December 2008 Archives

When I got out of bed I noticed a text message on my mobile, and it was a reminder that the bill for the mobile service hadn't been paid yet. I set out to search for the missing bill and finally found it, along with some other bills, yikes. Spent some time sending out payments to various companies but I'm caught up now. Seems like a good idea to focus more on keeping those things in order in 2009.

When checking my snail mail box, I found one letter containing a "updated schedule" for January. Erm, how do you update something that I hadn't received before? It doesn't look too bad, apart from one day where they expect me to work till 22h00, drive home, sleep and be back at work at 06h00 which is clearly against regulations and would leave me 6 hours to rest, not taking into account eating or maybe some relaxation after a long day a work.

Oh, and still no contract to sign. I wonder if it'll affect insurance and such in case something goes horribly wrong when I work on Friday night.

January 1st and then new year is approaching fast and I'm still missing a contract to sign and a schedule to follow. The schedule (and contract) should be in the mail and arrive soon, even though the fact that it's not yet here is a violation of sector wide regulations in itself. Since the situation is kind of difficult and new for everyone, I won't be putting too much thought into it though and see what the next months bring.

I've also applied for online access to the site but so far my application has not yet been responded to. Taking into account the time of year with people off on leave and such, maybe not too surprising, but rather inconvenient nonetheless.

After a superb X-mas party and dinner last night I came home with an overall good feeling, full stomach and lots of books and DVD's to entertain myself with in the next couple of weeks or even months. To everyone present and those who once again made it all possible, a big thank you!

I hope everyone everywhere is happy with the presence of those around them and the gifts they received or handed out. It's not the gifts that count though, but the idea and meaning or emotions behind them. I know for sure that at least one person must have gotten the best gift ever, and something they couldn't have imagined unless it was right in front of of them. To everyone... enjoy!

Most of the work related bad karma that had been building for a couple of weeks finally has disappeared : On December 24th around 14h30 my new employer and I came to an agreement acceptable for both parties and I told them to prepare and send me a contract to sign. While this is a major step forward - me being the Last of the Mohicans in these negotiations - it's also just the very first step in a long path ahead.

Things haven't been all that smooth in the past year and the road that lays in front is sure to be bumpy and full of potholes and cracks. Now is the time to use the experience I gathered to steer clear of those and bring the new ducklings safely to the other side. Should be interesting to say the least :)

I've been awake for close to three hours, read mails, read blogs, went shopping, saw a whole lot of people shopping. Noticed X-mas decorations and things like that, yet I've got yet to have the first smile appear on my face. To be honest, so far I've done nothing but curse and be annoyed with every living and dead creature or object on this world. Yeah, I'm feeling very joyous and festive today. I wonder what's the reason? (Sarcasm fully intended)

In a couple of hours I'm off to work, luckily with some people I'm rather fond of and have grown to like (I may even lean towards "care for") and some that are really really getting on my nerves because fucktards like them ruin everything for others. It's the way the cookie crumbles, right?

Anyway, I hope to be able to put it all aside tomorrow when I'll be attending family festivities and get into the spirit. Here's to hope!

After a promising talk yesterday, today I received some new information which - if it is completely accurate - will mean that we're screwed in every other hole without even being consulted. More to follow as things evolve.

Mentally this has been quite a rough weekend with a couple of lows, but luckily also some highs to even things out. One of the issues has been resolved - likely not to the satisfaction of some, for which I'm sorry - and others will be discussed more in the very near future (a matter of days).

I have gotten very good feedback from a couple of people I care about a lot and while no one has the answer - neither have I - their points of view will no doubt help me take a (realistic) approach in a very pressing and lingering case where a sword of Damocles is hanging over the head of quite a few people. There is a time to face the music and a time to be as sturdy as a rock. Which it'll be will be decided upon very soon.

On the one hand I would have liked to be able to please everyone, but as honest as I am, I also have to stay true to myself and when I don't feel good about it, I shouldn't continue. I'm not an half assed guy and when I do something I like doing it the best way possible and with every drop of passion and dedication I can put into it. If it doesn't sit right in my mind, I know I can't do so.

Sorry for all the incomplete and/or fuzzy posts lately, but I've got but 24h a day and a whole lot of stuff going on right now. I barely have a moment to sit down or sleep properly and the pace seems to be picking up and slowing down at the same time. A kettle that is close to boiling can't stay on the stove too long or it risks boiling over, exploding or it needs to be put elsewhere in order to cool down.

I'm currently looking for feedback and idea's and places to vent about a whole lot of the issues currently going on, but I know and feel I can't just pick anyone about any of these things. You may or may not hear from me over the weekend or later today, but whether you do or not has got nothing to do with how I value your opinion or as a friend. There is a time and place for everything and while touching base with others I will be trying to find my own way as well.

I admit this is hardly more informative, but it's the best I can do... for now.

There's tons of things happening today it seems as I do my best to catch up with whatever is coming my way.

HP has replied to our mail to their support department and I'll be giving it another shot tomorrow afternoon. It will even require uninstalling SP3 from a fully patched Windows XP Home install, so that could be interesting. Let's cross our fingers that it'll resolve the issue for once and for all.

Microsoft released a critical update for most Internet Explorer versions which you should already have installed by now if value the safety of your computer. If not, go do it now! (http://update.microsoft.com)

Mozilla released version 3.0.5 of their Firefox 3 browser and even patched the version 2 branch up to 2.0.19. Please remember that Firefox 2 will not receive any more updates so if you haven't upgraded to version 3, now would be a good time. While you're at it, make sure your Thunderbird client is up to date too. (http://www.mozilla.com)

I've just received an SMS in reply to a mail I sent, and it clearly states that the project we had going on has come to an end. Unsuccessfully might I add, but for the time being, that's all I'll be writing about it. Maybe one day the full story can be found on this blog, but I wouldn't count on it. I'm not one to censor myself or let myself be influenced by others on what to write or leave out, but it serves no greater good, why risk the chance of ruining it for others?

This morning I was talking to a colleague at work and he told me some things that were rather surprising. While I'm an avid believer and supporter of "everyone has to do what they think is best" I was caught off guard. My position in certain negotiations has now moved from "strong upper hand" to "just a slight advantage". Will this affect how I deal with whatever comes next? It very well may. Time to check out alternative options.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and best wishes, I'm feeling much more alive :) Right now a lot of things are going on, but I can't write about them just yet as none are finalized, and being a rational guy, I like to first have facts and then make up my mind or share the tidings.

I have been caught several times lately answering "we'll see" to pretty reasonable questions. This is not because I'm trying to avoid responsibility or delay decisions, but rather because I know that once I give my word, I'll stick to it. If I make promises based on conditions that are unclear, they'll come back and bite me in the ass. Even if it would be perfectly OK to reverse my view on something when the underlying assumption on which it was based changes, I'd feel bad doing so.

Compared to some of the nicer specimens out there - aka women - I'm a cave man when it comes to emotions or processing them. Luckily, cave men come in handy when chasing mammoth or fighting off grizzly bears. Then again, there's no real need for those qualities these days, is there?

Three and a half hours later, I can only conclude that the HP software for the HP J5780 is total crap. I'm able to scan with the All-In-One using windows tools, I can print to it, but whenever I run the HP Solution Center (version 8) it proudly states that no HP devices are installed and that it'll shut down. Gratz!

When I woke up this morning, I was actually planning on giving R. a call that I wouldn't be coming over to finish the HP installation massacre coz I wasn't - and still am not - feeling all that well.

I'm extremely tired, my back hurts, brain feels like exploding and this morning I had a case of diarrhea that probably was worth an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. After having a quick bite, I even felt like throwing up and even as I write this I'm still shivering and not feeling like even looking at food. Which means it is serious...

Contemplating whether I should just head off to bed right now and sweat it out, but risk not being able to go to work tomorrow, or just grab myself by the balls and carry on and head off to bed in the early evening, and hope I'll feel better tomorrow. Choices, choices.

Before I decide though, I'll be updating my schedule - just for you, really - and send of a not all that nice mail to HP support.

I just got out of bed and in about 30 minutes I'm off to take that bloody HP printer issue head on again. Doing some research right now, which will hopefully give me a clue on how to spank the thing into submission. Once I get back home, I'll be updating my schedule - long overdue, I know - and then just relax. Well, that's the theory anyway.

Today was the busiest so far and truth be said I've got little to nothing to show for 4 hours of work. I called R. to discuss the replacement of his Lexmark X85 All-In-One printer that broke down last week and we quickly reached an agreement where I would pick up an HP OfficeJet J5870 in a shop, get over to his place to uninstall the X85 software, and install the new printer.

Sounds all too easy, but the HP software refused to recognize Outlook Express as a valid e-mail program and reverted to Outlook instead. Strangely enough every other program has no problem using OE. I installed, removed, reinstalled and tried pretty much everything including Live Chat with an HP representative which solved exactly nothing. To make a long story short, 4 hours of work and the scan or fax functions ain't working yet, but at least he can print documents again. To be continued Tuesday for sure.

I had promised B&H to come over later today to take a look at their very complex network which was totally messed thanks to a Telenet technician - not that it wasn't messed up before - which after a long install declared the router to be dead. Well, it definitely wasn't dead when we reinstalled it last week, but then again neither was the modem - but that's another story.

Since I was having so much success doing printer installs today, I called them saying that coming over to fix a complex network would be a very bad decision. It's hard enough to figure out and correctly configure when in a good mental shape, so I better keep my hands off after a long tiresome day. Pushed to next week as well, at least they've got internet access and can use some of their machines without too much problems.

After all this bad techy news, some good news also arrived by mail when I got home, which pleased me quite a lot. Some issues that had popped up were affecting me more than I even realized.

Just a test post to see if the database issue is resolved and whether it is related to this blog or rather a general server issue.

(This post was published and edited without trouble... go figure)

Just got home after a three hour ordeal to get 4 winter tires fitted on my car. I can understand that these are very busy days, but three hours is totally over the top. Now I've turned on the heating in my apartment and will soon be ordering some pizza. Then I'm gonna write a long(ish) mail and play some WOW. Tomorrow is my last day off and Saturday work calls again.

Just got back home from getting a new exhaust pipe fitted on the car, and tomorrow I'm going in for a set of winter tires, setting my back another 300+ euro. All things considered, the car has cost me a lot over the past two weeks but it'll be in a great condition to survive winter and icy roads.

If you are unable to reach this blog for the next 30 or so minutes, don't worry too much. I'll be working on the back end patching a cross site scripting vulnerability that was announced yesterday.

Update : Upgrade/maintenance has been completed and should not have caused any problems. I believe I also fixed a blatant error on my part where I forgot to update a file that was handling comments in the last upgrade. I'll comment on this post myself to verify the fix, lol.

I've finally gotten around to creating a wish list for the 2008 festivities with the family. I usually get complaints that my list is either too short, too long, too specific or too difficult and guess what : this year won't be any different, grin.

What can I say? I'm not one to just purchase things for the mere "look what I got" sensation, and if someone asked me right now "what would you like to get most" I'd probably give them a blank stare and reply "an idea". Weird sense of humor too, I know.

Anyway, the list has been sent out and those curious as to what I've selected so far, can find it on the Amazon Wish list link in the right navigation bar on this blog. Happy browsing and if you find anything intriguing, feel free to leave me a comment or send me a mail about it.

I've got a couple of days off from work, but planned so much that these will be gone before I know it. In a couple of minutes I'm off to J&E's place to keep an eye on the kids - which is gonna be fun. Tuesday evening I'll be pouring a couple of hours into a project I recently started participating in and on Wednesday afternoon I'm taking the car in to have a new exhaust pipe fitted. Thursday and Friday are clean slates for the time being, but as it's only Monday afternoon right now, who knows what may pop up?

Apart from these planned events, I've got a full list of short to-do things that I'll be working on as well.

* yepz, I got a full agenda these days