Job Search

This month marks 1 year since I lost my job.  Hundreds of applications and Resumes later, I'm finally getting a couple of interviews. Anyone who thinks Charlotte, NC is an easy place to get decent employment is mistaken (unless or course you are willing to take a job for slightly more than minimum wage, I'm not quite that desperate just yet).

This information is superfluous to most of you, but I wanted to make a blog entry of some type since I haven't posted in a very long time.

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Update: 2/25/2011

Life gets worse...

I was applying for a job as a police dispatcher and all indications from the chief were great. He called me and gave me a brief phone screening to be sure that I was okay with the third shift (I was), the pay (I was), and the days of the week I would be working (I said great!). He then said "Very Good, you will be hearing from very soon".

Today I got a rejection letter telling me they were moving forward with other candidates. This shit sucks ass. I'm running out of places to apply and I don't understand why I can't find something.

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Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) released!

Ubuntu 10.10 was released today. I've been using it since it's pre-alpha days and I like it okay. It had some rough spots during development but it's a nice release in the end. I'm not sure I'll move all my system to Maverick though. I really like 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) and I'm not keen on dumping it just yet.

Dad to be released from Hospital on Oct. 1

I had a good day today.
Mom called and told me that my did is scheduled for release from the
hospital on Oct. 1st. His heart and lungs are doing much better - Thank
You God  :)

UPDATE: - October 4, 2010

Dad was released from the hospital at 1500 hours on October 1, 2010.  He is happily at home and resting well.  He and Mom report that he is getting stronger physically and mentally and progressing well. He starts physical therapy today (Mon, OCT. 4) and it looking forward to having his life back. I found it strange that he was released from the hospital on the same day, and EXACT same time that I was released from the hospital.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for blessing my family and working all the daily miracles that you do. I ask that you continue to watch over my earthly Father and Mother and continue to bless them health and wellbeing. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Please Pray for my Dad...

I realize that probably no one will read this post, but I have to unload these thoughts.  My 73 year old father went into the hospital about a month ago for a lung surgery.  He was in reasonably good health and of sound mind when he went in.  The hospital stay was supposed to be 1 week.  Here it is a month later and he is still there with a multitude of problems.

• His good lung keeps collapsing (pneumonia is suspected)
• His heart rate is 150-200 beats per minute (medication to reduce isn't working)
• His left foot has severe edema (blood clot is suspected)
• He is confused to the point that he appears to have lost his mind. No one really knows why.

I ask that anyone reading this blog post pray for my Dad (Charles).  Please add him to your prayer list at your church.  My father is a great/kind man.  He has worked his entire life to take care of his family and did so very well.  My father only had a 8th grade education. He quit school to help provide for him family. He served honorably in the military (Army), and has always worked hard for us.  He was a truck driver for 40 years and married to my mother for 50 years this month.  He adopted his great-grandson (Jake, my sister's grandchild) and only wants to spend a few quality years with little Jake before his life is over.

I beg you to pray to whoever your deity is and ask that my dad be healed and returned home in reasonable health and sound mind.  Thank you all..

Charles

New Maverick ISO testing.

Well, today I installed the Alpha 3+ (daily build) of Ubuntu Maverick.  It fixed quite a few minor issues and reviled a few others that are only noticeable during at all when doing a fresh install.  The main issue for me was the crappy partitioner dialogue.  I found that the option to install to the largest unallocated free space option was gone.  When I install a new version of Ubuntu, I generally use gParted from a LiveCD/USB and blow away the old install and swap partition.  Then I select to install to the unallocated space.  With the new Alpah3 however, I had to make and format my partitions with gParted, and this use the manual install option to put things where I wanted them. It all worked out okay but it's not the idea solution.

Next, I noticed that the nice little install slide show was not working as normal.  That sucked but it's not a show stopper.  It will turn-off new comers however if the issue isn't fixed before the final release.
 

Gateway Netbook vs. Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.04

Today I got a new Gateway Netbook for my wife Joy.  The thing was on sale for $50 off, then I got another 20% discount since she is a store employee.  I inspected the packaging (it had been returned) and found it was missing warranty registration and was able to get another 5% discount.  Grand total (drum roll...)  $140ish.

The first order of business was to do away with that nasty piece of software called windows xp and installed Ubuntu Netbook Edition.  A quick download and placement on a USB stick and it was Live boot testing time.  After a quick test to confirm all hardware was supported I went straight to an install.

I did a little tweaking (adding flash, java, and video codecs) and then added some of my wifes basic software favorites and I'm off to the races.  After testing for a few hours I gave it the A+ rating and handed it off to her.

Joy has never used the Netbook Edition desktop interface so a brief tour was needed to explain the subtle nuances and she is now ready to battle the playing field.

All in all, I'd say it was a good day (computer-wise) in the house and I look forward to playing with the new toy whenever she will hand it off to me.

Goodnight All...

OpenTyrian Rules

 
Do you remember the old DOS game Tyrian? It's a spaceship shoot 'em up game. Man I used to love playing that game.  I still have the original floppy disks and had the game setup using dosbox under Ubuntu.  It worked but wasn't as good as running under native DOS.

Well, the game was recently opensourced and you can get it from www.playdeb.net for native Ubuntu Linux.

Well after the install all I can say is AWESOME!  The opentyrian version is EXACTLY the same game and it includes all game episodes.  This is great, I'm off to play another round.

New Chainsaw - Oops... Tree vs. Fence problem.

Okay, Joy (my wife) has been fussing at me lately because I'm not getting things done around the house (yard work & home repairs) since I've been unemployed.  So I go to Lowe's today and buy an inexpensive 16" chain saw and start chopping down trees in the backyard (they keep dropping leaves into the pool) as requested.  All WAS going well until I started chopping on this one tree next to our fence line (keep in mind I've never used a chainsaw or cut down a tree in my entire life).

Well, I read up on tree cutting and understood how to make the needed cuts and where.  The only problem is that this one particular tree didn't read the same instructions I did on where it was to fall.  Stupid Ass Tree!!!  It started falling backwards in the wrong direction (over my fence towards the neighbors property). 

Well I stopped my cutting and strapped the tree to an adjacent bigger tree.  It's holding so far...  If it makes it through out the night I'll call in a professional tomorrow to see if he/she/we can finish the job without damaging the fence or any property.  Hopefully if it does come down tonight it will only do some minor fence damage that I could perhaps fix tomorrow.

I'll follow-up this post tomorrow and let you know how it turned out.

-Good Night Irene

Okay, so I got the tree down today.  First I had to take down a section of my neighbour's privacy fence.  Then I had to take down my chain-link fence.  Finally I made the final cuts on the tree and brought it down.  I've been bucking the tree for hours in the 100° heat and had to go inside.  I have never sweat so much in my life.

The neighbour's fence has been re-assembled but my chain-link is still down.  I'll have to get a fence stretcher to put it back in order.  I'm in no hurry for that, it can wait a while.

Well that's it.  Tree is down and no damage. Nothing else to say for now.

HOWTO: Fix GPG errors for bad/deleted keys

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=7667086&postcount=1

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys

Ubuntu 10.04 - The Lucid Lynx has escaped!

Ubuntu 10.04 was released yesterday.  I've been Alpha / Beta testing it from the beginning.  It's been a fun ride and now it's rolling off the production line.  I really like the new theme and other features.  So far every thing works great with the exception of the Simple Backup Suite.  That application does nothing for me on Lucid.  I have discovered another great backup utility called deja-dup however.  It's late and I don't really have time to do justice to this entry, so I'll continue this tomorrow.  Good night.

Help my family please.

I lost my job on the 9th and I'm frantically seeking employment. If anyone would care to help my family, please click on the paypal link DONATE button if you can. I will remove this post when I become employed again.

Thank you for caring,

Charles & Joy Jackson

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Blogged with the Flock Browser

nVidia Video Card PPA

http://ppa.launchpad.net/nvidia-vdpau/ppa/ubuntu

Posting this here because I'm tired of always having to search for it when doing a new install.

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Blogged with the Flock Browser

Installing Firefox 3.6 and Java 6.18

I was debating on weather or not to write this guide but since I have to keep recalling the steps for my own use, I'll post it here. This will be short and with little explanation since it's for my own use mainly.

For Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic), open a terminal and paste the following:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install firefox-3.6 <or close the terminal, and run the update manager>

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For ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) Users

First you need to edit /etc/apt/sources.list

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

add the following lines

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-stable/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-stable/ubuntu jaunty main

Save and exit

Update the source list

sudo apt-get update

Install firefox 3.6 stable

sudo apt-get install firefox-3.6

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For ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid) Users

First you need to edit /etc/apt/sources.list

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

add the following lines

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-stable/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-stable/ubuntu intrepid main

Save and exit

Update the source list

sudo apt-get update

Install firefox 3.6 stable

sudo apt-get install firefox-3.6

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For ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy) Users

First you need to edit /etc/apt/sources.list

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

add the following lines

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-stable/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-stable/ubuntu hardy main

Save and exit

Update the source list

sudo apt-get update

Install firefox 3.6 stable

sudo apt-get install firefox-3.6

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Updating Java and making it work

Add the JAVA PPA

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/voronov84/andreyv/ubuntu karmic main

Go to the PPA homepage and grab the key if you need it;

https://launchpad.net/~voronov84/+archive/andreyv

Okay, now you can run your update manager and let it upgrade your JAVA install... It won't function properly due to an install bug but we'll fix than on short order.

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Making Java work properly with Firefox 3.6

Now you need to navigate to the ~/.mozilla directory and make a folder called plugins (~/.mozilla/plugins/). Now using the terminal, run the command gksu nautilus to open a root file browser session. From there navigate to the following location:

/usr/lib/jvm/

Find the folder named java-6-sun/ and rename it to java-6-sun.bak/ (/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun.bak)

Now, in the same /usr/lib/jvm/ folder, find a sub folder named java-6-sun618/ or something similar, and rename it to java-6-sun/ (/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/).

Now from a terminal screen run the following command:

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/jre/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so ~/.mozilla/plugins/

That should do it...

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Roxie Is Awesome

Roxie has improved so much since my last post it can only be described as awesome.  She can play for hours on end without running out of steam.  I see no signs of hind-leg weakness.  Roxie has gained ALL of her weight back and eats like a little pig.  I would have to say that from all outward appearances, Roxie has made a full recovery and is enjoying life more now than in the past 2 years combined.  The only difference I have noticed in behavior is her STRONG desire to be held and hand fed occasionally.  Roxie wants lots of human contact and does not resist being a lap pet (unlike all other ferrets I've handled).  I love Roxie like no other pet I've ever had and every penny I've spent (thousands) towards her recovery was absolutely worth it. 

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More Roxie News

It's been 1 month and 1 day since I brought Roxie home from the hospital.  She's now eating on her own again and drinking from the water bottle.  What does this mean for me and my wife?  Well we don't have worry about being home and awake ever 4 hours around the clock.  Roxie had to be fed 16cc's of critical care food every 4 hours.  A lot of sleep was lost, and nearly late for work a few times.  I still feed her the critical care food before I go to work and as soon as I come home.  She eats her dry kibble when I'm not around so I don't have to worry so much.

Roxie has been out playing for the past hour and is much stronger.  She still tires or gets bored more quickly than in the past, but she's fattened up and I'm not so worried about losing her.  I think Roxie is definitely out of the woods now, but she will get special attention from me for the rest of her life.

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Roxie is doing well...

After lots of hard work and around the clock care, Roxie is doing well.  She is still being syringe fed.  She's spoiled now and looks forward to the hand feeding and attention.  I keep her stuffed with high quality paste food (Carnivore Care) and Gerber Chicken w/Gravy.  She's gaining weight and much more alert.  She's no pup anymore but does enjoy getting out and playing every day.  Today she took her last dose of antibiotic and shows no signs of an ulcer anymore.  I hope she continues to improve and is around for several more New Year's days.  I love you Roxie.

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Roxie is home, not doing so well.

Last night I brought Roxie home from the hospital.  Her blood sugar was lower than when she got there.  The prognosis isn't good and I'm not handling it well at all.  The doctor sent me home with some special food to push every 4 hours with a syringe.  I put her on my couch and started to prepare her food and she went into seizures.  It was very scary.  She barked and made noises I've never heard her make before.  I syringe fed her some pancake syrup and the seizure stopped, but she went limp and looked dead save for her breathing.  It was awful, I cried like a baby.  Joy wanted to take her to the vet and have her put down but I couldn't do it.  I pushed more syrup into here and in 10 minutes she was wide awake and running around like a brand new baby.

Now, I'm feeding her syrup along with her diet every 4 hours to prevent the seizures and it seems to work.  It's not a good long term plan but at least it makes her happier.  I have a sinking feeling in my gut that this won't work long term and I don't know what to do.  I'm kind of in a state of panic myself, I really love my Roxie and I can't face losing her right now.  I only pray that the prednisolone will start to inhibit her insulin production so that she will have a more stable blood sugar and a better life in her remaining days.  I'm so freaking sad about this that mere words can't even begin to describe my feeling of loss.  I love you Roxie...

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Roxie is in the hospital.

Roxie is my number one Ferret.  She's really a HE as I recently found out.  Roxie has been very ill for the past month or so and It's tearing my heart out.  She was diagnosed with insulinoma (cancerous tumor on the pancreas) and a tumor on his adrenal gland. I took Roxie to the best veterinarian around and she removed the tumors from the pancreas, and removed 1 adrenal gland.  Then an implant (capsule with medication) was inserted between his shoulder blades to prevent any future tumors.

Everything was fine for a few days and Roxie seemed to be getting way better, then a couple of days ago she started sleeping all the time and didn't care to get out of her cage for play time anymore.  I sensed her blood sugar was low so I gave her some pancake syrup and after a few minutes he started acting normal.  20 minutes later however, he was weak and sleepy again.  Off to the vet I went.  The vet tested his sugar and reported it was 40.  Even worse than before the surgery. He had to stay and receive an I.V. with glucose and meds to coat his stomach.

The doctor said that he seems to have a stomach ulcer and perhaps he's not eating due to pain.  The lack of food intake could be the cause for the low sugar.  I hope this is the case.  it's also possible that the insulinoma is back but not likely according to the doctor.  I only hope and prey that Roxie is better tomorrow and the doctor tells me exactly how to care for him at home so that another trip to the hospital won't be needed.  Please pray for my Roxie... I love you Roxie...

Karmic Installed on 4 Machines

Well, I've installed Karmic on four of my machines and it's running well.  I don't like the way the new Grub2 looks by default and I'll be looking into customizing it's appearance.  If anyone has any tips (like how to remove the memtest86+ entries) please let me know.

I also just installed Flock browser 2.5.2 by hand.  I'm hoping the getdeb.net will soon start building packages for Karmic.  This blog post is being composed in Flock on Karmic.

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Karmic Testing

It's been a long time since I posted here.  I'm testing Ubuntu 9.10 and so far I like it.  It's performance isn't that great on my old lappy with an ATI 9600.  Well 2D isn't that great but 3D is.  I'll get back soon with more information when I have time.  So far it looks like it's going to be a great release.

UPDATE:

By following my own guide for Jaunty.  I was able to put back most of the missing video performance.  You will find the instructions here.  I guess Karmic is here to stay.