patrick.net

Headset,

Pffft. (I wish)

More like when your wife wishes she could be invisible.

The job market is all about diversity in the B.A. Everything from cutting grass all year long, to making gasoline, to making nuclear weapons. Let us not forget about the BA rather large education industry as well, particularly college. That is why the bay area stays alive even after major industry shut downs such as the dot-com tech bubble. There is always a good reason to live in the BA when it comes to jobs and education. Segue -- my job : Network engineer for a Community College District.

GC, I always prefer Microsoft products. The UIs are just so well-designed.

"Therefore, every man should go to get his nails done. "

LOL! And while he is at it, have the barber shave his legs.

GC you said...
"The other reason why I prefer to patronize local shops and services (cafes, etc.) as opposed to large chains is that doing so would spread the money among the general population instead of concentrating it in the hands of CEOs and major investors. "

"W2007 alone is worth upgrading."

I guess Bill Gates is worth the extra 300 clams...
I skip MS altogether and get Open Office. Its reads and writes .doc but only cost around $75 with a full blown OS (Linux)... You can get also OO for Mac for free.

On employment - The Mercury News just linked to this report (PDF):

http://bayareanewsgroup.com/multimedia/mn/biz/jobs_report_042007.pdf

I skip MS altogether and get Open Office. Its reads and writes .doc but only cost around $75 with a full blown OS (Linux)… You can get also OO for Mac for free.

But it does not look like a proper Windows application.

I like most of MS Office, especially Word and Excel. MS Project kind of sucks. Firefox is still heads and shoulders better than MSIE. My IE gives up and poops at least 3x per week.

Vista 64 (Ultimate) has a ways to go. I had to uninstall it for now. Dual core, 3GHz with 4GB RAM, and dual SLI 7800s -- Vista 64 ran slower than an old 286 running Windows 2.0. Must be all that "virtualization".

Randy, what did you run on Vista 64?

GC,

If you go to inquire about the ticket, make sure to have cash on hand to pay the original ticket, probably x2.

One time I forgot a speeding ticket. I honestly don't remember getting the mailing saying when and where to pay it by, I just had the original ticket the cop gave me (who said the info would be in the mail.) I did, however, recieve a notice that a warrant was issued for my arrest when I failed to pay on time.

I immediately got the money and went down to pay the ticket. I went up to the window, explained what happened, showed them the original ticket and the warrant, and the guy said "Just a minute... I need to look something up." He then opens a drawer, putters around in it... walks over and makes a quick call on the phone... walks back to the drawer and putters around some more.... and lo and behold, a cop walks up, asks me my name, and arrests me.

I get tossed in jail for 3 hours before they get me before a judge. I tell him I got the ticket, totally forgot about it and didn't remember getting the info in the mail, but came down as soon as I was informed about the warrant. He asked if I could pay the fine in full right then, I said I could, and he sent me on my way. The only good part of the day was sitting in court for the 3 people who went before me. If you've ever watched Judge Judy or any of those other shows and wondered how those people could be so damn stupid... well... they've got nothing on people in the regular courts.

GC Says:

> The other reason why I prefer to patronize local shops
> and services (cafes, etc.) as opposed to large chains is
> that doing so would spread the money among the general
> population instead of concentrating it in the hands of CEOs
> and major investors.

It always bothers my liberal friends when I point out that most (and dam near all) small local shops, service providers and cafés skim off cash and don’t pay even close to their fair share in taxes…

SFBubbleBuyer, you could also have contacted an attorney and have him take care of the situation for you.

It always bothers my liberal friends when I point out that most (and dam near all) small local shops, service providers and cafés skim off cash and don’t pay even close to their fair share in taxes…

I prefer national chains. I do not shop at Walmart because I do not like the ambiance. To a customer, a company that undercuts its employee could theoretically offer better pricing in the short run. The goods are identical anyway.

XP is junk, especially Exchange. My laptop at work routinely locks up for up to a minute at a time while trying to talk to an Exchange server. No modern operating system should do this. I am getting a Mac Book, in fact, because I am so tired of my Windows box freezing up on me like this. And no, I don't install junk applications from the Internet on it, but thank you for asking.

Anyone who wants high availability and reliability stays away from Microsoft products. Why do you think the bulk of the Internet is built on Unix?

I imagine this is the case for many Bay Aryans...
"Drive until you qualify" is a phrase that real-estate agents use to
describe a central tenet of the commuting life: you travel away from
the workplace until you reach an exit where you can afford to buy a
house that meets your standards. The size of the wallet determines
that of the mortgage, and therefore the length of the commute.
Although there are other variables (schools, spouse, status, climate,
race, religion, taxes, taste) and occasional exceptions (inner
cities, Princeton), in this equation you're trading time for space,
miles for square feet. Sometimes contentment figures in, and
sometimes it does not.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/34668

SFBubble, loved the story. Paying fines sucks, but I am a rare one who actually finds court amusing. You see all kinds of stories that an author couldn't fabricate. Sometimes the state finds itself embarrassed having to prosecute some things. My favorite was the guy fined $100 for stepping on a plant in the Borrego State Park. The judge couldn't keep a straight face.

XP is junk, especially Exchange.

XP is fine. Perhaps Exchange is different. I use 4 XP machines and they are all running happily.

I am getting a Mac Book, in fact, because I am so tired of my Windows box freezing up on me like this.

But Mac Book is Intel-based right? I thought many applications (e.g. Office) are still on PPC.

I thought of getting a used but mint Powerbook G4. But for $1100 - $1400 I can get two very nice reconditioned Windows laptops.

Thanks for the heads up. It’s scary. I’m going to write a letter of inquiry ASAP.

You may be able to do an online warrant check. Talk to the court house that issued the citation.

If you said Mac’s interface is more intuitive and accessible to lay people than XP, I’d give you that.

Mac laptops do not even have the pointing stick. I would not be able to use them at all without a mouse.

But XP is pretty robust.

I can attest to that.

Peter P Says:

> A friend told me that a cop asked his friend,
> “You were as fast as a plane. Are you a pilot?”

I know a guy who has a Tiffany bag and a Tiffany blue box with a CZ ring in it.

He claims that he has got out of multiple tickets with the “I’m on my way to propose to my girlfriend line”…

XP is much, much better than Windows 2000, which was better than Windows 95, but that is like saying that a Saturn is better than a Mercury Marquis. They both suffer in comparison to a Honda Civic.

I have never used Exchange until recently and I am astonished at how much it misbehaves. At my past job I used Windows XP with Thunderbird and never had a problem. I guess I should put the blame on Exchange, but this is a Bill Gates product as well.

I never have problems with Firefox on Windows.

He claims that he has got out of multiple tickets with the “I’m on my way to propose to my girlfriend line”…

Wow.

Lake Tahoe Renter,

Thanks and welcome aboard!

In spite of the fact that there's a pretty clear consensus that real estate from coast to coast is GROSSLY overpriced we here at Patrick.net feel that Lake Tahoe is truly an exception. 400% "appreciation" in a 7 year time frame is quite the norm for an area that is as "special" as Lake Tahoe.

We feel that the prices there are actually undervalued (given the exceptional pay and advancement potential). Sorry if you got the wrong impression.

I used to have a NeXTStation. It crashed way more often than my Windows NT box back then.

GC Says:

> I thought only some Asian shops do that (skim cash).
> But according to you, this tax resistance movement is
> more wide-spread that I thought.

I have never heard of even a single White, Black or Asian small business that has paid all the taxes due.

Many hate Wal Mart and Starbucks, but they withhold taxes for every employee and report and pay tax on all the cash that comes in.

I vote Bill Gates as the most important figure in the 20th century.

My vote is for Gorbachev.

"Drive until you qualify"

Uh... care to define "qualify"?

"Affordability" as defined by CA standards involves serial neg. am. re-finances (with cash out of course) set at regular intervals that coincide with the reset of one's loan/s. (Sorry HARM, couldn't resist)

SO... to our realtor friends I humbly offer to: "Drive a freaking stake into your heart until a Filipino witch doctor declares you are quite dead" O.K?!

My vote is for Gorbachev.

True. He did tear down the wall. :)

I like Reagan and Thatcher too.

That was a very interesting part of contemporary history to live through.

I have never heard of even a single White, Black or Asian small business that has paid all the taxes due.

This is why I would fail as a small business owner.

Reagan, is my 2nd choice. His library is a very nice place to visit if you are in Simi Valley area.

That was a very interesting part of contemporary history to live through.

Yes. Precisely, 1989 was the year of flux.

Here's a question to throw out. Why did the bad guys during the Reagan era fear the United States to the point of compliance even though he had a very limited use of the military, yet both Bush's actually used the fullest extent of our conventional arsenal, and it seems like our enemies are only emboldened.

should i start looking for a new job?

Don't they need to print a lot of NODs? :)

"should i start looking for a new job"

Not at all! You have ALL the tools you need right there in front of you!

(You DO have access after hours, DON'T you?)

Why did the bad guys during the Reagan era fear the United States to the point of compliance even though he had a very limited use of the military, yet both Bush’s actually used the fullest extent of our conventional arsenal, and it seems like our enemies are only emboldened.

Do you believe in astrology?

Need Affordable Housing,

Please visit www.mortgageimplode.com and start networking.... ASAP!

Peter, I'm agnostic, I don't really believe in much. But on the otherside, I don't automaticaly disbelieve either.

GC said: At least microsofties are reasonably compensated.

I was at msft when they made the bold decision to start paying essentially industry scale. The brain drain was getting so bad circa 1999 (and the stock had gotten so bloated) that they could no longer pay 30% below the market rate.

That said, it was a pretty good place to work.