Archive for ‘03/01/2010 - 04/01/2010’

This is gonna be a short one. I just need to say that all the vandalism and hateful acts on America's politicians are completely uncalled for and hypocritical of American citizens. The same American citizens that have a hatred for the terrorist acts carried out by extremists all over the world. We will surely tear ourselves apart if we keep up this pace. People may not be getting hurt or killed with tactics like placing a coffin on a politician's lawn or making death threats via phone calls and hate mail, but it's still terrorism. Shame on us, America.

Spring in San Diego really does me me feel alive. I live so close to Balboa Park that it's a quick walk to the Prado for some practice with my camera, good food, and to blend it like a tourist. And that's exactly how I spent this afternoon.



The Botanical Building is always nice to get out of the Sun and cool in the shade. I have little interest in flowers, but as photography subjects and with the lighting in there can make for some pretty interesting shots. It's also one of the free exhibits there so it's a must-see. Today I was looking for spiders and some different flowers to shoot and ended up with just a few plant shots instead.



I also love the talent that shows up there. Usually it's palm and tarot card readers, random musician that may or may not have talent, caricature artists, and food vendors along the main corridor where the museums are. On occasion you'll be presented with some real talented people, like Steam Powered Giraffe. They are a "Musical Pantomime Troupe" with a Steam Punk theme that are funny have some original and pleasant songs. They were really good. How they handled being in the Sun wearing all black and having their faces covered in makeup is beyond me. That's dedication.



If every day could be like this I wouldn't ever want to leave. I think the worst part of Balboa today was watching a woman who was wearing a dress that was too small and colorful for her adjust her panties by tugging at them through her dress. Snap! Snap! Ugh. Shudder.

2010 has been quite the year so far. Not in an outwardly recognizable good way (another way of saying it’s been shitty), but very possibly more than I realize. As in the past several years when I have made changes to my life out of necessity or out of choice, this year has not been any different. Though my changes this year may be closer to the third possibility which would be “choices out of necessity”. Doesn’t make sense? Just think about it, it’ll come to you.

These haven’t been easy decisions to come to especially because of the subjects: friends, loved ones, family, employment, and an overall look at my life situation. It’s never been easy for me to say “goodbye” to anyone and this year has not been any different. Out of self-preservation and desire for sanity I've abandoned two important people in my life already and it's only March – one because I don’t care enough, the other because I care entirely too much. Later this year I’ll probably be saying “see ya later” (as opposed to “goodbye”) to my two oldest friends – my best friend since college is moving to Japan, and another friend of 11 years might be moving to Colorado. My job has become more like a prison where I get paid instead of it feeling like an actual career. After 2009’s paycuts and lack of raises and bonuses I’ve felt that I need to leave. Add to the equation a lack of upward mobility and the answer is quite clear.

I can’t help but feel like a transplanted organ that’s been rejected by it’s new host. California has always felt like home to me, but it’s let me know in more ways than one that I don’t quite fit in here. San Diego is fantastic and to move someplace else is hard to imagine, though not not impossible. Orange County and Los Angeles are options, but I fit in to those places even less than San Diego. The people, the mentalities, the traffic, the expenses…shit, I just don’t know anymore.

When all of these things are added up it becomes evident that if I’m not going to adapt to how things are here then it might be time to move on. My job is fairly stable (I’ve survived ALL of my company’s layoffs since 9/11) and I’ve proven myself to be a commodity in my office. And now it seems to be the only thing keeping me here in San Diego. When someone you love wants nothing to do with you, your best friends are leaving, you’re in a job with no chance for advancement, and the whole state is going Hell then what’s left?

Time for a new adventure. The ball is rolling…

Steam Has Me Hot

At the beginning of March I wanted to play Borderlands, a game that is distributed by a company called Steam that also hosts many, many, many other games over the internet. The thing about Steam is that you have to hold an account with them in order to play their games. And for various reasons they can disable your account, close it, etc as they see fit.

On March 4^th I discovered that my account had been disabled for a reason that wasn’t clear to me so I had to submit a ticket to their support group and wait for an answer. Over a week later I was informed that my account was disabled because of a $6.69 expansion pack for Borderlands that I purchased back in December because CapitalOne disputed the charge, possibly because it looked suspicious. So it was up to me to close the dispute with CapitalOne and then have Steam charge the card again.

I didn’t realize at the time the scope of the problem. ALL of my games with Steam were non-transferable to another account and were therefore rendered worthless because a $6.69 dispute. Close to $400 in games collected of the years now worth absolutely nothing. They won’t charge another card, they won’t attempt to charge anything until I settle this with CapitalOne.

This morning I raised Hell with a CapitalOne dispute operator-whatever to obtain some sort of documentation that I could give to Steam to officially let them know that the dispute was dropped. Sometimes it DOES help to raise a little Hell and demand to speak to someone higher up. In 7-10 days I should have some sort of document to hand over to Steam to settle this and have them recharge my card in order to re-open my account, but I’m not holding my breath.

All I can say is that this is the most convoluted way of doing business. Hundreds of dollars of purchased games held hostage for less than $7. That includes games that I haven’t purchased online and hold the physical DVDs to and should be able to install anywhere when my account is in good standing. And it took 3 months for them to do this? Amazing.

I’ve never had a tremendous love for sports or sports-related activities, and even have somewhat of a dislike for those that are gung-ho about following them. But last night I was introduced to a sport that I might be able to get behind. I found myself getting really in to the event without even realizing what was happening to me.