There's not enough bitching

[Brian]

Arguably.  I can take unemployment between contracts, depending on how I lose my job.  If I'm fired due to favoritism, I win.  If I'm fired due to (say) attendance, I lose.

If I make a huge issue with HR that threatens my manager's job, sending all of the racist e-mails, chats, sexual harrasment innuendo, and general swearing that I've recieved from this guy, and ask for an investigation ... well.  Those e-mails and chats are all queued up for my way out the door, along with stern recommendations for communication/assertiveness training to handle a >_<worthy amount of passive-aggressive uselessnes on his part, and a lawsuit worth of slander evidence on the part of the employee who gets away with doing nothing....

My e-mail is going to comment that it seems likely that C-Mo is actually blackmailing my manager, because I don't think my manager is stupid enough to keep on a trouble-maker like this.  In the meantime, I take savage delight in watching the project I'm not on burn to the ground in a giant pillar of fail.

Edit: I never realized what an asshole I was until recently.  Or maybe I forgot.  Oh well. :D

[Brian]

Not being able to afford Christmas presents for my friends and family.

Again.

[Dracos]

Yesterday, I was going to head off...and one of my alarms flashed that the tools build was broken.

I investigate since I own that crap.

I find numerous impossible things. -_-

Today, I will be cutting throats until things make sense.

[Merc]

Laid off from work (well, two weeks, but yeah). Not horribly unexpected as I've been on the bench (between projects) for a little over three months now with -nothing- to do, but still kinda annoying. On the plus side, it was three months of essentially free money for doing -nothing- at all except sit at my cubicle and looking, well, pretty. On the minus side....well, when I say doing 'nothing', I mean doing nothing. Intensely boring? You have NO idea.

Oh well, now's a good time to start looking at that master's degree and what I'd need to get it, I guess.

[Anastasia]

Sorry man. Considering the economy, this might be a very good time to go back to school.

[Dracos]

Good luck, Merc.

And yeah... indeed. :(

[Anastasia]

It's not all bad. You have time to line up references and think about what do next. You also have a strong family support system by all accounts, so you have something to fall back on.

[Merc]

*nods* yeah, I'm still living with the parents, so this doesn't really impact me harshly, thank god for that, and I've been saving most of my money as a result of living with 'em, so there's that to fall back on if they decide to kick me out for some weird reason too.

[Anastasia]

You're better off than a lot of people I know. Take a bit of time and decide what you want to do next.

[Dracos]

Been wavering in and out of being sick all week.

Also, currently on a 'one friend gets laid off every 4 days' schedule for weeks.

[Asrana]

36 hour long headache + polisci theorist attempting to involve calculus in their theory writings.

[Brian]

I cut myself (fairly badly) trying to fold the Tales of Vesperia disc.  Fail on so many levels....

[Dracos]

That's a special kind of fail. :(

[Anastasia]

My dog threw up on my bed. Argh.

[Brian]

I turned 30 on Saturday.  My friend Jim gave me a new video card -- an ATI Radeon 4850, with 512 MB of DDR3.  Exactly like the one I already had (that he got me for christmas).  So, we begin the process of trying to get Crossfire to work between these two cards to make an epically awesome monster system!

Fry's Trip #1:

...but my power supply is too weak to support it.  So, given that this will require some major hardware changes anyway (the PSU isn't the most troublesome, but...), I decide to cut into my savings and give myself a birthday present of a system upgrade -- just to be sure.  All of the components we buy are Crossfire compatible.  New CPU, new motherboard, and new RAM.

Back home to assemble the system!

Computer Central Trip #1:

Wallace lost the Vista disc and key he was going to get me, so we had to buy a new one.

But we're off!

Fry's Trip #2:

...but the new power supply is not modular, as its packaging claims.  It must be taken back and replaced.

Then we get to build awesome system of the ages!

Fry's Trip #3:

After assembly, the new system can only count half its RAM.

Now with good parts!

Fry's Trip #4:

After installing the new replacement RAM, we realize that RAM socket 0 on the motherboard is actually dead.  We need to replace the motherboard.

...now with more thorough testing.

At this point, the system begins behaving oddly with regards to the windows boot disc.  If the disc is in the system drive, it won't boot.  We manage to get it to read once, and the install is off!

Now, to install drivers, and configure.

32 hours later, after rolling back and trying 4 different drivers, 3 different Catalyst Control Center versions (this is the software that will say yeah or nay on CrossfireX working), and what happens?  A known issue according to ATI.  Both cards work fine separately.  Both cards are identical in terms of spec (though, it turns out that CrossfireX is supposed to be forgiving on this front anyway), but the option to enable CrossfireX simply never appears.  Finally, earlier today, I turn to their tech support.

After telling the first tech my issues, he transfers me to someone else who says, "Well if you've tried all of that, then all I can suggest is reformatting and reinstalling your OS.  Then, install each component of your new video setup one piece at a time, with a reboot between each software and hardware installation.  Some guys on our forum said that sometimes that works."

Yaaaay....  But it didn't work.

So, the better part of 3 days, 1200$ in new parts, and ... I can't use CrossfireX, which means all I can get from the card is that my system will run hotter and use more power.  It won't accomplish anything useful, but it's there.  So I uninstalled it and gave it to my roommate.

I fail at receiving birthday presents.

I already snapped my phone into pieces out of frustration over trying to get the stupid thing working (better than the video card/MB), and after gouging my hands on that and the inevitable nicks, cuts, scratches, etc. that come from upgrading a system....  Oh, yeah, AND I now own a copy of Vista.  Great.

ATI has received enough blood, sweat, and tears.  For the next few weeks, I am a crusader against their company -- an emissary of hate, if you will.  Words actually DO suffice to express my frustration, but I'll save them for ATI staff.