Diary of a Network Geek

Probably not what you think…

I love wifi. Since spending so much time in the hospital with a laptop and relying on the free wifi that MD Anderson has for their patients, I’ve come to truly love that ubiquitous, wireless connection. Only it’s not really all that ubiquitous, unless you want to pay. Often, quite a bit. Some folks are working to change that.
According to this article on ScientificAmerican.com, there’s a little company called Meraki Networks that’s trying to change the way people get access to wireless networks. At least, they’re trying to change part of it. They offer dirt cheap wireless routers that network together to share whatever Internet resources they have, collectively, with whoever connects. It’s not quite free and it’s not quite ubiquitous, but, it is a start.

Anyway, it’s worth clicking the link and reading the article.

On the way home from the clinic.

So, I’ve been “away” for a bit.
Almost two weeks ago, I went into the clinic for what I thought would be a relatively routine check up. And, really, it was. Unfortunately, my blood work showed me having very low counts in every category, so they sent me for an immediate transfusion. I got a unit of platelettes and two units of whole blood. Now, that might sound like there was big trouble, but, honestly, based on my last set of blood work, I was kind of expecting to have that happen. Sadly, what I was not planning on was getting a fever high enough to get checked into the hospital, which is what happened.

So, I spent about a week in the hospital, even though my tempurature was normal after three days, because my white blood cell count was low. That’s bad because those white blood cells are what fight off infection. What’s worse is that I felt fine, even though I missed my best friend’s wedding, in which I was supposed to be the best man.
I came close to going against doctor’s orders and checking myself out of the hospital long enough for the wedding, then checking back in. It was only when the doctor hinted that might cause problems with my insurance company that I decided against it.
The bride and groom, however, brought the wedding to me. They came over, with the Matron of Honor, and another groomsman that the groom and I have known for years, forced me at cake-point to dress up in my tux and took pictures. One of the nurses took pictures of all of us together, as well. I’m told that these will be included in the wedding pictures by the photographers. To say that I was touched by this gesture is the understatement of the century. Words cannot begin to express the depth of feeling I have for those folks who would go so far out of their way to share that special day with me. But, for the record, the chemotherapy took my eyelashes and I get things in my eye all the time now and I was not so moved I was crying. In case anyone was wondering.

I finally got out Monday and was back getting scanned Friday. I’ll get the results this coming Thursday when I see the doctor. I’m hoping that the news I get is that I’m done with chemotherapy and on the mend, but we’ll see.
And, of course, I’ll keep you posted.

Looking for cover art?

Do you use iTunes or have an iPod? Do you wish you could have the cover art for all the CDs or songs you’ve added to your gigantic list of favorite music? Well, CoverSlide might just be what you’re looking for!
I stumbled across this apparently free service via a sig file on Slashdot and it looks pretty damn cool. It lets you search Amazon.com’s database of music without having to go to Amazon and has simple instructions for adding the found cover art to your iTunes and iPod. Oh, and it can find cover art for movies, books and games, too, not just music.

Anyway, it sort of tickled my fancy, so I thought I’d share it with you all.

I should tell you where I’ve been the past week, but I’m tired and I want to go to bed.

I swear, I am not going to turn this into a music blog.

But, I’ve been doing a lot of music related searching lately and found this cool new music search engine called SeeqPod. It searches for music that’s available on the web and lets you play it, live. So, if you’ve ever wanted to hear that cool new band your friend has been telling you about, but don’t want to shell out for a CD, try this. It’s very cool.

Truth in fiction.

Some time back there was a movie that didn’t do very well in theatres called the Lord of War. It starred Nicholas Cage as an international arms dealer and all his strange, dangerous, disturbing adventures. The movie was fictional, but based on real accounts from real arms deals. It was a great movie.

Well, the Village Voice has done a piece on the real Lord of War, whom they refer to as the Merchant of War, Monzer al-Kassar, a/k/a the “Prince of Marbella”. Go read the story. These are the guys we need to go after. Here is the front-line in the war on terror.

Well, I survived the treatment.

At least, so far.  I’ll go back for a full day of scanning on August 17th to see just how well I’ve done, but my oncologist kept referring to this as my last chemo treatment.  I hope so, because this one was kind of bad in some ways.  I got sick, as in blew chunks, three times over two days.  And, let me tell you, that last time it was all miracle puke, because there couldn’t have been anything left in my stomaches to get out, so where it all came from is beyond me.  Well, they’ve given me an extra medication to deal with the delayed nausea and vomiting, so we’ll see how that does.  And, hopefully, this will be the last time I have to go in for chemotherapy.

But, in many ways, it’s not over and never will be.  Lymphoma, the kind of cancer I had(have?), never quite goes away.  Rather, like leukemia, it simply goes into remission.  So, there will need to be some lifestyle changes.  Thankfully, changes that I’d already started to make and now just need to follow through on.  Things like eating healthier and exercising more.  Regular checkups.  That kind of thing.
But, also, I need to work on my spiritual life more. This last week, I’ve been thinking about the long chain of “coincidences” that brought me to this place. Back in ’98 when I moved down here, I didn’t do it because Houston was the best place to have cancer! No, I moved for my ex-wife. And, when that marriage was breaking apart, my first thought wasn’t, “Well, at least when I get cancer, I won’t have to worry about her falling apart under pressure”, since that is her pattern. My only thought was trying to survive the pain of her betrayal, which, sadly, is also her pattern. When I was forced to change jobs and I landed where I am, I certainly was not thinking that these folks would be so supportive of me and my health issues. Again, I was just trying to keep my head above water. But, in the end, it all worked out. It sure didn’t feel like everything was going according to some grand plan at the time, but, looking back, it sure seems like it was someone’s plan all along.

Now, the thing that gets under my skin, is why? What am I supposed to be doing? What is my life’s purpose? Why I was pulled back, almost literally from the brink of death to keep on? What is His plan for my life? How is that I am to be useful to Him? Well, I don’t know yet, but, along with other things I need to work out in this next phase of my life, answering that question is fairly paramount in importance.
But, that will come in time. As will, I hope, my hair, my eyebrows, and the freedom to drink coffee again. Honestly, I’m not sure which I miss more, coffee or my eyebrows.