Tag: problem

Quick thought on our history…

Just going to put this out there…our perspective of our own history (as Americans) is almost always myopic and exaggerated. Everyone wants to think that these horrible events have not happened to us before, or recently…or inferring lots of other caveats to justify the semantics of our aims.

The events we are experiencing, Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, Las Vegas…this has all happened before, and with each passing, as a culture we react, as individuals we react, and thereby give power to improving ourselves, our ability to persevere, and our ability to understand.

…but only if we stop trying to act like this is new to us, that this is not our nature culturally. That this is not US allowing this to happen, or reacting with indifference or ambivalence solely because it is not an ethical or moral imperative for you.

Sometimes I just find it offensive to have to wade through mountains of content solely published geared to get us to react…because rather than foster solutions, it causes up to become myopic and dwell on problems and assigning blame.

Not that I feel we have any control over the weather…or the human condition, but at some point I just think we’ll be better if embrace an ethical boundary that is more sympathetic to our basic quality of life rather than it profitability and viability to commercial influencers.

/end rambling thoughts…




5 Minute Fixes and 2 Dollar Steaks

tonytow tony hunt gets angsty

Some things just absolutely tick me off.

I’ve always prided myself on my dedication to being the best I can be in my arena. Don’t get me wrong, there are PLENTY of people that know more than I do regarding IT…but there aren’t so many that when we meet, that we don’t recognize the need to network. I only do pc support for locals, they visit, bring their machine, sometimes a bottle of wine, and I hack on their stuff in spare time…it keeps me on my game, it’s never the same, and it’s basically it’s great to meet locals.

Sometimes you think its only a 5-minute fix…

Humility licks in for me when you’re 3 tiers and over 100 hours into a technical issue with Dell’s best people helping, and the the guys got enough knowledge that we compare training and knowledge to see where we need to brush up, and immediately swap contact information so we can pick each others brains without red tape, and of course compliment the guy for being committed to the solution. There aren’t many of us around…it’s not an age thing, its the caliber of training and whether or not you actually applied it.

Hell, the guy before me that passed the buck we’re working on now wouldn’t even touch the work, he billed more than me, ran completely unnecessary diags (with dated diagnostics – I found the logs), and shrugged his shoulders and left. If he’d spend 5 minutes listening to the client, he’d have known the hard drive was dying and the laptop was still under warranty. But that wasn’t the real problem either, and now because the rest is proprietary, I’ll just say that it’s nice being at the top, and pretty fun knowing that those now 20+ year old skills are still more effective than the overpaid support monkey trying to act like they are competition.

Yes, I am working at 2am…because it needs to be done before tomorrow so I don’t have scheduling issues.

Yes, this kind of thing normally takes 5 minutes…but then, sometimes things are tougher than a two-dollar steak and you still have to eat it.

The competition wonders why people come to me over them…it’s because it’s 2am and I am working.

…and I have somehow learned to love a two-dollar steak.

–micdrop–




Hello…you’re waving the wrong flag

flagI have this thing about flags. Specifically, despite all my criticism of our current government policy and leaders, I really hate it I see people protesting here waving another country’s flag. It doesnt matter which other country, it just drives me nuts that people are waving another nations flags in our streets.

Obviously I am not without reason on this, these people feel motivated enough to carry and demonstrate something that symbolizes their goals and/or outrage.

When I see the flags of other nations flying with thousands of people in the streets, I simply get the impression that these people are so effing unhappy or angry that they would raise another coutry’s flag. The impression to me is that they are saying they support another nation over our own…and I suppose this is where I draw the line.

Yes…we’re just talking about symbolism, but to me it’s a very big statement. Not insomuch that people are rallying against the US within it’s own borders, everyone should have that right, but to confront our own people, law enforcement, and/or military waving another country’s flag just makes my arse twitch. Why? Because i’ve always had the impression that that flags symbolism held enough meaning and hope that people would use it as their symbol when they want change or desire greater freedoms. To use another flag suggests a huge lack of confidence in your own country.

This is the impression I get when I see it, and it makes me want to lecture these people on why exactly this isn’t solving their problem/cause as much as it likely to be segregating it from what everyone that isn’t protesting feels.

Anyhow…end small rant. And yes, I am going to be writing lots more…there is simply too much stupid in the world for me not to comment on it. 😉

-Tony