Everyone comes to the Freak Show, to laugh at the Freaks and the Geeks

So I got the new machine...and it's nice, don't get me wrong. But first off, they didn't just replace the box, they replaced the whole freaking setup, including my keyboard. Now, I do not touch-type, so these fuckin' 'Natural' keyboards are the biggest pain in the ass I can imagine. I requested and received an old-school 'straight' keyboard early on with this company, and it has gone with me from desk to desk. They didn't bother leaving it, though. So I have to wait around, hoping top get hold of Scott and figure out where they put it. Plus, they took my speakers, and they left half my desk a wreck, and there are cords running everywhere (they didn't bother cleaning anything up, just left it a shambles)...man, I'd love to just go home right now.

On a good note, I got tix last night to Thrill Kill Kult on the 3rd, so that's a happy thing.

OK, skip somewhere else if you don't care or have no interest...I just gotta vent.

So the new machine, I finally get them to gimme my staright keyboard back, and it doens't lok like I'm gonna get any speakers, so I'm using my own (which they say we aren't supposed to do, but fuck 'em). And I go about installing the few little proggies that I use, nothing evil, invasive, or bad: Color Cop (color code generator), WinAMp (music), IrFanView (image viewer/minor manipulator), WinZip (archive proggie, and much better than FreeZip, which thery have already installed). Everything seems to be installing OK, but lo and behold, no file associations are working. With any of them. Zip files won't open to WinZip, MP3's won't open to WinAmp, pix won't open to IrFanView. Sure, if I open the proggie and tell IT to open the file, no sweat, but if i click on a file, it doesn't use the proram I have specified. A little diggin around comes up with the answer: apparently, they have the security permissions (or lack thereof) set so high on the new image that you can't really install much of anything! The registry just doesn't bother updating file associations, among other things, I'm sure. So, there's another reason the new machine sucks.

Oh, and let's just add to the idiocy, shall we? I'm on a roll, why the fuck not...

I decided to just let the webpage thing go. Corporate bullshit, I know the drill. Wel, today, the project head mails us all, giving us deadlines for completion. OK, fine. 2 MINUTES LATER, I get an e-mail telling me that even though she just said what my deadline was, it's actually a week earlier than what she just told me. OOOoooooookay...so I mention that it would be great if she would tell me just what it is that she wants done on the next part of the project, since I'm playing it by ear so far, and no one ever thought to tell me anything more about it. Well, come to hear, the little that she HAD told me, that I've been busting my ass over, is pointless, since I don't need to be doing that at all. Nothing like changing specs in the middle of a job.

I just want to leave and get drunk/stoned/something....

You know those little 'send this survey to your friends' things you get in your e-mail? Well, I rarely do them (which is kinda funny, since I do at least half the ones I see on LJs). But ravenlace sent me one recently that said that I would probably be most likely to respond, out of sheer boredom. So what did I do? I DIDN'T respond, and she finally made me promise I would. So here ya go, Gwen...I must really like you (not that you didn't already know that, hun...HUGGZ).

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How did it get so late in the day?

Well, finally got hold of Alice's boss today, and arranged payment. They've decided to go with another designer (wonder if Alice had anything to do with that?), but I don't care. I had to write him a nasty e-mail before he finally got back to me. That's an extra $100 I have now, which will pay some bills.

I've also discovered that this new machine plays ALL sound files too fast, for some reason. So it doesn't really matter that i can't use WinAmp, because even Micro$haft Media Slayer plays them incorrectly. I have this sneaky suspicion that it was done on purpose to kill people having mp3's, but I can't prove it, and the LAN guy's not talkin'. Haven't had a chance to see if it does that to CD's as well, but I'll test it soon.

Plans for tonight: stop at the store, get rat food and wood shavings, then go home and get drunk. All parties interested in joining may call my cell phone and get directions: 425-750-6213.

Editor's Note: No, I'm not getting drunk on rat food and wood shavings.

Hell...in all the anger and frustration, I forgot to post the pix I took of the rats this morning. Now, bear with me, because, as I have said so many times in the past, I own the world's worst digital camera.



Ben, exploring the mysteries of the bed

Eightball, conquering Mount Pillow and then hiding between a gorilla and a racoon lamp

On an unrelated note, the new machine works fine with CD's. So I'm not TOTALLY screwed musically.