./janella.com

I haven’t been feeling too well, especially since last night. I had that itch behind my nose feeling on last Saturday. Sunday it was the same as well. I took my Claritin but no use. I think it’s a cold, because others at my work (in my row!) are sick. Great.

Insight / joke forwarded by Tage (and worth sharing):

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

• "House" for instance, is feminine: "la casa."
• "Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz."

A student asked, “What gender is ‘computer’?” Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether “computer"should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men’s group decided that “computer” should definitely be of the feminine gender (“la computer”), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is impossible to understand for everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval;
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

(No chuckling… this gets better!)

The women’s group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine (“el computer”), because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem;
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The men won.

… for Latin American Spanish (la computadora). In European Spanish, it is masculine (el ordenador).

Well, I’m no longer an AT&T Wireless customer. I’ve made the switch to Verizon. It wasn’t as painless as the [previous experience] for Farrah’s phone, but I think it went as smooth as possible.

The main selling points with Verizon for me were (1) the good rating for Nationwide reception, (2) the good rating for customer service, and (3) it wasn’t Sprint or AT&T. I’ve never considered T-Mobile or Cingular for service. I don’t have a good feeling about them, though Dave is on T-Mobile and he finds it good for his use.

Of course I wanted the latest and greatest phone. Problem was the Verizon stores don’t get them for a couple of months after their release, but they are available online. The phone I wanted was the [LG VX8000]. I wanted this particular phone because (1) it was new, (2) it was bigger than my current phone - which to me is a little small, and (3) it has a color screen. I didn’t necessarily want to take pictures with a phone, but it seems almost impossible to find a phone that doesn’t take pictures.

I tried to order the phone online, along with another phone for my mom. I kept running into a problem with porting over the two phones. It was ok to port a single phone/single phone number, but the ordering flow didn’t accommodate moving over two or more phones. Time call and test their customer service.

I got a really nice sales rep on the phone who understood what I was trying to do, and was able to answer any question I had without a single hesitation. Do this phone include Nationwide long distance? Yes. Do the IN-Network minutes apply to all phones in the family plan? Yes. How long does it take for the phone to be delivered to me? Two days by FedEx. Again, so the IN-minutes aren’t restricted to the primary phone? Yes, that’s correct. Simple.

A day and a half later the phones arrived at my work. I had them up and running later that night. I did run into a little delay on the phone in activating them. I was on hold for about a 30 minutes with apparently no end in site. But my subsequent call to customer services was another good experience.

I wanted to analyze our phone usage for all three phones to determine if were were on the right plan. The rep was helpful in suggesting the right minute plan and also said I could save a little more by being under the family plan. And if it didn’t work out switching was too difficult.

What this whole experience has boiled down to is just good interaction with a large company. As long as this level keeps up, and the phone services is good, I don’t see switching phone companies for a while. But if that comes to that I need to I do like that you can bring your phone number with you now. No more telling family and friends, “Hey my new number is….”

More random thoughts:

Here’s a list of things I’ve heard said or were said to me:

• "It's good to see some CEO's here today." - Said by a priest to his parishioners (as relayed by Evan - because I don't really go to church myself). CEO means Christmas Easter Only church goers.
• "Stuck in the pad." - Said by anonymous. Literal meaning: a fart that is trapped in a menstrual pad. Other meaning: thoughts that can't be converted to sentences properly (see also brain-fart).
• "No, there is no room for advancement." - Said by my supervisor, regarding movement into a different position.

Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)

Quick Shot: A blind masseur is more than he seems.

What I liked about the movie:  There are about three or four subplots in this film, woven together with Zatoichi in the middle.  It’s done very well.  Plus you can rarely go wrong with Beat Takeshi.  Just remember, it does get a little bloody in this film.

What I didn’t like: It took me a while to get adjusted to the cinematography/look of the film.  It was very ‘clean’ and modern, not helping to take the viewer back in time which made it distracting.  Once the action started it was an after thought.  The dance number - yeah, there is a dance number - was a little out of place for me as well.  After reading the [IMDB trivia] about this movie, it made a little more sense.

Recently I saw a long preview commercial of NBC’s [The Office], which premieres in March. The original version, which you can watch on [BBCAmerica] or on [DVD], is a very hilarious comedy, with uncomfortable comments and silences being an important part of its charm. I don’t think the American version can compare, but I am just basing this on what I saw in the commercial. Then again, there is past evidence that translating shows from BBCAmerica hasn’t worked before:

• [Coupling] is a smartly written comedy about a couple and their friends. Sexual frankness is part of the reason for it's success, and it's lack of frankness might have been why it failed in translating in it's American version on [NBC]. Other people's comments on the [Coupling differences].
• [What Not To Wear] is a much better show than it's [TLC] counterpart. On BBCAmerica it is a half-hour show with two women helping out those who are inept when it comes to fashion/style. On TLC it is an excruciating hour of annoying hosts trying to help others. As you can tell I'm not a fan of the TLC hosts. They just don't have personality and lack the same frankness that the BBC hosts do. I know there are only a few shows of the BBC version, but it is a much better show overall.
• [Changing Rooms] had a change of titles when it made it's way across the Atlantic. Over here its American counterpart is called [Trading Spaces]. Trading Spaces is the most successful translation of the BBC shows I've mentioned. Some of the designers I enjoy (Vern and Genevieve), but again the BBC version has a better overall feel to me.

For the past three days, including tonight, I haven’t been able to go to sleep until after midnight. I don’t know why. I’ve been very busy at work, stress-fully busy, the when-is-this-day-going-to-end busy. To top it off I am restricted to the eight hour work day to complete my work. No overtime, no extra time to get things done. You would think with all that I would be sleeping earlier.

I think I’ll surf a while until I can fall asleep.

Wordpress has this cool feature where you can post an entry by email submission. I guess it’s pretty cool to do this is (1) you are traveling and access a public computer, so you access your email to post instead of the site itself, or (2) you can send a text message via phone or Blackberry and have it posted.

Well, let’s see if this post works. Pressing send now….

Everyone have a lovely Valentine’s Day. I know it’s a Monday, but try to enjoy it anyway.

It’s been one of those weeks. one of those weeks where the days last longer than they should. I wish I could write, put down what is on my mind right now, but I can’t since it’s about work. At least I can’t write about it this instance.

The blogger I mentioned in an earlier post was actually [fired from Google]! It has come to that in this high-tech society. Sure I can write in generalities but I’m sure someone from work who stumbles upon the site would know who or what I’m writing about. Ugh, need to think of a new subject to write about.

Ugh, I’m on a blog improvement kick.

No, I’m not thinking of messing with the layout. I think I’m pretty happy with how the page and functions overall. I guess I’m looking to add those bonus features and little touches here and there.

I’ve been checking out other people’s blogs lately, trying to find something else to add, some little feature. For instance: on a [co-worker’s blog] he’s got a little radio/mp3 player deal going (see the launch vp player) . I suppose it’s cool if your visitors have a broadband connection, but not all my visitors listen to the same type of music. I played with putting one on the site, but don’t think it’s beneficial.

If you haven’t noticed, I chose to implement a little random picture in the sidebar. It was an idea I got from all those PHP-Nuke blogs/websites. It’s neat in the fact that it’s only showing images from the public directory. There are two problems though: (1) I don’t have too many pictures in the public directory so a lot of the same photos are appearing, and (2) if something goes wrong with the picture gallery this home page may load slowly or not at all. Guess I’ll need to work on that little gimmick.

Oh well more surfing in search of the next thing to add.

Why do I blog?

I’ve been thinking about it the last couple of weeks. I guess because I do it so infrequently while others make it a daily ritual. I wonder how they do it, how the create the daily blog to share with others - or possibly no one.

There are many reasons to blog and many people who are doing it. From [political] blogs to blogs about [porn] to [infamous] blogs and blogs by [friends]. There are blogs created by many people for many different reasons.

These are some basic reasons why I blog:

• To announce news for all to know
• Inform visitors of website updates
• Share a cool webpage
• Share my opinion on a movie, tv show, event, or book (LOL - I said book!?!?)

But then comes the talk-y reason. The blah blog blah blog blah blah reasons. You know the blogging moments when you have a thought in the middle of the night about how to solve the Middle East crisis or when you just have to share your thoughts about the guy you saw in traffic picking his nose. Those types of moments. The long blog.

Most of the time I blog just to hear myself…blog. I find blogging similar to a certain annoying person at work. This person, in a cubicle environment, will out of nowhere ask a question or make a statement. Not to anyone in particular, but to anyone who will listen. I know, [I shouldn’t blog about work]. When I write this down I hope someone reads it. I really appreciate when someone responds with thoughts, but really don’t expect much. Thanks Scott for putting in some words about U2 (more on this later).

It’s not like I’m pouring my heart out here for all to read. I’m not sure if I can do that or reveal that much of myself online. I don’t by any means consider this a journal of thoughts, a definitive outline of who I am. When I blog I know I’m holding something back. It’s like [Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle] as dumbed down for the television masses - so I could understand it.

If I understood it correctly, an object may change its action/reaction, just by the fact it is being observed. So the object (in this case the blogger - me) might write differently knowing this might be read. I guess I’m saying I’m a little cautious of what I write, self censoring, with inadvertent thoughts slipping here and there. So I shouldn’t get fired for talking about people at work, right? Naw, better not take that chance.

When blogging becomes fun - for me - is when I hear from someone, like Scott who I mentioned earlier. Scott and I haven’t talked in a very long time. The last time we exchanged email was when Seth was born last August. I haven’t met Seth, or Skylar for that matter, but I think about them often. I also think of Scott and Stefanie as well. Imagine my surprise and very genuine joy to see a posting from Scott on a little blog I made of my U2 buying experience. Yeah Scott, I know, I should just call and we should get together. But life has a way of keeping us busy, especially now for some reason. I’m glad you stop by and read the page every so often.

But I guess the main reason I blog is just to get thoughts out of my head. And so this thought was about “why do I blog”. An now this line of thought is out of my head and on this page to read.

There are many free places to blog. There is the original [Blogger.com] - owned by Google, [LiveJournal.com], [Xanga.com], and the photo blog in beta [flickr.com]. I’ve tried Blogger.com and flickr.com, and I think I have a test account on LiveJournal but haven’t really used itl. All-in-all they are pretty straightforward and don’t require you do much - not even pay! How do they do that?

If you have your own website hosted somewhere, and you can install software, you might consider [WordPress] or [Movable Type]. Hosting your own blog gives you a little more control over look and feel, as well as keeping the content local. The software is free, with WordPress having less (=no) restriction on the freedom, while Movable Type does have some restrictions. They both are good packages, but I find WordPress much easier to install, configure, modify/customize and reinstall if necessary.

Well, time for bed. Back to the daily grind tomorrow, and perhaps another blog entry.

Rating: **** of 5

Quick Shot: World War I love story.  Audrey Tautou is the Mathilde to Gaspard Ulliel Manech in this magical journey to find each other.  Or do they?

What I liked about the movie: The cinematography and direction was very impressive.  Audrey Tautou is adorable as ever.

What I didn’t like: A little long (2 hours 14 minutes give or take), most of it setting up the story in the first third of hte film.  I thought the last third was a little rushed as things fell into place.  I wasn’t expecting some graphic elements of war, but they were needed to drive the story.

This morning Farrah and I took a whack at trying to buy U2 tickets on [Ticketmaster.com]. I’m usually the only one trying to get tickets, but since there was a hard limit on the number of tickets one could buy, both Farrah and I tried.

Well, 10 AM came around. We started trying to get tickets on both the laptop and desktop, entering in the amount carefully and just waiting for the results. We couldn’t get tickets for the first show, which sold out in less than ten minutes. I knew there was a second show, so we waited for it to be posted.

We only had to wait about ten minutes. We tried over and over again to get (at the least) two general admission tickets - which were going for $49. Seats, which are an ok view, were topped out at $160! Well, Farrah managed to get two tickets. Me - shutout! I did get one screen opportunity to buy, but the tickets were seated and high above the show. I must be losing my touch! Well, at least we’ll be able to see U2. I only wish we got two more tickets for friends.

What’d you think, I was going to sell them?

The Girl Scouts are back to spread their good cheer by selling you those evil cookies. Yeah, my niece is one of them ! I put down some money to buy at least one box of each type available this year. Now, you want to know the price you’re going to pay when you eat one of those cookies? Take a look at [this website] for the nutritional facts.

Now enjoy those cookies.