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Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable. EMAIL - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message.. |
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August 12, 2002 - Updates at 1810 EDT
Good morning. Happy Monday! I have an immense number of things to do, but catching up with y'all is near the top of my list, so here I am. As I noted briefly yesterday, I spent the day assembling furniture... about one third of the stuff I took apart in California is now back together, here. All in all, everything survived the move well. A couple of broken bits here, a dinged dresser edge there, but overall things are in fine shape. The cardboard backer bits that come with virtually every piece of Sauder furniture were left behind, though, in tatters and shreds. Cardboard nailed to wood doesn't come apart well. So early on in the packing process, I decided to replace all that with finished-surface pressboard, one-eighth inch thick and attached with screws, not nails. That slows the assembly at this end, but it's going well, and the pieces will be sturdier to boot!
This morning, we took Sally to the veterinarian for a follow up to last week's visit. She had gotten a bit of a skin infection down in the nether region, so we've (well, Marcia, at least) has been treating her with pills and a topical antibiotic. She's responded well to treatment, and today she also got her updated shots, for a type of kennel fever (?) and Lyme disease. Also we're starting her on Thyroid meds, to replace her missing functionality (we learned THAT last week, too). This should also help with her skin troubles.
As a final wrap up to the hell-drive to Nebraska and back, let me make the following observations: The service department at Husker Auto Group in Lincoln, Nebraska rocks! They came in under bid, charging us nearly $100 less than estimated, and fixed a few extra problems in the bargain. Nice people, especially Scott Campbell, made that whole problem a lot less troublesome for me.
I had to get ONE ticket, didn't I? It took an Iowa State Trooper to give me a warning notice for the license plate frame covering up the top part of the "C" in California at the top of the plate to meet the requirements for harassing out-of-state drivers on his Saturday. Geez! Functionally, over nine days, I drove a distance equivalent to back and forth across the continent, and the best they could all muster up was a bullsheiss Improper Display warning? Well, I didn't much exceed the limits at any time, and I drove sanely (if for insanely long days), so I guess they had to come up with something.
I may not have mentioned that the radio is out in the Benz. That means that my whole first 2900 miles of driving were to the sounds of engine, tires, and those pesky voices... hehehee! Going back to Nebraska and returning, I tracked the Classic Rock stations all the way across. Mostly I got robotically programmed Clear Channel stations, with an unnatural affinity for Greg Kihn tunes, especially the Breakup Song, which I must have heard at least 13 times over the three day run. However, there were a couple of employee-owned and programmed stations in the Chicago area that were pretty good.
Enough putting off the inevitable... I have more furniture to assemble. I *must* do so before I start unpacking computers, or Marcia's spaces will never get organized. So, see you later. If you've sent me mail, then I'll do my best to get around to it later today. TTFN!
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August 13, 2002 - Updates at 0820
Good morning. I only have one more "big" piece of furniture to assemble. There's countless smaller tasks and assemblies to be completed, but with all the major furniture assembled, the process of unpacking can accelerate dramatically. Computers. Tunes. Fun stuff that doesn't require quite so much sweating. And sweating is endemic here in the DC Metroplex, what with triple digit temperatures and high humidity. Fortunately, the aircon is working marvelously.
I want to get to it now, while the temps are low. See you later!
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August 14, 2002 - Updates at 0715
Howdy. Around here, I think everything's assembled, and now we're down to emptying boxes. Oh, wait, I still have shelving to put up in the garage. But all the in-house stuff is done, and now my big wait is for the DSL circuit to go live. I'll be very, very happy to not be on dialup, though. However, no unboxing and computer setup for me here today... I'm going to work.
You may recall that my new gig is working for the Network Engineering & Resources Development Specialists, LLC (NERDS). Well, they're bringing me out of the bullpen a little earlier than expected. One of their clients just moved to a new facility in downtown DC, and only about a third of their systems are up and running. So I'm off to play moves, adds and changes man. Should be fun. See you later.
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August 15, 2002 - Updates at 0800
Good morning. This week, our second in Maryland (well, Marcia's second, my real first, since I made that trip back to Nebraska nearly immediately) is starting to wind down. Some new things to tell, however...
DSL is coming. Yep, we just don't know when. My order status page at Speakeasy indicated that Covad expected delivery of the working service on Friday the 16th. Then they closed the order, installation completed, yesterday morning before 0700. Mmmmm. I knew it was too good to be true. No sync. I was on the horn with Speakeasy several times yesterday, checking for training signals, doing all the steps in the troubleshooting two-step. Nothing worked, needless to say.
Now the coordination dance begins between Verizon and Covad. We'll see how well it goes. I got three trucks out here from Verizon in less than 24 hours for line problems. I wonder how responsive they'll be to Covad's requests?
Work yesterday was fun. I like walking into a place, finding systems that aren't and networks that don't, then making many of the bits run properly. My boss and I spent a few hours there, testing lines and bringing up workstations. Then he had to bail, and I finished up installing networked printers (and/or finding work-arounds when the JetDirect devices failed to provide ... direction). I was home by 1430 or so, in time to start my interactions with Speakeasy.
Today, I've got more unpacking and setup to do, although all the literally heavy work is done. Just lots of boxes to unpack, systems to setup and so on. Also I'm going to get in touch with the DMV out here today and find out what we need to do about our licenses and vehicle registrations. So that's early on my list. But first, while it's cool, I'll go out and water the yard, then perhaps take Sally for a little walk. She's been really good (and she needs a bath, too... mmmmm, should I?).
Ooooh, and I keep putting off the inevitable: I've over a thousand non-spam messages in my inbox. I keep scanning the new arrivals by sender and subject for hot items, then letting the backlog of list traffic and interesting-but-not-immediate items pile up. That's got to change, and soon. Maybe this afternoon when it gets hotter and I want to rest for a bit.
Catch you later, or tomorrow. Ciao!
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August 16, 2002 - Updates at 0816
Hullo. First the bad news: We still have no DSL. Verizon claimed that they used an Alcatel modem and sync'd on my line, thus "confirming" to Covad that they've done their job properly. What, here? During the one hour I was out to Home Depot and Radio Shack? Maybe they did this in the CO. I dunno. But anyway, I tried again to get my Efficient Networks Speedstream modem to sync up yesterday afternoon at the NID, no joy. So now Covad's rolling a truck to do a "Professional Install" that may cost upwards of a couple hundred bucks. Let's not worry that I can do network installations including clean home-run Cat5 multidrop setups with patch panels and the whole nine yards. Let's just say that I'll make the tech try to sync his modem from the NID, and see where that takes us.
I did yardwork yesterday morning, and by the time I was done it was too hot to take Sally for a walk. So after putting a latch on the shed, I'll take care of doing that and giving her a bath. She's due.
The balance of my yesterday was taken up with unpacking boxes, putting up bathroom fixtures, setting up Marcia's tech-center (where everything's connected right at the back, and all the plugs are up front for the laptop, or whatever), and so on. Marcia, once home, finished up unpacking the living room. So what's left is her office, and organizing the garage. I'd honestly much rather be done, but unpacking is going much more quickly than the packing process did.
I'd best get busy. See you later!
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August 17, 2002 - Updates at 1200
Short shrift time: No DSL, the Covad tech went MIA. Rescheduled for Tuesday in the AM. We've got our Maryland driver's licenses though, and I have some appliances to assemble. Back later perhaps, when the heat's died down a bit.
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August 18, 2002 - Updates at 0845
Good morning, happy Sunday. You know, one of these days, I'm going to get back to the technology side of things. Yesterday I spent building things that run on fire. That's right, a proper LP Gas barbeque, and a lawnmower. Both were on clearance at Sears. So I lost a few pounds working outside assembling these things, trying to interpret the manual where the dripping sweat had started to melt the pages. (I'll get used to the weather out here. Really, I will.) So today I'll fill the LP tank and do that hookup, and get a gas can for the mower. Then we'll see if I forgot anything critical. The good news is that there were no parts left over when I was done with assembly. Usually that's the case, then there's room for ... improvement.
The unpacking process is about complete. We're down to odds and ends. Since this place is considerably larger (about 2X) than our previous abode, there's no need to shoehorn last items into place. However, it can still be tricky figuring out where to put something. The good news is that all the large furniture pretty much remains where we put it in the first couple of days. Wooo Hooo!
Also today, we're going for a major stocking run to Costco and Safeway. We've been waiting, and waiting for the promised new (er?) refrigerator. Waiting is done. No, not a new fridge, the same one,but we'll stock and freeze, and hope for the best. What's been previously unstated is that, while the house is generally nice, it wasn't in move-in condition when we got here. It should have been. Given that it wasn't, the work that remained should have been accomplished expeditiously. It hasn't been, even with numerous calls to the landlord and her maintenance guy. I'm disappointed, but we can live with this, at least for the time being. And we'll keep the pressure on to get things done right.
I don't know what else I'll get into today, so stay tuned. Maybe just one or two pictures later. Not much more than that though, not on dialup. See you around.
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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.
All Content Copyright © 1999-2002 Brian P. Bilbrey.
