techpoetry

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Well it has been hectic for me for the past few weeks. Being that I am the type to wait until the last minute to shop I've neglected my blog. But now I am here sitting and relaxing using my new foot stool massager, eating all the Christmas goodies, wearing my new jammies along with my Santa hat, with my new house shoes, watching NFL football, and listening to my girlfriend brag on what I got her for Christmas to her Aunt! What more could a guy want for Christmas. I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas!!! I think I am going to play with Jackson "my puppy". Later I may look into my Leo's Laporte's 2005 Technology Almanac and Leo's Laporte's Guide to TiVo.

I really must put project green thumb on hold - although if you will check out my previous posts you will find much info on something you could do. I wanted to go with a Windows platform but now I am leaning toward Linux so since I have much more brainstorming yet to do and many new books to read I will check back in on Project Green Thumb later. I still encourage ideas and comments on the subject and anything else too.

Racing against the pizza man and a TIVO learning curve

Yes, that's right. I am such a risk taker. No, not actually racing, but haven't you ever called for delivery and then left the house? Well, I did tonight. To satisfy my need to indulge myself, pizza wasn't enough - especially after such a day that I've just had. I need movies, yeah, they are my real vice. If you ask my girlfriend, she would say I have a real problem with them. Ok, so after a not so quick as I planned browse at the local video rental store and a stop at the convenience store, it's back towards home. Rounding the curve, looking at the radio clock, I was sure I'd missed him. A surge on the gas pedal whipped my headlights down the street and, behold, a pizza sign adorned little car roof. But it wasn't at my house. No, it was down the street past my house a couple of addresses on the other side. The race is on. I sped up to catch him as he walked toward his car - I really must have scared him because he seemed to walk faster as I pulled up beside him, rolling down the window flagging him down. Yeah, I was too late. But wait , he has actually knocked on several doors unsure that my empty house was the right one. So I got my indulgence after he followed me back to my house and I signed the receipt on the trunk of his car.

Yes, TiVo has a learning curve. How, you ask? Well when you have The Apprentice recording and you leave to maybe browse the video rental store, don't just hit the TiVo button, because it will time out and return to live TV and, when you return, Regis might be there as you are walking in saying the big news tonight is the Donald has chosen his apprentice and it is _______ (name left out to protect the innocent TiVoers out there who haven't watched it yet). Of course, this ruined the suspense of the season finale for me (even though I knew it anyway).

I hate the RMA process

Yes, it's a complete thorn in my side. But what kind of technician am I? Once upon a time, I worked for a computer repair shop where I just went on calls and, when I returned, I dropped a handful of hard drives, video cards, and so onto a desk where a service manager would take care of everthing. She would find out what was and wasn't under warranty, submit RMA requests, and even package the products for shipment for me. I am a spoiled technician, that's what kind of technician I am. Now I have the responsibility of whole gamut of processes for my repairs. I have to sell the service, make the repair, and take care of my own RMAs. You may say, "So what?" Actually, it's all part of a technician's daily routine. Well, the frustration of performing tasks such as selling services as well as the office work required for RMAs, in which I haven't had any formal training, is hard.

If I could have my wish for Christmas this year, it would be a secretary. Someone who would help me with marketing, manage my schedule, handle my calls, and take care of the RMA process for me so that I can get back to what I love and do best, and that is computer repair!

Secret Santa!

Yes thx to my girlfriend for helping me put secret santa on my site! Check it out!

Ahh.. the ambience...

Right now I am blogging to the wonderful sound of hammering and drilling. It is all part of the home improvement process. The noise is a necessary evil that my girlfriend doesn't understand as much as I do.

My post last night wasn't much of an update for Project Green Thumb so I thought I will give it another try.

Project Green Thumb: Phase I - Brain Storming

Here are two courses of action that I am currently considering:

Librenix - USB Thumb Drive Distribution

Linux Mobile System

I do like the HP Utility which will make a bootable DOS thumb drive - this would be good to try PC-DOS and trying to make a bootable thumb drive with a menu to choose a fully functional Ghost version and any other PC-DOS related system utilities. This may be the decided fate of my 16mb drive. Thx again Mike. Again I encourage anyone to give me their suggestions and input into my projects.

Whew! I'm Tired!

My friend and I have been cleaning house tonight. We have some home improvement projects going on now and it was work, work, and work for us. Although I did revive my long un-breathing XBOX for a couple of matches of Knockout Kings 2002. Boxing has to be my favorite sport and even in an XBOX game it brings me enjoyment. I must play more XBOX!

Update on Project: Geek Thumb - Phase I - Brain Storming...

I've come across a few utilities and a How-To make a bootable thumb drive thx goes out to Mike for the HP Utility.

I've used it and although I am in still in the research phase, I am looking for something linux - exactly what Mike suggested "Knoppix"!!!! Yeah that would be cool! I have an extra 128mb lying around so I might use that if the project gets larger - now its just for testing something small on an inexpensive drive.

I'm Back - Not Dead!

I've learned that blogging is more than just a hobby. I now have a greater appreciation for those boggers out there who keep their blogs posted with new content. Well I've experienced blogging for a year now and only have 7 entries to show for it! After some much needed counseling from my girlfriend who is in my opinion an excellent blogger! I am now armed with an increased confidence of making a "worthy" post. Why did I ever think it all had to be in one post? I ran out of content for the next and stressed about it until I decieded just not to post!

Ok, so whats up with TechTV.... urrr G4TechTV The Screen Savers anyway? It's about to join the ranks on my TiVo as "Deleted Season Passes"! Yes I am considering giving up on the show I've been watching since the start! It seems to be a complete waste. Now I start watching an episode and don't bookmark a single site, take a single note, or repeat a segment just to make sure I'm following them. No it was "watch, skip the commercials, boring segments and delete" (15 min or less for a 1 hour show!)

Project: Geek Thumb

Phase I - Brain Storming

My current project is building a toolkit for a new 16mb thumbdrive I purchased today. Yes I'm cheap - but this is for utilities for troubleshooting computer problems and not mass storage. I'm creating a bootable thumbdrive that will include the utilities. At 16mb there will not be many but I intend to concentrate on making it boot into memtest86 and filling up the remaining space with miscellaneous utilities. It is my hope that the research from this project will provide a spring board to a customized BartCD like bootable thumbdrive that includes a complete suite of technician's tools that will be run from a centralized menu - Ultimate Boot CD style. As always I'd love any feedback or suggestions on accomplishing this project. Checkout my future posts to see how Project: Geek Thumb is going.