Clients and Mac

So, I've decided to move my clients and (my day-time employer) over to Apple this year. I'm tired of Microsoft. I'm tired of supporting the platform. I'm sick of the midnight calls from clients and co-workers asking questions about shite Microsoft problems. BSOD's, Application Error Reports, and Windows Updates, WGA (and WGA2), etc. GONE starting now. Vista. Keep It.

So far, I've converted 3 of my 9 clients to MacBook Pro or Mac Pro. The process was WAY easier than expected. I have a meeting next week to order a MacBook Pro for my fourth client. He's already to go, we just need to place the order. Chip chip chip... chipping away at the stone foundation of Microsoft Windows.

Billy boy, you may want to consider making the XBox your new base product.

JamesCho

WordPerfect 5.1 - Day Three

Well, it's day three of WP51 and I'm seeing the past as a crude stepping stone that has begun to crumble around itself. Am I doomed to recall the days of yore with my own failing memories of DOS 2.0 and higher? I fondly remember the flimsy surface of a 5.25" diskette which we used en mass as a storage medium for our documents and future memories.

I remember the day I started transferring my content from 5.25" to 3.5", and then from 3.5" to hard drive, and so on. Now we're talking Terabytes being the norm, yet it was only 15 years ago that 100 MB hard drives were the now, and Gigabytes was the nutty sounding storage size of the future.

I looked at the visit with Marilyn as a chance to revisit the "museum of the old days" and interact with it. I could still see the same woman that I knew from the past, but it was only the eyes that stayed the same, the rest had aged appropriately for being 15 years since last seeing her. I began to age sitting there. I remember feeling intimidated by her back then, I was just 24 and still perfecting my computer-self.

Her desperation to reanimate WordPerfect for DOS on her latest Pentium 4 Win XP box was of the same pursuit to find the Grail. I calmly (and not so confidently) restored the files from her dead hard drive on to the new one. At that point, the ground starting disappearing into a fog, as the strands of memory in my brain began to fail.

Then she insisted on re-installing an application named Multi-Page. A program which allows the user to produce a multi-page layout of documents printed from DOS programs. It is a task that most windows desktop publishing and word processing programs do while performing hundreds of other meaningless tasks. However in DOS, it's front and center as a challenge.

The program did install with little effort (like the old days) but then the years gap between DOS and Win XP showed itself as her external USB floppy drive was not officially recognized by DOS. It turns out that the application was written to expect a floppy controller on the motherboard in order to "see" the drive. This USB based drive was not visible to Multi-Page.

We agreed to revisit soon the options available for her some time next week, in the meantime, I set up a desktop shortcut to WP51, and made sure that the macros I wrote back in 1992 were still functioning. As I received the envelope with my payment enclosed, I looked at Marilyn's face one last time, only to get a flashback from being in the room those 15 years ago. I shudder to think about the life I've had since that time. We said goodbye and I left the house, back to the rainy night, and into my car to go home.

Is that YOU?!

Wow. WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS. It's been a while. How's it going with you? I asked first! Ok. It's going well, I guess. I've missed you. Life's been a bit crazy with Windows and all that GUI shite. I mean, I've thought about you now and then. Mostly in a reflective way, sort of the "I remember when" type of thoughts. Do you remember Marilyn? She called me out of the blue last night. It was kinda late, but I figured what the heck, I'll take a chance. Well, she's still doing legal transcriptions. The bird is STILL typing at age 72 on her new Dell using you from the good old days! So, what have you been up to?

Oh, sorry to hear about the Corel thing. Are they still keeping your windows edition on life support? It's been 10 years since 6.2, hasn't windows improved at all? It has? Wow, I read something different. Yes, I've seen the pictures of X3, win has grown up nicely, it's just that it's not you. Don't take offense or anything but what about the simple blue screen and grey/white font that you have... Why not keep up appearances by making win more like you? Sure I understand your old, but you still got it. Oh well. I'm trying to remember some of my favorite keystrokes that we used to do together. I'm sorry, I didn't know you were busy. I'll let you go for now. Maybe we can catch up later. Ok. Bye.

23 days till Disney

Wow... to think that time stops for no man has relevance in my world! I cannot believe that I'm three weeks out from leaving home for 7 days at the Corporate Entertainment World of Disney.

Am I ready? Mostly yes. Am I a bit scared? Mostly no. What's the big deal? Leaving this deskspace for 1 week and try to relax myself from the work world I'm leaving behind. Will I take a notebook with me? Sadly, probably. I don't think I cannot take one with me in the chance that I must connect to the office to work on things in an emergency.

Phew... glad I got that off my chest. I'm more stressed out about taking a vacation than the vacation will allow me to remove. Talk about not enjoying myself.

Fuck it. I will try to cool down a bit. I will make myself take the time to enjoy the family. It's the last time I can really have them all together for a trip as kids.

JHohen

The cautionary tale of being me, or of being around me

I've been working for the same company for close to 10 years. It's been all ups-and-downs, really. I spend some of my time worrying about the next day or the next week, and then there are times when it's a breeze. The relationships between myself and the menangere of staff inside and outside of the office ranges from pleasant, to tolerable, to unbearable, to please go away.

I will be the first to admit that I'm not a happy Johnny when it comes to how I handle people's issues, and perhaps the 'close to the bone' characterization of IT support as presented on SNL is how things appear to those around me. I find people who've used PCs for over 5 years should have a level of understanding, or competence in the DAILY use of the machine. Each time they contact me, it should be less "I'm a dunce; help me" moment and more of a "I've tried my best before calling" moment.

I will always be abrassive and brash in my customer serviceness. I find incompetence in the workplace disgusting. People should have a basic understanding of the equipment, the software, and the ramifications of abusing those two things. Losing notebooks, Blackberries, iPods, portable speakers, wallets is inexcusable. There is no reason for the lack of presence of mind to keep track of those things, especially on a fucking plane!

I feel ultra-arrogant and unaproachable by people on some days. On other days, I'm open to whatever shadows the door. I'll be smiling and jovial, and prepared for the "I've got this issue..." sentences that I hear start that way most of the time. I guess it depends on if my drive in to the office was eventless or level 5 in the video game of "Road Warrior." I think the triggers that make or break my starting attitude are so minute yet as equal as a call from the Feds.

Meds can't kill what has a will.

Jhohen

41 days to Disney

The time is nigh. There are 41 days until the family travels to the land of the mouse. I'm not quite as sure as when we started the planning. I mean, it'll be fun having the entire family sharing moments of happiness and glad times. Then there's the part of me thinking that it'll be a $,$$$.¢¢ type vacation. I know you can't turn around without being "SOLD" the essence of what is Disney. The trip alone, what I call rooms and rides, is over $1,500. I guess it's possible to actually GO to Disney and live like paupers. Perhaps a client's PC will magically (Disney-style?) break to the point where I cash in the chips and make a quick couple of hundies.

All praise Marty Moose! I mean Mickey Mouse! I'm on a pilgrimage to see a Mouse!

Jhohen

Life is about roses...

Or so I am told. I'm told that a single space after the period in a sentence is the new double space after the period. Whatever, my God, I cannot even do it in this blog editor. Oops... Yes I can. It's the eyes playing tricks on me. Damn these eyes! Next thing you know I'll be misytping letters in my words... darn.

So I'm thirty nine... that's 39 for those who cannot read long-form number writing. I am getting cranky at the fledgling start to my middle age. What does this mean? I suspect it means I will be more impatient of stupid people. The loss of the art of math, and the command of the English language by 80% of the public brought on by a disappearing middle class and the increased use of cell phone text chat and the Internet in general.

I have a numbing sensation of detatchment again. A remote peripherial view of the world around me. I guess the quetsion is if WW3 happens, will I even know? I mean, it would be just "SO ME" to not notice it. I would like to attend life more often, but I am distracted by my own obfuscated reality.

By the way, Mac is the new PC. 2007 will mark the end of the reign of the fifth reich -- Microsoft. Hopefully, they will be removed and left to fester in the corner of the IT world, akin to the senile old man who mutters about himself to himself. Not that Apple is the next Jesus, but they definitely got their shit together on platform stability. Almost like walking on water.

Finally, so I have a pink/red ROSE colored page for my blog. Bite me.

Here's to seeing you later.

Jhohen