Computer Nerd

I visited with moms again in Hawai'i Kai this morning. Moms and I made the usual rounds at Koko Marina and Kuapa Kai including Longs® and Foodland. I stopped in Blockbuster® to terminate an account that I have never used (as per the exodus). Our last stop was at Zippy's to pick up a couple of spaghetti plate lunches.

I enjoyed my visit with moms today. We feasted on a delicious lunch. Moms also served up fresh vegetables and ahi poke, too. I was able to chat with moms and also help with a couple of chores. I walked to the gym in Koko Marina at 12:45pm. I did my usual workout. I walked back to say good-bye to moms. Moms packed a small container with rice and Zippy's chili for my dinner. Then, off I went. I made another stop in Kuapa Kai to return to Longs®. I am stocking up on food items whenever the latter is on sale.

I was back in my squalid room at Slob Manor (read: rental housing) by 3:30pm. I piddled around for the rest of the afternoon. I ate my delicious dinner, courtesy moms, at 7pm. The rest of the evening? Same ol' shit. No cheap boozin'. No mindless political or financial discourse. Perhaps I will download a few choice hurdy-gurdy "torrents.” Baha! Ha! Ha! Haaaa!

Well, I finally figured out the "fix" for the port-forwarding¹ problem in configuring µTorrent. The real solution requires that I force the router to assign a fixed IP address to my computer. Then, through the router's Web-based administration, I can set up a virtual server and dedicate a port for peer-to-peer connections. I have no intention of changing any IP settings on my computer. As senile as I am, I may forget about it and find myself in deep crap later on. So, I obtained my router-assigned IP address through the command line. I used that IP address to configure the router settings. The downside is that I will have check my actual IP address daily and possibly modify the router's virtual server settings. Currently, I am using a hard-wired LAN port on the wireless router, so I am almost certain that the LAN port's IP address will remain the same unless I reset the router. Oh, what a computer nerd I am!

¹Port-forwarding is required for peer connections in a "torrent" client. Downloading files is still possible without peer connections, although the download speed may be slower. However, the most important aspect of allowing peer connections is the avoidance of being identified as a "leech." A long-term "leech" may eventually be banned.

Torrential Foolishness

Can you guess what kind of a day this was? Did you say, "a homeless guy emulation kind-of-a-day"? Yes? You are so right! How did you know? The checkout guy at Safeway® asked me what I did for wage slavery as he rung up my cup of coffee and air-filled energy bars. I had to divulge that I was emancipated from wage slavery. "Don't work here," he said. "It's too stressful." I then confided that I had seriously contemplated applying for a position at Safeway®. He laughed.

At the library, I ran into Les, a guy who was a pseudo-professor at the Diploma Mill for one semester at the about five years ago. I had seen him around a few times at the library, but I avoided contact. He's working as a data entry person for the State Bureau of Conveyances. He's also a "Christian," so he spent about 20 minutes sharing his personal ministry. To be honest, I am not exactly thrilled to engage in a "religious" discussion with "Sunday-go-to-meeting" Christians. Although Les seemed to be very devoted, he made me skeptical of his claim to have found the "true" religion. Alas, I refrained from commenting and let him do all the talking.

I did my usual workout at the gym. I did not spot the hottie gym trainer. Baby is sure keeping a low profile. I suspect that her days at the gym are numbered. I was back in my squalid room at Slob Manor (read: rental housing) by 5pm. Can you guess what's in store for the evening? Did you say, "Same ol' shit"? Man, you really know the drill!

The ol' lavahead searched high and low and found T 'n A Flix, a site that is a suitable replacement for Spankwire. The hurdy-gurdy videos may be downloaded via its "torrent" site Pure T 'n A. Since everything else has swirled down the urinal (not to be confused with the Diploma Mill), there's nothing left but hurdy-gurdy videos.

Unfortunately, the set-up to download "torrents" is beyond the pea-sized brain of the ol' lavahead. After setting up µTorrent, I discovered that I could not enable port-forwarding (essential for peer connections). Even after manually entering the port number into the firewall rules, port-forwarding was still disabled. The culprit is either Vista Firewall Control (which I will not disable) or the wireless router's firewall. Once again, the ol' lavahead was thwarted. If only the hottie gym trainer would come around, then he would not need a "torrent" downloading client. Sheesh!

Pluto Day 2008

I was sitting outside Longs® in Ala Moana Center at 9am with Starbuck's® coffee in hand and waiting for moms. When moms arrived, we made the usual rounds including Sears®, Longs®, and Shirokiya (for bento lunch). On the way back, we stopped off at the Hawai'i Kai Towne Center to visit City Mill. Moms also purchased some fresh fruit and vegetables at the Farmer's Market. I dropped moms off at noon. Then, I spent a couple of hours at Koko Head Park. There's nothing more enjoyable to me than natural surroundings. I really did not want to leave the sanctuary of the park. However, at 2pm, the gym was beckoning me.

I did only a cardio workout this afternoon, since I accomplished both my usual Sunday and Monday weight workouts yesterday. I made a quick at Longs® and Safeway® in Kuapa Kai. I did not purchase any greasy burritos for dinner, in case anyone was wondering. Back in my squalid room at Slob Manor (read: rental housing), I opted to perform the dreaded laundry chores. Once again, I had to wash two loads because I neglected to properly collect all of the dirty laundry. I would have mentioned that this was a holiday (Pluto Day), but every day is a holiday for the ol' lavahead. Sheesh!

The evening? Same ol' shit. Incidentally, anyone visiting Spankwire may have noticed that it is now a paid subscriber service for downloading the marginal quality hurdy-gurdies. It is still possible to view the pirated gurdy-gurdies in any Web browser. However, the quality is even more marginal. Why would anyone pay for pirated hurdy-gurdies? Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen, eh?

By the way, my AARP® membership renewal included a free gift, a nifty pedometer. I have maintained my membership with the AARP® because I may eventually use many of its services, one being its healthcare plans. The latter may be my only health insurance option. I had intended to subscribe to a health plan, but the money is tied up in the detestable "condotel" unit. At present, I have also deferred both eye and dental examinations indefinitely. I am not sure how long I can hold out.

Blue Boogaloo

Another homeless guy emulation kind-of-a-day? You bet! The day was practically a carbon copy of yesterday. I spent an hour in the park adjacent to the Beretania Street Apartments. The park was packed with the homeless as well as a few halfway house derelicts. Needless to say, I felt right at home. Sheesh! I departed for the gym at noon. I only got a brief glimpse of the hottie gym trainer, although I did an extended workout. Baby was looking hot. I was back in Slob Manor (read: rental housing) by 4pm. I cleaned the second floor common area because it had gotten so filthy that I could not stand it any longer. I ate dinner (read: beans sans bread) a little earlier than usual. Cheap boozin' commenced at 5:30pm. I can't say that I felt too good after that. Nonetheless, I piddled around for the rest of the afternoon. The evening? Same ol' shit.

I have made the somewhat grim discovery that I can never leave the life-style that I have adopted, that is, one of a hermit or monk. In essence, I have pretty much accomplished the exodus. For example, I cannot repair my social life. I have none. I am a social recluse. I am now adverse to any social contact. I can no longer hold a conversation of any length. I no longer check e-mail, nor do I bother to listen to voicemail. Almost all communication is automatically discarded because I no longer check anything. After a few weeks, stuff just disappears. And, frankly, I don't care.

I will most likely not be able to return to wage slavery, even if I am at a financial breaking point. I can no longer function in a typical wage slave environment. "Teamwork" is out. Collaboration is not in my vocabulary. As boring and trying as the monastic existence proves to be, I can see no other alternative. I have culled my exposure to the tube, movies, and other malignant entertainment. I have "deculturalized" myself. There will be no Twitter nonsense. As you may recall, I have eliminated my Myspace® and Facebook accounts. I plan to begin minimizing LoserNet services as well. Say it ain't so! Lastly, I have sought out homeless guy emulation as a transition to a possible future life-style option. I really don't see any way that I can turn back.

In the Crowd

Another homeless guy emulation kind-of-a-day has streaked beyond the present. The library was closed, so I had to improvise my itinerary. I had thought about expanding my homeless guy emulation to Hawai'i Kai for the day. However, I changed my mind at the last minute. So, instead of enjoying the relative seclusion of the inner courtyard of the library, I found myself in the small park adjacent to the Beretania Street Apartments. With the exception of a small handful of parents and children in the playground area, the rest of the park visitors were comprised of the homeless and destitute. A number of shopping carts were parked along the periphery. I sat on one of the benches under the trees with my trusty gym bag. A young hottie rode into the park on her bicycle. She situated herself on the grass in the Northeast corner of the park. She laid out a blanket and basked in the sun. A couple of the homeless walked into the enclave in the corner right behind baby. That's the park's homeless restroom facilities.

At about 11:45am, a young babe walked into the park. I could see her walking along the main promenade. She dragged along one of those rolling suitcases. In addition, baby toted at least one small duffel bag. Immediately, I knew that she was homeless. Baby said, "Hi," and sat at the other end of the bench that I was sitting on. Baby was dressed fairly nice. In fact, baby could qualify as a young hottie. Sadly, I could see bruises along the back of her arms and close to the nape of her neck. I wondered how baby found herself in such a predicament, but I did not ask. A couple of times, I observed her laughing and smiling for no particular reason. At 12:15pm, I departed for the gym.

After my usual workout at the gym, I made my way back to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) with no bus-related incidents. Thanks goodness. I had a run-in with a couple of local morons during my bus ride earlier in the morning. I was back in my squalid room by 3pm. Naturally, I piddled around for the rest of the afternoon. I washed the tires of my Nissan® Frontier truck at 6pm. Yes, that's right, I washed only the tires. For the two years that I have owned the truck, the raised outline white letters have been hidden by grime. I always spray the tires down with No Touch® tire cleaner. At least the tires always look nice and black. Well, I scrubbed the white letters with a Scotchbrite® pad. Much better now.

I briefly thought about the homeless hottie and all of the other homeless that I have seen on a regular basis. Then, I thought about the mockery of my homeless guy emulation. Yeah, there I was at 6pm in front of Slob Manor, scrubbing the tires of a truck that I paid for with $24,500 in cash about two years ago. I have no idea what the true pain and suffering of homelessness really is.

I decided to drive to Kahala Mall at 7:30pm. That would be my big outing for the week. I stopped by Longs® to purchase more cans of beans (for quasi-homeless guy emulation). I then spent some time at Barnes & Noble®. The Asian hottie "bookseller" walked into the store at 8:30pm. Baby was wearing a pair of tight jeans. Mamma mia! Baby is so fine. I saw a few of the other hottie "booksellers" hugging the Asian hottie "bookseller." I surmised that baby will no longer be working there. What a loss.

I drove back to Slob Manor at 9:30pm. I had the whole place to myself, so I elected to commence some cheap boozin' along with a marathon of DI.FM Deep House channel. Yep, same ol' shit.

Red to Blue

"For me, the first issue is the political system itself which is indistinguishable from the corporatocracy. The Democratic and Republican parties are de facto extensions of corporate America. Unless a candidate is systemically embedded in the corporatocracy, not only for the purpose of raising money, but in order to insure electability, she/he cannot succeed. Candidates from the Green Party or others such as Kucinich and Paul, are unequivocally consigned to the periphery, and while they may add fascinating nuances from the media-image perspective, they have exactly a snowball's chance in hell of prevailing. And while I could cast my vote for one of the peripheral candidates as a moral statement, it would be meaningless in terms of affecting change. In summary, if my vote won't make a difference, I'm not willing to cast it." -- Carolyn Baker

Nothing starts the morning off better than a cup of Seattle's Best® coffee from Safeway® in Kauapa Kai. Moms was home when I arrived. Moms had just been chatting with Aunty Maria on the phone. Aunty Maria seems to be doing fine. Aunty Maria had gone to visit Aunty Margaret in the hospital. From what we are to understand, Aunty Margaret is not doing well. Aunty Maria does not think that she will hang on for much longer.

I washed my Nissan® Frontier truck again because it was so filthy. Although I park it on the side street adjacent to Slob Manor (read: rental housing), it was coated with dirt because of a massive yard project in progress at one of the nearby houses. Moms completed a few chores. Then, we were off to Koko Marina to make the usual rounds. Later, moms served up leftover Curry Stew for lunch along with fresh vegetables. I chatted with moms until 12:45pm. I drove to the Hawai'i Kai Park 'n Ride. I rode the Route 1L bus to town. In retrospect, I should have just stayed in Hawai'i Kai. I did my usual workout at the gym in town. There's a "Test Drive a Trainer" promotion going on. I noted that the hottie gym trainer had only one person requesting a free session with her. Baby has really been keeping a low profile. Why? When I exited the gym, I thought of riding one of the express buses back to Hawai'i Kai, but opted for the Route 1L bus instead. The four o' clock bus never came by. I ended up walking to another bus stop in order to board the Route 80 Express.

After I drove out of the parking lot, I made a quick stop at Safeway® before returning to Slob Manor. I purchased two Tina's® burritos for dinner, an air-filled energy bar for a late evening snack, and a bottle of Sea Ridge Merlot for more cheap boozin' fun. I was back in my squalid room by 6pm. I noticed that the carpenter ants had invaded my room en masse. By the way, my humble dustpan and brush also doubles as a weapon of mass ant destruction (WMAD). I successfully deployed the WMAD for the rest of the evening. Otherwise, same ol' shit.

Incidentally, the lead quote by Carolyn Baker is from her recent article titled, "Celebrating Un-President's Day: Why I Will Not Vote for a President in 2008." Frankly, I completely agree with Baker. Be sure to read the section, "The Life And Death Issues Eclipsed By Election Hysteria." After reading the article, I knew that cheap boozin' time had arrived. Ho boy!

Snake Charmer

"What is romance, after all ... but the willingness and eagerness to see something more than is really there ... or overlook something that really is? We look into our lover's eyes ... and see what we want to see, something grander, sweeter, nicer than others might notice. And why not? No matter where we look, we see what we train our eyes to look for. If we want to see evil and cupidity ... we will open our eyes and they will be right in front of us. If we want to see beauty and benevolence, we will see that too. And the most remarkable thing ... sometimes, looking is creating. Because we are looking for it ... and seeing it - suddenly, it is really there." -- Bill Bonner, Daily Reckoning

Snake Charmer's Day. That's when all of the world's snake oil salesmen crawl out of the woodwork. For the rank-and-file consumer peon, this is the dreaded Pink Heart Day. I have no interest in the latter as opposed to the former. Pink Heart Day is meaningless in the grand scheme of homeless guy emulation. Of course, had the hottie gym trainer come around, I might have been singing a different tune. However, that is neither here or there.

With that, Pink Heart Day is no different from any other homeless guy emulation kind-of-a-day. This day being no different, we already know the drill. I spent most of the day in the inner sanctum (read: inner courtyard) of the library. And, what a sanctuary it is! Sadly, I continued reading a distressing book by David Sirota titled, "Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government--and How We Take It Back." If only I owned a blood pressure monitor, I ket saying to myself. I did my usual workout at the gym. Sadly, I did not see the hottie gym trainer. Boohoo. I was back in my squalid room at Slob Manor (read: rental housing) by 4:45pm. I was able to enjoy a dinner worthy of any snake charmer. Yes, beans and bread. I will continue the new tradition of staying in for the evenings. Where am I to go on Pink Heart Day? Nowhere, obviously. If necessary, the vino is chillin' in the fridge. I can celebrate the one-man recession alone. Only I am to suffer as the world around me gets richer and greedier. I am happy where I am. I know my place in life.

So, Barack Obama is now the Demo frontrunner in the presidential primaries. Ho hum. I'm not even sure why I wasted valuable "blog" space and time to make such a benign comment. The empire barrels on and will soon bowl us over. We are being manipulated.

Optimized for Empire

Another day of visiting with moms has come and gone. Moms shopped at Foodland in Koko Marina and Longs® in Kuapa Kai. We picked up a couple of Teriyaki Steak plate lunches at L&L Drive Inn. Later, I ended up walking to the gym in Koko Marina. I did my usual workout.

I had to stop off at Safeway® and Longs® in Kuapa Kai on the way back to Slob Manor (read: rental housing). Yep, more cans of beans, a bottle of Sea Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon (for cheap boozin'), and two Tina's® burritos for dinner. I performed the dreaded laundry chores once I returned to my squalid room. As usual, I dropped one of my socks on the floor as I was taking the load of laundry to the washer. Since I only use one pair, I will have to make do with one clean sock and one soiled sock for the next few days.

I heated up the burritos in the Slob Manor microwave oven (a disgustingly filthy piece of equipment) as usual, that is, after fighting with the crappy plastic wrapping. Halfway through the heating process, I turn the burrito around to insure more uniform heating. As is always the case, the microwave oven heats the burrito to a superhot temperature. Most times, I burn the inside of my mouth as I attempt to eat the piece of crap, or the filling drips onto my hands and cause third-degree burns. There really is little enjoyment in the consumption of food heated up in a microwave oven.

Well, the stock market is rallying again. The latest news is that the recession has been averted. That's right. There will be no recession. January retail sales peaked, which indicated that consumers were doing their patriotic duty. Spend, spend, spend! I have seen the phenomena with my own eyes. It's time to invest in stocks or stock mutual funds because the prediction is that the Dow going to hit 30,000-plus. The sky is the limit! One cautionary note is in order, although anecdotal in nature. I have observed that the computer RAM that I had purchased for $29 last month has increased in price to $32 this month. Yes, we are looking at inflation. Heck, what do I know? I'm losing money while everyone else is getting rich and living "high on the hog." It is I who is the fool. Why did I doubt the empire?

There has been a multitude of software updates from Microsoft®, no doubt in preparation for Service Pack 1 for Windows® Vista. I had hoped to be free of Windows® Vista before the Service Pack 1 installation. However, my migration to Linux was thwarted by my very computer, the infamous Toshiba® Satellite. I have also been disabling unnecessary services in order to increase the speed of the computer, although it is already quite fast. In addition, I have disabled file indexing. Now that the empire is making a major comeback, I must have my notebook computer honed to perfection. Sheesh!

Another evening in my squalid room is coming and going. Oh, the horror! In a matter of minutes, cheap boozin' time will arrive. My computer, a couple of glasses of wine, a filthy living environment ... what more can a loser (read: monk) ask for? Well, how about having the hottie gym trainer come around? Heck, that's too much to ask. Let's just keep it real, eh? Cheap boozin', my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer (fully optimized for the return of empire), and DI.FM Deep House channel.

Desperately Seeking Nothing

We already know the drill, don't we? Another homeless guy emulation kind-of-a-day has (fill in the blank). The highlight of my day was when I saw the hottie gym trainer walking along Hotel Street this afternoon on her way to gym. I passed baby as I was walking to the bus stop at Chinatown Gateway Plaza. Baby was looking hot. Segue to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) at 4:45pm. Time to begin the routine ... same ol' shit. Thank goodness, there's still some vino left. In the old days, a bottle of vino would have been empty in a couple of hours. Sheesh!

The stock market rallied on word that George Soros will save the bond insurers, the ones that are ready to collapse because of the dubious bond market. But, that's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Baha! Ha! Ha! Haaaa! Bring on the secular Apocalypse already! Baha! Ha! Ha! Haaaa! Too bad the hottie gym trainer won't come around. Baha! Ha! Ha! Haaaa!

Time is Destiny

I was really in no mood to attend Uncle Tosh's funeral, but I capitulated to moms' obligation to be there. The funeral at Hosoi Gardens Mortuary was small. Only the immediate family attended the service. Aunty Eva and her daughters Diane and Tammy flew in from Cali to attend the service as well. Moms sat in the first row with the remainder of moms' siblings. After the service, lunch was served. I had a chance to chat with a few of the relatives, mostly of the small-talk variety. My bro and sister-in-law were there for a brief period. What is entirely ludicrous is that I did not even bother wearing the ridiculous pair of canvas shoes that I had purchased at Payless® Shoes last week.

At 12;15pm, we had to depart for the service at Punchbowl National Cemetary. Moms rode in the huge SUV stretch limosine with the other of the family including Aunty Maria, the widow. I drove separately and was the last to arrive. The military ceremony was identical to the one for pops seven years ago. Uncle Tosh's ashes were placed in his final resting place in Court Eleven. As we walked there, I located pops' final resting place in Court Five. There are now three uncles and pops buried at Punchbowl.

Moms and I drove back to Hawai'i Kai after the ceremony. I chatted with moms briefly. Then, I drove to Koko Marina. Actually, I parked adjacent to the library and walked to the gym. I only did a cardio workout. After my shower, I walked to the main part of the shopping center and sat on one of the benches. I watched an endless stream of 4000-pound motorized chairs (read: automobiles) chugging in and out of the parking lot. Many of the satanic gargoyles were simply dropping off a DVD or two at Blockbuster®. After a while, I grew nauseous of the spectacle.

I retrieved my truck and reluctanly stopped off in Kuapa Kai. I purchased more cans of beans at Long's®. I also purchased a couple of Fuji apples and two Tina's® burritos at Safeway®. I was back in my squalid room at Slob Manor (read: rental housing) by 5pm. I piddled around after stacking up all of my cans of beans. Then, I ate the frozen burritos for dinner. My day was essentially over.

For the most part, I was numbed throughout the day by my perception of infinite vanity. I reflected on Uncle Tosh's decision to end his life. He was in full control of his faculties, so he knew exactly what he was doing. Will I have the same stength to do so if I find myself in the same situation? All kinds of stupidity was transpiring around me, yet I was unmoved to react. Idiots in traffic. Rude clowns in the stores. Even the checkout babe at Longs® was spared fire and brimstone when she carelessly threw the plastic bag filled with the canned beans onto the counter causing a can to fall to the floor. All of those fools mean nothing to me. They are too busy being cogs in the "system," performing their functions on cue. Perhaps moms knew best by urging me to attend Uncle Tosh's funeral. I was reminded of the limits of mortality and the vanity of denial.

My cousins Greg and Christine provided further details about Aunty Margaret. Apparently, her health has been deteriorating. Aunty Margaret has been suffering from chemical imbalances as well, which probably was what caused her to fall backwards. A neighbor discovered her the next day on the floor. So, Aunty Margaret may have been lying on the floor incapacitated for a whole day. After a week in the hospital, Aunty Margaret was released and put into a "private" nursing home. Now, she's back in the hospital because of sodium depletion. The decision awaiting is whether to put Aunty Margaret into a convalescent facility.

The day was long and arduous in its own way. I have no desire to think about banal shit like the load of laundry that's been sitting in the dryer for two days, most likely a deliberate attempt by Sushant, the Indian guy, to irritate me. He's a polite fellow, but I believe that he has been indoctrinated by the putrid Raj-supremacist thinking of the colonial British. Perhaps he will have a rude awakening when his H1-B visa expires. Where's Lou Dobbs when you need him? Baha! Ha! Ha! Haaa! The rest of the evening? Same ol' shit. Maybe even another glass or two of vino.