September 2004 Archives
So, after eight years of living in Windows-land, I am making the switch back to Macintosh. With the advent of Mac OS X, it's been more and more appealing, and watching just how easy Julie's computer experience has been has tempted me to the switch. The last straw, however, has been a number of recent factors:
1) The project I am working on for work is being built on a platform that runs best on macs (Web Objects), so I've been working on a Mac for this project for the last several months.
2) Viruses and hackers suck. They suck so bad that I have to purge my machine weekly of their insidious attacks, and that is with Norton Systemworks running. I know, Macs are only virus-free because there's less of them out there to be a target and to cross-infect, but you know what? That's just fine with me.
3) I have been on a drive towards simplification in my life, and having a single-OS household seems to me like a good step in the right direction.
4) Airport Express + my stereo + file server == no more need for CD's ever again.
So, here I am going back to the mothership, and it feels like home. I bought a really powerful laptop which is on its way to me now, and I will be looking for a new home for my old machine as soon as I can to maybe defray the costs. But, soon -- no more Windows. Goodbye Bill Gates! I'm back to the other side of town.
Okay, So the Star Wars Trilogy DVDs are released today...
Do I buy them, or do I just leave them on the shelf?
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/20/star.changes/index.html
Mutha made some silly changes, just to please himself. Not only does he feel compelled to make Han shoot first, but he's gotta switch out Hayden for Aniken at the end of Jedi, and he redubs Boba Fett's voice, and refilms the emporer in Empire. WHY?! Is he done this time? is there going to be some 50th anniversary re-edits?
1:04 PM -- Julie sent me this link:
http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/dorktower/
Yeah, I should buy them... Just in case the evil continues.
Tomorrow I head back in to work after being in Calgary all week long, and spending time with my family and friends this weekend. I am trying to get my notes and stuff in order so I can give a good report tomorrow to Michelle, my boss. I was so head-down in the work, I didn't really give her good updates. But, even though it is the case we didn't meet our dreamed-up goals, I feel we made major breakthroughs and have finally written the first actual code of the Pachyderm project. I have to pitch my case well, and get across the actual work we did, instead of just saying 'yeah, we got stuff done'. So, I'll be doing a little of that tonight if I can keep myself awake. Then, it's up early and in to work!
On personal news, today Eli went to the Exploratorium with his Aunt Brandi and Uncle Quinn, while his geeky parents stayed home and gamed with friends. Eli got home a little before we ended, so we let him sit in on the last part of the game. He was hilarious. He wanted to play, of course, so we gave him a lead figure and some dice, and he was there. I remembered the dice that his uncle Ron gave him when he was born, and pulled those out. He was totally excited to have HIS OWN DICE in HIS OWN DICEBAG. He's such a little gamer geek. :).
Today was my last day in Calgary (I fly out tomorrow), and I have to say this is the hardest working week I've had in a long time. I've worked from 8am to 10pm two nights this week, and the other days were full days as well. I've spent some really good working time with King and D'arcy, and I feel like I finally have my mind around the project we're working on. It's all Joshy-come-lately, but now I think we can proceed with confidence for the next month. I might be back in November, depending on how the work goes, and if my work wants to fund another trip out here. Now, I have to hit the sack so I can get up and make it to the airport by 9am for my 11am flight.
This is the end of day three in Calgary. King, D'arcy and I have been kicking some major butt, and yet we're not gonna make the expected mark of a full soup-to-nuts proof of technology we were supposed to have finished. Well, we've done the best we can to meet externally-set arbitrary deadlines :). One more full day of work tomorrow, and then I leave on Friday. Not much to say -- tired, and must sleep.
Well, here we are -- entry number 100. YAY!
So, I've discovered what it is about Calgary that's been getting me all nostalgic and feeling the love -- 80% of the architecture dates to the late sixties, when clean ugly functionalism was all the rage.
The trains here run every 5 minutes. I shit you not. And they are clean.
Today I spent all day long coding with my colleagues D'arcy and King -- they are amazingly cool and intelligent guys. I'm very thankful to be working with them. They are so very gracious, and easygoing and thoughtful. It's a pleasure, really.
Just got in at 10pm tonight, after spending 4 hours banging my head against a problem in our design. Finally, we had a breakthrough. Phew.
So, I'm tired -- going to bed. More chatter later.
I know that every West Coast Liberal probably has romantic notions of Canada, but in coming here I've been having a quiet exchange of love with this city, Calgary. There is a certain functional beauty that I recognized the moment I came off the plane into the airport - the decor is sparse and functional, clean and plain without pretense or elegance. The concrete and plain wood construction of much of the city is reminiscent of Europe or South America, with a few flourishes here and there, but nothing over the top. There is a serious lack of advertisements, and a feeling of down-home comfort. The retaining walls along the roads are simple, made with concrete and brick, beige and white in color, with just the slightest suggestion of ornamentation in the form of small 60's style squares set into some of the concrete panels. The hotel that I'm staying in is similar in it's brick and concrete construction, simple without being shabby, and the slight smell of antiseptic cleaning supplies in the hall.
Mind you, it is midnight and I have just landed, and I'm lacking proper sleep and sustenance, but even in this state, I am feeling something here that feels more honest than back in the states. It's as if I'm used to my country's need to dress up in ball gowns and make-up, anxious to hide its age and wickedness, afraid I might just see her for who she's become and leave her. In contrast, I feel as if this girl has come dressed in her work clothes, ready to start the day with an honest smile and ready to be loved for whom she is. I feel this girl's efficiency, and a declination to waste money on the unnecessary and the unimportant, her desire to spend her time and efforts on the things that matter most.
I'll see how each day brings me more information of Calgary, but for this evening, I'm suitably affected.
My 'September 11th' today was spent trying to bring my fallen mail server back onto its feet after I fudged it up while trying to do some stupid install of a gallery software package on my server... at 4am, which really is the lesson here. Don't do anything to a mission-critical server while you're tired at 4am. And don't do it without proper backups. I ended up screwing up permissions on a directory, and other such nonsense that I had to pay a premium to get consultants in to fix. It probably cost me $300 to fix that little mistake today. Oh well -- business write-off. At least there is the option of consultants. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I don't like to do Sys Ad work, and I'm not too fond of Web Design or Programming. I don't mind managing a business, as long as I have good staff to get the jobs done. I do have an entrepreneurial streak in me -- I just have to focus it. Things can get away from you pretty easily, and I have to get better at budgeting and finance -- or find a good person to do it for me :). I need that, and oh yeah, more clients. If anyone needs a decently-priced hosting operation, let me know. My server is severely underworked for its power.
So I'm off to Calgary tomorrow (later today), leave at 5pm and don't get back until Friday. I'm going for work, and hopefully I'll have something to show for the time I have to spend away from family and home. Lots of late night coding, I think -- just focus on the task at hand.
Crap, I haven't done morning pages in like 4 days either -- that's probably why this post is so long. Oh, another thing I did is add some plug-ins for Movable Type -- most I haven't experimented with yet, but the number one is MT-Blacklist, a spam filter/blocker for the comments. No more silly spammed comments for me! Whee!
Talk at you all tomorrow, I'm sure.
I haven't blogged in about a week -- not that anything noteworthy hasn't happened to me. I've just been preoccupied and have not felt like typing it all in. That is about to change back, starting with this silly no-info blog. It's 2:25AM and I've been up watching trash TV and adding stuff to my server. Fwee. Photo gallery program to follow soon.
So, today I stayed home and let the vermin exterminators come and set up their magic (sorry, I know I could have done the humane trap and release thing, but this was just more expedient, and there are plenty of rats to take the place of these ones. I have no problem with them in the wild, or elsewhere, but literally not in my backyard, please!) and while the guy was setting up stations, and spraying for spiders, etc. he found... a dead crow in my back yard. The crow had apparently died near our birdbath, and it looked as if maybe he had buried his head into the ground, which is a sign that they are sick. So, the exterminator told me that this could be West Nile, and I should call vector control. Of course, I had to find vector control (sounds like an api to a video card to me). So, I spent the greater part of 2 hours trying to track down VC, and getting disconnected numbers from the phone system (please hit a bunch of numbers, then we'll hang up on you!). Then, I called animal control (well, I called them first for the VC number, but then I called them back), and evidently 1) they don't handle WNV cases locally, 2) the bird has to be freshly dead (within 24 hours), 3) there are already six reported cases in Marin, so VC isn't going to test any new cases -- it's all in maintenance mode now. So... I had to just throw the bird away, and hope I don't have standing water around. I patrolled the perimeter and made sure anything tht might be holding water was tipped over. What a way to spend the morning and afternoon. Luckily, I did learn a bit more about WNV, such as you can't catch it from dead animals (only skeeters), and it has a smaller human fatality rate than the flu. But, it kills dem birds dead, so bird owners -- keep your screens closed.
You are Form 3, Unicorn: The Innocent.
"And The Unicorn knew she wasn't meant to
go into the Dark Wood. Disregarding the advice
given to her by the spirits, Unicorn went
inside and bled silver blood.. For her
misdeed, the world knew evil."
Some examples of the Unicorn Form are Eve
(Christian) and Pandora (Greek).
The Unicorn is associated with the concept of
innocence, the number 3, and the element of
water.
Her sign is the twilight sun.
As a member of Form 3, you are a curious
individual. You are drawn to new things and
become fascinated with ideas you've never come
in contact with before. Some people may say
you are too nosey, but it's only because you
like getting to the bottom of things and
solving them. Unicorns are the best friends to
have because they are inquisitive.
Which Mythological Form Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Lisa, I beat you to it!
Lisa and I just saw one of the worst movies ever, not necessarily because of its message, but because of its really bad writing and acting and... well yeah. Don't go see 'What the #*$*$! do we know' -- the answer is obviously... nothing.
Why does a deaf woman have an answering machine?...
and why was she able to hear it?
