| Year In Review |
[Dec. 17th, 2008|09:31 am] |
I realize that I don't really write in here anymore, but with Christmas only 8 days away, I figured this would be a good time to take a look back on the year.
The year started on an interesting note. Sarah and I took our second trip to Cooperstown during Martin Luther King weekend. We had another nice time in the cute little town. We stayed at the same inn we were at a year earlier, and the owner actually remembered us. And not just because he looked in the books and saw that we had been there before. He still remembered what we both do, and that we took the VIP tour last time. It was very impressive, and it's a great place. I would definitely stay there again the next time we go, maybe sometime in the summer when everything is actually open.
But the weekend ended on a sour note when, packing up the car to drive home, I slipped on the ice, fell flat on my ass and sprained my right ankle. That sucked a lot, and I wasn't sure if I broke anything. But of course, stubborn me insisted I could still drive 4 hours back home to MA. Before we even got to the house, we decided it would probably be wise to stop at the doctor to get it x-rayed. Fortunately it was only a sprain, but still. Ouchie.
In February we bought our very first new car. We donated our 13-year-old Ford Taurus to the American Heart Association and bought a shiny new Honda Accord. It's fancy and comfy and we love it. Unfortunately, while the car has just about everything else, it didn't come with locking lug nuts for the wheels. In July, some assholes stole all four wheels off of it in the middle of the night right out of our driveway. Everything got fixed in the end, and it didn't cost us anything other than a few headaches, but that was probably the most frustrating thing that had happened to us in a while. It took 25 days to get the new wheels and repair the damage they did, during which we were driving a uncomfortably huge Chrysler Pacifica rental. I just wanted my car back. But that wasn't the end of our car drama...
Sarah got a new job in August, and she now drives to work. We never needed more than one car before this because we both took the train into Boston. Now that she drives in, I'm stuck without a car if I ever need it until she gets home, and it would take about an hour to get to her office via public transportation from either home or my office. So we decided it would be worth it to get a second car. We looked at used vs new, buy vs lease, small economy vs larger cargo space, etc. We ultimately wound up getting a good deal on a lease for a new Toyota Matrix. It's the absolute base model, so it certainly doesn't have the pep that the Honda does, but it's still a great LBC (little big car).
In October, some lady fell asleep at the wheel and smashed her VW Touareg into our Matrix that was parked on the street. We hadn't even put 1000 miles on it. It didn't even have its first scratch yet. But you can read all about that in my previous post. We thought it might wind up being totaled, but $9000+ in repairs later, it's actually good as new. You'd never know anything happened to it. So the next time we get a new car (hopefully not for a while), please don't say "good luck." That apparently doesn't work well for us.
I also got to connect with some family this year. In March, one of my cousins from NC came up to visit. I'm more than 10 years older than her, so I remember when she was born. She's definitely grown up a lot, and we had a great weekend sightseeing in Boston, including a very cold and windy tour of Fenway and the top of the Pru.
Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I also got in touch with two cousins I haven't seen in about 15 years. Our parents don't talk anymore, and they live in AZ, but I found one of them online and sent an email. Now we chat occasionally, send messages back and forth sometimes, and that just makes me happy. I've also been piecing together my family tree. I was able to search the Ellis Island arrival registry online and found the dates my great-grandparents came over from Senglea, Malta with my grandfather and great uncle. It's been fun researching that stuff, and my cousins have helped fill in a few things I couldn't find. So yay technology!
This summer was all about the weddings. As for the friends, Brian and Lisa got married in May, and then in August, we had Lisa and Stew's wedding, and then Matt and Laura. Sarah had a couple of bridal showers, and I finally got to go to a PawSox game for Matt's bachelor party. My cousin Bryan also got engaged, as did Russ and Alexa. I get to be Best Man at Russ's wedding in September. I can't wait for that. But the big one was obviously my sister's. Lau and Rob's wedding was awesome. They then proceeded to buy a house and get pregnant. My nephew is due to arrive in April. :)
Speaking of houses, we've had some interesting house stuff happen this year. In the winter, our neighbors on the 3rd (top) floor tried to sell. But the market was horrible, and while they had a decent number of people come look at it, there were no takers, so they took it off the market and are still there. While they were trying to sell, Comcast decided to screw me, so Sarah and I were looking into getting DirecTV as a replacement. This started up a big argument with the third floor, as she didn't want a satellite dish installed on the roof when they were trying to sell, which would be a reasonable argument except for the fact that the dish would hardly be seen at all due to where it was being placed and the location of other houses and trees. But the entire situation was handled horribly by her, constantly referencing the condo docs, harping on the fact that she thought I was trying to do this without telling anyone when in fact I sent multiple emails over the course of a week that never got responses. Oh well. Needless to say, we don't really talk to her anymore.
We got to go to two awesome games this year. We were at Opening Day at Fenway, when they presented the '07 rings and displayed the World Series Banner. That was definitely the best baseball game I've ever attended. The pregame ceremonies gave me chills being there. I also finally got to go to my first NFL game, and now any other game I ever get to will probably pale in comparison. Gregg got tickets to a luxury box at Gillette Stadium and asked us to come to the 10/26 Pats game vs the Rams. We were a box or two over from the 50 yard line. Awesome view, food, and service.
I've been at my current job since Feb 06. Other than my boss, I've been here the longest out of all the people in Technology. When I hit my three-year mark in February, I get more vacation days, which we plan on using towards a nice trip next year. The company was almost bought earlier this year, but after months of negotiations, the partners eventually decided not to sell, which I was happy with. I really like my company, I like how it's run, and I like the product that we produce. If we got bought, I don't think I would have agreed with a lot of the changes that might have occurred.
In October, everyone in the company finally got together for the first time. We have offices in Jackson Hole, Boston, Atlanta, London, and some satellite people working in NJ, Hong Kong, Nashville, Kansas, etc, so most of us have not met each other in person. The company flew everyone down to Atlanta for a weekend. There were some meetings that were kinda boring, but it was really nice meeting everyone. The lodge we stayed at was amazing. We took over the lobby bar and got to watch one of the Sox playoff games, and I also played golf on an actual course for the first time. I didn't do half bad either.
This year I finally accepted the fact that my hearing sucks and I might benefit from some sort of help. I got my hearing checked and got myself a pair of basic model hearing aids. They made an instant difference, and are probably one of the best investments I've made in a while. They're hardly visible, but I don't think I'd even mind if they were anymore. Not enough people get them when they need them, which is both the cause and effect of them being so expensive. If more people who could afford them got them when they needed them, prices for everyone else would start to go down.
In September, Sarah and I spent our 3-year wedding anniversary in Providence. We stayed at the Biltmore and had a nice weekend walking around and seeing the Water Fire. We don't get down to Providence enough. It really is a nice little city.
Other random things:
- In February, I decided to buzz off my hair and wear it short. It looks way better.
- In May I did a 20-mile Walk for Hunger. Thanks again to everyone who donated.
- We bought a new couch in July. It's big and leather and comfy.
- We went down to NY a day early for Lisa and Stew's wedding. Took the Hudson River line into the city and spent the day with Sara B.
- I've successfully kicked my nail-biting habit. Almost 2 months strong now.
Random pictures from many of the above mentioned things are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellegrini/sets/
I think that's about it. Wonder what'll happen next year... |
|
|
| My New Car Is Broken :( |
[Oct. 16th, 2008|03:31 pm] |
(Yes, we're okay. We weren't in it when it got hit.)
So the new car we got at the end of August is busted, possibly totaled, but I'll find that out once the insurance appraiser gets back to me. The entire driver side is smashed in. The wheels and rims are damaged, a mirror is missing, both doors are destroyed, and it looks like the rear axle might be wrecked too. Here's how it happened:
At around 12:30am on Tuesday, a vehicle was traveling on the other side of my road, crossed over the opposite lane, and crashed into the side of my car that was parked on the street in front of my house. Unfortunately, I did not hear this, or if I did, I fell back to sleep thinking the sound was from my cat knocking something over in the kitchen again.
When I left my house for work at about 7:45am on Tuesday morning, that is when I first saw the damage to my car. The first thing I noticed was that the hubcap was off of the rear tire that was facing the house. In July, someone stole all four wheels off of our other car, so the first thing I thought was that someone targeted us again. Then I went around to the other side of the car and the entire driver side was severely damaged.
There was no note or anything, so I called and filed a police report while my wife took plenty of photos. Then two of my neighbors left the house for work, and they both said they were up the previous night and saw flashing lights one house down a little after midnight, and it looked like a lady had gotten into an accident. But they could not see the damaged side of my car from their windows, so they didn't know that it was my car that was hit. But when they told me this, we realized that the lady's car was still there, in front of the house next door, parked the wrong way. And on the driver side of this beige SUV were scratches of blue paint from my car. We also found a side mirror from the SUV in my driveway, and part of its bumper under my car.
So I called back to give this additional information (make/model/plate# of the SUV) for the police report I filed earlier. I wondered why, if there were flashing lights (from a police or emergency vehicle), no one knocked on my door, or left a note to let me know what happened. Someone was nice enough to neatly pile up some car pieces on the sidewalk next to my car, but not to inform me or my wife. The lady taking the report on the phone told me to call the number for my district's Community Service office.
When I did that, I spoke to a very helpful officer who was able to look up the reports from the previous night, and he told me that there was a report filed at about 12:30am that listed me as the victim, and said that the driver of the other vehicle fell asleep. He told me for more information I should contact Automotive Investigation. I've been trying to get in touch with someone there since Tuesday, but have so far been unsuccessful.
I'm still trying to find out what exactly happened, why the other vehicle was still there a day later (it was still there on Wednesday morning too), and why no one thought to buzz or knock on my door, or at least leave a note or something. If I was listed as the victim, someone obviously looked up my plate number and got my name and address. And with three units in my condo, someone would have heard the door, especially since the other two said they were awake and saw the lights outside. Fortunately, the other vehicle was still there so I was able to piece together what happened, but if it wasn't, I would still have thought that someone sideswiped my car and drove off. If I hadn't called the Community Service line myself, I would have never known that I was already listed as the victim on a report.
Yes, I'm fortunate that I wasn't in the car, and that we got the gap insurance on our lease (which basically protects us in the event the car gets totaled). Having been through this entire process a few months ago when our wheels were stolen, we knew exactly what to do, and were somewhat calmer about it. We also might be lucky that our car was there in the first place. If she didn't hit it, she might have kept going (we're on a slight curve), hopped the curb, and wound up hitting the house. So of course, it could be much worse, but it still sucks. |
|
|
| In case you were wondering, I still hate Comcast. |
[Jul. 5th, 2008|09:10 pm] |
I just received an email to tell me that Comcast High-Speed Internet has doubled my upload speeds at no additional cost! Considering Comcast terminated my Internet access without giving me a valid reason, or any chance whatsoever to defend myself or get to the bottom of the supposed high bandwidth I was wrongfully accused of using, they've got a lot of nerve sending me their junk email flaunting the speed of their crappy service. They'd better remove me from that list immediately. |
|
|
| Rent-A-Pet?! Are you f#($*%& kidding me?! |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|04:12 pm] |
One of the top emailed stories on Boston.com today:
Ban proposed for dog rental service in Boston
Good! I don't want that crap in my city. Look, I'm no animal rights activist, but I have enough sense in me to know that something is a really bad freakin' idea. You want to rent something like a movie or a car? Fine. Go for it. Hell, even if you want to rent an escort for an evening, be my guest. Now I know I just lumped two very different things into the same category, but hear me out before you frantically click on that Comments link to tell me what a chauvinist I am.
Many material goods that you can buy are also available for rental. That's fine with me. Rental is something that's been around for hundreds of years. Want to rent a 60" TV for the big game this weekend? Fine. Someone owns one, and will basically lend it to you, for a fee, for some set amount of time. Everybody's happy. Is the TV happy? No. The TV is inanimate. It doesn't give a crap.
You're waiting for me to address the escort thing. OK fine. An escort (which, by the way, can be male or female) is NOT a material good. The escort DOES give a crap. BUT the escort has a choice. If he/she doesn't want to rent him/herself out for the night, he/she doesn't have to. He/she can sit at home, drink a beer, and watch the 60" TV that he/she rented from Rent-A-Center. Everyone's still happy.
Now you want to rent a pet? Okay. Someone owns a dog. Someone owns LOTS of dogs, and is willing to let you spend some good wholesome quality time with the pooch of your choice, for a fee, for some set amount of time. And that's great for you, because you're a busy big-shot, with no time to properly care for a pet. And that's great for the dogs, because they need love and attention just like a pet with a permanent home. That's the thing. The selling point is that these pets don't have homes, and this is seen as a better alternative to being caged up somewhere. And maybe it is.
So this whole arrangement works out for everyone because you're a great guy who just wants to experience that man's-best-friend feeling for a single carefree afternoon.
But what if you're not a great guy? What if you have just a little bit of a temper? What if you realize that you don't enjoy picking up poop? What if your sofa gets pee on it? What if the dog decides he doesn't like you? What if the dog bites you? Or your child? Or somebody else's child? What if the dog breaks something that was valuable to you? What if the dog didn't know he wasn't supposed to eat that? What if you get just a little bit angry and you hit the dog? Is everybody happy now?
Hey I love dogs. But I know that I don't have a big enough place, or enough time home from work, to properly care for one. So I don't have one. And if that's not good enough for you, go to the damn petting zoo! If you have some idiot scuff up a dvd, or put a dent in a rental car, you get that person to pay for it, and you fix it or replace it. It doesn't work that way with an animal. No air-tight insurance policy or triple-redundancy background check will make this okay. You can't rent homeless kids. You shouldn't be able to rent homeless pets. End of story. |
|
|
| Movie Debate |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|08:20 am] |
So I just saw Wall-e this weekend, and I thought it was amazing. It's a very tough call, but I said I would put this as my favorite Pixar film yet. That sparked a little debate with some people, so I'm making a bit of an open forum to see what you people think. The thing is, all of the Pixar movies were great. It's like trying to rank your 10 favorite foods. It depends what you're in the mood for. Anywho, here is the list:
1995: Toy Story
1998: A Bug's Life
1999: Toy Story 2
2001: Monsters, Inc.
2003: Finding Nemo
2004: The Incredibles
2006: Cars
2007: Ratatouille
2008: Wall-e
And if I had to rank them right at this moment, it would look like this:
1) Wall-e
2) Finding Nemo
3) Monsters, Inc.
4) Cars
5) Ratatouille
6) Toy Story 2
7) Toy Story
8) The Incredibles
9) A Bug's Life
So there. Now feel free to argue your point and tell me I'm wrong. :) |
|
|
| Why do recruiters hate me so much? |
[May. 21st, 2008|04:38 pm] |
I don't get it. I haven't looked for a new job since January of '06, but I've now gotten calls/emails from three different job recruiters in the past three days. You can read my previous post for the first one, but today I got an email from Michael from Advanced Software Systems Inc. (Assyst Inc) in Sterling, VA about a full-time opening for a Business Analyst in Rockville, MD. In case you didn't know, I'm a Web Developer, and my education and prior job experience have all been in Computer Science. I sent a quick message back asking where he found my email address, and he said he "had it in his database." So I responded:
Thanks for your response. With all due respect, your email was grossly off-target. I don't know what other information you have in your database, but I'm a Web Developer, not a Business Analyst. The skills listed in the job description you sent do not coincide with what I do at all. Also, I've been happily employed at my current position for 2+ years and have no intentions of switching jobs. On top of all that, I live and work in Boston. I'm afraid Rockville, MD would be quite the commute, especially with current gas prices being what they are. Therefore, please remove me from your database. Thank you for your understanding.
Seriously, though. Maryland? For a Business Analyst position? Who the hell is populating this "database"?? So he responded saying he's sorry and blah blah blah. Then only 45 minutes later, I got another email, this one sent to my WORK address, from Peter at HireMinds in Cambridge. At least this guy was from the same freakin' state. He said he spotted my resume this morning and has a terrific Web Development position in Boston. Again, I sent a quick reply asking where he found my resume. He said:
We occasionally have interns research potential candidates and add them to our database--we do this so that we can reach out to a wider pool of candidates when we get a new job in. That is how I came across your contact information. I know that does not answer your question 100%, but if I were to guess I'd say they found you on LinkedIn and filled in the blank with some old fashioned research.
Damnit LinkedIn! Just because people made me sign up and keep adding me as contacts does NOT mean I'm hunting for a new job. So I had to respond to this guy in the same way, also letting him know that that was my work email, and having emails arriving through the company server from job recruiters, whether I’m actively looking for a new job or not, is not the most ideal of situations. Besides, whatever version of my resume he "spotted" this morning is at least 2.5 years old.
I would think that with the current economy, there are plenty of people out there willing to look for new jobs with better pay. Why I keep getting contacted when I'm certainly not looking is just beyond me. I still hate recruiters. You all suck.
UPDATE: It's now Friday, two days later, and I just got TWO MORE emails from Michael from Advanced Software Systems Inc. (Assyst Inc) for another immediate opening for a Business Analyst with DOD Clearance, this time in Herndon, VA. Apparently he didn't actually read the email I sent him on Wednesday, so I had to call him (703-230-3149) and yell at him. I literally did have to yell because he had a thick accent and couldn't understand me because of a "bad connection." I had to repeat my last name five times. Then he went right into a description of the two positions he has open. I had to cut him off and tell him to completely remove all of my information from his database. He says it will be removed today, so we'll see if I get any more emails. |
|
|
| I HATE RECRUITERS! |
[May. 19th, 2008|04:42 pm] |
So shortly after noon today, one of my coworkers answered the phone, took a message, and hung up. He told me someone named Chris Lawrence was asking for me, but it sounded like SPAM, so he thought it'd be better to take a message. Chris Lawrence didn't leave a number. He said that we've been trading emails back and forth, and that I would know who it is. That's funny, because I don't know anyone by that name, and I haven't been trading emails with anyone lately. More interesting is that I never answer the number he called. That's the Client Services number. I don't have a phone at the office. In fact, I never remember what it is, and I have to look it up on the website whenever I need it. The caller ID didn't give a number, and the name that came up just said "Executive Office."
Later on, my wife called our house to check the messages, and she told me someone apparently left me a message with a job opportunity. I called and listened to it. Chris Lawrence found me on LinkedIn and while he wasn't assuming I was actively looking for a new job, he thought I'd be perfect for some position and wanted to at least make a connection with me. He said something about a venture capital firm and finance markets. He spoke very fast and was hard to understand. I couldn't even understand his last name the first few times he said it. After listening to the message twice, I got that his number was 610-648-0988. I did a quick Google and found that Chris Lawrence is an Associate Recruiter for Dissero Recruiting. He graduated from Michigan State University in 2007 with a BS in Human Resources. He's been at Dissero for just under a year.
When I mentioned this to my coworker, he said that Chris had called the office at least one other time asking for me. That time it was around 5:45, and I had already left for the day. Now I was pissed. Who the hell does this guy think he is calling my office? Twice?! I don't care if someone IS looking for a new job. You just don't call them at their place of business. And where did he get my numbers anyway? I don't have any contact info listed on LinkedIn, and I certainly never gave out the office number that I don't use.
So I called the number, and a receptionist put me through to Chris Lawrence. I gave him my name and said I was returning his call. He said again that he came across my background on LinkedIn. He didn't know if I was looking for a new job, but wanted to make a connection with me because it sounded like I'd be a perfect fit for what he's looking for. He started to go into a vague description of the company and I stopped him mid-sentence. I asked him where he found my numbers. He said once again that he came across my background on LinkedIn, and that Dissero apparently has a research department that provided him with my numbers. That's a little creepy, but I'll get back to that in a minute.
I told him, "I'm not looking for a job right now, and I don't appreciate being called at the office. Whether a person is looking for a job or not, you don't call them at their place of work trying to offer them a new job." He said he wasn't offering anything. His job is just to make connections.
So I said, "What is your job? You're a recruiter right? Don't you try to place people into jobs? Well how do you think it sounds to the other people here if I'm being repeatedly called by a recruiter? I just had to assure some coworkers that I'm not looking for a new job, and I'm not sure they all believe me. Given the circumstances, I can't say I'd believe me either."
He again said that he's just doing his job, and that's to make connections. I said, "If that's your job, I want to talk to whoever is telling you what to do. Is there a supervisor or manager I can speak with?" That's when he told me it's a pretty small office, just the two of them (I'm going to assume that's the Boston location), and he'll try to set up a conversation with his manager. I'm sure that conversation will never be set up, so maybe I'll call again tomorrow to see who else is around.
He said he'll make a note on my information not to contact me, and then had the gall to ask if I had an email address he could put on file in case I happened to be looking in the future. I said I'm not looking, and I'm not going to be looking any time soon. Even when I do, he will be the last person I call.
I think I will call back and find a manager to speak to at some point. If this is a small operation, supposedly only two people, where is this research department he was talking about? And what sort of tools is this research department using I wonder. Sure the number to my office is public knowledge, and it's quite easy to find out I work here, but that still seems to be a going a little bit overboard just to find someone who MIGHT be interested in a position.
And why would he tell my coworker that we've been emailing back and forth and that I would know who he is? I've never spoken to him in my life, he clearly does not have my email address, and he never even tried to contact me via LinkedIn. Is that their business? To tell blatant lies to people?
Ugh. I'm still pissed. I've always hated recruiters, but this takes the cake. This is not the sort of crap I felt like dealing with today. But now you all know. Chris Lawrence is a horrible unprofessional recruiter. Dissero is obviously not a great company, because either they employed someone like him, or (since he's just "doing his job") they told him to conduct business this way. So if you happen to get a message from 610-648-0988, I'd just go ahead and ignore it. Just because Chris Lawrence couldn't get a real job, that doesn't mean you can't. |
|
|
| BitTorrent DNA = Unwanted UDP Congestion |
[May. 15th, 2008|04:42 pm] |
So apparently my computer at work was sending tons of UDP packets out of port 21224. After a bit of investigating, I found that the source was a little program called DNA that was installed with BitTorrent. Now it makes me wonder if that had something to do with Comcast thinking I was eating up a boatload of bandwidth, especially since they apparently hate BitTorrent traffic (see this article). It was easy enough to uninstall from Add/Remove Programs, but it was not listed in my Programs menu, nothing in the task bar, and nothing that resembled DNA was listed in my process list. Yet as soon as I uninstalled it, the UDP packets stopped.
This guy had the same problem and goes into a bit more detail: http://barnson.org/node/1573 (the link apparently doesn't want to open in IE; try Firefox) |
|
|
| Getting a Wii Online with Verizon DSL |
[May. 2nd, 2008|11:02 am] |
Just posting this little nugget for the sake of anyone searching the Interwebs for an answer to the same problem I was having. I recently switched from a crappy Internet service provider to Verizon DSL. Verizon sent me an all-in-one DSL Modem/Wireless Router (a Westell P-327W), which in my opinion is actually nicer than having to have both a modem and a separate router. Setting it up was a snap, and we were back online in no time.
But I had put off switching the wireless settings on the Wii to the new SSID and WEP encryption key. Once I finally got around to it, the connection tests kept failing. I was entering everything exactly the same way I used to. Both of our laptops work fine, and even my DS has had no problems connecting.
Here's what did it for me: The default channel that was set on the router was channel 6. The Wii apparently works best with channels 1 and 11. I logged into the router's admin tool (http://192.168.1.1, contact Verizon if you don't know the username and password), changed it to 11, and it worked right away. It really took me 5 minutes to fix, but it was a little harder than it should have been to find that suggestion online, although Nintendo's Wireless Router pages were still a pretty nice reference to have.
Hopefully someone else out there having the same problem will stumble upon this post. |
|
|
| Everybody Hurts |
[Apr. 16th, 2008|08:44 am] |
I went into Dunkins this morning because I was in the mood for a bagel and an iced coffee (mmm...) and REM's "Everybody Hurts" was on the radio. It really is a great song, and I know it's about being strong and making it through, but it's still a fairly depressing song to hear first thing in the morning. And I left after it got to the uplifting "hold on" part at the end. That song makes you feel like you need a hug. I need to put on some happy music now. |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
jpell's journal
annoyed
curious
weird