|
|
HomeGraffitiAboutSitemapVisualDevWork
Email BrianGPG Key |
GRAFFITI -- August 11 thru August 17, 2003>> Latest: Sunday, 0735 EDT <<Last Week << Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun >> Next Week Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable. About 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.. |
WebCam
|
MONDAY
Tues
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
August 11, 2003 - Updates at 0709 EST
RIP, Lenore Thompson. Bob's mom passed away last night. Marcia and I were privileged to have met Lenore, conversed with her and watched her spar with Bob, two rapier wits, one a little slowed with age, but demanding no quarter. We have a couple of drawings that she did, up on the wall, too. Lenore was a special lady, and I'm pleased to carry her in my memories.
And so, good morning, anyway. Thus begins a hell week, with just the tiniest of whimpers, more because it's another Monday than because there's a long hard week ahead. We'll have fun along the way, too, because installing new hardware and making it work right is actually quite a pleasure. And for the bits that don't work, well, we'll make them work, and there are victories to be had, or at least hacks to be found in that fertile ground, as well.
But posts are likely to be sporadic and/or sparse. Then in the following week, I'll be catching up on all my other clients who've been ignored because of this big move. So really there are two weeks before things stabilize. Then it'll be Labor Day, we're attending a wedding. And probably that'll be followed closely by the first snow of the season - that's right - an early heavy snowfall to pay me for ignoring Marcia when she said to buy a snow blower last year. Feh. But maybe I'm just being cynical.
One more bright spot from the weekend - I made the first salsa that was ALL from our own tomatos and hot peppers. Maybe I'll take some to work today, if I can remember by the time I make it downstairs in a couple of minutes.
Marcia and Sally are doing fine. Hey, what do you call a planet that has no major landmasses? Incontinent? Perhaps - the association is there for Sally, whose meds are giving her just a little bit of a problem when she sleeps. So we're cutting back on the evening water intake, to see if that helps matters at all. But then, we took her off of another med, and that removal may also be the cause of the problem.
Look back to Sunday for some humor and a cool Linux hack to backup disks and/or partitions. My Saturday was extraordinarily productive, and Sunday partially so - I only put in about 7 hours on client projects. I wanted to do more, but not enough to really wear myself out over it. So one is done, and one in progress, and I'll squeak more in where I can. Instead I watched cop dramas on the tube with Marcia all evening, then read for a few minutes before dropping off.
Now I must fly. See ya back here soon.
Mon
TUESDAY
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
August 12, 2003 - Updates at 0723
Good morning, in a funny sort of way. MSBLASTER is a problem - this is a hardy Internet work that exploits the DCOM/RPC vulnerability discussed in MS03-026. If you haven't applied the appropriate patch, and/or if you've got ports 135, 139, 445 or any custom designated DCOM ports open to the Internet, your machine may already be in a world of hurt. It's especially important to get those ports blocked to both TCP and UDP traffic, as it's come to light that the worm may be infecting hosts that are patched. Additionally, you can disable DCOM on machines that don't use DCOM for any purpose - directions are given on the TechNet page referenced above. I can also recommend Linux as a viable alternative operating system for many (but not all) purposes.
Yesterday, Scott and I worked for hours bringing more network segments up in the new site, and fighting with recalcitrent device configurations. But almost everything planned for yesterday happened, so that's a good thing. But the jaw-dropping item is that the major machine part of the move appears to have been moved up a couple of days. Um, okay. I guess so. Whew, that caught me off guard. I hope we're ready for that. I think we will be.
Today I've got a brief onsite call for a client down in Forestville, then back up to Rockville I go, back on the move-prep treadmill. I guess I'd best be about my business. See you around.
Mon
Tues
WEDNESDAY
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
August 13, 2003 - Updates at 0610
Thirteen is a lucky number for me, and that's a good thing, since a fair number of final bits are going into place on the new site's network today before we start moving machines tomorrow. Yesterday was reasonably successful, and I expect the move to go very smoothly, on the infrastructure side. User glitches are likely to eat us alive for the first week after moving stuff, unless I'm very much mistaken. But still, right now, my smart money says that I won't have to work both days this weekend.
Marcia's doing great and Sally's okay. I slept well last night, and ate very well, as our friend Shelly brought over and cooked supper for us - taking the load off of Marcia and myself during this hard week. Thanks!!!
Now I must be on my way - I've a lot of configuration to do today, then I'll be headed up to the new site and setting up more machines. Have a great day!
Mon Tues Wed
THURSDAY Fri Sat Sun
August 14, 2003 - Updates at 2050
Good evening. I just got home. It was a 14 hour day. Successful, but too long a day to have energy left over for posting here. Sorry. Another couple of hell days, then things should smooth out quite a bit. Now to get some dinner. Later!
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thu
FRIDAY
Sat
Sun
August 15, 2003 - Updates at 2003
Home again, and ready for supper and a nap. Instead, I'll settle for supper, paying the bills, then collapsing into a sleep of the dead for a few short hours. I'll most likely be working Saturday and Sunday both, so expect more of less around here. I'll catch you up when I can. Thanks for your patience.
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thu
Fri
SATURDAY
Sun
August 16, 2003 - Updates at n/a
No post.
Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat
SUNDAY
August 17, 2003 - Updates at 0735
Good morning. Yesterday, I was out of the house from 0730 to 1230. From a paycheck perspective, it was a very good day. From a major tasks attempted and accomplished perspective, I batted .500. So I'm headed back today to continue the self-flagellation of sending an ill-determined set of serial signals from an old DG machine up through an ethernet connection, courtesy of a serial port server made by Digiboard. The product itself works great. We just haven't apparently successfully determined which pins need to be send through the Digi.
No guest head again today, I've not the time. In other news, we've had a little rain each day, which has saved me on the watering front. There's a bunch of fresh veg coming out of the garden. The house is keeping up with itself alright, and the landlord had the driveway resurfaced for us on Thursday. That's not just a slurry job - they broke up the edges,and put down new asphalt, as well as filling in the curb ramp that had gone to pieces prior to our arrival here.
Marcia had a fairly busy day yesterday, with hair and a spot of grocery shopping. And when all was said and done, she wasn't totally drained. I guess that means that her recovery from surgery is progressing well. Sally's latest ear infection cleared up, her balance and energy are revived a bit, and her incontinence seems to have abated. That's all to the good.
I guess it's time for a shower, and for me to get ready for another day's battle with the computer from Hell. Have a lovely day.
Last Week << Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun >> Next Week
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 © 1999-2003 Brian P. Bilbrey.
