I just wanted to take a moment to thank the very lovely Eilla for the very nice birthday greetz as well as the wonderful plug for the new podcast. It’s always nice to know you have such great friends on the other side of the planet 
Thanks again, Eilla Hope you’re getting some sleep (finally!)
Last Friday I rushed home after work much like I had the week before. I was hell-bent on getting the grass cut before a storm arrived and rained on the parade. This time, however, the storm wasn’t as close.
I managed to take my time to get the grass cut without provoking the rain, but I certainly provoked something else. I began collecting mucus in my throat and chest - and so it began… a weekend long escapade with non-stop coughing.
By yesterday, I had coughed so much and so hard that my ribs felt like bursting with each violent outburst. It *hurts*, it really does. I fell asleep several times over the weekend and woke up feeling better, only to feel worse again a few hours later.
It was a miserable weekend and I don’t want to think that perhaps it was caused by cutting the grass, but I’m afraid I cannot deny that possibility. Allergies… to pollen and/or grass? For a Southeast boy? You must be kidding.
In other news, I’m battling a RIS server at work. Who knew Broadcom and PXE boot don’t get along well? Argh.
I’ve been taking much more time away from work lately… especially beyond the 40 hour mark. I’m thinking I might be able to get more done with RA with that plan 
And finally, in some very unhappy news, I’m afraid we’ll have to be putting our good dog Trixie down this week. She has grown very thin and her quality of life is just not good these days. I guess it’s time to let her go… despite how I feel about it.
That part is a much, much longer story.
Now I am falling asleep at the keyboard, so I suppose it’s time to cut this stream off and go to bed.
It seems like every friend of mine that works in IT has entered a bit of a professional funk of late; mayhaps myself is included in that observation.
There’s a whole lot of burnout going on out there and not much being done to combat it. Not withstanding the fact that IT is one of the hardest jobs on the planet (that is, if you have a family and/or a social life), for some people it can be pretty damn thankless at that.
I’ve been fortunate in that this job I’ve held down the last three years has been rewarding and fulfilling, but it can still burn you out. When you sit around and consider that maybe a visit to a chiropractor is needed just to get the stress off your back, either you’re working too hard or it’s time to poke the apple pie.
I’ve heard from numerous friends who work in this field that are ready to just A) get to another job or B) get out of IT altogether. Of course, I’ve been working on this new media thing so I’d hope to get out of IT support eventually. Production is what I think I love to do - I think.
Yeah, I said I think.
All too often I start up in something, seem to enjoy it, then it burns me out. I suppose I’m like a bat, moving on to the next bright light. I just keep hitting walls and shit like that too.
Too all of you getting killed in IT land - I hear you out there, screaming in the night across the web. Hang in there, it never lasts forever.
Unless it’s evil.
This is one of those blog posts that reminds everyone I haven’t passed away. I’ve been incredibly busy at work - pushing way too hard and getting way too exhausted. Don’t worry, my biorhythms will take a downturn soon and I’ll be back at it just as before, I’m sure.
…*thunk*… zzzzZzzZZz….
While I have a general distaste for the idea of running multiple websites with multiple focuses, I find that the PodPress plugin is forcing me into a untenable situation with this website. If you were unlucky enough to pop on here at around 11pm Central tonight, you might have been somewhat frightened in that the website’s title and appearance had suddenly changed.
No, I wasn’t hacked… it was Podpress forcing its special brand of love upon me. While the plugin is beautiful, it’s quite obvious that it wants to be the focus of an entirely new website.
…so yet again, another new website is in my cooker. Sigh.
Some of the #morphixers may find this hard to believe, but I’m not going to defend Apple on this latest round of controversy.
Trying to sell your browser by suddenly including it in the newest autoupdate procedure for Windows users was a bad move. It reeks of that “unfriendly neighbor” feel like Microsoft forcing IE4 down your throat (remember those days?) I understand the idea and the approach. It would have been one thing to make it available - checking the box by default is another thing altogether.
I will tell you this, though; if my stepfather is any measure of success, the ploy worked on him. He blindly clicked through the dialogue and ended up with Safari on his system. Curious, he decided to give it a go. He wasn’t too impressed, though.
I was never sure that using Safari as the ambassador to Mac technology was a good idea. Safari takes a very minimalist approach to web browsing, which I (and many others) like quite a bit. However, Windows users are not known to minimalist and I doubt will see the merits of that approach. Instead, I would suspect they would see it as a featureless, bland piece of software that has now squirmed its way onto the system. The deal sealer for Mac technology has always been the OS itself, not the squeaky-clean apps that run on it. Let them put OS X in a box and I’d bet you’d start to see different results.
I agree with all of the statements that the pundits are making… it’s unfair to expect a user to keep up with a piece of software they were not necessarily aware had gotten onto their system… gives it another attack vector, etc. etc. Safari isn’t the most insecure thing on the planet, but still, installing software in a sneaky, snarky way like this is just not the right thing to do.
One day, I’ll write an article about how I just don’t understand the browser wars anyway.
Pull it back, Apple, before your black eye gets larger.
I feel like I can always count on episodes of Lost that are centered on Jin and Sun to bring tears to my eyes. There’s a subtle, consistent thread that exists about these two; they are figures of traditional tragedy, especially tonight.
Okie, that’s all I’ll say plot-wise, because I know some of you may have DVR’d it. I’ll try to express this without giving it away.
The story of Jin and Sun has an inherent overtone of tragedy. Sun’s secrets have always made the story quite tense and Jin’s undying devotion to his wife just makes it all the worse. It’s sad to see them struggle with their lives and relationship.
In many ways I feel like this couple is also an homage to Asian cinema. I have yet to run across a truly happy Asian film. Most Asian cinema is just really, really damn sad. If you want a feeling of complete despair, I challenge you to check out Farewell, My Concubine
I didn’t really understand them to be an homage to Asian cinema until I pointed out tonight that every Jin/Sun story in Lost is quite tragic, leading up to what will surely be quite a tragic end to their plot thread. My wife simply smiled and summed it up, “They’re Asian.”
Wink wink, nod… yes, they’re Asian, and it’s entertainment, so by design, I expect their story to have a terribly tragic ending I’m sure. I’ll applaud all the way to the Kleenex box.
Here’s a late night pondering for you as I traipse off to bed.
Ask yourself: does the subject matter of a blog control what browser share you’re likely to experience on your site?
Given the stats that I’m getting, I can say (without much of a doubt) that yes, that’s true…
# #reqs #pages browser 1 5132 2910 Firefox 4002 1992 Firefox/2 986 837 Firefox/3 144 81 Firefox/1 2 2535 2189 Safari 2534 2188 Safari/523 1 1 Safari/417 3 1750 973 MSIE 705 478 MSIE/6 978 428 MSIE/7 67 67 MSIE/5
Eh. Just interesting is all.
Once again, I’ve stayed up far, far too late. Someone shoot me so I can get some sleep, please?
Ah, that line. What sweet memories it brings back.
^dRkRaVN was our eggdrop bot on the EFNet channel #alabama back in the late 80’s, early 90’s. I think I have the timeline right. Anyway, we ruled that channel with an iron fist, one that you often found crammed up your virtual backside if you didn’t fit into our clique’.
Our clique’ was mean, evil and downright hilarious. The hours upon hours of endless fun with people I would meet later in life helped me get through one of the worst times of my life. I was going through a midlife crisis in my early twenties and without these folks, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have survived.
At the time I worked at one of the local TV stations. So when we decided to have a get together in RL for a LAN party, it made the local news. Part of it was that our most remote channel member, Booter (from Sweden) made the trek from Europe to north Alabama just to meet us. What a guy.
On the list server that we’ve maintained since those years to keep in touch, the chatter has been alive with memories. One of those memories was preserved… the news report from the station I worked at. Yes, they did a news report on us… and believe it or not (I certainly can’t believe it!) I’m going to post it here for you to enjoy now.
Yes, that’s yours truly in there with the long hair and the thinning on top. Yes, that’s Quake II you see us playing in the background.
Ah, lovely, sweet memories.
And if we can convince anyone that pressing ALT-F4 will get you channel operator status again, life will get sweeter still.
That one never got old.
