Something Random

[Mercutio]

I think a lot of today's college graduates will have it worse than I did.

I've never had employer provided insurance either. I have catastrophic coverage only. I have no idea where or who gets corporate IT jobs other than those on contract basis, and I vaguely suspect that in the future more and more jobs with be defined-length contracts rather than permanent positions. Manpower is already the biggest single employer in the USA, and I don't see that changing.

 

[LunarMist]

It sounds like you know what I've been through then. Does you work place provide decent health coverage? If mine did, I might never have gotten to this point. The types of jobs I had usually didn't even provide sick days or vacations, never mind health insurance. Now sadly more and more jobs are becoming like that. I think a lot of today's college graduates will have it worse than I did.

Yes, but fortunately it was not work related.

 

[ddrueding]

My understanding of the market is similar to you guys. The trick seems to be scrambling through the entry level any way possible and making it into management. I did it by exaggerating my experience and working for practically nothing until I got a break (took a couple years).

I almost feel like the lower levels of ops are indeed crumbling into outsourcing and contracting. My current plan here is to not have any permanent employees below me, just continue to contract larger and larger portions of the job as needed to scale the company.

 

[LunarMist]

Anybody go on vacation with a lesbian? I can't decide.

 

[Mercutio]

Anybody go on vacation with a lesbian? I can't decide.

No but I lived with one for five years and they make up most of my real-life social circle.

 

[ddrueding]

Anybody go on vacation with a lesbian? I can't decide.

Lived with a couple for a few months, went on vacation with a lesbian couple and their kid once. Nothing special, really. Better than going on vacation with straight women you aren't dating, they seem to be just a little less crazy (in my experience).

 

[Mercutio]

The trick seems to be scrambling through the entry level any way possible and making it into management.

I'd say that's a real problem if that's not what you want to do with your life.

 

[LunarMist]

No but I lived with one for five years and they make up most of my real-life social circle.

So that was no vacation? :lol:

 

[LunarMist]

Lived with a couple for a few months, went on vacation with a lesbian couple and their kid once. Nothing special, really. Better than going on vacation with straight women you aren't dating, they seem to be just a little less crazy (in my experience).

Well it is a very large difference in cost (80%). I could not justify going alone.

 

[Mercutio]

they seem to be just a little less crazy (in my experience).

You didn't know them well enough. They're crazy, it's just different crazy from how straight girls do it. Also, and I say this from multiple experiences, when they're at the wrong point in their cycles (they eventually synchronize; it's a hormonal thing I guess), you need to wear a helmet and just carry a sign that says "I'm Sorry."

 

[Mercutio]

So that was no vacation? :lol:

I don't go on vacations. When I was with my ex I generally couldn't afford it or she couldn't take time off school anyway.

The girls I know will point attractive women out to me and talk about their lives a lot more frankly than maybe a guy wants to hear.

It's a stereotype, but most of my dyke friends really do get in to either home improvement, sports (yes, softball) or video games the way straight women go for shoes and Oprah.

This actually works out really well for me, 'cause my ex and her partner have built furniture for me and done lots of handy things in my apartment that I never learned how to do.

As a general rule, homosexuals tend to be better educated than straight people. In a lot of cases they have a lot of amusing stories, if for no other reason than their sexuality can create some funny situations.

 

[ddrueding]

Go for it.

 

[ddrueding]

You didn't know them well enough. They're crazy, it's just different crazy from how straight girls do it. Also, and I say this from multiple experiences, when they're at the wrong point in their cycles (they eventually synchronize; it's a hormonal thing I guess), you need to wear a helmet and just carry a sign that says "I'm Sorry."

I've known them fairly well. I didn't say that they weren't crazy, just that it was in a less/better way. After the first couple broke up with me (one of their more sane moves, honestly), and I dated some straight chicks, I noticed that there were more out-of-the-blue, WTF moments with the straight chicks.

 

[LunarMist]

It's a stereotype, but most of my dyke friends really do get in to either home improvement, sports (yes, softball) or video

I've only seen about 12 pairs of shoes, half of which have treads for hiking.

 

[Chewy509]

What is it, a Honda?

Crappy time of year for it to turn up its toes (mid-summer here folks). One of my house A/Cs died a couple of days ago. The repairer said Feb 8 before they can get out to look at it.

It's under warranty, so I tried Panasonic directly. They took my details and promised to call back in a few hours. When they did, I was told 3 to 4 days wait ... before they get back to me to arrange a booking! When I asked how long before an actual service callout, they couldn't say. :boom:

Bad timing, especially since we have a 9 day old as well...

We have Holden Frontera '02 model. (also known as a Opel Frontera, Isuzu Wizard, Isuzu Rodeo depending on your market - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isuzu_Wizard )

An after-market compressor for an '01 model is ~$300. Genuine part for a '02 model is ~$1300. Holden changed the compressor design on the '02 model, and no after-market OEM supplier has started making the '02 ones due to lack of demand.

We tried a few wreckers, and none had servicable units. In ours, the internal clutch assembly has worn out, but since it's a singular unit, the whole compressor needs to be replaced. (Some compressor keep the clutch mechanism separate for easy repair/replacement). The $2K figure includes full AC system flush, re-gas, labour and all parts. To note, the AC unit is driven off the engines main drive belt, so there is extra labour is removing and refitting the main drive belt as well.

Since you mentioned your home AC unit, ours went approx 2 mths ago and have had to have that replaced, and as luck would have it, it was out of warranty. Took approx 3 weeks for the replacement unit to be installed.

 

[LunarMist]

I've known them fairly well. I didn't say that they weren't crazy, just that it was in a less/better way. After the first couple broke up with me (one of their more sane moves, honestly), and I dated some straight chicks, I noticed that there were more out-of-the-blue, WTF moments with the straight chicks.

I'm not expecting any insanity, but you never know.

 

[LunarMist]

We tried a few wreckers, and none had servicable units. In ours, the internal clutch assembly has worn out, but since it's a singular unit, the whole compressor needs to be replaced. (Some compressor keep the clutch mechanism separate for easy repair/replacement).

I had a car with that kind of compressor once. The clutch stuck in the on position, so basically it would try to run all the time. It cost US$800-900 about 15 years ago.

 

[LunarMist]

Oddly enough the GPS was shipped out to my location, but of course I am not there any more. Naturally I bought another GPS. The battery is running low.

One blue pixel off to the side is stuck.

 

[MaxBurn]

Wish UPS would deliver earlier in the day, usually delivering around 6pm here these days. I have a powerconnect 5224 managed switch on the way so I can finally play with vlan, port mirroring and other fun stuff. I also have a couple open box seagate 2tb drives I picked up from newegg that will be a complete coin toss on whether or not they are any good but the deal was good enough to offset a probable RMA.

 

[Stereodude]

I've always been too scared to buy anything from Newegg that was an open box. They claim they don't test 'em, and they also claim they don't have any warranty from newegg and to check with the manufacturer.

 

[Howell]

... and no after-market OEM supplier has started making the '02 ones due to lack of demand.

Thank you for doing your part. : )

Would it be helpful to ship you one from the States?

 

[MaxBurn]

Damn, I am impressed ups was here early. Newegg's crappy drive shipping aside what they sent was a pair of seagate certified repaired drives according to their label, I may have even better than the thought 50% chance that both of these are good!

 

[LunarMist]

Man you are a gambler. A rejected drive, ewww.

 

[Stereodude]

What's the warranty from Seagate on a Seagate certified repaired drive?

 

[LunarMist]

Go for it.

The total is now $28.6K for two, including air. That's still better than $23.8K for one.

 

[timwhit]

The total is now $28.6K for two, including air. That's still better than $23.8K for one.

Where are you going?

 

[ddrueding]

The total is now $28.6K for two, including air. That's still better than $23.8K for one.

In my experience, when an experience is that epic, it is always worthwhile. I've never regretted going somewhere new, only not going.

 

[LunarMist]

Where are you going?

Hehehe. irate: :flower: :reindeer:

 

[ddrueding]

Hmm; pirates, flowers, and reindeer. That can only mean one place, but I hope you bring enough cheese whiz.

 

[udaman]

In my experience, when an experience is that epic, it is always worthwhile. I've never regretted going somewhere new, only not going.

what makes U think $28k is 'epic'? 2wk guided tours just about anywhere these days, if you're not staying in a tent can easily cost that. Just a 1st class RT flight with Champagne & Caviar to HK will cost you that on Singapore Airlines.< check Xpedia to see!

I would go alone, no problem, with that $5k savings, can chase after quite a few hot Asian babes on a 3 country tour of China, Korea, Japan (well not Japan 4 the Japanese babes, but considering high-end sushi will cost you $300/person /night w/o wine & w/wine = easily 2x that w/few meager wines)...then throw in Tokyo has the most Michelin 3-star restaurants of any city, U could easily spend that kind of $$$ just eating for a week in Tokyo ...nice, but hardly 'epic' worthy IMHO.

 

[ddrueding]

The last time I flew to China I negotiated first class, and the whole trip cost less than $10k. I've done multiple continents in one go for $30k. I've also done weekends in Kauai for $10k. Guess which was the better experience. Get there, cover as much ground as possible, and get back before you run out of money. That is the secret to an epic trip.

 

[MaxBurn]

What's the warranty from Seagate on a Seagate certified repaired drive?

The on line warranty checker says it runs out 2 July 2012 so must just be the remainder of the original drive. These aren't a label scrape either, I inspected closely with a 5x loop and I can't see anything that indicates that they were a repaired drive, they look new just with a different label.

As far as the gamble is concerned I have the time and I fully expected to have at least one bad to RMA so that I would end up with what I apparently already have here, in my few dealings I have also had good luck with the seagate repaired drives.

The first drive looks good, I wrote about 1TB worth of info to it without issue and windows reported either high 70's or low 80's for MB/s transfer rates. I left it in the computer with spinrite 6 on level 4 last night which ran for over ten and a half hours which on such a huge drive only completed to about 12.5%, estimated total of 85 hours to complete the whole drive. Maybe I will do some IO meter stuff later on this week while I am waiting on the rest of the components, never used that suite.

 

[MaxBurn]

I occasionally think about traveling but I get so much travel in my job and I generally dislike air travel so I am not sure how much enjoyment I would get out of the whole affair in going overseas. Usually I only think about going somewhere far away like now when there is a lot of snow on the ground. The rest of the year I have zero problem with impulsively going somewhere in ME, NH, upstate NY, VT or CT on a weekend or more and that is probably the single most important thing tying me to New England, I just can't see doing that in the southeast. Used to live in CA and as nice as that whole area is there are just too many damn people in the way but going up in the mountains or desert there was much fun.

 

[Stereodude]

I'd stay home and put the $25k toward my home theater, or buy a new to me car.

 

[MaxBurn]

That's many of my thoughts too the cost that gets blown but I would be way more understanding if I had a girlfriend/wife to go with.

Also the whole point of that lengthy post above is people totally ignore the stuff that is right in their back yard.

 

[ddrueding]

The thing about going someplace close is that it is very similar to where you are now. The point of going far is to be somewhere different. That is why I've only been to western Europe once; it's so close to what is here (compared to, say, Kathmandu) that it just isn't that interesting. Besides, a dime a day will get you a bed in Kathmandu.

 

[Handruin]

I get the part about going far away from your current resident to try and feel something new. I also agree with MaxBurn that a lot of times there are plenty of local gems that are missed. For example, if I drive north for about 3 hours to the white mountain area in NH, it feels far enough away from my home area and there is lots of nice stuff to see and it isn't that similar to where I live now.

 

[ddrueding]

I agree that local stuff is nice. Driving south from here 20 mins puts you on Hwy1 to Moro Bay, which is beautiful. Driving North gets you Santa Cruz in about 30 minutes, San Francisco in about 90 minutes, and Napa in 2 hours. Driving East takes longer, but in 2-3 hours you're in Yosemite and not too far from Tahoe. Of course, driving west gets you wet.

But none of these places count as traveling. You can get food and a hotel the same at home. You speak the language. It may be a vacation, but it isn't an adventure.

 

[LunarMist]

$1.34 billion gross in 24 days. Just crazy.

Now it surpassed Titanic in only 39 days. Obviously tickets are much more due to inflation and the 3D, but people are crazy for it.

 

[udaman]

OK. That sucks.

Not really, Eugene finally facing the truth about the SSD market taking over his beloved IT/enterprise SCI/SAS hard drive magnetic storage and himself becoming more irrelevant ...so he had to go!

silentpcreviews is more interesting anyway, even if they don't have the tech tests that biased Eugene used to do.

Shoot FutureShock left SR to become a full fledged member of anadtech forums...most likely that's were the refugee mod's abandoning a sicking ship from SR will end up, lol :boom:<lets hope they don't end up here!