i’m not exactly the biggest environmental nut on the planet, but i do try to cut a few corners where i can.

i save all my grocery bags and re-use them for lunches and for the garbage cans around the apartment, re-use plastic bottles (i haven’t bought a new one in several months) (also, if you happen to be a DIPPER, like brett, just re-use 1 bottle for your spitter, EW!), drive a (semi) environmentally-friendly car, cook at home a LOT, do laundry once a week (at most, and only 2 loads if i don’t have enough towels to make a 3rd), never litter (ew), turn everything off when we leave the apartment (EXCEPT the laptops!), substitute rags for paper towels/napkins when i can…

and god knows, if i still lived in boone, i’d still be taking the appalcart damn near everywhere. or walking. unfortunately, public transportation isn’t really a great option here in charleston.

with all that said, she mentioned the Bobble and it is so cute looking that i had to buy one. i’ll let brett use the plastic bottles from now on while i use this one. and if you use the code “NOT GUILTY”, you get $2 off your order.

go buy one. or a nalgene bottle. or just don’t throw away whatever it is you’re drinking out of, unless it’s made of paper, in which case, that would be gross not to.

man… so… i don’t know if i’ve temporarily acquired some offshoot of ADHD, or what. but i have gotten so much done lately. too much, actually. i don’t know where it’s all coming from.

• buying a gym membership at one of the local CrossFit gyms in charleston. i need a push… and continuous pushing. running just doesn’t do it for me lately!
• purchased 2 SC fishing licenses for me and brett… aaand planning to go fishing this weekend with said licenses on the lake
• going to boone/seven devils the following weekend for Fan Fest… AND we get to stay in the cabin… can’t wait. will hopefully get to do some hiking while we’re there
• signed up for arc welding classes this fall at a local community college. i’ve always wanted to… FINALLY did it!
• purchased 2 tickets to see avenged sevenfold, disturbed, stone sour, halestorm, and others in charlotte 9/1. i splurged and got us pit tickets. it’s just so much more *exciting*
• studying for/taking the CEH 9/24… actually can’t wait until that one is OVER

aside from all that, when i’m not working on websites, i’m cooking or baking. i’ve been on a ROLL since brett and i moved into the new apartment. i cook like… every night. i love it. i never used to like cooking until i had someone to cook for. when brett’s brother and one of our friends came down for a visit a few weeks ago, i made THE best (grandma’s recipe) twice baked potatoes, green beans, and sirloins. he and i are huge meat eaters… we eat steak entirely too much, so i’ve been trying to mix it up a bit. she gave me the inspiration for tonight’s dinner (BREAKFAST. BURRITOS. YUM.) it’s gonna be good.

other things i’ve made lately… barbecue chicken & onions (thanks, dad!) and steamed carrots, fried chicken and my homemade mashed taters (i have *completely* perfected this recipe, srsly), buffalo chicken sandwiches, scratch-made macaroni & cheese casserole, chicken & rice casserole, taco casserole (last casserole, but SO good), homemade chili with pasta, breaded pork chops with veggies, chocolate chip cheesecake (mom’s recipe, it will give you a heart attack), cake balls, red velvet cupcakes i’ve made sure to have at least 1 vegetable with each meal… whether it’s green beans and potatoes, carrots, fresh cut salad, or succotash. just something.

i’m so hungry now.

i feel like i escape when i’m making dinner every night. the only other thing that gives me that feeling is pumping out code and, well, after being in front of a computer all day at work it can sometimes be too much. it’s nice to have found another hobby.

also, SCRABBLE. i’ve been addicted since i got Words With Friends on my old iphone. they finally came out with an app for the droid, and i feel whole again.

and for the Not So Active activities… we also finished watching season 4 of dexter. HUGE BUMMER. huge. brett and i both yelled at the TV after we watched the final episode this weekend. i don’t know if any of you watch dexter, but it’s impossible to quit after you watch a few. we’ve been watching an episode or more a night for the last several weeks and now we have no idea what to do with ourselves. well, we do, actually. he will play more NCAA football, i will play more scrabble and watch even more seinfeld. but… seriously. september can NOT come soon enough with season 5. i’m just so MAD about the last episode.

UUUGH!!!#@$!!

i am pretty sure the entire globe knows the iPhone 4G preordering started today. i don’t think you can go on the internet without it being thrown in your face. let me first say–i <3 my iPhone, and it has been good to me. AT&T, however, has not.

actually, i shouldn't really say it like that. AT&T has never created any problems for me... UNTIL today, and that was just the end of it for me.

when i got my new job and moved down to charleston, i took my name off my mom's contract, and somehow they "transferred" it. i got a 2-year contract, and got my iPhone. TOTALLY exciting, because until then, i had never had a smart phone. love it. still love it. the only thing was, i wasn't eligible for the early upgrade because they did a "transfer" instead of a new account, despite the fact that i had a new 2-year contract. i have no idea how this works. anyway, to get the upgrade i decided to get the "family plan" which meant adding a second line, which WOULD be eligible for an upgrade, allowing me to get the iPhone for $99 instead of $399. ultimately, this was only $10 more a month with the second line.

at the time, this seemed brilliant. now i realize i was just swindled out of $99, $53 extra a month for the past 12 months, and i had this super duper second line that i've never even used. actually, that phone doesn't even *work* anymore.

nevertheless, i had my iPhone, unlimited data, unlimited text, and 550 monthly minutes. which is more than i use anyway. all for the TERRIBLE price of $123 a month. SOMEBODY PLEASE HIT ME.

back to the 4G. i called at&t this morning and they told me that i can't preorder it over the phone because they have to swipe my card. WHY?! can't you just... type my stupid card number in? so, instead of eating, i went to the at&t store on my lunch break today to preorder my shiny new iPhone 4G. the line, as expected, was insane. i put my name on the list and stood there staring blankly for 20 minutes until some woman announced that only major credit cards would be accepted--again, WHAT? why? i asked the lady, and evidently someone used a debit card to do this earlier, screwed it up (no clue), and over drafted that person's bank account. i know, right?

first, i was like, what does that have to do with the rest of us? that's not our fault they didn't have enough $ in their account. then, i was like, i don't have a major credit card... am i even going to be able to get an iPhone come the 24th? and will this require me to camp outside the damn at&t store with the other idiots?

i mean, i've waited in parking lots for shiny new toys overnight before. i even waited at a mall for 4 hours when halo 3 came out (that one was awesome--free pizza, mountain dew, AND brownies!). it can be SO fun! but... for some reason... a lot (not ALL, just the Holier Than Thou types) of apple geeks are quite annoying. actually... a lot of geeks are quite annoying when their obsession consumes any and all conversation they are capable of having. i am NOT sitting outside the damn at&t store only to hear "OMG FACE TIME OMG OMG steve jobs i want to have your BAAAABIES!!!!" no, thank you.

i love my iPhone, yes. but i am not one of THOSE. the internet is full of THOSE lately and it is SO annoying. THEIR IS A GIANT OIL SPILL AND A WAR GOING ON AND YOU PEOPLE ARE ARGUING OVER A SMART PHONE. ON THE INTERNET. need i say more?

since i couldn’t preorder the new one, i got back in my car and started thinking–i wonder how much verizon would cost me? why this thought didn’t hit me sooner, i will never know. i called up verizon, and talked to this lady named michelle. michelle, if you’re out there, I LOVE YOU. you just saved me… a lot of money. michelle informed me that not only could i keep my same phone number (HALLELUJAH, i had no idea you could do this! ), but also that the htc incredible phone is $50 off this week. and i get a $100 rebate. and instantly i saw shooting stars and unicorns and puppies, and i may have even cried a bit.

so… i preordered my new incredible. OVER THE FREAKING PHONE. WITH MY DEBIT CARD. the incredible is (understandably) on back order, so it will be arriving at my apartment in less than 1 month. happy birthday to me! i paid $250 this afternoon, and my $100 rebate is in the mail.

the only other obstacle in my way is the early termination fee from at&t. if you weren’t aware (i was just made aware, and i feel even more swindled), if you have more than 1 phone under your contract, you are obligated to pay a fee for EACH phone. which (under my contract agreement) means… $175 for both, minus $4/month for each month of your contract you’ve fulfilled, which is… bullshit. i can’t sugar coat that. it’s just bullshit. biggest waste of $190 i can think of. i’d rather buy a bucket of rocks for $190. maybe even spiders! i hate spiders!

upon arrival of the new phone, i am (grudgingly) paying the early termination fees with at&t, driving my happy ass to verizon, and activating my new droid. which is only costing me $70 a month. for the same effing terms.

being a lively advocate of linux and all things open source, i feel good about the switch. and my wallet. well, in a few months, at least.

what would’ve happened if i had never joined partyapp.com, waaay back when, in 2004? an offshoot of campusblender.com and partyincollege.com, partyapp.com consumed far too many hours of my life, but it also SERIOUSLY changed it for the better.

i just think it’s crazy how something so seemingly small as a ridiculously wild, twisted, and quirky web forum can do so much for so many people.

a bunch of my friends who already went to ASU were members, and they talked about it as if it was THE message board to be on. so, as soon as i got my acceptance letter from appalachian in the summer of 2004, i joined partyapp. you actually had to have a university .edu e-mail address to register. we were OH so legit.

anyway, i signed up. and like… within days, i got messages from 2 guys on there. 2 guys who are still close friends of mine, 6 years later. they would turn out to be my coworkers for the next few years at ASU technical support–stephen and rob.

if not for partyapp, i never would have met them.

and i never would have…

• gone to tech. support and asked for a job (the guys told their boss (HI JAMES! ) to hire me)
• gone to see some of the MOST awesome 80s metal concerts (james, you changed my life!)
• majored in computer information systems (i was going to major in CS but tech. support convinced me otherwise!)
• been force fed Linux my freshman year of college (i enjoyed it, really, but rob is… strong-willed, lol)
• joined the ASU Gaming Club (where i met some of my favorite people ever!)
• joined the Appalachian Linux Users Group (ALUG) and been consumed by even more geekery
• joined AITP (which *totally* changed my life, will explain momentarily)

if i hadn’t joined the gaming club, i wouldn’t have met more of the ALUG-ers.

if i hadn’t met the other ALUG-ers, i wouldn’t have had the balls to attend the ALUG meetings. period. i was terrified. don’t ask me why.

if i hadn’t gotten involved in ALUG, i wouldn’t have met MORE of my favorite people in the world. one of which happens to be this weird guy named chris. who moved to texas with his also-weird wife. who i also love.

if i hadn’t met chris, i never would have gotten into information security because a) the words information and security had never crossed my mind at the time, and b) i had no idea that ASU even had anything to *do* with information security.

if rob hadn’t convinced me to join AITP (sidenote: when i was a freshman/sophomore, i had promised myself i’d never *ever* wear a suit, AITP requires the wearing of suits from time to time (and real jobs do too, go figure, right?), i was not having any of it), i never would have met even MORE amazing people (hello, fellow CIS-ers, i miss you, my extended family).

i wouldn’t have known to go to the job fairs. i wouldn’t have interviewed with like… 7 companies. i wouldn’t have gotten my job at honeywell (or even KNOWN about honeywell!). so i definitely wouldn’t be working where i am now.

even more importantly, i wouldn’t have had the opportunity to become the president of one of the best clubs in appalachian state history, where i would meet the love of my life, my best friend, my soul mate, my roommate, my other half, my JOOSE! partner, who just so happens to ALSO hate sweet potatoes.

thank you, partyapp. thank you, rob and stephen. thank you, james. thank you, chris. thank you to every single person who guided me in the right direction over the last 6 years. i could *not* imagine being anywhere else right now.

when i was 9 (i think?), my friend becky and i took a trip to the outer banks with my mom and dad.

this trip spawned the 2 year period wherein i became obsessed with hermit crabs. completely, and totally, obsessed. ironically, it was also the trip where i would be forever traumatized by all crabs who inhabit the ocean floor. the ones that pinch. hard. in my mind, i suppose, the ones in the water were infinitely more frightening than the ones that lived in shells. the ones that you could pick up and play with, as if they were toys, and not an offshoot of the exact creature who almost lopped off my pinkie toe.

anyway, my parents made the terrible mistake of buying me one of these cute little hermit crabs at one of the 10 bazillion beach shops along the outer banks. this particular shop happened to be near manteo, so… manteo became his name by default. my first cute little hermit crab. before the trip was over, manteo was accompanied by wanchese, and then ocracoke. if you’re not familiar with the north carolina coast, i yanked all three names from the map. i thought i was clever.

i’m sure my parents thought it would end here, but it did not. over the next several months, i had acquired quite a collection. over 40, actually. 40 crabs in 1 terrarium in my bedroom. 40. why my parents let me do this, no clue.

i do know, however, that…

• i bathed them bi-weekly
• i talked to them. actually talked to them.
• i regularly took them out of the terrarium and allowed them “playtime.”
• “playtime” meant letting them roam free around my bedroom. and on my bed. and basically wherever they wanted.
• (can you IMAGINE 40 crabs running free around your bedroom? AND IN YOUR BED?!)
• i kept a notebook (and a white board) full of their names, along with which shell they were currently inhabiting, and whether or not they had molted yet.
• i was a weird freaking kid.

lucky for me, i also had weird friends. my friend ryan (who now goes by maggie, who is now married, who now has a house, WITHOUT hermit crabs) decided to partake in the hermit crab obsession also. i don’t know if she had 40, but she, too, had a LOT.

they had play dates in the sand box at her playground. they had play dates in my room. they had play dates in her room. every slumber party was not a slumber party without the hermit crabs. how our mothers did not kill us, i will never know.

we even dressed them up for christmas. she and i actually made 12 tiny santa hats out of construction paper, scotch taped them to 12 of their shells, and sang “the 12 days of christmas” in front of my entire 5th grade class. actually, ryan wussed out and i had to do it by myself, but i don’t think that really matters at this point.

eventually, all hers died. i kept mine for about 2 years. i think that’s when i finally started middle school and/or got more interested in computers. one obsession turned into another. you know. crabs. computers. same thing.

last week, i decided saturday would be my official “start packing” day. brett and i are moving into a new apartment this weekend and despite the fact that i weeded out A METRIC F*CKTON of crap, i still had a lot more crap to sift through.

this collection included…

2 routers (2 pieces of crap)
2 modems… modemS… i don’t know why that is plural. pieces of crap.
1 scanner that no longer works
1 tablet that no longer works
an old phone
8 extra usb cables
3 extra power cables + a mountain of random power bricks and chargers
4 extra cat-5 cables
2 LED fans, 2 cathode sticks, 2 extra power supplies, USB card, video card… ugh
6 flash drives (4 of which don’t even work anymore)
2 extra cameras (both… deader than dead)

not to mention the random assortment of goodies that led me to take this terrifying photo.

i quit after half an hour, but within that half hour i managed to eliminate all the JUNK i had lying around. finally, for the first time, like, EVER, about 99% of the stuff in the apartment is either necessary or something i can’t bear to part with. yet.

that includes the 23583 whiskey bottles and moonshine jars on top of my fridge.

i’ve somehow convinced myself that… one day, i’ll be able to create something magnificent.

first of all, we slept until like, NOON on saturday. which was awesome. brett woke up craving omelettes. i woke up craving french fries. i told him i’d give him my card if he went to the diner down the street and picked up “breakfast” for us. i say “breakfast” because chicken fingers and fries at 12:30 on a saturday doesn’t exactly make for a traditional breakfast. BUT IT’S DELICIOUS.

on the way back from the diner, he stopped at a yard sale to take a peek. they had an old dart board (almost identical to this one) for sale and he got it for $12. TWELVE DOLLARS. look how nice that is, and the one we got is in pretty good condition. i couldn’t believe it. it also weighs like a million pounds so getting it on the wall will be interesting, but whatever. we got a sweet dart board for $12. i am happy. it didn’t come with darts, though, so for now it’s just kind of sitting in the corner of the apartment.

we went to our friend bryden’s for a cookout with some other college friends (who are now co-workers) that night. he and his girlfriend bought a house a few months ago and finally got a new fence around the backyard, so loki and their dog had a play date while we had burgers and played ladder golf. it is officially summer here, and the mosquitoes are back. i never thought to spray the bug spray up my shorts, but now i know better. i got bit on the ass. and one bit me through my shirt on my back. they’re getting smarter.

ANYWAY, bryden’s girlfriend works for verizon, and in the midst of the grilling she informed brett that he could trade his new droid for the new htc incredible phone so long as it hadn’t been 30 days since he bought it. what’s that? shiny new expensive phone for a small $35 restocking fee? yes plz. so sunday morning we started calling different verizon stores to see if they had any in stock. it figures that the only store to have any left was the one in moncks corner, 40 MINUTES AWAY. well, it should’ve been 40 minutes away. but since people in charleston drive like idiots, it was closer to an hour. that and evidently google maps didn’t know exactly know where the store was.

that could have something to do with the fact that moncks corner doesn’t believe in proper street addresses. there were seriously *two* 100 N Hwy 52′s. there were odd and even numbers on both sides of the street. AND the numbers went up AND down on both sides. basically, we made about 54 U-turns in like… 20 minutes. eventually, we found the verizon. it was right next to “fat boys hog-n-grog”. i freaking love the south. anyway, we went and got the phone.

neither of us had eaten yet, so we stopped at a hole in the wall BBQ joint nearby. it’s one of those places where you walk in, and immediately everyone in the building knows you’re “not from around these here parts!” there were no signs to “seat yourself” or “please wait”. there was a buffet, and the people working were sitting around eating from it, too. needless to say, we were confused. so we asked for help:

B: so… what do we do?

old man: weeell, generally, we just eat ’til we can’t eat no more!

B: well, alright!

so we ate ’til we couldn’t eat no more. fried chicken, pulled pork, mac ‘n’ cheese, green beans, fried okra, sweet tea… again, i love the south.

it was a gorgeous day yesterday, so the whole way there and back, the windows were down and we had the country blaring. sun was shining, it was hot, and as soon as i saw the sign for sonic i got a craving for a watermelon slushie. sonic is conveniently located like… 100 yards from our apartment complex. it’s dangerous. right next to sonic was another yard sale at the veterinary hospital. they had a really nice leather office chair and a dell LCD monitor with a sub woofer and speakers sitting out. oddly enough, brett needed a chair and a monitor for our desk when we move into the new apartment in 2 weeks. he got all of that for $55. chair, monitor, speakers and sub… for $55.

i feel like we were on american pickers or something, minus the whole antique thing. the only problem was we didn’t think about getting our new toys back to the apartment. we were in my saturn. my saturn which already had a trunk full of packing boxes and our fishing poles. thank god we were not far from the apartment, because my face was 3 inches from the steering wheel for the 30 second drive home. should my air bags have deployed, i would no longer have a face.

all in all…

$530 phone – $35
$100 office chair, $200 monitor w/speakers & sub – $55
$100+ wooden dart board – $12

$930 – $102 = $828

basically… WIN!

so, remember the client drama i was having a while back?

it’s still not over.

to be fair, i’ve been paid in full for 1 of the 2 websites i did for Company X. BUT… i am still owed $400. Website A was completed months ago. i was paid 100% for Website A. Website B was completed months ago. i was paid 50% for Website B. the other 50%? they’re trying to dangle it over my head (i will explain momentarily). this does not amuse me, whatsoever.

first of all, i have not taken any legal action. yet. mostly because that costs money, time, and is probably more of a pain in the ass than it’s really worth. also because shortly after i made that post, i was paid $400 for one of the websites. this seemed like a step in the right direction. or so i thought. however, still missing the other $400, i’ve decided to lean in that direction. i will leave out those details because they don’t really matter. i’m writing this because i’m pissed off and i want to share my angst.

i spoke with Client X (finally) last week. he said he was going to speak to Company X, who would send him a check in the amount of $400 by monday (yesterday), and he would then paypal the $400 to me. simple enough. i said okay. i e-mailed him yesterday to see if he received the check. he did not receive the check.

THIS is where it gets interesting.

evidently, Company X told Client X there were “minor” changes that needed to be made to Website A (YES, the website i’ve been paid for already), and threw in some excuse about someone being in the hospital. normally, i’d be more understanding/compassionate/whatever, but since it’s the second time i’ve heard this excuse in 2 weeks from the same person for the same reason, about a payment that should have been paid MONTHS AGO, and they’ve been dragging me through this mess since september, i don’t really give a rat’s ass. a company should have its priorities straight, but that is clearly one item out of a long list of things this company is lacking.

it’s also worth mentioning that the “minor” issues that sprung up are a result of poor implementation of the design, on their part. i was already out of the picture. in other words, don’t give an idiot a task like restoring an entire database.

so they’re dangling Website A over my head, in order to get me to do work, for stuff THEY screwed up, FOR FREE, just so i’ll quit bitching about the other $400 from Website B.

i’ve got news for you, Company X–NOT GONNA HAPPEN!

in the meantime, i’m calling in a favor from a friend.

not a bad idea in that it was unbearable, but today was just a long day. i feel like my brain hasn’t taken a break since i woke up this morning–something i’m not exactly used to. i’m used to allowing myself a few hours of zoning out and watching mind-numbing sitcoms and pawn stars while simultaneously stuffing my face with cape cod chips.

unfortunately, today’s schedule did not allow me that luxury.

we have a project deadline tomorrow at work, so a few of us stayed until 5:30 today (which isn’t *late* but it’s later than usual) to get things done (i am intentionally being vague) and in between getting things done at work, i played with metasploit. i’m trying to get reacquainted because until yesterday, it had been like… a year since i touched it. metasploit, hypercube, and various hex editors have been my extracurriculars this week. it’s been quite the learning experience. i’m getting there.

something else i learned today? bananas and coffee == terrible idea. you know the way your face contorts when you drink orange juice or lemonade after brushing your teeth? it was like that. except it wasn’t even minty fresh. it was just nasty.

additionally, i overbooked myself in march thinking that it would be a good idea to maintain website work while trying to tackle the CISSP. as it turns out, that wasn’t the most brilliant idea. i told one of my clients i’d have his website ready to go by tomorrow, because up until this weekend i was dedicating most of my spare time and *all* of my attention span to preparing for the hardest exam i’ve ever taken in my life. which left me with the past 4 days to get it done.

well, i got it done. but i left the bulk of it for this evening. which means as soon as i got home from work, i settled in on the couch with my bagel & cream cheese and bottled water, and got to coding. i have gotten up twice. one bathroom break for me, and one for loki. thor also joined in. never before have i owned a cat who insisted on peeing with me.

what a gorgeous day to have spent entirely indoors. 80+ degrees and sunny. at least it was productive–no denying that.

and now, it is 11:30 and i am done. the laundry is done. i vacuumed, dusted, and cleaned up the apartment earlier this week. the trash has been taken out. all that’s left is the drive back to north carolina tomorrow to spend easter weekend with the family.

OH, and then the little bit at the end where i have to drive back to charleston. and go to the airport. and PICK UP BRETT WHO WILL FINALLY BE HOME FROM AFRICA. i am so excited. i can finally stop talking to myself around the apartment.

last week at work, some of the network requirements changed in order to have your laptop registered. i forget what exactly changed, but that’s beside the point.

the point is: i got kicked off for being non-compliant (except i was), and my MAC address got blocked. awesome. this was on like… wednesday? i think? i called tech. support about 17 times, and apparently everyone else on base got blocked, too, because the phone line was flooded (and still is) and it is damn near impossible to talk to them without toting my laptop down to their building. i’m not that desperate [yet].

on a side note, not having internet last week was kind of helpful because it allowed me to study for the CISSP without getting distracted. a blessing in disguise.

anyway, i left a few voicemails, all of which have been returned… the following day. except for today. today they called me back within a few hours. but the thing is, i shouldn’t have had to call today, because when they called me back *friday* (following the voicemail i left them on thursday), they said i should have been unblocked within 3 hours of our phone conversation. 3 hours was after i had already left work, so i just assumed i’d be ready to go this morning.

not so much.

so today’s conversation was a bit different. they were like, “oh, but it says you are already unblocked!” that’s fantastic, but my 0.0.0.0 IP address says otherwise.

then things started to unfold:

guy #1: wait, what’s your name? whitney?

me: yes, why?

guy #1: i heard your name earlier. they said you were blocked for P2P access. let me transfer you.

me: WHAT?

guy #1: please hold.

guy #2: hello?

me: hi, this is whitney. i was told i was blocked for P2P access.

guy #2: yes, you were blocked on the 23rd for P2P access. do you have any file sharing programs?

me: no… the only thing on my laptop is transmission [linux bittorrent client] and that is only because it is installed by default

guy #2: oh, i see. well, is it running?

me: no… i don’t use it. it’s just installed.

guy #2: oh, i see. well, *whispers to guy in background* do you have any, um, *whispers*, do you have any RPMs installed?

me: umm… yes. i’m using an RPM-based linux distribution. why does that matter?

guy #2: well, *whispers to guy in background* RPMs sometimes install torrents…

me: haha, that does not make any sense!

guy #2: see… we block people if they install torrents. and that might be why you were blocked.

me: but… RPMs are the packages that are installed on my laptop, most of which have nothing to do with file sharing.

guy #2: oh… well, *whispers* do you happen to have gnome installed?

me: sir, gnome is my desktop environment. in linux. that has nothing at all to do with file sharing. i do not, and have never, used any file sharing programs at work!

guy #2: um, i’m going to have to ask network security to unblock you, then. there must be someone on your switch who is installing torrents. i can ask him to unblock you, but they will be watching you from now on.

me: just *please* UNBLOCK ME!

guy #2: okay, give me 30 minutes and you should be unblocked.

after all that mess, 30 minutes passed. an hour passed. i was still not unblocked.

after all that mess, i will be toting my laptop to tech. support tomorrow, and *hopefully* i will be able to get back online.

worst case scenario: they don’t fix my problem, i manually change my MAC address again, re-register my laptop, and just be forced to keep changing it upon reboot. sucks, but it works.

at the very least, i want to meet the man who told me that RPMs sometimes install torrents, and suggested that gnome is a P2P violation. and then i want to ask him how he got a job at tech. support.

i was so tempted to take all my CISSP study materials (except the ones that are borrowed) and throw them into a giant pile and light it on fire. until i remembered the little tid bit where i don’t know if i passed yet, so in the event that i bombed that hellacious exam, i might need those materials one day down the road.

i took 5 hours to take it (you could take up to 6). the format is 250 multiple choice questions. the last 1 and a half-ish hours were spent filling in bubbles and going over the questions that i saved for later. the ones that made me go cross-eyed.

in all seriousness, that was the hardest exam i’ve ever taken in my life, and i very truly *never* want to take it again. the next few weeks of waiting are going to drive me nuts. at least it’s over, and out of my hands.

the whole event in itself was kind of fun, though. there were like… 40 people? ish? i’m not good at ball-parking a room full of people but that’s my guess. there were 5-6 guys from work in there. there were a few younger people, but i’m gonna go out on a limb and say i was the youngest one in there. there were 4 females, including myself. surprise, surprise, right? i was definitely the only individual wearing bright pink.

also, the guy behind me was a total mouth-breather. just sayin’. makes it kind of hard to concentrate.

2 of the exam proctors were guys from work, as well, so that made it a bit more comfortable. after it was over, the overall consensus was, “my head hurts, i need a beer,” so 5 of us went to buffalo wild wings and had a few much-needed (and hard-earned!) cold beers.

my evening was followed up by watching UFC 111 with friends. i could not think of a better way to spend the afternoon/evening after a 5-hour braindump. actually, that’s a lie. had brett been there to celebrate with me, it would’ve been better.

also, apologies for the ridiculous amount of UFC-related tweets last night. i got kind of excited over the main event. for the record, i think it was an awesome fight. and i know 1 person in particular who will 100% disagree with me. i’m sure many others do too, but i don’t think GSP had anything to be unhappy about (and definitely nothing to apologize for). *i thought* it was a fun fight to watch. i’m glad it didn’t end with a 1st round submission, and i’m glad he didn’t try to rip hardy’s arm off. i kind of didn’t want either of them to lose (as dumb as that sounds) because i like both of them. i’m happy it went to decision, despite the fact that there wasn’t much of a “decision” by the end of the 5th round.

stuff keeps happening. not all bad, not all good, just stuff.

my mom came down to visit this weekend. i think she knew i was feeling crappy that brett was going to be gone for 3 weeks. i know she was feeling crappy because she knew her dog (used to be kind of mine until i left for college), wicket, was living his last days. it was much needed for both of us. the last 4 days have been really eventful, but somehow uneventful at the same time.

• wicket passed away. she had him put to sleep. he was in congestive heart failure and it was for the best–he’s in a better place. i cried. don’t tell my mom that. i miss you, wicket.
• my laptop died. i got a new one. i love it. it’s shiny and new and it gives me something to play with/reformat/destroy. THANK YOU, ASUS!
• i’ve been able to talk to brett like 4 times since he’s left. which is awesome. he can call my lab for free (DSN or something like that) since it’s on the naval weapons base. works for me. ;) they’re staying in a tent with 50~ish marines & other contractors, but on the upside, they DO have air conditioning. thank the lord.
• i don’t know what i got on monday, but somewhere around 4AM i got hit with some sort of stomach bug (that hurt like hell) and spent most of the day running to the bathroom to puke. a lot of people at work got the norovirus, but mine lasted less than a day, so either i got lucky or i had something totally different.
• i got my first spray tan yesterday. it tasted terrible. i will write more on this later. the entire 20 minutes is worth a story in itself, trust me. BUT i’m not orange.

that’s about it for now–it’s time to celebrate st. patty’s day. my buddy craig just showed up with a pack of guinness and boondock saints 2, and it is time to celebrate!

brett–if you read this, i miss you, homie. i miss you a lot.

my laptop finally bit the dust. i was waiting for that to happen any day now, as the hard drive was already failing and a multitude of other things were going wrong (ex: wireless card going dead, overheating). then, yesterday, the motherboard finally crapped out *and* the power supply decided it had also taken its last breath.

luckily, i had everything backed up on the external hard drive i bought a few weeks ago. i was in dire need of one of those things. i just knew this was going to happen soon, and i was right. i’m just glad i actually sucked it up and bought one when i did.

point is… i had to buy a new laptop. had to. i have work to get done–work that can’t be done on a tiny eee PC. and, in my opinion, it’s not worth spending money to fix something that old and doomed.

so my mom and i went to best buy yesterday (she’s visiting for the weekend) and i found a laptop. actually, i found a beast of a laptop. i was contemplating buying a macbook pro. i really want to get a mac one day, but i don’t think yesterday was the day. i can’t seem to pry myself away from a PC. maybe because i’m not able to just reformat a mac whenever i want and slap something else on it? which inevitably will be fedora when i finally make up my mind, but still. that freedom isn’t there. maybe i’ll buy the smaller, less expensive one later on down the line. also, the macbook pros don’t have the new intel processors (and they’re still like… $1200!!). they still have the i2, which is still good, but i wanted the ones i saw at the CES back in january. i wanted (at least) an i5. with turbo boost. SHINY.

a lot of you responded to me on twitter/facebook with cries of the i7–i saw laptops with the i7 at best buy, but the selection wasn’t as good. graphics cards in those laptops weren’t that great, either, and had shit for video memory. this one has 1GB and it’s an nvidia geforce GTS 360M. and, let’s face it, i just do not *need* an i7. i don’t really *need* the i5, either, but i’ll just pretend for now.

i finally decided on the Asus G60JX. so far, i love it. absolutely love it. it’s about 50 times more powerful than my old laptop. and the best part–it hasn’t died on me yet. here’s to hoping it stays that way.

*NOTE: this is long, so get comfy. i apologize ahead of time.

have you ever been to clients from hell? whether you just want to know that you’re not the only one dealing with a terrible client, or you want a good laugh, i highly recommend it. i have had more than a handful of scenarios that are worthy of being quoted on this site, which reminds me–i really need to start writing them down.

if i haven’t said it enough, i love my day job. my Big Girl Job. i love information security. it fascinates me. i have learned more in the past 9 months than i learned through all of college. i enjoy my day at work, and when i come home every night, i generally get right to working on websites. brett or i will cook dinner–he settles in playing his xbox, and i get to coding. my hours are weird, because not every freelance web developer has the same routine. that’s one upside to any kind of freelance work–making your own hours. i’ve realized that clients don’t always understand that. sometimes… sometimes they think that because you make your own hours means they can help you *define* those hours.

example: this morning, i got a call from Company X (i will leave all names anonymous from here on out) at 7:38 AM. this is the same client i was griping about yesterday on twitter. i didn’t answer the phone. i let it go to voicemail, and moments later received the voicemail, accompanied by an e-mail.

it is not out of the ordinary for things like this to happen. that does not make them acceptable. a few months ago, i got sick of allowing my clients to walk all over me (which was 100% my fault, there need to be boundaries) so i defined my own hours. i told them (nicely) that i am at my Big Girl Job during the day, and everything else (website related) is to be taken care of during the week, in the evenings between 5 and 9 PM. that is a small window, but so far it is working. they can e-mail me all they want, but for the most part, all website related work will be done during those 4 hours.

well, this winter things picked up a bit. i had a lot on my plate, and still do. some odds and ends are being tied up, some projects are just hanging there waiting on the client to come forth with updates, and some are just starting up. it’s a big mix, but i keep track of everything in spreadsheets and i’m pretty good at keeping it all organized.

one thing that i make SURE of, whether i stay organized or not, is that there are invoices. invoices, invoices, invoices. and some form of a binding statement that says, yes, i will pay you this amount of money. there are a couple (literally) that i don’t worry about because, A) they are friends, and B) they have been loyal to me for years. because the moment a client starts changing numbers on me–there’s a problem. man, i just started realizing how many nightmarish stories i can tell you all. so many blog entries to come of this. i must not forget.

anyway, way back in september, i was contacted by Client X (who i have recently found out is actually an independent contractor for Company X, which i mentioned earlier). Client X needed 2 websites to be completed because their company, Company X, did not have enough resources (whether it was time, money, or people, i don’t know) to get them done. we both signed a contract, saying i would be subcontracted to complete these 2 websites. i sent Client X 2 invoices–one for each website. the invoices stated that 50% of the website would be paid for up front, and the remaining 50% would be paid upon completion of the site. this is how i do every project, and so far it has worked out in my favor. i promptly received the first 50%, for both websites, via PayPal. we were good to go, i thought.

i completed both sites fairly quickly. there were a few minor changes that were done over the course of 2-ish months. basically, the sites have been completed and sitting, waiting on my server for about 4-ish months now.

now, i found out a couple weeks ago that Client X is no longer working for Company X. this only came up in conversation via e-mail (which have been few and far between, terrible communication on their part) after i sent the 523th bitchy e-mail, demanding i get paid for the work i did. MONTHS ago.

i’ve been bitching and moaning to and about Client X for months now, but never took any kind of legal action. the amount of money i am owed is not a small amount, but in my mind, it is not worth going to court over. the only reason i asked about lawyers on twitter yesterday was to get other opinions on how to get things moving in the right direction so this can be finished. if that did not work, then i would be more inclined to take some sort of legal action. evidently, a lot of people thought small claims court was a feasible idea. i know nothing about that sort of thing, so the thought alone scares me. i’d like to avoid that if at all possible.

i started making phone calls. i called Client X, roughly 4 times, before i got any kind of feedback. i called Company X at least 20 times yesterday, and all i got was answering machines. FINALLY, a representative from Company X called me, but because i can’t have my phone in the lab i work in, i missed it. awesome. phone tag really blows.

on my drive home, i spoke with Client X. he finally answered his phone, and i’m sure he regretted it immediately afterward. i was not psychotic, but i was not exactly friendly. my e-mails started out friendly, but over the last 4 months, they got a little uglier. i’ve heard the exact same story at least a dozen times from Client X, and yesterday’s phone call was no different. i hung up, and because i was so fed up with everything (i already had just one of those days yesterday… forgot my badge, spilled coffee TWICE, spilled ravioli EVERYWHERE, spilled pears EVERYWHERE, smashed my finger, it was just irritating), i went home and took a 20 minute, scalding hot shower, followed by 20 minutes of laying on my bed and staring at the ceiling. then i asked brett to go buy us a case of beer. thank you, babe–you are awesome.

after all that, i didn’t exactly sleep well last night.

and then i got the call from Company X this morning at 7:30. i did not need that. but after listening to the voicemail, and reading the e-mail this morning, i’ve decided that Company X is not who i need to be angry at. Client X deserves to feel my wrath. all of it. come to find out, he hasn’t been working with Company X for “a long while now” according to them. which COMPLETELY explains why this is a nightmare in the first place. if an independent contractor leaves a company, and continues to deal with Company X’s clients, that is a recipe for disaster. and serious communication FAIL. and confusion. and all of the above. depending on what kind of contract they have, that can be considered breach of contract–something i do NOT want to become involved in. Company X told me that if i put the sites back online (i took them down, hoping the process would speed up with some motivation), he could get the deal finalized with their clients (the companies whose websites i’d created) and i will be paid by next week.

with all that said, i should have gone to Company X months ago. however, i did not know to do that since i had no idea, until recently, that Client X didn’t work there anymore. all along, i thought i was still dealing with Company X through Client X. definitely *not* the case.

currently, i am waiting for an e-mail response from Company X about this whole ordeal being patched up. the sites are live again and their clients are viewing them, and *hopefully* giving them the final payments. which will hopefully be given to me by next week. hopefully this nightmare will be over. hopefully. thank you, representative from Company X, for not screwing around. you are a good man. cross all your fingers, all your toes, all your eyeballs, please. i will let you know what happens.

in between working on websites last night, i was reading articles on digg. cue digg haters/reddit lovers now. anyway, i was reading articles on digg, and by reading the articles i mean perusing the comments (highly entertaining). it got me thinking.

i am not even going to attempt to start up the linux vs windows vs mac conversation because i think that exists elsewhere on the internet (and on digg) about 234298053 times. everyone who knows me knows i’m a huge linux fan. i’d love to own a mac. i use windows in a VM for web development and work crap, except for at work, because nearly everything work-related ends up requiring windows in some form or fashion–the VM just doesn’t cut it anymore. there are a huge number of reasons people prefer the different operating systems they use, and it will always be that way. i just happen to prefer linux.

however, i just feel like there is such a huge misunderstanding. a whole mess of people are all like “ohh, linux isn’t hard, just use ubuntu! or fedora!” and that is halfway true. because if you are one of the tons of people who just uses a computer to check e-mail, surf the web, download music, etc, then sure! it’s a piece of cake, and all it takes is getting used to a different GUI, and the ability to break free from all that is not open source. there are plenty of valid open source substitutes for *nearly* every kind of software you use–you just have to get used to them.

but if that’s all you use linux for, you aren’t really learning linux. you are essentially learning a different GUI. not that there is anything wrong with that at all, because i am all for turning people to the dark side and throwing fedora in anyone and everyone’s face. or any flavor of linux if that’s what it takes. it’s just… if you are scared of the word linux, that is somewhat incorrect. what you should actually be scared of is the command line interface. except, my entire point is you shouldn’t really be scared if you are willing to learn a thing or 2 and can wrap your mind around the absence of a GUI for 5 minutes.

and if that makes you uncomfortable, DON’T SHY AWAY FROM IT. that’s bad! you will not learn! you must break things. you must use the google. which also means, make sure you actually have a CAT-5 cable handy, because installing linux without abusing the power of the internets is just not fun.

during my freshman year of college, a guy i worked with at tech support invited me over to his house one night for the sole purpose of helping/watching me install slackware. it was my first fresh linux install, so i was nervous to destroy something. i quickly learned that if you destroy something, just format it again and start over. technology is awesome that way, so long as you have a backup of all that you hold dear.

he told me to use slackware for a while–USE it. ABUSE it. break the shit out of it, if necessary. i must admit, i reformatted months later and used ubuntu. i dual booted with windows until i was 100% comfortable. then my friend rob introduced me to fedora. i ditched ubuntu, and the dual boot, and have never looked back. i was smitten.

this is rob and i. to a tee.

FUN FACT: rob now works for red hat. along with 9 or 10 of my other appalachian LUG friends. i’m so proud.

i guess what i’m trying to say is, if you really want to learn it–get dirty. rip it apart. break it to the point where you have a blinking black screen with text flying all over the place. reformat half a dozen times if need be. ASK QUESTIONS. be intuitive. be curious. just don’t ask me questions, because i am not a patient individual. i will quickly respond with let me google that for you and send you on your way, because that’s the way i learned, and it works.

if you are REALLY feeling frisky, give gentoo a go. i dare you. i will bring the popcorn. you, on the other hand, will need something much more potent. cue all the gentoo fans who use portage in their sleep. YOU ARE ALL INFINITELY SMARTER THAN I AM. move along.

[edit] it seems as though i’ve lit a fire, yet again. gentoo itself is not scary. the install process–that can be scary. and is not for the weak at heart. or in this case, it is not for someone who has only seen ubuntu once and still sucks their thumb when approached by anything other than windows. for those of you who are seasoned veterans of the open source world, i am not talking about you. LET’S NOT TAKE EVERYTHING SO LITERALLY. [/edit]

to be clear, i still break my laptop(s) on a bi-monthly basis. i will even admit that i stooped as low as asking one of said red hat friends to help me fix something a few weeks ago, but (in my defense) it was only because i had exhausted every internet resource i could find. i also told him i’d buy him a beer next time i am in raleigh, which is always a valid form of payment.