First thing

Computer

Last night I kicked off my podcast download right before I went to bed. That is, I thought I did. What I did was kick off a query that goes out and finds what is available. It then pops up a dialog box with a list of things to download. Then the time consuming bit happens where the computer actually tries to download the data. This is a two step process that is ridiculous. It should be a one shot thing. Of course, I walked in this morning to sync my USB key to take the day's podcasts to work to keep me sane while people pummel me with tasks and to do bullets. What do I find? The second screen that basically says "Click next for me to do the only thing I'm designed to do." Idiots.

I use GPodder for some ungodly reason. It is the absolute lowest common denominator for pod catching software. It works, but you can tell the developers don't use their own product. Anyway, left without any podcasts to listen to today. It is music. For some reason, this just doesn't do it for me these days. I'm getting old I suppose.

This was not the only issue I noticed in the five minutes that I was hitting the computer this morning. My server hadn't done anything all night either. I have software running that kicks off and runs in the background. This is what servers are all about. Anyway, I noticed all the entries were set to 'paused'. I have a scheduling plugin for Deluge that is supposed to make life easier by letting Nat run during the time she needs the computer and kick off the Deluge software at specific times. This does not work for shit.

First, the scheduling plugin has a snazzy little interface that makes it pretty easy and intuitive for marking off blocks of time across a week. That part seems to at least work. Second, the meat of the program doesn't work. There are several bugs. There is some combination of actions that place all the entries in to the 'paused' status and prevent anything from downloading. Another issue is that even when nothing is downloading there is some network traffic going on between the server and the internet. It is looking for connections or receiving communications from the outside.

These issues are no big deal. I would rather thing be working at the house, but to be honest, I don't care that much. It is just a lousy way for an IT professional to start the morning.

Traffic

While putting my boots on, I had the local news playing in the background. This is the only TV input I still have in my life. I don't even watch TV shows on the TV any more. They start in with the weather and it sounds like it is going to be a pleasant day. At least I'll get to catch a glimpse of it through a tinted window. Then the traffic comes on. I'm generally not worried about the traffic. I walk and take the bus. Every day is a potential to get run down. Once on the bus, I generally don't care because the driver worries about it. As long as the buses are still running I'm happy.

This morning I hear about an accident smack in the middle of my commute. It is an auto pedestrian at Highway 6 and Westheimer. Actually, a block north on Highway 6. They said something about redirecting traffic through the mall parking lot. That sounded bad. I was thinking there must be an issue beyond a fender bender because of how much traffic was being diverted.

As I was walking in, sure enough, I heard life flight and saw a news chopper fly over my head a couple times. That is what was killing traffic. People were bailing on Westheimer and heading over to Richmond around the mall. I can't blame them. One guy flipped out while I was waiting on the bus and drove around a bunch of people blocking the intersection while blaring his horn. He nearly caused another accident. Not fifteen seconds after he took off, the traffic moved and he would have been able to move the way he wanted without putting any one's life in danger.

Bus

The guy sitting in front of me reeked of cigarettes. I'm getting less and less tolerant of this particular stink. People get on all the time stinking of sweat. That doesn't usually bug me. People have to smell like feces (unchanged babies mostly) to piss me off more than cigarettes.

The male driver was chatting up some woman about the same age while driving. They were complaining about ambulance charges going up and one of them had something to say about their family and the upcoming holidays. I wasn't paying much attention. Neither was the driver. He had to slam on the breaks a couple times to avoid people acting like the jerk above.

Someone gave me a funny look this morning as I read Dilbert. I use a magnifying glass to read my phone. I was chuckling at the dentist joke and just felt the eyes on me. There really must be something to the whole "Someone is watching me." thing. The older I get the more I believe there is some other sensory perception going on.

Conclusion

Then I got to work. Then, I got to start my day.