kirktastic

To say my heart hasn’t been in the old blog would be an understatement. I barely can muster enough content for a tweet, let alone a post requiring more than 140 characters.

I’ve been in San Diego for about three months now. Still working on getting a job. The good news is in the past week I’ve had more contacts and phone screens than I did in the whole month of November. So perhaps I will find gainful employment any day now. That would be nice. Being broke sucks. Since my UI payments don’t cover all of my expenses, I’ve pretty much am draining my savings down to nothing. I should have married a rich girl.

I’m still in my tiny apartment located conveniently near the 5 freeway, a homeless shelter, a soup kitchen, and another soup kitchen. It really is close to a bunch of stuff so I’m not having to drive everywhere. And I get to interact with interesting people on the streets — I’d say 90% of the street people in downtown San Diego are batshit insane. It is somewhat humbling to have your little problems and then see how good I have it. Relatively speaking, that is.

So I’ll probably update this blog again when hell freezes over or March 20th, 2010. If you’re interested in my little goings on, twitter is still your best pal.

She said she liked the ocean…

It’s all good from Diego to the Bay…

I never saw the sunshine until you turned out the light…

Discovered by the Germans in 1904

I’m still kicking. Mostly updating my life in <140 character chunks via Twitter.

That’s all I got. See? I can’t even type more if I wanted to.

With the Michael Jackson blah blah blah and now the Sarah Palin noise, news from our neighbor to the south is a little disconcerting. Today the exiled president of Honduras is returning. Shit, meet fan. Fan, this is shit.

Here’s the parts that scare me…

“The government of President (Roberto) Micheletti has order the armed forces and the police not to allow the entrance of any plane bringing the former leader,” the foreign minister of the interim government, Enrique Ortez, told The Associated Press on Sunday.

and then…

In comments to a local radio station, Zelaya said he would be accompanied by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, several foreign ministers and 300 journalists.

So what does this “armed forces and police not allow the entrance of any plane” mean? Are they going to shoot it down? With the presidents of two South American countries, foreign ministers and journalist? That is just amazing if they do that. It would mean pretty much annihilation of Honduras be everyone on this continent from Canada to Argentina, wouldn’t it?

Honduras is a dirt poor country and doesn’t need this. It didn’t need Zelaya announcing an illegal referendum to try and nab another term a la Hugo Chavez. It didn’t need the coup that ousted him and sent him off to Costa Rica (there are definitely worse places to go in exile). And it doesn’t need this comeback. Even if the current government backs down and lets Zeleya back in there will be riots and shit.

Like I said, Honduras is a very poor country. Actually a lot of the immigrants that people think are Mexicans are actually Honduran. Mexico catches and sends back lots of Hondurans (often brutalizing them and robbing them in the process), or they die by falling or being pushed off freight trains by crooks. In a documentary I saw, many Honduran and other Central American immigrants worried more about making it through Mexico in one piece than making it to the US. My point is, even more desperation and unrest in Honduras means more people will risk their lives to come to the relative safety of the US.

Although Obama has denounced the coup and like most of the world called for Honduras to re-seat Zelaya, we haven’t seen how far he’ll go in supporting this. Perhaps the plane will be escorted by US jets. I’m sure that the US State Department is working behind the scenes on this because if the threats from the current government are carried out and the elected president of three countries and other officials are shot down, shot or arrested at the airport or anything like that all hell will break loose.

But like with Iran, the US media isn’t covering this well. With Michael Jackson still being dead and Sarah Palin still being a dipshit there’s no time to talk about political crises in countries with a bunch of poor brown people. At least the LA Times has a story on its front page about it (the lines at banks and at the Bennetton store was a little surreal for me).

Two hundred thirty-three years ago a bunch of white insurgent terrorist from backwater colonies had the audacity to declare their independence from the greatest nation on earth. If these terrorists did not have France as an ally to supply weapons and money, we’d all be speaking English right now. Oh wait. We’d probably have different accents, spell color with a ‘u’ in it, drive on the left and have the Queen on our money.

Only in America do we find Sarah Palin in the news again. What a quitter. As I said here or somewhere when McCain picked her as his running mate last year this is either incredibly stupid or a brilliant maneuver for the White House. In the campaign she touted her being governor of the largest state (in land area and moose but not people) as qualification for veep or president when old man McCain kicks it. But now she’s quitting early with a typical Sarah Palin reason — she doesn’t want to serve out a lame duck term by being a lame duck. She’s probably going to get very rich speaking to her ‘base’ of ‘real Americans’ like we saw in the campaign. You know all those hate filled xenophobic rednecks in Ohio and Pennsylvania. She’ll probably also get a show on FoxNews providing deep insights into the world in ways only Sarah Palin can. Then, when her country needs her most, God will tell her to run against Barack Hussein Obama. The other possibility is she or one of her brood is knocked up again.

Also, only in America can I read in the Austin paper that Joe the Plumber was in town yesterday at a ‘tea party’. The paper said there were many in the audience dressed red,white and blue. But there were all people with ’secede’ signs and complaining about government spending. The event was in a public park that is maintained by government spending.

I was really hoping that we wouldn’t hear of these characters after November. But they are still around rallying up these “patriots” and getting crazy people even crazier. With the US flag in one hand and the bible in the other, they get people riled up. Which is fun to point and laugh at but these crazy people also tend to have guns. God Bless America!

I’m surprised when I look up from the display on the StepMill 7000PT and see there’s still lotsa Michael Jackson coverage on America’s poor excuse for cable news (disclosure: FoxNews was not all MJ and instead had that stupid fuck Glenn Beck). No coup in Venezuela. No Iran election Just Michael. But as a child of the 80s am I not impacted by his death? I admit when it came out, I liked Billie Jean but found Jackson a little too bubble gum pop for me. And my dad had some of the Jackson 5 stuff playing when I was a tot. But in the 1980s I was more of a fan of Prince. Like Jackson, Prince went off the reservation later in his career but I’ll always remember the album Purple Rain as being a cornerstone of my youth. Listening to Prince was subversive back in the day. I mean Darling Nikki. Little Red Corvette. Erotic City. If I Way Your Girlfriend. Let’s Pretend We’re Married. These songs were dirty and people like Tipper Gore didn’t want us to listen to it. They wouldn’t play the videos on MTV (instead there was Nightflight on USA Network which had the dirty videos).

Of course, Farrah Fawcett died as well. My friend’s brother had the infamous poster. That hair. That smile. And those nipples! That was some pretty hot stuff for a little boy and pretty much defined hawt for me. She wasn’t my favorite Charlie’s Angel. I like Kate Jackson (disclosure: although the blondes always catch my eye, I usually fall harder for the brunettes). Of course, Fawcett was terribly ill so her death was no real surprise and her suffering has ceased. I hadn’t really thought of her until her passing but still have found memories of watching that cheesy TV show and discussing which of the Angels was hotter and which of the girls in the class could compare. Farewell Farrah.

It is a warm Sunday morning in Austin, Texas. This is not unusual for this time of year. In fact, it is completely normal. Yet many people are whining about how hot it is. I will be the first person that whines about the cold or the wet, but not the heat. Now, the humidity is another story. In the town of my youth it will be 108 today. It will also be 108 in Tempe, where I lived after California. So bring it on. Truth be told, San Diego at 72F today does sound quite nice.

Job Update: Still jobless.

I haven’t talked about the new gadgets. The iPhone 3GS came out a few weeks ago. I was surprised to see people lining up at the local Apple Store for this updated version. Sure it has a compass. Whoopy shit. It has a faster radio that is possible to get 7Mbps compared to the 3Mbps on the old iPhone 3G (or the 255kbps of the original iPhone). But of course that would mean you’d had to have a competent carrier that could deliver such speeds and in the US, we’re stuck with the backwater AT&T. The last T stands for telegraph which should be a warning.

The installed base for the iPhone 3G can get an update to the new software which allows for things like being able to read and type emails in landscape (something that could be done on web pages since day one… and should have been there all along), MMS (a 1990s technology that AT&T can’t seem to figure out, but if I had an iPhone 3G in Cameroon I could use on launch day), and Tethering (allowing you to use the iPhone as a modem so you can go online on your computer using the phone’s interweb connection… AT&T has not enabled this yet either and will probably charge a fortune when they do… most carriers in the world include tethering in their basic plans and have it enabled. You can sneak onto the network on websites). I had tethering on my Tmobile data account and it included all the Tmobile hotspots for the same cost I have for just the phone data on AT&T. It was how my TomTom GPS got online for traffic updates. It was how I could get online in middle of BFE to get a hotel room on road trips. I almost enabled it on my iPhone last week after reading how to do so on Gizmodo but then realized that I didn’t need it anymore. Pretty much everywhere I go has wifi (like the coffeehouse I’m at right now) so my MacBook can always get a signal. Even rest areas in the middle of nowhere have wifi. Even McDonalds in BFE have wifi. And if I can’t get wifi, I can do 99% of what I want to do on my iPhone. The only place I need tethered internet access is when I travel internationally and that’s $20/mb so even if I had it I wouldn’t enable it. Hence, one of the things I gave up two years ago when I left Tmo and my Sony Ericsson phone I no longer need.

After playing with the OS 3.0 update for a while I must say I really like it. The long-missing landscape keyboard and copy/paste features are great. The other ‘must have’ feature is notifications so you can get updates when an app is closed. The idea is having the phone listening for notifications uses much less battery juice than leaving an app open in the background. The first IM app that was updated was the AOL app but I don’t know anyone on AOL anymore so I had to wait until the IM+ which does Google Talk, MSN, and the others. Before the notifications was added to IM+ it was set up so email the IM messages which I sent to my dot mac address that is immediately pushed to the phone. I could just reply to the email and the person would get the response in the IM session on their session. With notifications I get the people’s note quickly, but to respond I have to wait until the app opens and restores a connection with the server which takes values seconds out of my busy day.

I do think they fucked up the google maps app a little in that in the directions it doesn’t track as well as it used to. It gives the impression it is locking onto the position faster because it drops the little blue dot when it starts triangulating the cellphone towers and not the GPS. I was going to a friend’s house last weekend and ended up getting lost because the damn dot wasn’t in the right place.

Friday I downloaded the AT&T Nav app which promised turn by turn directions and traffic updates like you’d get on GPS. The app was free, but you had to pay those fuckers at AT&T $10/mth for the service. I went down to the Alamo City and gave it a spin. Since I knew where I was going I didn’t really need to get it. But I wanted to compare it to the TomTom and see if the traffic is worth shit. I took the tollroad to avoid that parking lot called I35 in Austin and even though the maps are downloaded in real time, the last segment of the toll way that opened recently wasn’t there. No biggie. The road is brand new. The app did track the position of me driving down the roads it did know about adequately — much like a basic GPS unit found in a rental car. It did announce the exits and directions and said the street names (had a hard time with the español names in Central Texas). The app really sucked down the battery juice if you left it on (like you would a GPS app) so you have to have the phone plugged into the cig jack. It is a prime candidate for notifications so you can shut the app down and just receive an update if there’s traffic or when your exit 80 miles away is coming up.

It did indicate traffic problems on the route but I was disappointed it would not be able to find a suitable way to get around said traffic. Which is the whole point of having traffic. From New Braunfels and into San Antonio there are large signs with traffic speed information so I’d know traffic was coming up, what I didn’t know is if there was a way around it. My TomTom does a much better job at that (when I have a phone with tethering and paying TomTom for the updates). The best part of the AT&T nav program is you can cancel it at any time. So I did when I got home and got a refund.

Well the bright side is I could blog more. So on Tuesday I had an early morning meeting with my boss to go over second half 2009 goals. Apparently, the goals did not include me as I was laid off. In many ways I am relieved since it was not secret I wasn’t in love with my boss, my company or the tasks I was paid to do. It was taking a lot of strength not to just quit, but I was lazy and not wanting to line up another gig first. The good news is I get a decent severance so my kitties will still have food to eat.

I’ve since getting walked out with all my personal belongings on Tuesday not thinking about what’s next for me. And not thinking of the prospect of running out of money or any of that. In other words it has been like a vacation. I decided I’d take a week to decompress and then start looking for a new gig in earnest. I’m not sure what I want to do next, while lounging at the pool this week I made a list of high level things I want in my next job:

• I want to feel like I’m actually contributing something to the company and ideally to make the world better
• I want a boss that gives me the support I need but can let me be me and not micromanage me to death
• I want to work for a company with a clear vision of what it does and how it will succeed in the future
• I want to work for a multinational or a company that has many customers outside the US with possibilities to work abroad
• A Mac environment or at least a Windows-optional environment would be nice to have

As far as where that job is, it would be great if it were in Austin, preferably north or downtown near mass transit. If not Austin, my thoughts of returning to my homeland California would be nice. I’d like to work in San Diego, San Francisco, or Santa Monica. In other words, most of the close to the Pacific cities named after saints. I can’t live where it is cold so Chicago is out, even though it is a nice place to visit and I didn’t mind going there in the winter for work. Same with Nueva York. That’s a great city but it is too cold in the winter (sometimes the brown snow never melts when it warms up). I’d thought about Seattle and Portland. They’re more mild but the dispatches I read from my amigos there indicate I might not fare well in the winter months. I’d consider going back to Phoenix but Phoenix suffers the same problem Austin does in the summer in that it is pretty fucking hot. If left to Texas, I’d pretty much want to stay in Austin. Maybe San Antonio. Even though people swear that there are parts of Dallas and Houston I’d like that are really cool. I think I’d pass.

My dream job would be where I work anywhere I wanted to as long as there’s an internet connection and a phone line. My fantasy I’ve had for a while would be able to work for a few months in say Puerto Escondido MX, then set up camp in Buenos Aires for a while. Then Vancouver BC. Then Ko Samui Thailand. Anywhere with broadband and close enough to a major airport if I have to get back to the States for a meeting or emergency. My commitment to working would be the same as if sat in a cubicle in an office somewhere. But the nights/weekends/vacations would enable me to explore. The problem is this idea is not compatible with my cats and I’ve yet to find an employer that would entertain this idea. Oh well, I’ll keep dreaming.

I sprang for the $8 to renew kirktastic.com for another year. That’s no promise I’ll post again but the way the pr0n site domain pirates are, I’m pretty much stuck keeping the domain until I can divorce it from my identity.

Anyway…
Last weekend I went to Costa Rica for some R&R. Pura vida as they say down there. I pretty much did a repeat of the trip I took at Thanksgiving 2007. So it was avión to San José CR, shuttle van to Jaco, and water taxi to Montezuma. This is the part where I’d link to the photos but I left my camera at home and as I’ve complained about before, it can’t take good pics. So look at the pics from last time but imagine with a little more clouds and rain (not a lot, but it was obscenely blue on the trip in 2007). It was a great way to recharge. It was too short though.

Although I did get to spend more time in Costa Rica due to THOSE FUCKERS AT AMERICAN AIRLINES with their 24 year old airplane and mechanical problems. This time we taxi from the gate on time but get out to the runway and the captain says there’s a problem they need to check out so they’re going to park off to the side while the mechanics look at it. Sure, mechanical problems happen and I don’t want to fly on a plane with problems. So we park off to the side and sit there for about an hour. Oh and the AC isn’t working well. I’m totally dehydrated and in Costa Rica they won’t like you board the plane with any liquids — even those purchased behind security. So the people in business class are getting mimosas and whatnot. In the back we’re getting shit. Meanwhile the girl sitting in the same row as me is not feeling well (OMG SWINE FLU) and I noticed I had a sore throat (it could be the OMG SWINE FLU… or it could be the result of a hangover, dehydration and spending the previous evening in a smoky bar). After an hour the captain came on and said they didn’t know what the problem was yet but they were going to order buses to take us back to the terminal and they’d work our our route home. About thirty minutes later the buses arrive and we’re taken back to the terminal. Where we get in line for rebooking. There’s one person working at this counter. About 45 minutes later I get to the front, hand my passport and bordering card to the lady and a man — the station manager — comes up and says they’re not going to do any rebookings because at this point they think they can fix the plane. Even though he said they didn’t know what the problem was yet. But they’d need another hour. Since I waited in the line I asked why I couldn’t be put on the flight to Miami that was leaving in an hour and from there get home. She said they can’t do that. So I asked so what if in an hour this flight is canceled and I then I’m stuck in San Jose. They have the seats and they can make sure I get home today. She says nothing but gives me that fucking American Airlines “you should be lucky we even let you on our planes” look. I sit down and am pissed, but I’ve come to expect the total lack customer service from American Airlines. An hour later the guy comes on the PA again and says they think they know the problem and will need another hour to take off. I get a text message from American’s computer system actually giving the new take off in two hours. I get a sandwich and something to eat and check out what is going on the internet. An hour later the man comes on again saying it will be another hour, but the text I receive simultaneously says it will be two more hours. I can still get a flight from Dallas to Austin but a further delay means I’m spending the night in Dallas (or still San Jose). About 30 minutes later he says they are still waiting from American Airlines HQ to allow the takeoff and once they get that, they’ll board the plane. He then says since the flight is catered for breakfast and they don’t have lunch to serve, he’s going to give everyone vouchers to use in the food court for a meal. Everyone on the plane lines up for these vouchers and I’m thinking we’re never going to leave because people will need to go up to the food court and get some food. He also fails to remind people that although the food vouchers include a drink, no drinks are allowed on the plane (the plane, of course, has drinks so there’s no reason to buy a drink if you’re going to eat on the plane). Eventually the buses show up and take us to the plane. Interestingly, the crew on the plane decided to serve the breakfast anyway — french toast or an omelet – I decide to take the french toast and it was hideous. It didn’t keep well. So I had to wait with the damn thing on my tray until they got around to clearing the meal service. When we land at DFW I check my reservation on my iPhone and find that AA has already booked my on the next two flights to Austin. The first one wasn’t going to happen since I’d need to clear customs and get to another terminal in 20 minutes. If you’ve every been to the Terminal D passport control at DFW you know it is huge. Usually when I show up there there’s very little wait since it is staffed adequately. But since our plane is six hours late they weren’t expecting us so there was only about 3 agents there also getting the other international arrivals. I’m not concerned since I know I have that second flight home. I clear customs and the second flight is actually in Terminal D so I just need to go through security again and wait for it.

I have enough miles for one more free trip on AA and after that I’m done. I’m going to expect the service to be like it has been on my last few trips and not like the trips a few years ago. I’ll expect the flight to be delayed and canceled. I’ll expect the customer facing employees to be rude bitches. If I check my bags, I’ll expect them go get lost. And if the flight actually is on time and the people are nice, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. But I will give me paid air travel business to Jet Blue, Continental or Southwest for US flights and anyone but American on international flights.