Diary of a Network Geek

No, I have not started smoking again.

Regular readers may be familiar with my obsession with smoking. Or, rather, my fixation on the fact that I’d love a good smoke, but, having cheated cancer-related death once already, feel that it would be more than a little foolish to so dramatically increase the chances of getting cancer, again, that I just can’t justify lighting up again. Naturally, I still think about it and ways to reduce the craving and/or sublimate the urge with a similar experience. Well, I think I have the perfect solution: the electronic cigarette.

No, I am not making that up. Go ahead, click the link. I’ll wait.

See? Now, I think it’s really meant as a device to help you stop smoking, not continue the habit while cheating death, but, still… Of course, at $90+ shipping, I won’t be getting one any time soon. But, oh, what a glorious idea. It may not be a jet-pack, but an electronic cigarette is retro science-fiction to me. I love it!

So, it seems like I still have some issues.

Someone e-mailed me this morning to see if my site was down because they were getting a blank page. Well, so was I. At least, until I hit refresh. Then, hitting the links on the categories didn’t work at all. So, I checked the WordPress support forum and tweaked a couple of things. Now, the categories give you blank pages, until you hit the refresh button. And, actually, this is all in Firefox. Firefox 2, actually, so I have no idea if any other browsers are having trouble or not. If you are, leave me a comment here so I can keep track, would you?

And, in any case, I’m working on it. Right now, the fix seems to be coming in a minor version update. This is why I usually wait a couple of months before upgrading. It’s just that this version had some things I wanted to use, so… Well, anyway, like I wrote, I’m working on it.

UPDATE:
First, let me thank you all for not taking advantage of that opening line.  It is sort of like putting on a “kick me” sign and sticking one’s rump out.
Secondly, I think I found the problem.  I upgraded WordPress, but not all the plugins I have loaded.  So, I deactivated one until I can get the new version.  Luckily, it’s one that works behind the scenes doing things for me, so your viewing experience shouldn’t be effected.
Thanks for your help and attention!

I hadn’t really planned on taking a vacation this year.

I mean, between all the time I took last year for chemotherapy and my lack of funds due to paying for all that, well, I just hadn’t planned on taking any time for myself this year. Oh, maybe the occasional long weekend, but that was about it. But, after reading this article on Hotjobs about taking time away from work… Well, let’s just say I’m reconsidering it. (And, no, the potential of winning a free trip to Tahiti, also on that article I linked to, did not have any influence over me!)

That first article suggests taking time off, even if you don’t leave the house, but just stay home and read. That was what got the wheels turning in my head. I have this giant stack of books, again, and I never seem to have enough time to read. I could take two or three days before a weekend and just read all day long. Heck, I could probably even do it more than once! Oh, the joy of a day spent reading…
Then, too, there was an article on the New York Times, linked to by LifeHacker, suggesting a number of less expensive vacations one might take. Though, I have to admit, the comments left by other readers were just as good as the article and, in most cases, less expensive than anything suggested by the Times. I particularly liked the idea of taking several days and being a tourist in your own town. There are so many things in Houston that I haven’t done! I’ve lived here ten years and I’ve never seen the San Jacinto Monument, for instance. And, there are so many museums! In fact, I even know someone who used to curate at the Menil. I could probably talk him into acting as a guide for me.
And, now that I have such a nice camera, think of all the opportunities to explore and take pictures.

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

OfficialJurySummons

Originally uploaded by Network Geek

So, I have jury duty Tuesday.

Look, I know this is my civic duty and all that, but honestly, I really, really hate doing this. The last time I did it, up in Illinois, I actually ended up on a “criminal sexual assault” trial. That’s rape, in case you weren’t translating from legal-speak very well. We ended up in a mistrial, a hung jury. In fact, we were sequestered overnight in an effort to get us all to move one way or another. It was a tough trial that took a week and changed how I look at the criminal justice system and my fellow man. And, let me just say, if I end up on a trial, I’m sure not going to let a defense attorney get us into a situation like that again! ‘Cause, it really was all that slimy defense lawyer being oily and tricky, in subtle ways.

Of course, that very sentiment may keep me off a jury this time around! But, I still have to show up and sit through the process. Well, I have a good book and, if I get out around noon, I have a friend who’s going to be down there at the same time, so we might do lunch. And, I plan to use the Metro Park-And-Ride system, which will be something new for me, at least here in Houston. Actually, it kind of shocks me when I think about it, but I’ve never ridden on a bus in Houston at all!

Well, I check in afterward, I guess, and see what kind of pictures I remember to take.

Hey, I upgraded to the latest version of WordPress, so if anything looks a little funky, it should correct itself shortly.

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Man is the only kind of varmint that sets his own trap, baits it, and steps in it."
   --John Steinbeck

No, this is not a new dance craze.

I have this little problem. I use programs that are, well, somewhat experimental and which occasionally crash. But, I’m also a little anal retentive and like to have my workspace setup the same way on my computer all the time. Usually, that means have to shut down certain programs and restart others in a particular order to get the icons lined up right on my taskbar. Well, now, I don’t have to worry. Why is that, you ask? Simple, because I found Taskbar Shuffle on ZDNet Downloads.

This free program lets you do what I’ve been lusting after for a while now: reorder the icons on your taskbar in Windows 2000/XP/Vista. That’s it. That’s all it does.
And I think it’s wonderful.

So, what CD did I buy?

Right, at least one of you noticed that the poll was still running, but my deadline for buying my Amazon.com cart had passed. Well, that may be true, but I still want suggestions for new music, so I left it up. Frankly, some of the suggestions have been intriguing, to say the least. For instance, both Fu Manchu and Disturbed are new to me, and not half bad, based on the samples I found on-line. But, Indigo Girls? Really? Or is someone making a joke? I mean, I assume the Britney suggestion is a joke, but I’m honestly not sure about Indigo Girls.

So, anyway, my point is that I’m still interested in suggestions and new music. Eventually, I’ll buy another CD, so keep voting, if you can. Please, feel free to vote from home and work, too!

Oh, right, and the CD I got was Snow Patrol’s Eyes Open, but they have others, so don’t hesitate to vote for them, still.

Finally a little justice!

Man, this trial has dragged out for years and years and years! But, in spite of apparently basing their entire income structure on suing people for copyright infringement, SCO now owes Novell $2.5 million dollars for doing just that. You’d think that a company that ended up primarily made of, and run by, lawyers would have been pretty careful in regards to the lawsuits they exposed themselves to if they planned on extorting money from people for intellectually property infringement. Well, I would, at any rate.

(Yeah, I know this is kind of old news, but, hell, I’ve been busy and this slipped by me until now.)