Wii U Failure

We had Little Kat over the house one night for dinner. Afterwards we wanted him to spend time with us. So we thought we could play a game. Kit Kat and Little Kat were against board games. So we proposed a video game instead. Momoko thought we could play Smash Brothers on the Wii.

The Wii U console booted up. However the tablet that connected to it was dead. Apparently it had been dead since Momoko's niece visited us last summer. I decided that we needed to replace either the tablet or the whole Wii U system.

I was shocked that there was little supply for sale. New Wii U consoles were going for $900 to $1100 on Amazon. Even a used tablet was $140 in average condition. This must be some sort of price gouging. Before making a purchase, I checked the existing table and found it unplugged. After charging up, it worked fine.

Big Lottery Jackpots

The Mega Millions and PowerBall lottery jackpots are getting huge. So I bought one ticket for each. Unfortunately I only got a matching mega ball. It was worth $2. I tried to go back to the gas station where I bought the ticket to redeem it. The gas station was closed for rennovations.

I went down the street to another gas station. Normally I don't go there because the gas costs too much. I traded in my winning $2 ticket. Used it and some more cash to buy one more ticket for each of these big lottories.

The Mega Millions jackpot is a whopping $640M. And PowerBall is even bigger at $750M. Of course the odds are astronomical for a win. Really what I am buying is a short term dream of what I would do if I won either of them.

Loan Denied

Little Kat applied for a student loan for next semester's college classes. I acted as a co-signer for the loan. We used the same bank we did for last semester. I got a letter in the mail from the bank. They denied the application.

I called them up. It took forever to speak to a representative. They gave me 4 reasons why I did not qualify as a co-signer. This is odd. I make really good money at my job. I have some loans. But they should be "good" loans, such as a home mortgage, car loan, school loan for Little Kat, etc.

Little Kat had to call the bank to find out the reasons related to him as to why they rejected the application. He also had to wait on hold for a long time. The end result was that he reapplied for a loan with a lesser amount. Let's see what happens.

This is tricky as Little Kat only qualifies for 2 programs of loans at his school. The alternative does not let you defer repayment until you graduate. We hope not to have to take that style loan. If so, Little Kat needs to immediately start repaying the loan.

Pivoting to a Four Year College

Little Kat is getting close to the end of his Associates Degree program at his community college. Momoko, Little Kat, and I have been researching what he should do next. He could do an apprenticeship through his college. He could jump to another community college that has better programs. He could get some credentials like a certificate and then get a job immediately. Or he could transfer to a four year college.

Today we made some progress figuring out the four year college path. Last night, Little spent the night at our house. He had scheduled a call today with one of the local state schools. We were specifically talking to the person who deals with community college transfers at this four year college.

Little Kat and I went out and picked up some Chinese food for lunch. Then we rehearsed how we though the call would go. We had to have him practice many times until he could communicate his situation and the questions we had for the four year college.

Pretty much we want to know if Little Kat actually needs to get an associates degree, or whether he can jump to the four year college now. The program he wants to enter says that transfer students need an associates degree in computer technology (or related) in order to get into the program. We wanted to know if Little Kat could bypass that.

The call went well. We had some positive surprises. The person from the four year college sold their school to us. Now we need to finalize what courses Little Kat will take next semester at his community college. This might be his last semester there.

Microsoft Certified

At my last job, one of the senior developers was let go. He told me the only database jobs he could find were Microsoft based. A year ago I was let go from that project too. The only jobs I was able to find that seemed interesting were with Microsoft SQL Server. I thought I saw the writing on the wall. So I decided to learn SQL Server.

Why not get a certification while I was doing this? Might as well. I decided on the SQL 2016 Database Development one. It is an MCSA cert. That stands for Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate. I needed to hurry up though. Microsoft is retiring this certification in January 2021.

Well today I went to take my second and final exam required for this MCSA cert. My normal testing centers are closed due to COVID-19. I tried an alternate site for the first test. The exam crashed in the middle, causing the admins to run around rebooting stuff for 30 minutes. That is not the optimal environment for exam taking.

So I tried a new testing site today. The windows on the front of the building were covered so you could not see through. The front door was locked. They did not have any lockers you could secure your belongings in. I decided to lock my valuables up in my car. Still have to check in my car key with a guy who would "put it in a filing cabinet".

This second exam was difficult. Lots of DBA questions. Turns out I was sufficiently prepared. I passed and am now a recognized MCSA. Next up, I need to determine what to learn next.

Duplicate Credit Card Charges

I needed to pick up my car from the dealership. Was having some maintenance done. Before going in, I decided to stop by Little Caesars to get some bread sticks. I pulled up to their drive through window and tried to pay by credit card.

The dude had trouble running my card through. He tried a number of times. Eventually he said he got it to work. And I thought everything was okay. Then I got my credit card bill. Turns out they charged me four times that day.

I called the credit card company up. Told them 3 of the 4 charges were not valid. They told me to call the vendor and try to get them to refund the bad charges. I called the store. They told me to call Little Caesars management.

I called the manager. They saw my charges. But they said that they did not collect the money due to communication problems with the credit card machine. I said that seemed strange as my credit card company was passing the charges on to me.

In the end, the vendor said they would not credit the charges back. So my credit card company had to charge the money back. Lesson learned it to pay online using their web site, and just pick the food up from the local store.

Career Proposals

Momoko and I searched Little Kat's college offerings. We looked for a program with minimal classes in an industry with good pay. We wanted a program that was not difficult to get into. We also did not one a program that required a lot of difficult classes.

Our first choice was 3D printing. You can get a certificate in it with a little as 3 semesters. The average salary in the field is very high. There are some concerns. 3D printing is not a mature field. Also, it requires a physical sciences class that seems difficult.

Next program is CAD. It also only requires a couple semesters of study to get a certificate. The average salary is no that high. Another drawback is both new students (like Little Kat) and people experienced in the field might be going for the certificate, putting the newbies at a disadvantage. Finally you need to take labs starting the the first semester, which will be challenging due to COVID-19.

Last up is Cyber Forensics. It needs a few semesters of study. The average salary is decent. However like CAD, it requires labs starting in the first semester. It also requires tough courses such as a Python programming class, along with a very tough networks class.

Once Little Kat is done with the current semester at school, Momoko and I will pitch our ideas to him for a new college prorgram and career.