Eat this, Motorola

I dropped my RAZR, then it started going berserk.  Blank screen...dropped calls...frozen screen...and just plain not working at all.  I visited my friendly neighborhood Verizon shoppe, and the associate does what everyone warned me they would do: she opened the back and immediately concluded it was WATER DAMAGE!  Why, because that little sticker dot turned red.  

Let me say again:  I DROPPED the phone (on the floor, not into a lake), and right then and there it stopped working properly.

So, since I was in the mall I walked over to Radio Shack, to see if they had those teeny-tiny funny-shaped screwdrivers I need to take this phone apart.  They didn't, but when I showed the people what I needed it for, they both said I have water damage.  One guy said it was severe.

Anyway, I got the tools I needed from Home Depot.  I took the phone apart (not entirely, just the first stage).  Water damage, you say?  Corrosion? Nope! Dry as a desert inside.  Rather dusty, to be honest.  I figured, when it dropped, it loosened a wire or two, and that was just it.  I snapped some loose connections, put it back together and it works like a charm.

The dot sticker is hardly a indicator of water damage to the phone.  It merely shows that the the sticker itself has been exposed to moisture.  

Subscription for life

Hey!  I'm blogging and using Safari!  When did this happen?  Blogger didn't previously support Safari.  (Safari is a web browser...created by Apple.)  I used to have to go into Firefox to get the full features of the Blogger post editor, but now I can stick to my default browser for everything.  

Amazing!

I just got the new Mac OS 10.5 "Leopard."  Maybe it's the new version of Safari that's compatible.  Or maybe it's because I haven't posted in several months, that I haven't even thought to check up on these things.  And it's a cool upgrade, although it's rendering almost everything else obsolete.  I couldn't launch my old version of iPhoto, so I had to buy the latest version of Apple's iLife. And all my old versions of Adobe/Macromedia products don't seem to be compatible either.  I'll have to buy new versions of those eventually. 

Upgrades beget upgrades.  Purchases lead to more purchases.  New upgrades require more memory.  You can pay off your car, but you still need new brakes, tires, oil...Pay off a house, but then you need a new roof, windows, carpets.  My cell phone has been crapping out since I dropped it a few days ago.  I'll need a new one of those soon, too.

It seems everything in life is a subscription with mandatory renewal.  

Amazing.

So close

Thought I had won the lottery, the New Jersey Lottery, that is.
The numbers were drawn:
15-16-20-28-30
I had one one my boards:
15-16-21-28-36
That's the Jersey Cash5. Choose 5 out of 40. You can see how the placement of the three matching numbers, along with the similarities with the other two, was enough to make me gasp at first. But it was a short-lived moment, and I missed the $225,000 prize. But it still pays $11 for three numbers, so a $6 net gain on a $5 investment is not too shabby.

So back to my crazy life. One of my barista co-workers disappeared the other day and stopped showing up for work. Scheduled for 5 days this week and 5 days next week. Oh...and the manager is on vacation. So we're fending for ourselves at Starbucks. Just like the good old days.

And then my car wouldn't start last night. WTF? I was leaving the movie theatre (Oceans 13, pretty good, btw) It started fine there, took the scenic route back home. Stopped for gasoline, and could not leave the gas station. Attendant tried to push start me, but it didn't work. So I called my brother at 1AM to get me. Mommy and Daddy are out of town. (Oh yeah, I still haven't fledged....but that's another post) I went back myself to try jump starting and it worked. Drove it back home today. Yep..more auto-repair expenses (where's that lottery ticket?)

Woke up this morning with one bitch of a sore throat. I hate being sick. But I think some people like to be sick; sympathy, excuses, IDK? But for that reason, i fear, that when I'm sick, people think I'm using it as a reason to slack off, give a little less, or withdraw completely. I don't like that.

Anyway, 56 hours of work this week, split between Starbucks and the Wedding Mill. Plus the undercharged battery, short staffing, a sore throat...
...but topped with a token lottery win...

Oh...and how I could I forget...all this damn laundry!

I'm still here

Really...I am.
So much fucking laundry. It never ends. Why is that? I'm a single guy for crying out loud. It shouldn't be.

Re-Starbucked

Where have I been?
Who cares! I won't waste your time with excuses.
Well, I am back at Starbucks. I have been since October. Came back to join the opening crew of a new store that was supposed to open in October but then got pushed back to after Christmas. So, I was placed in a crazy-busy store until the new store opened. And now I work at a store that no one has found yet. It's like being on vacation!
But that's no excuse not to post here. Here's hoping I can be consistent. (HAH!)
I still bartend weekends at the Chanticler, but not this weekend, there's nothing scheduled.
Instead, I'll be in Rochester, NY for the Francis Dykes Bonspiel once again. (recall: bonspiel = curling tournament) Last year we were 4th event winners. This year we hope to remain in the 1st event.
...I can smell it...I really can...
I figure this will be my last year in this bonspiel. I mean, I still can play next year, it will my fifth year curling. But two of the guys i play with won't be able to, and I figure I'll be doing the masters degree full time, so I won't be able to take off long weekends.
Oh! And I met Winter. He's the guy who travels to all the Starbucks in the world. I saw on his blog that he was coming to New Jersey just when the new store opened and wanted to be sure I was working when he made his visit. He's got a documentary coming out called Starbucking.