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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

Today is my final day down here in Florida.
I leave for Greenville tomorrow, to start making preparations to work from
home.
I don’t know when I’m supposed to get the new computer, but I plan on
calling Division of Services for the Blind Monday morning to get them to
bring by the loaner.
It looks like I’ll be working from 10:30 to 19:00, but I’m going to see if,
when the days start getting shorter, I can manage to either work different
hours, or work from 8:30 to 19:00 on most days and have Fridays off due to
Shabbat.
I’ll also look into getting as much advanced notice for Rosh Hashanah, Yom
Kippur, Sukkot, and Simhat Torah.
It’ll be nice to spend the holiday season as it was meant to be spent,
instead of spending it at work and thinking from time to time that, “Hey,
it’s the *th Day of Sukkot” or something like that.
I’m hoping to be able to get a scanner, and OpenBook, so I can scan my mail
and maybe even some books.
That would be nice.
The future looks a whole lot different from here.
If anyone had said I might have a different job that would be so drastically
different and a lot more satisfying even six months ago, I probably would
have done something close to laughing at them, if not outright laughed at
them.
Sometimes life can change in unforeseen ways.
I just finished reading Street Lawyer by John Grisham, which is about
a lawyer who gets held hostage by a homeless man in the conference room of
his firm, and ends up quitting his job and working for a legal clinic for
homeless people.
All of this happened within one month according to the book.
It was a good one, and was a good example of how life can change so quickly.
It’ll be interesting to see what the future brings, and while I’m guaranteed
nothing, I can still be thankful for what I’ve been so generously blessed
with, or for the cards I have been unexpectedly dealt, however you want to
view it.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

Today is my last day of training/working on-sight, so Denise sent in some
chocolate chip and pican cookies.
They are really good, and I’m going to try to make it a point to take some
with me.
I’m leaving to head home for Greenville on Sunday, and hope to start working
as soon as possible.
The airline still hasn’t recovered my laptop, but there’s a complaint in,
and one of the supervisors I’ve spoken to has kept in touch via email.
It’s been kind of slow today since everyone’s headed to either the ACB or
NFB convention.
I plan to spend tomorrow packing and lazing around since I’ll have to leave
early Sunday morning.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I left work yesterday with Joe and his wife, who gave me a ride over to Wil and Denise’s apartment, which is where I’m staying for the weekend.
We’re going out with most of the rest of the people from Tech Support later on to a place called Cody’s.
Last night, Will, Denise and I went to a place called the Ail House, and we had a ball drinking pitchers of beer and eating these things called “zingers”, which are these boneless chicken wings with hot sauce on them.
We had a good time joking around.
I even learned a new slur for sighted people: Light slaves.
I think it definitely fits.
Tomorrow, we plan to go to Radio Shack to pick up the mic and adapter I need in order to podcast with the PacMate.
We also plan to consume more beer.
I’ve started taking calls at work, and I’ve gotten used to being on the phone.
They’re still monitoring me, and apparently there are some things I still need to be trained on, but other than that things seem to be shaping up.
I think they could have had this training done in two weeks, but what the hell.
It’s off to breakfast for me, (coffee and muffins), but there’ll be more later.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

When I got back to my aunt’s this evening, I decided to see if I would get lucky enough to find the file I needed to restore my contacts in the recycle bin, since for some reason, the sync operation at work managed to delete the contacts on the work computer as well, which everyone (Jim, myself, and Cory) agree should not have happened.
Anyway,where, in the recycle bin, so everything’s restored.
For once, the damn thing came in handy.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

In the midst of importing/exporting all my data from Outlook to come back and forth from work to my aunt’s house, i’ve managed to get all my calendar and contact data deleted!
Man, that really sucks.
I hope I can replace it all when I get to work.
I deleted the ActiveSync partnership from my aunt’s computer, and can easily recreate it.
I guess I’ll just have to export everything when I get to work in case the screw-up manages to delete all the data from that system as well.
I’m sure this is easily fixable, but I’ve managed to create a major inconvenience for myself.
Yay for dumbassery.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

Today was long but productive. I got two tons of document’n this
morning, which I’m grateful for.
One of my coleagues, Kim, has apparently spent the last three years
collecting and organizing everything she can get hold of.
All of that will come in handy, and I look forward to adding to
that.
The plan is to start a collection on one of the company drives to
store all the information, and then give copies to new trainees on
portable storage.
I talked to the airline today.
They’ve started a corporate investigation in order to find my
missing laptop, and I’m really hoping they find it.
They’ve said they’ll replace it if they don’t find it, but in order
for them to do that, I’ll have to get a copy of a six-year-old
receipt from Gateway.
That should be fun.
I have to call my bank sometime this week to find out if I’ll be
able to make a deposit from Florida to a North Carolina account.
If I can’t, it’ll be do big deal, but it would be nice to have some
extra money while I’m down here.
I plan to go to Radio Shack while I’m down here and get a
directional mic so I can start podcasting.
I think that would be fun.
More later.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

Given that it’s so hot down here, I’ve found that taking a siesta, or afternoon nap, is not an option but a requirement.
It’s starting to cool off now I think, so hopefully the house will cool down.
I’ve probably sweat off a ton, and I don’t see that changing any time soon unless we’re talking temporary, which means a cold shower.
We’re having grilled hot dogs for supper, which definitely smell good.
My uncle is a great cook, and that’s always something to look forward to.
I wonder if, after eating supper late for the last month, I’ll go home and still keep to that schedule.
I’ll probably switch back eventually, but it’ll be different for a while.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I managed to make it into Tampa on Sunday night, around 20:00 or so.
The cabbie ended up charging me extra for the luggage, as I suspected, and I could have dealt with that in itself.
But things really started getting interesting once I got to the airport.
I managed to get assistance, and found out that it would cost me $80 to $100 to check each individual bag over two, so I decided to carry the rest onto the plane.
When I went through security, they asked me if I could take my shoes off by myself or if I needed someone to do it for me.
Then, they had to take the laptop, because they had to run some “tesses”.
Their words, not mine.
needless to say, I was getting worried at this point.
Once I headed for the plane, the person assisting me told me that two of my bags would not fit under the seat, and that he was putting them in overhead storage, and that I should ask about them once I got to Charlotte.
OK, fair enough.
But when I got to Charlotte, and asked about my bags, there was no sign of them.
I also missed my connecting flight, and so had to wait until almost 18:00 to catch the next flight.
I’ve been trying to find them ever since.
Everyone with the airline seems to have developed a case of the stupids, so I’m calling the Greenville airport today.
I’m missing my laptop, and the suitcase that has all my non-work clothes, along with other vitally needed things, like undergarments.
I hate people.
I really really do.
Now, it looks like I’ll have to go buy new clothes for the time being, which really pisses me off.
The laptop was about to get retired, so while I’m not happy about it being missing, I can deal with it.
While I’m here I can use my aunt’s computer, and I’m sure I can get some things worked out as far as email is concerned.
The clothes, on the other hand, are a different story.
On top of all that, my favorite person in the whole wide world is extremely ill, and I can’t be there to take care of him.
But on a lighter note, the people I’m working with are very nice, and work is going well.
More on that, and everything else, later.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I’m watching a show on the Science Channel about a group of card counters from MIT.
The slant is that you’re supposed to feel sorry for the cassino owners, but I’m not buying it.
If you live by the sword, (which all cassinos do), then you’ll die by it, and just because someone or even a group of someones beats you at your game doesn’t mean you should receive any pity.
It’s all about statistics, and the cassino owners should have realized that someone would figure it out.
No reason to whine and throw a temper tantrum.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I put in my official two weeks’ notice today.
Well, actually, I met with Mr. Frodo and the HR director to see what steps were going to be taken now that we all agree that we’ve exhausted all options.
They told me to just resign.
Given that we’re dealing with some of the worst dissemblers imaginable, my guess is that there’s probably something slightly illegal about that, but at this point I don’t really care.
From where I’m sitting right now, my new job looks like the best thing since sliced cheese.
I know it will have its disadvantages just like everything else, but so far, I haven’t encountered excessive amounts of smoke headed my way, and the people I’ve dealt with have been up front and honest.
And, there won’t be any accessibility issues to worry about, which takes a huge amount of stress out of the equation.
I’m finally over the sinus infection and bronchitis I’ve had for the past three weeks, so posting should be more frequent than it has been.
I’m off tomorrow, and I have to work on Shabbat.
Fortunately, I won’t be having to do that much longer either.
Shavuot is next week, and I have to work those days as well, but this will be the last of the Hagim I’ll be obligated to work.
For the foreseeable future, as long as I give enough advance, I’ll be able to take the days I need off, and since I don’t take many days off as a rule, there shouldn’t be any problems.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

It’s a rainy, windy day here.
I’m still recovering from a major sinus infection on top of bronchitis.
It’s not even 08:30 yet, and I’m sitting back here at work, sitting at my desk.
I’m the only one back here.
Everyone else is up front.
I’m sleepy.
And I can’t believe I actually had to come in here, just to sit around.
I’ll be glad when the hampster wheel stops spinning.
We’ve exhausted all options as far as testing the software is concerned, so now we get to deal with the politics of the situation, hopefully as frankly as possible.
Division of Services for the Blind will be involved in these discussions, because they’ll most likely be helping with the expenses surrounding my switching jobs.
I’m hoping to have this taken care of within the next week.
I don’t have any time to move at the speed of government, and I don’t want to squander the opportunity this new job presents.
I hope to get back to posting regularly within this week.
God knows I have nothing else to do except hurry up and wait while I prod and push for meetings with the appropriate people here at work.
More later.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

Yesterday, jury selection began in the trial of the now infamous Mary Winkler, the young minister’s wife accused of shooting her husband to death in their parsonage.
According to her lawyers, the couple were arguing over money after having gotten caught up in the Nigerian email scam, also known as the 419 Fraud.
So she killed him, but it wasn’t her fault.
It was the spammers.
Right.
Since when did stupidity become a defense, and, yes, anyone who gets “caught up” in one of these has failed to use their God-given grayware.
When did stupidity and greed become a defense?
Does that mean that I can go off, so something amazingly idiotic, then commit a crime like murder, and then use the original stupid act as my defense?
And let’s discuss the 419 Fraud in and of itself.
It’s not like this kind of thing is new.
It’s been going on since the 1920’s, but back then it was the Spanish Prisoner scam.
The Nigerians picked it up in the 70’s, and since then have turned it into a technological wonder.
But do people actually have to be instructed not to just fork over their life’s savings just because someone says they’ll give you lots of money in return?
I’ve gotten tons of emails like this, and I have yet to be tempted to just hand over my banking information.
Sure.
I’d love a ton of money.
It would make life easy for a while.
But I’m not gullible enough to think that some anonymous twit who comes begging for my information is going to give me any, and noone else should be either.
And how does murdering anyone solve the problem?
It’s not going to bring the money back, and the woman’s likely going to spend a lot of time in prison for this, away from her kids.
Oh well, I suppose if she’s convicted, she’ll have a lot of time to repent for her crime.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been playing around with the Get_custom plugin to see if I could get it to work a litle better than I did the first time I glanced at it, and I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve been able to do with it.
Now, I can add current mood, reading, and whatever else I want to to the site, just by adding a custom field.
I’m really pleased with this plugin, and I recommend it to anyone who likes to tweak.
And BTW, it looks like the syndication monster didn’t bite me after all.
The feed publisher just doesn’t publish an excerpt.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I’d like to apologize for all the posts with no info in them that got posted
yesterday.
I’m working on implementing an automation system that will post while I’m
away or unable to post, and there are some bugs still left.
Note to self: Set up a test server!
So anyway, now that we’ve reached Hol HaMo’ed Pesah, it’s back to posting
manually.

  

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I started reading the Diary of Anne Frank this morning.
It’s so sad to realize that the girl who wrote this never made it past sixteen, and died in such a horrible manner, just because she was Jewish.
Every once and a while, some phrase or other makes that especially poignant.
I’ve never read the diary in full, but plan to finish it over Shabbat.
I read somewhere that she was made an honorary citizen this week.
I imagine that rings especially hollow for her surviving relatives, because if she had been allowed to enter the United States while she was alive, she never would have died in a concentration camp.

  

Current Mood: none
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I just spent the longest time talking to my friend Gina, who I haven’t
talked to on the phone for at least a year, and that was the first time I
had talked to her in ages.
The first time I’m referring to was last year.
We got our contact information straightened out, and it turns out that I had
two very wrong email addresses for her.
I’m also trying to get back in touch with my friend Susan, who I haven’t
talked to in years.
I hope I’m successful, because I’d really like to be in touch with all my
old friends, the ones I grew up with and who have remained friends over the
years.
Tomorrow’s the last day for this week regarding work, and I’m glad for that.
I still haven’t heard about the job I’m applying for, but I’ll give that
some more time.
As far as what’s going to happen with my status at the company I’m working
for now, I have no idea.
Tomorrow is the last day of the project I’m currently working on, and when I
left work yesterday, no one had any idea what was going on.
Oh well, I guess I’ll find out soon enough.
Everyone have a good night.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I managed to sleep in majorly today, and thus I am not at work. I was
supposed to be at work at 07:00, and didn’t manage to wake up for the first,
groggy time at 06:24. Naturally, I called my ride and told him I overslept
and would be to work later. I laid back down on the bed for a second,
thinking I would wake back up in time to be to work by 09:00 and work until
18:00, but I fell asleep again and didn’t wake up until 10:45, and if I had
gotten to work at any time after 11:00, it would have counted as an absence.
Fortunately I have some paid time off, and put some of that in for today.
The occurrence still stands, (I think they keep changing the rule on that
one, because I know I’m not absent-minded enough to keep forgetting the
policy), but at least I’ll get paid. All around though this was unexpected.
I suppose that’s what happens when you can’t sleep the night before.

  

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I heard the alarm go off this morning, and had resolved to get up at about 06:00.
The next thing I knew, my phone was ringing, and it was 06:20.
My mom was on the other line from Ohio.
I got up, and managed to be ready for work on time, but I’m still tired, and I really wish I didn’t have to be here today.
The application process is going right along, but I can’t discuss it further.
I’ll be glad when today is over.
I don’t have anything that isn’t normally on the schedule to do this weekend, and I get to sleep in.

  

Current Mood: none
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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I was reading through my LJ Friends page, and came across a post by a new ex-Christian.
She says she used to work for the 700 Club’s prayer hotline, which got me thinking about all kinds of humorous things.
Like, what would happen if I called and told them that I’m blind, gay and Jewish, and I’m so ashamed of myself I want to commit suicide, and I need someone to pray for me?
And then, wait a month or two, and write a letter telling my story, and now, thanks to J, everything’s peechy.
Yeah, don’t mind me, I’m sick.

  

Current Mood: none