What is On Jeffs' Mind

Yesterday, I had the day off from work. I had to work extra hours this week, so it worked out well, as I was able to do something I was not able to do nearly 13 years ago.

I was able to go and see Star Wars Episode 1 the Phantom Menace on opening day. This time around, it was in 3D. When it originally came out, I could not go opening day, as at the time I was busy at work, and a few other things happening that did not allow me to go first day. Being a big Star Wars fan, that always ate at me a little bit, so I have corrected that

I went with my Dad and two nephews, and had a good time. Epsiode 1 is what it is, and I know that a lot of people really dislike this movie. I will admit, that if I rank all the Star Wars movies, this one would be at the bottom of my list, as it can get a bit slow at times, and doesn’t have the best pacing. But to me, the movie does really setup what the Star Wars universe was, on a greater scale then the Original Trilogy ever did. I am a big Star Wars fan as stated, so I like to do the “Deep Dive” so to say into the who Star Wars universe. This movie gives a person plenty to get into, like myself, who wants to be immersed into that universe. I am really looking forward to the other movies coming out. The 3D in the movie was alright, I don’t think it will ever be a showcase 3D, but it was well applied in my opinion, and added some depth to the scenes. I guess maybe in the end, the 3D was more just a vehicle to get Star Wars back onto the big screen. I am amazed, that a movie that a lot of people pan, that 13 years after the fact, it still can get released into the theatre again. There are plenty of Academy Award winning movies that would not be able to be released 13 years after the fact, even some of the big blockbusters from the past few years, could not even get released again.

When I got home, I had something cool waiting for me at the Post Office. The next in the series of Star Wars Kubricks was released. I had ordered this set a few weeks ago, and had been anticipating it for some time. It was Deluxe series 4, which included 6 figures and a build up figure of the Probe Droid. I think what got me the most excited, was the vintage style figures they released. In the last series they released a Vintage Style Obi-Wan, and now they released 3 more. A Vintage Vader, Princess Leia and Tie Fighter Pilot. Also they released a R2-D2, Captain Antilles and Imperial Dignitary. So this morning I opened then up and assembled my Probe Droid. So now I have to find some space on my shelf for them. I am thinking I might separate my vintage style figures from the rest. I also included my 3D glasses in the picture from the movie yesterday.

Tags: Captain Antilles, Darth Vader, Imperial Dignitary, Princess Leia, Probe Droid, R2-D2, Star Wars Episode 1, Star Wars Kubricks, The Phantom Menace, Tie Fighter Pilot

Long time since my last post.

I guess the big thing was I was on Vacation. Tao Tao and I went down to the USA for a trip through Washington State.  It was a great trip, and had a good time. We got to spend a few days in Aberdeen Washington, visiting Rick Moyer and his family. That was a lot of fun, we saw some cool things like going out to Westport, a cool sea village. The Moyers also took us on a cool ride in a limousine out to a local lake nearby. Rick also took me to the Aberdeen Star Wars store, there were a lot of really cool things to see there. The owner was a reall nice fellow to talk to, and had a few interesting stories to share. Sure would be a fun business to own.

After Aberdeen, we went up to Seattle for a few days. We had a lot of fun, went on a Duck Boat ride around the downtown core and then into the water. All I can say, if you are visiting Seattle, make sure to Ride the Duck, lots of fun, you can find over by the Space Needle.  We also went to the Sci-Fi Museum, that was really cool, and I was really looking forward to it. I must say I was very impressed with it. If you like Sci-Fi, and you are in Seattle, then definitely check it out. I was really excited to see the Robot B9 from Lost in Space, Muffit the Daggit from the Original Battlestar Galactica, and Tao tao really liked the Terminator they had. Plus many more props were on display like a wall of Weapons. My nnly disappointment was that it was not larger. We also went to the top of the Space Needle, that was cool, but was a bit of a wait to get there. We were up there for about 20 minutes, but waited close to an hour to get up. We also went downtown, and checked out the Pikes Market, some cool things to see there.

After we visited with a friend of Tao tao’s in Everett, which is 30 minutes north of Seattle. That was a nice day, and a good chance to relax. We finished our Vacation going through the Okanagen. It was alright, but I was disappointed that there was really not much more to do. We spent a few days in Banff, and then home. All in All it was a nice trip, and happy to go somewhere for a change.

Been back to work for a few weeks now, certainly do not miss it. It has been very busy, actually to busy. The typical, people are in a panic, there are problems with software, projects need to be done by a certain date, etc etc etc. I guess it is what it is, I have felt a bit stressed at times over it, but taking a mile high look at things, not much I can really do about it. Should not really worry, as not my problem at all.

My friend Rick Moyer has launched a new site for a new music project he is working on, MW-ORBIT. There will be a story and a Music Cd coming out, in which Rick will tell the story of a Satellite called MW-ORBIT (Milky Way Orbital Reconnaissance Being In Tandem). The Satellite is searching for Extra Terrestrial life forms by exploring the galaxy and asking if Anyone is Out There?  Sounds like a very cool project, and Rick will be updating it daily with entries from the satellite as a build up to the release of the CD, so make sure to check it out.

On the collecting front, have not done much lately. I was happy when in the USA that I got the Twin Pod Cloud Car at Walmart in Aberdeen. I have been waiting for this ship for year, so was happy to get it. Also I picked up a few things at the Star Wars store, some Vintage StormTroopers and a Vintage transport car. They will go nicely with my Vintage Death Star playset. Tonight, I bought some more Kubricks, the Deluxe Hoth set. I was not aware they were released, so was able to find an auction eBay, hopefully in a week or so I should have them. This set comes with a AT-ST that is built from Pieces from each figure. Fun Stuff

Tags: Duck Boat Ride, Muffit the Daggit, MW-ORBIT, Rick Moyer, Robot B9, Sci-Fi Museum, Seattle, Space Needle, Star Wars Kubricks, Tao tao, Terminator

The past week was nothing short of a nightmare in regards to work.

Earlier in the month, at work we attempted to migrate our clients Microsoft Sharepoint servers from 2003 to 2007. Our first attempt at it had to be backed out after we discovered some problems with performance and issues with adding users. The adding users was resolved quickly, but the performance problem dogged us for a week and a half. Many calls to Microsoft support, lots of logging and investigation was spent. That troubleshooting led to having to work on the 20th and 21st in attempts to solving the issues. So on the Saturday, I start work, only to find that one of the servers was not operating, after a full day of troubleshooting, it was decided that it was best to reinstall Sharepoint. Boy, was that a mistake, we installed it, but the resource that we had, got busy on other things, and we were left with an unconfigured Sharepoint. Throughout the week we worked on the performance problems, only to find in the end, that it was a netbios issue in that it resolved the SQL servers name slow. So essentially, adding the SQL servers into the local hosts file for the Sharepoint servers fixed the issue with the performance. After that we continued on with the configuration, but ran into a problem well trying to configure the SSP for the farm. Another call to Microsoft, and working late at night with a deadline date looming. After a few stressful hours, the fix was found, and involved running a command on our second Sharepoint server. A few other issues were resolved, and we were ready for our Migration.

Armed with my steps on migrating, I set out on Saturday to start the configuration. Well it could not have gone any worse. Our first attempt failed, when we could not load the front page. We decided to try again, as we felt some other config we had done earlier in the week was causing an issue. The second attempt was a failure as well. People were getting pretty worried, as these servers needed to be done by March 31′st and this would be our last attempt. Another call to Microsoft, and we worked through the night and into Sunday troubleshooting the site. Finally after hours and hours of troubleshooting, we copied over the part of the Sharepoint site that was working from a different server. That fixed the issue, and the servers were done.

The past week was probably the most stressful and most hours I had ever worked. I had worked basically double my hours for the week, and all very stressful. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I did not get a chance to eat my supper until 12:00 am each night. The only bright spot in the work week was the Star Trek comic I received from my friend Rick in the mail, it is cool, and I am looking forward to reading it. I would start work around 7:30 and would not be finishing until 12:00 am, so basically lived the job. The second weekend, I worked from around 7:00 am Saturday morning until 2:00 pm Sunday, only taking a few hours off to go setup for the toy show on Sunday.

Probably the hardest part of the weekend, was that I ended up missing a good part of the toy show. once work had finished on Sunday, I headed to the toy show, but only got to spend a few hours there. I had a table again this year, and was so looking forward to selling and talking to all the different people. Jason shared the Table with me, and covered for me. He actually did a great job selling my stuff, he sold a lot of the stuff I could never the previous few toy shows. By the time I arrived at the show, most of what I brought was sold, so that was a pleasant surprise. But it was a real disappointment to miss so much. I was there to setup and there to tear down, but missed the real heart of the show. I was happy to get there for the final few hours, talk to a few people, wander around, and man the table.

I was so tired after working straight so many hours, but I am really glad I went. My friend Dale had a great setup of all his Kubricks, it was incredible to see all the Star Wars Kubricks in one spot. Dale is the only known person in North America with a complete collection of Star Wars Kubricks, and his display was impressive. Dale also sold me a set of Boba Fett Kubricks that were on the card. They are the first set of carded Kubricks I have ever bought. It is beautiful, as there are six different variations of Boba Fett. I am really impressed, and so happy Dale sold it to me. He told me about it on Saturday well setting up, and then told me again about it. I am just so happy to buy these, they are just so awesome, and since I have been a Fett fan, really something I should have in my collection. I am going to check with my Wife to see if there is some way I can get this mounted so I can hand it on a wall. The car backs for these are cool as well, as they mimic the Vintage Star Wars Kenner figures from back when I was a kid. All I can say, are these are awesome, I am so glad I went to the show, and it helps make up for a hell of a week.

Tags: Boba Fett, Dale, Jason, Microsoft Sharepoint, Rick Moyer, Star Wars Kubricks, work

I realized it has been a few weeks since I have posted anything on my site. I guess all I can say is that I have been busy, I thought it would have been with moving, but unfortunately more with work.

The plan of mine was after I was done with my oncall schedule, that I would focus on getting ready for moving. I had done a bit of that, but so far, not as much as I would have liked. Unfortunately it seems like there is a lot going on at work, which in turn I have had to spend time working after hours. It seems every summer, people like to start up projects, that push into summer. I guess that frustrates me, as staffing is already short, and to me it just seems unfair for people to start up projects which mean that people have to work extra hours through the summer months. I just look at the suit tie people who start these up, and then ask for updates, and then jet away on their holidays, leaving others to meet their time-lines. With covering for holidays of others, and this added work, it makes what is supposed to be a great season, ultimately a miserable one.

Last summer I carried some anger, from both work and outside of work, and at the end, I felt I really missed out on the season. I am worrying I might fall into that mindset again, and I really don’t want to. It will be a busy summer, and I really don’t have time to brood about things. The past few weeks at work has been challenging, and at time it has gotten the better of me, but I have to stamp that out, and focus on the next few months. Work is there between 8 and 5, but after that, I don’t feel I am obligated to it, I have informed my management that I have other priorities. I may have let things creep in this week, but going forward, life after 5 is about different things. I informed who I needed to inform, and really is up to me to follow through with what is my priority right now, which is moving, and ultimately enjoying summer for the next few months. I can change me, as what is around me, I cant really, and some of those things I cant do anything about it regardless.

Last night I met up with a friend of mine, Dale, and he had the new series of Star Wars Kubricks. I had been looking forward to the series,and they look great. Dale also gave me a good price on the chase Commander Gree Kubrick, as I have a minor focus on the character after getting the Helmet a few years ago. The series was based on Episode 3 of Star Wars. They had Anakin, Darth Sideous, Clone Trooper, Darth Vader, Tarful and General Grievous. My only real complaint is the distribution of these. I get a box of these, and have extras, but in the past, they used to have at least 2 or each figure, except for 2. Now 3 of the 6 figures you only get one, and the others you get multiples. The break down for my box was 1 Anakin, 1 Darth Sideous, 1 Tarful, 2 General Grievous, 3 Darth Vader and 4 Clones. It might be that they have Clones in the set, as the last series was similar in breakdown, with a lot of Clones. I guess for me, I only really just like one of each, and before, the way they are distributed, there was more flexibility with the set. I guess I am getting an extra Clone instead of possibly an extra Anakin, Darth Sideous or Tarful. I am hoping if future series that they go back to maybe a more traditional distribution, as other series have had troopers, but never over filled with them. But regardless, I am excited about having these, and adding them to my others.

Tags: Anakin, Commander Gree, Dale, Darth Sideous, Darth Vader, Ep3 Clone Trooper, General Grievous, Star Wars Kubricks, Tarful, work