Yesterday my cell phone decided to not show anything anymore.
Since I use my cell phone for my home based costume renting business, I urgently needed a replacement. My old phone was a Nokia 5110. On my way home on the train, I spoke with somebody who mentioned that he could organise me a phone within a few days.
In the evening, I had to pick up two friends of mine from work and drop them off at their homes. The last person that I dropped off mentioned that he has an old phone at his place which he is willing to sell to me for a low price. It turned out to be the exact same phone model as I have been using so far.
Today I sent that person from the train yesterday an SMS, just to tell him not to bother looking for a phone since I got a replacement.
A bit after that he phoned, trying to sell me a SIM card with 50% discount on calls. I hardly phone anybody, and I prefer to send an SMS, since those are short and sweet. He was really trying to get my ID number and bank details, but he never even mentioned the company name. The ID number that I reluctently gave him, he got wrong. The bank details I told him that I cannot give them to him right away since I have to look them up first. He suggested that I should get somebody from accounts quickly to give me my bank details. At that point in time I had enough and told him I will send the details by SMS later. Since he was then trying to get the details right during that call because that was being recorded and the bank had to listen to the call.
During that phone call I was busy with work and not actually interested sicne that whole issue was forced upon me. That SMS never went.
Moral of the story: Don't try to force or corner somebody into a sale if that person did not request it. This is what gives so many sales people and call centers such bad names.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
The art of picking up costumes after buying them from overseas
Lately there has been the usual issue with the post office when I was expecting to get a notification to pick up a package from the post office, that it ended up being delivered to my home, when I am not there during the day.
What also happened a few times was not getting a notification to pick up a package that I was waiting for. This leads me on to the next issue: Companies were I order licensed costumes from which are mostly overseas do not usually send the parcel tracking code along with the email notifying me that the parcel has been sent.
The day before yesterday I got a notification about a foreign package that I am supposed to pick up at the N1 City post office. It came from overseas, but no company information was specified. The price tag was 25 Rand (ZAR). I am waiting for at least two packages from overseas, so now I don't know which one of these two it is.
Yesterday I got a notification about a package that somebody tried to deliver to me twice. That one I now have to pick up at the Panorama post office with a price tag of 346 Rand (ZAR). There were no markings about overseas, but it might be as well based on the price tag. It could also be the two bunny suits (brown and white) that I had made by Parties 4 Africa which is located in Empangeni, KwaZulu Natal.
What also happened a few times was not getting a notification to pick up a package that I was waiting for. This leads me on to the next issue: Companies were I order licensed costumes from which are mostly overseas do not usually send the parcel tracking code along with the email notifying me that the parcel has been sent.
The day before yesterday I got a notification about a foreign package that I am supposed to pick up at the N1 City post office. It came from overseas, but no company information was specified. The price tag was 25 Rand (ZAR). I am waiting for at least two packages from overseas, so now I don't know which one of these two it is.
Yesterday I got a notification about a package that somebody tried to deliver to me twice. That one I now have to pick up at the Panorama post office with a price tag of 346 Rand (ZAR). There were no markings about overseas, but it might be as well based on the price tag. It could also be the two bunny suits (brown and white) that I had made by Parties 4 Africa which is located in Empangeni, KwaZulu Natal.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Chatting with the editor of LO Magazine
Yesterday I had a brief chat via an instant messenger with the editor of the South African anime and manga magazine called: LO Magazine
The chat was quite interesting, and I might actually meet him at FCBD at the Readers Den this year. He was there last year, but I did not know which of the people he was. I am very sure that he has seen me since I was in a Spider-Man costume for the promotion.
Photos from FCBD 2005 can be seen at:
Free Comic Book Day 2005
The chat was quite interesting, and I might actually meet him at FCBD at the Readers Den this year. He was there last year, but I did not know which of the people he was. I am very sure that he has seen me since I was in a Spider-Man costume for the promotion.
Photos from FCBD 2005 can be seen at:
Free Comic Book Day 2005
Monday, March 27, 2006
Escape of the tenants
The tenants finally moved out on Friday. The carpets are dirty, some of their stuff is still lying around and somebody has been drawing on walls and closets with a pen.
On Sunday was a case of lack of sleep combined with physical labour which resulted in me falling asleep shortly after I tried to relax to watch something.
On Sunday was a case of lack of sleep combined with physical labour which resulted in me falling asleep shortly after I tried to relax to watch something.
Friday, March 24, 2006
The evil of using Microsoft Word for attaching images to an email
A new and totally stupid trend that seems to have been surfacing by the group of people in an office that are non very computer literate: When attempting to attach an image to an email in Outlook as an attachment, they put the image into a Microsoft Word document and then attach the entire document.
There is nothing wrong with using Word, but using Word just to attach one image, which can be attached directly to an email, is very stupid. For those of us that do not use Word or have to rely on a slow dial-up connection (paying per minute connected to the internet), this is a very bad thing.
Word documents can end up being very bloated because of all of the additional information that they contain.
An image can start at a file size of roughly 40 bytes to a couple of MB, with the decent big JPEG images are a few hundred KB in size. An empty Word document starts at 24 KB. Properly optimised images from websites tend to be between 2 KB and 15 KB (if they are big).
Putting an image into a Word document, saving the Word document and then attaching it, instead of just attaching the image, is a major waste of time.
Some people need to learn what common sense is and how to use it. Those that cannot use common sense deserve to be shot!
There is nothing wrong with using Word, but using Word just to attach one image, which can be attached directly to an email, is very stupid. For those of us that do not use Word or have to rely on a slow dial-up connection (paying per minute connected to the internet), this is a very bad thing.
Word documents can end up being very bloated because of all of the additional information that they contain.
An image can start at a file size of roughly 40 bytes to a couple of MB, with the decent big JPEG images are a few hundred KB in size. An empty Word document starts at 24 KB. Properly optimised images from websites tend to be between 2 KB and 15 KB (if they are big).
Putting an image into a Word document, saving the Word document and then attaching it, instead of just attaching the image, is a major waste of time.
Some people need to learn what common sense is and how to use it. Those that cannot use common sense deserve to be shot!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
C# retrieving values from dynamic created fields runtime
Finding proper source code to create form fields on a Windows application in C# at runtime was not so difficult to find.
Getting an example on how to access the fields created at runtime based on names created in a loop is another matter.
After finding source code in some forum for accessing some fields inside of a datagrid, I came up with the following to specifically access checkboxes:
// --- Code Start ---
int iCounter = 0;
int iNumberOfObjects = 0;
string strName = "";
string strState = "";
string strType = "";
iNumberOfObjects = this.Controls.Count;
if (iNumberOfObjects > 0) {
foreach(System.Windows.Forms.Control dgi in this.Controls) {
strType = dgi.GetType().ToString();
strName = dgi.Name;
if (strType == "System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox") {
strState = dgi.ToString();
iCounter++;
}
}
}
// --- Code End ---
Note: The line checking the number of objects and the foreach line reference fields which are directly on the main form. When accessing fields in a panel or elsewhere, then those two lines have to be adjusted. This is working C# code which was created just to see if something actually works.
Getting an example on how to access the fields created at runtime based on names created in a loop is another matter.
After finding source code in some forum for accessing some fields inside of a datagrid, I came up with the following to specifically access checkboxes:
// --- Code Start ---
int iCounter = 0;
int iNumberOfObjects = 0;
string strName = "";
string strState = "";
string strType = "";
iNumberOfObjects = this.Controls.Count;
if (iNumberOfObjects > 0) {
foreach(System.Windows.Forms.Control dgi in this.Controls) {
strType = dgi.GetType().ToString();
strName = dgi.Name;
if (strType == "System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox") {
strState = dgi.ToString();
iCounter++;
}
}
}
// --- Code End ---
Note: The line checking the number of objects and the foreach line reference fields which are directly on the main form. When accessing fields in a panel or elsewhere, then those two lines have to be adjusted. This is working C# code which was created just to see if something actually works.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Lord of the Rings 2 Battle for Middle Earth 2 skirmish and multiplayer review
On Saturday I have had the fun and joy to try out the new Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth 2 strategy game in skirmish and multiplayer. Comments are as follows:
- The AI is very stuffed up: Continuously attacking the same player the whole time. In the first game, the first player was always attacked first. The AI also immediately rushes and then just continues to do so. That very quickly becomes annoying. I thought the rushing could not get worse than WarCraft 3, but it did. The main fortress was undefended and the AI always attacked the wall to the left of it. Building defence towers there just stacked the number of kills, since they just started attacking further left continuously as towers got added next to existing towers.
- As seen with many strategy games, just to make the AI nastier, the AI gets more resources so it builds less resource places and ends up building a lot more troops.
- Those areas for the resource places is also far too big. Everything needs to be spaced too far apart to properly gain resources. By the time there is a fairly decent amount of resources, the resource places have to be built inside of the enemy base.
- Fire arrows are still too powerful.
- Units don't always respond. Formations are mostly useless.
- Memory leaks: Just like the first game, this second game also suffers from memory leaks. My PC with 1 GB RAM ran out of virtual memory and then the desktop was suddenly visible!
- A really annoying feature in the multiplayer lobby caused on player to quit: whenever somebody changes the race or colour, the ready setting of the other players is switched off. After eight times this switching off, the player just left the game. That NEEDS to be fixed! Dawn of War had this done very nicely.
- Those damn annoying videos at the beginning! There are too many of them! There should be an option to switch them off, or to at least be able to cancel them earlier.
- Not everyone is a hardcore gamer who plays a game the whole day for weeks on end.
- The AI is very stuffed up: Continuously attacking the same player the whole time. In the first game, the first player was always attacked first. The AI also immediately rushes and then just continues to do so. That very quickly becomes annoying. I thought the rushing could not get worse than WarCraft 3, but it did. The main fortress was undefended and the AI always attacked the wall to the left of it. Building defence towers there just stacked the number of kills, since they just started attacking further left continuously as towers got added next to existing towers.
- As seen with many strategy games, just to make the AI nastier, the AI gets more resources so it builds less resource places and ends up building a lot more troops.
- Those areas for the resource places is also far too big. Everything needs to be spaced too far apart to properly gain resources. By the time there is a fairly decent amount of resources, the resource places have to be built inside of the enemy base.
- Fire arrows are still too powerful.
- Units don't always respond. Formations are mostly useless.
- Memory leaks: Just like the first game, this second game also suffers from memory leaks. My PC with 1 GB RAM ran out of virtual memory and then the desktop was suddenly visible!
- A really annoying feature in the multiplayer lobby caused on player to quit: whenever somebody changes the race or colour, the ready setting of the other players is switched off. After eight times this switching off, the player just left the game. That NEEDS to be fixed! Dawn of War had this done very nicely.
- Those damn annoying videos at the beginning! There are too many of them! There should be an option to switch them off, or to at least be able to cancel them earlier.
- Not everyone is a hardcore gamer who plays a game the whole day for weeks on end.
Pipe burst
On Sunday there was a lovely pipe burst in the street where I stay. At the time I was busy with washing dishes and laundry. The washing machine got stuck since there was no water to continue with the next step. Superior thoughts of joy crossed my mind at the time. Outside was mud everywhere.
A few hours later a friend of mine came to visit. He mentioned that repairs were being made. Some time after he left, the water returned again and the washing machine finished its work. At least now I can finish the dishes which I wanted to have finished by Friday.
A few hours later a friend of mine came to visit. He mentioned that repairs were being made. Some time after he left, the water returned again and the washing machine finished its work. At least now I can finish the dishes which I wanted to have finished by Friday.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Movie cinema prices for the same movie
For two days in a row, I have tried to watch the movie "Final Destination 3" in the cinemas. The first day I was called out due to work. Yesterday (day 2) I managed to watch the complete movie.
Since there is construction going on at N1 City, the late night movies are not shown at the Nu Metro cinema at N1 City. Yesterday I did not make it in time anymore for the 19:15 show at N1 City, so I went to the Nu Metro cinema at Canal Walk, since the same movie only starts there at 20:00.
The same movie for more or less the same time was a bit cheaper at N1 City than compared to Canal Walk. The N1 City cinema is also a lot smaller with fever visitors so the prices cannot be pushed up too high.
Since there is construction going on at N1 City, the late night movies are not shown at the Nu Metro cinema at N1 City. Yesterday I did not make it in time anymore for the 19:15 show at N1 City, so I went to the Nu Metro cinema at Canal Walk, since the same movie only starts there at 20:00.
The same movie for more or less the same time was a bit cheaper at N1 City than compared to Canal Walk. The N1 City cinema is also a lot smaller with fever visitors so the prices cannot be pushed up too high.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Wild costume party
Yesterday my phone went wild because some people were looking for costumes for 19:30 that same day.
Some actually rented, but for others my opening hours were not ideal. While I was at the cinema, somebody phoned, because he needed pants for a pirate costume. The company where he rented his costume didn't supply pants. Today I collected the pants and a costume while I was on lunch break. Both people were in the Seapoitn area, while I am working in Greenpoint.
The party last night was loud. It was at the Monte Carlo at Canalwalk. I only got there late due to various delays. When I finally got there, it was getting a bit too late so I didn't stay too long.
Now you know. :)
Some actually rented, but for others my opening hours were not ideal. While I was at the cinema, somebody phoned, because he needed pants for a pirate costume. The company where he rented his costume didn't supply pants. Today I collected the pants and a costume while I was on lunch break. Both people were in the Seapoitn area, while I am working in Greenpoint.
The party last night was loud. It was at the Monte Carlo at Canalwalk. I only got there late due to various delays. When I finally got there, it was getting a bit too late so I didn't stay too long.
Now you know. :)
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Yoda and Catwoman costumes
Today one client brought back my Yoda costume, while a model else rented the catwoman costume, but she was late due to some casting. For this I had to use up most of my lunch break, but that is what can be considered customer service. The Yoda costume was used for some costume party during a jewish holiday which goes over two days.
This morning I sat in the train with the catwoman costume, and tomorrow evening I will probably sit with it in the train again. This evening I am taking the Yoda costume home via train.
An agency from Durban phoned me today enquiring about my Superman costume which they might need in a few months from now. I am suspecting that it will be used for a promotion with the superman movie that will be coming out around that time.
This morning I sat in the train with the catwoman costume, and tomorrow evening I will probably sit with it in the train again. This evening I am taking the Yoda costume home via train.
An agency from Durban phoned me today enquiring about my Superman costume which they might need in a few months from now. I am suspecting that it will be used for a promotion with the superman movie that will be coming out around that time.
Movie Review: The Fog
After having seen the trailer about one month ago, I was quite interested in this movie, especially since I enjoy watching horror movies.
Last night I went to watch "The Fog" in the cinema. There are only two cinemas in Cape Town that actually show the movie.
At first I thought the trailer gave a lot of it away. It turned out the trailer mentioned hardly anything. The movie was very captivating and nice for watching late at night when it is dark.
What I was curious about is why that fog never got hold of everybody quickly. It always seemed to pick its victims, then it moved on to others. Some people were lucky to escape, some were taken completely by surprise. Those that could escape either had a valid escape reason (not related to the ancestors) or were the heroes in the movie and had a few narrow escapes.
Overall the movie was enjoyable, the plot went at the same speed from the first few seconds right until the end. Not much time and patience of the viewer was wasted on distractions (love scenes and other time wasters).
Last night I went to watch "The Fog" in the cinema. There are only two cinemas in Cape Town that actually show the movie.
At first I thought the trailer gave a lot of it away. It turned out the trailer mentioned hardly anything. The movie was very captivating and nice for watching late at night when it is dark.
What I was curious about is why that fog never got hold of everybody quickly. It always seemed to pick its victims, then it moved on to others. Some people were lucky to escape, some were taken completely by surprise. Those that could escape either had a valid escape reason (not related to the ancestors) or were the heroes in the movie and had a few narrow escapes.
Overall the movie was enjoyable, the plot went at the same speed from the first few seconds right until the end. Not much time and patience of the viewer was wasted on distractions (love scenes and other time wasters).
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Busy costume renting day (sort of)
Today there were several telephone calls from people looking for costumes. There was even a call from somebody in Pretoria while I am Cape Town based.
Two people want to come today to check the Catwoman costume, unless the one call was from some family member of that person who phoned. Assuming those are two different people, I might have a problem this evening, because one of the gloves is currently being repaired and both might need the same size. the glove I can still go and fetch, but I don't have the same size twice.
It seems like I need to make my maps section more obvious and not everybody seems to find my contact details, but they all find my cell phone number which is right next to my contact details. Maybe a bit of a redesign is in order and trying to make the site more idiot-proof. There is text saying that the maps all have a bigger picture when clicked on, but that does not seem obvious enough.
Two people want to come today to check the Catwoman costume, unless the one call was from some family member of that person who phoned. Assuming those are two different people, I might have a problem this evening, because one of the gloves is currently being repaired and both might need the same size. the glove I can still go and fetch, but I don't have the same size twice.
It seems like I need to make my maps section more obvious and not everybody seems to find my contact details, but they all find my cell phone number which is right next to my contact details. Maybe a bit of a redesign is in order and trying to make the site more idiot-proof. There is text saying that the maps all have a bigger picture when clicked on, but that does not seem obvious enough.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Sleepy, lawny roof weekend
This weekend was supposed to be relaxing, which as usual never happened.
On Friday I picked up a friend of mine from work, then we fetched his PC. He stayed over at my place.
Saturday morning I took him to work, then I went back to bed. A bit I was trying to get a haircut, meet someone to discuss a photo shoot, then the "evil twins" arrived. With the "evil twins" my father arrived and somebody who ended up weeding the garden.
The next step was mowing the lawn and then securing a plane on top of the Wendy House. The lawn was lots of fun as usual. Balancing on top of that weak roof top of the Wendy House was another issue.
Saturday afternoon I was at P's village. Later we went to pick up the other character from his work. Then we went to get some McDucks and played Age of Empires 3 for the rest of the evening. During the drive back there was rain.
Sunday morning was yet again dropping off the character at work. At 11AM I finally got out of bed to get some work done. Just before 2PM, the missing costumes series finally came to an end. Later I started getting tired again, then it was a case of picking up my friend from work.
Monday morning was the national train strike, which meant dropping off my friend at work, and getting through traffic jam. Somebody rented the Yoda costume from me in the morning as well for some Jewish holiday.
On Friday I picked up a friend of mine from work, then we fetched his PC. He stayed over at my place.
Saturday morning I took him to work, then I went back to bed. A bit I was trying to get a haircut, meet someone to discuss a photo shoot, then the "evil twins" arrived. With the "evil twins" my father arrived and somebody who ended up weeding the garden.
The next step was mowing the lawn and then securing a plane on top of the Wendy House. The lawn was lots of fun as usual. Balancing on top of that weak roof top of the Wendy House was another issue.
Saturday afternoon I was at P's village. Later we went to pick up the other character from his work. Then we went to get some McDucks and played Age of Empires 3 for the rest of the evening. During the drive back there was rain.
Sunday morning was yet again dropping off the character at work. At 11AM I finally got out of bed to get some work done. Just before 2PM, the missing costumes series finally came to an end. Later I started getting tired again, then it was a case of picking up my friend from work.
Monday morning was the national train strike, which meant dropping off my friend at work, and getting through traffic jam. Somebody rented the Yoda costume from me in the morning as well for some Jewish holiday.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Train strike on Monday again
On Monday is supposed to be train strike again, according to the Cape Metrorail website.
Sunday evening should be another update. Hopefully the strike does not happen.
I just hope that the previous strike has had an effect on the repair of the train doors. This morning somebody couldn't open a door, so I helped out to let the person out, before the train moved on.
Sunday evening should be another update. Hopefully the strike does not happen.
I just hope that the previous strike has had an effect on the repair of the train doors. This morning somebody couldn't open a door, so I helped out to let the person out, before the train moved on.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Missing costumes: Part 4
After Missing costumes: Part 3 recently, I was hoping, that the series would be over, but it goes on:
The client came back with all three costumes, but was missing the eye mask and two belts of a Batman costume. The one belt had pockets (didn't come with the costume, it was purchased separately) while the other was just plain flat.
These missing items are supposed to be coming back this coming Sunday in the morning sometime. I just hope that there will not be a part 4.
The client came back with all three costumes, but was missing the eye mask and two belts of a Batman costume. The one belt had pockets (didn't come with the costume, it was purchased separately) while the other was just plain flat.
These missing items are supposed to be coming back this coming Sunday in the morning sometime. I just hope that there will not be a part 4.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Hectic chaotic week
This week is just all kinds of things going on:
On Monday I suffered the after-effects of a previous train strike and a weekend of people renting costumes from me. My father and his fiancé also came for a visit.
Work was hectic as usual.
Tuesday nothing was going right at work, due to mail and network problems. Some of these issues might be related to the power failures still going on and new staff members. More issues with people wanting to rent costumes which are supposed to be coming back that day, but were brought back late. I also had to go past the library and get a lot of laundry sorted. My father and fiancé came again.
Wednesday (today): More connectivity issues at work. Some main router somewhere wasn't working. Most of the ADSL traffic for Cape Town goes through that router. More phone calls from people looking for costumes. They were on their way to my place, but didn't bother reading my opening times. Somebody even enquired about taking costumes to Langebaan and sending it back by courier.
This evening I am trying to get some costumes to someone for repairs, but it seems like I can only take some, due to the rest being requested by other people and I won't get them back on time from repairs. This morning somebody was supposed to drop off costumes, but I suspect they did not make it on time due to traffic jam.
The rest of the week will most likely be much of the same chaos. Somewhere I am still trying to get some sleep in.
On Monday I suffered the after-effects of a previous train strike and a weekend of people renting costumes from me. My father and his fiancé also came for a visit.
Work was hectic as usual.
Tuesday nothing was going right at work, due to mail and network problems. Some of these issues might be related to the power failures still going on and new staff members. More issues with people wanting to rent costumes which are supposed to be coming back that day, but were brought back late. I also had to go past the library and get a lot of laundry sorted. My father and fiancé came again.
Wednesday (today): More connectivity issues at work. Some main router somewhere wasn't working. Most of the ADSL traffic for Cape Town goes through that router. More phone calls from people looking for costumes. They were on their way to my place, but didn't bother reading my opening times. Somebody even enquired about taking costumes to Langebaan and sending it back by courier.
This evening I am trying to get some costumes to someone for repairs, but it seems like I can only take some, due to the rest being requested by other people and I won't get them back on time from repairs. This morning somebody was supposed to drop off costumes, but I suspect they did not make it on time due to traffic jam.
The rest of the week will most likely be much of the same chaos. Somewhere I am still trying to get some sleep in.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Free Comic Book Day 2006
On Saturay while getting some comics and a local anime magazine from the Readers Den Comic Book Shop, I also discussed with the shop owners the issue of advertising for people to help out with the annual Free Comic Book Day promotion.
The problem is always finding somebody who is willing to dress up as a character for a few hours to help with the promotion. Last year I asked friends of mine to help out. They enjoyed it a lot. This year the idea is to add one female character. That will be difficult to get.
Currently the most likely female superhero will be Supergirl, since that character was requested by the shop owners. Getting somebody for that is another matter. Too many people don't want to show up in costumes in public.
Anybody volunteering is welcome to do so. You will get paid for the more or less four hours. Three characters are needed in total. I will most likely be again in the Spiderman suit.
The problem is always finding somebody who is willing to dress up as a character for a few hours to help with the promotion. Last year I asked friends of mine to help out. They enjoyed it a lot. This year the idea is to add one female character. That will be difficult to get.
Currently the most likely female superhero will be Supergirl, since that character was requested by the shop owners. Getting somebody for that is another matter. Too many people don't want to show up in costumes in public.
Anybody volunteering is welcome to do so. You will get paid for the more or less four hours. Three characters are needed in total. I will most likely be again in the Spiderman suit.
Missing costumes: Part 3
Due to Missing costumes: Part 1 and Missing Costumes: Part 2, today is part 3 of the series.
The missing costumes have been returned yesterday near 9PM. Those people phoned earlier and I asked them to come after 7PM, since somebody else was desperate to get them.
Shortly after they left, I phoned the other people to come and pick up the costumes. I did notify them, that the costumes would have to be cleaned. The costumes are supposed to be returned tomorrow morning.
During the whole fiasco, I still had a friend visiting and my father with his fiancé were also roaming around the yard. After everybody was gone, I brought my friend home.
The missing costumes have been returned yesterday near 9PM. Those people phoned earlier and I asked them to come after 7PM, since somebody else was desperate to get them.
Shortly after they left, I phoned the other people to come and pick up the costumes. I did notify them, that the costumes would have to be cleaned. The costumes are supposed to be returned tomorrow morning.
During the whole fiasco, I still had a friend visiting and my father with his fiancé were also roaming around the yard. After everybody was gone, I brought my friend home.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Missing costumes: Part 2
Earlier today I posted a section about missing costumes.
Here is part number 2:
It turned out that those people have had some serious transportation problem. They most likely got stuck in the middle of nowhere. The lady that rented the costumes from me phoned me from work today, just to let me know. It would have been nice to at least have been informed yesterday evening. Apparently I will get them back today after I come home from work. Right after that, some other people are looking for the Batgirl costume.
Yesterday I noticed twice, that I need to get a smaller Supergirl costume. The medium size is larger than the medium size Batgirl costume made by the same manufacturer, and designed in the same year.
Here is part number 2:
It turned out that those people have had some serious transportation problem. They most likely got stuck in the middle of nowhere. The lady that rented the costumes from me phoned me from work today, just to let me know. It would have been nice to at least have been informed yesterday evening. Apparently I will get them back today after I come home from work. Right after that, some other people are looking for the Batgirl costume.
Yesterday I noticed twice, that I need to get a smaller Supergirl costume. The medium size is larger than the medium size Batgirl costume made by the same manufacturer, and designed in the same year.
Missing costumes
This weekend two people rented costumes from me and didn't bring them back. The telephone number that they gave me doesn't work (I just get a single beep and nothing else). The number that they phoned me from originally is also strange: Somebody occasionally answers but apparently cannot hear me. I tried from a cell phone and from a normal landline. After that, the line is never accessible, as if they are trying to ignore me.
As a result, all future people renting will have to fill out quite a long form before anything leaves my place.
The worst part is, that I will have to order those costumes again, which will cost me quite a bit, and I will have to wait one month at least. One of those costumes was very popular, the other one not much at all. The costumes were supposed to be back by 12 during the day. Somebody else was hoping for them to be back on time.
As a result, all future people renting will have to fill out quite a long form before anything leaves my place.
The worst part is, that I will have to order those costumes again, which will cost me quite a bit, and I will have to wait one month at least. One of those costumes was very popular, the other one not much at all. The costumes were supposed to be back by 12 during the day. Somebody else was hoping for them to be back on time.
Train strike
There was supposed to be a train strike today, but that was postponed until next week.
On Friday there was still an announcement at a train station, that there will be no trains today.
On Friday there was still an announcement at a train station, that there will be no trains today.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Fund raiser in Edgemead
This evening someone will come for a visit to rent my Spiderman suit for a fund raiser tomorrow at the church in Edgemead. Edgemead is right next to Monte Vista. Today and tomorrow is also the Monte Vista carnival at the Monte Vista primary school, where one of the voting stations in the municipal elections was on Wednesday.
The person coming this evening was originally looking for a Barney character suit, but due to legal reasons, that is not available. Either him or a cousin of his might be entertaining kids during the fund raiser. I am planning to go there just to see what is involved at a fund raiser, and what can be done for entertaining people in a costume.
Since I have never seen anyone wearing that suit live, I am looking quite forward to that. I have only seen somebody wearing it at a promotion, or I have been wearing that myself. It is quite fascinating to see how different people look with just different clothing, and the same piece of clothing looks so different due to the body shape and lighting.
The person coming this evening was originally looking for a Barney character suit, but due to legal reasons, that is not available. Either him or a cousin of his might be entertaining kids during the fund raiser. I am planning to go there just to see what is involved at a fund raiser, and what can be done for entertaining people in a costume.
Since I have never seen anyone wearing that suit live, I am looking quite forward to that. I have only seen somebody wearing it at a promotion, or I have been wearing that myself. It is quite fascinating to see how different people look with just different clothing, and the same piece of clothing looks so different due to the body shape and lighting.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Spyware infested PC
Today I assisted with cleaning out the fake-antispyware called SpyFalcon. Don't ever install it!!!
Many anty-spyware utitilies were blocked, popups show up telling you of viruses installed. The application even wants you to pay for it before it even considers removing anything (which I doubt it does). Unistall just runs the application. If you delete it, it just comes back.
After a long battle and howto guides on the internet, that piece of utter and completely disgusting rubbish has finally been removed.
Here is the Howto (credit goes to whoever has written it!):
How to Remove SpyFalcon
It is recommended that you save these instructions to your desktop for later use.
To begin: right click over top of the link remove_spyfalcon.reg, select "Save Link As" or "Save File as", and save the file to your desktop.
Next, download SmitRemFix by Noahdfear to your desktop. Once downloaded, double click to uninstall all the files into a folder, but do not run the program yet. SmitRemFix must be run in Safe Mode.
In safe mode:
Click Start -> Control Panel; launch the Add / Remove Programs icon.
Find the entry for SpyFalcon and double-click on it. Follow the prompts to uninstall the program, but do not allow it to reboot the computer if it asks.
When it has completed uninstalling you can close Add or Remove Programs and your Control Panel.
Delete the following files and folders (if they exist):
C:\Windows\System32\dxmpp.dll
C:\Program Files\SpyFalcon
Close all open Windows; open the SmitRemFix folder on your desktop.
Double-click the RunThis.bat file to start the tool; follow the instructions. If SmitRemFix finds an infection, it will start an uninstaller. Click on the Uninstall button to finish the removal. When complete, SmitRemFix will close automatically.
Your desktop may disappear for a split second as the SmitRemFix removes any leftover files installed by the infection. When complete, it will close automatically and you will be back at your desktop.
At this point, your computer should now be free of the SpyFalcon infection. To verify that your computer is free of infection, you may choose (optionally) to run PandaOnline scan:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan.htm
Once this is complete, reboot your computer back to normal mode.
Many anty-spyware utitilies were blocked, popups show up telling you of viruses installed. The application even wants you to pay for it before it even considers removing anything (which I doubt it does). Unistall just runs the application. If you delete it, it just comes back.
After a long battle and howto guides on the internet, that piece of utter and completely disgusting rubbish has finally been removed.
Here is the Howto (credit goes to whoever has written it!):
How to Remove SpyFalcon
It is recommended that you save these instructions to your desktop for later use.
To begin: right click over top of the link remove_spyfalcon.reg, select "Save Link As" or "Save File as", and save the file to your desktop.
Next, download SmitRemFix by Noahdfear to your desktop. Once downloaded, double click to uninstall all the files into a folder, but do not run the program yet. SmitRemFix must be run in Safe Mode.
In safe mode:
Click Start -> Control Panel; launch the Add / Remove Programs icon.
Find the entry for SpyFalcon and double-click on it. Follow the prompts to uninstall the program, but do not allow it to reboot the computer if it asks.
When it has completed uninstalling you can close Add or Remove Programs and your Control Panel.
Delete the following files and folders (if they exist):
C:\Windows\System32\dxmpp.dll
C:\Program Files\SpyFalcon
Close all open Windows; open the SmitRemFix folder on your desktop.
Double-click the RunThis.bat file to start the tool; follow the instructions. If SmitRemFix finds an infection, it will start an uninstaller. Click on the Uninstall button to finish the removal. When complete, SmitRemFix will close automatically.
Your desktop may disappear for a split second as the SmitRemFix removes any leftover files installed by the infection. When complete, it will close automatically and you will be back at your desktop.
At this point, your computer should now be free of the SpyFalcon infection. To verify that your computer is free of infection, you may choose (optionally) to run PandaOnline scan:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan.htm
Once this is complete, reboot your computer back to normal mode.
Election day
Yesterday the elections (in Monte Vista at least) went smoothly. The queue was short in Monte Vista, but apparently it was three times as long before I arrived there. In Welgelegen there was apparently a one Kilometer long queue.
Later as I was trying to get pre-paid electrity and heard on radio news that there was violence somewhere again. All a result of the elections. Usually tempers tend to flare quite a bit especially when some parties have members that just cause trouble. In the end, I didn't get the pre-paid electricity since there was a power failure.
Later as I was trying to get pre-paid electrity and heard on radio news that there was violence somewhere again. All a result of the elections. Usually tempers tend to flare quite a bit especially when some parties have members that just cause trouble. In the end, I didn't get the pre-paid electricity since there was a power failure.
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