Diary of a Network Geek

I took Hilda for a ride last night.
I paid bills yesterday and ran them over to the post office right away. And, since my sweet, brown girl has become my constant companion, I got Hilda all harnessed up and took her for a ride with me. I got her a “Travelin’ Dog Car Harness” from PetSmart, which she doesn’t really like, but keeps her safe. I got the “medium” for her at first, but it was so small I couldn’t get it on her and I had to get the “Large”. Unfortunately, the “Large” is almost TOO big and I had to cinch it all the way down so that it fits and still works. I like this particular harness because it lets her set up in the seat next to me and see what’s going on, but it attaches to the seat-belt to keep her safe in case of a sudden stop. Also, it’s padded for her comfort.
She’s really funny when we ride together. She rests her little chin on the door by the window and sticks her nose into the airvent. And, she’s done this enough times to know what the word “ride” means now, too. She gets so excited that she can barely hold still long enough for me to put the harness on her! And, when we got home, she was so excited about having an adventure that she was practically vibrating. My only regret was there was no one to tell this all to when we got home. I guess that’s why I’m writing this entry; so that someone, somewhere who knows us knows that we had fun.

Oh, and in unrelated news, I’ve been invited to join the “prayer team” at my church. Well, the “church I attend” is more accurate, since I haven’t actually joined. I really ought to go ahead and join, but I have a few things I want to grill the pastors about first. I find myself diverging somewhat from standard church doctrine and I feel funny about joining this church until I know where they stand on a few issues. Oddly enough, I find myself worried about being too liberal, instead of too conservative. I guess I must be growing up. Or, at least, changing.
Anyway, if you want us to pray for you, drop me a note. Some of you regular readers will be on my prayer list anyway. And, even though there are some of you that would most likely rather not be on my list, I’m going to pray for you anyway.

There’s a new Pope!
I saw this on the news at lunch and had to look up a story about it to link to for the blog. Here’s one from MSNBC about the new German Pope. So, now this is the second time in hundreds of years that there’s been a non-Italian Pontif and this one is, apparently, much more conservative than John Paul II. Not sure what that will mean to Catholicism around the world, or that he’ll even stay conservative now that he’s Pope, but it’s an interesting turn of events. I find it especially interesting because I’m questioning my own very conservative Christian upbringing. I’m not entirely sure that I believe in absoultely everything that I was taught as a child. And, I’m afraid that it will be quite some time before I figure it all out, too.

Oh, I did finish a book that I’d been laboring over for weeks on end, too. I did a review of the book, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, at Fantasist.net, but I’m too lazy to do anything more than post a link to it. So, if you want to read it, you’ll have to give me traffic to the other site. More news later in the week.

Maybe I should have saved this for Halloween…
Nah! For those of you who know me, you know that I love Clive Barker. As an author, you pervy freaks, as an author! Anyway, when I first read his stuff in college it was a startling eye-opener. It was truly like nothing I’d ever read before. And, when I saw the Hellraiser movies, well, you can imagine the impact it made on me.
I felt similar impact when I saw this casemod: PuzzleBox. The bizarre, translucent case with the infamous “Pinhead” looking out is just way too cool for words. You have got to see it for yourself! (Here’s a link to the completed project, by the way.)

Anyway, it’s some freaky fun for a Friday, so click the link! You know that morbid curiosity will get to you sooner or later!

I have a feeling I’m wearing thin on my friends.
Especially because I want to bring Hilda with me everywhere I go! As I’ve mentioned before, I really regret not socializing her more with my in-laws dogs when I had the chance. My sister-in-law has a little lhasa (sp?) mix that could’ve used some socializing, too, so it would have been a good thing. Ah, well, no help for it now. So, I need to find friends who have dogs. What to do?
Lo and behold, while checking my Hotmail account last week, I found an article about meeting people. One of the suggestions was to go to a dog park. Perfect idea! Not only does my dog get socialized, but so do I! So, I did a quick Google and found the Houston Dog Park Association. There are several that should be an easy drive. At least, I think it’ll be an easy drive with Hilda. She’s still getting used to the whole car-harness thing. And, I recently made contact with a former head-hunter who is also recently single and a dog owner. Could it be kismet?
Probably not, but it might be fun anyway. Stay tuned for more details about our doggie adventures!

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Everyone deserves to be happy, but not if that happiness is dependent on imprisoning or enslaving another human being."
   --Unintentionally ironic comment left on a blog

I must be the only person I know who gives his therapist homework!
Yeah, okay, I know a lot of people who are in therapy, or who have been recently. And they all talk about “homework” from their therapist. Things to write or read or whatever. Well, I give my therapist homework.
I have to admit, I get a little compulsive about certain things sometimes, like writing. I write because I just can’t help myself. I keep saying that I’ll stay away from this blog even, but before I know it, I’m sitting in front of a keyboard typing away. Over the years, I’ve produced a rather prodigious amount of written work, of one kind or another. Everything from e-mails to stories to journals to, well, this blog! So, after reading some of that output last week, I decided to print a bunch of it for my therapist. I figure it’s got to give him insight into my long-term thought processes, right? Well, to be honest, I think I overwhelmed him a little tonight. I guess when he told me last week that I was a good writer, it went to my head. In fact, when I told him about Ghyll, he told me that if I were going to do that, I should write for publication and get paid for it. Just like a good writing coach! So, when I finish the last two rounds of that game, I think I will. Write for publication, that is. Maybe I’ll even publish one day.

Hey, I wonder if that tricksy therapist was really giving me homework after all!

It might not be the smallest, but it’s close!
Thanks to my recovered Bloglines feed to Gizmodo, I bring you Picotux! The site claims that it’s the smallest device actually running a Linux kernel in existance and, frankly, I can believe it. It’s not any bigger than a freaking ethernet jack! Man, that is cool.

Hey, if you’re reading this, you’re either a stalker or a geek like me, or both, so, click the link. You know you want to. Even if you’re just the stalker. After all, what else are you going to do on a Friday? Work?

I collect everything.
And, I throw virtually nothing out, either. I came across pictures that I couldn’t even date because they were so old yesterday. Earlier this evening, I was printing out e-mails from 1998. I have half-finished stories that go back to the early 90’s or late 80’s. Text files of mysterious and unknown origin.
Why?
Who knows. In some cases, I hold on to them “just in case they’re usefull one day”. In other cases, it’s a sense of impending nostalgia. And, in some cases, it’s a freaky sense of “I’m going to need to re-read this one day, just to remind myself what I was thinking.” It was mostly this last reason that I found myself printing e-mails tonight. Things I’d predicted, which have since come to pass, even though I tried hard to believe in another outcome. I’m continually amazed at mankind’s skills at self-deception, especially when I’m that particular “mankind”.
Well, live and learn. I cried a little tonight, for the things I’ve lost since moving down here in 1998. Things I think I was always meant to lose. But, then, I’ve gained so many things, too, so, it’s not all bad.
My advice to you, faithful readers? Keep those old files. Save them on CD-Rs or on tapes and look back at them years from now. See how their meanings have changed and reflect on what that means to your life. Change is inevitable, but direction is optional.

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"When I'm working on a problem I never think about beauty. I think only of how to solve the problem. But, when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong."
   --R. Buckminster Fuller

Well, I just sent a friend home with leftovers.
A friend of mine was feeling out of sorts today, as his wife has been out of town for a bit and will be for a bit more. So, he came over and we ordered Domino’s. He brought cheesecake and fancy root beer from Whole Foods. We just sat and watched some “true crime” drama on A&E that my therapist had thought I’d find interesting, which I did. It was adult subject matters, so I won’t discuss it here. (And, no, it wasn’t any deviant behavior that I actually performed, just stuff I knew a little too much about!)
Mainly we talked and were companionable. And, of course, he tried to get my poor, nervous dog to trust him. She’s even more skittish than she was before she left me for a bit. Poor thing. I think that plane flight really messed her up. But, she sure is devoted to me. Even Paul, my friend, had to mention that. She noticed every time I got up or left the room or entered the room. And, most times, she followed me. She’s a good dog. It was good for her to interact with some other people this week. I hope to do that more in the coming months. She really needs to be socialized more. And, so do I.

Hilda and I went out for dinner last night.
My dog is learning to ride in the car very nicely now. Well, now that I’ve adjusted her car-harness so that she can’t creep out of it! Actually, she’s learned to sit in that front seat and lean her chin against the edge of the door where the window is and have her nose in the air from the vent. Sure, I have a bunch of dogsnot on that window now, but she looks so cute.
Anyway, I decided I need to socialize her more, and I need to get out some, too. So, instead of packing crap that will be leaving the house, I came home from work late, phoned a couple of friends and, ulimately, invited myself over to dinner. And, of course, Hilda had to come with me, since she’s become my little, brown shadow.
She was even an angel when I stopped on the way home to get gas. She was laying down most of the way home and simply sat up and made faces at the strange man in front of us at the gas station. It sill amazes me how much respect I get at gas stations driving a retired police car, even with my beard. Go figure.

Oh, and if you’re wondering why I keep talking about my dog, it’s actually quite simple. There’s nothing else safe for me to talk about right now. I can’t talk about my work troubles, in case someone there reads my blog. And, I can’t talk about the “other stuff” in case I’m being stalked. Or in case anyone thinks I’ve said or done anything worth sueing over. Or, whatever. So, Hilda is a nice, safe topic. Though, maybe I should name the koi after operating systems and talk about them to boost my Google ranking….

We went shopping today.
Hilda has always been a nervous dog and she’s never been as well socialized as she should or could have been. I blame myself, really. I should have been walking her and bringing her around to my in-laws and whatnot much more than I did. So, I’ve resolved to change that some. She’s only two years old and that leaves us plenty of time to work out all the bugs, so to speak. Toward that end, we went shopping at PetSmart today.
Hilda needed a car-riding harness, since the one I bought her last week was far too small. And, based on the two or three dreadlock-like tangles she had on the side of her face, I thought we should get a brush again right away. She’ll need to get used to that again, too. I’m sure it won’t be long before she’s primping and preening like the little doggie princess she is. And, we got her two tennis balls to chase and catch. Though, I have to admit, the returning part of fetch seems to be a challenge for her this afternoon. She still does catch amazingly well, though, which was always fun. And, finally, we got the longest tug-toy they had in the store. Hilda has always loved playing tug-of-war. For a little dog, she’s really amazingly strong. She’s only 45 pounds, but she can almost pull me off my feet!
The other dogs made her a little nervous, as did the two or three small children wandering around the store. The H.O.P.E. dogs all started barking at her when I went to see the ladies at the volunteer table. And, I found out that H.O.P.E. most likely won’t have anything at all on Sundays anymore at my closest PetSmart. Some kind of behind-the-scenes political kerfluffle. Thankfully, I’ve not gotten that involved, so I have no idea what was going on. Unfortunately, that may slow down my volunteering there. But, with things the way they are in the rest of my life, that may not be such a terrible thing right now. Well, like so much in my life, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
At the moment, though, I have to go work on the laundry and play with my dog. Have a great weekend!