Never saw the movie.. Don't really know much about it at all, really... But I had an interesting experience with my own left foot over the past few days.. We were in Kenpo class this past Thursday and were working on a new evasion that involves hooking the attacker's leg while performing a forward outside evasion. While hooking with the inside arm, you simultaneously execute a knifehand strike to the opponent's neck, following up with a deep grip on the opposing lapel. Finally, while still maintaining the hooked leg, you finish the technique by pulling the lapel down and outside while lifting the leg upward and inside, quickly and forcefully placing the opponent on the ground, leaving you in a wide kibadache (horse stance) over him, leg still hooked. If the opponent attempts to resist from there, either a quick knifehand strike to the head/neck or a knee strike to the abdomen is usually sufficient..
We were working in pairs, alternating between who would give and who would receive.. It was my turn to receive.. It all started off fine, we were very careful not to perform the throw with much force or speed... Don't know what got into my partner, but I'm pretty sure he put everything he had into this throw.. He outweighs me by probably 40-50 pounds, maybe more... Not sure if it was me hitting the floor or me kicking him after the fact from the floor, but I thought I broke my foot! I was unable to move any of my toes, couldn't put any weight on it, couldn't do much of anything besides do my very best to control my tongue.. I walked it off best I could and did my best to complete the class. I like to think I'm pretty agile, so I was able to finish up the class, including the body conditioning portion, all while hopping around to keep any pressure off that foot... It still hurt like the dickens, but i figured I'd manage...
Until the next day.... It had gotten bigger overnight, even though I kept it on ice and elevated... My walk was even funnier that the previous day, kind of a cross between George Jefferson, Skinny Pimp, and any random person with one leg and no crutches... Go figure.. I was finally convinced to go to the doctor, where they took some X-rays. Come to find out, the foot wasn't broken, although the ball of the foot forward was somehow turned upward at a 45-degree angle and rotated heavily to the left to the point where I could not put the front of my foot down as long as heel was still on the ground... Don't have a clue what the doctor said except for it is not broken, should be fine in a few days, and "Here, wear this special boot for a few days."
Needless to say, I refuse to keep that silly looking shoe on.... 3 days later, I'm still walking a bit funny, but it is nowhere near the walk I had earlier, which is best described as the same walk the main character is the movie Misery had shortly after being hobbled with a sledgehammer.....
good times.....
-myk
Working on a client's laptop today.. He called me initially because he was unable to completely load into Windows on his Compaq Presario V2405US. I went to his place and took a look at the laptop, and sure enough, it wouldn't finish booting. He had some other work for me to do on his desktop, so I finished that up on the spot and took the laptop with me to do further testing and hopefully repair it. Windows complained that and entire system folder was missing. No problem.. I booted from a Windows XP cd and went into the recovery console with hopes of transferring fresh copies of the required system files over to the hard drive. Problem is, it wouldn't let me log into the installation even in the recovery console, leading me to suspect hard drive problems.. I ran diagnostics from the BIOS, and my suspicions were confirmed.. A cryptic hard drive failure code was given. I called the client back to advise him that the hard drive was faulty and would need to be replaced. He then reminded me that I had just installed that hard drive for him on 05/31/07!! I checked my records, and indeed he was correct.. I removed the hard drive, went to the local Best Buy where the drive was purchased, and attempted to get an in-store replacement, as 40 days is well within warranty. They advised that they are unable to exchange computer components because their POS system would not allow it. No problem, I will go to the manufacturer, which is Hitachi. Hitachi provided more diagnostics tools to tell them exactly what the problem is. Their software reported the hard drive failure was due to excessive shock, suggesting the user has thrown the laptop, dropped it, or sent it on a long ride on the back of a donkey... Or, what I just like to call abuse... However, Hitachi issued an RMA to send the drive back to them for replacement under warranty. I contacted the client to advise of my findings, stating the reason for the failure so he could instruct his son to take much better care of his equipment, and providing him with the information he needed to get the replacement warranty. After all, the warranty is through Hitachi, not me, as the failure is due in no part to my installation of the drive...
Here's where it gets funny.. Compaq's tag line used to be "The 'Q' stands for Quality." I don't know if this is due to the merger with HP or just the fact that they have a bunch of goons working for them now, but quality is nowhere to be found in this leg of my story. I open an online chat with a technician this morning to get a part number and availability for recovery software for this laptop, as Hitachi will simply return a new blank hard drive, and the customer will be able to install the operating system, drivers, and software himself with these CDs, saving him the expense of paying me to do everything manually.. Sometimes I have too much of a heart and cost myself a good deal of money for the sake of being honest :) Anyway, I explain to the "technician" in explicit detail what has transpired, ending with "I simply need to get pricing and availability for recovery cd for a Presario V2405US laptop, serial number ##########.." The technician then begins to diagnose my problem... I then tell her my problem is already diagnosed, i have a faulty hard drive that I am going to replace, I just need the Cds. She then tries, not once, not twice, but 3 times to sell me a new hard drive with the information preinstalled. I tell her again a somewhat shortened and angry version of the story I had already told her a few lines up the chat window, stressing that she should seriously consider reading the customer's comments before posting some obviously pre-written answers to just spit out in the chat window, as obviously she had not read my concerns... She tries again to sell me the hard drive.. God must have been smiling on me at this point, because for a moment, something finally clicked with her, and she proceeds to give me information about the cd set. She gives me a link that should contain information to purchase the discs. I copy and paste the link into the browser, only to find that the link is invalid, and I quickly told her this. She then wants to help me by "troubleshooting" and question my copy and pasting skills. Mind you, I am a computer technician, and am pretty sure I have a firm grip on copying and pasting text.... I took a screenshot and showed her the webpage I had tried to access, at which point she posts the same link again!!! I once again asked her if she was even reading my comments..
We went back and forth for a good twenty minutes. Every part number she gave me was not listed in the online parts store. Her only answer was I needed to call customer service. I explained to her that my whole reason for starting the chat session was to avoid draining most of my morning sitting on the phone with some moron who would undoubltedly speak to me like I am a kindergartener with no computer experience whatsoever... But she had already taken care of the drain, so it could only get better from here.. I told her I see no point in calling them to sit and hold and have them tell me all my part numbers were incorrect.
I finally terminated the session and promptly sent an email to the president of HP/Compaq along with a full transcript of our lengthy conversation. I sure hope to get a callback or some sort of correspondence out of this...
I can't think of too many words with a negative connotation that begin with the letter "Q", but Compaq seriously needs to rethink this whole quality statement... All things considered, that kid needs a nice bag with some semblance of shock protection to keep that laptop in....
God bless,
-myk
Not sure why I keep trying this, but here goes my third attempt. I have tried to blog before.. Did it consistently for a while... Always ended up quitting for one reason or another.. But here I sit, going again.. My wife and kids have been out of town for the past four days, which is probably why I am blogging at midnight even though I have to get up in five hours to get to work, but boredom does strange things to a man...
For example, a few days ago, I decided to surprise my wife by refinishing the bath tub in the master bathroom. Our house is over a hundred years old. Sometimes I wonder if the bathtub is too... It was the strangest tint of 1970's sea foam green when I started. Really should have taken some before/after pictures, but my wife seems to have taken the digital camera with her to Dallas.
So, I bought this kit from Lowe's hardware. Looks simple enough. Should make an old tub look like brand new for only $29.99.. People locally charge over $1000 to refinish a tub. Installing a new one is not an option, as I can't afford to tear out a wall to get a new tub in there. I figure for $29.99, its worth a shot. I read the instructions as well as any man would, and embarked on this exciting adventure. I had already cleaned the tub in anticipation of this glorious event. Next, I used the included trisodium phosphate to further clean the tub, wearing the also included rubber gloves to keep my hands from getting blistered beyond belief. Next, I used the supplied 100-grit fine steel wool to help remove any nicks or burrs from the surface of the tub. After rinsing and drying, it was time to apply the tub paint. The instructions say to wear gloves, but at this point, I am not comfortable using the gloves with the TSP on them. besides, who wears gloves while painting? Typically, you just wash your hands when your done, or, worst case scenario, use some paint thinner to clean them. I painted on the first coast with the precision of a surgeon, but the speed of a jack rabbit. This paint has some sort of self-leveling, non-streaking formula. Even though I was using the recommend old-fashioned paint brush (not sponge), the finish of the first coat was nice and even, and, as advertised, streak free. I could not see a single brush stroke. Now, while painting the outside of the tub, I used a drop cloth to protect the floor. I spilled a little on the cloth, which eventually migrated to my left hand. "No problem, I'll just wash it off, take a break while the first coat dries, and go get some dinner." Boy, was I in for a surprise! I go to the sink of the bathroom to clean the brush first.. the paint wasn't coming off, so I figured I'd just use some thinner in a bucket outside, but for now, I was ready to get those hands clean.. I put my hands into the scalding hot running water with a good portion of soap, and, much to my chagrin, the water was beading up on my hands! About this time, my mother who was at my house helping me with some cleaning advises that the paint is not paint at all.. According to the instructions and the cannister of "paint" it self, it is actually TINTED EPOXY, which is quickly beginning to harden all over my left hand, leaving me looking like a younger, darker, gloved Michael Jackson...
Fortunately, two hours, a trip to Lowe's, and several chemicals later, my hand is pretty close to normal... Moral of this story? When something says to wear protective equipment, those directions are most likely there for a reason. I guess its not really renouncing your manhood to wear gloves.... Sure hope the misses likes it when she gets home. The newly finished tub still has one more day to dry, but it is beautiful! Well worth the effort, and I highly recommend this kit to anyone with a similar situation regarding and old bathtub.. Just be sure to read the directions thoroughly before proceeding.
Later and God bless,
-myk
Never saw the movie.. Don't really know much about it at all, really... But I had an interesting experience with my own left foot over the past few days.. We were in Kenpo class this past Thursday and were working on a new evasion that involves hooking the attacker's leg while performing a forward outside evasion. While hooking with the inside arm, you simultaneously execute a knifehand strike to the opponent's neck, following up with a deep grip on the opposing lapel. Finally, while still maintaining the hooked leg, you finish the technique by pulling the lapel down and outside while lifting the leg upward and inside, quickly and forcefully placing the opponent on the ground, leaving you in a wide kibadache (horse stance) over him, leg still hooked. If the opponent attempts to resist from there, either a quick knifehand strike to the head/neck or a knee strike to the abdomen is usually sufficient..
