* Tropical Storm: InfraRed *
~ (archive page) ~

Archive Page: Summer 2005

ARCHIVES

* ''5-Year Archive'': Autumn 2001 - Winter 2006 *
* ''5-Year Archive'': Winter 2006 - Winter 2011 *
* ''5-Year Archive'': Winter 2011 - Winter 2016 *
* ''5-Year Archive'': Winter 2016 - Winter 2021 *


Autumn 2001 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2001 (Dec-Feb) / Spring 2002 (Mar-May) / Summer 2002 (Jun-Aug) / Autumn 2002 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2002 (Dec-Feb) / Spring 2003 (Mar-May) / Summer 2003 (Jun-Aug) / Autumn 2003 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2003 (Dec-Feb) / Spring 2004 (Mar-May) / Summer 2004 (Jun-Aug) / Autumn 2004 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2004 (Dec-Feb) / Spring 2005 (Mar-May) / Summer 2005 (Jun-Aug) / Autumn 2005 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2005 (Dec-Feb) / Spring 2006 (Mar-May) / Summer 2006 (Jun-Aug) / Autumn 2006 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2006 (Dec-Feb)

((Back To Current))


Unmentioned Highlights From Previous Quarter

[ = none worth noting = ]

June 7, 2005 (Tuesday)
20:45, Hawaii Standard Time.

Received a letter from my mother saying that my grandfather has taken his final turn for the worst and is near death. I'm at a crossroads as whether to try to make a trip out there with my financial situation being what it is... especially since having no way of being able to gauge just how close to the end he really is. (I hate these f*cking reminders of our mortality!)

Also arriving was the custom-burned DVD I had requested of a BBC-2 special 3-part program called  ''The Power of Nightmares'' -- which I had originally attempted to download from the ''Internet Archive'' website a few weeks ago, but was unable to due to the fact that every single uploaded file posted was damaged almost from the very start of playback, so I was forced to find another downloadable version which was NOT a  ''BitTorrent''  file (which I could not access) and I finally came across a posting by someone in a discussion group indicating that a private individual was making the series available on a DVD-R burned disc simply for the asking. The transfer is far from perfect, but it is still light-years better than not having it at all! I had promised the woman who extended the offer that I would send her a couple of bucks to help cover her expenses and as a ''thank you'' gesture for her efforts.

June 12, 2005 (Sunday)
((Previous Week In Review))

Spent about $40 over the last few days on cords and AC adapters to try to hook up my answering telephone to the ''Caller ID'' as well as hook up the wall-mounted phone at the same time -- I actually got it all to work. During the search I also had my first look at the  iMac G5  and thought it was much more impressive than it looks in its adverts... but still I have my disagreements with it: it's ''slot-loading'' ROM drive, for one, and the larger screen really does turn me off -- of course, not to mention that it operates exclusively on  Mac OSX.

I've also been trying to contact my mother these last few days, calling what was her last known number only to receive a message taking system and no return calls as of yet. A search of the internet seems to confirm that the number was still the same.

Also put a couple of requests on the Freecycle boards asking for a couple of ethernet cords to test this internet router I dug out of our trash bin a couple of months ago -- no response to it or the  ''Outfoxed''  DVD which has been requested multiple times.

June 16, 2005 (Thursday)
14:35, Hawaii Standard Time.

Just got the call from my mother about an hour ago telling me that my granddad had died just a few hours ago at about 13:00 (Eastern Daylight Time) -- she said he was 88-years-old and died of colon cancer. I explained my situation with having just paid off this motorcycle of mine along with my other current financial limitations and the expense of making a trip out that way during this downer time; she said she understood and couldn't blame me one bit.

June 29, 2005 (Wednesday)
09:00, Hawaii Standard Time.

After a couple of calls (one earlier in the week) to  Chase Bank, re: new credit card application, I finally agreed to provided them with a ''physical'' address they claimed they needed in order to continue processing the application. And since they were saying that the 100% phony  ''PATRIOT'' Act  was requiring them to ask for this specific personal information, then I figured why not respond to a phony ''deterrence (and potentially Constitutionally over-reaching) law'' with a 100% phony ''street address''? The fact remains, however, that psyching-out the ''Government'' was not the original nor the primary purpose for the deception, but it was done mainly as a reassurance that there will be absolutely no way that any mailed solicitations or other potentially ''sensitive'' materials could ever be sent to my physical address -- which is why I maintain a Post Office Box!

July 2, 2005 (Friday)
16:35, Hawaii Standard Time.

After a mad rush to pay my bills, I stopped by the Suzuki dealership where I purchased my ''Dark Princess'' to burn up a little time prior to the start of a movie, whereupon I learned that the head salesperson who sold her to me had relocated to the Mainland about a month ago. While there I asked about how best to keep the cycle clean and bright: I was told just any old car wax would do, plus a product like  ''Armor-All''  for the molded plastic parts. I then went to the ''Signature Theaters'' which I'd sworn I'd never return to again after that wave of pre-preview advertisements prior to the showing of  ''Appleseed'' (keeping in line with ''Regal's'' policy since they bought out the theatre chain from the original owners) -- but since I learned upon my visit to one of ''Consolodated Theaters'' locations to watch the so-called ''Third Episode'' of the  ''Star Wars''  saga (the only ''prequel'' I've even bothered with) that matinee showings there are $6.75-- my ''cut-off'' point for theatre tickets --I figured I'd go ahead, save the extra quarter and 'hang outside' the screening auditorium entrance until the commercials had run their course. (''Batman Begins''  was the movie, this time.)

July 10, 2005 (Sunday)
((week in review)) Hawaii Standard Time.

Rode out to Kaneohe behind the police station & public library Sunday afternoon to finally drop off the  ''Vertical Horizon''  CD album I placed on the ''freecycle'' exchange site a few weeks prior, and talked my two favorite subjects (politics & religion) with her for probably close to two hours, I don't really know. It was nice to get out of Honolulu to someplace peaceful & quiet for a while, at least.

Also went to see  ''Sin City''  at the ''dollar theatres'' at Restaurant Row earlier in the week on a ticket someone had purchased and decided to pass on, but I did not realize he had given me the half that goes into the collection box -- even so, it did not cause a problem; just confusion. Anyway, the movie, though very stylish, was perhaps the most effective condemnation of the ''comic book'' medium one could ever expect, because by playing out exactly like a comic book / "graphic novel" reads, it showed just how ridiculous and severely 'over-the-top' most comic stories truly are.

And, as seems to be becoming a regular habit, this computer of mine is causing one headache after another: First, the DVD player in OS X is angering me because it keeps locking up the subtitles (and I can neither find upgrading software on the ''Apple'' website or the software application any of my discs -- unless I'm doing something wrong or looking in the wrong places); Then the 3rd party  ''WireTap''  application conked out on me, couldn't be reinstalled, the downloaded ''update'' was total shit, and I accidentally trashed everything related to the classic application when trying to scrub all files related to both versions except for the compressed classic version's installer file.

July 13, 2005 (Wednesday)
23:20, Hawaii Standard Time.

Thanks to the fabulous people at the main office for once again screwing up scheduling, so that when I showed up to work tonight I saw indications of a conflict, then upon inquiry I learned that no one was ''officially'' scheduled to work tonight. Even so, something good  may  have come out of it... the resident manager at the Kapiolani location reminded me that his stepfather manages a condominium complex in Aiea and was still inquiring about whether his stepson could think of anyone who might be a good candidate to move into a position being vacated by one of their staff members who will soon be retiring. I said I'd consider it, so I was given the contact number, then I asked the resident manager to call ahead to inform his stepdad that I'd call in the morning to discuss the possibility.

Prior to vacating the property I also informed the teenaged daughter of one of the residents that I would be giving her my extra DVD of  ''Urusei Yatsura'' Movie #5  (which I had loaned her a few weeks back), in light of the fact that neither of the initial respondents for this item-- which I had listed on the ''Freecycle'' website --bothered to respond to my e-mail request to call me yesterday anytime after noon-time to discuss the DVD and hand-off options.

July 14, 2005 (Thursday)
20:00, Hawaii Standard Time.

Slept longer than I had expected, having gotten up past 11:30 a.m. (but considering that I had hardly sleep at all since Monday afternoon up to about 3:00 this morning, I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised). I tried calling the resident manager in Aiea a couple of times-- once before noon, before I left to pick up the three paychecks I still had sitting in the office, and again when I returned a couple of hours later --but I was told each time that he was out, probably for the entire day, so I asked to let him know that I would call back early tomorrow morning.

After picking up & depositing my paychecks, I rode out to our former Salt Lake account to check on my ''girly-bike'' -- damned thing's still there! I'll see if I can finally go grab it this weekend.

July 18, 2005 (Monday)
19:20, Hawaii Standard Time.

Went to be interviewed by the resident manager at the Aiea condominium complex Saturday morning, but I was unable to complete the application process due to his being ''on the clock'' only a ''half-day,'' so I said I would call back today, which I did. But having been given the weekend to think thing through, I realized that even though the job would have (likely) offered more permanency & stability I would be trading off eight-plus years of ongoing experience for twice the responsibility, twice the work load and a ''starting pay rate'' that would result in what was essentially a pay cut. So when I called this afternoon, I wanted to express these concerns with him by taking these things into consideration in an attempt to negotiate a more ''reasonable'' hourly pay rate -- but he would not even allow any sort of a discussion to develop! The phone call lasted less than a minute, and the whole time while I was trying to start a dialogue I was being cut off and pressured to supply a simple  ''Yes? or No?''  answer. When he finally leveled it down to the ''bottom line'' (his words), I tried once again to explain that the answer could not be declared in a simple emphatic ''yes-or-no'' -- to which he gruffly responded:  "Well, then, the answer is, No! Good-Bye! ((*click*))''

Although this forceful and unceremonious rejection may have resulted in a delay of any potential opportunity for advancement in employment for the time being, I was most thankful to have learned prior to any agreement to accept employment from him just what I might have likely had to have dealt with on a daily basis. No thanks!!! (So he gets his 'cheap labor' from elsewhere, and I get to keep my sanity! Fair trade, I think.)

August 14, 2005 (Sunday)
((week in review)), Hawaii Standard Time.

A DVD I had ordered as part of a larger order back in February-- which got relisted as  ''Out of Stock''  immediately after having placed the order, and which I had pretty much resigned myself to never expect to receive --was finally shipped out just prior to the previous weekend and had arrived by the time I checked my mailbox on Wednesday. Un-something-ly, the item is still listed on the order website as not being available.

The movie,  ''Feng Shui,''  is the Philippines' entry into the mega-trend Asian ''vengeful spirit'' bandwagon. Very fascinating and engaging, despite bad acting and less than impressive cinematography. But one of the big beauties of the film is, literally, the presence of ''Big Beauties!'' Apparently, Filipinos do not have the same sick obsession American movie audiences have with walking female skeletons ... I could rewatch this movie over and over again just for this one fact alone!

Early yesterday morning at my 'Friday night' worksite I loaned my personal collection of poetry & prose to the mother of the teenaged girl who I gave my extra  ''Urusei Yatsura'' Movie #5  DVD to, since she showed great interest in the Dylan Thomas poem I'd transcribed for her a couple of weeks ago. Hers were the first eyes to invade my personal reflections of two decades of pain, frustration, anxiety and life-adjustment, plus a few tender moments here & there. Some of that stuff really started coming back to me as I skimmed through most of its pages.

After work I went and applied for another supermarket's ''club card'' after being almost exclusively a customer of only one chain of supermarkets on the Island for almost the entire time of my being a resident here. I plan on using it for the first time tomorrow morning.

Tonight I spent an extensive amount of time trying to streamline the ''system folder'' files on the  ''Jade Succubus,''  hoping to clear up some space on the now filled-to-capacity 20 GB hard disc by eliminating the duplicate system folder transferred over from  ''Oyuki-chan.''

August 30, 2005 (Tuesday)
14:00, Hawaii Standard Time.

After two separate attempts for as many weeks to get them to waive an assessed ''late payment'' penalty, I contacted ''Capital One'' and requested that my  ''MasterCard''  account be terminated with them. Having a pair of  ''Visa''  accounts to fall back on (both of which having relatively clearly formatted ''account activity'' webpages) deactivating the ''BastardCard'' account was no huge loss... except for the tacked-on $30 late fee I was still ''obligated'' to pay, which resulted in a final payment with them of over $88. Even so, had it not been for the 'late charge' pushing me over the edge, I still would have canceled the card anyway after this whole situation involving the 'compromising' of  ''MasterCard''  and  ''Discover Card''  accounts -- and still no word on which issuing banks were affected.


ARCHIVES

* ''5-Year Archive'': Autumn 2001 - Winter 2006 *
* ''5-Year Archive'': Winter 2006 - Winter 2011 *
* ''5-Year Archive'': Winter 2011 - Winter 2016 *
* ''5-Year Archive'': Winter 2016 - Winter 2021 *


Autumn 2001 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2001 (Dec-Feb) / Spring 2002 (Mar-May) / Summer 2002 (Jun-Aug) / Autumn 2002 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2002 (Dec-Feb) / Spring 2003 (Mar-May) / Summer 2003 (Jun-Aug) / Autumn 2003 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2003 (Dec-Feb) / Spring 2004 (Mar-May) / Summer 2004 (Jun-Aug) / Autumn 2004 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2004 (Dec-Feb) / Spring 2005 (Mar-May) / Summer 2005 (Jun-Aug) / Autumn 2005 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2005 (Dec-Feb) / Spring 2006 (Mar-May) / Summer 2006 (Jun-Aug) / Autumn 2006 (Sep-Nov) / Winter 2006 (Dec-Feb)

((Back To Current))



Click for Honolulu, Hawaii Forecast

Click for Honolulu, Hawaii Forecast