Diary of a Network Geek

The trials and tribulations of a Certified Novell Engineer who's been stranded in Houston, Texas.

8/17/2006

One of “Those” Days

Filed under: Bavarian Death Cake of Love,Criticism, Marginalia, and Notes,Deep Thoughts,Life, the Universe, and Everything,Personal,Red Herrings — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Dog which is in the evening time or 9:20 pm for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waning Crescent

Yeah, it’s been one of those days.

Oh, not that anything has really been going on or that anything has been particularly bad… Well, except my writing. Everytime I try to sit and write something it all comes out bad. I remember a story told in an interview once about that problem. J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, was talking to Harlan Ellison, science-fiction god. Straczynski was complaining to Ellison that everything he wrote was crap and, according to Straczynski, Ellison told him simply, “Well, then just stop writing crap!”
If only it were that easy for me.

I seem to have a communication problem sometimes.
I seem so witty and bright until my fingers hit the keys and out comes purile pap, half-digested cardboard that leaves nothing more than a bad after-taste. And, it’s not just on this blog! Oh, no, dear readers, you’ll be pleased to know that I write just as poorly in e-mail. Earlier today I was slacking at work taking a mental-health break, and reading a few blogs. I read one particular blog by a successful, attractive young lady, well, younger than me, at any rate. She was having a rough morning, but it wasn’t her coffee spill that interested me. Rather, it was her internal dialog. She was so sure that she was being judged, and being judged harsly, by the coffee shop patrons.
It startled me, her certainty of judgement from without. I see her and see everything that I cannot be, beautiful, popular, solvent, but still, she had the same self-doubt that rattles about in my slightly over-weight, more-than-slightly in debt, almost middle-aged self. Iconcievable. Is it possible that everyone has a critic living inside them that is as loud and constant as mine? I’m begining to wonder if maybe they do.

My therapist keeps telling me that I’m more normal than I think I am. Oh, to be sure, I had some aberrant behavior, but that’s been under control for years now, before I started to see him, in fact. It’s just that I listen so carefully to that internal critic that I hear him in everyone else’s voice these days. I’ve been told that I’m defensive and I know it’s true. Of course, I’m more defensive with some people than others. My mother tells me that there’s fine line between defending myself and being defensive and, maybe, some of those people don’t know the difference. Maybe, but I think they’re closer to the truth than my dear, sweet mother who only thinks the best of me, her baby boy. (As a side note, dear readers, you’d like my mother. She’d make your favorite dish for you when you visit, or bake you something sweet. She’s like June Cleaver, if June knew how to shoot a .38 and used sarcasm like a precision instrument.) In any case, that damn critic is why I haven’t writen for publication in so long, why I have such trouble asking a pretty girl out on a date, and why I’m so sure that no one really likes me, but keeps me around for my utility. I mean, c’mon, a guy with my technical skills is pretty damn useful sometimes. And, whatever else I may believe about myself, I know that I’m damn good at what I do. I routinely pull off the impossible, at least, technically speaking. (I tell myself that over and over both to remind myself and at the request of my therapist. I think it’s working.) In fact, I worked so hard to develop skills that few have because I knew that was the only way anyone would have anything to do with me.
Crazy, isn’t it? What’s sad is that I have absolutely no explanation for why my internal critic should be so strong, so loud. That’s why I pay a nice man who’s name starts “Doctor” every other week. To help me figure that out and, more importantly, over come that little bastard.

I took a move from one of my favorite bloggers this week and “burned” one of my “ships”. No, I didn’t quit my job, but, deeply in debt, I still bought a very good laptop computer that was on sale and loaded with extras and rebates. I found that I do seem to get more writing done on a laptop, away from my main system with all its distractions. Like e-mail and this blog. So, the way I see it, the only way for me to pay off my debt is to start writing for publication. I think I’ll start with some contests and see how it goes.

Oh, if you didn’t catch it from the comments, I did e-mail that girl from college. No word back yet, but I’ll keep you posted.
As Bartles and Jaymes used to say, “Thank you for your support.”

8/16/2006

Now What?

Filed under: Bavarian Death Cake of Love,Criticism, Marginalia, and Notes,Deep Thoughts,Life, the Universe, and Everything,Personal,Red Herrings — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is terribly early in the morning or 6:50 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Third Quarter Moon

I don’t know what I was thinking.

Sunday, after having gotten in from the airport and while I was doing laundry, alone in my big, empty house with not even my codependant dog to keep me company, I did something foolish.  I posted on Craigslist.com.  I blame Amber, a fellow blogger, for posting about her “social experiment”.   It got me thinking, you see.  I used to read Craigslist, on occasion, for laughs, and I always found myself pouring over the “Missed Connections” postings.  Not that I ever really thought anyone would talk about me, per se, but I enjoyed the…  Well, the romance of the idea that two people might connect this way.  And, too, there was the thought that maybe I’d be able to help someone who was looking for a long-lost sibling or something.

That was what got me.  The searching for those who we’ve lost.  I shudder to think how long the idea of this had been running around inside my head, but Sunday afternoon, it finally came out.  I posted looking for a long, lost college sweetheart.  The One Who Got Away.  Last I’d heard, she was in San Francisco working as a counsellor of some kind, so I posted there.  I did it as a lark, really.  I mean, in a city that large, even with a name as unusual as hers, I never thought I’d find her.
But, I did.

Now, suddenly, I find myself at a loss for words.  It’s been nearly 20 years since I saw her and almost as long since I’ve spoken to her or written her.  What do I say?  Do I even follow through at all?  Will she think I’m some kind of crazy stalker guy?  Hell, will she even remember me?  After all, it was only a couple of months back in college. It can’t possibly mean that much to her.  It shouldn’t mean so much to me any more.
But, the truth is, I never stopped thinking about her.  After every failed relationship since then, I’ve thought of her.  After every bad date, I thought of her.  Every time my failing marriage coughed a little more blood, I thought of her.   But, will she remember me the same way?  Will she remember me at all?

My hands sweat at the thought of it.
Oh, God, I have no idea what to do with this now…

Oh, yeah, before I forget, my mother knows about this blog now.  I’m not sure that she’s actually read it, yet, but she knows where it is.  She looked and sounded so hurt when I told her that my brother read it, but that I hadn’t given her the link that I just had to give in.  So, let’s keep the language clean, ladies! 😉

8/15/2006

Looking Back…

Filed under: Advice from your Uncle Jim,Bavarian Death Cake of Love,Deep Thoughts,Life, the Universe, and Everything,Personal — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Horse which is around lunchtime or 12:11 pm for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waning Gibbous

Looking back always seems so much easier than looking forward.

destiny.jpg
Today is the one year anniversary of my freedom. Or, if you prefer, my divorce. Hopefully, my first and last divorce. I surely do not want to go through that again, so, in the future, I plan to be much, much more careful about with whom I pledge to spend my life. Now, some folks might say that it’s made me “angry” or “bitter”, and, while I have those emotions from time to time, mainly, it’s made me scared. Scared of making another mistake so monumental. Scared of taking that kind of personal risk. Scared of letting someone that deep into who I am again.

I remember walking out of the court building laughing out loud because I felt so light and free, as if a huge weight had been lifted off my chest. Oh, I’ve cycled through a lot of emotions about it all since that day, including “regret”, “fear”, “pain”, yes, “anger”, perhaps even “hate”, but I always come back to “free”. I don’t know when I felt so trapped by that marriage. I can’t remember when I felt like it was smothering me, choking me, killing me, but, in retrospect, it was.
I still don’t look forward to taking the risks and opening myself to the vagaries of the dating world. My most recent foray in that arena didn’t turn out so well, no doubt because I am so guarded, but try so hard to compensate for that. I tell too much truth too bluntly. I panicked and got grasping, then, over reacting to that, I slammed the portcullis in place and proclaimed loudly, “None shall pass!”
But, now I hear the faint, sweet music outside the castle walls. I listen and try to place the tune. The harder I listen, the more the music drifts away until I’m leaning out over the precipice, straining to find the source of that sweet, sweet music, but it still eludes me. I think the only way to find it is to leave the walls and go exploring.

Why is it so much easier to dwell on the past than explore the frightening, unknown future?


Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Sometimes someone says something really small and it just fits into this empty place in your heart."
   --Angela, "My So-Called Life"

8/14/2006

Travel Report

Filed under: Adventures with iPods,Advice from your Uncle Jim,Deep Thoughts,Dog and Pony Shows,Fun,Fun Work,Geek Work,Life, the Universe, and Everything,News and Current Events,On The Road,Personal,The Network Geek at Home — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Pig which is in the late evening or 10:39 pm for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waning Gibbous

(Note: This “post” was written over the space of two long waits in airports after gliding through easy and over-hyped security.)

08/11/06

Well, there wasn’t any free wifi at the airport that I could find, even using a cool new tool I found for Linux called Wifi-Radar. Super slick little proggie that scans for available open wifi networks and automagically attaches you to the network of your choice. Pretty cool. Anyway, security was a breeze. As usual, the blood-sucking, bottom-feeders in the alarmist media totally overhyped the delays. I got Hilda checked in, stopped for gas and slipped into the Park-N-Fly by about 10:45 AM. The shuttle got me to the airport no later than 11:15AM and I was checked in and through security in less than 20 minutes. That’s with an eTicket and a driver’s license that still has my last name misspelled with an extra letter. You’d think that would raise a red flag, right? Hell, it doesn’t even raise a damn eyebrow.

Feeling extra secure yet? So, we hear all kinds of stuff about how bad security is going to be, but, as far as I could see, the only thing added to security was that they were restricting fluids on the plane. Yeah, so, no drinks through security, which, of course, means that everyone was buying drinks in the terminal. I didn’t look at how much I was gouged for my bottle of water and masked the whole cost with a couple of magazines. No Maxim, though. Just PopSci, Scientific American, Men’s Health and Real Simple. You know, I may end up getting a subscription to Real Simple instead of Dwell. It’s more my style. Not quite so avant-garde and infinitely less expensive. I was very glad to have gotten my iPod back, though. And, I even managed to sync all of Tristan und Isolde to it before I took off in the morning. Sadly, I didn’t have quite enough time to create a playlist that let me listen to the entire opera in order, but, still, I have it in there. According to iTunes, I have almost three days worth of continuous music on my Nano. Based on the silly media hype, it sounded like I’d need it, so, I was thrilled.

The one interesting thing was that I was almost on the news. No, not because I tried to sneak something dangerous on the plane. Though, God knows, I have done just that so many times it really makes me question the supposed security training they give those TSA agents. Anyway, there was some cute, Hispanic news chic there with her cameraman interviewing passengers about the virtually non-existent security delays and they saw my “Sunguard Secure, Disaster Recovery Experts” shirt. Right away the camera guy is all “So are you a disaster recovery expert?” and I start laughing at them both. I explain that, yes, I am an IT disaster recovery expert, but not the kind they were looking for. Oh, sure, I could have gone on TV and made a credible security expert, but that’s mainly because I’m well read and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about security for IT, which includes physical security, not because I’m a real anti-terrorist expert. But, why? Why the hell would I want to have my mug all over the TV news? I hate them, the alarmist fear-mongers always whipping the mass of unwashed humanity into a damn frenzy. Idiots. They’re not journalists anymore, just talking heads. It’s all about jumping on that fear-hype bandwagon, not about reporting real information that people can actually learn something from anymore. I don’t know, maybe it’s time to get a subscription to a local paper again. Ha! “A” local paper, that’s funny, isn’t it? It’s either the Chronicle or an out of town paper, like the Chicago Tribune or the Wall Street Journal. Oh, well, it’s almost all bad news anyway….

08/14/06

Well, here I am again, killing time in an airport waiting for my flight after breezing through security. I can’t tell if it’s just the media blowing things so far out of proportion or just people stupid enough to argue with the TSA agents and trying to break the rules. Honestly, I think it’s the TV news media who have to justify their existance by whipping everyone into a frenzy about the terrorists who weren’t even on US soil. Sure, I’ll grant you, getting blown up in a plane would really ruin my travel plans, but we’ve been living with this since 9/11 and, frankly, I think it’s about time we just adjust to higher security than we used to have. I mean, really, compared to most of the world, we’ve been skating along pretty free and easy. They’ve been dealing with terrorists in Europe for years and the British were more relaxed about this last incident than we were, even though it was their countrymen that were going to be blown up! This is just going to be a fact of life from now on. We need to get past the panic and fear and make our adjustments and move on with our lives, otherwise the terrorists have already won. So, in any case, I glided through security, in spite of not shaving, having a scruffy goatee and being loaded down with electronics. I guess it helps to just blank your face and go with the flow. Not like I have a choice, after all, so I might as well just accept the process and go with it. Seems to make things a lot easier. So, crazy security concerns aside, I had a good visit with the family.

Turns out, my parents were wrong and I wasn’t going to be presenting my nephew with his Eagle award, but it really did seem to mean a lot to him that I was there. Actually, it seemed to mean a lot to everyone to see me. I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised, but I never realized how important I was to my family. Of course, I spent some time setting up my parent’s new laptop and transferring settings and files over from the old one. I first thought that I’d be able to do that via a USB thumb drive, but there was just a little too much there to get onto a single one gig drive, so I had to use the network cable and crossover adapter that I’d brought with me. Good thing I have a little bit of experience being an IT consultant on the road and thought to bring some “extra” stuff I probably wouldn’t need, just in case. Sadly, I forgot to bring the copy of Word that I had for Mom and scratched the first CD of the Works install set, so I’ll have to ship them the CD and walk Mom through the install. Oh, the funny thing about her new laptop is the wireless connection. I cranked up that laptop and found five or six networks in the area with at least two that were unsecured, so I used that to piggy-back to the Internet. I think that ease of use just about convinced her to invest in broadband at their new house when the finally move in. They already have digital phone service through their cable, so I’m pretty sure they’d get a discount on the Internet connection, too. That along with a wireless router would really have them in the modern age of computing. And, I think they’d use their laptop more. Well, at least, Mom would. Dad mainly tells her what he wants and sends her off to do it, but he thinks he’s pretty high-tech, which is kind of funny. Actually, if you ever met either of my parents, it’d amuse you think of either of them being all that high-tech.

Though, somehow, they turned out at least two of us that make our living via technology. That’s just one of many things my brother and I have in common, though… It was nice talking with him some, though, I think we both wouldn’t have minded talking more. Eleven years apart and a vast difference in life experience, but we’re still the same in so many ways. Sadly, we both have many of the same things to fight through and over come. Both shy, each in our own way. Soft-spoken, but determined and, often, very single-minded of purpose. I honestly think that my brother has a PhD. because someone told him he couldn’t do it. We’re funny that way. Sometimes, that’s an asset, but not always.
Still, we often have very similar political views and, talking with my sole niece, Rachel, I was surprised to see how well our philosophies about kids meshed. That “little” girl has grown into quite a young woman. Just barely fifteen, but almost as tall as I am and, thankfully, looking more like her mother every day. I sat with her after her brother’s Eagle Ceremony and talked with her a bit, since I realized I didn’t really know her that well these days. The boys all center on me like iron filings on a magnet and that often seems to leave little room for Rachel. The last time I was home, she spent most of the time with Allison, my former step-daughter, and I didn’t get to talk to her. In any case, I took the opportunity to chat with her about a lot of different things, including driving, boys and her future plans. She didn’t have a boyfriend right now, but she’s already had two, which, at fifteen seemed like a good, slow start. She broke up with the last one, she told me, because he’d been smoking marijuana. Smart girl. Already learned that guys who smoke enough dope lose all motivation and ambition. It’s not just a stereotype. So, she was single, but didn’t seem in a big hurry to find the next guy, which I though was a good attitude, too. When I asked her about school and ideas for a career, she told me she wanted to go into nursing. Like I said, smart girl. It’s a good field and she has the right kind of personality for nursing. Even at fifteen, she was worried about her poor, old Uncle Jim standing when everyone else was sitting at the reception. I was glad for the chance to sit and talk with her. I just wish Allison had more of an opportunity to know her former cousin. I think Rachel would have been a good influence on her. Ah, well, maybe they’ll reconnect one day. Stranger things have happened.

Her little brother, Michael, my youngest nephew, is a whole different animal. This poor kid has no small amount of adversity to overcome. As a little guy, he got repeated ear infections and is, as I recall, legally deaf. But, since he was very small, he’s worn a hearing aid in each ear and does quite well. He has a very slight speech impediment, but he seems to make up for that with enthusiasm and volume. He certainly has no trouble making himself understood when he wants to get a point across! But, he also has a fairly rare back and spine condition that will require him to wear an obviously uncomfortable back brace for most of the next three years. He’s a good kid and doesn’t complain much when his parents tell him to get his brace back on, but it can’t be something he likes to do. I don’t know if any of the kids at school give him trouble for it, but I think his mother has already given her permission to pop the little wiseasses if they do sound off. And, if I ever hear about any grief, I tell you, Mike will have a mean uncle from Texas coming up to crack a couple of skulls for him. He’s a good boy and puts up just a tiny fuss at having to deal with all his physical troubles. And, in spite of all his reasons to be unhappy, I’d say he’s the most gregarious and, well, “jolly” of all my nephews. Always smiling and laughing and joking, even when irritation occasionally creases his forehead, it sure doesn’t cloud his world for very long at all. I know quite a few adults that could learn thing or two from this young man.

Then, there was my “redneck nephew”, as I like to call him.
John Dwight is a big kid. He looks slow and ponderous and even sounds a little thick, but he’s not. He’s a smart kid who lives in a town that doesn’t put much stock into “book learnin'” and it shows. Mainly, I think he’s just not very motivated. I think he sees the futility of his situation. He can only go so far in that little town outside of Rockford, Illinois. After that, if he wants more and bigger opportunities, he’ll have to leave. Based on how his mother and father have dealt with that decision, I doubt he’ll leave. Though, he is talking about enlisting in the military. He claims he wants to be a sniper, but with less than perfect vision, I think that’s not going to quite work out for him. He likes to work on cars, though, and seems to think he can bide his time waiting for the sniper program while being a mechanic. I don’t think he understands the military enough to know that once he starts as a mechanic, he’s likely to stay a mechanic, but, at least he’ll have a skill and a way to make a good living after mustering out. It would be a good way for hime to go.
He shadowed me for most of the time I was working on my Mom’s new laptop. I think partly because he wants to get a shiny, new laptop himself, but also because he’s interested. I talked with him about what I was doing and promised to send him one of the super cheap 1 Gig USB thumb-drives I’d found at MicroCenter and was using. He seemed genuinely excited about that. I’ll send that to him after I get back along with a Knoppix CD, so he can learn a little Linux. If he learns Linux and is still interested, I might send him an old Dell laptop with Redhat or Novell’s free OpenSuSE loaded on it. That would be another direction he could go. A little military experience and a couple of professional certifications and he could really go far.

Finally, my oldest nephew and godson, Bill…
As I write this, he’s on his way to his first year of college. He’ll be a Physics Major at Purdue University. Kid’s going to be a genius PhD, like his father. He has a girlfriend, Jenny, who’s nice enough, but tries a little too hard to be liked. When she forgets to work at it and relaxs, though, she’s a nice kid. Bill and I had a little talk on Friday night when his family came over for dinner. (Mom made “creole chicken”, a soulfood recipie that my grandmother picked up on the Southside of Chicago.) He’s so much like his father that it’s almost scary. I was touched Saturday when I figured out that he really just wanted me at the ceremony because he missed his Uncle Jim. I made sure to give him my cell number and told him he could call for anything but bail money. I hope he takes me up on the offer. I gave him the best advice I could for a Freshman going into that big, wide world of college. “Never go into a weekend without twenty bucks and a condom.” I explained that to him, but those stories will have to wait for another time on the blog. My plane is boarding, so I’m shutting down the laptop. Next stop, Houston!

Update:
Made it home safe and sound. Got my poor Hilda from the vet today. Apparently she barely ate, hid from the “keepers” and generally trusted no one. On the upside, she did learn to use the “doggie door” really well! That’s where she ran to get away from the people who were supposed to pamper her. *sigh* She wouldn’t even eat her home-made treats. Apparently, she just didn’t trust the kenel staff enough to take even the yummiest of muffins from them. (In fact, they said they smelled so good they almost ate some themselves!) She was so excited to see me, I could barely get her car harness on her. She wolfed food when we got home. And treats. And attacked a new rawhide chewie bone I’d gotten her. Well, she’s like her old dad, doesn’t trust anyone new and is loyal to a fault. She’s my dog, sure enough.
Glad to be home. And, finally, after all this time and all this trouble, this is home.


Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams."
   --John Barrymore

8/11/2006

Naughty T-Shirts

Filed under: Art,Criticism, Marginalia, and Notes,Deep Thoughts,Fun — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Dragon which is in the early morning or 9:36 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waning Gibbous

I love t-shirts almost as much as I love being bad.
T-Shirt Hell has two of my favorites: “Restraining orders are just another way to say I love you” and “I taught your girlfriend that thing you like“. Both of which I was tempted to actually purchase for one reason or another. I never did and that time has passed, but, still it was funny to me at the time. Judge me as you will on that. (Incidentally, those links are PG-13 at best. Click on them at your own risk!)
In Japan, where it’s illegal to own a gun, there’s a new t-shirt called “T-Shirt for Tough Guys” or “Be Tough T-Shirt“. It’s a t-shirt that has a gun printed on the back in such a way that it looks like the wearer has a gun in his waist-band. Frankly, I can see getting into trouble with that here in the States, so you would have to be pretty tough to wear it in Japan! And, along with being “naughty”, it’s also a little bit cool.
If you’d like to make your own, you can always hit Spreadshirt. This way you can make your very own “naughty” t-shirt, customized to your very special flavor of wrong.

And, that, should keep you busy while I’m in Chicago for the weekend.  It’s Friday, so enjoy the naughty links while I’m away, but comments might not get moderated until Monday!

Tags:

8/10/2006

Red Sails in the Morning

Filed under: Criticism, Marginalia, and Notes,Deep Thoughts,Dog and Pony Shows,Life, the Universe, and Everything,News and Current Events,On The Road,Personal — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Dragon which is in the early morning or 9:08 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waning Gibbous

Flyer, take warning.

So, I’m about to scramble out the door to make sure I have enough time to get through security this morning.  Why?  Well, if you haven’t been watching the news, some damn Limey whack-jobs decided they were going to try and blow up planes headed for the US today. What that means, though, is that for the first time in a very, very long time, we’re on a red-fucking travel alert.  They’re so serious about this that they’ve even banned any kind of liquid as part of your carry-on bags.  No water, no drinks, no nothing.  Fucking terrorists.

So, now, I get to scramble the dog into the vet and rush my ass off to the airport so I can get through security and sit and wait for fucking hours before my flight.  You know why the damn terrorists are expecting to find paradise filled with virgins?  Because these fucking damn lame sons-of-bitches have their fundamentalist heads so far up their terrorst asses that they couldn’t possibly be smart enough to reproduce!  Pardon my religious intolerance, but I just don’t understand the rationale for killing innocent civilians to prove a fucking political point.  Do they really think it gets them any kind of sympathy?  Do I sound fucking sympathetic to their damned cause this morning?

Well, once I’m through security, if I can get a wifi link out, I’ll post about how easy or hard it was to get through security.  At least, I know I’ll be more or less safe on the plane now.

Fucking, dumb-ass terrorists.

8/9/2006

More Doggie Spoilage

Filed under: Adventures with iPods,By Bread Alone,Criticism, Marginalia, and Notes,Dog and Pony Shows,Life, the Universe, and Everything,On The Road,Personal — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Tiger which is terribly early in the morning or 5:50 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Full Moon

So, last night I baked her cookies.

What? It’s not like I’m dating anyone, so I don’t have anyone to cook for right now. Okay, so I ran out to the store to get a couple of ingredients that I was missing, but, I’d have done that for a girl, too. I mean, running out at midnight for feminine hygiene products is way more effort than just going to the grocery store for some honey and unsalted peanuts to make cookies for my dog and I did that. Heck, I even had to guess and pick out a yeast infection medication for a woman I hardly knew! And, that was before I married her. So, for my loyal dog? You bet I’ll run and get honey. Besides, the cookies are pretty good. And, yes, they’re another Three Dog Bakery recipe. This time, though, they’re from the Three Dog Bakery Cookbook.

Oh, and I got my iPod back just in time to travel later this week. I’ve already synced my music to it and updated it successfully, so I’m feeling pretty good about killing time in the airport with my Nano and a couple of books. I did notice that the software update has the stuff for the Nike iPod attachment. If you haven’t checked that out, it’s worth looking at. They’ve got the ultimate running accessory there!

Not sure when I’ll get more posting done this week, with all the travel and baking and all. Though, I have a Friday Fun Post all queued up and ready for you while I’m away.
Have a great week and I’ll “see” you when I get back on Monday!

8/8/2006

Lucky Dog

Filed under: Advice from your Uncle Jim,Bavarian Death Cake of Love,By Bread Alone,Deep Thoughts,Dog and Pony Shows,Life, the Universe, and Everything,On The Road,Personal — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Horse which is around lunchtime or 12:19 pm for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Full Moon

Yes, I freely admit that I spoil my dog.

Image020.jpgI’m going out of town for a couple of days, starting Thursday this week, and instead of asking a friend to watch my dog for me, I’m boarding her at my vet. I’m doing this for a couple of reasons. First, although my friend I usually ask to watch her would be happy to do that for me, I don’t want to put him out that much or for that long. I’ll only be gone four days, but two of those days, he’d have to drive all the way across town to let her out and check her food and water. Frankly, that just seems like more hassle than is right for me to ask of him. Secondly, if I ever have to travel for an extended period of time for work, I’ll want to know that I have a good, long-term arrangement that my poor, spoiled dog will survive. Thirdly, my vet, the Jersey Village Animal Hospital, has about the newest, nicest facility I’ve seen. Honestly, it will be like sending her to a four day doggie spa.

Hilda will have her own private room with its own door to a private, fenced yard. She’s never had a doggie door before, so I’m interested to see how she does with that. If it works well for her, I may just install one at home. But, in addition to having that free access, she’ll be walked twice a day to get her exercise. She’ll also get a bath before I pick her up Monday morning.
I’ve been told that I can bring her favorite pillows and toys, but I don’t think I can get her couch into the back of my car. What? Doesn’t every dog have their own, full-sized couch? Well, I guess we’ll just have to settle for a couple of throw pillows off the couch. And, I’ll bring a couple of her favorite bones, too, so she’ll have something to worry on when I’m not there. (Don’t tell her, but I have a giant rawhide bone for her when she gets back!) Still, I’m worried that she won’t eat while I’m gone. She gets like that sometimes. When I had to go overnight to our office in Louisiana not too long ago, she didn’t touch her food while I was away. So, just to make sure she had something I knew she’d eat, I made her muffins last night.Hilda.jpg
Yes, I baked my dog apple-cinnamon muffins from a recipe in Cooking the Three Dog Bakery Way. It’s not as good as what she’d have gotten from the Pink Poodle Gourmet, but, since I’m not dating the nice lady who runs that business anymore, it didn’t seem quite “proper” to beg dog cookies from her. Oh, I’m sure she would have been happy to give me enough for the four days and then some, because she’s sweet like that, but I’d feel wrong asking. So, I baked my own instead. Actually, they’re quite tasty. Hilda and I enjoyed a couple last night, while they were still warm.

Now, not everyone may understand the fuss I make over my dog. But, let me tell you, she’s more loyal to me than any single person I know. And, as I’m sure my regular readers are tired of hearing, she was the only reason I came home from work almost two years ago, when I was deep, dark depression and contemplating suicide. It amazes me to think, at one point, I thought I’d lost her because I was willing to listen to a lie. Hilda is my little miracle dog, though, who came back to me from far away to give me that little extra bit of life that I needed to keep me going. So, now, I happily bake her treats to snack on while she’s relaxing at her spa.

Now, I just have to convince one of the cute, young girls who works there to pay a little special attention to my Hilda. Maybe, if I play up the whole “separation anxiety” thing we’ll both get a little special attention…

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
-Mark Twain


Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity."
   --Albert Einstein

8/7/2006

Review: The Sociopath Next Door

Filed under: Criticism, Marginalia, and Notes,Life, the Universe, and Everything,Personal,Red Herrings,Review,Things to Read — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Monkey which is in the late afternoon or 5:55 pm for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waxing Gibbous

Not quite The Girl Next Door

First, let me say that I bought this book with one thing in mind: writing research. Creating a hero is relatively easy, but making a good, believable villain is a little more challenging, so when I saw The Sociopath Next Door, it seemed like the perfect research material for me. I was not disappointed. While I find it hard to believe the author’s assertion that 4% of the population essentially have no conscience at all, the rest of the book was rather interesting and entertaining.

The book takes us through what a sociopath is, which is a great place to start, but quickly shows us what the mind of a sociopath might look like from the inside. A person with no remorse and few personal boundaries that keep them from doing anything they please to whoever they please, as long as it gets them what they want. It’s tempting to say that everyone who has done something nasty to us is a sociopath based on this book, but it’s just not so. Oh, to be sure, many of us rationalize some of our worst behavior and may seem guilt-free, but the mere fact that was have to rationalize anything is proof that we have that emotional connection that sociopaths lack. And, interestingly enough, that is what they lack. They feel nothing for their fellow human creatures at all, except in relation to their usefulness as tools for the sociopath to use.
The book does as good a job as possible to show us what that might seem like. Certainly the author does a good job of describing behaviors, both normal and pathological, that a sociopath might engage in. She also presents several composite “characters”, or example sociopaths, and how they might be found in the world. For my purposes, of course, this was very useful and well worth the price of the book. In fact, if you’re an author looking to create more believable, yet thoroughly nasty, villains, this book is a wonderful resource for you.

However, I do have a few criticisms. I’ve already mentioned the seemingly inflated percentage of the population the author speculates may be sociopathic. I think her sample was biased and based on her personal, anecdotal observation. At least, I saw no solid references for the figures that she put forth. I assume that it was mainly inflated to sell the book. Fear sells almost as well as sex.
Also, her suggestions that we need to all be watching for these sociopaths who might be out there, lying in wait, seem somewhat overdone as well. Though, certainly, if a reader already believed that they had gotten involved with a sociopath, or user of some other kind, her suggestions would be quite useful. They boil down to “have boundaries”, “maintain your boundaries”, “don’t ignore warning signs of bad behavior”, and “trust your instincts”. Pretty common-sense advice for anyone, as far as I’m concerned.

Over all, it was a decent book, but a little alarmist. Worth the money for me, but nothing I’d recommend to anyone who reads a lot of pop-psychology already.

Oh, and I started The Empress File by John Sandford as soon as I finished The Sociopath Next Door last week. It’s better, and I’ve already torn through most of it. At this rate, I might even finish it before I hit the plane on Thursday!

8/5/2006

Too Little, Too Late

Filed under: Criticism, Marginalia, and Notes,News and Current Events,Personal — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Horse which is around lunchtime or 12:37 pm for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waxing Gibbous

For me, at least.

So, I’ve been helping a friend with her blog, right?  Helping stamp out spam, blah, blah, blah.  Anyway, she uses Movable Type for her blog, which I used to use.  I mean, it wasn’t like there were a lot of options out there when I first started this blog, what, six years ago?  MT was it, so that’s what I used.  But, a couple years back they started jacking around with the license agreement and what you could legally run with their blog software before you were in violation of the agreement.  When they first released it, before they got big, the promise was that MT would always be free, at least for the personal, home user.  Then, things changed due to pressure from investors and the market.  So I changed systems to WordPress, which I love for a lot of reasons.  For one thing, I find it easier to write additonal components for WP.  It’s also easier to use, in my opinion.

But, all that aside, when I was in her blog, clearing out the massive comment spam, I saw an announcement from Six Apart regarding the MT license.  It’s free.  Again.  I laughed out loud when I read that.  Sort of closing the barn door after the customer has escaped, don’t you think?

« Previous PageNext Page »

Powered by WordPress
Any links to sites selling any reviewed item, including but not limited to Amazon, may be affiliate links which will pay me some tiny bit of money if used to purchase the item, but this site does no paid reviews and all opinions are my own.