Edwards Design Solutions

I like DirecTV. I don’t like being lied to. I also don’t like when a business is so large that it forgets how to communicate between departments and seniority levels. A lack of communication can cause the business to falter in its customer service and ultimately look either like employees are lying or that they don’t know something that should either be known or at least to know where to find the answer. Well what would you think if you had a problem with a service, called the appropriate support department and the person answering the phone doesn’t have the answer? What if that person’s boss doesn’t either. What if multiple attempts, speaking with a different region’s personnel, gets even more confusing when different and erroneous information is given? You might get a bit flustered, right? That is exactly what had happened to me last month. Let me explain what really happened, how the solution was found and what exactly went wrong along the way. Continue reading »

Life sucks. That truth, along with death and taxes, are inevitable and the mainstay of any pessimist. Any real optimist will tell you that bad things happen to everyone and things will get better. I don’t believe things get better for good. I believe that we all go through times of good and bad. Unfortunately, I feel my life has seen more bad than good. I’d like to believe that I will finally be going through some good times here soon.

If any of us were to list all the bad times, or bummers in life, one could easily become depressed to the point of considering suicide. But the good times don’t always happen to us specifically, they tend to happen to those around us. These occurrences can also have residual side effects to those of us who happen to be around those that the good things happen to. It’s kind of like having “good luck” rub off on you! But we can make our own luck, to enjoy some good times.

I am prepared to make my own luck, and good times, by living my dreams through my children. I have worked to try to provide the best for them and give them the things and stability I haven’t always enjoyed. One of the things I have always wanted, was to take Martial Arts. Well this last month, my oldest daughter started taking Mixed Martial Arts (mainly Japanese Karate). The really scary thing is, she’s already pretty good. She may only be a white belt, but all of her instructors are already complimenting her on her form and expertise. I can even see her ability and potential. She’s picking it up so fast.

But now my youngest is to begin gymnastics in September and she is ecstatic. Continue reading »

Most people know that I love football. That comes mostly from my father’s influence while growing up. Once I learned about what hockey was, being about 18 or 19 years old, I was pretty much hooked. That was a time, around 1990, when I was one of America’s troubled youth. I was messed up into smoking dope, I was in a bad relationship with a girl, I was in a punk-rock band and I was trying desperately to make something of myself by attending the local trade school.

Well, during this period of my life, I had spent some time living with one of the band members (Ron). He was a huge hockey fan who had even played in high school and a city league. He was also a huge Rush fan (I swear he must be part Canadian), hence my love for both of these things today! I have always been a Steelers fan and thought about watching some Penguins hockey. What a sweet time in the franchise to start watching the Penguins, I mean it was the year of their first Stanley Cup!

Unfortunately, I did enough bad crap in that time of my life to pretty much lose everything. So I decided to join the US Navy, there was nothing left to lose. I even returned to my roots, by going back to church, for the few weeks before leaving for boot camp. I met my wife at that church. Continue reading »

Well, it appears that hockey fans are getting a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Finals. There are a few differences from last year to this year however. One difference is that the Penguins are one year more mature, but so are the Red Wings. Another is that there are quite a few more injuries on Detroit’s starting lineup and there are quite a few more injury makers on Pittsburgh’s starting lineup!

I have watched the Western Conference finals very closely and the one thing that kept Chicago in it at all, was the injuries that kept the bigger names from playing for the defending champions. I could easily tell that my Penguins have sustained offensive attacks at speed and stronger defense from even the offense lines. There are four lines of quality players that have been stepping up during every game of the Stanley Cup playoffs. There are just two too many two-headed monsters!

I feel like bragging and saying that the Gino-Sid combo is a solid one-two punch. The Crosby-Guerin combo is another solid pair. The Fedotenko-Gonchar combo is another lethal pair. When considering the other stand out solo acts (besides Crosby, Malkin, Fedotenko or Talbot), you have to recognize and appreciate the game play of Staal and Adams as well as Marc-Andre.

The penalty killing prowess has gone way up in the post season as well, but lets not forget that the team’s success would not possible without the accurate and influential managing of Coach Bylsma’s recipe for his black and gold powerhouse that is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Oh lord, it’s going to be a great Final run….justice will be served!

Upgrades people, upgrades. No more of this broken-down, used up, out-mode junk! The WordPress 2.6 I was using has been traded up to a newer release. The change went smoothly and the early reviews of the site show there are no harmful side-effects.

My one word of caution to anyone running an old version, never fear the change and always read the documentation. The WordPress upgrade page was accurate and made my change go as smooth as a newborn’s rear. The backend (or rear!) of the application is also very nice. It has a sort of iGoogle feel to it, but not too tough to get around in. The only real reason I didn’t make any upgrades to the site before now, was there was nothing going wrong with the site…until this morning that is.

EDS-Online was hacked by a phisher, masquerading as a bank from the UK. It seems that one of my portfolio designs was no longer secure and my WordPress index page was deleted. They had access to, and had placed a phishing site within, my directory. Not too malicious, just annoying. All seems to be repaired and the crack in the old armor has been patched up. Rather quickly I might add. I had securities in place within an hour (stopping all access to the phishing site) and the site was upgraded and back live in about 4 hours total. I of course had to work around my work schedule to get it done. But my boss was none the wiser, as I completed all tasks anyway! Yes, I am usually a multitasking nightmare, but not today!

Now I can go back to my blissful existence of ignorance and tube watching! By the way, my Penguins just killed the Capitals last night… 6-2! Way to go boys.

Well, game 3 was anything but stellar from the black-n-gold. Visiting the city of sibling rivalry (commonly referred to as brotherly love) has put a damper on the Pens’ thoughts of finishing this series early. Game 4 will really tell the tale of how much the loss has damaged the frosty exteriors of Crosby, Malkin and the boys.

During game 2 in the Igloo, I heard something over the loudspeaker that rekindled a fire in me. I have always loved music and my favorite genre is hairbands of the 80′s and 90′s. One of my favorite movies about the period was made by period aficionado George Clooney. I am talking of course about Rock Star! This movie gives an intimate look into the ups and downs, and ins and outs of “living like a rock star”.

I love the song, but the visuals are even better….

Stand Up

Beware, this is not a movie for kids! This movie sends a clarion call to anyone thinking of getting into the business. Be prepared to fight the temptations or possibly lose your soul in the process. What really gets to me, is to see the lead singer “Izzy”, played by Mark Wahlberg, go through these challenges. He pushes away everything familiar, including his long-time girlfriend (played by Jennifer Anniston), just to be the man everyone wants to be. But he eventually learns his error and decides to leave the band. This choice brings healing to his mental state and brings his girlfriend back into his life.

The point is, make choices but be prepared to suffer the consequences. Make good choices and you will save yourself a lot of grief. Now getting back to hockey, lets hope we see better gameplay and better choices by coach Bylsma in Game 4.