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San Japanic! The Director’s Tale – Part I

August 13, 2009 – 1130 AM

The busy day lay ahead.  I was the point man for preparing First Storm Manga’s table for San Japan, and my duties consisted of securing a table at the Municipal Auditorium for our group and obtaining our badges.  The day started off well enough. I went to work, and my short day was quickly eaten by meetings and busy-work; as usual, not much got actually done.

My mission was made easier by the fact that we had someone “on the inside.”  Laken is a good kid, cat ears and all.  Our youngest member thus far, her initial shyness at her first meeting (she refused to let anyone see her art until I secretly photographed it using my cell phone’s camera, earning me her ire) got her unfairly labeled as being ditzy, but she can be counted on when there is a job to do.

Laken is also a San Japan volunteer.  She had also contributed to our first compilation and we were hoping for her assistance in navigating the confusion that is often associated with cons.

I had read on the San Japan forums that setup was going to start at two o’clock.  Thus, my plan was to get out of work at eleven-thirty, get home at noon, take an hour nap, and then drive to the Auditorium to setup the F.S.M. table.  We wanted to get a good location across from a known artist that we knew would attract a crowd.  To make sure I was on the right track, I sent a text to Laken once I got home, and I was all but ready to fall into sweet slumber for an hour when my phone beeped.

“BE HERE AT 1”

Well, frak.  I cursed Randomizer’s Dumb Luck ™ as I quickly got up and ready to leave.  About a half an hour later, I exited the Reliant after parking in front of the Holiday Inn El Tropicano where the convention was to be held, and luckily ran into another First Storm Manga member.

Chris Holm has a table in Artist’s Alley, and for the most part, he was doing his own thing at the con.  He was also helping us rookies out, and his previous experience at conventions, and San Japan, in particular, was to be of great help.  He also contributed to our first manga, “San Japanic!” and would be checking up on us as the con went on.  He was there to setup his table, and I was glad I wasn’t going to be going it alone as my San Japan adventure began.

For the moment, though, he looked as lost as I was, and he asked me where we were supposed to go.  Not having any idea myself (we only had two choices, the hotel or the Auditorium) I sent Laken a quick text and we started walking toward the El Tropicano.  Laken responded by telling us she would meet us in the lobby, and there we met.

Much to my disappointment over the lost nap, I soon found out that the Auditorium was closed until two o’clock, and we had an hour to burn until we could get our tables.  Instead of spending it lounging around the hotel lobby shooting the breeze and browsing the Internet, Chris and I were put to work stuffing goodie bags to be given to the con attendees.

It was lots of fun.  Being the only geek in my family, it is very seldom that I find myself in the presence of other geeks; so being in a room filled with geeks was a delight.  That said, I have an unfortunate tendency to show my age when I talk shop, and I soon discovered that more than a few of the kids in the room weren’t even born yet when Robotron 2084 came out in the arcades.

Pardon me for a moment while I grow OLD…er.

The hour soon ticked away, and the Auditorium was open.  Laken accompanied us as we walked over.

We were the first ones in Convention Alley.  The place was pretty much ours; we had our pick of tables.  After debating the merits of getting the end table (as opposed to the second-to-the-end table) we got the second-to-the-end table and I laid down our tablecloth and taped up our cheesy paper logo signs.

We kept the setup low-key for a reason; there is a fan group in town that has a penchant for tampering with other groups.  While I’m sure most of their members are decent folks, we know that there are a few miscreants in the bunch.   Some of our members have had dealings with them in the past that had come to unpleasant endings.  We kept a careful eye out for them; we wanted to afford them as little an opportunity to tamper with our table as possible.

Content that all was at the ready, Chris and I took the opportunity to go to Sam’s Burger Joint to scarf some good burgers and shoot the breeze for a bit.  I then headed home to relax and start packing for The Big Day.

Frankly, I was feeling pretty good about myself.  Everything was proceeding according to plan…just as the Emperor had foretold.  Actually, “The Emperor” was more nervous about the whole thing than I was, and I would soon discover that he wasn’t being entirely paranoid.

NEXT:  BADGES?!  WE NEED OUR STEENKING BADGES!

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No, it is NOT a “Murse”

Shortly after buying my HP Mini, I purchased a bag to carry it around in, as well as its charger, a mouse, a short USB cable, my spiral notebook, DSi and any other stuff I could cram into it.  The case looks good (I think, anyway) and it does the job well.  In addition to the traditional “suitcase” handle, it also has a permanently attached strap for carrying it over one’s shoulder.

Now I’m as secure in my masculinity as the next Manly Man (some would argue a little too secure, but that’s a discussion for another time) but for the life of me, I cannot bear to use that damn carry strap.  Because of the Mini’s (and thus, the bag’s) smaller size, I feel as if I am carrying a purse.   It is just a little too small.  Every time I have slung it over my shoulder, I start to become very self-conscious…I might as well be wearing a dress.

The feeling lasts for about five minutes, and then I will stop whatever it is that I am doing, take it off my shoulder immediately stuff the strap back in, and carry it by the handle, my Manly Manhood restored by carrying my Manly Netbook in its Manly Man-Bag as I Manly Manhandle it by its Man-Handle.

*insert Tim Allen-esque grunting here*

My neurosis over the netbook strap might be explained by the fact that I have a penchant for picking out things that are described as “cute” by women.  The first thing my aunt and female cousins said upon seeing my new 2005 Dodge Neon was “its cute!”  The HP Mini itself often elicits the same response from women, much to my aggravation.  Sadly, I have been unable to use that tendency to any sort of advantage, but maybe its A Good Thing.  After all, if the trend continues, maybe the next cute thing that comes my way will be a woman!

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“On” Switch

Its funny what can pick you up at times. I was having a crappy morning at work, stuff just wasn’t happening. E-mail, code changes, IT guys in the basement…nothing seemed to be working today.

Actually, the guys in the basement never work, so that really shouldn’t bother me.

I left for lunch a few minutes early, sat down, ordered my meal, and waited. I was just full of piss and vinegar and wondering what else was going to go wrong.

My meal came (steak and eggs, I wanted to “split the difference between breakfast and lunch), and then “Drive My Car” by the Beatles came on. As I dove into the food and started tapping my feet to the music, I started to feel better. Suddenly, work stuff didn’t seem like a big deal anymore…the rest of the day lay ahead, but I was ready for it.

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Car-Tune

The Reliant has quite literally been a little shaky as of late, having developed a habit of rough idling when I am waiting at red lights or stop signs.  Eventually, the "Check Engine" light came on, which got me just a little nervous.  Luckily, my Google-fu was good enough for me to save a trip to the dealer by getting the error code from the car’s computer.  This also has me wondering what I could do to it with my Netbook and a USB cable.  In any event, a few clicks of the key, and I then had the Answer To My Car Problems:

"P 303 – 3rd cylinder misfire"

Well, that was about as pointless as farting in a windstorm.  Actually, it did give me something else I could Google, and Google away I did.  Instead of relying on a single solution, I looked for commonalities between the different fixes I found.  This was made slightly more difficult in that there are actually two major revisions of the Dodge Neon, so I had to disregard anything in relation to the first-generation model.

I figured I would go from least-expensive to most-expensive fixes, hoping to not have to resort to going to the dealer.  I started out by replacing the air filter and PCV valve.  I almost took the opportunity to upgrade to a K&M filter, but the auto parts store I visited did not have them in stock.  I reset the car’s computer to make the "Check Engine" light go away and hoped for the best.  The Reliant felt like it was running better, but soon enough the rattling returned, not quite as serious as before, but there nonetheless.  I figured the next thing to try was to replace the spark plugs, wires and ignition coil, though the coil was going to cost a few bucks.  I went to do some more research (all the while the rattling was becoming worse, and the "Check Engine" light reared its ugly head again) and as I did not see the coil mentioned very often, I figured I’d install new plugs and wires, and see if that would be enough.

Luckily, I had a day off to perform the operation, and so I voyaged to Auto Zone to get parts.  I acquired a set of wires and some slightly-nicer plugs and drove home to begin…and discovered I would need a extender for my ratchet.

Of course, it couldn’t ever be just that easy, so I had to make a quick trip to Wal-Mart.

Soon thereafter, I was busy swapping cables and plugs, and all was well…until I went to attach the third wire to the ignition coil.  I pushed it in, expecting to hear the ‘click’ of the connection being made, but, nothing.  I looked inside the cable expecting to see the silver connector inside, but instead there was…nothing!  Well, fark.  I used the old cables, and took a trip back to Autozone to get a replacement set.  To make sure all was well, I connected the new cables in the parking lot. 

Curiously enough, there were a few signs saying "Do Not Maintain or Repair Vehicles In Parking Lot" in front of the Autozone, but after seeing three vehicles in the parking lot with hoods popped and their owners hunched over their innards, so I figured one more wouldn’t hurt.

The operation was soon over, and so far it appears to have been a success.  I keep waiting to feel That Shaking Feeling again, but it hasn’t happened yet.  If it does, come back, then I suppose I will break down and buy the ignition coil, but so far, so good!

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Here In My Car…I Feel Nothing At All

I am not a "car guy," and for the life of me, I just don’t get the "car thing." I could not tell you the difference between year X and year Y of a particular vehicle, and I cannot recognize vehicles on sight.  If you are ever in an accident, you better hope I’m not one of the witnesses, because the conversation with the police would go something like this:

OFFICER: "Can you describe the vechicle, sir?"
RANDOMIZER9: "Yeah, it was, uh…silver! I think it had four wheels, too!"

I have friends that are "car guys" and I can hang with them for awhile, but once they get beyond a certain point, I quit hearing their words and the only thing I hear is the "Wah wah waah" of Charlie Brown’s teacher as they blather on about fuel-air mixes and trans-a-missions and all that.

I currently own a 2005 Dodge Neon. It is a conveyance, a box on wheels that gets me from Point A to Point B, and when I’m on vacation, to Point C. I keep it maintained, and I might even treat it to a wash every so often, but that’s it. "Car guys" on the other hand, have an attachment to their vehicles that borders on creepy. On Randomizer9’s Freak-O-Meter, they sit a few notches above pet owners who dress up their pets or name them "Baby," but I digress.

I’m not entirely in the clear on this one, though, because I did give my car a name: the "Reliant." I also did go "oooh!" when that yellow Lamborghini passed me up on I-10 awhile back, and I like Corvettes. I also considered an intake kit for the Reliant recently, and if AutoZone would have had one in stock, there might be a K&N air filter in the Reliant right now instead of a Fram. All things considered, I could be on the brink of becoming a car geek.

I think that my lack of car-guy-ness is due to the fact that I’ve never owned a vehicle that I ever really wanted. I have always gone with the practical choice out of economic necessity. The vehicle of my dreams is about a year’s worth of payments away, though, and that fact that I have already decided on a name for it ("Excelsior") might be a precursor of things to come.

Once people start tuning me out, I think the line will have been crossed!

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JUST SAYING, Uncategorized

Flu On You!

I have an tendency to catch colds frequently, so it came as no surprise to me when I started coming down with something a few Tuesdays ago.  I wasn’t running a fever, so I figured it was just a case of the sniffles that would go away after a few days.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case.  The bug hung around, and by Thursday I was feeling pretty crappy.  Not crappy enough to stay home from work, mind you, but certainly lousy enough to get the attention of my coworkers.  Sharing the same floor with former and current healthcare providers means I can’t be sick at work.  Coming in sick means getting no end of grief about how I should see a doctor, and questions about why am I at work instead of at home.

All that badgering usually results in me seeing a doctor and taking a day or two off from work.  This most recent bout was spiced up by the hype over the swine flu.  As I had been near the Mexican border recently for a family get-together, I figured that I should see the doctor and ensure I wouldn’t become San Antonio’s Patient Zero.

I had a feeling this visit was going to be extra fun when I shared the elevator ride with one of the nurses, and she made mention that they were all wearing masks at the doctor’s office.  I signed in at the doctor’s office, and was given a mask since I had flu-like symptoms.  It was a little uncomfortable, and started to smell kind of funky after a few sneezes and coughs, but hey, it was for the public good, so I rolled with it.

While waiting for the doctor, I got bored enough to snap a few pictures of myself with my cell phone camera, and was informed by the doctor that I had a sinus infection, and that I should take a few days off from work.  I was mildly disappointed, but I quickly got over that feeling as I spent the next few days hacking and coughing my guts out at home in bed.  Them’s the breaks, I guess!

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Staring into the Cupertino Kool-Aid

My PC went kablooey on Monday (see last post below) and since then, I’ve been getting by with my HP Mini 1000. It feels odd using it as my primary PC, as it is easily less than half the size of my monitor. It is doing an admirable job though.

Its not good enough to replace the old EDPUTER *sniff* mind you, but it is enough to keep the withdrawal at bay. Its doing such a good job that I have yet to rush to Ye Olde Best Buy to drop a few hundred bucks on a new PC…YET.

Thus, I’ve been debating the merits of Mac vs. PC, and two things give me pause when I consider making a Mac my next computer:

The first, of course, is cost. Like many other PC diehards, I have done more than my share of moaning about the “Apple tax” (apparently so has Microsoft recently). But you know what? I make good money, and I can certainly afford a Mac without causing too much distress to my pocketbook.

If just the hardware lasts, it would be great, especially considering the Gateway didn’t even make it three years. It could also be argued that time is money, and the thought of not having to spend time running virus scans, anti-spyware scans, and updating Windows every week is a pleasant one.

The second item of contention is something less tangible…I’m not sure I want to become a Mac USER.

To me, Mac zealots are the obsessive Texas A&M fans of the computer world. Most fans of teams tell you how much their team rocks and can beat the tar out of anyone else, even if said team stinks. In contrast, all obsessive Texas A&M fans (at least the ones I’ve known) say is “UT SUCKS!” In a similar manner, all Mac fanboys can say is “PCs SUCK!” For people who support things that are supposedly “better” both groups seem to have a nasty inferiority complex.

Some time ago I tried playing World of Warcraft. I uninstalled it before the 14-day trial period was up. What happened? I saw the South Park World of Warcraft episode, and told myself: “there is no way in hell I am turning into one of those FREAKS.”

I would have, too! *shudder*

I get the same “AW, HELL NO” feeling inside whenever I see my Mac-using friends’ creepy zombie-like obsessiveness. Lately they’ve been foaming at the mouth extra-hard at the prospect of adding another PC-user to the collective. Frankly, I figure I’m annoying enough without adding a generous dollop of Mac-fanboy-sauce to the Eduardo geekburger.

I think I can handle being a Mac-user, though. I just have to be careful to avoid all the bad behavior I’ve seen from the members of the Cult of Jobs over the years. I’ve got some numbers to crunch before I make a decision, though, but with the Mini (HP, not Mac) holding it together I can hold off for a bit. I just don’t want to become an “Obsessive Mac Guy.”

Now if I get a Mac, then an iPhone, all bets are off!

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D-Edputer

I think I have officially HAD IT with PCs.

My formerly-trusty Edputer seems to have bit the dust this evening. I was putting in a drive so that I could use it to load a clean XP install and then use it to scan my main drive for viruses. It all started when I got that damnable virus that been all over the news lately, and various attempts to get rid of it (even using tools from several of the big anti-virus guys) failed. I figured if that didn’t work, I would go “nuclear option” and wipe it clean.

Something went wrong while putting in the drive; either I accidentally zapped the PC with static electricity, or the drive finally went kaput and took the PC with it (how my second PC went to binary heaven), or the power supply went bye-bye. In any event, I now have a useless box full of PC parts, because I can’t even get a POST beep out of it now. Of course, if it wasn’t for the virus, I wouldn’t even have had to open the thing up.

So now what?

That’s the question I am asking myself right now. Do I get another Windows machine and take a chance on Vista? That could work, given that I would have enough horsepower to make Vista happy. Then again, perhaps I should turn to The Dark Side and buy a Mac.

I’m actually seriously considering it…I could even install XP (or Vista) for when I need it. Sure the hardware would be more expensive, but the pluses of not having to deal with all the fun facts of Windows life might make it worth it.

Who knows, I just might be cool enough to get a Mac…

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