I’ve been a Pacbell / SBC / AT&T (or whatever the heck they are called now) DSL customer for a long time.  According to their records I’ve been their customer since 1998.  But unfortunately, I live too far away from the CO to garner any incredible speeds.  But seeing my sister’s connection in Santa Cruz has left me wanting more from my Internet connection.

At best I’ve been lucky to get 700 kbps upload / 300 Kbps download.  I compare this to Farrah’s parents and Lotte and Fina’s connection in San Jose, which is about 1200 kbps / 300 kbps.  They even have an option to upgrade to as much as a minimum of 3Mbps to 6 Mbps (which translates, I believe to 3000 kpbs / 6000 kpbs).  But for poor little old me, I don’t have the option to upgrade.  So I’ve succumbed to the Comcast advertisements.

I’ve ordered Comcast HSI (High Speed Internet) access for Monday installation.  I’ve asked for the 8 Mbps (8000 kbps) package, with the hopes of at least getting 6000 kbps.  But looking at the numbers, anything above 1000 kbps would be a good increase.

I wish uploading was faster, since that would help with posting photos and videos online. An increase, in that aspect, would help a lot.

If you want to test your speed, go to DSLReports.com then click on Tools then toward the bottom of the page, choose Speed Tests.  Find a server near you and click Start (you may need to download Java in order to run the test.)  Post your results here when you get a chance.  You can show off how much faster you are then my connection (he says sadly).

For some reason I can’t get the following lyrics out of my head after hearing them at the Banana Republic in Gilroy this past weekend:

I'm a slow motion accident
Lost in coffee rings and fingerprints
I don't wanna feel anything but I do
And it all comes back to you

It’s from Frou Frou’s Hear Me Out. Thankfully Farrah figured out what song it was in, otherwise I’d be going even more crazy right now.

I meant to post this awhile ago, but lately I haven’t had much free time during the weekdays.  This is a good thing since it means the new job is keeping me busy.  I haven’t been in the writing mood as of late either, but with my return to the workforce I’ve managed to jog a few thoughts that have been slow in being posted to the blog.

First off, belated happy birthdays to Scott and Nana.  Scott’s birthday was in the first week of May.  I’m hoping he celebrated by watching the Giants even though they didn’t fare too well that first weekend. Nana’s birthday was celebrated the same weekend in Santa Cruz.  Photos and a video is available on the //Smugmug page, with photos later avaiable on //Flickr.  We also celebrated Mother’s Day with brunch in Santa Cruz.  I’ll need to post those photos when I get a chance.

If you are visiting //Janella.com, then you will have noticed the format of the site has changed once again.  I made these changes earlier in the month, but didn’t push them to the site until recently.  I’m using the K2 theme which I think is easier to navigate then the previous theme.  The rotating header bit is back.  Refresh to the page to see other header photos or flip through some pages and it should change.  Or you can check it out on your next visit.  I’ll update the header rotation when possible.

This layout does not look right with Internet Explorer, but if you know me I would say to you “You shouldn’t be using Internet Explorer to surf the Internet”.  What should you be using?  Either use //Firefox or //Opera.  Both are much better and safer browsers to use then Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.  The page looks and functions as it should using Firefox and Opera.

Anyway, time to go enjoy the weekend.

At Home With Evel Knievel Originally uploaded by cheesebikini

I saw this link on the CNN front page.  It goes to a story about a childhood hero I had by the name of Evel Knievel.  Now frequent readers may or may not know about Evel, but the story talks about how Evel is doing now and what a toll his stunts took.

I remember watching Evel on television and on film.  I think he was on ABC’s Wide World of Sports at times, and maybe even had some prime time specials.  I’m sure he was the inspiration for the Fonz (from Happy Days) jumping over garbage cans and a shark in separate episodes. I remember Evel with his motorcycle jumping over buses and the Snake River Canyon.  I think, if I recall correctly, watching films of him at my elementary school during the summer.  (But my favorite film during that time in my life was The Doberman Gang.  I wonder if it’s on DVD?)

Anyway, it’s tough to read about a guy - a daredevil - like this being in so much pain.  But he seems to be hanging in there:

"No king or prince has lived a better life," he says. "You're looking at a guy who's really done it all. And there are things I wish I had done better, not only for me but for the ones I loved."

• Promiscuous (Radio Edit) – Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland
• SOS (Edited) – Rihanna
• World Wide Suicide – Pearl Jam
• Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
• Again And Again – Jewel
• Always On Your Side – Sheryl Crow & Sting
• Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper & Sarah McLachlan
• Bizarre Love Triangle – Frente!
• One – Mary J. Blige
• Hear Me Out – Frou Frou

I have an observation that seems to rarely fail me: action movies that are around ninety minutes in length rarely work.  The problem I have with this timeframe, in this genre, is the fact that there is usually more action then story development.  I like to be entertained as much as the next guy, but at least put a coherent story together, ok?

The only movie that comes to mind that works within this criteria is Under Siege. Yes, this film does star Steven Segal, but he is only on screen for half of the movie.  The other half is taken up by Tommy Lee Jones, who eats up each scene he is in.  There is also Big Trouble in Little China with Kurt Russell.  Big Trouble’s major problem for me was too much story in 99 minutes, but it was an entertaining film.

But now on to Charlize Theron in Aeon Flux.

The Netflix summary:

In the 25th century, a rampaging virus has forced the remnants of humanity into the seclusion of a last redoubt. But political conflict swirls within, and the climate is ripe for revolution. Aiming to hasten an uprising, the leader of the underground rebellion (Frances McDormand) dispatches acrobatic assassin Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron) to eliminate the government's top leader in this futuristic thriller based on the popular animated MTV show.

What I liked about the movie: The sci-fi / future slant.  I probably only watched one episode of the MTV cartoon, so I am by no means a Aeon Flux expert.  But I found the setting, and the sparse sets, to be beneficial to the movie’s flow.  Oh, it also doesn’t hurt the film seeing Charlize Theron in several tight-fitting costumes.

What I didn’t like about the movie: Very predictable.  After the first 15 minutes you are able to tell where certain characters are going to end up, and of course, what the eventual outcome will be.

Aeon Flux: ** out of 5

Today is a traveling day for me.  I’m running errands enjoying one of the last few weekdays I will have off.  I’m still waiting for my background check to clear before I can start the new gig.  Anyway, I’m at Valley Fair Mall returning an item I picked up in the City.  I’m waiting for Macy’s to open, which it will in about 8 minutes.  So I decided to take out the laptop to see if there is a WiFi connection.

BAM!  I’m hit with three possible connections.  One is TMobile.  The other one I don’t recognize (2WIRE937) and the third is WESTFIELD.  Yeah, Valley Fair is wired for WiFi.  Funny thing is Valley Fair used to offer free WiFi, but now they are charging, which is a shame.

The WiFi connection they offer is a 256K connection according to their FAQ.  Decent but not all that great.  I"m sure not going to pay $$ to connect.  I’d log onto the TMobile account to kill time, but Macy’s opens up in 4 minutes and I need to finish this errand.  I’m tired, having only slept for 3 1/2 hours last night.  Don’t ask my why.  I’m trying to change my sleep habit back to that of a working stiff.  This weekend was filled with failed attempts in accomplishing this task.

Perhaps I’ll have better luck tonight.  I better hit Macy’s now before I fall asleep.

Events (things) tend to come in threes, don’t they?  Take these three recent events:

Exhibit A - chipped Batman cup.  My favorite drinking mug!  It was given to me as a birthday present from Lotte and Fina, o’ so many years ago.  It’s still usable, but my heart still sinks every time I see the chip.

Exhibit B - A nail in tire.  Ouch!  This nail is in Farrah’s front passenger-side tire.  I heard the moment it made impact while driving around town.  The tires are fairly new, which makes this more difficult to take.

Exhibit C - My dented laptop.  I dropped the PowerBook.  Yep, it slipped out of my hands.  It didn’t hit the carpet, but the 1 1/2 inch wide metal leg of my desk.  The accident also has caused the battery to not sit properly.  The damage appears to be more cosmetic then anything else - which garners a big sigh of relief.  But the PowerBook is only several month old!!!

There must be some good news around the corner, right?

Well, good news can come in groups of three as well. I had been having a drought on interviews lately.  But within a week I received one lead from a friend and I also received a response to a submitted application.  Score two for the good side!

Both opportunities yielded first and second round interviews.  Yes!  It does get better.  This past Monday I received a verbal offer!  It looks like I’ll be starting a new job some time next week.  I am very excited and very happy this opportunity.

I wanted to thank everyone for their support, encouragement, and the leads they provided me through these months of … inactivity.  I know we’ve all been there one time or another.  But If i had to characterize this break I’d have to say it was the most pleasant one I have had away from the workforce.

Too many tempting goodies at the grocery store lately.  With the large amount of time on my hands,  I have the opportunity to fully consider my snacking choices.  Currently, our weaknesses include:

• Kettle Chips - Spicy Thai

• Oreo Cookies - an old favorite

• A variety of new Peppridge Farm cookies: Amaretto Milanos, Seville Chocolate Delight Triple Chocolate Cookies, and some new cappuccino cookie they are offering.

I can feel my belly and @ss expanding as I write this.

I’m not sure how to start off describing what’s going on in my noggin right now.  So many thoughts are floating around, most involving the past few weeks and some involving future endeavors.  A lot of things happened last week, not to include my birthday.  I’m so happy Farrah took me out on Sunday to the City.  Otherwise I think I would have exploded with all that is going on.

The house has been noisy the last couple of weeks.  We had a roof leak which damaged the ceiling in the kitchen.  With Doug’s help, and a lot of persistence, I managed to get a hold of a contractor.  They started work soon after.  A couple of weeks and some significant scratch later, it looks like the work may be complete.  They had to reframe our dining room area, where some of the damage and the cause of the issue existed.  They also did some interior work on the kitchen.  The changes to the kitchen make the room feel much bigger, which is nice.

On the first day they started work, I had to take Tigger into the house so he would not get lost in the hustle and bustle of the workers.  When I picked him up that first morning to place him in the garage, he suddenly shook and convulsed in front of me.  It lasted for what I thought was 15 seconds.  It looked like he was having a seizure.  I brought him into my room and watched him for the next two hours.  He seemed fine during that time.

Later in the week, he had three more episodes in front of me.  Farrah pushed me into making an appointment with the vet.  I know I should have done it earlier.  I’ve been meaning to have him checked out.  But I’ve been fearful of doing so, given Tigger’s age.  But it’s time to face facts if they are presented to you, right?  The last thing I want is for Tigger to be in any pain.

I brought Tigger in last Friday to //Pet’s Friend Animal Clinic.  They did a full blood work-up on him.  They also noticed he had fleas and was a bit anemic.  The doctor was straightforward with me on what could be the cause of Tigger’s aliments, which I appreciated very much.  Her people skills were much better than a previous vet I visited.

The clinic got the blood work back in short order.  The doctor concluded the anemia may be caused by the fleas (which they took care of with flea ointment) and the fleas may also be causing seizure-like reactions.  She wasn’t too keen on the latter conclusion, but she said test results for other seizure causing aliments were negative.

At this point Tigger is fine, and is now a full time indoor cat.  With the anemia he cannot produce enough body heat to keep himself warm.  So Farrah and I have him in our room.  He’s been a good roommate so far, with only a few issues (e.g. potty training).  The doctor said he should have a comfortable one to two years left, if all things go right.  Not bad for a cat with no claws and no tail.  I just wish…well, you know.

Crash

The website had a big crash this weekend.  It seems on Friday night one of the hard drives on the server decided to die.  It took the technical support at my hosting company about 24 hours to rebuild everything, and another 12 hours to get things somewhat right on the website.  Unfortunately, they only had backups of my files up until the end of last month.  Which means I need to re-modify the home page to get it back to where it was.  Please bear with me while I make the changes…again!

Searching

The job search is still in full force.  Leads I thought I had have dried up. But I’ve got to keep plucking away.  I’ve been finding different methods in looking for a job.  One interesting one is provided by //Google.  Go to //http://base.google.com/ and click on Jobs.  The search incorporates Google Maps into the job search.  As always, if you hear of anything that might be up my alley, let me know, ok?

"She is startin' to damage my calm."

-- Jayne Cobb from the movie Serenity

We are constantly threatened with television shows being re-conceived and passed off as movies.  Most threats are in the form of remakes, such as S.W.A.T., Bewitched, and Dukes of Hazzard, trying to get a few bucks in the name of nostalgia.  There are a few attempts to extend the magic of a successful series onto the big screen.  There has been talk of putting Sex and the City, The Sopranos, and even The Simpsons on the big screen.

One attempt at extending a series into movie format was the X-Files. I only watched a few episode of the X-Files, so watching it translated to film format wasn’t as an exciting prospect for me as it would be for some.  To me, X-Files: The Movie didn’t work for me on a lot of levels.  The main problem I had with that film was it was drew a lot from the show’s mythos,  which other viewers were aware of but I was not.  This left me feeling out of the inner circle. Oh well, not much of a loss in my opinion.

Now comes Serenity.  The movie is based on a cancelled television show called Firefly. As I understand it, this was not any ordinary cancelled series, but one with a huge fanatic fan base.  Here’s the //Netflix summary:

Picking up where his cult show "Firefly" left off, writer-director Joss Whedon's tale of galactic unrest follows Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), captain of the transport ship Serenity, and his scrappy but loyal crew. When the ship picks up two new passengers -- fugitives from the powerful coalition ruling the universe -- "Mal" and his mates find themselves at the center of a cosmic conflict, pursued by military forces and space-roaming savages.

What I liked about the movie: The movie is very well written.  The characters are well rounded, dispensing smart and witty dialog in tense and quite moments,  never slowing down the movie.  It is a testament to Joss Whedon’s writing skills that I was able to identify with the characters, and follow the story, even though I was not a viewer of the television show.  It’s clear that “Mal” is molded after Han Solo of Star Wars, but that’s forgivable.  It makes it easier for the uninitiated to identify with the character quickly.  The space combat scenes, even though at times they involved large amount of ships, wasn’t as disorienting as those in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.  George Lucas should take note.

What I didn’t like: Acutally, I couldn’t find much fault with the movie, other than I wish it wouldn’t have ended.  I would like to see where the characters can go from here.  But I do not think the movie was successful enough to spawn a sequel, which is a shame.  We get sequels to some pretty crappy movies (e.g. Bad Boys II), but not to well made films such as Serenity. Oh well, such is the wisdom of Hollywood.

Serenity: **** (out of 5)

I’m sure I was told this when I was in the military, most likely when I was overseas. I was told to vary my routine. I was told to take different routes to work. I was told that if I frequently went into town that I was to vary the travel method and time going into town.  The speaker emphasized that we were creatures of habit and that this could be dangerous. Clearly I’ve forgotten this lesson.

Right now, my habitual side is kicking in. Someone is sitting in the seat I reserve (for myself) at //Panera. I’ve never seen the dude here all the mornings I’ve been here. He’s got papers sprawled out all over the table, showing he will be here for the long haul.  Doesn’t he know that’s my table?

He’s going to throw off my whole morning.  Yeah, if anything goes wrong today I’m going to blame him.