All Eric, All The Time
Posts tagged WWED
What is the value of your time?
Nov 25th
One day my wife was going thru the paper, cutting coupons, getting ready for the weekly shopping. I never really thought about it until that day, as I had witnessed this on a regular basis, week in & week out for months.
She spent a good 3 hours every week cutting coupons & organizing everything just right for the trip to the store. Typically, she would save about $15. Sometimes more, sometimes less… Not bad, I guess, but that day I asked her, at what cost, is she saving this money?
Time away from the kids? The added stress she always endured during this exercise? Is it really worth it? Think about it, you’re working for about $5.00 an hour…
Is this what your time is worth to you? She eventually gave up on coupons, but this isn’t really why I’m posting….
I’m posting because of “Black Friday”.
People waiting for hours or even days, outside the store of their choice to open at 4am in the morning. Enduring the cold, lacking sleep. (This is the best time to make spending decisions by the way, when you’re freezing & half asleep).
It all seems to be an exercise in limited self worth, trading a great deal of time, on a small return. Time that can be spent enjoying the company of the person the gifts are being purchased for…
Which do you think has greater value to them? The gift or the time with them?
How I keep a clean Linux/Win dual boot
Jun 11th
I read an article on Raidens Realm this morning, about how updating Windows broke someone’s dual boot laptop. I sympathize completely, I can’t count how many times I’ve been disappointed in how Windows handles even the most basic of admin/maintenance tasks. Not that I’m some guru, but I do like to have control over my machine.
Now, this isn’t going to be a tutorial, but just a quick overview of how I keep Windows happy, while enjoying the benefits of my favorite Linux distro. This is on my desktop machine, but can probably be replicated on a laptop with an external drive.
What I’ve done is setup multiple drives, but I control the boot sequence via the BIOS.
I’ve install Windows 7 on the primary drive, Linux on the secondary drive, and a large storage drive.
Step by Step – very simple…
1) Preformat your drives – I use Parted Magic as my tool box.
- primary(Win), NTFS
- secondary(Linux), ext4, swap,
- tertiary(Storage), NTFS
Obviously you can define your Linux drive as you desire.
2) In the BIOS, set the boot sequence to boot to the primary drive, install Windows as normal. Set all personal libraries to appropriate directories on the storage drive.
3) In the BIOS, set the boot sequence to boot to the secondary drive, install Linux, Set the GRUB boot sector to this drive, DO NOT put it on the Windows drive. GRUB will recognize Windows and add it to the boot list.
4) In Linux, install NTFS config, set it to automount the storage drive, but leave the Windows drive alone. Linux will save all your setting to the /home directory on it’s drive, but you can save all your user files to the storage drive.
That’s it, now when doing a Windows update, reset the boot sequence to boot to the Windows drive. it will make all the necessary changes and will not touch the GRUB boot sector, then just set the boot sequence back to the secondary drive when done.
Clean, no conflicts, and Windows can’t screw it up…
Hey Sprint, when I turn 100, don’t share my number
May 11th
I’m sure everyone has seen the Sprint commercial urging people to call, text, and email, Veatrice for her 100th birthday…
Though it seems like a cute thing to do, I’m pretty sure, I would be quite upset if I got thousands of birthday wishes.
My latest epiphany…
Mar 4th
I recently discovered that my work life follows a very specific pattern.
It goes something like this:
I get a job, that is just a little out of my range, maybe a slightly beyond my skill level, or a bit more money than I accustomed. Nice ! A chance to redefine my life, in the image I’ve always wanted.
For the first 90 days, I learn what’s happening, and keep my mouth shut, taking in the new surroundings.
Then I start to apply myself, pushing for improvement in my sphere of influence, and make positive headway fairly quickly.
Within 6 months, I’m being noticed by the upper echelon, and name keeps coming up for newer and bigger projects.
Eventually, I’m “asked” to take on this really important project or position. Which comes with a large increase, and a “title”.
Of course, I jump at the chance to move up, and I do well.
But then it happens, after a couple years I start to notice the trap.
I started out with a hunger to succeed, and now that I have, and I’m comfortable, I’m not hungry anymore. I’m contented and lazy, I’ve got nothing driving me anymore.
It happens every time… Now I know you’re asking, “What the hell are you talking about ? You’ve got what you wanted !!!!!”.
No I don’t dear friends, because I didn’t want comfort, I wanted freedom. Freedom isn’t being contented and lazy, it’s being able to live in a manner that is satisfying to your soul.
Win7 and the onboard LAN
Sep 26th
So apparently, taking the lan card out and activating the onboard lan is a no no…
I had to reactivate win 7 today…
But I couldn’t just do it online, I had to call the toll free number, and recite a litany of numerals to the computer, so that it could recite 7 sets of six digits back to me to enter into the activation window.
Ummm… WTF !!!!
It’s just a minor change ?
OK, I get Microsoft wanting to make sure the the software isn’t pirated, but to inconvenience the end user in this way is just obnoxious…
