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GRAFFITI -- May 24, 2004 thru May 30, 2004>> Link to the Current Week <<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. |
 
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May 24, 2004
0721 - Good morning, more or less. I've woken up with pressure and pain in my left ear. Ever since we got here, I've been prone to such things. The good news is that if I catch it quick, with decongestants and anti-inflamatories, all is okay in a day or two.On the up-side, there still aren't a whole lot of cicada's immediately nearby, evidently the construction of our part of the subdivision, less than 17 years ago, put a bit of a kink in their local strategy. The garden continues to do well, with fruit already growing on all 12 tomato plants. The first planting of corn is reaching a foot high, the second planting is poking up out of the ground, and the third went in yesterday. We've got flowers on the squashes, and another small portion of peas from that patch. The carrots are also coming along nicely.
Back on the bad news page, my display here, when running from Goldfinger, has developed quite a nervous twitch. It's not quite 60 cycle, and the problem isn't the monitor - I can switch to one of the other workstations and it's fine. So either the cable between the system and KVM is picking up interference (with nothing changed in the last several weeks, that's unlikely) or the video card's gone wonky (possible, it's a couple of years old). So this evening I'll check the cable positioning first, then I'll see if the fan on the video card needs servicing. If neither of those does the trick, then it'll be time for a new video card.
I installed Fedora Core 2 on Galadriel, over on the left side of my desk. The install was painless, and didn't blow away my other Linux installs. Evidently Fedora reserves that kind of behaviour for Win2K/XP partitions. A full boat install (yeah, I did that) takes up 6.2G. Yowza!
This morning, I'm headed down to the District to do a site walkthrough in anticipation of writing up a response to an RFQ from the organization in question. Then I'll head up to Gathersburg to work on a mail server to replace Sendmail running under Solaris 8 on an E450. I've got a couple of small gigs coming up this week, little one-off half day jobs. But now I need to jump in the shower and get ready for today's part. Have a great day!
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May 25, 2004
0843 - Good morning. A brief note from work... I had my desk contents - computers, cabling and whatnot - spread out across the office yesterday evening as I worked to track down the culprit in my jittery monitor. It appears to be a combination of system, monitor, resolution, refresh rate, and the KVM. Change any one of those five things and the jitter is gone. The resolution stays, as I'm not going to sacrifice that many pixels. So for now, it's two monitors on the desk - the 19" is plugged directly into the workstation, and the other three machines route through the Hawking KVM to the 17" spare monitor. That'll be fine for now.
I need to get to work here, so you have a great day!
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May 26, 2004
0555 - Good morning. Yes, yes, yes, it's bloody early. But a client site had problems transferring some of their machines to a UPS late last night, and I couldn't debug over the phone, so I'm headed over there before my first officially scheduled stop of the morning, which is at 8. I really shouldn't be up this early unless I'm going fishing, but then, a gig is a gig, neh? Now I've got to go pour that cup of coffee and get on the road. Sorry for the short posts, it's just a busy time, and Larry's out of town. Take care...
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May 27, 2004
0651 - Good morning. Another early start, but not nearly like yesterday's. I'd finished my first two gigs by nine in the morning. Today I start off way around the Beltway, then finish up in Gaithersburg. We'll see if I can hold it to 8 hours...
Finally, a governor to be proud of:
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Gov. Robert Ehrlich is publicly declining to apologize for dismissing multiculturalism as "crap" and "bunk," trying instead to clarify a position he says he's held for many years - that Americans should celebrate their heritage without isolating individual ethnic groups.
Yep. He's doomed, but damn! Rock on brother, you have my vote next time. He's also against the assault weapons ban. Of course, he would be, what with his wife Kendal threatening to shoot Britney Spears. Grin. No, really, and at a conference on domestic violence, to boot! But I'm with Republican Ehrlich on the multiculturalism stance, for two reasons. One is, in so saying, he's standing up for the remarks made by his Democratic Comptroller, who said that when he orders food at McDonalds, he expects to have the people be able to communicate with him in English. Second, he says these words that so many people believe, but never expected to hear from a politician. Ballsy. Yeah, so it's insensitive. Get over it. If I went to France and worked in a restaurant in a customer-contact position, I'd be expected to speak French, no? Here, Ballots should be printed only in English. Government services in English. Translators? Sure, but not at taxpayer expense. People that immigrate here have sponsors, to get their green cards, to get jobs, etc. That's a sponsor's gig, helping the person that wants to be an American learn and grow. If they don't want to be an American, then WTF are they doing here??? If I move someplace, I don't expect to be coddled, I expect to learn, and become part of my new home. If I go work in that restaurant, I'd expect to be emptying the scuppers and peeling potatoes while I learn enough of the local lingo to do more. I don't expect my new home to print me ballots in English and celebrate the Fourth of July just because I came there from America. Anyway, Bob Ehrlich, you're okay in my book, at least on these issues. But Bob, you've gotta drop that abortion stance.
Oh, and here's one from Eric Idle, singing a little ditty (and it's a litttle dirty, yay) in praise of yet another Federal bureaucracy working hard to strip us of our rights. Thanks to Doc for bringing that one (and the next one) to my attention.
And just the other day, I was talking at lunch with friends about my favorite DJ during those important formative years, Dr. Don Rose. I'm pleased to find that the guy is still around and kickin'. I listened to him on KFRC mornings for years and years. I went to school with his kids. He's always been one of the good guys, and all I can say is rock on, Dr. Don!
Now to work with me. Have a great day!
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May 28, 2004
0638 - Good morning. Thunder and lightning, torrential rains: That defined our overnight experience. I'm whacked, but so, so glad it's Friday, and soon a three day weekend. I got the front lawn mowed yesterday evening on schedule, and had yet another productive working day. Today, only one client site, not three or two. So that's going to inject a bit of needed sanity into my day. I'd best be about it. Have a good 'un.
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May 29, 2004
1432 - Hullo. I slept late, ate breakfast, did yardwork, ate lunch. Now I'm going to take a shower, then a nap. Sounds like a good start to a holiday weekend, eh? Experiments with Mandrake 10 await, soon. Have a great day!
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May 30, 2004
1015 - Good morning. It's our anniversary today. Six years now Marcia's been putting up with me. Amazing, isn't it? Anyway, we've got a lazy day ahead, and we'll go out to On The Border, our favorite mexican joint, for supper tonight. Thanks for dropping by, and happy almost Memorial Day.
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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.
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