, we had the full Christmas meal of ham, potatoes, yams, green beans and so on. Those who hadn’t been there the night before also opened their gifts.

It was definitely an enjoyable Christmas. Not only was it great to see some family that I haven’t seen in about a year, but the weather has been spectacular. Another interesting aspect of Christmas this year was that my grandfather’s girlfriend’s daughter bringing her partner and their adopted kids. I’m not sure whose kids are whose exactly since there seemed to be some sort of custody sharing which prevented one of the kids from coming yesterday. Apparently, they’ve come over at previous holidays, but since I’m rarely down here, I hadn’t met or seen them before. The daughter was actually quite the comedian and attention seeker (and I mean that in the best possible way). I suppose I really should come out to my grandfather (if he already doesn’t know), but it just hasn’t been a high priority for me.

Unfortunately, I still have this sore throat which is now on day 4. I’m flying back to Seattle tomorrow, so if it’s still bothering me I’ll go to the doctor on Wednesday. It’s strange because I don’t have any other symptoms. I had some congestion at first, but most of that seems to have passed. No fever, no serious fatigue, no rash. Just some strong pain on the left side of the back of my mouth. In the mean time, ibuprofen helps keep it from feeling too sore.

iTunes Angers me Greatly

Ugh, I just hooked my iPod up to my Powerbook in order to charge the iPod battery. iTunes decided to delete all the music already on the iPod and to sync to whatever I have the laptop (a small subset of my music). Without asking me at all. Stupid piece of junk program.

San Clemente and WeHo

I started off yesterday by finishing up all my last minute Christmas shopping. Saying all the places I went my reveal what gifts I gave, so I’ll just say I drove from Anaheim to Orange to San Clemente back to Orange to Pomona and then back to my hotel in Anaheim.

In San Clemente, I met up with Beth who I hadn’t seen in (I think) over 2 years. It was great to see her and eventhough it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her, it felt like old times. We just sort of immediately clicked back into talking about the topics we always talk about. We went down to the bar at the Fisherman’s restauarent on the San Clemente Pier. If you even find yourself passing through San Clemente, it’s a great place to grab a drink or some dinner. There’s just something to be said for sitting in the sun, watching the beautiful ocean and beach.

After getting back to my hotel in Anaheim, I got organized and took a quick nap before meeting up with my friend Chris (who lives in San Francisco, but has family down here he’s visiting for Christmas). I drove us up to West Hollywood where we met up with this Dutch guy Juerjen that Chris knows through some other friends of his. He’s straight, but had no problem going with us to the Abbey for drinks and taking his shirt off at Rage. If only all straight guys were so easy going and non-homophobic, the world might be a better place.

I was the designated driver, so I only had 2 drinks the whole night and even then the last one was several hours before we left. After the club closed at 2am, there was one of the biggest sidewalk sales I’ve ever seen. I drove Juerjen back to his place in WeHo and then drove Chris and I back to Orange County. It was definitely a late night, but I had a good time. WeHo I guess was about what I expected (lots of fashionable, trendy, beautiful people) although I was surprised by how ethnically diverse the crowd at Rage was. I suppose it’s easy for me to forget that Seattle is an overwhelmingly white city.

Trekking to SoCal

I got up early this morning to make sure I’d get to the airport with plenty of time before my flight. Usually at this time of year, any kind of line at the airport is extra long, mainly because of all the amateur travelers. Fortunately, SeaTac wasn’t particularly busy this morning, so I sailed through baggage check and security as if it was a normal non-holiday travel day. Upon arriving at the gate, I layed down and got some sleep. In certain SeaTac terminals, there are chairs without arm rests which is great for getting some sleep on a non-hard surface.

Right as the plane was supposed to start boarding at 11:30am, the sign at the gate changes to say the plane won’t be leaving until 1:40. Alaska didn’t even bother to announce the change! Once 1pm rolled around, there was yet another delay until 3:45. Again, no explanation which was really ticking me off. Passenger rumor was that the plane was having mechanical problems.

The plane finally departed at around 4:30–a full 4.5 hours later than scheduled.

At Long Beach, I picked my rental car up only to find out that it reeked of smoke. For some reason, it seems to me that smoking in rental cars is banned, but maybe not. Then I had to go back and wait in line to demand another car. However, instead of there being no line, there was this couple in front of me who were totally clueless about car rental. There seemed to be some problem with the one who was going to pay not having a credit card. Then there seemed to be confusion over paying extra for one of them being under 25. Throughout, there were several moments where they both stood there fairly dumbfounded about what to do. I wanted very badly to scream, “Will you just rent the mothefucking car already!?!” but I restrained myself. It had been a long day. The car I ended up with (yet another Pontiac Grand Prix) sorta smelled faintly of lady’s purfume, but that was still way better than cigarette smoke. The car is kind of a piece of crap though. It has nearly 11,000 miles on it, which is a lot considering the abuse rental cars get. When I go over bumps or turn the wheel at higher speeds, it makes some weird scraping noise. Fortunately, it’s some crappy rental that can just get me from point A to point B.

Throughout all of this, I’ve had a sore throat and some congestion. It feels almost like the time I had strep throat except without the exhaustion and high fever. On my way back from my grandfather’s house tonight (where his girlfriend served me up some of her home-made chicken soup) I stopped at Ralph’s (Kroger is the suck in all its forms apparently but this one’s across the street from my hotel) and bought various cold remedies.

The hotel I’m staying at so far has been really nice, especially considering how little it’s costing me per night. The room is actually a suite which is fairly sizable with a king sized bed, a couch, a kitchen (four burners, a real oven, a microwave, a full-sized fridge) and a balcony with a view of the Ralph’s across the street. It looks like it pays to stay in a hotel far away from all the tourist attractions. I guess they have to make the place a bit nicer and cheaper to get people to come all the way out here.

The hotel is also in the neighborhood where I grew up (from birth to age 11), which is sorta weird. For example, I remember shopping at the Ralph’s when I was a little kid with my mother. Some of the businesses have changed, but others are still the same. It’s a strange experience to say the least.