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That Empty Feeling

Since I’ve started taking Chantix, and quit smoking.  I have this strange feeling, it’s like I’m empty inside now.

While non smokers may not understand what I’m talking about, its more mental than physical and in my case has deep implications.

When you smoke, that’s always your out, or “thing” to do.  Some smokers, like me, always try to “do” something like smoke.  It helps pass the time.

Now that I’m not enjoying my habit, my life feels empty.  It’s very strange, and I’m still getting used to it.

To help, I have been making trips to the nearest gas stations every night to get a pop or ice cream, etc.  It makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something.  Others think I’m just using it as an excuse to smoke, but I’m staying true this time.

Our Taxes at Work

This building is government subsidized housing for elderly people.  It’s located in Decatur, Alabama.

You honestly can’t really tell from the ground.  But pictures are worth a 1,000 words in this case.  Prompted by complaints from a jewish activist and a US Senator, more money is going to be placed in this building to try to disguise the shape.

According to a researcher, the swastika shape pays homage to the German scientists who came to nearby Huntsville after World War II and designed the rockets that put Americans on the moon.

14 Days!

Today we delivered everything back to the Kelley School of Business MBA program.  I must say, I am quite astonished that I was able to complete this mega-transfer in a mere 14 days.

Total time spent on each tape was about 50 minutes on average.  Multiply that by 79 tapes, and that’s almost 66 hours of work.  I actually put my computer to “bed” so it could cool down, as it was working non stop.

Let me go over some of the interesting things about this particular job.

Tapes:  DVCAM and BetaCam SP.  Professional quality videotape, that is just the same as their commercial counterparts (Mini-DV and Betamax) just larger.

Equipment:  Professional grade comes at a professional price.  I had to rent one player, but it was much more economically feasible to actually purchase the other.  While the one I purchased isn’t a ferrari, it gets the job done.  Thanks to my wife Rachel for finding this new one for the same price as very used ones.

Technical Difficulties:  Originally they wanted all of the tapes to be transferred to DVDs, after some testing I found out this was not going to be possible.  So then we tried to see if I could upload them to IU’s MDSS (Massive Data Storage Service).  That was highly unlikely as my upload speed is 384k max, the estimated time to upload 1 was over 36 hours.  So we decided on an external hard drive.  I found this awesome one on newegg.  At 1 TB (Terabyte) it had plenty of space, it also has 3 different connection types, USB, Firewire A and Firewire B.  External isn’t really my thing, but this thing rocks!

Kristi and Ashly were blown away by the speed of this, and I hope that they are equally impressed by my professionalism and price.  Now that I am in the Indiana University network for independent contractors, it will be much easier for me to do other work for the university.  I just hope that my hard work will pay off and other professional work such as this will come my way.

Giving Up The Monster

I have attempted to quit smoking many times.  I have used the patch, gum and lozenges.

This time I’m taking a more pharmaceutical try.  Last Tuesday, I had an appointment with my physician who I hadn’t seen in almost 10 years.  He prescribed Chantix, an interesting drug.

This drug works in a very interesting manner, and there are other drugs which work the same way, just on different drugs.

It works by blocking and eventually killing the receptors in the brain that crave and cause a person to desire nicotine.  I worked on a similar drug at Baxter that did the same thing regarding alcohol.  There is another one I know of that works with morphine.

I’m still smoking, my official quit date is Monday.  Chantix is taken for a week while you smoke, to build up the drugs level in your system.

I deeply hope I’m able to drop this habit.  My health isn’t as good as it should be, at $4 to $5 a pack, it’s not a cheap habit.  We guesstimate that it’s costing between $1000 and $1500 a year.

Wish me luck!

Last Birthday

Today, my wife is celebrating her last birthday.  According to her anyway.

There are many things I believe that she wanted to do before she turns a certain age, I think she feels dissapointed that she hasn’t done some of these things so far.

She has accomplished so many other things that she should be proud of though.  I’ll list a few here.

She:

Is a Homeowner
Is almost finished with her masters degree in Higher Education
Is married to the kindest, sweetest man in the world who loves her forever 🙂

Something she needs to remember is that some people don’t achieve these things in their entire life.

We’ve only just begun my dear, just remember that.

The Doors Are Opening

It was hard to schedule at first, but I interviewed for a computer support position at the Kelley School of Business.  It sounded interesting, but I felt like I didn’t have the skills necessary.  I was offered the job within hours of my interview.

As a touch of deja vu, it is in the “Technical Services” department, the same department I worked in at Baxter.

The customer base is very small, as they only support faculty, staff and graduate students.  It is also filtered more because they only deal with certain issues, larger problems are delegated to UITS.

I started yesterday, and didn’t do a whole lot but read.  I see this opening the doors to something greater in the future though.

Although it’s only 8 hours a week, hopefully I can add this to my resume and wow people some more.

One of my new co-workers actually said that when they saw my resume, people said that they called it the “uber-resume.”

I can’t take credit for that as my wife mainly designed it.

On a Roll

Since I finally received my equipment yesterday, I have begun on the bulk of this transfer for IU.

I had never used this type of equipment before, and was somewhat frightened about using it.  I was also worried about what days in cold weather would have done to the sensitive electronics within it.

I took it out of the box and let it sit for about 5 hours to warm up.  I then connected it and did some testing.  Things seem to be going smoothly, and I’m optimistic on how long this is going to take.

I was originally going to re-sell the player after this transfer is complete, but keeping it for the year ensures a nice tax deduction next year.  If you need a BetaCam transfer, call me.  I’ll beat anyones price!

Due to the size of the player, I’m not going to keep it out all the time.  It is too large for my current office situation.  Once my new office is finished, I will have plenty of space for it.

IU decided to go with my idea about transferring everything to an external hard drive.  I received it today, but ran into a bug.  The file sizes are so large that it is unfeasable to render directly to it.  I am instead going to transfer all complete work at the end of each day.  This will give it an adequate amount of time.

Please Boycott FedEX

I purchased a BetaCam SP player from a company who was simply “unloading” un-needed equipment.

It was shipped on the 19th from California and should have been here already.  The original “estimated” delivery date was the 25th, but I guess my business wasn’t important enough to them.  Around 9pm they updated the tracking information to say, “Delivery Exception” it then goes on to say the package will be delivered the next business day.  It’s currently 5pm, and no sight of FedEX yet.

I’ve been here all day waiting on this package, as I cannot complete this IU job without this piece of equipment.  My patience has ran thin and I’m about to do some major complaining.

One problem is that FedEX has a messed up distribution system.  There is a local branch, but only for “express” orders.  If you use their “ground” service, your package comes from Terre Haute, 50 miles away.

I don’t use FedEX, mainly due to their price.  Now I’m just getting pissed.

UPS is always here by 9am, and I count on them.  I think their service has become much better than even USPS, as all packages are insured and always make their destination in 3 business days or less.

I’m wishing this package was sent via UPS now.

UPDATE:  I finally received the player.  After calling FedEX for 2 days, speaking with reps and managers.  I lost 2 days of valuable time.  I hope this reaches anyone who thinks about sending FedEX.

Uncharted Territory

My business has just received two new jobs which are uncharted territory to me.  I have never done anything like this before, to some point it’s frightening.  It’s also something new that I can add to my list of products and services offered.

My aunt Laura, whom I’ve been emailing with quite frequently lately had a request for me.  As her nephew, I was more than honored to do it for her, even at no cost.  When she offered to pay me, it just made things better.  She has 13, 8 track cassettes she wants transferred to CD.  Why you say?  They must have some sentimental value to her, which I understand completely.  I miss that tape of ABC (Another Bad Creation) that I had when I was 10 or so.

The first step was acquiring equipment to handle the task.  I searched on eBay and contacted other family members to see if they had working 8 track players.  eBay can be a scary place if you’re not 100% sure on what you need.  I found a standalone player for sale by the original owner.  That’s always been the most reliable source of items in my case.  There are many re-sellers that don’t know the history behind a item, which is good to know when that item is 30+ years old.

It’s a Realistic brand (sold by Radio-Shack) in very nice condition.  I have no tapes to actually test it, but if physical condition shows anything, it’s pristine.

The tapes should be on their way from Oklahoma soon, after I finish a job which has a precise timeline, I will start on those.  I’ll write an update on completion.

The second job, I highly regard.  I have been trying to become an independent contractor for Indiana University for a while.  I put a bid in at the Kelley School of Business MBA Program a year ago.  I was asked again for a bid last week.

This project originally was to transfer 160 VHS tapes to AVI format to be then put onto DVD’s.  It was then discovered that the tapes were actually DVCAM and BetaCam SP tapes.

I immediately thought that I had lost this chance due to the high cost associated with the equipment.  DVCAM and BetaCam SP are professional grade formats, which come with a professional price.  For the price of 2 players, you can purchase a nice car.  I looked into renting, but that was almost as bad.  $75 per day for DVCAM and $250 per day for BetaCam SP.

I was reassured by the person requesting the bid that I didn’t have to put in a bid since the scope of the project had changed, but I didn’t want to tuck my tail between my legs and run.  So I calculated the prices of renting the equipment for the time I would need it and other associated costs and sent my bid.

I was in shock and awe when 2 days later she said she wanted to proceed with my bid.  I’ve finally succeeded with getting my foot in the door, but will I perform when my business and reputation are on the line?

 

 

I’ve been working on a few technical issues regarding this.  I found and purchased a brand new BetaCam SP Player for $500 today on eBay.  The MSRP on this model is $6200!  Far cheaper than renting one, I just hope I didn’t get duped.  One unknown is how long each one of these tapes are, and they want them in AVI format.  I’ve been working with some test files to see the best way to make ’em fit onto 4.7 GB DVDs.  It’s been unsuccessful to say the least.  It seems the more I try, the larger the file size gets.  I’ve been working in a range of 10 gigs to 60 gigs, for the same file!

I’ve decided to use a test file (ROX #41) and render in different formats and codecs.  I’m going to furnish this list of information and let them decide exactly what they want.  I don’t use AVI that much, and I believe it’s highly inferior to QuickTime format.  Hopefully I can get them to come around.

In the end, I hope to deliver what my new client wants and more.  I hope this can build a reputation for me, and in the end, expand more.

No More to Spread

Well, today went beautifully.

My neighbor came over to try to correct this clog in our drain.  We snaked the line, used a compressed air machine on it, and even cleaned out the vent line.

It just got worse.

So we’ve called some professionals in, we’re waiting on a call back to know when they can come.  Until then, it’s laundromat for us.

I’ve cancelled my plans on getting the basketball goal due to a surprise that came up.  My sister-in-law in Indianapolis decided to get new furniture.  She’s practicallly giving her old stuff to us.  I’ve always loved it, and we’ve wanted new furniture for a while.

So we’ll be pulling my little trailer along to help with the loveseat and couch.

I’m expecting some fun, to say the least.