remote training class

2012-Sep-24, Monday 11:47 am
mellowtigger: (penguin coder)
Word of advice: don't take a traditional computer class remotely when you have only one monitor at your pc.

I'm supposed to spend all week in a SQL 2012 Administration class.  The first two hours have already been immensely frustrating.  I'm skipping lunch to go buy another pc screen.  I wasn't intending to spend this money.  In fact, I've refused all these years to buy a second monitor because of my environmentalist objections (using electricity on an unnecessary device).  Today, however, that extra monitor has become necessary.  I will not pay attention to class if I have to maintain 4 different windows on a single screen: 2 pdf books, 1 instructor slideshow, and 1 remote virtual machine (window in a window).  I've already given up, and we've only started.

I'll go to the local Microcenter to buy another screen on short notice. I favor screens with 16:10 resolution ratio, which means my new monitor will be a little more expensive than equivalent devices.  I like Dell's attachment bar, but their screen only has 8ms response time.  I'm not sure, is that fast enough for smooth screens with computer games?  My current screen is 5ms response time, and it works great.  I generally trust Tom's Hardware, and their forum suggests that 8ms will work fine for non-professional gamers, and Maximum PC's review article concurs, with caveats.

Okay, it's decided.  I'm spending $330 at lunch today for Dell's U2412M monitor.

frickin' frackin' !!!

2011-Aug-09, Tuesday 08:00 am
mellowtigger: (disconnect)
That house I wanted?  Its listing got pulled for a while, so I thought some other lucky person got it.

I see now that it's back up and another $5k cheaper.  Now, it's listed for only $30k!

GAH!  Why does the bank think I'm a bad loan candidate when they tell me outright they they only find good credit history and a good credit score?! GAH!!!

local: car review?

2011-Aug-07, Sunday 09:58 am
mellowtigger: (Terry 2010)
Are you any good at reviewing a car before purchase? I may have found one that I'd like to buy. I'd rather have someone else also look it over, since my skill last time obviously wasn't as great as I'd hoped.  This car is at David's Auto here in Columbia Heights. I didn't think to write down the long VIN number from the dashboard, but here's what I did get:I've been trying to limit my vehicle search to stuff that has gas mileage around 20 mi/ga.  I also want to spend less than $2000.  I haven't had much luck finding undamaged vehicles at auction that I want.  Similarly, my two criteria have eliminated most everything I find posted on Craigslist.  Is everyone dumping their gas guzzlers this year while hanging onto their small economy cars?

I also checked out the possibility of leasing a car for only part of the year.  Way too expensive.  The webpage for Enterprise car rental estimated $3800 for a 5-month lease.  That amount of money would cover the purchase of a used car plus one expensive repair bill.

I rode my bicycle this morning out to two local used car lots.  Honestly, their stuff looks like they bought everything at auction, worked repairs on them, then dropped the cars in the lot without any price stickers or other info posted on them.  Seems lazy to me.  The Dodge that I found above was one of the few to have details on it.

there, i'm helping.

2011-Jul-25, Monday 12:05 am
mellowtigger: (the more you know)
Every time I make a boneheaded programming mistake or fail to remember a math formula that I once knew, I wish I was living my life doing something that kept me focused on a single task and technology instead of needing to dabble in so many different and distracting things. I increasingly notice that I forget the skills that I don't use daily. Still, though, I can do small things that help the people who actually do the hard research.

encouragement is better than nothing

A month or two ago, I read a curious story about an observation of a brand new kind of chemical reaction. Instead of a reaction being driven by the traditional energy and motion in these molecules, they found that quantum mechanical tunneling caused some chemical reactions. It means (I think) that some reactions can occur while needing much less energy than expected. This story was something quite new to me, and I forwarded it one of my ex-boyfriends ("the chemist") via email. He emailed back quickly to agree that it was an interesting story. A few weeks later, though, he emailed again to say that exactly such a project may enter his lineup of research soon! Yay!

GDP and penile lengthYesterday, I encountered a story so absurd that I had to submit it as a nomination to the Ig Nobel committee. I got an email reply within 30 minutes, stating, "Thanks, Terry. A worthy nominee." The story was about a doctoral student at the University of Helsinki who compared male penile length to economic performance in various countries. Within a single year (1985), there didn't seem to be much correlation, but when comparing growth from 1960-1985, the data suddenly shifted into a very nice arrangement.

"Economic growth between 1960 and 1985 is negatively associated with the size of male organ, and it alone explains 20% of the variation in GDP growth. With due reservations it is also found to be more important determinant of GDP growth than country's political regime type. ... Although all evidence is suggestive at this stage, the 'male organ hypothesis' put forward here is robust to exhaustive set of controls and rests on surprisingly strong correlations."
- https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/27239/HECER-DP335.pdf

How unexpected a correlation is that?! Could we guess that male ego insecurity might increase economically aggressive pursuits, while the less threatened are more complacent? The whole thing reminds me of the stereotypical monster truck (or sports car) and its inverse relationship with male "ratings" in bed. I hope the author wins an Ig Nobel prize from the nomination and thereby gains some attention for the work. It's certainly no less absurd than the nonsense that mainstream economists are babbling these days. *laugh*

not gonna happen

2011-Jul-21, Thursday 09:04 am
mellowtigger: (Terry 2010)
Thomas Avenus gardenA year ago or so, I talked to two banks about home loans and they both told me on the phone that they didn't work with loans "under $100,000".  I've had more success this year on that point, but I've now been turned down twice because I don't have enough debt.  It's bad to live by the goals of simplification and self-sufficiency when applying for a big loan.  You have to be in debt (and paying religiously) in order to qualify for more debt.  I was told again this morning that my credit score is good, but there's just not enough involvement/history for anyone to offer a loan.

It's really a shame too.  That $35K house really would've been a nice small place for me to retire someday.  The mortgage (even with taxes and insurance) would have been cheaper than my current rent.  It needed a few repairs, but none of them sounded expensive.  Oh, and just 3 or so houses south of it, there was this nifty little urban garden that I could have used too.  All that, and only 1 mile from work.

I am disappointed that it's not going to happen.  :(

Meanwhile I was told that I should try to build more "alternative lines of credit".  Paying car insurance each month would count.  So would paying a store credit card.  The pet store is always on my case to get a card when I buy cat litter.  I may have to take them up on their offer.  That would get me the last line of credit that I need.  I could someday quality for a house loan because I buy cat litter on a pet store credit card.  That's how messed up the American financial system is.  *facepalm*

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