Remodeling - Windows (part II)

Progress has been made.  Project is more or less done.  Now i'm trying to piece my house and life back together.  With this comes pictures!  It's looking fantastic right now.  The fumes from the stain are gone and i'm no longer getting high!  I'm not sure if i'm going to post pics of the rest of the windows with their blinds on or even the glass block in the basement or not.  I know i would love to get nicer wood blinds but not sure when that'll happen.  These were significantly cheaper than the roughly $180 per wood ones i was looking at.  The wood ones look fantastic buuuuuut this project has cost me enough already.

Slowly but surely i'm also replacing outlets which are in bad shape while my house is in disarray.  As i piece stuff back together i'm also cleaning the shit out of it all to get rid of the dust and also because i've not been awesome about cleaning the past couple years (or ever).  Doubt i'll ever post pics of when things are 100% done because they'll honestly never be done!

Through all of this, the work has been done in a reasonable amount of time and wasn't as big of a nightmare as it could have been for me.  Considering what got done, things stayed pretty clean which is remarkable.

This is the window facing onto my enclosed front porch facing west.  This would be the south west corner of the house.  This will be one of the main windows giving me fresh air during summer as i geek out on my computer in the corner.  The white is mud from where they're patching the damage to the plaster.  It'll look better when i finally paint this summer.

This is my upstairs window facing south.  The walls look muuuuuch better than they really are.  Some nasty ass wood paneling on them from god knows when.  This window was completely shot originally.  This is also the one that gets hit with the most sun year round.  Really need to get some blinds up there so the neighbors don't think i'm creepier than i already am.

Here you will see two windows that face onto the front porch.  The TV is normally in front of them and these windows have never been usable for airflow for me.  They've always been drafty.  The heat thermostat is about another 2 feet away from the edge of the picture.  Always the draftiest room in the house.

My bedroom downstairs window is the one that had the most plaster damage around it.  Very impressed with how it came out.  Coincidentally, the white from the patching makes it look like i've got some kind of cloud theme going in my room which i very much do not!








Finally here's that same window after i got the blinds put on.  These were a different style of blinds which i've never used before.  The instructions said to use a 1/16" drill bit.  Wrong!  Ruined one of the screw heads in the process.  Wound up going through 5 bits before settling on a 1/8" bit.  This took me 45 minutes to get the blinds in this window!  It had to get easier than this otherwise i was going to cry!!!  These blinds enable me to now have some privacy in my bedroom and blocks out the damned alley light!

The south window downstairs is another window that always gets hammered by the elements.  I had replaced it with a chap vinyl window a couple of years ago as a band aid.  As you can see there was some mild plaster damage from the work around the window but nothing too bad.  It's going to be fantastic once I get around to painting.  I like this pic the most because it shows how well the stained oak matches the original pine.  I accidentally matched them up almost perfectly!

Here is what it looks like afterwards with some blinds on.  Only took me 10 minutes (a far cry from 45 min before) to hang these while stopping long enough to mix myself a drink.  Yay for privacy!!!

Remodeling - Windows (in progress)

A virtual tour of some of the work being done at my house this week.  I'm having the original windows (metal counterweights and all) replaced with energy efficient ones.  With the house being almost 100, this project is also doing a bit of damage which will be repaired once all is said and done.  The wood work was not salvageable and so the trim around the windows is going to be replaced.  Here's what i came home to the other night...

Living room:

This is the window to the right of my front door.  It opens onto my enclosed front porch facing west.  You can see my computer desk which is normally in the corner.  This means no desktop computer at home in the interim. :(  At least i have my laptop to play with!

 This is the other window in that room which faces south.  Prior to this project, this was the only window that had a screen on it and was usable for air flow during summer.  If my computer desk were in the corner again, this would be to my left and i could easily see the damn bunnies in my side garden!

These windows are to the left of my front door and face out onto my enclosed porch (west again).  It's in this area that I consistently felt a chill during winter months.  Again, these windows no longer had functional screens so they were closed year round.  Needless to say, the airflow will be nice this summer!



Mess in living room:

You can see my new love seat stacked on top of my new couch to make room for the work.  Also got my coffee table covered in more crap than usual right there.  Yeah.  It's a mess.

Here's my computer desk pulled out with Smokey inspecting the work.  No sense in moving this bulky thing back into place until it's all done.  I've got a bunch of cords that need to be re-plugged when it's done.  Having the 2 windows right there by my desk will be nice though.

Bedroom:

My bedroom on the first floor faces east towards the alley.  Not having any blinds up right now means the neighbors get a free peep show if i'm not careful!  You can see how much of the plaster came off when they took the trim boards off.  That's the joys of an old house.  It'll be patched soon but was quite a heart breaker when i initially saw it.

Notice next to no mess on the floor that night?  Very impressive job cleaning up after doing work.  I would have endured a mess but nice to have courtesy like this.  :)

Cats helping:

Smokey decided he needed to sit on the arm of the couch as i was putting the love seat on top of it in preparation for this project.  You can't see the drool in this picture but it was there!

Shadow decided to investigate things as i was taking a break.  On the floor is a glass with my "beverage".  :)

2012-02-02

The presidential primaries are in full swing right now in the US.  The Republican party is tearing its self apart.  Newt vs Mit.  One is trying to be more red than the next.

I sit here reading the latest gossip about the campaigns.  You can call it something else but in the end it's the same as the gossip you read about Hollyweird people and your neighbors.

When did things get so polarized?  It's my way or the highway.  We want strong leaders and yet we want people able to compromise.

IM conversations

Oh the joys of getting sucked into domestic disputes!  This is a conversation between a friend of mine (JC) and her friend (AB).  Keep in mind that this conversation is on their corporate IM client.  AB got dumped in 06/2011 and this is from 09/14/2011.

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JC(09:23:27): Good Morning, My AB!
JC(09:23:36): We have out Rock N Roll Kick off today
AB(09:23:38): he says he never wants to see or speak to me again
JC(09:23:47): I dressed up as 80's Madonna
JC(09:24:08): Did he say that to you? Or that was the email to the therapist?
AB(09:27:01): he emailed that to me
AB(09:27:25): i don't know if he replied to the therapist or not. i won't know until tomorrow at my appointment
AB(09:28:25): i tried to discuss the awful name he called me and he said he wouldnt EVER apologize to me
JC(09:29:34): I think you need to let him go, honey.
AB(09:30:10): he has no reason to be treating me like this. i deserve to know why
JC(09:30:47): Break ups don't always have a 'why'
JC(09:30:59): You may be asking a question that doesn't have an answer
JC(09:31:17): Something go left unanswered.
AB(09:31:58): there has to be a reason, it just doesn't happen
JC(09:32:10): Things 'just happen' all the time
JC(09:32:18): Why did I miscarry?
JC(09:32:23): Why is SC [someone who suddenly passed away recently] gone?
AB(09:32:34): those things are different
JC(09:32:40): Why did your relalatioship fail?
AB(09:33:10): there definitely should be an answer for that - you don't spend 7 years with someone and BOOM they don't love you anymore
AB(09:35:21): he told me God put him in my life but i pushed him out - he should be able to explain that
JC(09:35:56): If you were given a 'why' - - - what would you then do?
JC(09:36:03): Would you say thank you and leave it there?
JC(09:36:58): Or would you continue the conversation and try to 'fix' things?
JC(09:37:33): I just think the answer he may have for you still won't help=
 you?
AB(09:38:16): i would say thank you and then continue to fix myself
AB(09:45:48): do you know something that i don't?
JC(09:46:48): Huh???
AB(09:47:13): i get the feeling you know why
JC(09:47:33): ab. . .
JC(09:47:36): seriously
JC(09:47:39): you just don't trust me.
JC(09:47:51): I know nothing more than I already told you
JC(09:48:37): Haven't talked to him since he texted me that you were in need of help.
JC(09:48:53): I don't want to talk to him
JC(09:49:11): Everytime I do, you get pissed at me and think I'm hiding something
JC(09:51:30): You're pushing me away, and I'm trying to be a shoulder for you as best I can. i don't have any vaca left, or I would be at your side.  I call you about once a week. I try to keep the communication channel open for you , but you seriously don't trust me. It's sort of bothering me, to tell you the truth. I would NEVER do anything to hurt you. I would NEVER try to be 'sneaky' or go behind your back. . . but for some reason you think I would do that.
AB(09:53:46): of course i trust you. but i also know you are a woman of your word and if you tell someone you won't say something you will do that because you are a good person
JC(09:54:20): Of course I would. But not at the expense of you.
AB(09:58:58): im sorry you feel that i don't trust you. i'm a jacked up mess JC. I don't know which way is up somedays. thank you for being my friend and i know you would be here if you could.

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I love people.  Those that know me know i have little patience for stuff like that.  When I encounter situations like this I don't sugar coat it and spell it out in black and white.  JC actually asked me if she was too harsh on AB.  I almost laughed.  Some people wonder why i have 'so few friends'.  It's not that i have 'so few friends'.  It's that if i even smell a situation like this coming my way I avoid it like the plague.

This is me.  This is me going in the opposite direction.  Any questions?

Adobe Reader - Creating Automated Installation Point

This is a rehashing of different blog posts I've found to help me with patching Adobe Reader.  Full credit can't be given because this is something I've pieced together for the sake of saving my sanity.

This made understanding the release cycle a little easier to understand in regards to the differences between quarterly and security patches.  Look at the acceptable/unacceptable examples in the Administrative Deployment section.

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/498/cpsid_49880.html


Get the MSI

So what you need to do is grab the AIR/Acrobat.com free version of the reader executable, as well as the patches, from Adobe.

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/888/cpsid_88814.html

Once you've got all of those, open up a command prompt and navigate to wherever you downloaded them to.

Run the following command:

AdbeRdr910_en_US.exe -nos_ne

To extract the MSI file. It will be extracted into "%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\AdobeReader 9.3"

****NOTE: Adobe does not consistently extract to this location on my XP machine and so it can be maddening.****



Create the Administrative Install Point

Now, do an administrative install to a shared network location.

Change directories to where you extracted the msi file, as noted above. Run the following command:

msiexec /a "AcroRead.msi"

Follow the on-screen prompts. You will need to select a network share where "authenticated users" and "Domain Computers" have at least read access.  I prefer to point the installer at the test machine I'm building this on which is easy enough to do.

Once the install is completed, the next step is to patch it with the Reader msp files. Change back to where you saved the msp files and run the following commands:

msiexec /p "AdbeRdrUpd931_all_incr.msp" /a "\\INSERT SHARED DIRECTORY LOCATION HERE\AcroRead.msi"

Follow the prompts, then run

msiexec /p "AdbeRdrUpd932_all_incr.msp" /a "\\INSERT SHARED DIRECTORY LOCATION HERE\AcroRead.msi"

Make sure you update the AIP, not the msi you used to create the AIP! At this point you are ready to deploy. If you need to customize your deployment, continue reading, otherwise open up GPO and deploy it via the software management policy under Computer Configuration.


Customizing your deployment

You can customize your deployment using the Adobe Customization Wizard 9, available here:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/thankyou.jsp?ftpID=3993&fileID=3727

Once you've made your changes, save and generate your MST file. When you're deploying via group policy, make sure that you select "Advanced" when it prompts you for a deployment method. Select the Modifications tab and add your MST file, then hit OK.

Smartphone data use comparrison

A couple of months ago I was given an iphone 3 to use since my existing phone was dieing, I was a month or so away from end of contract, and it was cheaper to go onto my g/friends AT&T plan as opposed to staying solo on Verizon.  The price was right.  The phone was free, no contract, and even with the data plan I was paying less because it was a group plan.

This past week we started looking at usage of the phones on her plan in the hopes of finding a way to streamline the bill a bit.  My data package is 2gb for $25 because the 200mb for $15 didn't make sense.  Well I'm hear to tell you that the 200mb plan is looking better for me now that I have a couple of months under my belt but I'm also going to compare my usage with a friend who has an HTC Inspire (freekin' huge), his wife who has an iphone 4, and my girlfriend who has an iphone 4.  I must admit that the graphs showing usage on the AT&T site are pretty and so that is what I will be using as a reference.

First off let's look at my iphone 3 usage:

I came on board at the end of the billing cycle in May which is why there was so little use.  I have wi-fi at home, work, and when i'm at her place.  This is my first smartphone but I have had a phone in the past with some form of internet access on it.

Now let's look at her iphone4 usage:

She has wi-fi access at her place, mine, and her parents.  She does not have wi-fi access at work.  She is also grandfathered in with the unlimited data plan so there's no threat of an overage (yet) in the event that she decides to watch one too many youtube videos on her phone.  She is a long time smartphone user.

Now let's look at my friends HTC Inspire usage:

He too has wi-fi at home and does not have it at work.  He has the 2gb data plan.  The June spike is attributed to traveling out of town and being bored in a hotel.  This is his first smartphone though he has had a phone in the past that had internet access on it.

Finally let's look at his wife's iphone 4 usage:

She too has wi-fi access at home and elsewhere.  Her data plan is 200mb.  The June spike is attributed to user error (forgot to join network while at someones house).  This is her first smartphone and I'm unsure if she's had internet access on her previous phones.

I'm aware that 3 of 4 phones listed are iphones.  An argument that was brought up is that the droid user does not have wi-fi at work which explains the heavier usage.  This is thrown out by one of the iphone 4 users having no wi-fi at work AND an unlimited data plan.

What I see in this data is more how 4 people use their phones instead of what types of phones they are.  I have heard arguments that droid phones use more data which I refuse to believe.  The OS has no affect on data consumption.  It's the applications (dare i say 'apps' for fear of Apple coming after me for using their word?) that are on the phone that initiate the data connection.  To assume otherwise is uninformed about the underlying technology and thus wrong.

I see a husband and wife with smartphones and it can be assumed that they are together more often than not outside of work.  This would imply that they have access to the same wi-fi spots.  If this is correct then one could infer that the usage is a behavioral issue and not a result of the handset.  Feeding into my behavioral theory is that the user who has no wi-fi at work and has an unlimited data plan is actually in the < 200mb range consistently.

All of this came up with my trying to decide what to do about my data usage plan.  I'm currently at 2gb for $25 because i wanted to not feel restrained by my data package.  Because I believe consumption is behavioral, I'm no longer worried about dropping my plan down next month to the lower allotment of 200mb for $15. 

It is my advice to others jumping on the bandwagon to start high and then turn it down after you see some trending.  Some people are heavier users out of habit.  Some are lighter users out of habit.  I apparently am a lighter user and I'm OK with that.

Beavis and Butthead - They're Back

http://popdust.com/2011/07/22/beavis-butthead-jersey-shore-new-season-preview/

I'm not a fan of Family Guy.  American Dad is ok at times.  The Simpsons need to be put to rest.  South Park should have ended years ago.

I'm normally not a fan of the retarded humor and Family Guy is the one that I think is the one that best represents the genre.  That being said, I'm actually happy Beavis and Butthead are coming back.  Maybe it's the nostalgia of them that made me grin when i heard this.  Maybe it's my juvenile side that still laughs when I've got gas.  I just think the world could use a dose of simple stupid humor again because of how polarized we're getting and how vogue it is to throw political commentary into every form of media.

After finding this out, I'm grinning and I don't know why.  :)

Gnome 3 - Follow Up

Linus himself trashes Gnome 3.  The comments are originally from Google+ according to the article.

I for one ditched Fedora/Gnome and went back to Ubuntu where I'm fighting with Unity.  Unity would have pissed me off if not for encountering Gnome 3 first.  Reading this makes me feel better about my previous rant about Gnome 3 and it's epic failure.

I hate being right.

Bottled water consumption

A friend sent me link to more information on the topic of water consumption.

What caught my eye about the topic is that everyone seems to forget that they get water from their food too.  Does a person who eats salad and lots of fruits need as much water.  Theoretically no because the food they're consuming is heavy in water to begin with.

I guess what I'm focusing in on are the people who pound water all day.  It should be a gradual process.  I know people who believe they should have a specific amount drank by different times of the day and if you disrupt their routine they'll go mental.  How can this be healthy?  All they hear is "drinking water is bad for you" when i say "forcefully drinking that much water in a limited time frame is probably bad for you".  Maybe they couldn't hear me because of the sounds of water sloshing around.  :)

Most importantly on this topic are those that consume bottled water.  Go to a grocery store and stand in the soda/water isle for a couple of minutes.  You're bound to see someone come up and grab multiple cases of water.  If I'm in a more affluent part of town, it's my observation that I'll see this even more.

This brings up the bottle vs tap argument.  I'm not sure whether people are using bottled water as a status sign, or if they're lazy, or if they're that clueless and so they buy into the propaganda.

I say "status sign" because it appears that people go out of their way to show they're drinking their bottle of water everywhere that they go.  As though they're soooooo healthy that they need to flaunt that they're not putting that low brow toxic stuff in their system.  Watch them.  They display their bottles very prominently in meetings and even on their desk.  Like coffee cups of yesteryear, your bottle of water reflects what you're trying to say about your lifestyle.

I said "lazy" because there are a lot of people who use it for the convenience factor.  As soon as their done with their serving, maybe they'll even throw it in a recycling bin.  It frightens me when i see this happening in homes.  Grab the bottle because it's more convenient than actually filling a glass.  That's OK though because it'll get recycled (hopefully) when they're done and they'll grab a fresh one in a couple of hours.  Yes I'm calling you lazy if you do this.  Get over it.  You've got a million excuses but in the end you know they're pretty flimsy.

There's countless sites dedicated to the argument of bottle vs tap.  Those that are adamant about using bottled don't use them though and prefer to use the facts written on the labels or information that "someone told me a while back but i don't remember who or when" which is usually code for THIS IS BULLSHIT COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH BUT IT SOUNDS GOOD.  I find it ironic that in the easy access information age that we are in today how few people fact check stuff even after they're called out on it.

I'm not saying drinking water is bad.  That much should be obvious.  I'm saying that the hype about how much you should drink is incorrect.  I'm also saying that people need to stop buying multiple cases of bottled water at a time because they're wasting their money on a product who's packaging does more harm than good.

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About me:  I have a case of water in my freezer since it's summer time and I can pull a frozen bottle out and have it be cold in a couple of hours after sitting in a cooler.  I also use those frozen bottles in coolers instead of buying ice packs because as serve a dual purpose of chilling things and when they thaw I can drink them.  I strongly prefer my water to be cold.  I have a bottle on my desk every day that starts off frozen and I refill it constantly so the water stays cold as the ice melts.  I do this to cut back on my soda intake which has been known to hit 6-7 cans a day easily.  I also take my bottles home with me, fill them up from the tap and toss them in the freezer for the next day.  When they are all gone I will be using old soda bottles.  I do this because there is no reasonable source of ice cubes throughout the day for me at work.  I'm anti plastic whenever possible and work to minimize that type of packaging in my life.

You may now attack my views.

FBI Raids Hunting Down Anonymous

Courtesy of CBSNEWS.com

This is of course on the heels of Anonymous threatening to release Sun and News Of The World Emails today after defacing The Sun earlier today...

Can't help but wonder why the FBI is launching these raids.  Why the attention?

Clearly these "hackers" are a threat to national security and will bring down our freedoms and encourage rampant homosexuality and promiscuity and any other nonsense that is being spewed out by hate mongers on both sides.

The fact is yes they've been attacking very large multinational corporations lately.  The reality is it's only a matter of time before law enforcement comes after you when you've been in the headlines as much as they have been.  The fact is Anonymous is a boogie man for law enforcement to chase down and a great way generate news to draw attention away from other more pressing issues.  There are bigger problems in the world than companies like Sony being 'hacked' but law enforcement is doing what is in their best interest (assuming they want to stay employed much longer).  The global economy is unstable right now, countries in Europe are defaulting on their debts, the USA's credit is tanking, oil prices are constantly on the rise courtesy of OPEC (not directly because of BP, Exxon, or the other oil companies kids!!!), and China's economy is expanding at a rate that is not sustainable long term which can lead to a major crash in time.

Yeah.  Chasing down rogue 'hackers' makes a lot of sense.

A part of me now wants to watch the original Hackers movie and yell "Hack the planet" tonight...  :)