CaseyAndKelly.Com

Read this. Old news, but still very disturbing.

So Thanksgiving is finally here, Kelly and I are leaving tomorrow afternoon to head to Missouri for 5 days away from the LA grind. I’m really looking forward to some piece and quiet and relaxing around my folks house.

Construction has finally begun on the building next door to us, so Kelly and I were woken p rather early on both Saturday and Sunday. I suppose we won’t get to sleep in for at least 6 months or so, until they finish building the damn thing.

These last two weeks I have been teaching myself to write Unattended install scripts for Windows XP. I now have a DVD image that will install XP with only one user input (computer name) and then install about a dozen applications and software updates. I have slipstreamed an about 1000 additional drivers into the install, so it runs on just about any computer I throw at it. The only thing I’m hung up on is the installation of the ATI Catalyst and NVidia Detonater drivers. Since this is supposed to be Unattended I don’t want to have a prompt that asks for the card manufacturer. One of these days I will need to get a hold of Admin Studio so I can start rolling my own .msi files for GPO and unattended installations.

I have been buying a lot of games lately, I have picked up Grand Theft Auto 3, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Half-Life 2. Grand Theft Auto is OK, much inline with the rest of the series (don’t mess with a good thing I guess), I have yet to open or play MGS3, but once again it will be more of the same type of gameplay that has made the game so popular. And then there is Half-Life, what can I saw about that game…. IT’S INCREDIBLE. I think it is way better then Doom 3 as far as gameplay goes. But alas my rig is finally showing its age, the GeForce 4 Ti4600 isn’t going to cut it anymore and I am going to have to shell out the cash for a new card. Although NVidia just officially released their SLI boards last week, maybe I can hold out a little longer. Now I’m not to certain I can convince Kelly that I need TWO $400 video cards but ya never know. Maybe then I could run Doom 3 on its Ultimate settings. I also saw the Dell 20.1 inch LCD for $564 today, maybe it will be a good Christmas after all.

So I had this long post I wrote yesterday, mostly about moving to DC, and Casey accidentally deleted it when correcting a typo. No, big loss of my message though since we’re no longer moving. It looked like a sure thing as of Friday, I knew I should have waited till contracts were signed before posting anything for those that didn’t know about the whole thing so hopes wouldn’t be up and all that. Now we’re back to our usual routine and are somehow despising LA even more since we had the prospect of a higher standard of living and resume building material for Casey awaiting us. We’re just hoping and praying that this just wasn’t the right timing but that something will come up soon. Maybe our vacations to Missouri next week and Colorado at Christmas will give us a new lease on life in LA. One can only hope.

My financial aid forms that I revised to add CSU to them did not go through last week or two weeks ago or whenever that was and now I had to put the form through again and hope that THIS one will get send to the school at which point my financial aid will be in place. I asked for an estimate since I’m only getting loans and not grants as to the length of the process or more specifically if it would be ready for spring semester and he’s like well it depends on too many variables so I can’t even estimate. C’mon WTF, then he goes on to say how they don’t run out of loanable funds and blah blah blah. So back to the waiting game again. 🙁

Trying to finish up my classes and get caught up on everything before we leave on vacation so I won’t have to do it there or stress about getting it done at the last minute when we get back. The end is in sight for this crappy semester!

In case I don’t post tomorrow (the 15th) – Happy birthday Alison!!! We had a great shopping day in observation of her birthday!

Oh my god! We had so much fun when Alison was here. Last Friday night, we went with John & Alison to the Border Grille in Santa Monica (Casey saw it on the Food Network and it’s very homosexual friendly and owned). The food was ok the service and prices were a little outrageous. Saturday we just ran some errands and chilled at home. Sunday, Megan gave us a wake up call and then her and Jason came over to cook us breakfast and it sure was good. Beer and eggs for breakfast. 😉 Later that afternoon John & Alison came over and we showed them the Grove and the Famer’s Market and went o Maggianos’ (again, two weeks in a row) for dinner. Again I got sick so I don’t know if it’s my sensitive digestive system or what I eat. It was a lot of fun to spend the weekend with friends! Monday, Alison and I had an awesome day of shopping although we found out the Fashion District, isn’t for us. We last about 20 minutes and decided to head for more civil territory.

Although we complain about LA, it’s not so bad. We have had our hard times as those that have been reading have noticed but we’ve surprised and are for the most part optimistic. We’ve got awesome weather and while it was snowing today in the Springs was sunny and warm here and will be 76 tomorrow – another tank top and flip flop day! There are benefits and drawbacks which is why there’s benefits and drawbacks of moving to DC (which it looks like is a surething now) but I’m optimistic and will be happy either way I just need a final decision – I seek finality. 😉

Went to try and buy a new black, peacoat at the Gap today but things didn’t work out with it. So it looks like I’ll be heading down to Third Street tomorrow to search Banana Republic and JCrew to find one that fits. So looks like more shopping for me tomorrow in place of football!!! More soon I promise!

So as it turns out John Kerry was in fact Jim Nabors… this is the man that almost became president.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

After a long and drawn out election – BUSH has been reelected to the presidency!!! Congraulations to our President for a deserved victory.

Visit John & Alison’s site for their views on the good news!

Up until August or so, I was unsure of how I wanted to vote and after listening to both sides up to this point – I am lead more in favor of reelecting GEORGE W. BUSH. I voted by absentee a couple of weeks ago so didn’t get a nifty little sticker but i made my own so people would stop bugging me! Unfortunately after sending in the request for an absentee ballot twice for Casey it never came but he only had to walk up a block and over a block to vote for GEORGE W. BUSH. For the last 3 hours we’ve been watching the returns but Casey has decided he wants to make the results a surprise so he’s trying to persuad me not to look but I’m anxious for this election to be over. The polls are open for another 1/2 hour here – GO BUSH!!!

Well I did the dumbest blonde thing today that I could do – I locked my keys AND purse in the car at Trader Joe’s. I opened the door from the passenger side and laid my groceries on that seat and put my purse and keys in the seat as well, it occurred to me I should lean across and unlock my door like I normally do but instead I finished unloading and shut the door (locked so I wouldn’t forget later) and returned the cart and found out I had locked myself out (with no ID, money, or phone). The feeling is awful. The people in Trader Joe’s were so kind to let me use their phone but since Casey didn’t recognize the number on his caller ID – he didn’t answer his phone. I asked if I could make a long distance call and just pay them back when I got my wallet and car unlocked. Had I kept my purse on me, this wouldn’t have been an issue cause I keep a spare in my wallet. So anyways, since Casey wasn’t answering his phone and I couldn’t try his cell I didn’t know what to do – thank God Nicky & Jason live in the area code! I called them and they were able to get ahold of Casey. Thanks guys! After standing at the car for a few minutes and trying to slide my hand through the cracked window (I always leave my window cracked and most of the time the other window too but due to the recent rain I’ve been closing the passenger side window and have just been leaving mine open) when this didn’t work and I was fearing that I would crack the window – it occurred to me i should ask for a hanger. So I asked the guy insided Trader Joe’s that let me use their phone, he couldn’t find a hanger but did return with a long, thin, metal wire used to hang signs inside the store. The wire proved too flimsy and it occurred to him there was a cleaners further down in the strip mall (this is the first time I had been there so I didn’t know this), while he was gone I tried using the wire and the security guard came over to help me break into my car. The guy returned with a hanger which didn’t end up being long enough but the security guard was smart enough to begin braiding the original sign hanging wire making it more durable and we were able to pull my keys off! I said a thousand thanks and promptly got on the phone to tell Casey the good news. Well he wasn’t even out of his building yet! Whew thank God. I didn’t get the guys’ name but I’m gonna write a letter commending him and I’m sure that someone will figure out who it was. Oh and I had groceries in the trunk cause I was on my way home from the commissary – good thing I didn’t have any ice cream.

On my way home I was in the center lane of a 3 lane road on one-side with two left hand turn lanes and a right turn lane on my side of the road (ditto on the other). Picture Academy & Union if you’re in the Springs and it was at Sepulveda & Centinela if you’re in LA. Well anyway you must know by now with all that detail the rest of what I say can’t be good and it’s not. i was in the middle lane and this chick in the left lane moved into my car and side swiped me. I pulled over to the right side of the road and put on my flashers,go got out and surveyed the damage she stayed in her car looking at me for a minute then started taking off moving from the left hand lane to the far left turn lane (so moving over 2 lanes) and took off while I’m waving my arms and pointing to the damage. I couldn’t see her license plate clearly from the side of the road so i ended up following her down a couple of blocks and over one until I finally got her to pull over and I got her insurance and drivers’ license information. Apparently she had just got her license and didn’t want to get in trouble (not to her: a hit and run will get you in A LOT more trouble than just hitting a car). I took all the information that I could. She was clueless as to what to do so I ended up being the one to report it to the police who advised us to just exchange information. After that I called USAA and filed the claim. Apparently within 24 hours a senior claims agent is supposed to be calling me to talk about how they suggest I finish filing the claim. The car is still driveable and I was on the phone with the insurance company from the time of the accident till I got home. Needless to say I was a LITTLE stressed out when I got home but was glad I was thorough in writing down all the information including her license#, policy#, VIN, phone#, addrss, name, driver’s license #, etc. I was even more thankful Casey had brought me home some cake. 🙂 Ah some cake and wine and I’m feeling better.

Now when it’s announced that BUSH has won my stress will be lifted. Going now to peek at the progress.

What a great night. We went out with Megan and Jason tonight to West Hollywood and walked up and down Santa Monica Blvd. Megan and Jason went as Steve and Terry Irwin (the Crocodile Hunters) and Kelly and I went as Batman and Catwoman…

We forgot our camera but luckily Megan and Jason brought theirs so maybe we can get some of the pics to post later this week.

The election is really close but I will be glad to have it over and done with (assuming the right man gets the job). Only two more days of pre-election stress and then three months of recounts to look forward to. Ya.

Work has been hectic these last couple of weeks. I have a lot of things to catch up on, such as making images for desktops and laptops for various projects and creating new group policies for one network or another. One good thing that has come about this month is that I don’t have to answer the help desk phone, so I will be free to do the jobs that need to get done. I have been working on the newest version of Veritas lately and I have to say that it is great, much better then earlier versions. Hopefully I can get more experience in the inner workings of the backup process to beef up the resume a little more.

I forgot to mention that we saw “Saw” this evening, what can I say about this movie…..hmmmmmmmmm. nothing but a solid…….two and half stars out of five. The only saving grace was the double twist at the end. I’m not going to try and ruin it for every else that hasn’t seen it yet (the whole 5 readers of this site). I think that since “The Grudge” was number one at the box office this weekend, it was probably the Halloween movie to see. While I’m not a big fan of Japanese horror movies translated to American cinema (aka The Ring or Ringu), but maybe it truly was the choice for best Horror movie this year.

Well that is about all I have. Its late… 12:30 AM and I have to get to work in the morning. Eerr maybe just a bit more.

Kelly and I did get our exercise bike this weekend and have it set up in the office (spare bedroom) so maybe I will get up a bit early and try to do a bit of a workout. I was only able to do between 15 and 20 minutes today, because we have been out of the gym for more then two weeks now. I’m not gaining any weight I am staying right at 190 but I would like to drop about another 5-10 pounds if possible, so I need to get at it.

Sleep……………

Alison’s coming to LA in two weeks!!! I guess John will be out here TDY so she gets to come too. Fun girlie time!!!

Halloween is in 2 days and Casey and I still don’t know what we’re going as. We just know we don’t want to waste a lot on something we’ll only wear once. Megan and Jason are going as the Crocodile Hunter and his wife. I’m thinking Miss Piggy but I don’t know what to wear and need to make sure I can get a snout and ears.

I pulled a paper out of my ass last night that was supposed to only be a draft for my Macro Econ class and the instructor liked it so much and couldn’t find anything wrong with it – she’s accepting it as my final paper and giving me 100%! I rule!

I got my hair colored at Ulta on Wednesday. She actually did a pretty good job at a great price. You should check Ulta out for a cheap dye job. If you’re in the Springs avoid Beauty Brands at all costs (refer to archives from Oct. 2003 for details) and go to Studio One (free plug for Susan).

I found out today that I can start registering for my CSU classes on Monday! I’m gonna try and get that all planned and out of the way. Then it’s on to working with financial aid and getting my loans in place. Whew! It’s been a long process in the making since last fall but obviously worth it!

I’m sitting here at work…bored (thank God for AIM) because Doug called in sick but I can’t complain about extra hours. But I’m ready for this weekend to begin!

So I JUST found out that Wes Borland is back in Limp Bizkit. Some of you may already know this but it came as a surprise to me. I see it as Fred begging Wes to come back because their last album was a failure compared to their other “real” albums (you can’t count “New Old Songs”). I mean every other album went multi platinum except this one, that has to be a huge loss in revenue for Fred (and the other band members). Hopefully their next album will be as good as their old skool albums.

The weather was weird here today, it rained, the sun came out, it rained with some thunder and lightning, then the sun came out again. I wish it would just decide what it was going to do. I can’t wait to see some snow either in MO or CO in the coming months, because it won’t happen here.

I tried getting some work done today, but all I was able to do was burn about 20 CDs and install and configure some software on laptops, what I did mostly was work on my resume, trying to get it all polished up and looking spiffy. I really wish I could add the ole MCSE (not like that means anything today). I should just buckle down and study, and ya never know maybe I will get lucky and pass the damn tests.

OK I’m gonna wrap up here this song is almost over (Stones – Gimme Shelter), I have been finally getting around to finishing the great MP3 renaming project. iTunes really has a good tag editor built into it. I have also come across about 4.5 GB of duplicates so far, hopefully by the time the holidays roll around I will have them organized the way I want them and then burn them to DVD for archival purposes. I really should just cave and buy a Dual Layer DVD burner for the home computer, I can throw it in an external enclosuer and move it over my my iMac or PowerMac when I finally get it. 🙂

Time to go home.

Trade them in for dollar bills…..

Here is a survey by MCP Magazine for salary ranges for the various Microsoft Certifications. Check it out HERE. I still think experience means more to employers then certifications, but it never hurts to have them, especially if The Man is picking up the bill. I was just reading about the MCDST (Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician). It sounds like a gimme cert and probably one that doesn’t mean shit to anyone, but once again it never hurts to have em. So maybe I will procrastinate longer on 70-216 and take two other tests first. I think after passing both the client and server tests for the MCSA/MCSE these two client tests will be super easy (70-271/272).