Vail Life

Short update, as I am busy tonight doing a ton of tax-exempt forms for guests tonight.

Wednesday night really sucked because I was tired from staying up most of the day waiting for a phone call to see if I got the job. So then I was at work tired and depressed that I had to go back to the grind of application after application. That I was really hoping to stay in the valley and not have to move to Denver.

Not that I don't like Denver, it is a very nice city, but that I dreaded the strain on my finances to have to move there.

So I was extremely happy Thursday to get that call and find out I got the job. Now I can stay in the valley. My next priority now is to find a new place to live.

The house I live in is a really nice house. But it is a married couple that lives there and I rent a room from them. And I literally rent a room from them. I do not have a single thing except for some frozen pizzas and my shoes anywhere in that house outside of my room.

So I need to find a place where I can actually live instead of just sleep at. I have shrunk my living style to spend less and once Aug 2 comes and I start my new job I will be making 2.50 more an hour. So before taxes that is 100 dollars more a week, 200+ more a paycheck, 400+ more a month. That will help me move out of my cozy living arrangement where I pay an inexpensive 450 dollars a month to something where I can buy a friendlier living environment.

Now I just need to find a living arrangement where I will be paying about 600 a month. That is the price tag I am shooting for. And it is fairly easy to find a 2 bedroom place going for 1100 - 1200.

Another thought I have had is possibly buying a house and then getting roommates to help me make payments. I have a few friends that have done so and I think that is something I might be interested in. Then I just have to decide am I going to be happy living here for the next 5 - 10 years to make money off the investment of a house? That is something I really need to give some thought to and maybe think about making a decision on that this weekend. Why this weekend you ask? Well because I just recently got a flyer from Vail Resorts talking about low cost housing and even with my pay raise come the fall I believe I fall under that low-income blanket. I guess first I need to find that flyer again and then I will think about it.

Posted by Coign at 2:50 AM | Permalink | Comments

Just a quick note before crashing out today. I just gto a call. I got the job at Eagle County School District and start Aug 2. Thank you to all of you who were my references.

Posted by Coign at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments

So I needed to take a break from reading my C++ book. Heavy reading is not good when you are tired. And why am I tired you ask?

Well that would be cause of my roommates’ stupid fucking dogs. They are house sitting one that feels a need to tear up the carpet and so scratches the living room carpet into little bits right above my head, and the other one they lock in the bathroom because it shits all over the house. So once they lock it in the bathroom all it does is bark. Over and over. For 2 and half hours straight. And that bathroom is also right over my bedroom.

So I did not get much sleep yesterday. If those fucking dogs do the same tonight I am going to start kicking them. And I am not going to stop until either they stop barking or I kill them.

Then tonight at work I am working on my C++ with my Vail Life page displayed on the browser. Out of the blue and having not been to a different page in over 2 hours, I get a pop up. I just broke this damn computer trying to clear off the pop-up crap that had taken over the browser and now someone put that shit back on. Damn it.

Well I will install Ad-aware tomorrow and hopefully that will stop it. I know my web site is not generating pop-up ads. Although I have thought about putting them on there just to be cool like everyone else. Of course than I would have to shoot myself but that is the price I would have to pay. Hmmm a pop-up suicide note. That could be cool. OK, if you see a pop-up on my site that is from my site and not from some hijack program you have on your machine, consider that my suicide note.

Posted by Coign at 4:27 AM | Permalink | Comments

*Warning* Geek subject material follows.

Well I figured out why Blogger wasn't seeing any of my posts, It was because I had set one of the view options to view future posts and Blogger remembers your settings when you log out. So since I did not have any future posts to view it was not seeing any posts to edit.

Well I have finished installing a C++ compiler for Windows tonight and have completed day 3 of my 28 days of learning C++. I know enough now to write a program from scratch that will print text to a screen. I might be able to muddle my way through simple addition and creating a second function to do that to. For those of you playing along at with the home-game version of Vail Life and want to also play with a completely OpenSource C++ compiler for Windows go here. Min GW Not only is it a free C++ compiler but they are a shell to run in Windows for the GNU GCC compiler. What that means, and why that is so great, is because it will be completely identical to the GNU GCC compiler you run in Linux or UNIX because it is not an adaptation but a shell emulator so you actually run the GNU GCC files.

The three files you need are MYSYS (The shell), MYSYS Developer Tool Kit (Actually I am not sure if you need this but I think it adds some functionality in the ability to emulate different root structures so I added it), and MinGW (the GCC portion of their program). Not only is this software OpenSource, it is also public domain, not GPL.

GPL would mean that any software you built using libraries from them, you would have to include the source code and allow others the ability to look at how you engineered your code. That is fine for code that you want to give away and not make money on but for anyone wanting to develop a software application for sale, you would not have the right to sell it without restriction. But they declared it public domain so you can sell, give it away, lock it down, or do anything you want with it.

It is one thing for someone to say, my software is free as long as you keep it free and do not make any money from it. It is another to have someone say, my software is free and I don't care if you make money off of my hard work, I am just that nice of a guy. For that reason this web site get my wholehearted endorsement and will eventually get a link on my front page to it. It is that kind of selflessness that is VERY rare in today's world. The only restrictions they ask is that you do not claim the MinGW shell as your own invention. For more information on the open copyright read this link. F.A.Q.

So what is my plan or schedule on my new self taught classes? Well I have "Learn C++ for Linux in 21 days" that I want to do while spending my 6 hours of nothing at work. The book also has a 4th bonus week where they specifically go into the GNU version of C++ and how it pertains to Linux. With that last week they talk about programming in KDE and GTK which will be very cool. So in 28 working days, once I have a firm grasp on that, my "Linux Programming for Dummies" book should make a lot more sense.

And as for preliminary book reviews go, the book "Running Linux" by O'Reilly books has been very helpful. On the other hand the book "Linux for Dummies" has not helped in my Gentoo install at all. "Linux for Dummies" is all about teaching you the desktop environment and if you need to do anything from the command line the book is next to useless. Get "Linux for Dummies" if you are going to install Mandrake. Get "Red Hat for Dummies" if you are going to install Red Hat. If you are installing any other distro that will not walk you through a GUI interface from start to finish don't bother with those two books. By the time you get your GUI installed you will have found much better alternative help sources.

Heh, I am doing a spell check on this post in Microsoft Word 97 and for some reason it doesn’t recognize Linux as a real word. Funny.

Posted by Coign at 3:41 AM | Permalink | Comments

Hmm, sketchy. Blogger is not seeing any of my old posts on this section so hopefully it will not over write my index. Umm hold on, before I post this I am backing up my old posts.

OK then, never mind. I am not going to post this from work. Seem like they have redirected all outgoing port 23 traffic to ftp.marriott.com now so I cannot log into my remote site anymore. Bastards. The Marriott is really paranoid about their network security yet the shit they do to their network to keep their stuff safe keeps me from keeping their stuff safe.

For example they recently reformatted this PC after I had broke it. I broke it because I was attempting to remove “Hot Bar” style crap people had downloaded on the browser that would hi-jack your page when surfing. So after they finally reloaded it a week later, I went to update Windows 98 to patch up any security holes. But no, can’t run any of Microsoft’s auto detect scripts through the firewall. SO that failed. I was able to update the IE to 6 SP 1 by manually downloading it so I got that working but it seems all ports except for 80 and 8000 are now closed.

I will test port 23 one more time next week when I attempt to install my web design tools on this machine. I need to try and get some remote PC control like RVNC working on my machine at home and set it up for port 80 to use it from here. I will play with that when I get the time.

Well like I said last week I am still working on getting applications installed on my Gentoo server. It took literally 40 hours for it to install Open Office. I am now working on getting tools and utilities installed so I can run Gnome. Once I have that up I can then start on getting a C++ plan of action going as I am going to be teaching myself that. I bought a 60 dollar book on a home schooling of C++ and I look forward to learning some real programming.

As I mentioned on the forums I had an interview at Eagle County School District for the position of technical assistant. It is an entry-level job where I would work in a number of schools in the surrounding area. Each day I would work at a different school from 8 to 4 and help them with various computer problems.

I felt really good at the interview and think I did really well. They had literally 8 people interviewing me that all worked in the department. They all seemed really nice and were very open. One of them asked if I would be interested in teaching some of my knowledge to others since I listed that I had taught the Internet Basics and Advanced Internet Classes at CP Internet. It would be like being a teacher without that pesky 6 years of schooling and 2 years of internship crap. I really like the idea of being a teacher, be it just a teacher to the teachers themselves or being an assistant in a class.

Then at the end of the interview came the kick to the balls. One of the interviewers said, “Well I guess I will be the one to bring it up. We are all pretty impressed with your skills and you really know your stuff. But you are highly overqualified for the position. How do you feel about taking a step backwards in your career?”

I thought a moment about my answer and then replied thus, “About 4 months ago I decided I want more money than the Hotel can offer me and I wanted to get back into the computer field. I have worked there for 5 years and did 2 years of schooling previous to that. It is really where I feel most comfortable. First off I am only making 12.75 an hour right now. You said starting pay was 13 to 14 dollars and hour plus it may be higher with experience depending on HR. So right there I am going up in pay.

Second I have been looking for work for 4 months now. I have been applying in the valley and in Denver. When I moved to the Valley it was with the intention to live here. I would be more than willing to work of less money in the Valley than Denver. So really your biggest job security that I will stay here is that I want to live in the Valley and not move.”

So if I do not get the job it will most likely be for one of two reasons. One they may think that they can get away with hiring someone with less experience to not pay him as much starting out, or two they may feel my above answer was not sincere and that I would be at risk to bolt for higher pay in Denver. Personally I really hope I get this job. I think it would be a lot of fun and I would be happy there. Plus it is a county job, and I have the experience to move into one of the head positions if one of those 8 ever leaves.

So other than my Gentoo Server and my job interview I have also been doing some rollerblading and working on transcribing a radio show called Tales of the Afternow. I am doing the transcribing of that radio show in preparation to set up some D20 rules to role-play in that universe. You can download and listen to the show here. http://www.therafternow.com. It is pretty freaking cool.

Well I think that catches up the last week. A couple of times through out the week there have been some things that I wanted to jot down here before I forgot them. I never did get a chance to do so but I may be adding some stuff in between updates in the next couple of weeks because I have gotten so active.

Mostly the in between updates will mostly likely be quick and will probably be more about single events and the feelings they generate at that moment than about factual updates of goings on. So just keep an eye out here or make sure to read the previous post heading so you do not miss anything.

Posted by Coign at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments

Quick update today. I finally got my Gentoo server running. I am now working on getting various programs and utilities installed. That will take me a long time but I am working on it.

I need to update my resume with some new ideas I want to work into. But my job searching is slowing down as I am taking a week off from work to go to my class reunion here in about a month.

In other news I have been listening to Tales from the Afternow by Sean Kennedy. It is a radio show with about 20 episodes an hour long and posted for free on the Internet. It is really good and I highly recommend everyone check it out.

And of course as I find new projects or return to old ones other projects get placed on back burners and do not see me work at all on them. So I have not logged into DAoC in quite some time, D61 hasn't seen work in a long time, Think for Yourself has not seen activity for a week, and other various small things I wanted to do this week didn't get done.

And yet I make plans for new items that I want to work on and do. I really need to devise some type of planner to list projects, plans I want to do with them and goals I want them to achieve, and various progress I make on each project. I have heard of software that will help accomplish that. Think tank software, mind helper, and notes organizers. I will have to do some Googleing and see what I can find.

Until then I will continue to flounder from project to project. Until next week, think for yourself and may server protect us all.

Posted by Coign at 3:08 AM | Permalink | Comments

Last week has been busy. I did my weekly dump of applications, so that has not changed. Still no calls on those. I even went to Eagle county schools and applied as a network tech there. Someone I talked to that day said, "Oh that will be great job. I am sure you will love that." as if I already had the job. I stopped telling people in my daily life that I go to drop off applications because I hate the patronizing. A few times it has been,

"Oh I am sure you will get that job."

"Won't it be nice to change jobs."

"So are you happy to go to work there?"

Damn it. I do not even have a call back and people I know are telling me congratulations. I have not had a call back in over 60 applications. I have given up hope on getting a call back. Now my job applications are just me playing scratch tickets hoping for a 5 dollar winner. One of the worst was when I expressed my frustration over the pre-congratulations on 60 applications that have not responded. My friend then replied, "Well maybe you are just trying to hard. Just relax and you will find a new job eventually."

I almost punched him in the face at that point. It is the same inane advice you give someone who is "looking" for a girlfriend. And whenever I talk about a desire to settle down with a girl someday I here the same thing. "Just relax, it will happen. But not if you try to hard." Bullshit. What kind of screwed up advice is that? Stop looking and it will find you? It is like people don't want you to succeed so they tell you to stop trying. You will not go anywhere in any endeavor unless you are willing to never give up and to work for it.

But back to my busy week. I started work on the site again. It really helps that the mountain has closed. All of a sudden I have a lot of free time on my hands to work on other projects again. Not only did I get last weeks rant out and comic done, but I also setup the next two rants and have the comic script picked out for this weekend's comic. I also did a lot more research and got permission from a columnist from the Vail Daily to reprint an article of his. His article might be one of the rants I do. I am not quite sure how I will present it yet. The article is the Patriot Act explained in layman terms.

The Think for Yourself site is seeing some progress and I am slowly developing the tools to make it manageable. I have also been scouring more news sites looking for more fuel for the fire to promote a cause of freedom.

Two names to keep in mind, and a reminder to myself, is Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla. Two U.S. citizens detained "indefinitely" by the U.S. Military. And no matter what their crime or their guilt, remember if they can imprison those two without trial or representation, they can do the same to you. But more on that rant as I do more research.

Then the remainder of my week was filled with working a few days at the gift shop. Lots of fun, some nice added cash, and a total thief of any free time outside of work.

So I have some catching up of household chores to do this weekend and I need to get on to DAoC, as I have not played that in over 4 days. Well I hope to get the comic updated and rant posted. Like I said they are both written, I just have to make sure I do not get to lazy to post them this weekend.

Oh, and finally just to warp up some loose ends in the story line of my life. I finally got the refund check from A1 Books and so ends that struggle. I haven’t checked to see if they charged me for the shipping of those books I never received. I feel they did but at this point I am not going to fight that, and so I do not even want to know. I am just going to deposit the check and wash my hands of that.

Oh and the Gentoo server. Hmm, I am considering going to Mandrake as I have a Mandrake CD I got with my new Linux books. I have to consult my notes and see if Mandrake will do what I want. It is either that or I attempt to install Gentoo from scratch a 4th time. Not sure if I want to dink around with it for another 3 days just to have it fail again. If a distro install is going to take 3 days, it should work the 1st time. Not time number 24.

Posted by Coign at 4:38 AM | Permalink | Comments