Scott's Ramblings

LONG time no talk

2011-12-08T06:49:00.001-08:00

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack. I thought I'd check in and see if my blogger.com account was even still active. Apparently it is. So, what to say. It's been quite some time since my last post and here I sit drawing a blank. Lots of stuff has gone on in my life since 2009.. about two years worth of stuff in fact!

Linda is finally home!

My wife was living and working down in Los Angeles and only moved back up to Seattle (Edmonds) over memorial day 2011. She was down there for the better part of 9 years, but finally got the opportunity to transfer up to the Seattle office of Aon Risk Services. This, needless to say, was quite a happy day for me, let alone her. She brought another cat with her (long story), but he's getting along with the two we have at the Edmonds house, so all is well. His name is Mo, which is short for Mouth, because apparently when he was a kitteh, he was quite .. talkative.

So, what else.. well, I'm getting more and more involved, finally, with the local dev (software development) community, mainly via twitter. I've realized that I really should be doing a technical blog, but am unsure whether or not I should simply turn this one in that direction, or create a new one. I'm thinking a new one is probably the best idea as the development community may or may not give a rats rear what's going on in my personal life. For that matter, I'm not sure if ANYONE reads this as it is about lil ole me's personal life, and was meant to keep family abreast of what's up with me. Sadly, most of my family are rather technologically challenged.

Today is my last day @ my Frontier Communications contract. I feel like I had a serious growth spurt while here (as a developer of course), and will definitely miss the people here as they have been just wonderful to work for and with. I'm heading to *gasp* Eastgate to work with the fine folks at Ramp Group, where I'll be doing all manner of challenging work. The good news is that I'll only have to haul myself down to Eastgate once or twice a week and will be working from home the rest of the time.

I suppose that's it for now. I think I'll post a link to this on twitter and see what happens. ; )

I should probably be blogging about my job search, or .. something.

2009-06-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

Well, since Monday, November 3, 2008, the day I got laid off and my cat died, I have not had a job. I have been working on the web site (http://PillowTalkProfiles.com) I built for some friends (for which I'm getting an equity stake), and thankfully that's keeping me busy, but I'd sure love to find a good solid job!

It amazes me that with 18 years in software development, I can't get any more traction than the occasional rejection letter/e-mail. And you know it's bad when you're excited to have gotten a rejection because at least you know someone at least read your resume! Of course, if you think about it, they may not have even gotten that far. Maybe they're simply a company willing to take the time to let you know that you didn't pass muster for whatever reason; perhaps because you were 742nd in the pile of resumes.

Ah well, such is life during these fun economic times. Just gotta keep plugging away as there really isn't any alternative besides giving up, and I can't see how that would help anyone.

-S

Our beloved kitty Bert passed away monday night.

2008-11-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

The hardest part is that we have no idea WTF happened.

We had just gotten him over his urinary blockage incident (which almost killed him!) and he's been acting, well, just fine! We really thought the worst was behind us, I mean, he was only 8!

What happened is this; He was doing just great Sunday night (11/2/08), then monday morning when the cleaning lady showed up, she found him "foaming at the mouth" and breathing through his mouth as well. (Cats only 'pant' when they're very freaked out apparently) So, she took him to the vet for us at about 10:30am.

So, after finding out that my job was ending that day (I was on a contract and was told that it would go to the end of the year) I got home and went straight to the Vet and the vet said she wanted me to take him to the emergency vet place for observation as he seemed to get a bit better after she treated him for having gotten into some pesticides (which he hadn't, but thats what she assumed given his symptoms.) So I take him to the emergency place and they do their intake and ask a bunch of questions about what he might have gotten in to, but there is nothing here that he hasn't already been exposed to his whole life so we were kinda stumped. The vet guy said that he was going to give Bert a seditive just to see if calming him down a bit would help.

I left the emergency vet place around 7:30pm and went home. I'm sitting around watching T.V. and at about 9:20pm he [the emergency vet] calls and says that Bert's having a "neurological episode" (very possibly a stroke of some kind) and I told him to go ahead with CPR (we already said thats what we wanted) then I called Linda.

That went about as you'd expect. I told her that one of us needed to call them back and she decidec to be the one to do that. So, she calls them back and found out that he wasn't going to "come out of it" and be ok so she told them to go ahead and put him down because she/we did NOT want him to suffer any more than he may have already / up to that point.

So that is basically how we lost the 2nd of our two very loved kitteh's.

Of course, we still have P.I. (Polar Ice as named by the place we adopted him from) who we also love very much. At this point we are unsure as to whether or not we will get him a buddy/brother.

-Scott

Whoa.. things have changed

2008-09-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

Imma try to start blogging again, so I came here to login and things have changed! Not too big a deal of course, and in fact I shouldn't be suprised given the fact that its been like 2+ years since I've done anything here.

heh, more later,
Beavis (Scott)

Wow, I really should blog more

2006-10-20T11:49:00.000-07:00

...but the thing is, there is a lot of stuff that I just can't talk about in public. You see, I do watch the news and I know that company's are nosy these days and the LAST thing I need is for the people I work for to know what goes on in my private life. ;)

-S

What is the BPDG?

2006-05-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

This is a VERY important question!

I know many of you may get as far as the web page I'm directing you to and not want to read it all, but trust me when I tell you, this is going to affect every last one of us.

PLEASE read this blog entry ( http://bpdg.blogs.eff.org/archives/000113.html ) from The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) ( www.eff.org )

Short of that, the following couple of paragraphs should definitely get your attention if you’re a parent who likes taking pictures of your kids!

**************************
Unintended Consequences

It's outrageous that Hollywood would demand a law that intentionally breaks technology so that it can't be used in lawful ways, but the unintended consequences of this regime are even more bizarre.

Virtually everything in our world is copyrighted or trademarked by someone, from the facades of famous sky-scrapers to the background music at your local mall. If ADCs are constrained from performing analog-to-digital conversion of all watermarked copyrighted works, you might end up with a cellphone that switches itself off when you get within range of the copyrighted music on your stereo; a camcorder that refuses to store your child's first steps because he is taking them within eyeshot of a television playing a copyrighted cartoon; a camera that won't snap your holiday moments if they take place against the copyrighted backdrop of a chain store such as Starbucks, which forbids on-premises photography because its fixtures are proprietary works.

**************************

So, sit back and allow Hollywood to get away with this crap and don't be surprised it becomes VERY difficult to so much as take a picture of your kids! I'm guessing, but its probably more about what your senator's and/or congressmen are allowing Hollywood to get away with actually.

Just HAD to say something about THIS crap!

-S

Freedom at last!!

2006-04-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

I've had a family member living at my house now for 2.5 years and he FINALLY moves out this weekend! Not sure why I'm blogging about it since words can not describe the joy I'm feeling at the idea of finally having my house back! The ability to do whatever the hell I want, when ever I want... well, I'm sure there are those people out there who know exactly what I'm talking about.

Still thinking about that new picture. Oh, hey, you MUST go see the pics of our new kitten! Did I mention we got a new kitten!? http://gallery.commanderbeavis.net See the "Pictures of our new kitten" album. :D

Out for now.

Oh, and yeah, I know. I probably need a new pic.

2006-02-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

This picture of me has been used online since it was taken some time in 1996. I suppose that since its been ~10 years, I should have a new one taken, or use a newer one to show you all my lovely visage.

BAAAAhahahahahaha. I know, I'm funny look'en. Thank Dog looks aren't everything!

Oy, how big a nightmare can family be!?

2006-02-01T14:05:00.000-08:00

Well, for my first blog entry in 6 months, I suppose I shouldn't just sit and go on about family. Lets face it, we all know how trying family can be. After talking with the family member I'm having issues with, I've come to realize that yes, he has issues with me too, and sadly/unfortunately, rightly so. Ah well, life goes on.

Oops, it happened again. (+ some good news)

2005-08-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

So, about two hours after my last posting, I got laid off. After working roughly 6-8 weeks of 10+ hour days, I was one of the people who got the Axe. Cest la vie I guess. The good news is that we are in a position to pull some of our equity out of our condo here in Cali and give me the opportunity to get our new web biz (http://www.UniqueGifts4Her.com) up and running. (Its currently/still under construction, but should be really up and running within the week!)

I meant to blog starting LAST monday about all the stuff I'm doing to make that and other things happen, but of course I was too busy actually getting it to happen to blog. What has been done is that we've opened a seperate bank account to hook up to PayPal (https://www.paypal.com), who we'll be using as our 'merchant account' for the time being. I also went to GoDaddy.com to register our domain name (see above) and found out that personal web sites, including your own 'myname.com' domain named sites are as little as $42(ish) per YEAR. whoa.

Anyway, I better get back to it!

Oh goodie, my headaches are back! + Lappy ram is in and working as it should.

2005-07-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

Seems like every year about this time I get this horrible, agonizing headaches and while I don't remember getting them last year (which isn't really saying anything given my memory, or lack thereof), I'm definately getting them this year. I used to think they were just "Cluster headaches", which my aunt and I found in one of her medical books, but more recently its been suggested that they are sinus related. That seems strange to me because I'm not 'clogged up' or anything and in fact am breathing just fine. Mrs. Beavis tells me that that doesn't matter though and that being able to breathe and a sinus headache are practically unrelated. The worst part is that once I feel one coming on, by the time I get a pill in me and get any relief an hour or more of pure agony has gone by. (I think I realized that they were back around Monday of this week and am blogging this so that this year I can keep an actual record of this stuff.) Maybe some day the Dr.'s can give me something that will work faster or something.

I went yesterday evening and exchanged the ram without incident. Put the new chip into the laptop by itself and it came up as 512, as it was supposed to. Put back my original and now have 768 MB of ram. YAY! Now if I can just fix the "Can start debugging on the web server" issue I'll be all set.

Got the lappy! (Too bad my new ram is 1/2 what its supposed to be!)

2005-07-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

So, I got my laptop on Tuesday, one day head of schedule (shocking given my luck lately) and I had gotten only 256meg of ram because one of my co-workers (Chris L. - Hey Chris!) said that it would be cheaper to get more memory on my own. So, yesterday afternoon I went to Fry's Electronics to by a 512meg SO-DIMM to put into the laptop. I get home and put in the new chip but the laptop keeps telling me I only have 512meg of ram. Needless to say I was pretty confused. I call dell support and they suggest taking the OEM ram out and putting in the chip I bought to see what it comes up as. 256meg. *SIGH* So, I have to drive back to my local fry's, which is like 20 minutes from where I'm living and hope they don't try to give me crap about the fact that they sold me a 256 meg chip in 512 meg clothing. Oy.

In other news... well, better not talk about work. Again, that could get me in trouble. I will say that I still completely LOVE C# (a programming language with features from C, C++ and Java).

Dude, I'm getting a dell!!

2005-07-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, forgot to mention.. I ordered me up a "inspiron 9300" 1.6 GHz / 533MHz FSB, 256meg of ram (going to get more on my own), 60gig HD and XP Pro. They shipped today so I should have it anywhere from Wed. to Friday.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!

Oh yeah, I have a blog!

2005-07-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

*hmm hmm heh* Wow, been a while since I blogged. Almost forgot I had this thing. Course, I don't think too many people are actually reading this so... no biggie I guess. I'd really like to start blogging more often, but then some of the stuff I want to say probably shouldn't be broadcast to the internet. Hummm.

Cubensis rocks even harder now!

2005-02-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

OMG, the Cubensis (http://www.cubensis.com) show I went to saturday night... ROCKED. Apparently they got a new/old rythem guitar player back in the band and him and the lead guitar player, heck, the whole rest of the band apparently mesh well better than they did with the guy who played rythem previously. I mean, this show was so smok'en that mere words just can't describe it! The songs were all amazing and the Jams even more so.

If you've never seen them, and your in or around the LA/OC area of California, they're very much worth seeing.

:D

Working on a Saturday. sigh

2005-01-29T10:34:00.000-08:00

This is one of the problems you face when working for small/startup type companys. No paid sick days.

At least Cubensis (http://www.cubensis.com) is playing tonight.

-S

Wow, has it been that long since I said something?!

2005-01-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

I think my apparent lack of an audience has me down and not all that into this thing.

My big present for Christmas was a 40gig Creative Labs Zen Xtra, which I've been loading up like a madman. Funny thing is, I still have ~27gig free. I need to find a way to tag (ID3) all my Grateful Dead shows. I'm thinking about writing a tool to do it, but I'd rather write some modules for the guy who wrote ID3-TagIt (http://www.id3-tagit.de/) as its already an awsome tool. I think I'll e-mail him today and see if thats possible.

Thats all I can think of for now. :)

41 already!?

2004-11-16T08:35:00.000-08:00

Man... I can remember like it was last week my 40th birthday party, and now I've turned 41 (11/12) and can't believe how fast the time is flying! *sigh*

Today I came in to work to find that the person who likes to eat everyone else's food has struck again and ate my lean pockets. It just amazes me how lame some people can be.

Linux, ME?! Hell ya!

2004-11-04T13:08:00.000-08:00

Today I get to start learning Linux programming. I mean, I know C++ (6+ year exp.) and stuff, but this will be the first time I'm doing it to write an app that will run on Linux. In fact, I have to write a daemon!

HuHu, this is gonna be cool.

I'm at work

2004-10-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

and realized again that I hadn't blogged in a while. Well... humm, not too much to say at this point so... see ya!

Weekends Rule when you have a job.

2004-08-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, did I mention that I GOT A JOB!!! YAY!!!!! I'm now employed at http://www.discoverconsole.com and am pretty stoked to be working again. Its a trip cuz I'm working with some pretty young guys, but they appear to know what they're doing and stuff so its all good. I'm actually trying to pass on my love of coding, even in the face of a start-up environment (low wages, long hours, someone elses crappy code etc.). I told a few of them about those days/times I have when I'm working on some code and I stop and realize how killer it is that people pay me to do what I do because I love it that much... even when its a total pain in the arse and I'm bitching about how Microsoft or Vendor X should have done this or that with their SDK or bla bla bla. I was really freaking being out of work for as long as I was because if I had to change careers, I can't imagine what else I'd do!

Well, its getting time to go eat some breakfast. I'm going to try to keep this more up to date, but with work @ the 'day job' and work on the web site I'm trying to build on the side, I don't exactly have lots of free time.

So... ok, guess I'll type at'cha later.

The Dead shows and stuff

2004-08-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well, its been some time since I've blogged and I'm kinda bugged about that. eh, whatever, I'm doing it now right?

Ok, so on June 24th, I got to see the Dead @ Irvine Meadows (I'm NOT calling it by its bought name cuz f that) thanks to a VERY KIND friend of mine. Thanks to the same friend, and the fact that even though I was out of work, the wife allowed us to fly up to the Seattle house over the July 4th weekend, I also saw the Gorge show on 7/3! Got a very cool T-Shirt and everything. The shows were KILLER and in fact, I believe I'm supposed to be getting the CDs any time now.

Oh, and I got a job. ...YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!

Bob Dylan

2004-06-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

As I just said to the channel on IRC, I'm sitting here listening to some Bob Dylan and enjoying my new found appreciation for the man and his music. Then I asked, no one in particular, what it is about his music that almost always brings tears to my eyes?! If anyone can explain it, I'd be interested. I was listening to a song apparently called "Covenent Woman." Whoa. Really liked it. Its sort of funny to me that its taken me this long to 'really' be into Mr. D to this degree given how long I've been into the Grateful Dead, and Bluegrass. Actually, the realization that I liked Dylan much more that I would have otherwise thought came at the Phil & Friends / Dylan show the the Gorge in George, WA. I remember being very dissappointed in P&F, but that Dylan had gotten me to straight up crying during a few songs. It was then that I decided I needed to give the Bobster another listen. This is actually happening fairly slowly, but has accelerated in recent days as I've gotten some live stuff off the internet.

Seattle, here I come! YAY!!!

2004-06-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well, despite the fact that I'm still out of work, we're going to fly up to our house in Edmonds over the July 4th weekend! Mrs. Beavis is going to head down to Anderson Island to hang with friends and I'm getting to go to the Dead shows in Portland and the Gorge! Well, ok, actually, I may not get to go to Portland cuz my friend thats miracleing me (is that a word? heh.) can't find me a ride from Seattle. And, truth be told, a ride to the Gorge is still not confirmed. Still, this mega Kind friend of mine is actually SENDING ME THE MONEY to go to the Irvine show down here in Cali a week from today! You just can't say enough about people like my pal Iggy. He's an amazing person. Period.

Oops, late post. (From 6/3/04)

2004-06-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

So my wife is riding the subway (Blue Line/Los Angeles) tonight and apparently this blind guy gets on the train too and he pulls out his glass eyes (yes, both) to get attention and thus money! She says it was quite disgusting! BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Day After Tomorrow was INTENSE.

2004-06-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

Just got back. Wow, I sure as hell hope that can't happen for real! Anyway, I really liked it, fact or fiction. Jake G. rules!

Personal Log, 8, June 2004

2004-06-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well, had another fairly weird, if not short dream this morning. I was at the Topanga Plaza (a Mall in the San Fernando Valley thats probably called something else by now) and it was night time. Some basketball player/star had given me a rubber/toy basketball and I was bouncing it outside the Trader Joe's entrance area.. then I got another one from another player/star and it was bigger and I couldn't keep control of both of them. Thats all I remember. Weird. I should mention the first really weird dream I had the other day. This was the first dream I can remember in quite some time.

There was a band playing at some warehouse type place and I think my pal Gus was in it. I remember being all stoked that FIVE horn players had shown up to play that night... I guess it was kind of a jam session or something, anyway I then went 'out back' behind the warehouse/store whatever (it was like being behind a mini-mall or something) and there were these guys that were sorta sky-writing... but the letters were on strings or cables, sorta like the banner that flys behind a plane, but the guys sorta threw the letters into the air by hand. (very weird) THEN, there was this cute (iirc) chick, getting hasseled by cop(s), and I was consoling her... and she starting to like nuzzle my cheek and stuff and I was all, 'uh uh, I'm married' and I showed her my ring. I was so proud of myself... I turned her (a cute chicky) down, EVEN IN A DREAM!

Now, on the job front... Had a meet-n-greet @ Robert Half yesterday. Met with a nice enough bloke and took a Delphi 5 eval test. I got a 55, which might not seem too good, but if I read the results correctly, the top scores were only 64(ish), so given a/the curve, I think I did great! They might have a Delphi gig for me. I'm also still in touch with another Company in Santa Ana and am awaiting a 2nd interview. There might also be a C++Builder position in Marina Del Rey! Needless to say, I'd LOVE to have 2+ offers to choose from.

I know there was more I wanted to say, but can't think of it now so will just have to close for now. Later dudes. ;P

Sex Rules, as does Cubensis. and other stuff including Grateful Dead downloads.

2004-05-31T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, I suppose there isn't really much point in talking about how much sex rules because lets face it, we all know this.

Went and saw Cubensis last night. Hot Buttered Bread (their website is still under construction) opened for them and appeared to be a pretty smok'en band. I only saw part of one song because I was talking with Tom R. who's my wife's good friend's husband and the keyboard player for Cubensis. It is so cool to have a local Grateful Dead tribute/cover band here in LA. They really help make living here bearable.

The thing about that is that while I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, I realized I could be WAY happier without the HELLISH heat of the greater Los Angeles area summers living in Edmonds, WA!! (The City of Edmonds is located in south Snohomish County on the shores of Puget Sound approximately 14 miles north of Seattle.) We're living in the South Bay (San Pedro/RPV) now because sadly, its only here in LA that Mrs. Beavis can get the respect (and of course the Money) she deserves doing what she does.

Anyway, got up this morning and realized that I hadn't posted since Friday, so I'm like, doing it now. ;)

Also while blogging, I'm adding the info files from all the shows I've recently downloaded to my info files folder. I need to publish them (the new ones) on my web page too, but now that its hosted on verizon, its a bit more of a pain then before. If anyone out there wants to talk about some trades etc., PLEASE feel free to e-mail me!

Oh, just thought... if anyone wants to chat with me, you can typically find me in #SeattleChat on EfNet. (www.efnet.net)

Welp, think I'll wrap it up for now. Gotta eat some breakfast and watch some more Stargate SG-1 Episodes on DVD. (Showing em all to Mrs. Beavis to get her caught up.)

Oh yeah, btw, I NEED A JOB! (Windows programmer, C++ etc.)

2004-05-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

Now that I have the whole world's attention, I should mention that I am in need of gainful employment! My typical cover letter goes something like this;

In short, I have 16+ years of paid programming/IT experience in a variety of environments, with a diverse range of applications written including (but not limited to) Image Display ActiveX Control, Database front and back-end applications, Voice, Telephony and Communication software, and various DOS and Windows utilities.

I have over six years of [Visual] C++ and five that include use of MFC. I also have about 2.5 years of ATL and the same or more years of STL. I have about 4.5 years of Visual Basic programming and 2-3 years of Borland Delphi experience. I also have some experience in UML Use Case, Sequence and Collaboration diagrams and documentation as well as recent experience with MS SQL Server and Crystal Reports 8 and 9.

I have a long history with PC programming. I taught myself BASIC when DOS was at version 1.1, and in 1987 I taught myself C. I later got a certificate in C/C++ programming. I have taught myself C# and am actually working on a VSS-like Source Code Control application thats been written in 100% C#.

There is not an environment or language that I have not become quickly proficient and productive in and there is not a job so small that it does not get my 110% dedication.

I would love a chance to talk with you about your company's needs, and where my skill set might fit into those needs.

*** end.

The URL to my resume is: http://mysite.verizon.net/mrbeavis/skfsopht.html Which of course contains a link to the Word version.. which I actually need to update.... ok, thats done.

SO, if that looks interesting to anyone, by all means, shoot me an e-mail and lets talk!

Thanks for watching. ;D

Mrs. Beavis is bummen OR Acid Reflux Sux!

2004-05-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

So Mrs. Beavis went to the Dr. today... found out that what looks and sounds like pneumonia is actually to do with her nasty-ass case of acid-reflux!

She's got the wettest sounding cough you'd ever want to hear and he is saying its all cuz her tummy is all fooked up. I think she's allergic to LA. Heaven knows she was sick MUCH less often in Seattle. It could of course be the stress of her job, which she loves (for the most part). But of course "just cause you love your job doesn't always mean no stress" as a friend said.

This is cool.

2004-05-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

This is definately cool. Blogger.com/Blogspot.com I mean. Definately easy to use and stuff. I think I'm going to get really into this.

Well, here I am world!

2004-05-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

heh, ok, so I'm now officially a member of the uh, blogging generation or something.

I wonder if I'll have anything really profound to contribute to the world, or if this will all be just a bunch of my mental diarrhea. *hmm hmm heh* I said diarrhea.