Visa, MasterCard or OTHER!

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I am an American Express Card holder. I am happy about that. Amex treats you right. I don’t remember any major problem (nock on wood) with them as a credit card company. I do remember all the good things they have done when I have had problems. Sometimes without me even asking. That is good service. Yes I pay allot for that service, but isn’t that the point?

Because I am so happy with my Amex I have decided long ago that I don’t need any other card. I mean I have a charge and credit card with Amex. Well since my bank has given me a Debit card allong with my ATM card I figure I can use that if I ever come accross a place that does not take Amex. I must say that I have been known to leave stores when they don’t take Amex. If you want my business you should take a credit card that huge portions of he popuation have, and the vast majority of stores take. Being cheap about the percentage point or two that Amex charges over Visa/Mastercard is just petty and looses my business. I got that attitude from my dad. He had a Visa card that he never used. I remember on a few occasions where we would leave stores if they didn’t take amex, even though he could use the visa card. I am the customer, I want to pay in a legitimate way using this card. If you won’t accomodate me, I am leaving. And leave we would. I am like my dad (even though sometimes I don’t like to admit it). We can both be stuborn. he a bit more than me, but as a customer I am right. Aren’t i?

I am here in Maine. More on that later. The inn I am staying at has WIFI. I was like cool. I have 2 hours to kill so let me get online and check my mail. Yeah, that didn’t work. Why you ask? Well the wifi company doesn’t take Amex. I was a bit miffed but then said ok, this is why I have my debit card anyway. So I broke out the debit card and punched in my digits only to get rejected. The credit card authorization company does not recognize my debit card as a valid MasterCard. So I am stuck with no WIFI. I am actually cool with that, but I am really pissed at a company that makes it so difficult for me to use there service. OK, I know everyone DOESN’T take amex, so I use my debit card, and you STILL won’t take the dam card. Come on. I am still not going to run out and get a Visa or Master Card. I will spend my money at a place that is willing to take it!!!

The Wedding

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I am sitting in my room (super small, but lets not go there right now) waiting to put my tux on. I am supposed to be ready to go in about an hour. Since it will take me like 20 minutes to get dressed I have time to kill. In a minute I am going to run down to the inn bar and fill up my flask. Rich & Amanada got me a flask kit with cups and stuff for a gift. It was exactly what I wanted. I am going to fill it up “just in case” for the ceremony. I wonder how much the bar will charge to fill up a 6-oz flask with JD or Southern Comfort? I will find out.

I am not looking forward to wearing a tie. Rich’s dad helped me get it ready, but I hate wearing them. I know I “clean up nice” in a tux or good suit, but they are so uncomfortable to get into. After a while I get used to it and am fine, but it is that first few minutes that I dread. I hate sweating in them:(

Flight Blogging

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Off to Maine for the weekend. So far the flight so good. LGA (can’t spell it out, so there) is actually not that busy Saturday mornings at 7AM. I did not need to get to the airport 2 hours early. I am early almost to a point of neurosis. Rich picks me up from the airport in a bit when I land. Then it is off to the inn. Hopefully there will be more to do, or less time to do nothing than I originally thought.

On the plus side the place I am staying says they actually have free WIFI. I will see if it works when I get there.

Fishing For Treo’s

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Today started out very very bad. How bad you may ask? Or you may be thinking come on Scott, everything is dreary to you… Well today was not good. It started out normal enough. That was until I was swiping my metro card to get on the subway. I heard the subway pulling in, so like any normal New Yorker I rushed down to try and get on the train. I actually get caught in the closing doors. Normally this is good because that means I have a good chance of making it on the train. In this case I did in fact make it on the train. But just as I was in the train I realized I wanted out. Why? My Treo that was on my belt was no longer attached to the belt clip. I had felt it and heard it come off as the doors slammed into me. I thought I saw it go down the crack between the train and the platform but I couldn’t tell. My fingers almost got caught in the door as I tried to get out.

My reaction surprised me. At first I was like, screw it. it is just a phone. I wasn’t even going to go back and look for it. Then I realized I have allot of information on it that I don’t want others to get. So I got off at the next stop, and went back uptown to try and find the phone. When I returned to my home station I was happy to find the Treo lying face down in the dirt next to the tracks. I was actually glad it was there. If it was in the middle of the tracks it would be soaked in water. If it was on the platform someone could have stolen it.

I went to the token booth and asked for help. The really nice lady there was like “honey don’t worry, you are the second person today with that problem” she assured me she already called for a special crew to come out to retrieve it. Sure enough about 45 minutes later 2 guys from the MTA show up with this cripping device and pull my Treo and battery cover out of the dirt. Turns out the cover came off when it crashed.

The good news is that the Treo actaully works. Besides some minor (i am a perfectionist with gear so to me it feels like major) cosmetic defects aside the phone was fine. No damage to the screen at all. I was actually plesantly surprised. Why? I don’t think of palms as rugged. My Nextel Blackberry I carry for work is rugged. I have dropped it at least twice on the subway platform or stairs and it has been fine except for some scratches. The Treo seems like a device that wouldn’t wear well. I am glad I was wrong.

The first thing I did when I got to work was password protect the device when you power it on. This was to calm my stolen data fears. next I need an encryptiion program, and something to encrypt the data on my SD card. Overkill? Maybe, but I want to protect myself, especially since this deviec is with me almost all the time and it is small enough that it can “go missing” quickly. Case in point today.

Rebuilding The Mini

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I rebuilt my Mini today. I wanted a fresh install so I can try using some linux/unix server programs on it. I am using my Powerbook as my main computer now, so I don’t really “need” the mini as a desktop anymore. But I like it and want to use it.

I am planning on trying to use it as a web server, and maybe a MySQL server, and more. We shall see if I get around to doing that in my spare time.

Jayson also got a mini. Turns out Bob needed a high end desktop for someone quick and Jay volunteered his for use. We tend to trick out our computers in our department so they may not be bought as high end box’s but they end up as them. Bob said to order a replacement box for Jayson so jay suggested the mini. He got a computer he wanted and we saved the company $400 compared to buying a new dev desktop box. Made sense to me! I hope he likes it. I am such a convert now:) It is really scary.

Day Off

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I took today off. I mean I did work all weekend, and I needed the time off. My big plans for the day are sleeping and watching stuff on my Tivo. Well I got up at 10AM. There went the sleeping part of my day. Then I realized that I don’t have much left on my Tivo that I want to watch. So I am just relaxing now. Maybe I will go get a hair cut later, or go out and do something. Since I was running around all weekend it is nice to sit around and not do anything for a while.

Power Outage

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Looks like my web hosting provider (MediaTemple) lost power today. LA was having a power issue, and their data center is in down town Los Angeles. Reading about outages and then not being able to bring up my mail or site leads me to think something happened! No notice on their site about it. that was nice of them:(

This blog was unaffected since it is hosted by Typepad!

Chock Full of Meetings

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It felt like I did nothing but have meetings today. And actually I did almost no technical work today so I did sit through allot of meetings, it just didn’t feel long. I need to follow up on allot of projects tomorrow.

Today was just crazy. I won’t go into details but my stress level was way up today. I also got side tracked on allot of stuff. I didn’t get to eat lunch till 2:30, and it is 10PM and I haven’t eaten dinner. I don’t know if I will have anything at all.

I also had a slight head ache today. Yesterday was allot worse. I think it is from not sleeping since both last night and the night before I slept like crap and I woke up with a head ache. When I do that, I should just roll over and call in sick because like 75% of the time that turns into a migraine. Of course I don’t and I pay for it later in the day.

Yesterday was busy but not as crazy as today. Most of the stuff that went on I cannot go into on this blog. I know I want to talk about stuff, but I am taking very serious the need to leave out work details from this site. If you are a friend reading this site, you can email me and I will give you the password. If I work with you and you are looking for information like you used to get off the site, don’t bother. I won’t be giving out the password to anyone I work with.

Phone Switch

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I switched back to the Razr today. I like the smaller phone when I am in and around the office. I don’t need the big Treo for going back and forth to the computer room or a meeting. When I am traveling or not the office I like the Treo so I can use email, and use the PIM, etc. I really don’t see getting rid of one of them. Both fit a purpose. And no a small phone like the Razr and a regular PDA wont work for me either. Tried that. I like the Treo keyboard and when I use it I want it to be a phone also. I just don’t need it all the time.

Disaster Supplies

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Watching a disaster unfold (from a great distance) gets you thinking about things. For me first and foremost I wonder if all my friends and my friends families are ok? Then I begin wondering if I am prepared if something would happen in NY again? The answer is I am not prepared.

I have a well stocked (or it was the last time I checked it) first aid kit that was once my first responder bag when I did volunteer EMT work. I have some non refrigerated food, like cereal bar’s etc. I need more. I have no stockpile of water except for the 2 or 3 letters I keep in my fridge. I have 1 mag light flash light with only the batteries in it. The only self protection gear I have are a bunch of ceremonial swords I have, but I don’t think they will be of much use.

So in an effort to be prepaired for anything I am making some changes. I just ordered some fresh direct, so I got several gallons of water, and batteries for the mag light. I need to get another flash light for backup, and a replacement bulb for the mag light. I am also researching long lasting food stores. I am going to buy some MRE’s or MRE like food from ebay.

I figure that should be enough stuff to start. Then I will reevaluate the situation and get more stuff if needed.