House hunting
We saw some houses yesterday. I was tired after getting off work at
six. That is a pretty good time to look at houses, because you know you
are not going to fall in love with anything. One had no electricity. I
know it can just be turned back on, but it made the house feel like
there was something wrong. It also had waisted space. There was a
convergence of two hallways that nearly took up enough space to be
another room. Most builders consider hallways a waist of space. The
designer of this one must have had a hall fetish. It had a funny
wet-bar island right in the middle of the living room. There was a ton
of space, but it was inefficient.
Another house was small. When I walked in the front door I banged my
nose into the back door. There was no dining room or breakfast area.
The kitchen had an island that was out away from everything else. Even
if you took out the island you would not have enough room for a table.
A third house was nice except for this seventies paneling. The garage
smelled like a combination of dead skunk and mildew. I think they all
needed new carpet and paint.
We missed the one house Nat and I both loved from the get-go. I
was settling in on a house I originally nixed. I didn't like the
colors, but we would have had to paint anyway. The one thing I'm going
to remember that house is the poor dalmatian that was locked up in the
back yard while we toured. It looked scared and sick. Turns out the
house has an offer on it anyway.
2006-03-30
2006-03-28
Smurf Name
This one is really stupid. Of course, I'm sucked in.
|
|||||||||||||||
2006-03-27
House
We here tonight whether or not we get a house. Hopefully, it is not on an ancient burial ground, or once owned by the master of time, or infested with Archturian Albino Brain Chiggers, or it slides to one side when the aliens want to take off, or ... termites, no termites, or anything along those lines.
2006-03-26
Houses
We went and looked at four houses today.
One stunk like tobacco.
One stunk like paint.
One reeked of a mistreated dog.
One was just right.
The one that was just right was of course being looked at by other people. So they say anyway. I wonder if it it is bullshit to get a higher price for the house. It is a nice place in a good location. I'm not sure what the schools are like. I have some friends who live nearby. I just put together the last bit of some paperwork that I'm going to need for the loan. I figure the payments are going to be very high for us. I hope we can make ends meet over the long haul. If we don't get this house, we will end up spending about that amount. It looks like that is the going rate around here. I cannot imagine how people do it in California and New York. I hear Hong Kong is outrageous too. Montana has some sweet deals. Don't go looking for a cup of coffee at three in the morning.
I'm amazingly stressed over this.I suppose that is a good thing. It is all the what if(s) and what about(s) that are eating me alive.
We went and looked at four houses today.
One stunk like tobacco.
One stunk like paint.
One reeked of a mistreated dog.
One was just right.
The one that was just right was of course being looked at by other people. So they say anyway. I wonder if it it is bullshit to get a higher price for the house. It is a nice place in a good location. I'm not sure what the schools are like. I have some friends who live nearby. I just put together the last bit of some paperwork that I'm going to need for the loan. I figure the payments are going to be very high for us. I hope we can make ends meet over the long haul. If we don't get this house, we will end up spending about that amount. It looks like that is the going rate around here. I cannot imagine how people do it in California and New York. I hear Hong Kong is outrageous too. Montana has some sweet deals. Don't go looking for a cup of coffee at three in the morning.
I'm amazingly stressed over this.I suppose that is a good thing. It is all the what if(s) and what about(s) that are eating me alive.
2006-03-25
Taxes
So, I'm filling in the first bits of tax information on a web page called TaxAct. This question pops up "Wass Elle permanently disabled at any time during 2005?' I'm like NO!!!! I nearly cried. Funny, It didn't hurt at all when I clicked the "Kelly is blind" deduction.
They have a Hurricane Katrina and other disasters section this year.
Lets see,
* I changed from CDI to Kelly last year. (contract companies at my old employer)
* I had a partnership.
* Got married.
* Gained a cute little deduc.. er... daughter. =]
* Bought a car.
OK, that was a chore. I hate it because I feel like I missed something. I always feel like that with taxes.
We are off to lunch. I wish all many good tax returns.
So, I'm filling in the first bits of tax information on a web page called TaxAct. This question pops up "Wass Elle permanently disabled at any time during 2005?' I'm like NO!!!! I nearly cried. Funny, It didn't hurt at all when I clicked the "Kelly is blind" deduction.
They have a Hurricane Katrina and other disasters section this year.
Lets see,
* I changed from CDI to Kelly last year. (contract companies at my old employer)
* I had a partnership.
* Got married.
* Gained a cute little deduc.. er... daughter. =]
* Bought a car.
OK, that was a chore. I hate it because I feel like I missed something. I always feel like that with taxes.
We are off to lunch. I wish all many good tax returns.
Day
I worked all day. I came home. I have to start taxes tomorrow. We are looking at houses Sunday. When the hell did I grow up? It isn't a line you cross. it is a realization you stumble across far too late. It is like the guy in the movie who mouth's off that polar bears are chumps only to realize all his friends have this silent look of terror on their faces and are standing very, very still, as though in anticipation of something tragic that is about to happen that no one can stop.
Movie
Nat and I went to the show. We saw Failure to Launch. It was pretty funny. Sarah Jessica Parker is like 4' 11" or so. I don't know exactly, but she is short. Hey, Nat is 4' 11". It is one of my favorite heights. This Matthew McConaughey guy looks six foot pluss. I noticed some scenes where they plaid some tricks to hide the hight difference. Notice when they are both in the shot together, that they are rarely on the same level. It would look too much like Matt was talking to a child.
Rat
The rat is going away. We are looking for a new home for it. The rat bit Elle. The rat goes.
Cat
The cat is a conundrum. Nat had to fight to get the cat. The cat is peeing on everything in the house. A bunch of Elle's stuff is ruined. There are stains that will not come out of furniture. I'm not going into the state of the carpet. The cat won't change it's spots when we movie into a new house. Nat might be angry enough to get rid of him. We will probably get an outside dog if we have a back yard.
I worked all day. I came home. I have to start taxes tomorrow. We are looking at houses Sunday. When the hell did I grow up? It isn't a line you cross. it is a realization you stumble across far too late. It is like the guy in the movie who mouth's off that polar bears are chumps only to realize all his friends have this silent look of terror on their faces and are standing very, very still, as though in anticipation of something tragic that is about to happen that no one can stop.
Movie
Nat and I went to the show. We saw Failure to Launch. It was pretty funny. Sarah Jessica Parker is like 4' 11" or so. I don't know exactly, but she is short. Hey, Nat is 4' 11". It is one of my favorite heights. This Matthew McConaughey guy looks six foot pluss. I noticed some scenes where they plaid some tricks to hide the hight difference. Notice when they are both in the shot together, that they are rarely on the same level. It would look too much like Matt was talking to a child.
Rat
The rat is going away. We are looking for a new home for it. The rat bit Elle. The rat goes.
Cat
The cat is a conundrum. Nat had to fight to get the cat. The cat is peeing on everything in the house. A bunch of Elle's stuff is ruined. There are stains that will not come out of furniture. I'm not going into the state of the carpet. The cat won't change it's spots when we movie into a new house. Nat might be angry enough to get rid of him. We will probably get an outside dog if we have a back yard.
2006-03-23
I finally got the last piece of paper work I was waiting for to do
taxes. Now, I just need the motivation. We are looking at houses. We
have gone through some motions so far. I need to get my W-2 from 2004
and some pay stubs together. Again, I just don't have the energy.
I got off work today and just wanted to die. I got something fixed today that was one of those goofy bugs that make no sense. It was pure fortitude that found the answer. I'm about to fall over. I tried bringing up the news feed software and I just wanted to cry. I want to read some blogs, I just don't have the energy. I want to curl up in a ball and sleep for a decade. That attitude won't get the right house for us. It won't get the taxes done.
Hey, I changed the cat box. That counts, right?
I got off work today and just wanted to die. I got something fixed today that was one of those goofy bugs that make no sense. It was pure fortitude that found the answer. I'm about to fall over. I tried bringing up the news feed software and I just wanted to cry. I want to read some blogs, I just don't have the energy. I want to curl up in a ball and sleep for a decade. That attitude won't get the right house for us. It won't get the taxes done.
Hey, I changed the cat box. That counts, right?
2006-03-22
Speed
It boggles the mind. How can computers be that fast? The line below does several steps.
* removes an existing output file.
* It tells the difference between tow text files. This alone is amazing because one file is 15000 lines and the other is 25000 lines. That would take me a lifetime.
* the difference report is then fed into a command to only give the lines that start with "> " greater than and a space. Then, the sed command strips the "> " off the output. This way, I only get the delta. the output file is 8000 lines or so long.
How long does it take to do it? If I tap the enter key, it's done before I can let it up again.
rm diff2.txt && diff out_before.txt out_after.txt | egrep '^>\ ' | sed '-e s%> %%g' > diff2.txt
It boggles the mind. How can computers be that fast? The line below does several steps.
* removes an existing output file.
* It tells the difference between tow text files. This alone is amazing because one file is 15000 lines and the other is 25000 lines. That would take me a lifetime.
* the difference report is then fed into a command to only give the lines that start with "> " greater than and a space. Then, the sed command strips the "> " off the output. This way, I only get the delta. the output file is 8000 lines or so long.
How long does it take to do it? If I tap the enter key, it's done before I can let it up again.
rm diff2.txt && diff out_before.txt out_after.txt | egrep '^>\ ' | sed '-e s%> %%g' > diff2.txt
Speed
It boggles the mind. How can computers be that fast? The line below does several steps.
* removes an existing output file.
* It tells the difference between tow text files. This alone is amazing because one file is 15000 lines and the other is 25000 lines. That would take me a lifetime.
* the difference report is then fed into a command to only give the lines that start with "> " greater than and a space. Then, the sed command strips the "> " off the output. This way, I only get the delta. the output file is 8000 lines or so long.
How long does it take to do it? If I tap the enter key, it's done before I can let it up again.
rm diff2.txt && diff out_before.txt out_after.txt | egrep '^>\ ' | sed '-e s%> %%g' > diff2.txt
It boggles the mind. How can computers be that fast? The line below does several steps.
* removes an existing output file.
* It tells the difference between tow text files. This alone is amazing because one file is 15000 lines and the other is 25000 lines. That would take me a lifetime.
* the difference report is then fed into a command to only give the lines that start with "> " greater than and a space. Then, the sed command strips the "> " off the output. This way, I only get the delta. the output file is 8000 lines or so long.
How long does it take to do it? If I tap the enter key, it's done before I can let it up again.
rm diff2.txt && diff out_before.txt out_after.txt | egrep '^>\ ' | sed '-e s%> %%g' > diff2.txt
2006-03-20
Kilt
I have to get my kilt dry cleaned. I feel kind of funny about it. Not only do I never dry clean anything, but this is something weird. I'm sure any dry cleaner worth their salt has seen dozens of kilts. They seem more and more popular these days. it just feels strange.
Command Line vs GUI
I'm noticing some of the problems I've always had with computers boil down to the computer trying to do things for me. The other day I did something stupid at work. I moved some files instead of copying them. This is easy enough to do in the GUI. If you drag and drop files from one window into another, and they both point to the same drive, the computer assumes you want to move them instead of copy them. Well, that has bitten me in the butt before. Fortunately, I just happened to bump into the person in the hall as they were looking for the person in charge of those files. We were able to rectify the mishap. I still feel stupid. If I had done the copy in the command line, none of this would have happened.
I liken the difference between using the GUI and command line to the difference between turning a key, and turning a wrench.
Note
Elle just learned to turn the channel with the remote control. The world will never be the same.
V for Vendetta
Saw it. I liked it. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It was a good plot that was nothing like the comic novels. The character development was way over the top. I hated it when I knew exactly what was going on at the first instant. I wish I had been fooled. I have a hard time with predictable movies. At least someone liked it.
I have to get my kilt dry cleaned. I feel kind of funny about it. Not only do I never dry clean anything, but this is something weird. I'm sure any dry cleaner worth their salt has seen dozens of kilts. They seem more and more popular these days. it just feels strange.
Command Line vs GUI
I'm noticing some of the problems I've always had with computers boil down to the computer trying to do things for me. The other day I did something stupid at work. I moved some files instead of copying them. This is easy enough to do in the GUI. If you drag and drop files from one window into another, and they both point to the same drive, the computer assumes you want to move them instead of copy them. Well, that has bitten me in the butt before. Fortunately, I just happened to bump into the person in the hall as they were looking for the person in charge of those files. We were able to rectify the mishap. I still feel stupid. If I had done the copy in the command line, none of this would have happened.
I liken the difference between using the GUI and command line to the difference between turning a key, and turning a wrench.
Note
Elle just learned to turn the channel with the remote control. The world will never be the same.
V for Vendetta
Saw it. I liked it. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It was a good plot that was nothing like the comic novels. The character development was way over the top. I hated it when I knew exactly what was going on at the first instant. I wish I had been fooled. I have a hard time with predictable movies. At least someone liked it.
2006-03-18
Wedding Pictures
Bryan got his wedding pictures to me. He did a great job. He made a nice medley picture, but it would not go through the JAlbum program. Java kept complaining that it was out of memory. Piece of junk. I'm really starting to dislike Linux. If Nautilus (the GUI file interface) isn't crashing, it is X (the windows part) or JAlbum that's going down. You know it seems like things I do through the interface crash a lot. Most everything that I run through the command prompt works without flaw. I may get errors, but it is for a reason. Not just flopping down and having a fit because I asked it to do its job.
Bryan got his wedding pictures to me. He did a great job. He made a nice medley picture, but it would not go through the JAlbum program. Java kept complaining that it was out of memory. Piece of junk. I'm really starting to dislike Linux. If Nautilus (the GUI file interface) isn't crashing, it is X (the windows part) or JAlbum that's going down. You know it seems like things I do through the interface crash a lot. Most everything that I run through the command prompt works without flaw. I may get errors, but it is for a reason. Not just flopping down and having a fit because I asked it to do its job.
Pictures
I've put the pictures up from last night. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.
The last two pictures are of a lovely woman who had many tattoos. I have no idea who she is, but here is her myspace link.
We should celebrate having a good time more often. That is what St. Patrick's day is all about these days, right?
I've put the pictures up from last night. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.
The last two pictures are of a lovely woman who had many tattoos. I have no idea who she is, but here is her myspace link.
We should celebrate having a good time more often. That is what St. Patrick's day is all about these days, right?
Evening with Friends
When You have had a long challenging week at toil.
Then you go out and play hard on Friday night just because you can.
It was one of those evenings with friends.
The drinks flowed freely. The people were friendly. No one got hurt. No one drove under the influence (on Nat's watch anyway). Yesterday was St. Patric's day. I had one of those days mentioned above. I have been working on learning something new all week. It is a tough process. When I was done it turns out, as usual, it was much easier than I was making it out. At my old job, I felt like an idiot some of the time and like a genius most of the time. At this new job, I feel like a child in the woods, following the signs of the land to salvation. It is wonderful. I'm challenged. I am a bit afraid. I'm trying. I'm learning. I'm living.
Natalie said something that nearly brought tears to my eyes last night. She said to the group "Now I understand why Kelly has been hanging out with you guys all these years." She had a good time too.
I'll try to get the pictures up today. We have a sort of lunch date. Nat and I ran into some old work people. The thing is, none of them still work at the old company. That place is hemorrhaging people. I've heard that the new policy is to run off lower management and design related people and outsource all the work. I've heard some of the complaints from those lower people and I can believe it. I think they want to get rid of engineering and just send all the work overseas. Upper management just doesn't have the balls to pay people off and pull the trigger. It is shameful really. I'm glad I left. I found out I was scheduled for a raise. Bastards. They waited far too long.
A buddy gave me some new wedding pictures. I'll try to post them along with the party pictures from last night. Nat took some too, I'll post her link too if I can.
When You have had a long challenging week at toil.
Then you go out and play hard on Friday night just because you can.
It was one of those evenings with friends.
The drinks flowed freely. The people were friendly. No one got hurt. No one drove under the influence (on Nat's watch anyway). Yesterday was St. Patric's day. I had one of those days mentioned above. I have been working on learning something new all week. It is a tough process. When I was done it turns out, as usual, it was much easier than I was making it out. At my old job, I felt like an idiot some of the time and like a genius most of the time. At this new job, I feel like a child in the woods, following the signs of the land to salvation. It is wonderful. I'm challenged. I am a bit afraid. I'm trying. I'm learning. I'm living.
Natalie said something that nearly brought tears to my eyes last night. She said to the group "Now I understand why Kelly has been hanging out with you guys all these years." She had a good time too.
I'll try to get the pictures up today. We have a sort of lunch date. Nat and I ran into some old work people. The thing is, none of them still work at the old company. That place is hemorrhaging people. I've heard that the new policy is to run off lower management and design related people and outsource all the work. I've heard some of the complaints from those lower people and I can believe it. I think they want to get rid of engineering and just send all the work overseas. Upper management just doesn't have the balls to pay people off and pull the trigger. It is shameful really. I'm glad I left. I found out I was scheduled for a raise. Bastards. They waited far too long.
A buddy gave me some new wedding pictures. I'll try to post them along with the party pictures from last night. Nat took some too, I'll post her link too if I can.
2006-03-16
Lost words
I found the little note I wrote Tuesday. Here it is.
Packaging
RPM sucks. I have been packaging on the Windows system for years. Let me tell you, it is much easier than the Linux system. Well, the Linux systems. There are about a dozen ways to install software on a Linux box, not including compiling and running it by hand.
Commute
On my way in to work today I met a young woman at the bus stop. Actually, we have run into each other several times. Today I asked her what the date was and she said Tuesday the 15. I'm like "it can't be Tuesday." She insisted it was. There was no way to tell. I tried to compute the date based on memories of the past couple of says, but I came up blank. It wasn't until I got into work and checked the date on my computer that I was able to tell it is indeed Wednesday the 15th. She had me going though. I wonder if she did it deliberately to have a laugh. I bet she was just as confused as I normally am. That is why I had to ask after all. That's OK. I didn't have 35 cents for pop-tarts this morning. As I walked in for the elevator, some ladies were handing out donuts to the masses. I think they were angles in disguise.
I found the little note I wrote Tuesday. Here it is.
Packaging
RPM sucks. I have been packaging on the Windows system for years. Let me tell you, it is much easier than the Linux system. Well, the Linux systems. There are about a dozen ways to install software on a Linux box, not including compiling and running it by hand.
Commute
On my way in to work today I met a young woman at the bus stop. Actually, we have run into each other several times. Today I asked her what the date was and she said Tuesday the 15. I'm like "it can't be Tuesday." She insisted it was. There was no way to tell. I tried to compute the date based on memories of the past couple of says, but I came up blank. It wasn't until I got into work and checked the date on my computer that I was able to tell it is indeed Wednesday the 15th. She had me going though. I wonder if she did it deliberately to have a laugh. I bet she was just as confused as I normally am. That is why I had to ask after all. That's OK. I didn't have 35 cents for pop-tarts this morning. As I walked in for the elevator, some ladies were handing out donuts to the masses. I think they were angles in disguise.
2006-03-15
RPM
It has been a long day. I'm coming to the conclusion that Windows is worth $110. InstallShield is worth a fortune too. I just fought with RPM for an entire day and RPM won. I'm so tired I could just pass out as I'm typing.
I had some notes about more to wright, but I left them at work. I'll put them in tomorrow. Now, it is off to enjoy some time with my family.
It has been a long day. I'm coming to the conclusion that Windows is worth $110. InstallShield is worth a fortune too. I just fought with RPM for an entire day and RPM won. I'm so tired I could just pass out as I'm typing.
I had some notes about more to wright, but I left them at work. I'll put them in tomorrow. Now, it is off to enjoy some time with my family.
2006-03-14
Day
Let's see, I need to do taxes. We are looking at buying a house. The job is highly challenging. Nat and I are highly opinionated individuals who are both used to living our our own. That sounds like life.
I only just got MPlayer to work on the new box. Well, I got the command line version to work. The GUI version needs so frigging many libraries that it isn't worth it. It plays most things I throw at it though. I have to say that Linux is not ready for the desktop. It takes entirely too much effort to make things work. Even the most basic stuff takes ages just to configure. I cannot imagine having to compile things on a Windows box. aaargh. What is a geek to do?
We drove by another house today. It is cool looking in the neighborhoods and going online to get the details. There really are houses out there in our price range that don't suck that bad. I'm looking forward to moving for a change.
I have not been able to catch up with the news in several weeks. I haven't even been able to catch Dilbert or User Friendly. I'm having withdrawal. I'm learning tons at work and at home too. The log is suffering a bit. I don't know when or if I'll ever be able to get back to a schedule like I had before. Who knows. Things change. I like having a log though. There are some more wedding pictures coming soon. I have to get the proper software installed to make the web pages. Wish me luck.
Let's see, I need to do taxes. We are looking at buying a house. The job is highly challenging. Nat and I are highly opinionated individuals who are both used to living our our own. That sounds like life.
I only just got MPlayer to work on the new box. Well, I got the command line version to work. The GUI version needs so frigging many libraries that it isn't worth it. It plays most things I throw at it though. I have to say that Linux is not ready for the desktop. It takes entirely too much effort to make things work. Even the most basic stuff takes ages just to configure. I cannot imagine having to compile things on a Windows box. aaargh. What is a geek to do?
We drove by another house today. It is cool looking in the neighborhoods and going online to get the details. There really are houses out there in our price range that don't suck that bad. I'm looking forward to moving for a change.
I have not been able to catch up with the news in several weeks. I haven't even been able to catch Dilbert or User Friendly. I'm having withdrawal. I'm learning tons at work and at home too. The log is suffering a bit. I don't know when or if I'll ever be able to get back to a schedule like I had before. Who knows. Things change. I like having a log though. There are some more wedding pictures coming soon. I have to get the proper software installed to make the web pages. Wish me luck.
2006-03-13
Nat and I went to see Ultraviolet
Friday evening. I liked it. There were about five scenes where she
takes on ten guys armed with machine guns and kills them all with her
sword in like three seconds. It was quite cool. I have no idea how true
to the comics/graphic novels the story is. I don't really care. I don't
have the time to read the novels and absorb them. I know they are deep
and I would want to follow them to their depth.
DnD
What a great session of DnD. I had a blast. Nat came over and hung out with us for quite a bit of it. I don't know if she had fun or not, but I'm glad she went. Maybe I can get her interested in playing.
I believe we had two major encounters. One was in a village full of these little frog creatures. Hey, they started it. We were trying to pass through and the wake from one of our canoes toppled a mud hovel and they attacked. It was 45 to 6. We did pretty well. If there were sixty of them, I think we would have done much worse.
The second battle was against a bunch of lizard creatures who were steeling babies from a local village. How evil is that? There was an interesting twist to the whole steeling babies part of the plot that ends up with us choosing to not save the babies.
Ethan and Alexis got into a fist fight over dice. Their mom came over later and they both said "you missed the show." Their mom didn't miss a beat. "Was there a big fight." We all fell out of our chairs. Jut before that Susan's little boy and girl (two and three) were at each other's throats. It was a reoccurring theme.
Fedora Core 4
I got Fedora Core 4 installed yesterday. It like it. It is roughly the version we use at work. I'm getting things to work one at a time, just like Ubuntu. I'm writing this entry on it. I'm using the hard drive that had my Windows installation. That is gone now. I only booted it up once to get some data and that was about it. goodbye and good riddance. I'm down to my last Windows installation and that one will go away as soon as I can get eMule and a client for dynDNS.org to work in Linux.
House Hunting
Nat and I got in touch with a friend of ours who is a real estate agent. She has graciously offered to guide us through the home purchase process. Hopefully we can talk with her this evening. I'm sure I'll have more questions after we speak. That is normal in a complex process like this.
DnD
What a great session of DnD. I had a blast. Nat came over and hung out with us for quite a bit of it. I don't know if she had fun or not, but I'm glad she went. Maybe I can get her interested in playing.
I believe we had two major encounters. One was in a village full of these little frog creatures. Hey, they started it. We were trying to pass through and the wake from one of our canoes toppled a mud hovel and they attacked. It was 45 to 6. We did pretty well. If there were sixty of them, I think we would have done much worse.
The second battle was against a bunch of lizard creatures who were steeling babies from a local village. How evil is that? There was an interesting twist to the whole steeling babies part of the plot that ends up with us choosing to not save the babies.
Ethan and Alexis got into a fist fight over dice. Their mom came over later and they both said "you missed the show." Their mom didn't miss a beat. "Was there a big fight." We all fell out of our chairs. Jut before that Susan's little boy and girl (two and three) were at each other's throats. It was a reoccurring theme.
Fedora Core 4
I got Fedora Core 4 installed yesterday. It like it. It is roughly the version we use at work. I'm getting things to work one at a time, just like Ubuntu. I'm writing this entry on it. I'm using the hard drive that had my Windows installation. That is gone now. I only booted it up once to get some data and that was about it. goodbye and good riddance. I'm down to my last Windows installation and that one will go away as soon as I can get eMule and a client for dynDNS.org to work in Linux.
House Hunting
Nat and I got in touch with a friend of ours who is a real estate agent. She has graciously offered to guide us through the home purchase process. Hopefully we can talk with her this evening. I'm sure I'll have more questions after we speak. That is normal in a complex process like this.
2006-03-09
DnD
DnD is this weekend. It has been a long while. I've been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks. I have no idea if there is much homework. I don't know if I can find my old characters or books. We have moved a bunch of stuff around.
I would live blog it for my readers, but I just don't think you guys are that interested.
I've been tasked with figuring out what form of TCL exists on a specific distribution of RedHat Linux. I've torn the web page apart. They only say that TCL is included. I'm going to have to bring the Distro home and install it to find out the version and location. Nat isn't going to like that one. I'll get up early Saturday morning and do it before DnD. That is the only time I will probably have.
DnD is this weekend. It has been a long while. I've been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks. I have no idea if there is much homework. I don't know if I can find my old characters or books. We have moved a bunch of stuff around.
I would live blog it for my readers, but I just don't think you guys are that interested.
I've been tasked with figuring out what form of TCL exists on a specific distribution of RedHat Linux. I've torn the web page apart. They only say that TCL is included. I'm going to have to bring the Distro home and install it to find out the version and location. Nat isn't going to like that one. I'll get up early Saturday morning and do it before DnD. That is the only time I will probably have.
2006-03-08
Hell and Boots
When I was a kid I remember one of the turning points in my life. I was four or five. We had a heater vent in the floor of the house right in front of the kitchen I believe. It was one of those things you warn your kids about. It was one of those things you know is going to cause trouble. I would jump over it like Indiana Jones to avoid the blast of hot air and heated metal grate. I was immortal at that age.
I remember one evening as I was about to jump over the grate on my way to the kitchen, someone said my name and I turned to look at them. I did not realize I had stopped right on the searing gate to hell. I yelped and cried. I remember vividly that I was more angry at doing something that stupid than the pain.
Of course my family leaped to my rescue. A bit later I just as vividly remember standing on that vent in my boots and thinking to myself "ha-ha .. fuck you gate to hell." or something to that effect. I am quite positive that this is the reason I insist on waring heavy boots to this day.
When I was a kid I remember one of the turning points in my life. I was four or five. We had a heater vent in the floor of the house right in front of the kitchen I believe. It was one of those things you warn your kids about. It was one of those things you know is going to cause trouble. I would jump over it like Indiana Jones to avoid the blast of hot air and heated metal grate. I was immortal at that age.
I remember one evening as I was about to jump over the grate on my way to the kitchen, someone said my name and I turned to look at them. I did not realize I had stopped right on the searing gate to hell. I yelped and cried. I remember vividly that I was more angry at doing something that stupid than the pain.
Of course my family leaped to my rescue. A bit later I just as vividly remember standing on that vent in my boots and thinking to myself "ha-ha .. fuck you gate to hell." or something to that effect. I am quite positive that this is the reason I insist on waring heavy boots to this day.
2006-03-07
Friends
Ryman, my friend.
I have a friend named Ryman. He is in the hospital right now. He is a diabetic and has some other medical problems that mostly stem from there. Right now he has some internal bleeding and needs blood downers. They have to find the source of the bleeding or he will most likely die. Either way, I will probably go down and donate in his name. It will help with his family's expenses at the least.
Ryman has been there for me when I needed a ride. We have hung out and shot the shit for no reason. I bought him a pare of glasses once when he needed them. He has been there for me.
Another Friend
Last night Nat and I headed out to a friend's place to help her pack up and move. Well, she was going to her mother's place for a while. It seems her and her husband are having difficulties. While there, and while writing this, I want to exorcise a great deal of political correctness. That is what one does around friends and their lives isn't it? I'm not going to take sides. I know our friend and I do not know her husband very well. They are good people. I wish them both well.
Friends are worth having. Friends are worth helping.
Ryman, my friend.
I have a friend named Ryman. He is in the hospital right now. He is a diabetic and has some other medical problems that mostly stem from there. Right now he has some internal bleeding and needs blood downers. They have to find the source of the bleeding or he will most likely die. Either way, I will probably go down and donate in his name. It will help with his family's expenses at the least.
Ryman has been there for me when I needed a ride. We have hung out and shot the shit for no reason. I bought him a pare of glasses once when he needed them. He has been there for me.
Another Friend
Last night Nat and I headed out to a friend's place to help her pack up and move. Well, she was going to her mother's place for a while. It seems her and her husband are having difficulties. While there, and while writing this, I want to exorcise a great deal of political correctness. That is what one does around friends and their lives isn't it? I'm not going to take sides. I know our friend and I do not know her husband very well. They are good people. I wish them both well.
Friends are worth having. Friends are worth helping.
2006-03-05
House Hunting
I figure we might qualify for $150,000 loan with room to survive. Every house we just looked at in this area was just under a quarter of a million dollars. They are beautiful homes. We will not be able to afford them. Nat would love to live out in the country. Well, that's great. I would love to live out somewhere too. I cannot drive. Nat will not be able to drive me sometimes. I need to live near the bus lines. Those neighborhoods are usually pretty shitty. So, we need to find a good house in a good neighborhood near the bus routs that is about $150,000 or so. That is a tall order in West Houston. If only I could get away from the bus lines. Metro Lift is not a viable or reliable option. It is just not good enough.
There are millions of apartments. There are probably town homes and junk like that. I want a house. The only sure investment is a tombstone. The next best thing is a middle class house in a good neighborhood that stays good.
Nat is out right now looking at more houses. She has a bunch of energy for the moment. I bet both our levels will come and go. Wish us luck. Please leave advice in the comments.
I figure we might qualify for $150,000 loan with room to survive. Every house we just looked at in this area was just under a quarter of a million dollars. They are beautiful homes. We will not be able to afford them. Nat would love to live out in the country. Well, that's great. I would love to live out somewhere too. I cannot drive. Nat will not be able to drive me sometimes. I need to live near the bus lines. Those neighborhoods are usually pretty shitty. So, we need to find a good house in a good neighborhood near the bus routs that is about $150,000 or so. That is a tall order in West Houston. If only I could get away from the bus lines. Metro Lift is not a viable or reliable option. It is just not good enough.
There are millions of apartments. There are probably town homes and junk like that. I want a house. The only sure investment is a tombstone. The next best thing is a middle class house in a good neighborhood that stays good.
Nat is out right now looking at more houses. She has a bunch of energy for the moment. I bet both our levels will come and go. Wish us luck. Please leave advice in the comments.
Day
Nat and I are looking at houses. I am so not ready for this. I'm terrified of getting ripped off and buying a money pit disaster. I have nightmares of buying a house next to a psycho or a molester or something. I am just as worried about having some trashy five thousand watt stereo guitar player (you know who you are) or, God forbid, a drummer. When we buy a house I want it to be for a long time investment in a place that is worth living. That isn't how it works.
We are off to eat lunch with some friends. Nat is getting ready. How long does it take her to get ready you ask. Well, it takes her ten minutes to get out of the car on occasion. (I love you honey.)
Nat and I are looking at houses. I am so not ready for this. I'm terrified of getting ripped off and buying a money pit disaster. I have nightmares of buying a house next to a psycho or a molester or something. I am just as worried about having some trashy five thousand watt stereo guitar player (you know who you are) or, God forbid, a drummer. When we buy a house I want it to be for a long time investment in a place that is worth living. That isn't how it works.
We are off to eat lunch with some friends. Nat is getting ready. How long does it take her to get ready you ask. Well, it takes her ten minutes to get out of the car on occasion. (I love you honey.)
2006-03-04
Magic
I think it all boiled down to the last question. Anyway, it pegged me.
I believe in God, but I'm not religious. I think things that happen
just happen. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to
bad people. It all boils down to perception. There is far more to do
with the price of stock regarding opinion than reality. Yes,
technologist, that is me. Sad, but true.
 You are a Technologist. You may not have any magic --but you either don't want or need it. Whether you are a spear-throwing Barbarian, an Imperial Mechanist or even a humble Tailor you build what you need, rely on your own strength and follow your own path. You are happy doing your own thing and thinking your own way. You are extremely self-reliant and have a hard time trusting others. Which Magical Order Are You In? brought to you by Quizilla |
Life is Like...
You know, you cannot say "life is like" anything because anything you try to put forth as an example is a subset of life and thus not a worthy comparison of the whole. Life is not like anything. Life is everything. All your experiences, every one you touch, anything you build or destroy or create, all these have affects.
Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. Well, if I walk over and kick the door jam with my bare foot, I'm going to break my toes. Looks like I know what I'll get there.
Life is like life, only not nearly as complicated. Life is like a complex system. Oh, wait, life is the basis for complex systems.
People say life is like something in order to remove some layer of pain to complexity. Generally, people say things like this to ease someone else's suffering.
There was a game on my old Palm pilot called Palm Life. It was a set of dots on the screen that interacted with each other based on some set of rules. They might flourish or they might all die out. It was mesmerizing. It was particularly fun because you could influence the life by touching the screen. If you touched a blank space, you created life. If you touched a dark space, you destroyed it. You could play God. There is a game called Sim-Island where you have villagers who warship you. I can't find a link. I remember a buddy who played it saying every now and then you had to make a disaster happen in order to keep the people a bit scared of you. Who needs God when things are going so well?
You know, you cannot say "life is like" anything because anything you try to put forth as an example is a subset of life and thus not a worthy comparison of the whole. Life is not like anything. Life is everything. All your experiences, every one you touch, anything you build or destroy or create, all these have affects.
Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. Well, if I walk over and kick the door jam with my bare foot, I'm going to break my toes. Looks like I know what I'll get there.
Life is like life, only not nearly as complicated. Life is like a complex system. Oh, wait, life is the basis for complex systems.
People say life is like something in order to remove some layer of pain to complexity. Generally, people say things like this to ease someone else's suffering.
There was a game on my old Palm pilot called Palm Life. It was a set of dots on the screen that interacted with each other based on some set of rules. They might flourish or they might all die out. It was mesmerizing. It was particularly fun because you could influence the life by touching the screen. If you touched a blank space, you created life. If you touched a dark space, you destroyed it. You could play God. There is a game called Sim-Island where you have villagers who warship you. I can't find a link. I remember a buddy who played it saying every now and then you had to make a disaster happen in order to keep the people a bit scared of you. Who needs God when things are going so well?
2006-03-02
Elle and our blogs
What is it going to be like when Elle reads my blog? I have some pretty interesting stuff in here. I've been at it since about the time she was born. If she reads it, she will know more about me than most people know abut their best friends. That thought is kind of creepy. I wonder if there is a convention on letting your children read your blog.
Text Message
I sent out a text message to some friends today that just said "nice day, what's up?' I got a tone of responses. I just got another while typing this.
Day
God, I'm tired. I've been doing cool stuff at work. It takes thought and effort. It is wonderful. I'm tired when I get home. It is kind of a good tired. Today I left the office at six. I had to stop and pick up diapers. I caught the last bus at seven over by the new CVS. I'm so domestic these days. No one has had any dinner. I'm too fucking tired to do anything about it.
I want to be creative. I would love to have some new pictures for you guys. It would be great if I could write some creative story or a poem or something. But, it just isn't going to happen tonight. Will some one please leave something creative in the comments.
Thanks.
What is it going to be like when Elle reads my blog? I have some pretty interesting stuff in here. I've been at it since about the time she was born. If she reads it, she will know more about me than most people know abut their best friends. That thought is kind of creepy. I wonder if there is a convention on letting your children read your blog.
Text Message
I sent out a text message to some friends today that just said "nice day, what's up?' I got a tone of responses. I just got another while typing this.
Day
God, I'm tired. I've been doing cool stuff at work. It takes thought and effort. It is wonderful. I'm tired when I get home. It is kind of a good tired. Today I left the office at six. I had to stop and pick up diapers. I caught the last bus at seven over by the new CVS. I'm so domestic these days. No one has had any dinner. I'm too fucking tired to do anything about it.
I want to be creative. I would love to have some new pictures for you guys. It would be great if I could write some creative story or a poem or something. But, it just isn't going to happen tonight. Will some one please leave something creative in the comments.
Thanks.
2006-03-01
Absent Minded Professor
I can tell when I'm multiprocessing. No, not multitasking, there is a difference. Multitasking is doing more than one thing at the same time. Multiprocessing is working out multiple questions in your head at the same time. When I get up from my chair and start to walk to another room to do something and I end up turning around three times in a space of three meters. Even though I've only been standing for five seconds, I have completely forgotten why I got up. It is a kind of absent minded professor syndrome. That is the old story of a college professor who walks out of his front door with his briefcase, lesson plan, lunch and no pants. I would say it is an early sign of dementia, but I've done it all my life. I think I've managed to do this action about twenty times today.
I can tell when I'm multiprocessing. No, not multitasking, there is a difference. Multitasking is doing more than one thing at the same time. Multiprocessing is working out multiple questions in your head at the same time. When I get up from my chair and start to walk to another room to do something and I end up turning around three times in a space of three meters. Even though I've only been standing for five seconds, I have completely forgotten why I got up. It is a kind of absent minded professor syndrome. That is the old story of a college professor who walks out of his front door with his briefcase, lesson plan, lunch and no pants. I would say it is an early sign of dementia, but I've done it all my life. I think I've managed to do this action about twenty times today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
