It’s not new news, most assuredly, but feedback for the XP SP3 patch has not been favorable.

Yesterday I installed SP3 for the first time on a brand new computer from Dell (Optiplex 330, core 2 duo), and Windows updates no longer worked. I had to manually try installing IE7, and could do that, but not through Windows update. Also, when installing other 3rd party applications, there were problems with them failing out, and various hiccups which made me decide to scrap it.

I’m just wiping it clean.

I shoulda checked the forums first. My bad. Though there are people coming out saying nothing bad has happened to them, so I guess it only got some and I was unlucky.

Here’s a forum with some complaints about the upgrade.

I work in IT. My current job is as a System Support Technician. I get to go to the servers sometimes on base, but mainly am in the office working with data, or configuring the different test servers in the office. I don’t hate the job, and some days am really happy when I learn something new, but other times I wonder about my job. It’s a job where I fix things that are broken, and setup things. It’s different from other jobs where I knew what I was doing, and working hard usually yielded good results. With this job, I can work for hours and days on a problem, and feel as if I yield no results. As an example, our boss was going to demo our applications to some very big people, and I had to configure the laptop server she’d take along with her. It was buggy, and if I had more time I would have liked to wipe it clean and start from scratch, but had to just plug away at it and apply some fixes, and hope for the best. If my job was to demo the laptop, I’d work very hard on what I was going to say and do and research and all that… but since my job is making sure the laptop works, it becomes an entirely different kind of pressure when things start happening like services won’t automatically start on bootup. I worked on it for many days, and I was still scared even though it was tested and seemed fine. I am still new to the field, and have only been working in IT for 2 years now. So I guess things will probably change for me if I stick with it.

Recently I’ve wondered if I should pursue my original plan of being an English instructor at a community college, since a master’s degree is sufficient, and doesn’t seem impossible for me to obtain thanks to evening classes. I do miss writing and reading. Nowadays I only buy computer books, and I don’t write unless I’m writing instructions for someone on how to install applications and configure a server.

I strayed from English when I was in school because my family was always broke, and needed money. So I went for a career that I thought would pay, and being an indecisive person, I also locked myself into a major which would help determine my future career for me. I like problem-solving, so server work suits me more than anything else I’ve seen in the IT field. I do lean a lot, but have much to learn.

2 years later, I don’t know whether or not I’d be better off going back to school or pursuing IT to the fullest.

I took my A+ OS test (220-302) at the University of Phoenix testing center, located in beautiful downtown Honolulu less than 12 hours ago. Thankfully I passed even though I didn’t have much time to study, so I’ll be hoping for that certificate in the mail.
The company I work at now doesn’t care if I have certifications or not, but I had started out taking the Hardware portion (220-301) in January when I was still working at the Help Desk as the Lead, and wishing i could quit every day.

I work with Servers, so I might think of persuing some server certifications. And maybe becomming Mac certified since I own a mac at home, and prefer using it to PCs. I hate the image mac has been manufacturing for itself, but i still can’t dis the product itself. I was thoroughly happy with my G4 12″ powerbook. Too bad I dropped it so many times it broke. Now I have the 15″ MacBook Pro and it gets super hot, and the fan is pretty noisy. I bought it only 3 months ago, in March, and am wondering if I’ll be taking it in this year for problems or not. (Hopefully not!)

I work with a couple of talented programmers who tell me certifications don’t mean anything to them, but I went to college and studied MIS, where they taught me nothing about being a computer technician, so everything I know about computers had to be learnt on the job, or through reading and experimenting on my own… so I don’t dis certs, but I don’t think they mean you know what you’re doing even if you have one. I know my major in college was more geared towards me becomming a business analyst but i don’t think i’d be happy in that position.

Sometimes I wish I could just leave IT alltogether though… and do something more fun. I guess I am interested in many things, and able to learn so I’ve done things like fix navigation systems on helicopters for the army national guard, and work in distance education editing and td-ing for live classes, and radio broadcasting, and management, and promotional work as the music director for my college radio station, and was a recording engineer at the hawaii public radio station down here… i’ve done a lot i guess. just cause i am a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none type of person. i don’t think its bad, but its hard since i don’t really know what i want to do aside from make money.

BUT: if all jobs paid the same amount of money, i think i would like to produce music videos, or make short movies. or work on a television series. or produce my own beats and collab with my favorite artists. hehe. dreaming huh? but yeah. I passed my test today, and am hopeful in 10 years i’m happy with my career.

Though I am not a total brand-name person when it comes to clothing (though I did go through a Banana Republic phase not too long ago) I am super picky about purchasing a laptop bag, and love some of the STM line of laptop bags. STM is a company that’s based in Australia and specializes in bags to lug around digital gadgets. I came across them by chance online through a mac forum when I was first looking for a cool laptop bag.

I recently ordered the STM Medium alley bag in the carbon color. It fits my newly purchased macbook pro 15-inch great. I got my macbook pro because I dropped my 12-inch powerbook and the display died completely. I took out the hard drive, and bought this macbook pro on clearance, so it has the core duo chip, and not the core 2 duo. But it was only $1299 so it was a great deal!

The bag has a nice vertical zipper pocket along the front flap which comes in surprisingly handy, and a horizontal one along the back of the bag which rests against my hip.

The main pocket also has room for my folders, and there are sub-pockets that fit my power adapter, and other accessories. In all this bag is awesome.

I’m interested in seeing what a Friday is like at my new company. I was happy to discover I’m allowed to wear headphones, and listened to the Soma FM “groove salad” stream, which I like most of all so far. Most everyone else who does listen to music, has some kind of mp3 player but I hook up straight to the back of the CPU so I’m literally connected to my PC while I sit at my desk. It’s kinda geeky when I think about it.

I decided to take the the Tech route. Most of the women I meet in this field choose the Business Systems Analyst or Project Manager route, but I decided I want to work with Servers which is why I took this job. The guy I’m dating was a Tech II, but decided to become a Business Systems Analyst at my old company, and he says he is glad he took the opportunity because it helped him decide he wants to go back to Tech stuff and not be a BA for the rest of his career in IT.

I still have a lot to learn, but have been practicing on my machine at work. I installed LyX, the Oracle server software, imported some users, and also got to install ANT, Apache, Tomcat and Orion, and am learning how to deal with PDAs since I never got to touch one before. I’m also being trained about the software our company writes, and how to use the different applications, and the business purposes they server our clients; and will be working mainly on application deployments once I’m trained. We have servers in Korea, Alaska, Japan, Okinawa, and Hawaii so far.

But yeah: listening to music is one of the best perks to me about the new job. Definitely different than Help Desk at my old company.

I also got a pda issued to me by the company. It’s a Tungsten T2. I’m not used to PDAs or handhelds at all, so it’s been cool to play with it. I have to get used to using one because I’ve never really needed one before.

I have to decide between HMSA and Kaiser for my health insurance coverage. I also need to decide what to do with my 401 (k) and my life insurance from my other company. I hate dealing with all this stuff. I suck at it.

Overall this is the end of my first full week at the company, and I’m happy I made the decision to move on from my old job. I heard the Director of IS is currently the Help Desk Team Lead since I left the company. No one else wanted the position, apparently. It was tough in a lot of ways, and I truly value my time in Help Desk since it helped me move on to this company where they are willing to train me, and took a chance on me. I feel very lucky and thankful, and I hope I don’t let people down.

I puked twice and went to my sister’s wedding party anyway.

I puked once last night at my going away party, and then one more time this morning (hana hou!)

oh man. i hate tequilla. but somehow i ended up with 2 shots of those last night. tequilla STILL = guaranteed puke for me.

i was also coming down with a cold at the end of my very last day of work at Help Desk. I am surely going to miss the people a lot. My throat was starting to get sore by 4 yesterday, but I went to the party anyways. Thanks to Eric for planning it. I had fun, even though I puked.

I almost ended up skipping out on the wedding party this morning just cause I woke up with a sore throat, mean headache, and then puked again. My nose was all stuffy and runny too. But then I realized this is my sister’s wedding party and I really had to go. I showed up late, but I’m glad I went. The party was at The Oceanarium, located in the Pacific Beach Hotel. The buffet was a brunch, so I had mahi, eggs benedict with salmon, fruits, waffles, and some other things. It was very good and I ate slowly, and didn’t feel too sick at all. It was a nice time, though I felt kinda out of it. At least my headache and nausea had disappeared by the time I got there. The sore throat wasn’t so bad since I took Kris’ advice and gargled with vinegar in the morning when I woke up.

Thanks to kris for driving me home, cause i don’t even remember the car ride or getting into bed. I just woke up and was like: wow. How’d I get here? my last memory was leaving Karaoke Hut to go to the car, and walking through muddy puddles in the street. Oh, and Kris putting a big box in my lap in case I was gonna puke again. hehehe. I remember being kinda drunk and confused, thinking – what’s with this big box Kris is making me hold on to? And then he put a towel under it. but I was tired, so I just put my hands on the box and that’s all I remember about the car ride.

I really am gonna miss the people at my old work place, and am glad i am able to leave the job and actually miss it. it means i didn’t stay too long. And like justin was telling me: towards the end I only really could remember all the good things, and there are many good things about the place I’ll miss. Not being able to eat lunch downtown anymore kinda sucks big-time!

I’m going to be working in Waikiki at a local Software company. I get to work with servers and will meet new people on my first day of work on Monday. I start at 9, and we’ll see how it goes. My throat’s still a little sore, so I spent all day sleeping, and will probably go back to bed soon.

I watched episode 118 of Bleach, and Sifu was right – it was pretty good. Ikkaku seems real cool.

I had a good day even though I only really did stuff for like, 2 hours, and slept all day otherwise. Seeing my sister, Davy, and all the relatives and friends was really nice. I’m super glad I decided not to opt out. I would have always regretted it.

I feel real happy about everything. And a little bit nervous bout the new job, but excited too.

I feel very lucky, and can’t really complain. I’m not even mad I puked. Everything worked out fine, and I just hope I can kick this cold before Monday so I don’t have to start my new job feeling sick.

Thanks to everyone who made my time at Help Desk memorable, and to everyone who’s wished me luck or congratulated me and been so supportive / encouraging. I am real lucky and very thankful.

The System Support Technician job I applied for back in the beginning of February finally came through this past Friday (2/23) and I was offered the position. I submitted my resignation as Help Desk Lead to my current boss today, and he asked me if I could ask for 3 weeks before leaving instead of 2. We are short-staffed, and he doesn’t know who to designate as the Lead in my place.

I felt awkward resigning, but it has been tough being the Lead of such a poorly under-staffed Help Desk. There were 6 full-time members of the Team when I started, and we are now down to 4 of us. I am leaving, and one guy just won a position on the Desktop Team last week, so he’ll be leaving them when they hire more replacements. My boss says no one is applying to work in Help Desk. I feel he may lose the remaining team members if he doesn’t fill some positions quickly, but if no one is applying, than I don’t know what can be done.

I explained to him that I was no longer learning anything new in IT as the Lead of HD, and I’ve wanted to work with Servers for a year now, so I felt it was time to move on. I hope they find some new people soon. I feel like 3 weeks will last forever, but I’m sure it’ll be over before I know it.

I’m thankful I had the opportunity to work in Help Desk because it was a lot of work and stress, and can only have helped me to prepare for other jobs. Hopefully things are better at this new company I’m moving over to. They are a local software development company and I would help to deploy the application at sites who will be using it. I’m so thankful they are willing to teach me, and giving me the opportunity to learn and develop more skills as an IT professional. I finally graduated from Help Desk!!! wooo hoo!!!! I hope I do good in my new position. I don’t know when I start yet, but am looking forward to the challenges and gaining more skills. Cause… dudes like chicks with skills, right? ;P

I’ve been working at the Help Desk for almost 2 years. Mid-May makes 2 years from when I first got hired, and graduated from college. I still remember the old days, when we had a different crew. There were 6 of us, and everyone worked hard and helped each other out. There was always so much work to do. I remember being excited and scared since it was my first “real” job.

2 & 1/2 weeks ago I had an interview with another company, and I want the job so bad. I’d get to work with Servers and applications support / deployment. The owner / president of the company interviewed me herself, and seemed like a really cool lady. Another guy who I’d be working with interviewed me as well, and also was very nice and I felt really good about their company.

A friend of mine is one of their Lead Programmers / Developers. He told me about the open position, but has a policy of his own to never recommend people for jobs. So I applied, got interviewed, and am hoping to hear back.

Within my current company, a Desktop Technician position opened up, and I interviewed for that one on Friday since I hadn’t heard from the woman at the other company yet.

On Thursday (2/15) my boss (The Director of IS) called me into his office. I’m now a Technical Analyst II, and I got a raise as well for being the Lead and doing a good job. I felt a little weird knowing that I’ve been starting to interview for positions outside the company. If I had to choose between staying at this company in the Desktop position, or moving to the other company, I would choose to move.

When I get depressed, or don’t feel like dealing with certain things going on in life, I sleep. In school, I would get tired, and sleep all the time. Now that things at work have gotten as bad as I’ve ever seen them, I’m tired all the time. Last night I went to bed at 9PM, and woke up this morning at 9AM. I could feel the dreaded Monday nibbling away at the back of my relaxing Sunday. Recently, I dropped my beloved motorola razr v3 (black) on the floor in my bedroom, and killed the display entirely. The screen remained black, though the phone itself could still make calls when I tested it out.

This morning after I forced myself out of bed, I went running and invited Justin to go with me. It’s good running with him because we’re both kinda bad runners. His excuse being that he smokes and hasn’t gone running since last August. Mine’s being that I don’t push myself very hard. I am not marathon material, and often start walking when I should be pushing myself to go on. It was a nice morning though, and the sunshine and the scenic views were enough to make me feel good about things.

After running, Justin came with me as I replaced my broken Motorola Razr v3 (1st gen) with an updated Motorola Razr v3xx, which I got from a cool-enough sales guy from the Sears Ala Moana Cingular outlet. His name was Curtis, and his customer service was the best I ever got from a Cingular store, ever. I was sad to lose my saved images, ring tones, and text messages that were on the old phone, but I dropped it, and the display totally died. I renewed my contract so I could get the phone for $49 after the $50 mail-in rebate. The v3xx is larger (its longer) than the v3. It has more functions, including the ability to play music and the ability to connect as a drive to your PC, so you can upload and download files. I can’t remember if the V3 had bluetooth (thinking it did) but I use it on my phone to transfer photos to my computer. Overall I’ve been satisfied with the upgrade.

the updated razr: motorola razr v3xx

my o.g. motorola razr v3

I’ve been feeling both good and bad about the relationship with the guy I’m dating. I was a little scared to invite him to my sister’s wedding party, but am glad I did since he accepted to being my guest with no hesitation. It’s going to be on a Sunday morning at the Oceanarium in Waikiki.

Tomorrow I get to start work late, but am worried about the rest of the week. I can only pray the interview I went to pans out well for me. It’s only been a little over a week since my interview for the position of Systems Support Technician. I really am hurting at Help Desk in the Lead position, because we normally have 6 people, but are now down to 3.

Today I took the CompTIA A+ Core Hardware exam (220-301) and I passed! Yes!If you are thinking of taking it, you might be interested to know that the version I took today (2003) will be “retired” on June 30, 2007. They changed the format for the new 2006 version. The 2003 version had 2 parts: Hardware, and OS. The new 2006 version also requires you to take 2 exams. The required exam is the CompTIA A+ Essentials, and then you can choose from 3 different tests which specialize on different types of tech support positions that the test candidate might be interested in pursuing, or is currently working in / towards. I honestly don’t like the sound of it since it seems more restrictive if, say: you take a test tailoring to Remote Support Technician (call center, help desk, etc.) and you find yourself interested in a Bench Technician, or Enterprise / IT Technician position. Just my opinion. Here are links to study guides approved by the CompTIA site. Make sure to note whether or not it is for the 2003 or 2006 version if you make a purcase!

It was 100 questions long, multiple choice, and 90 minutes were allotted for the exam. There was an additional 15 minutes to read the terms and accept them before beginning the exam, and a survey that was 15 minutes long at the end of the exam. I took 1 hour to complete everything. That test cost me $158 baby! This is the last year you can take the 2003 version of the test, so if you want to take the 2003 version, you only have til the end of June 2007.

I was the only person there, and I wore my new jack swing suit to the exam. I take what I wear to tests very seriously. Today’s theme was “no fear.”

Now I have to schedule the OS portion of the exam. Afterwards I met up with the guy I’m dating and we had a couple of drinks at a bar alongside the ocean. And now I’m at home waiting for him to show up so we can hang out. It’s been a good week so far. It’s Friday night, I passed my exam, and yes — I just got paid. Awww yeah!