Category Archives: Things I've Done

The Airplane Gods Didn’t Just Hate Me

When I was a consultant and traveling all the time I seriously thought the airplane gods wanted to mock me.   Especially the time I got stranded because of an overbooked flight in Buffalo for 8 hours.    The Consumerist has a list of the top 10 worst airports for delays – I’ve been to most of them.   From their list here is where I’ve been:

Chicago, IL (MDW)

New York, NY (LGA)

Atlanta, GA (ATL)

Philadelphia, PA (PHL)

New York, NY (JFK)

Newark, NJ (EWR)

Chicago, IL (ORD)

So for all the rest of you that have been stranded out there waiting for your flight to take off, I take great sympathy for you.

Launched journeytogetpaid.com

I opened up my newest online diary that’s targeted, journeytogetpaid.com.  The whole point of the site is to document the trials and tribulations of becoming a professional blogger.   Will I be able to attain that goal?  Probably not, there is a very good chance that it is a pipe dream.  I would probably make more money registering spam sites based off typos then I would  making money as a professional blogger.   It does come down to the fact that a fellow has to dream.

I have a few more websites that will be launching soon giving me a variety of sites to work with different people and attempt to capture my little slice of pie.   Journeytogetpaid.com is to document them all.   The failures and successes are to be shared with the readers.   Why should I profit without sharing the insight.

I do plan on crossposting all my work on whatever sites I work on back to creeva.com.   My faithful readers will be able to get all of the information always here.   Though it is suggested you go to the other sites so you can keep up with the latest and greatest – also on the sites I’m not going to be alone so on creeva.com you are only going to get part of the picture.

To read the launch synopsis on Journey to Get Paid go here.

Alumni Band 2007

So some of you might be wondering why I’ve been writing less – I’ve been getting back into playing trumpet again. Trumpet practice has taken up some of my blogging time.

I have more to write about coming up – but until then enjoy these clips from our Alumni performance.

Agents and Options for Symantec Backup Exec 11d: The Gold Standard in Data Recovery

So todays live blogging webinar (since my other one generated some interest by page loads) is Agents and Options for Symantec Backup Exec 11d: The Gold Standard in Data Recovery

The company putting on this seminar is Carahsoft. The presenter is Monica Girolami Senior Product Marketing Manager from Symantec.

When I dialed in I was the 26th caller – so take that for whatever level of review that you want.

The speaker started only 3 minutes late.

Valued of Backup Exec 11d Agents and Options:

Agenda:
Windows Recovery Challenge
Backup Exec 11d for windows servers
Current Upgrade promotions
Questions and Answers

This is about keeping your data secure and available against malicious threats, infrastructure failures, natural disasters, and etc.

It’s about your ability for recovery not about backup *I feel I’m’ getting brainwashed

More press notes self promoting

Advantages:
Continuous Protection for exchange
Recover Critical Data in seconds
Enhanced Data Security – Encryption – 128/256 AES encryption
New Platform Support (x64 bit) -
and more….. * did they really need to add this?????

Exchange Backup old way – daily (weekly full backup) daily second backup of the mailboxes – so it’s taking twice the time. With 11d eliminates the mailbox backups – still having the ability to recover individual emails or accounts. They do this through granular recovery technology. With the continuous data protection you can continuously protect and granularly recover the data. * Roll eyes

Granular recovery requires you to have a backup up to disc – full backup would go to tape or disc.

current method of backup – sample customer – 7 hour exchange database job – mailbox backup – 23 hours – total of 30 hours. With 11d it took a total of 3 hour for everything – moving the database to tape it took a total of 5 hours. 80% reduction of time with up to the minute restoration available.

Continuous protection is now available for exchange – previously it was available for file servers. You can setup the recovery points – you can set this up down to every 15 minutes – default is 8 hours. So you could recover your system up to the last time point (down to 15 minutes ago). You can do recovery to this.

This product seems to be missing the new standard Symantec Web Interface

Active Directory Agent:

Recovery individual users, attributes, computers without reboots. Much easier then the MS method – just run a full backup job – from there you can recover the individual objects from that.
Recovers Share point databases and documents with the GRT previously mentioned

MS SQL now has continuous protection also – the agent can backup locally instead of over the network for the best continuous backup in the fastest method. 11d secures the restore selection to make sure the recovery job runs successfully.

Central Admin Server Option (CASO)- Simple Three Tier Management:

You can protect your entire environment from one location – the central admin server allows you to manage your protected servers, computers, and media servers from one location. This includes defining and distributing backup jobs, monitoring and reporting on job activity. This option was first introduced in Backup Exec 10.0

Does not require persistent architecture for remote offices
Distributed catalog architecture
simple monitoring of remote managed media server jobs

Desktop and Laptop Option – Protecting Critical work stations

5 free license with BE 11d
Continuous Protection
DLO (desktop laptop option)is ideal for a mobile work force
synchronization of users work stations
end user file retrieval
easy to manage and deploy
Licenses are available in 10 packs

Backup exec system recovery options – Do you have a disaster recovery strategy?

Formally livestate recovery – the old system recovery method was manual and was long and tedious – repair – reinstall OS – reinstall drivers – reinstall apps – re configure settings – apply journal changes – test – go live. With new method select recovery point and it can recover the entire system – only taking minutes and is more reliable with the disk based backup. Disimilar hardware recovery in minutes – enhanced P2V/V2P virtual conversion capabilities – streamlined lower priced offering of Backup Exec System Recovery 7.0.

More press quotes

Dissimilar system recovery – allows you to recover to different hardware configuration with the same data – it can even restore to a virtual machine. Backup Exec for Windows Server System Recovery Option – lower cost then the full solution – it’s a stand alone unintegrated solution – which you could run backup exec 11d on mission critical servers that would allow you to recover in just a few minutes.

Extended platform support
X64 windows media server support
Vista Support
Centralized management
NDMP support
Oracle
Linux/UNIX
DB2
Mac OSX – PPC/Intel

Free 60 day trial from www.backupexec.com
* there are even forums there WOWWEE /sarcasm off


For Exchange 2007 and Vista you need the latest Backup Exec 11d patches.

Questions and Answers:

Symantec: Please type your questions for the speaker into this chat pod.

Guest: can we ask tech questions?

Symantec: Liza, you are welcome to ask any questions. We’ll do our best to answer them. If we can’t answer them, we’ll make sure to follow up with you off line.

Guest: my back up wld not restore even if I applied sp5

Guest: with the new version does it come with tech support?

Guest: VMWARE consolidated backup support on 11d

Guest: Does the Sharepoint Agent give posting item level recovery?

Symantec: BE11d includes support if u purchased it w/ support

Guest: Running BE 11d and had need for Exchange restore of databases. I had been running D2D2T and the restore could not be done with tape. We were able to restore from disk. Could you provide best practice set up D2D2T with Exchange agent?

Guest: compare cps with cdp for exchangebackup

guest: We have had some serious issues with Lotus Notes 7.0.2 mail client and the Backup Exec remote agent, has anyone else had issues with this? The agent prevents Lotus from opening.

Guest: will cps on exchange replace brcik level backup

Rod Sellers: cps itself is very nice

Guest: We always have files being skipped in the back log in ver. 9.1. How do we prevent that? Thanks

Guest: I’m running 11d remote agents to backup my NEtware servers. I use Pre/Post options – but the Post doesn’t run. Are there any known issues around this?

Symantec: Recommend reading Exchange Best Practices wp on www.backupexec.com/save

Guest: HI, we have 400/800G tapes for our backup. Weekly we have a full backup. It is about 399G. What is the best praktice to do a full backup and do not need to use a secound tape? (incremental Backup?)

Guest: Thanks

Guest: Backup Exec 11d has been release since 11/06. How come there have been no live updates for this program?

Guest: On the topic of encryption, can Backup Exec backup laptops protected with PGP Whole Disk Encryption?

Guest: Why do they not have updated native support for NetWare and GroupWise? Not everyone runs Exchange

Symantec: Apologies everyone, slight technical problems.

Guest: On the subject of Lotus Domino, we are also having problems using the Domino option. It skips too many files.

Guest: We are using tapes. we want to convert to disk and do a virtual bkup

Symantec: Backup Exec 11d launched in Nov06 and build 11d.7170 launched March07 with support for MS Exchange 2007, MS Vista, EMC Celerra devices etc

Guest: we need to talk to u abt the conversion

Guest: is this all about MS?

Guest: AD meaning backing up individual users’ files in pcs?

guest: We have also had issues with 11d and the backup jobs not completing/failing when not being able to connect to machines assigned in the backup job. The Symantec techs also said there is a limit to the amount of machines you can have in one job, what is the limit?

Guest: We are currently using 10D, and would like to upgrade to 11D, however we are still running Exchange 5.5, with a plan to upgrade Exchange to 2003 this year.. Its my understanding that 11D does NOT support less than Exchange 2000. Am I correct here?

Guest: We have been getting weekly updates by liveupdate including SP1. Automatic doesn’t seem to work though. Try from the tools menu.

Guest: How will the desktop & laptop options work with Windows Vista? Windows Vista already has a built in snapshot for machines?

Guest: Is the automatic feature being looked at as to why is doesn’t work? Is that a feature they may take out in the next verison?

Guest: Is System Recovery like System Restore in Windows?

Guest: When is the next verison coming out?

Guest: scott, I’m just another customer. I have other priorities at my site. I just assumed it was because we were using central admin console. I do all the servers manually.

Guest: is this the IDR?

Guest: We have just upgraded to 11d. I am getting the following error message on the sever Backup Exec is running on. Backup- THC1 V-79-57344-3844 – The media server was unable to connect to the Remote Agent on machine THC1. The media server will use the local agent to try to complete the operation.Remote Agent not detected on \\THC1. The folder it is trying to backup is the Utility Partition. The rest of the server backup up fine without asking for the remote agent.

Guest: is this included in 11d?

Symantec: To get current 11d updates go to: http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/289968.htm

Guest: Does Symantec have an Archiving solution that works w/ Backup Exec? We have about 1 TB of data that needs to be archived off in a near line device that can be accessed when necessary.

Symantec: Yes, BE11d for Exchage w/ CPS eliminates Brick Level Backup

Symantec: Ceballos – Enterprise Vault http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/products/overview.jsp?pcid=2244&pvid=322_1

Guest: Is the Advanced File Open option free with 11D?

Guest: migration from 9.1 to 11d is free?

Guest: I need help in migration after the 11d comes.

Guest: Is the Advanced Open File option free with 11d?

Symantec: Frandin – Yes BE11d only supports Exchange 2K, 2K3, 2k7

Guest: how to get the ppt presentation

Guest: ok ty!

Guest: give an over view os sss

Symantec: MClark – AOFO is a purchased addonn

Guest: Is it per server?

Guest: I understand that I need a VIP Update for 11.0. Where can I get this?

Guest: please review share storage option

Symantec: live update http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/289968.htm

Guest: Could you do an overview on the Backup to Disk to Tape technologies?

Guest: Do you have a whitepaper that compares your product to others? Specifically we are using Syncsort and I want to convert but will have to do justification and any help would be appreciated.

Symantec: Agents /Options: http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/products/agents_options.jsp?pcid=2244&pvid=57_1
Symantec: Nick, today’s webcast is being recorded. A link to this recording will be available shortly on http://www.carahsoft.com/events/index.php. It will also be sent to you in a follow-up email.

Guest: how can we tell if we are current on maintenance?

Guest: can you give us teh link to the upgrade

Symantec: www.backupexec.com/save

Guest: 9.1 version support has expired. I just ordered 11d does this mean I have to order support separately?

Symantec: You can order 11d with or without support

Guest: if we have IDR in 10d, does it get upgraded to live state?

Guest: vmware review

Guest: Does BackUp Exec cover laptops encrypted with PGP Whole Disk Encryption?

Guest: presentation ppt file

Symantec: http://www.carahsoft.com/events/index.php

Guest: system recovery has to be ordered separate?

As you can see some questions went unanswered

This seminar used Adobe Acrobat Connect – this is the first time I’ve run across this remote seminar solution. I’m not too impressed with the look and feel being a spectator – maybe it is more powerful on the moderator side. Though it did have that new web 2.0 technology where you enter in your phone number and it calls you – so it has that going for it.

My Yahoo Answers for today

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


How do I make one domain redirect to another?

I just bought two domain names, say for example, first.com and second.com. I setup second.com on new nameservers and it’s ready to go. How do I make first.com redirect a user to second.com automatically? Does first.com ALSO have to be on the new nameservers? It doesn’t seem that it would need to.

In other words, just like the way yaho.com will redirect you to yahoo.com, I want first.com to redirect you to second.com. How is this done?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;Go to your DNS provider on your name server and create a CNAME for the new name and put the server you want it to redirect to in the address.

If you use go daddy you have to use sub domain redirects – PITA go daddy not following the standards

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


What is the only food that does’nt spoil?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;Ice

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Copyright question….?

Say I have an idea that stems from another copyrighted work.

For example, if I want to make a board game based on the TV show “Everybody Loves Raymond” or start a bar based on a movie (like Korova Milk Bar in Alphabet City is based on “A Clockwork Orange”)… can I legally/successfully copyright my idea?

View Creeva's Profile

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;No – since you do not own the original rights on something you are trying to create a derivative work on.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


What do you do while driving to pass the time?

I drive for a living and what SAFE things can you do while driving to pass the time quicker?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;I listen to talk radio – beyond that I plan out my day – or write blog posts in my head for later posting.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Help finding a website?

does anyone know the name of this website it was called the best web page ever or the best web site ever im not sure im trying to find it the site is very Opinionated, kinda crude website, but i liked it

View Creeva's Profile

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;

Fark?

www.fark.com

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


IF the people that live above me house is dirty can i get the flies and bugs from thier apartment??

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;possibly – it matters the level of infestation and the paths the bugs can get from their apartment to yours.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Mandatory breathalyzer?

I have to have installed a breathalyzer in my car, and the information says it ranges from $50 to $500. does anyone know how they base the fee?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;I would assume the age of the car- if there is a lockout on the starter in place (since if there isn’t this adds to the cost and could be bypassed otherwise) – but it all depends on how much overhaul is needed.

If you have a car that needs a chip in the key to start it I would assume it is alot cheaper to hook the breathalizer into that system compared to a car that did not already have a lockout mechanism.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


How much does a horse trainer make when his horse he trains wins, say, a $1,000,000 race?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;

Nothing unless it was previously agreed upon – this is between the horse owner and the trainer.

I had a friend that was a trainer and they only got a normal salary and no percentage of the winnings.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Hairstylist degree!!!!!?

what degree do i need to become a hairstylist?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;

You need to go to a licensed beauty school then your certificate of completion you take that to the state authorizing board to take the certification test.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Is my computer safe?

i have a linksys router and also i have windows firewall on only
allowing frostwire and instant message exceptions. I dont use
other firewalls because they are a big hassle, and i use avast
for viruses , avg anti rootkit, and cyber defender and spysweeper for spyware. is that good enough.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;

That should be good enough for the home user – just keep your AV, Spyware, and firewall definitions up to date.

If you were a corporation though – we could add in more and more.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Can you swap a motherboard and CPU without having to re-install windows?

I want to upgrade my motherboard and CPU but I saw in someone else’s question about changing out motherboards that they were told that they might have to re-format or re-install windows. Is there any way around having to do that? I want to be able to use my old hard drive and keep all of the data I have on it. I don’t know anything about fixing computers and I don’t know where to look for power supply information or anything like that.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;Cautious maybe – it depends on how different the hardware is and if windows freaks out because of the hardware changes.

I have done it successfully – but alot of driver installation is needed on that first reboot so have your drivers ready.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Which of these should be disabled before starting an operating system upgrade?

System tray
Network clients
Print spooler
Anti-virus programs

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;Anti-Virus programs

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Is this considered kidnapping?

my friend has 2 boys 9 and 6 && they lived in the same town as he, but the mom and the dad was divorced but with joint custody… so the dad got to see his kids every other weekend… and last week the mom told dad that she would bring them to him by 9 that friday nite and she never showed up and come to find out she and the boys moved to FLORIDA… and mom told, dad that he would never see his kids again… but she doesnt have full custody… JOINT CUSTODY… could something be done about this?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;Contact a lawyer and find out the specifics of the agreement – unless something else was defined in the divorce/custody agreement this may be kidnapping.

Your friend should contact his lawyer ASAP.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Why does lighting never strike twice in the same place?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;Can lightning strike twice?

In many ways. As mentioned, in a typical lightning flash, often several strokes hit the same spot in rapid succession. Tall structures and buildings such as the Empire State Building in New York City, the Hancock Building in Chicago and the CN Tower in Toronto are hit many times each year. This fact has actually led to lightning research programs using structures like these. In general any object struck by lightning is generally a better candidate to be struck again than something which hasn’t been zapped.

And then lightning does strike twice…and sometimes with apparent malevolence. On 8 August 1937, three persons were killed by a bolt that struck the Jacob Riis Park beach in New York. On 7 August 1938, almost a year to the day later, lightning again struck the same beach, and again killed 3 bathers. And don’t tell a homeowner in Arvada, CO that lightning doesn’t strike twice. His new house was struck during a summer thunderstorm and sustained considerable damage. Just as they were getting things back in shape six weeks later-shazaam! resulting in $30,000 more in fire damage.

Source(s):

http://sky-fire.tv/index.cgi/lightning.h…

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Is Christina Aguilera still famous in the USA?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;I guess since stars never truly dissappear in the US. They may be out of the spotlight for awhile but they usually return in some form.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Fear of Business Idea Theft?

I have a lot of business ideas I’ve left untouched because I have a fear of meeting with potential “business partners” who might steal my idea. This has set me back a lot and now I am ready to set up a business with a lot of potential but that fear is coming back. Do you think I can register a service? Even though, I think it’s a hassle also, and since it’s not a product invention, I’m afraid someone with more capital can just launch a company and start a business with my idea or maybe improve it. What can I do? How do people get with strangers to form a successful business? I cannot start the business by myself alone as I need a team for a lot of varied tasks.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;It’s a matter of trust – you could go through a lawyer and have them sign a non compete and non disclosure form though – this will give you legal recourse.

One of the key things with your business idea though is document and date everything before you meet them and the date time of the meeting and who you met with, what was discussed.

This way you have evidence that is submissible in court if the worst should happen and you need legal recourse.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Can anyone give technical support?

All my computers in the house work, but one will not connect to the internet. I’ve called for technical support and waited on the line for 30 minutes…only to get the runaround. I need my computer working and need someone to give me step by step instructions…walk me through. It’s wireless and I have a router and modem…if that helps…If you need more info…I’ll add the answers. Help!

Additional Details

2 hours ago
All computers are on the same router. Lynksys. But Lynksys won’t help because it’s no longer under warantee. UGH. Rogers says the modem is fine

2 hours ago
:How can i tell if isp is running fine? I think that may be it!!!!

1 hour ago
I’m getting more confused by the moment….I don’t dare touch the other computers in the house. (other than this one) I appreciate all the help and will let my son or husband look at your answers in a bit.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;Like others said – do an IPCONFIG /all and paste it in the additional notes.

I’m thinking your missing or have the wrong gateway or DNS servers

you can compare this to your other machines – the only thing that should be different from one ipconfig on your machiens to another is the following:

MAC Address – if this is not different you have problems
IP Address – Once again make sure this is different
Description – may be different but ok if it’s the same.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


What’s the connection between the Internet & the World Wide Web?

please be as detailed as possible please! How are they connected and relate to each other?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;

The Internet is a network of inter connected computers that can talk to each other using the TCP/IP protocol – the internet was designed in the 1960’s by DARPA in it’s attempt to create two projects. The first being a low cost time sharing computing platform that would allow many users to utilize resources on a shared server. The second reason was to develop a network that would be resistant to a nuclear attack or any other disaster.

The World Wide Web was built upon this platform in the early 90’s (built upon previous ideas though) using the HTTP protocol. HTTP is using port 80 in the tcp stack and HTTPS for encrypted sites uses port 443. There is 65535 ports in the TCP stack and the WWW uses only 2 of them.

The normal usage of the World WIde Web access is through some sort of web browser. Other protocols and programs that use some of the other 65535 ports use different access methods that may or may not be tied to the browser.

The WWW uses the Internet as it’s platform that it runs on – so the WWW could not truly exist without the internet – but the internet could survive without the WWW.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Who know’s where I can watch Grey’s Anatomy season 1 online for free? Thankx?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;I think you can at www.tv-links.co.uk

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


Can masked passwords be copied and pasted?

I’ve noticed a masked password cannot be copied and pasted using normal Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V function. Is there another way to do it? Or better yet, is there a way, maybe a program that can crack masked passwords?

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;You can use this to unmask passwords saved in the windows registry – http://www.alpinesnow.com/pwu.shtml… -

If the password is embedded in a browser this will not work.

If these passwords are loaded infirefox do the following:

Go to tools
Go to options
Go to security
Select show passwords.

This will show you all of the saved passwords in firefox.

Now these methods require you to have local access to the box and the firefox password file not to be password protected itself.

Source(s):

http://www.alpinesnow.com/pwu.shtml…

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;


What should I do next after connecting two laptop through CAT5? The LAN in 2 laptops still showing disconnect.

I have modified the TCP/IP properties for the 2 LAN connection to IP 192.168.1. 1 and another to 192.168.1.2, then I stuck there.

oAnswers.blockUserEnabled = true;Verify the connectivity in the laptops at the nic – do you have link lights on the nic that are lit – usually these are green colored lights.

If you don’t have these you need either to have a crossover cable or a hub to put in between the computers – if you have a router that has network ports on it you can use that.

Once again verify that the link lights are on – if they are you are good. If not you have other cable or hardware problems.

If the lights are lit – go to the laptop with the IP address 192.168.1.1 go o the run menu and type cmd – then when you are in the command prompt type ping 192.168.1.2 – verify you are getting response packets and this will verify connectivity.

Todays random writing

Today we decided we are getting two new cats – we are getting them from my father who had the unlucky time of having 4 kittens thrust upon him from a stray that he took in. We are still debating the names. Currently in the lead for the pair is Dante and Poe.

We stopped by the flea market and visited my in-laws booth visiting them for awhile. Then I stopped by the gas station. After going in and paying the girl behind the counter asked if I was related to someone – I told her that hte person in question was my sister. She then went on to tell me that she had just taken my sister to Windsor, Canada the previous weekend. That means my sister has now had her first chance to legally drink. I know post 9/11 I have no interest crossing border security. Then again I’m just a paranoid person when it comes to the governments invasion of my privacy (the irony coming from someone who recently went through a security background check).

We then headed over to visit my grandparents. We talked about about the Internet company I would like to start and the cost it would take if I was going to quit my job and do it full time (which I can not afford at this time). He doesn’t seem to grasp the cost of what it would take for me to do this AND getting a couple full time programmers AND server and bandwidth costs. The grass roots mentality of doing things on the cheap is what I still have, yet to get this done properly it would take more cost then doing an independent film. Yet I’m truly not sure which I would actually earn more money on.

We then headed out to eat at Olive Garden, when we were done the downpour almost completely drenched through our clothes to our skin. After that we purchased some sketch pads for Xie, stopped and got some cat stuff for the new kittens we are getting tomorrow and headed home.

Currently while we are watching this I’m watching “On The Waterfront” with Marlon Brando.

43 Places: creeva

h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active { color:#666666; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;}

43 Places: creeva

creeva

Wicked Twister

Posted: 09 Aug 2007 07:11 PM CDT

creeva visited this place (worth it!)

Update

I’ve been working on a few articles and been falling behind.

For those of you looking for an actual update here is what is coming

A trip to cedar point review
A trip to the great lakes medieval festival
A few technology posts

so it’s coming – been lazy.

43 Things: creeva

h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active { color:#666666; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;}

43 Things: creeva

creeva

harry potter

Posted: 22 Jul 2007 06:42 PM CDT

creeva adopted this goal

Harry Potter and the Sales of Wal-Martium


So I joined in the cultural phenomenon that is finally over – the purchasing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I arrived at about 11:30 and didn’t see any sort of line in the store and my naivety had me believing that maybe it wasn’t going to be that big of thing and proceeded to start to do my shopping.

After about 10 minutes of shopping I started noticing a dull roar coming out of the back of the store. At first I dismissed this to a rowdy group of people that were wandering around the store like I used to do with friends. I then came to my senses and wandered to the back of the store – in the back there were hundreds of people clinging to the back wall of the store.

Talking to someone in the back of the line where I dutifully took my spot it turned out you needed bracelets – there was red, blue, and green bracelets. Each was named after a different Howarts Class – red was Gryffindor, blue was Ravenclaw, and green was Slytherin. Regardless of your place in line the line was going ot be re-ordered at midnight based on what color bracelet you had. Now the people at Wal-Mart who thought it would be cool to arrange people by color AFTER they are in line must be the genius’s of the century. Since you know the people that had been waited for 8 hours in line just thought it would be great to moved at the end of the line at midnight.

I wandered to the front (leaving my cart to hold my spot at the end) and got my bracelet, which was a blue bracelet (I guess I’m a Ravenclaw). Well it turned out they decided that the order was Red, Green, then Blue. So at midnight my position line did not change. But later it seemed they added yellow – which I would assume is Hufflepuff.

I managed to get to the front of the line and pick up the book paying for it at customer service (which is where layaway was before Wal-Mart abolished it). After this I managed to finishing my shopping of miscellaneous items. The lines for checking out for the rest of items were day of Thanksgiving length lines. People were commenting and doing the communal experience that happens once in a while (I missed out an a Wii at Super-K at launch day). The people behind me were wondering between themselves how long the book was – they weren’t their to buy it. I turned around and said it was 780 something – and then admitted I was a sad sad man for knowing that. The guy behind me admitted we are all sad in our own type of way.

After this I headed home to curl up with the book to proceed and read it straight through like I had with the previous two books. I managed to make it to about chapter 10 before I passed out with the book as a pillow.

Going out to visit a friend the next day I had Xie drive so I could read. I didn’t read at the friends house and she made me drive home though. Saturday night I made a good run through the book but didn’t finish it. This morning I manged to finish the book. I had read most the spoilers online but there were little things that I didn’t want ruined. Who died and who didn’t wasn’t a concern of mine.

I’m happy I enjoyed the series, not heartbroken that it was over. While the plot is good, J.K. Rowlings writing style is something that is not aimed at adults. So I’ve passed through the H.P. experience and joined into one of the few mass reading weekends across America.

The two pictures of the line were taken from my camera phone so I apologize for the quality.