Joelle said at some point on June 30, 2008
I did some overhauling to my office area this weekend. It was high time I pulled the whole desk apart so I could dust and vacuum behind it and all that jazz.
I consider myself a tidy person. I blow the dust out of my computers and whatnot all the time. I vacuum and dust on a pretty regular basis, but I also leave my windows open a lot for the bay breeze. I had no idea how much dust could accumulate behind a desk. Sweet moses!
To say there were dust bunnies would be a massive understatement. It was more like a stampede of dust sheep. Or maybe like… bison. Lots of dust! Huge dust! Live nude dust! You could see the outline of where my desk and chair mat used to be and I was mortified to the point of almost running to Target to buy a carpet steamer. I figured a good vacuuming and a little foaming carpet cleaner should do the trick. It did! Wow… aside from the usual traffic wear, it looks like new carpet! I’m totally doing this once a season instead of… uh… once a year. 
*looks shifty*
Oh, and that magical Conceal Surge Protector? I was sorely disappointed. It really doesn’t fit anything much. Almost all my plugs had big huge adapters on them, so out of the alleged 7 plugs available I could only fit 3 cords and then it wouldn’t close. Not the most well-thought-out design. 
A good idea in theory, but the execution… c’mon, Belkin! Use your noggin! I’ll be returning that to Fry’s, thank you. I guess I’m stuck with the Electrical Trash Heap for now… but at least it’s hidden. 
Joelle said in the early morning on June 27, 2008
Yesterday morning, I sat down to wrangle some projects into submission, but my computer said it needed to run a Windows Service Pack update. Fine, fine… I started it up and went to the gym.
When I came back, the computer was powered down and I figured it had just done that when it was finished. But, when I started it up again, it would only get so far and power down. I took the battery out, unplugged the power cord from the laptop and waited a few minutes until I was 100% totally sure there was no power to the laptop, in case perhaps it was stuck in some ‘hibernation power saving’ loop. I’ve had that happen before…
After putting the battery back in, I plugged in the power cord, hit the “on” button and… nothing. Not even a blip. This, of course, makes my stomach seize and I call Fry’s since my laptop is under warranty. I explained the situation… pretty calmly, I think, and he sounded as vexed as I was. He said that sometimes an interruption in an update can cause the operating system to disable, but not getting any power at all must be something else. I should bring it in, he said. Indeed.
As I was packing up my computer, it occurred to me, “Hey, Mensa, maybe it’s not plugged in!”
Apparently, the part of the power cord that runs from the wall to the adapter had just popped out and was sitting half-in, half-out of the adapter, which in turn made the computer sometimes power up, sometimes not, depending on how I was wiggling the cord. Yeah. I’m SO glad I didn’t pay some WoW-addicted tech kid to tell me to plug it in. That would have been embarrassing.
I went to Fry’s and bought myself new geekery anyway, to soothe my blushing ego. You know, as a reward for being so calm and troubleshooting the problem myself. *cough* I got a new pink mouse, which I like a lot better because it fits my small hands. I picked up a new headset so I can stop spending 5 billable minutes of every client call asking, “Can you hear me now?”. I got a few cheesy girl movies and the best, best, best thing: a Belkin Mini Conceal Surge Protector.
I’ll wait while the clouds part and the music of the angels rains upon us for a sec.
A surge protector doesn’t sound very sexy, but I consider that jumble of USB cables, power cords, adapters and miscellaneous subpar surge protectors next to my desk an eyesore. I hate it. I’ve always hated it. It’s like an electrical equivalent of Marjory, the Trash Heap. It makes it hot in the corner and damn near impossible to figure out what goes to where until you’ve unplugged the wrong cord and shut down the whole enchilada. But lo… Belkin bestows upon us a new frontier — concealed surge protectors.
I know. It’s almost too much to take in.
I’m dismantling my desk this weekend for a good cleaning and putting in some new office furniture — a cute cabinet from IKEA to hold up my printer and store the office supplies with which I help run our magnificent empire! Muahahahaha! Ok, not really. It’s just some copy paper, a few books and the biggest bag of Sharpies you’ve ever seen. But a girl can dream, ok?
Anyway, I’ll be implementing my new surge protector and I’ll report back. I’m sure you’ll be on the edge of your seat. Who wouldn’t?
Joelle said in the late morning on June 25, 2008
Taken this past weekend in the morning on San Diego Bay.
Joelle said in the early morning on June 23, 2008
There are several terms and phrases that I feel should be dead and buried. In fact, I sometimes say these phrases and when I do, it’s like the proverbial record scratch in my head. I cringe when I hear them, even moreso when they come out of my own mouth.
- Each and Every
Ok, so it’s a bit pedantic of me, considering that anyone who knows me would not say I’m the Queen of Word Economy, but for some reason, this term just bugs. Why each and every. If it’s each, then it’s every, is it not? Pick one.
- At the end of the day...
I’m guilty of this from time to time and yet, it bugs me still.
- I don’t have the bandwidth...
Oh, this one sends me to the moon! It said it yesterday and nearly flogged myself because it irks me that much. “Do you have the bandwidth to take on this project?” “Let’s see if my schedule has the bandwidth...” It’s called time, people. Time. You don’t have time, you don’t have room in your schedule, you’re booked. Your ISP has bandwidth, but you? You’ve just got time, dude. Get over yourself.
- Ping me!
When someone says this to me, I won’t lie. I want to throw canned goods at them. PING me? As in “I’ll be out of the office this afternoon, but I’ll ping you when I get back!” or “Ping me later and we’ll meet up!” No. No, stop that. Shoosh! I’m not determining if your IP is accessible, I’m not alerting you to a new blog entry, I’m just talking to you. I will not ping you, but I will email or call you if you like.
- Out of pocket
This has been a subject of great debate. When I was living in Texas, people used “out of pocket” to mean “I am busy or otherwise unavailable”. As in, “I’m out of pocket until Thursday at a conference in Boise. Please leave a message.” What? What does your pocket have to do with anything? It is my belief that “out of pocket” applies to cash-money having to come out of your own pocket, as in, “My boss was supposed to cover my trip to the strip club, but they caught it on my expense report and now I’m out of pocket.” But at least now we know why you weren’t available.
- Make it pop!
This you get a lot in design fields, especially within marketing companies. Every client wants their stuff to “pop!” Well… duh, right? Except unfortunately their idea of making it “pop!” usually includes some kind of starburst or animated aardvark or something. That pops alright...
- Going viral
Do I really need to explain why this is irritating? I don’t care of it’s an accurate term or inaccurate term… it’s just annoying.
- You feel me?
No, I don’t feel you. Shut up. And if you add “Dawg” or “Yo” at the end without any hint of irony, everything you said before that was completely negated and you’ll have to start impressing me all over again. Only this time… well, you won’t. But you can try.
You feel me? 
Moxie Design Studios™