Chris Benard

Chris Benard is a software developer in the Dallas area specializing in payments processing, medical claims processing, and Windows/Web services.

  • My House Stinks and I’m Almost Done With School

    It smells like rotting flesh in my house.  It’s absolutely horrible.  I’ve been through this before.  Some animal has taken it upon itself to crawl up inside my attic and die.  Then my house smells like death for a week.  You’d think I’d have to do something about it, but I’ve ignored it in the past, and like all problems, that makes it go away.  I hope that’ll work that time.  Does anyone have any input on that particular problem?  (Don’t come over to my house this week for sure.)

    Not that that’s related in any way to my school, but I’ve taken half of my finals, and since I didn’t care about this semester, I’ve gotten a B in Math 201 (Discrete) and a B in English 201 (Introduction to Fiction).  I only have Management 301 (Principles of Management) and Communications 135 (Speech) left.  I’m pretty sure I’ll end up with As in those classes.  December 19th at 7pm at the CenturyTel Center, I graduate.  Yay!  Everyone is invited!

    Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on my mood, I start on the MBA program in the Spring.  I took the GMAT and I only had to make a 450 on it since I have a high GPA, and I passed it with ease.  All in all, I liked this semester; I made some new friends and didn’t really try all that hard.  I have senioritis and I don’t care what I get; I’m just ready for this to all be over.  I’ve spent far too long in school.  Perhaps they’ll confer a PhD on me instead.

    MCPD(rgb)_504_505 In other news, I’m now certified as a Microsoft Certified Professional Developer in both Windows and Web.  I actually made a perfect score on the Windows one and a 976 on the Web one.  I’ve scheduled MCPD: Enterprise for Monday, December 17th, so I hope I pass that too.  My work is reimbursing me for all the tests, which is good, since they’re $125 each.

    Speaking of work, I ate a lot of food today.  We had a pot luck lunch for our building and everyone brought stuff, except for me.  I didn’t even think I’d be able to make it.  I had a two hour final starting at 10:30 and the lunch started at 11:45.  I actually rushed through my Math 201 final in order to make it back in time, and I got there only like 2 minutes late.  I’m a free food whore.  I even stayed a little late tonight and ate the night class (they teach support people downstairs about XP)’s food.  When I get to eat for free, I feel like I’m sticking it to the man.  Yeah, I know that makes me weird.


  • Bad Phone, Good Phone

    My stupid Motorola Q died, so I had to send it off to Motorola, since it’s still under warranty from them and I didn’t buy Sprint’s stupid warranty.  It wasn’t really that big of a deal, and I wasn’t even that upset to pay them shipping.  They said in the instructions to send no accessories, including batteries, headsets, etc, so I made sure not to do so.  Apparently, however, the battery cover is an accessory, and they deemed it unnecessary to send it back to me.  I now hate Motorola.

    Samsung A900M In the absence of the Motorola Q smart device, I switched back to using a non-smart Samsung A900M.  I’ve grown to appreciate the feel of a tiny little phone that has all the functionality I need.  I think I’m going to sell the Moto Q on eBay when I get a battery cover back from them.  I’ve yet to call them, because I hate dealing with Moto Customer Service, and I’m sure I’m going to end up having to buy a new one or something.  The lesson of that story is to buy Sprint’s ripoff insurance when you get an expensive phone.

    That would be the end of the story, except tonight, I dropped my phone on the ground outside when I went to my parents house, spent a while there, left, and then realized that I didn’t have my phone.  Driving up to my parents driveway again, I saw my phone blinking there in the driveway (SMS and Voicemail alert).  It had been raining the whole night, so my phone had gotten a good drenching, and the thing just kept on working.  I just can’t believe how many times I’ve dropped that little phone and gotten it wet, and it just stands up to my unwarranted abuse.  Good job, Samsung.  Motorola, tsk tsk.


  • Last Weekend

    I normally don’t post “Dear blag, here’s how my life is going” posts, but I haven’t posted in a while, so I suppose one of those is better than none at all. Last weekend was pretty busy, so here goes.

    On Friday (10/19/2007), I helped Jenny move a bunch of heavy stuff from her old apartment to her new apartment. Marcos and Jordan are moving to Arizona or something, and so she is moving to a one bedroom loft type apartment. It’s two stories with a circular staircase thing like you only see in movies or TV shows. Anyway, we moved a couch from her stepdad and mom’s house, and it was a big jigsaw puzzle. I think it took us an hour and a half, four people, and several catastrophic wall gashes to get the thing out of the house.

    Getting it into the new apartment was a snap, though. Moving everything else was pretty easy, and I found out Jenny’s stepdad is a huge nerd! We so nerded out a bit about HDTVs, Linux, amperage, voltage, and some other stuff. I think Jenny might have been a bit embarassed. Later that night, we ate at Chili’s with Rachel and Mallory. I couldn’t order a drink because I had left my wallet, and thus ID, at home that day. Lame! I did see Rachel Hull there that night as well. She works as a waitress there on the weekend. I didn’t say anything to her because I hadn’t seen her since high school and I wasn’t sure if it was her. She Facebooked me though and she had recognized me as well, but didn’t say anything because I lost a bunch of weight since high school and she wasn’t sure if it was me. It’s not often I’m reminded I used to be a fattie, so that’s always nice.

    Later that night, we went to Jenny’s apartment to pick up a hoodie, Rachel’s apartment to get Jurassic Park and we went over to other Rachel and Emily‘s apartment and I met them. I was going to watch JP with Jenny and Rachel, but I would have just fallen asleep during the movie, as they apparently did, so I went home and went to sleep.

    Saturday, Courtney came to town, and we ate lunch after I finally woke up and did my English class reading journals at the last minute. Moe‘s nachos are great, fyi. Courtney went birthday gift shopping with Jenny and I for Brooke and Ashley‘s birthdays. I drove him back to my house, where his truck was, and then back to Macaroni Grill for the birthday dinner. I ordered a Bellini and a Tartini, but the waiter guy kept trying to get me to buy more drinks. I’m not sure why he wanted to get me drunk, except a larger tip, I suppose.

    After the dinner, we went to the corn maze! We got lost in it completely. We started off in one maze (Phase I) and ended up in another (Phase II). A corn cop we found finally rescued us. He seemed offended when I told him I was just bored after all that time. We waited about 40 minutes just to pay for a ticket, and it was cold outside! I was glad I wore a long sleeve shirt that night, even though I wore shorts. Ugh!

    After all the corn mazing, a bunch of us stopped for daiquiris at the place by What’s On Tap and we went back to Brooke and Ashley’s house to watch the end of the LSU/Auburn game (which LSU totally won although with great risk) and hang out. That was pretty fun, and afterward, I blew .043 on Jenny’s breathalyzer, from just one daiquiri! It was the Hurricane, in case anyone wonders.

    The best day was Sunday! Jenny, Rachel, Rachel, Emily, and I all went to Dallas in a Ford Focus and spent all day at Six Flags. I really really really really love roller coasters. I won’t bore the reader with other descriptions of the day at six flags, but I really love roller coasters. Have I mentioned that? Also, the teacups are awesome. Jenny might post pictures on her MySpace at some point and I’ll steal them then for mine.

    And, there you have the most trivial blog post I’ve ever made.


  • Fire, Food, and Friends

    Hibachi GrillingTonight was Joey‘s birthday dinner. He and a friend, who I will mention later, were celebrating the same night at a Japanese restaurant named Kobe. After the food and tip, it cost me $30. Chris and Jen went with me. Jen has already written a blog post about the night. I knew it would be pretty expensive before I went, but it was Joey’s birthday, so I reluctantly went. However, I was very pleasantly surprised. I wouldn’t go there very often because of the price, but it was definitely worth it. The performance was spectacular and our chef, Patrick, was very entertaining. I was disappointed when the show ended. It seemed like it went too quickly, but he made a lot of food.

    He even gave us pieces of all the different types of food, even food we didn’t order. As a result, I got to sample pretty much everything on their menu, including the chicken, shrimp, steak, sliced sirloin steak, vegetables, sauces, tea, and the excellent fried rice. The tea was gross, but the food was really good.

    Courtney had told me that sake was gross, so I didn’t order any when Joey and Graham asked if I was going to get some. However, they got a little bottle and Graham offered me some, so I tried it. Sake is very potent. It tasted like slightly flavored alcohol. It didn’t taste “gross” or even bad really; it just didn’t taste that great. It was nice to try, but I doubt I’d ever order it.

    One interesting thing did happen, though. We had a very nice waitress that was waiting on us and filling our drinks, but then about an hour and a half into the meal, this very weird man came over, and instead of asking us what our drinks were to refill them, he seemed like he was trying to intuit it. I nicknamed him “The Drink Psychic” because he seemed like he was trying to read our minds or something. He was a very odd individual, and without a recording, I don’t think I could quite describe him in words. Suffice it to say, he was very odd.

    That was the first time I have ever been to one of those showy Japanese restaurants where they make the food in front of you. The food itself isn’t worth the money, but the show is, if you only go every once in a while.


  • Best Summer Ever

    This has been the best summer ever. Summer usually sucks because it’s so hot and walking outside makes me feel like I’m melting. However, last month (July 2007), it rained 18 out of the 31 days and all the other days it was cloudy. This has to be the coolest July I’ve ever experienced in Shreveport, Louisiana.

    It’s made my front yard, which has always consisted of a majority of dirt and a minority of grass, reverse its trend and make it look like I pay attention to it. The mild temperature has also been very good for my power bill. Normally this time of year, it’s over $100, but I’ve been paying around $80 (average plan). I can only hope the weather stays this nice, but I don’t think the low pressure system that’s been hanging around will last forever; today was quite warm.

    [Update: Now (8/4/2007), it’s as hot as hell would be if it existed. I guess I should have known nice weather wouldn’t last in Louisiana.]

    In other news, I’ve been going to Fitness World and exercising for the past month. It made my muscles really sore at first, but only marginally sore now. I don’t know why I decided to exercise, but I guess it’ll make me live longer or something, and it just seems like a good thing to do. Fitness World’s website is their phone number. Who thought that was a good idea?

    I also plan on going skydiving the weekend after next. Does anyone have any comments or suggestions regarding that?

    New Television Shows I’m Watching

    Traveler

    I suggest everyone download and watch the only eight episodes ABC released of Traveler. They canceled it before I had even heard about it, but the eight episodes out there make for awesome television. Traveler is about two roommates framed for a terrorist act they didn’t commit. It has lots of twists in it, and you’ll be hooked 15 minutes into the pilot. My coworker points out how he’d do things differently and complains about how they don’t run away well enough and other little shallow points instead of just enjoying the show. If you decide to watch it, suspend your disbelief, sit back, and enjoy the suspense and thrill instead of trying to analyze every frame and pick it apart. You’ll be glad you did.

    Damages

    Also, I’m watching another show that’s not quite as awesome, but looks like it has some promise. It’s called Damages and it features a “do whatever it takes” lawyer lady, and she really does whatever it takes. I don’t want to say more, because it would ruin it, but it’s definitely worth it to watch the pilot of that. I’m going to watch the second episode tonight.

    Don’t forget to comment on the skydiving idea.


  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

    I saw the new Harry Potter movie on Friday, and it was pretty disappointing. Keep in mind that my comments come from the perspective of someone who has never picked up a Harry Potter book, but this movie was just boring. I don’t know if it is true to the book of the same name, but I can’t imagine it is.

    The entire movie was just about the mean lady (I’ve completely forgotten her name) and Harry teaching the other students defense against the dark arts, after he gives a speech about how he doesn’t really know defense against the dark arts and that he just has luck. I don’t get it.

    I really liked the first four. I hope the next two are much better. I think that’s the shortest blog post I’ve ever written, but I don’t want to give any spoilers away when I’d just be complaining anyway.


  • I’m Allergic To Everything

    I have had intermittent allergy problems since I was a child. I knew that I was allergic to cats, dust, and feathers, since that’s what my parents told me, and I knew from experience with cats. I’ve never had an adverse reaction to Chris Leon‘s cat, however, and Darwin rubs all on me when I used to go over to Chris’ apartment, including my face. I had been considering getting a cat of my own, but I wanted to what I was still allergic, so I contacted Courtney‘s former allergist and a doctor I used to work with at Highland Clinic.

    They stuck me in the back 62 times, did a pulmonary function test on me, and Dr. Washburne listened to my breathing from all around my body. It’s going to end up costing me a whole lot of money, since I have a high deductible, but I did get instant results: I’m allergic to everything… with the exception of like 5 or 6 things.

    Obviously, my reactions to cat and dust mites were far higher than everything else, but I really am allergic to a lot of things, some more severe than others. Dr. Washburne said “You’re a very allergic person.” You can look at the results for yourself. The first number is the bump on my back and the second part is the redness. 34 is the max number and that means my dust mite reaction went outside the bounds it was given so they had to use “34+”.

    Today, I realized that I haven’t replaced my air filter in a long time, and given my newly discovered severe dust mite allergy, I thought it might be a good idea to do so. I pulled away the couch from the intake and the entire metal vent cover was covered in dust. I vacuumed all of that off and then unlatched the metal. The filter was coated in dust and the vacuum pressure created by the air intake was so powerful that it ripped off a corner of the filter. So for some unknown period of time, the air in my house has been circulating sans filtration. I bought a bunch of ultra-super-duper-hypo-allergenic filters from Lowe’s today and install one. I’ll keep a better eye on that, especially since my fancy touchscreen thermostat has a “FILTER” warning that has been constantly flashing.


  • MCTS and Some Other Stuff

    I am writing this post because of Jen. She pointed out that I haven’t blogged in forever. I thought it was worth posting though, if for nothing else than to show up Chris’ blogging abilities.

    I passed the Microsoft 70-536 and 70-528 tests. That means I’m MCTS certified on Web, Windows, and SQL Server 2005. Distributed is next.

    Also, LSUS (my college) is having an awards ceremony at 12PM on April 13th, 2006 and they’re awarding me two things. I’ve been selected as the “Outstanding CIS Student for the Academic Year”, and also I was on the Chancellor’s list for both semesters last year (3.8 or above or something). They’ve offered me the honor, so I’m going to honor their offer.

    Chris (same Chris as the non-blogging one) and I went to Circle K today for our daily ICEEs (can I pluralize it like that?). While the lady was scanning my card, I saw two little girls (roughly 12-14 years old) talking to Chris and I thought Chris was hitting on 12 year olds. After she scanned my card and Chris was waiting on his to be scanned (dial-up credit card processing), I walked over to find out why Chris was doing that. I was like “What’s funny?” since the girls were laughing, and they said it was that Chris has a Batman credit card and was wearing a Superman shirt and they thought his shoes were Batman shoes. Quickly they lost interest in that and started hitting on me saying they knew me and stuff and that she had a bunch of sisters and I used to go over one one of their houses a couple of years ago or something. I have no idea what she was talking about, but Chris and I left. Weird little girls. (Chris and I are 25 and 24 respectively at the time of this writing).

    Aside from those happenings, you should watch this video. It’s hilarious. I AM A SCIENTIST! For my nerd friends, Mike posted a video on PXE booting. You will probably enjoy that.

    I am going to take a vacation soon I think, since I have to use 2 weeks this year and I know I’ll use about 1 week between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m pretty sure I’m going to go to DFW and hang out with Mike and Courtney. Courtney got a Wii, and Wii would like to play.

    You’re welcome Jen. 🙂


Posts navigation