Computer Issues and Crafting - They don't mix well.

Today was supposed to be an awesome day. I took my daughter to work and then I was going to spend the day working on several things. I made a few stops to see if I couldn't find a cheap webcam that would be compatible with Windows 10. I have a perfectly good webcam, but it seems to have issues with Windows 10. Crazy, I know... considering its a Microsoft Life Cam. That turned out to be a bust, because no offence... I've spent more money than I can right now getting ready for A-Kon in the next few weeks.

I got home and was ready to go. I had a lot to do after all. I had all the plans made in my head as I was out and about this morning. I was going to revamp the blog a little. I was going to research the pictures I probably needed to show... "This is what I'm working on today and this is how I'm doing it." I was literally rehearsing my speech in the car. I was so excited to test this new journey I wanted to go on. Plus I had a few things I wanted to research.

Got home, swapped out the dishes like a good little girl and went strait for my computer, to start my day's journey into the cosplay community.

"Unmountable Boot Volume Error - Restarting system..."

This was a loop that lasted a few time. It would get into the repair mode and then... nothing. I would force a restart.... and... nothing. Luckily, I did have a few things at my disposal that allowed me to connect to the internet and search for a fix. I had a corrupted boot file and no way to fix it, except for a complete tear down and reinstall. That was good and bad. Good, because my computer was prepackaged and came with a separate internal hard drive that does nothing by house the OS. Bad because I bought the computer with Windows 7 pre-installed.

Once again, the fates smiled upon me and gave me hope. I was able to get into System Recovery mode and get the backup started. A little while later, I was ready to reinstall. Not a few minutes after that... I was booting up to a fresh and clean Windows 7 screen. HAZAH! Went through and disabled or uninstalled all the bloatware. But then I was hit with a very... VERY interesting idea. I had a perfectly good webcam that wouldn't work with Windows 10. I can apparently reinstall Windows 10 until July 29th. I think I'm keeping Windows 7 for a little while until I can afford a new webcam.

So my day was a bust for the most part. I did manage to bring my computer back from the dead. I was able to make the older webcam work. I've pretty much got everything installed again. Yay me.

A Snoopy from the heart.

WARNING - There is cursing to follow. You have been warned.

For many years now, I have told the story of the time I called my mother a "Fucking Bitch". For those that haven't heard the story, I shall regale you.

A little bit of history first:

Once upon a time, my uncle gave me a Snoopy plush. This became THAT stuffed toy that I took EVERYWHERE with me. He was my security object of choice. He protected me from nightmares, he fueled my imagination, and was my constant companion through the adventures of my early childhood. Snoopy was everything to me.

This, is a Flicker. It is a rotating, five in one, disposable razor. They were rather popular in the late 70s and early 80s. You can still find them, but it's one of those nostalgic moments, especially for me. My mother loved them and I loved playing with them. I liked to figure out how they worked. I liked to rotate them because of the cool sound they made as they turned. And yes, I learned rather quickly that I could not shave off my finger prints without serious pain. My mother was constantly getting mad at me for 'flicking her Flicker'.

I was six years old and watching late night TV with my grandmother. My mother was in the shower, until...

I remember my mother stomping out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. The Flicker was in her hand and she was LIVID. She stood between me and the TV, mostly to get my attention, but also to make sure I was listening. I had flicked her Flicker for the last time. To be honest, I really don't remember what she said. It was very much a Peanuts moment where the adults sound like "Wah wa, wah wah wa wha," from the cartoon. Her words were a blur of sound until she grabbed Snoopy away from me.

It was in that moment that she looked at me and said, "You are going to learn what it means to respect other people's things." With the body of my Snoopy in one hand, and Snoopy's ear in the other, she separated Snoopy from his ear. Then she handed Snoopy and his ear back to me.

I don't remember what she ranted about, because she was still yelling. She yelled at me for what seemed like hours. I couldn't have cared less about the yelling. My best friend in the whole wide galaxy was broken in my hands. I didn't see stuffing and broken thread where the ear had been attached. I saw blood pouring from a wound and brains protruding from a broken skull. Snoopy was dying in my arms, squeaking his last breath, vowing to haunt the evil that had done this to him. He bequeathing me his red dog house and made me promise to avenge him.

Interesting the mind of a child. In the time it took for me to imagine all these things, my mother managed to say her piece to me. She stood there with her arms crossed in front of her chest, glowering down at me, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

I did. I had a lot to say. With all the hate and loathing a six year old could muster, still holding the dead remains of my best friend in my arms. I looked up at her, tears welling, but not yet falling from my eyes. My mouth opened and I spoke with the vile and venom of a super villain in the making, "You Fucking Bitch!"

Time moved in slow motion for the next several moments. I watched as my mother's face contorted into shock, and then rage. I didn't move, in fact I planted me feet defiantly. I was going to take anything she was going to throw at me. I had to avenge my friend's death after all. I was so concentrated on her face, that I didn't see her hand move, quicker than lightening. I didn't see it coming. I didn't see anything but stars and blackness for a few seconds.

Then, blinking the extremely bright light and whirling stars from my eyes, I was against the wall, on my butt. My mom was standing a few feet away, her hands over her mouth in shock. My grandmother off the couch coming to check on me. Apparently, in that moment after I had spouted words, no six year old should EVER use towards a parent, my mother had back handed me so hard that I flew backwards about two feet to hit the wall.

On further inspection, I was bleeding and there was talk of taking me to the hospital. There were no tears or words from me as my grandmother cleaned me up and put me to bed. I had a small cut on my nose from the constant diamond ring my mother wore. I have the scar to remind myself of the story. The good news, the next morning when I woke up, Snoopy was good as new. He had been washed and dried, and his ear had been reattached to his head. My mother never bought another Flicker and Snoopy and I were free to adventure until that time when all children are expected to grow up.

I stopped taking Snoopy to school in my backpack. Then we moved form California to Texas and Snoopy was put in a box. We moved again and Snoopy was put in a storage unit. Life happened, and the storage unit was lost to lack of funds.

Over the years, I've gotten stuffed animals. I've had lions and tigers and bears, oh my... I had Popples and Cthulhus and Unicorns and NONE of them have ever come close to making me feel a remote attachment to that time as a child.

And then my daughter. My sweet, caring, wonderful daughter... She bought me a Snoopy. I didn't even know how much this small gesture could affect me until I was sitting here writing about it. I'm overwhelmed by the flood of emotion. The complexity of the emotions are unbelievable. She handed it to me and calmly told me, "You haven't had a new Snoopy since you lost him. You need this. You need something until we can get a bigger one."

Life has been rough the last few months. I've always dealt with depression in my own way rather than relying on medication. It comes, it goes, and I can usually handle it with creativity. I make something and I feel better. I dive head first into a new project and the depression will go away. This is the first time in a very long time when I don't have the stuff around me to do that. I don't have the fabric. I don't have the little things I need to even remotely be as creative as I want to be. I have the tools, but I don't have the supplies. So my outlets for my depression are limited at best.

And then my daughter bought me a Snoopy. I think I spent 20 minutes crying while holding that silly Snoopy plush. I feel better and I feel like I have someone that is going to fuel my imagination again. I have something that is going to protect me from my nightmares and help me fight back. All is not lost anymore. I can survive. I can go on. I can and I want to continue.

And all because my daughter bought me a Snoopy...

What if?

According to the latest numbers, the jackpot is at $800 MILLION. If no one wins tonight, the jackpot is estimated to top $1 BILLION. Let's pretend for just a little while that I won. Yay me! The cash option, as it stands, would be approximately $500 million. That's what I would walk out of the door of the Austin, Texas Lottery Commission office with. What the heck would I do with $500 million dollars?

The answer to that is a little more complicated than you think. First of all, I love all my family and friends. No one is getting a dime. That isn't to be stingy. That's more because I don't want anyone to have to pay taxes on the money. So, if you get an email/phone call from me asking about your personal information, it isn't because I'm trying to steal your identity, it's because I'm having the bank do the research and paying off your debt. From what I understand, debt collectors don't really care who pays the debt, as long as it gets paid. My family and friends become debt free, I get a nice tax write off, and everyone is happy. Clean financial slate anyone?

The next step would be the trust accounts. There would be several, because I have lots of things I want to make sure are taken care of. There would be the account for myself, my daughter, my mother, and then one for each of the houses. I figure there will be at least three, maybe four houses. Why so many houses you ask? There has to be the one on the beach in Newport, CA. I fell in LOVE with the beach there, and regardless of the area being snooty and uppity, I'm there for the sun and the beach and the relaxation. The house in Nappa, near the Culinary Institute of America in Nappa, is mostly temporary and for Sarah while she's attending the school. Although, the one I found that I liked best comes with a winery and vineyard attached. It might become a permanent addition. With a little work, that particular house would pay for itself.

The third house on my list, would be the one in the DFW area. My roots are in California and I love visiting. I don't want to live there full time. The fourth would be the cabin in the woods. Here's the rub, which woods do I want to live in? Do I want to go up into Canada? Somewhere in Colorado perhaps? Maybe the brisk air of Montana? I loved the location of my Aunt's house in Yosemite Valley area so that's an option too. I want a cabin to retreat to when I just want to get away from everything.

Once the houses are taken care of, then starts the business ventures. I have a few friends that have budding business ideas. They want to commit to those businesses, but can't because of what ever reason. With debts paid off and a little venture capital from me, dreams of getting to quit the day job and work at that thing you love would come to fruition. You know who you are. My daughter wants her own restaurant. That's cool, I could do that.

Now, what would I be doing? That is such an easy question to answer. The Newport house and cabin would be relaxation houses. The other two would need some work, but each would have a workshop for me. Sewing machines, embroidery machines, laser cutters, 3D printers, everything that I need to build my costume empire!

BTW - I will be taking applications for models to be my personal dress up people. I LOVE cosplay and making the costumes. But I would look TERRIBLE in most of the costumes that I want to make. There would be a benefit package, travel requirements with all expenses paid while traveling, and other things I probably can't think of right now. There are conventions all over the world and I have to go to most of them. Pack for all kinds of weather.

Lastly, there is the Medieval village in Italy. http://vallepiola.com/
If you haven't heard about this, this is a 13th century village in Italy that's been abandoned since the late 70s. The Italian government has been trying to sell the village to several venture capital groups with the hopes of turning the area into a resort. Luckily, the area is still for sale. Yes, I would purchase it, and yes, I would rebuild the area and turn it into a working village again. Everyone is invited to the grand opening.

If there is any money left over after THAT... Some deserving charities would get large donations and there would be a few other foundations that would get started.

I think that's about all the dreaming I can do for now. I'm sure something else will come up, but I think that works for now. Did I miss something? Have an idea? Let me know.

2015 Year in Review

The beginning of 2015 was the same as the beginning of 2016, nothing special. The year has been a roller coaster of emotional ups and downs. In the beginning of the year I thought maybe I would be able to have a chance to get back to school. That didn't happen. Yes, I wanted to go back to school for costume design, and it just didn't happen. It's still there, in the back of my mind as something that should happen, but right now isn't exactly the best time either.

I had a chance to have space at a game shop for all my sewing things, but that kind of fell apart as well. We wont discuss the fight I'm still fighting to get my stuff back.

Life changed a little when a friend of mine came to live with me in my little hotel room. Things got less private and even closer together. There were fights about who was doing the dishes, who was cooking and why the HELL would you ruin ramen by adding a slice of cheese? Many nights were spent watching him play Skyrim, and even I started to play a little Skyrim to ease the incessant boredom. Having a job like the one I had, you don't really get to go anywhere. You have to be on property 12 hours a night, four days out of the week, then 36 hours Saturday to Monday morning. Sure, there is lots of time in there to do things, but no space. Yes I could leave the property, but it never ceased to amaze me that the moment I left, there would be something that pulled me back. It was like Murphy would intentionally screw with me. The moment I got to the store, the phone would ring. The moment I sat down for dinner with friends, the phone rang. I lost any freedom I had gained when I no longer had to take care of my mother.

The summer came and went like a flash flood. Sarah was starting a new school and she was excited. Then the trip of trips was happening and there was a flight to California to see where I had started. I was rejuvenated and reinvigorated by the trip. Even with the looming notion that I wasn't going to have a job the minute I got back, I was determined to have a good time. I did have a wonderful adventure with my daughter. We saw things we had never seen. We got back and we had to move.

The kindness of my loved ones got me to a place where Sarah and I can be happy and free for the moment. Sarah has an interview next week and I have a call back interview next week. Her's will be a small little job that will make her a little money to fun her many, many Con trips later this year. If all goes well, I will have a job that will pay me a decent wage for the first time in my life. It isn't quite a living wage, but it is a start in the right direction.

I don't have any "resolutions" for the new year, I have goals. They are simple and they are few.

1. Get a good paying job.
2. Get a Car.
3. Stand on my own two feet and walk with pride, when it comes to pass that I can tell my current land lord that I'm moving out.
4. Be able to tell my mother - Look Mom... I'm doing it on my own. You don't control me anymore.

Like I said, not really resolutions... Goals.

See you in the future as I continue the daily struggles of a regular person, just trying to make it through.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Movie Rant - SPOILERS AHEAD

If you haven't seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens, just stop now, because I will spoil the movie for you. You still need to see it, because I think it was an awesome movie. Sure, it had flaws, but it was still an AMAZING movie.

DISCLAIMER - These are my thoughts and opinions. They are mine and are meant for entertainment and rant purposes only.

Now... On to my rant... You have been warned.

To all those nitpickers and whinny bitches that don't like the movie because it is a rehash of the 3-6, shut the hell up. I have been reading the same things over and over. The movie was a patchwork rehash of movies 3-6. Where there are some points that I can agree on and there were a few characters that I believe were completely underutilized, for the most part, I LOVED this movie. Let's take a look at some of the biggest complaints.

1.) One of the main characters found on a desert planet.

This can seem like lazy storytelling. But I think there is a logical explanation for Rey being on Jakku. My theory is this. Rey was hidden there so she wouldn't be discovered by the Dark Side. I'm pretty sure there are a few readers, sitting at their computers saying, "Well DUH..."

If you're thinking this, then why are you bitching about the main character on a desert planet? Follow my logic here... After seeing The Force Awakens a second time, I was able to gleam more clues to Rey's possible parentage and the reasons to why she was sent to Jakku. For now, we will focus on the reasons she was sent to, or rather, abandoned on Jakku.

At the end of Revenge of the Sith, we see Yoda exile himself on Degobah. Why did he go to Degobah? What was so special about Degobah? If someone as powerful as Yoda was going to disappear someplace that someone as powerful as Vader couldn't find him, Dagobah was the place for Yoda to go. According to the official sources, Degobah was so naturally saturated and pure with the Force, Yoda seemingly vanished and became part of the background noise of the planet. So any Sith or Jedi rolling up on the planet wouldn't be able to sense Yoda through all the static. It would be like looking for the copy of the copy, in a stack of copies. Sure, it can be done, but not worth the effort.

Meanwhile, we have Obi-Wan exiling himself to Tatooine. The reasoning for this was to watch over Luke as he grew. There isn't much in the official cannon that gives a reasoning beyond this. For the most part, Tatooine was far enough off the radar of the Empire to care.

There are two reasons that I have for Rey being hidden on Jakku. The first part is because it was far enough off the radar of The First Order, that they didn't care. Second, I think that it's because Rey's abilities were "sealed" to a point where she couldn't use them, or they couldn't be sensed by a Sith or Jedi who just happened by.

2.) Rey is a Mary Sue and 3.) Rey learned to use her powers to quickly.

I'm explaining my theories on these two things together, because they kind of tie together. Anikin's lightsaber is the big clue to this one. Personally, I don't think that Rey is a Skywalker. I hate to bring the midi-chlorians into this, but I think she's is the answer to the mistake that was Anikin. Anikin was supposed to bring balance to the force. There are arguments that he did, because he toppled the Jedi Order and thus there was no Jedi police force looming over the galaxy. However, this in turn, caused the Empire to rule with an iron fist. The galaxy traded one extreme for another.

If the Force is all about balance and the midi-chlorians are as inelegant as they are supposed to be, then it is possible that they created another child as their emissary to restore a balance that was never achieved? The reason why we have no clue as to her parentage, is because she doesn't have one. I don't think she's a female clone of Anikin. That's just some really crazy Mary Sue bullshit right there. You could loosely connect her to Anikin by saying she has the telemechanical aspect and the whole, birthed by midi-chlorians. Otherwise, she is her own person.

Now, we know from her memory flashes that she has met Luke before. We know from the flashes that she was trained at a young age to use the force. From what I could tell, she was as young as 4 and maybe as old as 8 years old. Those memory flashes go by pretty quick. If you didn't catch it the first time, you HEAR both Yoda and Obi-wan talking to her. I think that when shit goes down 10 years prior to the movie, Luke, knowing who and what she is, sealed her powers and memories for her own protection. Then to further protect her, sent her to one of the farthest planet where she would be safest. Once again Jakku is remote, out of the way, and no one cares. The First Order, suffering the fatal flaw of not checking bodies for a pulse, assumed the only one left alive was Luke. They spent all their time looking for Luke and not bothering with the insignificant youngling they thought was dead.

Luke leaves the lightsaber with Maz Kanata, knowing that eventually Rey would end up there looking for him and sends Artoo back to Leia with the last piece of the map to find him. The moment Rey touches the lightsaber, all the barriers and seals to her powers are lifted. With new access to her powers, Rey's training kicks in. It's like riding a bike, you never truly forget how to do it. So it isn't that she learned to use them quickly, she just remembered how to use them.

4.) The Starkiller Base was just Death Star 3.0 and way to easy to blow up.

This one does kind of bother me too. But it isn't something that I'm going to be all upset over. We can just blame really ineffective engineers for the fatal flaws in the building of planets that blow up other planets. You never know, it is very possible that the engineers are a doing their part to quietly subvert the First Order by putting in these fatal flaws for the Resistance to exploit.

5.) The acting wasn't very good.

You have seen the other movies... right? The acting isn't exactly Oscar worthy. Between the awkward chemistry, horrible writing, and the direction of Episodes 1-3, even Samuel L. Jackson didn't come out of those movies unscathed. Moving on to Episodes 4-6, there is a wonderful story of how Alec Guinness didn't even want to acknowledge his participation in the movies. Oscar winning, Sir Alec Guinness... Didn't want ANYONE to know he was in the films. So before you start to shake your fist at the screen and yell about the acting, please go back and watch Episodes 1-6 and then come back to me and whine about the acting in TFA.

Last Thoughts:

To those people out there that want to pick apart this movie, STOP IT! I'm sorry your imagining of the story isn't living up to your expectations. Yes, TFA has flaws. But when you compare it to Episode 1 and Episode 4, it's miles beyond Episode 1 and just short of Episode 4. TFA brought back the magic. It brought back the story telling that we all wanted. I'm interested in seeing the rest of Rey's journey. I'm invested in seeing Finn become more of a badass. I want to see Chewie rip off Ren's arms and beat him to death with those very arms. I am EXCITED like the little girl that ran into the house screaming "TAR WARS! TAR WARS!" Because someone put the music on. I want to burn rings into my Blu Ray copy because I watched it so many times, I know the dialog by heart, because I had to watch it again and again and again, so I can gleam every ounce of information I can, so I can sit with my friends and speculate on the next installment.

That is what Star Wars means to me. It is the mythology. It is the story. It is that good vs. evil fight that we all want to be a part of in some way. It is that escapism to a galaxy far, far away to have an adventure that makes me focus on something other than my mundane, boring life. It's when people nitpick and place real world expectations on a fantasy that ruins it for everyone else.

End Rant.

Personal Update

Totally forgot about this whole blog thing. I do this every once and a while. I try to remember, and then nothing happens for a year, and then I remember and I have time... And I could go on and on again.

So here's the deal. It's been OVER a year since my last post. Forgive me, I'm just lazy and don't think about writing for all to see all that often. I will just have to remember. Since July last year, a few things have happened. The biggest thing, I got to take a trip to California (See my trip here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaPhu30CCks). The second major change was my departure from my previous job as a Courtesy Officer for a hotel that shall remain nameless.

I have since moved with my daughter, into a friends house for the time being. I have managed to get a job slinging coffee, but I really want a better job. Meanwhile, I'm bored and trying to think of other things to do in the meantime. Working on the blog seems to be a bit cathartic if nothing else.

Research

I woke up earlier than expected this morning, feeling ambitious and excited about this new adventure in blogging.  I was also being extremely lazy and doing things while laying in bed. Hey, I said I had woken up earlier than I wanted to.

I started my research with my morning crawl through my Facebook news feed. There wasn't much different. Being an animal lover I always have a plethora of funny animal videos. George Takei is always there with his daily words of advice. Then there was something that caught my eye.

Chicken Nugget Rampage

I remembered this video from several months back. This is a PERFECT example of, "The Customer is always right... Except when they're not."

All the lady wanted was some chicken nuggets. All the server had to do was sell the lady some chicken nuggets, regardless of what time it was, and the whole incident might have been avoided.

According to a NY Daily News article I found, the woman said she was drunk at the time. Is being drunk an excuse for being a bad customer?

I have had to deal with drunk people more often than I care to. Any of my Facebook friends and family know of my recent exploits with a hotel guest that got a little to hot to handle because of intoxication (I shall regale you later).

So I thought of doing more research on customer service in general. YouTube seems to have a wealth of information and training videos. There was much joy to be had from the bleary eyed teenager who was woken by the catch phrase "Give 'em the pickle!"

I am doing my research and will be sharing and discussing these videos as I find them. Meanwhile, I am off to do more research.

Who and What...

It was in a moment of inspiration, and a rather large hint from a friend, that I needed to start a blog of my daily dealings with stupid. But first, a little about myself...

Hi... I'm Victoria Toscano. I'm just your average, everyday person that has WAY to much time on my hands as of late. I grew up in middle income Los Angeles and moved to Dallas, Texas when I was 13. It's hard to believe that was 25 years ago, this past January, but the DFW area is where I've been ever since. I have a 16 year old daughter that is an aspiring chef. She NEEDS to aspire to get over the "ick" factor when it comes to food, specifically seafood, or she'll never get anywhere. I could go into massive detail, but I will sum it up this way:

Circumstances in my life have led me to a very easy job as a "Courtesy Officer" at a hotel in suburban Dallas, Texas. For this position, I am compensated with a room to live in and enough money to put food on the table. It is not the most glamorous job in the world, but it's better than being homeless. And that's what I would be, because of said circumstances, I would be homeless. I don't have a car. There are two luxuries I afford because I am still looking for that other job that will afford things like a car and an apartment.

Before all the circumstances that have led me to my current situation, I have been "Customer Service" in a range of industries for 15 years. I've worked in retail, legal, food service, interior design, interior decorating, craft, construction, and tech support. All of these industries require some kind of "Customer Service". I wouldn't consider myself an authority, but I know how to get it done and keep a customer happy.

I have seen in the news, on other blogs, and the all important social media, stories of the BAD customer service. These seem to get the larger part of media attention. It was just recently, a man released his conversation with a customer service rep about canceling his cable services. I was absolutely appalled by that call. How could a supervisor allow that call to last that long? I remember when I was on customer retention, and the rule was if you offered the customer the incentive to stay twice, and the customer said "no" twice, you canceled the service... PERIOD. You didn't argue. You didn't badger. You just canceled the service.

Then you get the "Hero" Customer Service stories. Who remembers the Netflix CSR that killed it with the Star Trek references, and gave the customer what he needed/wanted and had fun with it? I love those stories just as much. And it's even better when you have a company like Netflix that encourages their CSRs to do things like engage the customer and have fun.

The thing about Customer Service that always seems to tick me off is the age old phrase, "The customer is always right,". I've seen this phrase in EVERY customer service training manual. Once I got into my tech support training, the phrase changed a little. It became, "The customer is always right, except when they're not,". If you've ever been in any customer service/tech support role, there is always that customer that comes in or calls in with a product that has NOTHING wrong with it. It's all end user error. But no matter what you do, or how you try to explain it, the customer insists there is something wrong with the product.

This is what I am going to be blogging about. These are my stories of dealing with that customer that can't seem to understand, they may be the customer... But they aren't exactly right either. These are the stories of Dealing With Stupid. And now that I'm in the hotel business, I deal with stupid on several levels and in new inventive ways.