Monthly Archives: July 2009

jBlog Micro

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Here is the big reveal!…

I’m introducing jBlog Micro, a sort of experimental project of mine which I will use to post snippets and such. Consider this new mini blog as a form of replacement and enhancement to the Scribbles I write here on jBlog. The real difference between jBlog and the micro version is the simplicity and devotion of time put forth to each production. jBlog is still #1 and still gets all my attention. Just like tweeting pictures, links, etcetera on Twitter, jBlog Micro is my site to quickly and easily jot down various types of media, from basic text to music or video. It will be great… and I hope you visit it soon!

http://johnhicks.tumblr.com

Traveler’s Fever: Relapse

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I helped a guest today at the deli – I could tell she kind of wanted to share some sort of story, as while I was preparing some sandwich meats for her, she somewhat randomly, yet quietly exclaimed, “Oh it’s so nice to be home!” So, politely I inquired about where she had been. Turns out, just hours prior she had flewn back from Venice, Italy. Holy crap I was so thrilled! I know – I didn’t even go there, but just the thought that there are people everywhere traveling everywhere all the time is really amazing. I am really happy when I get to help these individuals at the deli. It truly gives me a great chance to do both my job efficiently, yet thoughtfully socialize and converse over a topic I find so intruiging. She explained how there are no cars – just gondolas, and that the seven-day duration of their trip concluded with a red-eye departure, yet midday arrival at PDX the day prior due to global time, and finally an entanglement with moderate stress and confusion during the layover in New York. She compelled her delight to be home to comfortable food and a home she loves. And she said, “Travel at a young age… ‘Cause you just don’t get a lot of chances down the road.” What she explained meant a lot to me, and we departed with my giving thanks for her sharing of an inspiring story.

Venice, Dubai, London, Istanbul, New York, San Francisco?

The world awaits…

Carry That Weight

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Tualatin Haggen Service Deli is a relief in contrast to my prior position as courtesy clerk. I am no longer zonked-out tired by the end of my shift – all I need to do is freshen up a bit and I’m good to go. Plus, pay is 33% higher. Tomorrow I learn how to operate and close the “back” of the deli. Responsibilities are generally dishes, hot food and rotisserie chicken shutdown and cleaning, fryer shutdown and filtering, chicken de-boning, and a lot more cleaning. But, I’m sure there’s a lot more than I even imagined. New challenge… GO!

But for some reason I’m fascinated by one popular, caffeine powerhouse called Starbucks. The small little store snuggled in the entrance of Haggen seems perfect. An acquaintance of mine, who also works as checker for Haggen, picks up the rest of her time as a Barista – and she says it’s awesome. Starbucks really is this social beat, and I have this desire to get in the circle. The Baristas seem to get along so well, and I sometimes feel I’m stranded in no-man’s land back in the Service Deli. Don’t get me wrong… My coworkers are overall nice, helpful, and easy to work with, but I think I would enjoy being in the social crave working as a Barista. If I wasn’t going back to Corvallis in the fall, I think I would most definitely try to get my foot in the door and work out a scheduling deal between both employers.

Hmmm… I’m torn. I want to stay true to my words and be “liv’n it up” as much as possible – follow my intuition – go for my goals… But perhaps I’m just not ready to carry that weight. It’s easy to be glorified by another’s simple-seeming job-hopping, but fulfilling the line of duty may take a little more desperation. I should enjoy the time I have off of work.

I’m picking blueberries at 8am – I have easily eaten about 9lbs. over the past three weeks and this will be our third time returning to the Nodaway Blues farm. I also look forward to hitting up Starbucks for my morning jolt – which reminds me!… My friend at Starbucks in Haggen… She made me this kicker of a drink custom-named Black and White Toffee Nut Doubleshot Mocha. Prior to having that venti-of-love, I was feeling pretty under-the-weather. The beverage fixed everything.

Need my sleep.

Out.

Troublesome Tech

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I am writing this because it doesn’t exist in the depths of Google (yet!).

In February 2009 I purchased a Dell Mini 9. I wanted more space to store my personal files such that I could use a majority of the Mini’s 16GB SSD for applications. I primarily wanted some type of media that I could put my iTunes music on and easily hot-swap it to and from my XPS M1530. The answer was taking advantage of the SD card slot. So, I did some research and learned that the Mini 9 can support all SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) media cards up to 32GB. I then ran a quick search and figured out that my XPS M1530 could support SDHC cards (the text article I read gave reference to an 8GB SDHC card). So, I found the best deal and bought myself a 16GB Class 4 SDHC card from Fry’s Electronics. I was thrilled… Until I tried to get the XPS to recognize it. My laptop said the card needed to be formatted, but that didn’t work. After much time fiddling with different transfer methods onto the card from my XPS, I finally contacted Dell Text Support (about March 2009). The support individual could not get a transfer to work and subsequently gave me a link to go download new drivers – those didn’t help.

So where does this go?… I gave up. It’s really crazy, but what I ended up having to painstakingly do is plug my external hard drive into my XPS M1530, copy all the music I wanted on my Mini 9 into a new folder on the external HDD, then plug the HDD into my Mini 9, and then finally copy the folder from the HDD to the 16GB SDHC card which was successfully recognized in only the Mini 9. It became a hassle I didn’t want to deal with. Anyway, it turned out that I wouldn’t need my Mini 9 to listen to music when I had an iPhone 3G in my pocket anyway. I’m really frustrated that there’s no support for over 8GB SDHC cards on Dell XPS M1530′s. I hope this posting finds its way to the surface on some Google searches regarding my same problem. It doesn’t seem anyone else on forums has raised such a red flag.

Music Spotlight: Owl City

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Owl City - Ocean Eyes

Owl City - "Ocean Eyes"

Browsing the iTunes fan page on Facebook, I discovered iTunes’ free single of the week called “Fireflies”. The artist is Owl City, and the album is “Ocean Eyes” – and I really like what I hear. Their album artwork also accentuates my desire to purchase the entire album (cue this post). I’m torn between pre-ordering Imogen Heap’s new album set to release in August or getting instant satisfaction with this purchase. Check it out and let me know what you think…

Owl City – “Ocean Eyes”