The ins and outs of Yvo’s life.
June 29th, 2005 Yvo
So it looks like the sellers accepted our offer for $130,000!!! On Friday I have an inspector perform an inspection (what else would they do) in the condo. If all goes well (like the inspection comes back good, etc.) then on July 27th, Cam and myself are moving into our own home!!
Finally some major changes are on its way. So the condo comes with a built in microwave and I bought one last week. Looks like I’ll be going off to Walmart to get a refund in store credit (I lost my receipt, I keep Albertsons receipts but not walmart receipts… great scott!). Thankfully we didn’t open the item though so it shouldn’t be too hard.
I already contacted Puget Sound Energy that I am taking over the electricity bill on July 28th and talked to my employer, Speakeasy, to get 6.0mbit dsl installed by the 31st. Qwest will hook up a phone line by the end of July as well. Big things are happening I tell ya!
In other news… Alisa IM’d me out of the blue last night. It was sort of surprising. I really didn’t ever to communicate between one another. We talked things out and it looks like Alisa has matured a lot since our last encounter last year. Too bad major drama seems to surround her blog (especially in it’s comments section). Oh well… let them bicker. I said what I needed to say.
Tomorrow (Today I suppose) I am going to see Batman Begins with Cammy and then we are going to do something after that. Al in all… it shall be a wonderful day. Have to go to bed at 9pm though tomorrow as I will have to wake up at 3:30am. Good news is that I don’t work July 4th!!
Welp that is all for now…
Yvo
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June 28th, 2005 Yvo
So yesterday I was at work and at around 10am my mom calls me up super excited saying that they found a better condo. They emailed me a copy of the sheet and all I saw was the price and basically I had a heart attack. I kept positive though, thinking Marilena will do her magic. I didn’t see any of the pictures either due to me working and actually trying to stay focused on that specific task.
But when I got there… my heart melted. I love this condo. It is everything the other wasn’t. This apartment is already modernized and it just looks pretty. The kitchen and bathroom have marble slab as counters… HOW COOL IS THAT!!
Here are some pics to just melt over…
Also this place is eligible for much faster (& cheaper) internet. So we brought an offer on the house and now we will wait. Hopefully by the end of June that gorgeous apartment will belong to my love Cam and myself… and I think that chance is VERY likely.
Yvo
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June 26th, 2005 Yvo
So yesterday I announced that I am buying a condo…
This is going to be a major step in my life. The condo is located in the Renton Highlands along Sunset Blvd. It isn’t in a high class neighborhood but it is a good place to start out with. I bought a unit far away from the road and on the backside so that I won’t get bothered by people driving by. Plus… I’ll actually own it!
Here is a description of the condo:
I don’t like the color on the outside either, if that is what you were thinking. I have some inside pics but they aren’t the greatest so I am not posting them.
So there is my project for the next few months. I am finishing up our dining table and it is coming along very nicely.
Boy I can’t wait to move out of Fairwood, this place reminds me of too many things and unfortunately most of them aren’t all very positive. Hell I can’t even go get pizza anymore from Papa Murphys by being reminded of the past. I’m not uncomfortable going there its just its time for me to move with my dearest Cammy Cam who I love so much.
I’ll keep this thing updated…
Yvo
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June 25th, 2005 Yvo
Yup… I am buying a condo. It is located in Renton, Highlands area. More details to come…
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June 23rd, 2005 Yvo
Wow haven’t updated in almost a week. So what has happened? Well I am working a ton right now. Back to doing 40 hour weeks (actually 41 this week) and I love every minute of it. I even enjoy the bus rides home. Sure it takes 2 hours (1 hour there, 1 hour back) to get there and I have to wake up a hour earlier then I used to do, but I totally love it.
I have a wide variety of issues at my work ranging from people that want me to help with how to setup their wireless network to dsl outage problems. Then from paying their bill all the way to people canceling or trying to save them from leaving (I like doing the latter better). Unlike at Verizon Wireless where there was a constant flow of calls, maybe 20-30 seconds interval between calls, here there is sometimes a nice 6-7 minute rest period. They are super relaxed in their web surfing policy too, I’m even allowed to instant message people (only with Trillian though). The biggest downside is that next week I start a hell shift… I work Fridays through Tuesdays… 5am to 1:30pm. So I have to go to bed early and I have no weekends. The positive side that it is only for a month. You can compare it to college hazing… they really want to see if you can last. Apparently all the n00bs have to go through this one at Speakeasy. Another thing I like about my job is the fact that a lot of people are my age. Whereas my former job that was always used against me, here it is something they respect. Wow a 20 year old filling the position that most people goto college for. I just smile when I hear that. I also think that I am the only one on my team that got a pay raise out of this job, everyone else got pay cuts. Other people on my team include a guy who was head of Exchange development at Microsoft and took a major paycut. Another is a former project manager at SBC and so on.
Cammy and I are doing wonderful. Currently we are wrapping things up on our future home. Yup I am buying not renting. My parents and their real estate friend convinced me to buy not rent. A big requirement is that I live in the area of a CO so I can get fast DSL service. I only have to pay $20 per month for high quality DSL service (6.0 mbit down / 768 kbit up). Cammy and I spent Sunday evening walking along the beach of Alki. We talked about various things like the past and the present and of course our future. I really think her and I do well and I love her very very much. She makes me smile at random moments. It is a great feeling. Tonight we ate sushi in Seattle after Cam came to my work. She came right as I got out. We took bus #4 to Queen Anne had some Ototo and then took #4 back to downtown, hopped on to #101 (which was right behind #4) and wala we were on our way home.
Welp that is all for now…
Later gator!
Yvo
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June 17th, 2005 Yvo
Alright maybe that sounded too positive, but hey I am happy. The weekend is here! Finished week 2 (of 3) of training today. Only one week left until my schedule from hell takes effect. However I took one for the team and because of that I get first choice when new schedules become available. So I have high hopes for a better schedule. I can’t wait until September when I become a full employee. I really am missing some key benefits such as free medical, higher pay, paid bus fare. So I am counting down the days until September.
Work has been good though. We did a lot of tech support calls today and I of course got the “DSL hard down” requiring me to call Covad, which has its support located in India. Oh well, I’ll make the best of it I suppose.
Cammy and I are doing okay. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to spend the amount of time we would have liked the last few days but hopefully things will change. I love her very much and in the end that is the single most important thing. We will overcome what ever we need and so far we have done quite well, in my opinion.
Welp that is all I have for now. Going to redo a dining table this weekend. I’ll try to remember to make before & after pics.
Out!
Yvo
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June 12th, 2005 Yvo
Yup it is true, Apple will use Intel processors in their next generation computers. By June 6, 2006 (06-06-06 anyone, aka 666) Apple will have released at least one Intel powered Mac.
For the non nerdy, Apple has been using an architecture called PowerPC since 94 and before that the Motorola 68k architecture. While PC has been using the x86 architecture invented by Intel (386, 486, 586 (Pentium), 686 (Pentium II - Pentium 4), 786 (Pentium D - and on). In lamens terms architectures are different languages. x86 speaks French, whereas PowerPC speaks German. Now this isn’t the exact differences, however saying that they speak different languages seems a little easier to understand without going into detail.
Basically the big reason why Apple is switching over to Intel is because IBM (the current PowerPC chip supplier) isn’t making the chip fast enough and the G5s (sort of like the Pentium 4, only in apple land aka Generation 5) are very hot aka they create a TON of heat. The high end Powermac currently requires watercooling to function properly. No Intel computer needs this plus the Pentium M in laptops are very efficient with heat. In other words, completely opposite of what Apple has at this moment in time. So Apple looked at the future of PowerPC and just didn’t see it anymore. Will this mean the PowerPC will be unsupported? Nope. First of all PowerPC will be supported for the next 5-6 years (at least). Apple even has new PowerPC products coming out. Apple will do this by having all programs by developers be developed with Xcode that can create “universal” binaries, meaning they can run on both Intel & PowerPC.
All applications for the next decade will be developed for the PowerPC so Intel needs help in running old PowerPC applications (as PowerPC was first) and Apple has a solution to that as well. They call this Rosetta. Apparently it will translate the PowerPC language to Intel. The PowerPC architecture won’t need this as I said, they were first and new applications will continue to be developed for the PowerPC as 95% of current Macs (some are still running 68k) are PowerPC and to abandon the platform when its only a checkbox away (see above) would be stupid. This transition is supposed to be transparent for the consumer. I hope that will be the case. I am still happy with my Mac and I know that my system will be good for the next 5-6 years but there are a lot of consumers that will see this as an “End of Life” product. They are wrong.
Here is FAQ written that will answer most, if not all questions…
PPC to Intel - F.A.Q.
This is going to open all kinds of new possibilities for Apple. Microsoft Windows also runs on the x86 architecture. What will this do for Apple? Well Mac OS X (the operating system) will continue to only run on Apple built computers (of course someone will hack it but without Apple drivers… good luck), but how about Windows on a Mac or better; Windows WITHIN Mac OS X. This will allow business to continue their current Windows applications but enjoy the stability and beauty of Mac OS X. Sure this is available now but it is very slow as it has to convert PowerPC to Intel by a virtual layer. However now it wont have to convert anymore and most applications will be able to run at 80-90% of their current speed. If Apple plays their game right (and lately they have, they came late to the market with the iPod and now own 76% of the market):
It’s an exciting time once again for a company that almost went bankrupt in the mid 90s. I’m glad and proud to be an owner of an Apple iPod and iMac. Soon my own brother will (hopefully) own a new iBook by Apple.
Oh btw… the guy in all the pictures is Steve Jobs, CEO (and Co-Founder) of Apple. He was fired in the mid 80s and rehired in 1997 when Apple bought NeXT.
This presentation took place on Monday June 6th at the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) for Apple.
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June 12th, 2005 Yvo
So my last post wasn’t the most positive. My dad got home on Friday and on Saturday he basically wanted to resolve things. I think out of all of this my parents finally understand me a lot more. I had no bad intentions in all of this and no one had to apologize. We talked it out like mature adults. Forwarding a copy of my post also helped. However Cam and I are still moving out in July. We are ALMOST done. Last night we went to Walmart were we saw a few things we definitely want. They have cheap & nice vacuum cleaners there. Her and I are still deciding whether it will just be her and me or someone else as well. Budget wise I have everything down to gas usage calculated. So who knows…
Friday was an interesting day at work. From the moment we started the internal software system was down so we basically didn’t do much all day. We went home around 3:30 because of the system. Worked 32 hours this week, this number will be bumped up to 40 though the moment training is over. On Friday we did get our desks and a slip where we had to request supplies. I requested a ton of stuff. All my desk had was a monitor, keyboard, mouse (no mouse pad though), a light and a phone. I asked for binders, paper trays, stapler, tape, pens, mouse pad, fan, and other things. Well they said we should do that, so I did.
Oh and last night I stepped foot into Papa Murphys. My ex works there and she was helping out customers as well as someone else however the moment it was our turn she did everything but helping out customers. It was quite funny to watch actually. Looks like someone still has some feelings. Gave Cam and I good laughs.
Welp that is it for this Sunday.
Yvo
PS I have password locked the post below. If you want to read it though, the password is 060905
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June 9th, 2005 Yvo
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June 3rd, 2005 Yvo
It is funny how the big budget movies seem to come out during the nicest season of the year. In any case these are some of the movies I’ll be going to this summer.
-Mr. & Mrs. Smith - this movie just looks funny. Definitely not thought provoking.
-Batman Begins - I saw the 10 minute preview after the smallville season finale. I really hope this movie will re-awaken the Batman series.
-Bewitched - Loved the TV series and the premise of this movie is better then I expected (surprisingly).
-War of the Worlds - Come on… Spielberg & Cruise working together again. I loved Minority Report and Spielberg always makes some great movies. Hell he helped on SW Ep 3 during some of the battle scenes (Yoda vs. Darth Sidious & Obi Wan vs. Anakin) and they were awesome.
-Fantastic Four - I loved the comic & TV series, there is no way I am missing this one.
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Woohoo, finally a remake and one by Tim Burton as well.
-Wedding Crashers - A stupid comedy but I know I’ll be laughing.
-The Island - Surprisingly I might see this. McGregor did very well in Gattaca. The premise sounds promising. Plus the screenplay is written by Alias writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
-November - This one might be the most “thought” provoking of all as it is a thriller / mystery.
-Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo - Another movie set in Amsterdam (seems Amsterdam is being used more and more in movies, yay!) and sequel to Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo… I’ll be there.
Notice that these are in order of release dates as well with Mr. & Mrs Smith coming out next week and Deuce Bigalow first week of August. A span of 2 months. If I were to buy all these at non matinee prices (meaning after 7pm and before 6am), this summer is going to set me back $90 in movie tickets alone not counting gas, food, drink and paying for someone else. However I’ll get approx. 25+ hours of entertainment.
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