Monthly Archive for September, 2008

New Phone Decision

Published
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xijio
on September 24, 2008
in Uncategorized
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So I’ve been doing my research and I think I’ve decided to go with the HTC Touch Pro. It comes out Oct 19th on Sprint.

The Plan:

With this transition I’m making two changes. I’m getting a new phone and getting a new carrier. MS has discounts through AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon, but the biggest one is with sprint at 23% off monthly. I want unlimited 3g data and unlimited texts so that part of the bill alone is $46.20 after discount. There were several usage plans available, flat rate $0.06/min, 400min for $30.79, 1000min for $46.19. There are more but I’ve never used more than 715 minutes in a month ever so they’re not feasible. Based on this data and the fact that it is $0.25/min for each minute over the alloted 400/1000 on the non flat rate plans chkno created this graph for me:

As you can see, the flat rate plan is best for all minute usage up to 650 minutes. The 400 minute plan is never a good deal compared to the flat rate plan.

Here is my usage data for the last 18 months with billing estimates had i been using the sprint plans:

Since the most non night and weekend minutes I’ve ever used was 588 it is clear that the best plan is the flatrate plan.

So in total the cost will be:

 $6.93  Flat Rate Voice
+$7.70  Sprint PCS Vision Plan
+$30.80 Unlimited 3g data
+$7.70  Unlimited text
=$53.13 + $0.06/min

Given my typical usage over the last 18 months (408 non N&W min average), the bill should be around $77.61/mo + taxes. A little steep, but worth it when you consider I’m getting all you can eat data, text and laptop tethering.

The Phone:

The phone is really sweet. It meets all of my requirements. It has a nice camera, it has gps, it has a keyboard, it has a high res screen, it supports tethering, it has wifi. The one downside is that it is big, but compared to my current phone it isn’t much of a change so I’m okay with that:

I’m hoping the phone will be free. The HTC Touch Diamond is free right now w/ 2 years on sprint’s Microsoft corporate page. Hopefully they’ll run the same deal for the Touch Pro when it comes out. I’ll post an update when I finally take the plunge.

w810i, it has been nice using you and I will miss you dearly. AT&T, you’ve served me well enough. I’ve had some of the best cell reception of my life with this combo (better than most of my friends) so I’ll be sad to see it go. Hopefully I’ll have as good of service from Sprint w/ the Touch Pro.

Work Week

Published
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xijio
on September 17, 2008
in life
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Edit: I typed this yesterday w/o internet access. Posting today.
Crazy week at work this week.

We are doing demos this week of our CRM milestone to internal (MS) and external customers which means I get to spend most of the week in Redmond instead of Bellevue. I wouldn’t mind except for that traffic to and from Redmond is pretty nasty compared to Bellevue.

On Thursday we’re having the company meetup which is the company wide Microsoft employees meeting at Safeco field. It should be pretty sweet. A lot of the execs talk and there are cool product demos. I’m excited to see what that meeting brings; maybe I’ll win a prize or something :)
In addition to all this craziness I’ve got to turn something in to my manager Monday that I’ve been working on basically since I started (in small increments). I’m a little nervous about having enough time to get it done with all the other stuff going on this week and me being in Victoria all weekend but, I should be able to manage.

When it rains it pours (cept’ for the weather)

Published
by
xijio
on September 14, 2008
in life
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Fuck.

Seattle.

Sports.

I’m holding out for the basketball season to bring my sanity back. Husky basketball should be good and hopefully the Blazers will kick some ass

  • Seahawks: 0-2 (to two terrible teams)

  • Huskies: 0-3 (to three good teams but, we got slaughtered by two of them)

  • Mariners: 57-91 (… only the Nationals are doing worse than that)

  • Sonics: lol-gone …

In other news, the weather is extremly nice. I love this weather. The weather rocks. Get the point? Spent today in Fremont for breakfast then a little shopping at Northgate. Yesterday before the game we went out on Franks boat which is always a blast. Friday was training at work which was really good and then the Senate show which always puts a smile on my face.

So outside of sports, everything is great :) I’m really excited about Kendall and my trip to Victoria this weekend. I’m thinking the weather will rock and we’ll have an amazing time.

Is it just me or is Ty going insane?

Published
by
xijio
on September 12, 2008
in life
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Just the transcripts of a press conference with Ty Willingham (Huskies head coach). And I’m starting think he’s going crazy!

Funny excerpts (questions in bold):

(Is the secondary one area you can exploit?) “They’re too good in the secondary. … The positive is, you can’t play the game on paper. That’s the positive. They got to line up and play. We got to line up and play. And when you do that, no one knows what’s going to happen. That sun coming off that west, southwest corner, they can not be familiar with that as it comes off our stadium. That could make a difference. The adjustments they have to make. Playing in this stadium as opposed to playing at home. I don’t know where they are sleeping at, the bed may be a little lumpy down there. (laughs in audience) I don’t know. If our hotels in town recognize that they have them, make the beds lumpy. (more laughs) All those things. You got to play the game. That’s what you do. That’s what so much fun about athletics, about football. You got to play the game.

Great so we’re counting on Lumpy beds for a win…

(You seem more loose this week.) “No. I’m not any more loose than i am most days. I’m usually pretty intense about what I do. You see it in different forms. That’s all. The focus is still the same. Win the next ball game. Oklahoma is next. We got to do our best job. Put our guys in the right positions as coaches and win that game.

(It was meant as a compliment.) “Ok. Thank you. I’ll take it.”

So, I’m not the only one who thinks he is crazy this week.

Bottom, line is we need the stars to align for a win this weekend and even Willingham is saying that. I think its possible and it would definitely be amazing but, I wouldn’t bet on it. In any case, it should be a nice day for some live college football.

Brakes acting up

Published
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xijio
on September 12, 2008
in life
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My brakes have felt a little weird in the last couple of weeks. The ABS hits sometimes when I don’t expect it to (like one or two pulses sometimes in casual braking). When I braked hard it would hit ABS almost every time. Also in casual consistent braking, the braking pulsed a little and there was some squeaking. This has been happening for a while now.

Most recently, my brakes started getting really squishy and soft which is scary. When I got home last night I checked my brake fluid and it was very low. I added about a pint of DOT3 and pumped the brake pedal a bunch of times and it felt better this morning. I tried to take it to the mechanic to have it looked at but, the place I used last time (Northwest Automotive) can’t look at it until tuesday so I’m going to call Affordable Tire and Brake and see if I can get it looked at this weekend.

I’m thinking I’ve got a leak somewhere in the brake line or in the master cylinder somewhere. I might need new pads and rotors too. Hopefully I’m not out too much for the repair, but brakes are one of the systems in my car that I don’t want to worry about failing.

Huskies

Published
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xijio
on September 10, 2008
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Got basketball tickets today. I feel much lighter now ($360 lighter to be exact). I miss the days of $90/season Dawgpack tickets :( Vu and I are sitting in Section 8 (opposite the student section) in row 28. Not the best seats in the world but, I’m sure we’ll have an AMAZING time. I’m excited for the basketball season to start though, hopefully the huskies can get back in the big dance.

On the football front, we play Oklamhoma this weekend and it is gonna be rough. Our schedule is absolutely insane! Oregon (#21), BYU (#15) and now Oklahoma (#3). Oklahoma is supposed to have one of the best offenses in college football which could get disasterous with our sometimes shotty defense. I’m hoping for the best though, I think given the home crowd and fans being fired up after last week we could go into this game with some momentum and pull it out!

Tom Brady’s last two games = karma

Published
by
xijio
on September 8, 2008
in Uncategorized
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That is all.

edit: non preseason games.

Happenings

Published
by
xijio
on September 8, 2008
in life and technology
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Lots going on since the last post:

  • HTPC: The build went well. Everything worked out of the box except the wireless card (pci wrt55ag v1.2, no vista support) so I used my Best Buy gift card to get a Linksys WUSB600n which does 802.11n in 5ghz mode so no interference. Very nice throughput copying from pc to pc on wifi (2.5MB/sec+).
  • Huskies: It was a really fun game. I tailgated beforehand with Merz and his crew and afterwards with the same guys + some KAs and I saw Lane. Kendall’s Dad had tickets in the BYU section I sat with her and her Dad. I really like her Dad and he seems to know a lot about football. I was decked out in my purple everything (wig, jersey, socks, shoes, shorts) and so I stuck out like a sore thumb in the BYU section but, it was really nice. We ended up losing 28-27 on a blocked PAT after a bullshit excessive celebration call on Jake Locker after he threw the ball into the air after a miraculous 2-second-left would-be game-tieing touchdown. It was a hard way to lose because we had a good chance in overtime being at home and having the momentum going into the OT.
  • Seahawks (Seattle Sports): Ugh. Looks like another year for shitty Seattle sports. Hawks 0-1 in a blowout. Huskies 0-2. Mariners a few-a ton, bottom of the barrel. Soncis GONE. What else is there. At least my Blazers are looking strong.
  • Dane Cook: Kendall made me watch Vicious Circle and it was great. Constant laughs. Consider me a new Dane Cook fan :) He has so much expression and gets into his show sooo much. Great to watch :)
  • TV Shows: It is getting close to that time of the year. Here are the shows I’m excited for: The Office, House, Chuck, Heroes, CSI, Dexter and Reaper.
  • Boating class: I’ve been helping Frank on his boat over the last couple years and now after much work and a lot of money it is seaworthy. We’ve been out a couple times and it is really fun! As a thank you for all the help and to get me more acquainted Frank is paying for me to take a boating class with him. He and I (and a few of his friends from MS) are taking a the class which is called Boating Skills and Seamanship. I’m taking it for a few reasons: 1) to learn more about boating, 2) to get a boating license (required at the end of this year to operate a boat if under 25 years old) 3) for something fun to do on Thursday nights. It is a long class (13 meetings) from 7:00 to 9:00pm every Thursday until December 4th (except Thanksgiving). I’m excited to learn a lot but, a little worried that it might get boring over the course of 13 weeks.
  • Sick: Been sick lately. Had a fever on Firday, but went to work anyway. My Adenoids have been swollen so its been hard to swallow and my nose has been stuffy/runny. I hope it blows over quickly.
  • Parking Ticket: I got a $35 parking ticket on Aug. 13 for parking in front of Kendall’s house in a pay to park zone (at 8:15, started being pay to park at 8:00, those fuckers). I tried to pay it online a few weeks ago and I thought it worked but apparently not. Got a text from my Mom Friday night saying that they were charging me $60 because it was late and that if I didn’t pay they’d send me to collections. FUCK YOU PARKING PEOPLE. YOU ARE PIECES OF SHIT. I tried to pay the fucking thing and your system was broken. Now you raped me for an extra $25. $60 for 15 minutes of fucking parking. I HOPE YOU ALL DIE IN A FIRE OF AIDS. </pissed>. At least its paid now.

Upcoming:

  • Huskies: We play the Sooners this weekend at home. Hopefully we can pull away without an 0-3 start. I’ve got a Dawg Pack ticket so I’ll be sitting with Kendall (and the KAs) this weekend, yay!
  • Victoria: Kendall and I are going to Victoria next weekend. It is sneaking up on me very quickly and I’m starting to get excited!

That’s all for now. I’ll try to pop back in shortly ;)

Bank error in your favor…

Published
by
xijio
on September 4, 2008
in life
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… Collect $200. Err, actually it was the dentist and $150 but still. Can’t complain! Just got a call from my dentist. My insurance company paid more than they expected on my last trip to the dentist so they’re refunding me $153. Wahoo to unexpected money :)