Moblog Entry

Joelle said around dinner time on July 2, 2008

I just realized that my first concert wasn’t the B52’s in ‘90.  It was Paul Anka in ‘80. Heh! How fitting.

You Just Think You’re God’s Gift

Joelle said at some point on July 2, 2008

So, I was watching some TV show the other day and a woman made some comment about how her baby was going to be named Tyler, which means ‘Gift from God’.  Seriously? 

It’s quite often people say their precious cherub is named whatever and such because it means “God’s gift” or ”A gift from God” or some variation thereof.  That got me wondering… can all of these names really mean that or are people just so enamored with their own DNA that they want to believe that’s what it means? Or maybe they tell their kid that to make them feel more special or… whatever. 

I suppose there’s no harm in that.  I just think it seems a little pretentious or self-important somehow.  Like, what?  Your neighbor’s kid Eunice isn’t a gift from God because her name means “good victory”?  (If you believe in the Christian God, which many don’t.  I don’t, but let’s not go there — I’ve not had nearly enough coffee.)

Of course, I mean no offense to any Dorothys, Matthews, Theos or Johns out there whose names actually do mean ”gift of God”.  Or… well, anyone else who thinks their name means Gift of God… maybe it does.

Why I care is beyond me, but pointless thoughts are what this blog is all about.

For the record, my names according to some website I grabbed in a Google search (so therefore, they are accurate and all-knowing) mean ”Gatherer” and ”The Lord is God”… of course. 

Dust Buffalo

Joelle said at some point on June 30, 2008

I did some overhauling to my office area this weekend.  It was high time I pulled the whole desk apart so I could dust and vacuum behind it and all that jazz.

I consider myself a tidy person. I blow the dust out of my computers and whatnot all the time. I vacuum and dust on a pretty regular basis, but I also leave my windows open a lot for the bay breeze.  I had no idea how much dust could accumulate behind a desk. Sweet moses!

To say there were dust bunnies would be a massive understatement.  It was more like a stampede of dust sheep.  Or maybe like… bison.  Lots of dust!  Huge dust! Live nude dust!  You could see the outline of where my desk and chair mat used to be and I was mortified to the point of almost running to Target to buy a carpet steamer.  I figured a good vacuuming and a little foaming carpet cleaner should do the trick.  It did!  Wow… aside from the usual traffic wear, it looks like new carpet! I’m totally doing this once a season instead of… uh… once a year. *looks shifty*

Oh, and that magical Conceal Surge Protector?  I was sorely disappointed. It really doesn’t fit anything much.  Almost all my plugs had big huge adapters on them, so out of the alleged 7 plugs available I could only fit 3 cords and then it wouldn’t close.  Not the most well-thought-out design. A good idea in theory, but the execution… c’mon, Belkin!  Use your noggin!  I’ll be returning that to Fry’s, thank you.  I guess I’m stuck with the Electrical Trash Heap for now… but at least it’s hidden.

Nevermind the Bollocks

Joelle said around mid-afternoon on June 28, 2008

Surge Sounds Dirty

Joelle said in the early morning on June 27, 2008

Yesterday morning, I sat down to wrangle some projects into submission, but my computer said it needed to run a Windows Service Pack update. Fine, fine… I started it up and went to the gym.

When I came back, the computer was powered down and I figured it had just done that when it was finished.  But, when I started it up again, it would only get so far and power down.  I took the battery out, unplugged the power cord from the laptop and waited a few minutes until I was 100% totally sure there was no power to the laptop, in case perhaps it was stuck in some ‘hibernation power saving’ loop.  I’ve had that happen before…

After putting the battery back in, I plugged in the power cord, hit the “on” button and… nothing.  Not even a blip.  This, of course, makes my stomach seize and I call Fry’s since my laptop is under warranty.  I explained the situation… pretty calmly, I think, and he sounded as vexed as I was. He said that sometimes an interruption in an update can cause the operating system to disable, but not getting any power at all must be something else.  I should bring it in, he said.  Indeed.

As I was packing up my computer, it occurred to me, “Hey, Mensa, maybe it’s not plugged in!”

Apparently, the part of the power cord that runs from the wall to the adapter had just popped out and was sitting half-in, half-out of the adapter, which in turn made the computer sometimes power up, sometimes not, depending on how I was wiggling the cord.  Yeah.  I’m SO glad I didn’t pay some WoW-addicted tech kid to tell me to plug it in.  That would have been embarrassing.

I went to Fry’s and bought myself new geekery anyway, to soothe my blushing ego.  You know, as a reward for being so calm and troubleshooting the problem myself.  *cough* I got a new pink mouse, which I like a lot better because it fits my small hands.  I picked up a new headset so I can stop spending 5 billable minutes of every client call asking, “Can you hear me now?”.  I got a few cheesy girl movies and the best, best, best thing:  a Belkin Mini Conceal Surge Protector.

I’ll wait while the clouds part and the music of the angels rains upon us for a sec.

A surge protector doesn’t sound very sexy, but I consider that jumble of USB cables, power cords, adapters and miscellaneous subpar surge protectors next to my desk an eyesore.  I hate it. I’ve always hated it. It’s like an electrical equivalent of Marjory, the Trash Heap.  It makes it hot in the corner and damn near impossible to figure out what goes to where until you’ve unplugged the wrong cord and shut down the whole enchilada.  But lo… Belkin bestows upon us a new frontier — concealed surge protectors.

I know. It’s almost too much to take in.

I’m dismantling my desk this weekend for a good cleaning and putting in some new office furniture — a cute cabinet from IKEA to hold up my printer and store the office supplies with which I help run our magnificent empire! Muahahahaha!  Ok, not really. It’s just some copy paper, a few books and the biggest bag of Sharpies you’ve ever seen.  But a girl can dream, ok?

Anyway, I’ll be implementing my new surge protector and I’ll report back.  I’m sure you’ll be on the edge of your seat.  Who wouldn’t?