Minority owned business

Was asked a random question today from the company that I am subcontracting from. I was asked if I was a certified minority owned business and at first I thought, sure, why not? I am a minority after all. But the key was if I was certified. So I did some googling and found out that I wasn't. I'm going to check out if I could become one. It wouldn't hurt to have the certification, especially if it doesn't cost much. Gonna visit the local SBA joint and let everyone know how it turns out.

Uninstalling Paragon ExtFS software

I tried installing Paragon software to try and write to a linux partition and after 10 days the trial expired. I went to uninstall the software, but every time I restarted my machine, I still got the trial expired message. So I did some googling and there is a script to uninstall it completely found in the knowledge base, but it was way too much of a hassle. Anyway, you gotta be able to sudo to run the commands, but here they are:

rm -rf /etc/mach_init_per_user.d/trial_expired_NTFS.plist

rm -rf /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.paragon.NTFS.trial.plist

rm -rf /Applications/Paragon\ NTFS\ for\ Mac\ OS\ X

rm -rf "/Library/Application Support/NTFS for Mac OS X"

rm -rf "/Library/Application Support/Paragon"

rm -rf /Library/Application\ Support/Paragon\ NTFS\ for\ Mac\ OS\ X

rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/NTFSforMacOSX.prefPane

rm -rf /System/Library/Filesystems/ufsd_NTFS.fs

3/3/2009

I wrote this March 3rd, 2009. Funny how time changes things as I am now in a wonderful relationship with a Gemini. Believe me, she's definitely a Gemini, but it seems that they're not all created equally. Enjoy!

Astrology and love

I try not to believe in crazy things like astrology when it comes to things like deciding on a partner, but I lately started doing some readings on sign pairings and am now convinced that has been my problem all along. Over the last 9 years, I have dated a taurus, gemini, and 2 aries. Of the 4, I thought about marrying one aries and would have absolutely married the other maybe because I am a sucker for both beautiful and intelligent aries women. But according to the stars, I am awful with both the gemini and aries. The taurus is very iffy, despite the fact the relationship with the taurus was the absolute worst of the 4.

So I am going to try something new and only go out with Cancers, Pisces, Virgos and Capricorns. When I think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Of my best friends, 2 are Capricorns and one is a Cancer. I have known the three of them a combined 40+ years and we still talk often, even if it is not as often as I would like.

It is a bit funny that I am actually considering this, but if I want things to be different (read: I actually want a relationship to last), gotta change things up a bit. Sure, some people may find this stupid, or that I am possibly shorting myself, but hey, nothing else has worked. I know two women whom I find very attractive, physically, intellectually, etc, and both happen to be cancers. There are problems with actually dating either of them for some rather interesting reasons. (Other than they might not be interested, but that's just silly!) But that would fit right in with my style, because I am blessed with the worst timing when it comes to women. Oh well, you never know. Would the opportunity arrive, I'm in no rush this time. Rushing has been a big mistake for every one of my last 4 relationships and I don't plan on making the same mistake for the 5th time. I'm getting old, you know.

So pacing and signs. The complete opposite approach that I've ever tried when meeting women. Something has to change, right?

Wine, wine, and more wine

It has pretty much grown into an addiction. I don't think I've cracked open a bottle in over a week, yet I just bought 10 more bottles today and have 10 more sitting at my parent's waiting for pick up. Today was an order consisting of the2004 Elderton Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 Arrowood Chardonnay Réserve Spéciale, 2006 Failla (Failla Jordan) Syrah Phoenix Ranch and 2006 Bodegas Alto Moncayo Campo de Borja Aquilon. Did I HAVE to buy those wines, of course not! I already have 58 bottles in my wine fridge and am drinking far slower than I am buying, but here was my thought process. The Elderton is one of my tried and true wines that I consistently enjoy, especially the 2004 vintage. I just remember liking it better than the '05 which is what I find at the store. It was also several bucks cheaper than what I can get it for at the store. The Chardonnay and Syrah were named in Wine Enthusiast's must have wines for 2008 and the Aquilon was, well, Aquilon for 30 bucks cheaper than you can get most anywhere. I should really slow down on spending or maybe just buy a bottle a month of something from the Wine Enthusiasts top wines list, but I just love knowing that I can have a great bottle whenever I want.

Some people buy and store wine for an investment but, for me, that is what the stock market is for. I store my wine and buy several bottles of my favorite wines because I want to enjoy them over the years. I look forward to trying a bottle of a wine I'm collecting once or twice a year and seeing how the wine has matured. I'm a hedonist at heart and I just want to be happy. Wine makes me happy and you just can't put a price tag on happiness.

So when you buy as much wine as I do, you want to be able to store it properly. You don't know how long it will take you to go through all those bottles but as you do, you want them to be in the most drinkable shape possible. You may think that you could just pick up a bottle from your neighborhood wine store, but wines for a particular vintage are a finite commodity. If you find a bottle of wine that you just love, it is probably a good idea to pick up several and store them unless you want to pay even more for it in the future if the supply goes down and the demand is still there. For my really wonderful wines, like the Aquilon and the 2004 Elderton Cab, I like to have some in reserve just in case.

I rarely buy bottles at the store anymore. Retail is just too expensive and the best deals are found online. For example, I just had to pick up 4 bottles of the Single Vineyard Elderton Cab on CinderellaWine.com because it was selling for almost 20% less than anywhere else online. WineLibrary.com and WineAccess.com are also great sites to find great deals. Just like you'll never know when a good stock has dropped to a good value, you'll never know when these sites will run specials on your favorite wine so when it does I make sure to take advantage of it!

That's enough about my wine habits for now. Until the next time, happy drinking!

To upload old posts?

I'm considering uploading my old posts, what I have left of them at least, in order to remind myself that I'm in such a better place now than I was then. Or should I just delete it all and leave it all in the past? I used to be a pack rat (still am, but much less so), but now I'm also a digital pack rat. Storage is cheap, and a lot more organized than the junk I like to keep around the house. Point of this post? Convince myself to do what I was probably going to do all along. Upload my old posts. This also goes for my poker blog .

I'm BAAAACK!

It's been way too long and I've been meaning to get my stuff all up and running and in the cloud for some time now so today I finally decided to do it. My hard drive crashed when I was hosting my own wordpress blog and I figured that with all the stuff Google gives you, why do I need to worry about that crap. So here I am, back blogging for your entertainment and my own ego. Cheers!

Attraction and signs

If a man's Venus is in Aries, he is often attracted to a tomboyish woman, perhaps athletic in appearance, but more importantly, direct, forthright, and straightforward. Ultra sensitive or shy women are not usually the most attractive women to these men, as they tend to prefer strong and independent types.

So where the heck does my taurus come in? I am so fire sign oriented and attracted to such strong personalities that it's making it hard to find something that lasts. I say I'm never going to settle, but maybe it's about time to find a women that is less brash and become less brash myself. Too bad attraction isn't rational. If I could choose who I was attracted to, settling would be so much easier.

Then again, yesterday a friend that I work out with at the gym helped me with a problem. I locked my keys in the trunk of my G35 coupe, and while pop a lock opened my door, when the alarm goes off, the trunk buttons disable. I was frustrated as hell, and she came out and essentially said, "get your manual". She read through it and we ended up figuring out you can get to the trunk by, literally, taking out the back seat cushions. There is a little release that is hard to get to if you don't take out the seats. She spent a good 20-30 mins, when she damn well didn't have to, helping me out.

Anyway, the whole point of the story is that this woman is quite awesome. Except for the fact that I'm a bit...abrasive for her and she's a bit understated for me. I offend her quite easily, which is quite annoying, but we get along great during our runs. I warm up with her twice a week, and we get along fine at the gym. She's resourceful, successful, funny, liberal, loves wine and food, and is the only woman that comes close to being as beautiful and sexy as my ex is. If she was maybe 3 inches taller, she'd give my ex a run for her money. So yeah, she is such a nice person, and other than she's in a not very good long distance relationship, I wonder if I toned down a bit from the beginning if I would have a chance. Definitely not gonna happen now (more likely if ever, but I still can have a crush!), but it got me thinking. Maybe I need to change. Put out some of my fire. At my age, it seems there are fewer and fewer women that seem to get my humor, accept my vulgarity, and don't get offended easily. I'm not in college anymore and I don't want to spend my life alone even though I know I could if I had to.

So I think I am going to tone it down now so that I make myself more appealing to a broader base of women. As with all relationships, every person will have their faults, and you need to decide if those are things you can accept and if the person is worth it to accept their faults. I know I could accept a woman who doesn't have the fire I'm quite attracted to, as long as she was nice (but not TOO nice) and respected me. And in return, I can be... just less. I've changed so much this year, and this would be another big change for me, but maybe it needs to be done. I don't think it would be so bad to turn the burner down just a notch.