ZaneGee.com » Personal

What’s In A Name?

Zane — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 11:34:45 +0000

So what’s in a name, especially one like Zane. Parenting.com says,

What, we wonder, would have happened if famed western writer Zane Grey had written under his real first name of Pearl? We certainly wouldn’t be looking at Zane as a viable name right now, since the author was pretty much solely responsible for this name’s cool western image. Zane is, in fact, a name that may be too cool, if you believe such a state is possible. Any Zane would certainly have to grapple with people’s expectations that he be sharp, sexy, and sophisticated in a way that a John or a George would not.

So, am I sharp, sexy, sophisticated, or even too cool? You be the judge of that. Oh and on a side note, I have twelve of Zane Grey’s western novels. Now, if that isn’t too cool I don’t know what is.

Read the Story

Car Buying Consultant

Zane — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 18:08:47 +0000

So far this year I have helped negotiate three different car deals. First it was for Winkler’s on their 2004 Jeep Liberty Columbia Edition with an MSRP of $23,500 on May 28th, Labor Day weekend. Next it was for Sean on his 2004 Acura TL with an MSRP of $35,500 on July 5th, Four of July weekend. And finally, it was for Jennifer’s 2004 Honda Accord Coupe with an MSRP of $21,000 this past weekend.

I won’t say what any of the final deals were, but I will say that they got extremely good deals. I think I may be on to something here! As a car-buying consultant I will set up a test drive, negotiate a great deal, handle your trade and even take care of financing and insurance. It’s like having a personal car buyer, without hassle. Well, expect of course to sign the papers. So, if you would like to use my services please let me know.

Negotiation

Zane — Wed, 15 Sep 2004 19:43:29 +0000

This past weekend we took Jenn’s car in to have some noises checked out and got an estimate of $2100 to fix the ‘Super Saturn.’ Jenn, her parent, and I decided that the money could be better spent towards a down payment on a new car. So, Jenn and I spent all Saturday afternoon looking a new cars. Her list includes: 2005 Nissan Altima S, 2004/05 Toyota Camry Solara SE, 2005 Subaru Legacy 2.5i, and the 2005 Scion tC. Right now she has it narrowed down to the 2004/05 Toyota Camry Solara and the 05 Nissan Altima S. Which one will she get? Well, it will boil down to which car we can get the best deal on. So, tonight Jenn and I are going back to the Toyota dealer to see what kind of deal we can work out on the Solara. Her parents are long time customers, having bought 6 new cars from this dealer, so we’re hoping that we can use that as leverage. I guess we’ll see, wish us luck!

Three Year Anniversary

Zane — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 15:36:10 +0000

Never for get 9-11-01!

Satellite Radio

Zane — Mon, 30 Aug 2004 19:26:30 +0000

I would love to add satellite radio, either XM or Sirius, to my 03 Maxima. However, I have items that need to be addressed before the suggestions start rolling in. First off, I don’t want to get rid of the BOSE system, but I would like to operate the unit with the factory headunit. The last thing I need is another display in/on the dash. Secondly, I would be open to a solution that has an input for another device such as my iPod. So, if you have any solutions please leave a comment. Oh, and one more thing, trading or selling the Maxima is not an option! Thanks.

ColorWhore

Zane — Fri, 27 Aug 2004 17:43:08 +0000

Today, during my lunch break, I stumbled onto a great tool that I’m sure most web developers will find extremely useful when trying to decide on a color scheme for their website. It is called ColorWhore. So, if you’re a web designer or a graphics junkie it is definitely worth checking out. Enjoy!

Oh, by the way does anyone have any sugguestion for a new color scheme for my site? I was thinking a dark blue with gray.

iPod Dock Arrival

Zane — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 14:24:49 +0000

This morning I got my iPod Dock, thanks to my brother, Seth. This will be a nice little addition for my iPod, now it can sit upright on the desk rather than laying down. Another nice thing about it is that it came with two covers, one for the 20G and the other for the 40G; and it has a line-in for external speakers. However, I probably won’t using this option too often, I will probably get the Altec Lansing inMotion Portable iPod Speakers instead. Now I can’t wait to get it home and hook it up and check it out. Thanks again Seth!

Books Arrive

Zane — Wed, 25 Aug 2004 15:43:31 +0000

Yesterday, shortly after I got home from work, the UPS man shows up at the door with my recent Amazon.com order. It contained my two books on CSS. I flipped through them both and then started reading and working through the examples in ‘Web Standards Solutions: The Markup and Style Handbook.’ I must say that this book is formatted perfectly with quizes, pictures, and the proper code needed to create the examples. I can hardly wait to get home tonight to continue my Quest For Usability.

So, what can you as the user expect out of this? Well, after I’ve read through both books, understand the material, and worked the examples in each; a redesign will be implemented. The redesign, version 3, will be a table-less layout and depend on CSS to provide the positioning for everything on the site. Ultimately, this will support many different devices and browsers, and will enhance the user’s experience.

Quest For Usability

Zane — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 16:48:03 +0000

With Web Standards becoming more and more popular (ie. SprintPCS, The 86th PGA Championship, San Francisco Examiner ), I’ve decided that it was time for me to pursue my “Quest For Usability.” To achieve this quest, I’ve ordered two new books to further enlighten me on CSS. Up until now, I’ve mostly used CSS for font declaration (family, color, size, alignment, etc.) and have just recently read/learned about its hidden powers of a fully coded CSS website.

Here are the books I’ve ordered from Amazon for my pursuit:

Boxed In

Zane — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 13:25:43 +0000

I realized recently that nearly every time I need to drop outgoing mail into a blue metal US Postal Service mailbox, I hesitate uncomfortably for a second or two. I inspect my mail, doublechecking return addresses, the adhesive on the stamps and envelope. There’s something a bit intimidating about the finality of US mail, in contrast to nearly all other routine dealings I have with objects in the real world. Most of the time when I put something somewhere, I can take it back if I want, I can pick it up again. But mail is final; with mailboxes, it’s like I’m dropping a ring into Mount Doom.

I suppose part of the reason it’s a big deal is that I only use snail mail for important stuff these days, like big checks and letters home. But it’s funny that over the web, transactions and communication rarely seem so final. If I pay a bill online, PayPal someone, or order from Amazon, I can usually take it back easily. I can edit or remove blog posts that don’t come out right. Clicking the SEND button makes email final… but I never feel that same hesitation. It’s like… staring at a bright screen full of 1s and 0s just doesn’t drum up the same emotional reactions as that BLUE METAL BOX OF NO MAIL RETURN. I am a creature built for physical space.