Facebook vs. Myspace

Back in 1984, I took the ASVAB before graduating high school. FOHI just barely had established a computer lab when I was in my senior or maybe even my junior year. It was located in a portable trailer which soon took over many of the parking lots on campus. I was more interested in Art and Ag (Ag to satisfy my science requirement, but more on that later.) than typing. I had taken typing in junior high for like two weeks and it bored me to tears so I transferred out of that class just as soon as I could into something else. Anyway, what I was getting at was computers were so new in 1984 let alone new to me because up until that time I had never even touched one, I was surprised when the Army recruiter contacted me to tell me he was interested in training me for computers. I basically laughed in his face and went on my merry way. I never pursued a military career.

After a family friend got me into banking because I had cashiering experience, I was exposed to computers for the first time in 1988. Bank computers are pretty much dumb terminals, a point of collecting data and telling you only what you need to know to get the job done they wanted to you do. Yawn.

Later, after I decided I need to be exposed to more chances for opportunities for employment and I moved to Orange County, I got a job with Bankers Trust. The year was 1992. The computers they used were a step up as compared to the dumb terminals I was used to. They were on a network and had applications I had to log into. We also had some access to the Internet at that time.

After a few years, I was able to get my credit going again and I purchased my first computer. So I've had some sort of presence on the Internet since 1995, amazingly so. Cruising the web had entertained me at some level for about a month but it was very passive at that time. I got kind of tired of reading the text and there was not much interaction involved... until I found IRC, then all hell broke loose. I was hooked on the immediate feedback of people sitting and typing to me just like I was sitting and typing to them. I spent hours upon hours chatting to people all over the globe. At one time, I had a map of the world and marked it to signify the locations of the people I chatted with. I had made friends who helped me upgrade my computers so that I could run Linux and have more than one client running at any one time.

Fast forward to 2005. IRC had run its course in my life, but I was still using the Internet frequently, but now mostly for informational purposes. I joined Myspace. I joined and found people that liked the things I liked and I thought that was cool. I was able to gain an ounce of social life back that I missed all the time I was focused so seriously on working and on being a single parent while raising my son as best I could. I made a few friends, and went to a lot of musical performances, shows, concerts, what have you... I still maintain a profile on Myspace, but really only for gaming purposes.

Now, I'm maintaining a Facebook page as a personal page. I used to have one a few years ago, but I didn't like the payout and it was confusing to me, yeah me, so I closed it almost as fast as I opened it, but now it's different. It seems to me to be better at filtering content: what you want versus what you don't want. I play games there, too, but it doesn't cloud my whole Facebook experience like on Myspace which I like. It just seems like a less intense, more mellow place to hang out on line, which is more my style.

History Repeats Itself

12-28-1932 - Ironwood Daily Globe, Ironwood, Michigan

The year 1932 to some is the year of the Lindbergh kidnapping. To some, the year of the Shanghai-Manchuria Adventure. To some it was the third year of the Great Depression. But in the United States, at least, it might well be named the Year of the Forgotten Man.

It was his year. It was he who swung the country from conservative Republicanism to mildly progressive Democracy by a plurality of nearly seven million votes. It was he who swung the American Legion from anti-bonus to pro-bonus, the American Federation of Labor from passive to aggressive. It was he who marched on Washington for the bonus, he who ran the farm strike. It was he, and nearly 12,000,000 of him who were unemployed, who set the country pondering and planning for the future.

Without precedent was the overturn by which, casting well over 33 million Democratic votes, the Forgotten Man climbed into the political driver’s seat. The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt and an overwhelming Democratic House and Senate was the common man’s effort to cope with conditions he had never seen before.

Appliance Reliance

I think my Maytag refrigerator is less than two years old and just this month, I had to place a call to get it fixed. The 'brain' went out... the electronics panel that controls the temperature in the refrigerator section. The freezer? Fine, no problem! I went and bought two thermometers at BB&B to verify their internal temperatures. The freezer was hovering at a frosty zero - where it should be. But the refrigerator while it was busted? A steady 60 degrees. Mind you, refrigerated food is supposed to stay at 40 degrees or below. Oh, yeah. It's true - 40 degrees or below. That's why people tell you not to eat the food at has been sitting in the sun at a picnic. You can get a hellish case of food poisoning if you do.

But anyway, I called my local Maytag repair man on Saturday morning. Little did I know that I had to be f*cking clairvoyant in order to get same day service from ANY appliance repairman in my area. They were already booked up since Friday for Saturday appointments. And they don't work on Sundays, so I was relegated to the next business days available appointment which was on Monday.

And I had to throw everything away in my refrigerator. I was mad because I don't like to waste food like that. After the repairman came on Monday and diagnosed the issue, he needed a deposit to come back with the part and fix the beast. I was fine with that. What I was not fine with was that he couldn't locate and install the part until Wednesday. Now I'm pissed because I haven't had my refrigerator available to me in a working condition for over a week.

And all the week the refrigerator was on the fritz, my son and I both ate out. And my expenses shot up because I could not cook at home. I resorted to eating at my boyfriends for two nights - that was nice. I even planned and cooked one meal - breaded fried talapia with mango salsa and steamed brussel sprouts.

But anyway, I digress. I don't know how many hundreds of years I had that stupid harvest yellow GE refrigerater eating up my money in electric bills before I finally bit the bullet and bought a new appliance. And now this happens. At least the part is warantied for a year. Damn thing better not die again, I swear.

Are people really that stupid?

Frequently, I find myself logging into Yahoo! Answers to pass the time at work. Let's face it, I'm a manager so I sit here looking important until there is a problem and then I spring into action once one is presented to me. I mean, today has been the most busy I've been all month. I had two issues to deal with, one fax to make and one conference call with my boss who is at a remote location. Whoopie!

So last week while trolling through the Yahoo! Answers careers section (I like to generally stick to answering questions about credit, careers, and housing - go figure... haha) there is this question from I think it was a guy who asked:

"Now that I have graduated from a four year university, what career should I get into?"

...something to that effect. At first, I felt this rage well up inside me as though I wanted to smack this person upside his head. Hey, ummm... aren't you supposed to have a career in mind BEFORE you go to college? And don't they have you declare a major while you're there as well? Most normal people have a career goal in mind or at minimum some sort of personal interests they want to pursue. Do you have a clue? Can you get one?

I'm sorry, but I sit in an office full of baby boomers that would kill to have a college degree in anything right now, me included. If given the opportunity to go back to school, I'd do it in a minute so that I don't have to look at another note, mortgage or title document again other than my own.

Then I felt sad that this yahoo ever went to school and wasted time filling a seat in the first place. Are people really that stupid?

NBC maybe going green, but...

NBC maybe going green, but I live in Los Angeles where all of the major television stations here still use helicopters to report breaking traffic news and fires. How green is this practice?

This popped into my mind as I was driving to work this morning going north on the 5 freeway and traffic was flowing heavy but nicely through the 5/101 split. Looking up, there is this helicopter flying overhead directly over the lanes of traffic spewing exhaust and there was no place for me to go to get away from it. Gesus, it's bad enough I'm forced to drive in a fossil fuel burning vehicle but now I've got to be subjected to the smog a helicopter produces, too?

I think helicopters need to go green as well as disel trucks. I'm sick to death of that foul smell. Then eventually, cars the rest of us drive.

Ribbon Cutting

Monday, I was invited to go with my boyfriend to the reception and ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly renovated Ronald McDonald Family Rooms at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. He was the superintendent over all of the subcontractors that worked upon this volunteer effort.

I learned a new acronym - OSHPD pronounced 'oshpod'. Basically, it's the State of California's governing entity over planning and development of hospitals.

Thank you, Germany

To top off an already bad employment situation here in the U.S., Deutsche Post will close DHL effectively eliminating 9500 jobs. Merry f*cking Christmas.

Read: Deutsche Post to cut 9,500 jobs in US

The whole idea about existing in a free market society is to have competition and options. Since this one will be gone, you'll be stuck with FedEx or USPS. Pay thorough the nose or pay with your time. Not much if a choice now is it?

This, already on top of the grim news California is facing...

Read: California's Unemployment Rate Over 7.7% - a 14-year High

All I know is I'm happy I'm working and I don't know where I'd be now if I didn't take this contract position back in March. I know people that have been out of work for over a year now.

My Pleasure

My son and I were invited to Thanksgiving dinner at the boyfriends house. The deal is the boyfriend will be in charge of the turkey and I will be in charge of everything else. Cool.

Then I shared my stories of past Thanksgivings feasts. Like last year with the anorexic organic 7 pound bird I got from Trader Joe's that was more suitable for making soup than it was any sort of a roasted meat meal I was dreaming about. Don't waste your money on a 7 pound bird - ever. That was a bad one.

A good one was the brined turkey breast roll with stuffing inside.

Or the one my son remembers the most - when I made garlic mashed potatoes and I somehow did not cook the potatoes enough. It was extremely starchy, and he got sick on it for hours.

So anyway, the boyfriend likes to cook restaurant style cuisine, so I'm thinking roasted root vegetable medley.

Brick, brick, where's the brick?

I'm sick to death of looking at the flower bed full of weeds located in my back patio area of my condominium. It sits under my neighbor's awning, so it's questionable what will grow there and what will mock me and die a slow agonizing death.

I decided three things:

1) I need a fuller landing near the gate on the back patio. The concrete step is an inadequate size.

2) I need brick to fix #1 and possibly create some sort of cover over the said flower bed after I install a week control blanket over it.

3) I'm thinking them maybe installing a fountain and a few potted plants to make it look nicer.

And so I'm on a quest to find free bricks on Craigslist this weekend. Why pay for something like that when people give them away? I happened to mention this project to a guy at work and he told me he had bricks he wasn't using, so he brought those in today and they are now sitting in the back of my car waiting to come home with me. I'm just excited that at least my landing will be better than it has been for years.

It's a good thing for McDonald's

Friday in Simi Valley at lunch time and I'm hungry, so I head on over to the local McDonalds and they were serving samples of their new cherry pie. They were also on sale 2 for $1.00. Yeah and yeah- I bought two.