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GRAFFITI -- January 08, 2007 thru January 14, 2007 >> Link to the Current Week << Last Week << Mon   Tues   Wed   Thu   Fri   Sat   Sun >> Next Week Search this site : 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.

MONDAY    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
January 8, 2007

0915 - Good morning. I'm smack in the middle of a four hour conference call. And Marcia's on a train to New York. I *love* Mondays. See y'all later.

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Mon    TUESDAY    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
January 9, 2007

2012 - Good evening. Paid the bills, played with the very needy dogs, collected and carted the trash to the curb, played some more with the very needy dogs, formatted Jerry's column for posting this morning, and collapsed in a heap. That was yesterday evening.

Today was another day of chaos, not made better by not sleeping well. I've got about 7 hours in total over the last two nights, so I'm a bit whacked now. I've got a couple of fun things to report, but I'll hold them for tomorrow. See ya.

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Mon    Tues    WEDNESDAY    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
January 10, 2007

0723 - Good morning. Codeweavers has brought forth their new Crossover products: Crossover Linux (formerly Crossover Office), and Crossover Mac. Yeah, run (some) Windows apps on Mac OS X without Parallels or Bootcamp (or even a Windows license from MS). It runs Half Life 2 just fine, too. Better so far than either Windows or the Transgaming version of Wine. </shrug>

Jennifer is coming up from Atlanta on business. She'll fly up early and spend a day or two with us this upcoming weekend, before going down to Virginia for the working part of her trip. That's fun news, because Jen is my bacon buddy. Marcia sorta likes bacon, but hates the smell of it being prepared. Jen is a bacon fiend like me. So when she comes to visit, I get to make bacon.

Oh, and I'm still considering a MacBook Pro. Probably a bad idea, because I really don't need (not need, not as such) more processing power here than I have now. And if I did, getting a new mobo, more RAM, etc. would be a wiser choice, since I can't cart a personal laptop to work and connect it to the net there (policy under new management).

Eclectic musical tastes? Here are the most recent six songs from the random playlist:

Dire Straits - Once Upon A Time In The West
Sequentia - Symphonia / Symphonia: O quam mirabilis
George Strait - Do The Right Thing
The New York Choral Society - Keresimesi Qdun De O
Phil Collins - Take Me Home
Dixie Dregs - Take It Off The Top

That's enough fun for now. Have a great hump day!

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Mon    Tues    Wed    THURSDAY    Fri    Sat    Sun   
January 11, 2007

1944 - Gaaaaar! Did I mention Black Tuesday? I thought not. Microsoft made it blacker by not patching any of the actively attacked Word document vulnerabilities. And they pulled four patches from the proposed release just under the wire last Friday. What do you suppose goes on in the minds of the engineers there when they know that customers are getting whacked with the results of bad code, and something delays the patch release. Aaaaargh! springs to mind.

It was another frustrating day at the grindstone. Now I'm listening to Beethoven's Sixth Symphony to soothe the savage BOfH. I'm looking forward to a day where I don't provide end-user support for a product that I don't understand except to know that it doesn't work consistently. Right or wrong, give me consistency, pretty please. And I have network reconfiguration requirements being jammed down my throat by people who haven't even taken the time to understand the type of organization they're trying to integrate with ... grrrr. I think I'll need some Vivaldi next.

And I just opened my work mailbox. That was a mistake. Lets make that a double Vivaldi, please... At least it'll be Friday tomorrow.

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    FRIDAY    Sat    Sun   
January 12, 2007

No Post.....

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    SATURDAY    Sun   
January 13, 2007

1637 - Yo. A moderately lazy day today, much needed to unwind from the week. It helps my attitude vastly to have Marcia home again, needless to say. Today I ran out mid-morning, hit the bank and the post office, then the home center to get some lumber. I finally built a bench for the bench-top Jointer/Planer that Marcia got me for Christmas over two years ago. About time, don't you think?

Not much else to report. So I'll check email, then relax some more. Have a happy weekend.

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    SUNDAY  
January 14, 2007

1246 - Good afternoon. The cute and tolerant puppies let us sleep in this morning. I rolled out of bed just past nine. Marcia got up a few minutes later, when the smell of fresh-brewed coffee started to fill the house. I fed the dogs, and played with them until Marcia came down. The dogs are really good at helping me reduce internal stresses. Now we've finished our shopping, and I can have my breakfast of champions ... chocolate-covered donuts.

With Jennifer coming to visit tonight, I'm going to use the meat-grinder attachment to make some superior ground lamb/beef/pork to use in a red sauce over Barilla Plus multi-grain pasta. That and garlic bread should make a nice meal, don't you think?

I got an email the other day from a mother of one of the young men who gave their lives for us in Iraq. She gave me permission to post it here today...

And every name I post here on these Sundays has a family who suffers their loss far more than I can. I'm proud of our forces and the work that they do, but I hope that the Administration finds a strategy/policy path to let them finish their job and come home, sooner rather than later. And our debt to their sacrifices just continues to mount...

• Staff Sgt. Charles D. Allen, 28, of Wasilla, Alaska, died Jan. 4 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire during combat operations.
• Tech. Sgt. Timothy R. Weiner, 35, of Tamarac, Fla., was killed Jan. 7 by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while performing duties in the Baghdad area supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Senior Airman Elizabeth A. Loncki, 23, of New Castle, Del., was killed Jan. 7 by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while performing duties in the Baghdad area supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Senior Airman Daniel B. Miller Jr., 24, Galesburg, Ill., was killed Jan. 7 by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while performing duties in the Baghdad area supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Cpl. Jeremiah J. Johnson, 23, of Vancouver, Wash., died Jan. 6 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle rolled over Dec. 26 in Baghdad.
• Sgt. Aron C. Blum, 22, of Tucson, Ariz., died Dec. 28 at Naval Medical Center, San Diego, Calif., of a non-hostile cause after being evacuated from Al Anbar province, Iraq, on Dec. 8.
• Sgt. James M. Wosika Jr., 24, of St. Paul, Minn., died Jan. 9 in Fallujah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit while on combat patrol.
• Spc. Eric T. Caldwell, 22, of Salisbury, Md., died Jan 7 in Iraq of wounds sustained when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire.
• Spc. Raymond N. Mitchell, III, 21, of West Memphis, Ark., died Jan 6 in Baghdad, Iraq of wounds sustained during route security operations.
• Pfc. Ming Sun, 20, of Cathedral City, Calif., died Jan. 9 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire during combat patrol operations.
• Pfc. Ryan R. Berg, 19, of Sabine Pass, Texas, died Jan. 9 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire.
• Maj. Michael L. Mundell, 47, of Brandenburg, Ky., died Jan. 5 in Fallujah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations.
• Cpl. Stephen J. Raderstorf, 21, of Peoria, Ariz., died Jan. 7 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds sustained during combat operations.

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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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