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Sunday, July 30, 2006

i dunno why i did it but i did. My first time getting burned at a ebay product. Well at least i GOT the thing, it's just that it wasn't fully operational. I purchased a HP Omnibook 500 (Pentium 3-700mhz) with no problem. It arrived and everything worked. Well before the Alaskan journey i wanted to get a more sturdier machine. One of the hinges were starting to crack and i was worried that it might be the end of it. So somehow i dunno why i decided to go for another laptop on ebay. This time i wanted a pimp rig, a baller machine. I hunted down a IBM x31, a slightly older model (when 'centrino' first came out), it's got 802.11b wireless built in. But the price was right, it wasn't super cheap (those are the ones you gotta worry about). So i won it and got it 2 weeks before Alaska. When i got the ballermachine it asked for the BIOS password. Ok, on a 'normal' machine theres a few ways around it. But Nooo!, on an IBM it's got triple layer protections. Theres a start-up password, which can be got aroun. A Hard-drive password, to protect sensitive materials and the drive from being stolen, and then a BIOS password, which is embedded on a chip that cannot be easily defeated.
So the emails went back n forth, the guy delays and delays, saying i'll get you the pass within a week, soon, tommorrow, whenever and eventually never responds. The only thing i can do is bust a negative feedback and try to do some claims. But the claims failed 'cuz they only go for items not recieved. lovely.
The research begins on a work-around. The most common that i've seen is actually shipping your laptop to a specialist who can 'read' this chip, and then clear it for u. That goes for 150-300$ yikes! Another is to build your own 'reader' and send in the code to have it decoded, that was a 15$ + parts to build a reader, but seeing the reader looked like one of those Radio Shack electronics kits. It also meant the possibility of shorting the chip. And the last is to get an actual replacement chip and physically replace the chip, that was ~$50. i actually find one on ebay (where else) for 24$. I get the chip and it says, use an xacto knife and cut the chip, replace and use this heat gun with soldering flux to glue it back on.
Sherwin gave me an idea about playing with dead hard drives, so i got the xacto and tried it. I sensed bad mojo from trying, so i had to seek out someone with skillz.
The only person that i knew who could do something like this was Vick's Dad. Today after cleaning my room (Gasp!), i slowly took apart the laptop and called for an appointment. Using his plethora of gadgets n what nots, with a steady hand and the ColdHeat soldering tool. He expertly removed and replaced the silly chip while DootDog and Juilet roamed around wanting to play fetch.


Oh my! Laptop... Exploded View

Stupid Chip! Begone!


Uh, how do i type on this?

Woohoo! It works! Well sorta, i got back, put it all together, turn it on. And it didn't work, doh! So before i wanted to beat this thing to death i took it apart again. Dabbed some of that flux stuff and applied some heat to it, and now it works. Woo! The baller laptop begins!

Saturday, July 29, 2006

I guess it was ok for me to go shootin.
Today is the Northern Californian Asian Peace Officers Association annual pistol match. I was slightly reluctant to go pay 35$ entry fee. It's a bit pricy for a pistol match. So i meet up with Capt'n D and a few coworkers and we go at it.
Last year my buddy Peter and I were all giddy to shoot revolvers just to shoot them. Well that result yielded very poor scores, since semi-autos have the advantage. So this time shoot the good stuff first THEN screw around shooting whatever you want. With this in mind, i brought my glock 21C and scored 99 out of 100. And afterwards there was enough empty space on the next relay for me n Capt'n D to shoot again. This time with the revolver, and my resulting score was about a 86. Reloading with a revolver is something i gotta master.
So in the end i placed 2nd overall. *bah* The other dood also scored a 99, but he had higher bullseyes. oh well, it's alot better from last years 66. The BART P.D. guys are the ones to beat, yep rest assured that your transbay tube is safe with these guys!

Updated my favorites off of my youtube.com. My vid got cut off due to lack of space. Doh! i shoulda erased some pics. =(

Friday, July 28, 2006

Level Of Difficulty at Work: 1 out of 10
NapTime During Lunch: Long
Number of Sudoku's from the book finished: 30 / 100

Yay for Delilah! She passes ANOTHER 'test-only' smog test. Not the easy kind, the double pay to have it run on the dyno without giving you a horsepower reading. At least give me that for 68$ And whats up with the test-only for my car. The dmv states that two-percent are 'randomly' tested. This is the 2nd time i had to Smog and both times i happen to be part of the two-percent selected. Lets see in two years what happens.

In other news, Me and my brother have started playing Counter-Strike: Source again. It's been at least a year or so, and it seems our skillz are still up there. The only sad thing is: when i first started playing that blasted game it was 1999. Currently i'm faced with a few 13 year olds and a 10 year old. Is it bad to tell the 10 year old that i've started playing CS since he was 3?

Oh and 2 more tidbits of sad news. At work yesterday, family comes to court, Mom, Dad and little brother (around 8-9 years old). Bad kid comes in, everybody does their court thing and when everything is said and done the officer handcuffs the bad kid to escort him back. At that moment the 8-9 year old asks 'Ooo your getting arrested!' as the clicks of the handcuff are echoed off the walls. Is that a sad moment?

if not then hows this one: 2 bad girls come to court, but they look a tad young. I go and find out one is 12 and the other is 13. Both are in for Robbery. Defence is asking for them to be released since: they are young and 1st time. The Prosecution reads their school grades: 6 F's and 1 C. with 20-50 absences. Mom in the background mumbles 'well that doesn't mean shes a bad kid.' I had a *Scratch My Head* moment right there.
End of the world. one step at a time.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Level Of Difficulty at Work: .5 out of 10
NapTime During Lunch: Medium
Number of Sudoku's from the book finished: 28 / 100

Boo! Fluffielady has a Rav4 Stuffed full of stuff and is heading off to the land of oil pumps n high temperatures. Everytime she goes off with a automobile full of stuff going, she comes back with *almost* the same amount coming. i wonder if it's the same stuff.. hmmz

It took me a while but i got my 3 framed poster combo up on my wall. Ooo i 'can' do house stuff! *Scary!*

Weee Lava Lamp!

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Level Of Difficulty at Work: .5 out of 10
NapTime During Lunch: Medium
Number of Sudoku's from the book finished: 25 / 100 (Entering the moderate difficulty stuff!)

I remember being in the Dorms at Fresno State and seeing all these motivational Posters. Pictures of people climbing mountains with the giant "PERSEVERANCE" then theres a little phrase to inspire you. i.e. 'if you believe it, you will achieve it..'


My favorite, and its not made anymore! (haha!)

Well i found a site where you can make your own! You can make sappy, happy, goofy prints of your own! Woo!


Eli! what are you doing back there!

Monday, July 24, 2006

Level Of Difficulty at Work: .5 out of 10
NapTime During Lunch: Medium
Number of Sudoku's from the book finished: 22 / 100

Doodoo. For you monopoly collectors, the next gen Monopoly is here! This version kills the funny money and is all about the plastic! Theres a banker and everybody has a credit card which maintains your monetary funds.

Sunday, July 23, 2006


Chillin. With a Martini in tow.

Fluffielady is well on her way of her hobby in the Garage sale world. She finds stuff up here more 'older' and sometimes 'junky' then at Bakersfield where the throw-away society sells more newer things. I am starting my garage sale martini glass hunt. I've found 2 already, one for .50 and another for 1$. Of course my martini glasses aren't gonna match, oh well! Odd thing seems that both places, they only sold 1 glass. Not a set, or say 3 glasses cuz 1 broke, but just a single lone piece. I also snagged an Ansel Adams poster, in a frame for 20$. But Fluffieladys going all out for things. If the stuff looks decent and the price is always excellent, why not. My reloading area looks neater (is that possible?)
Raspberry Lemonade Martini anyone?

Friday, July 21, 2006

Level Of Difficulty at Work: .25 out of 10
NapTime During Lunch: Medium
Number of Sudoku's from the book finished: 16 / 100

I found an Edsel parked near work!
A Ed-wha?

1958 Edsel Corsair!
Edsel is the son of Henry Ford. And the automobile is a spin-off company of ford, like Lincoln and Mercury. Edsels only lasted 3 years 1958-1960. This thing is sweet!

Anyhow such a lovely day today that fluffielady n i roamed around. First to Toto's Pizza.. Mmmm and then we tossed frisbees at the beach!

Ooo Spooky UFO! Weee!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Level Of Difficulty at Work: .5 out of 10
NapTime During Lunch: Long
Number of Sudoku's from the book finished: 8 / 100 (+1 from newspaper)

So it begins, the sudoku'ing! Thanks for the book Vicks!

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Level Of Difficulty at Work: 1 out of 10
NapTime During Lunch: Medium

Fluffielady's working on the house! She stained the front door, and the Front door light's outer layer was peeling, so she spraypainted that. Kinda neat that theres textured spraypaint now! At least the weathers been real nice!
I feel like i'm playing Magic: The Gathering, where every year you pay to upkeep land!

Instead of Cumulative upkeep, it's Monetary upkeep. Also the card slightly fits our house description!

Work is work, the bicycle is doing well. I'm averaging 10mph total. But on the uphill it's around 6mph, yeayea you wanna try some of this? It's only a 2 mile jaunt.

Hmmz, anybody down for the Tour De Peninsula? It's a 33, 21 or 17mile ride to nearly my house from Redwood city and back. Theres 2 'shortcuts' at the 17 and 21 mile mark. Hmmz anybody wanna start a team? Like, Team Delilah?

Friday, July 14, 2006

Level Of Difficulty at Work: .5 out of 10
NapTime During Lunch: Long

i think i need to reduce the length of time of my naps. i think it's messing my sleep pattern!

Ugh, our house is going crazy. i think it's the wiring and the lack of it being grounded. This leads to many power spikes and is zapping the crap out of anything thats not on a surge protector. Our latest is the Oven, i guess it's a top of the line Kenmore Elite in the range of $2k. It's a dual-fuel rangetop. The burners are gas and the oven is electric, it's controlled by touch-panel and what not. When we came back from Alaska the display was showing "F1." We didn't give it much though till we broke open the instruction manual. It says that some sensor is messed up, ok so it's not that bad. I go online researching this and people are complaning that it's more than a messed up sensor but a fry'd circuit board. Lovely. So the repair dood comes (70$ right there) and the replacement board comes to $385 and to install it's another $120. So i ask how long is the warranty on this and he says 90 days. Ugh, ok, is there a surge protector that i can get for a 220v, No. So back online i go to research and theres more than a few people thats replaced the $385 board more than once!! This is not sounding good. I think we need to do two things, one get an electrician to look over the wiring, and two get a non-digital ranges.
So off we go to Lowes, Home Depot, Best buy, all the ranges are digital! To Fluffieladys dismay, the only one that *I* find n like is a Viking @ $3k(!). It has the exact dimensions as the current range. Anybody else know of any non-electronic Range, Please scribble it. I don't want to pay 385$ for a board that will last till the next zap then the cycle continues.

In other dinner news. If your in europe and have 7900 Euros to burn, you and 21 others can Dine in the Sky. Where you get strapped into a 4-point chair and onto an huge dinner table and craned up 40-50 meters (130~165 feet)up in the air and be served a gourmet dindin! The thing i don't understand is, if it's 7900 euros for 8 hours, are you up there for all 8?

Now for something more tech-geeky. Is a LED t-shirt that is designed like an equalizer and lights up to sound / music! Bump it!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Level Of Difficulty at Work: .5 out of 10
NapTime During Lunch: Medium

Commutes:
2000-2004 Bicycle, From Old Home to the Hall 11 miles a day
2004-2006.5 Motorcycle From New Home to the Hall 26 miles (Filled up, every 5 days)
June/July 06 Motorcycle From Home to Juvie 18 miles (Filled up, every 7 days)
Currently Motorcycle From New Home to Old Home 14 miles (9 days maybe?) with Bicycle From Old Home to Juvie 4 miles total.
Since cassandra has a broken bottom bracket i took on the Roadie Bike and went for it. It's 2 miles each way going up, up and down down. This is gonna be killer on the brake pads! Travelling 2 miles up takes 15minutes with an avg of 8mph! woo! Work it!

So if people noticed, on tuesdays at noon, an air raid siren blares every week. Theres several around the city. Well on top of juvie is one of them, and it's retardedly loud!

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Level Of Difficulty at Work: 1.5 out of 10
NapTime During Lunch: Medium

So it begins.. My first day riding my bicycle from my parents to Juvie. It entails quite an uphill climb. Actually it's uphill all the way. I thought i was going to take 20-25minutes, due to the fact that i haven't ridden in a few years. So i moto to my other home and hop on the bike. I got there at 7:30 and was wondering if i was going to make it. Once i hop on the bike things seemed ok. By the time i get to Teresita, it started to look hard. Once i got halfway to the top i noticed that Cassandra has a broken bottom bracket! Doh, it's been a while since i've serviced it. Now i gotta hunt down some parts. My plan was to use Cassandra, for it's easier gearing for a month or so and then hop onto the road bike and fly up the hill. Now i dunno, my brothers friend did leave his trek there.. hmmmm!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

evel Of Difficulty at Work: 1.5 out of 10
NapTime During Lunch: Medium

Just chillin here at juvie i've learned that it sucks to be in Juvenile Hall. In adult court if you plea, you arrange exact terms. i.e. to agree to a term in jail, etc. But in Juvie if you plea, the term isn't set until after. The worst part is they tell u the max you can get in the Youth Authority or Juvie is x-years. Thats your whole teenhood! Whelp if you do the crime, u do the time..

For other news, The get around girl is now known as the Everywhere girl. Shes decided to come out of the closet and now has her own blog!

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Back home!

yay tis good to be back home..
So i find the reason of the Cruise Ships are named the way they are. Holland Americas theme is 'Dam ships' so they had a lottery on winning a cruise on one of their 'dam ships!' The reason is because the country of Holland is under sea level and is kept dry by Dykes and Dams. Dutch Cargo Ships get their names from the Dykes and Cruise Ships from Dams. So our ship the Ryndam is named for the dam of the Rhine river. I never did get to figure the m.s. part of the m.s. Ryndam. The Ryndam in terms of Holland Americas Fleet is 'small', theres a mini, a few smalls, meds and larges. And in 2008 theres to be jumbos. Like this boat isn't jumbo enough.

And of course since i'm home i'm looking at my tech news.
For 1.5mil you can buy yourself bed that floats on magnets. and of course it's designed by a Dutchman.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Exited at Vancouver, British Columbia

*Sniff* no more boat boo. We said goodbye to some of the people we've been touring with since 2 weeks ago. Now we're roaming around Vancouver since our hotel room isn't available till the noontime. So we left our bags at the check-in and wandered the east side. It's like San Francisco with our hotel somewhere like, the Embarcaderos. But like San Francisco, the east side of downtown has an old town section called the GasLamp district and then chinatown a few blocks after. But inbetween is something like 9th or 10th and market. Kinda empty, with a few transients, sorta dirty streets.. ahh yea just like home!
This hotel is surrounded by 4 coffee shops and 2 of them have free wifi, so here i am sipping a frappe while uploading the past 5 days of blogs. Now if i can find a SD card reader to dump all my pics, i'm all filled up full!

How come all chinatowns have a welcome gate? This chinatown is 3rd in size in North America, with New York n S.F. being #1 and 2!

Theres alot of tall buildings here!

Saturday, July 01, 2006


There goes Roxanne trampling all over Saturday!

Happy Canada Day!

Picked up my special labeled Johnny Walker. All Johnny Walkers are known to be blended malt Scotch whiskeys. But the green label's label stated it's a single malt Scotch. Ooo! Anyhow Green Label was originally a special limited production but people liked it so much that its made in very small batches. Not as expensive as the Blue Label, $45 for a 1 liter is pretty good at the duty free! It's the same price range as the Gold Label. As for other goodies, Fluffielady won 2 Prints with 95$ of some of the events taken place. Then she wins another 500$ Painting without frame of course, but they are willing to frame n mount it for you for 265$!. This is the odd thing though, it comes with an appraisal but the appraisal states that it's worth 500$ if it's framed. So if we got the 265$ frame, and the painting is worth 500$ total framed, then the frame costs more than the painting! How does that work?? Since it is Canada Day the ship passed by a town shooting up the fireworks in it's celebration at 10:20pm. Woo!

Ooo yea...

Tidbit for u..
Canadians invented such spiffy things as: the zipper, the washing maching, and the pacemaker!

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