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GRAFFITI -- February 19, 2007 thru February 25, 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   
February 19, 2007

1726 - Good afternoon. Another spot of driving today ... all the way back from North Carolina. We decided to pop down there just for a long weekend. At that, it was really too short a trip for the amount of driving involved, but we did have a really good time. Now I've got to get the bills written, and format Pournelle's column for tomorrow. Ciao!

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February 20, 2007

2042 - Good evening. I've recently finished applying DST updates to all of the systems under my direct control, using an adaptation of the procedure that Mike Mills pointed at the other day. Here's the drill:

Do the following as root. Get this file: ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/tzdata2007b.tar.gz (or alternately, a later one from that directory) and unpack it in a directory on the target system:

mkdir /tmp/blah && cd /tmp/blah && tar zxf /path/to/tzdata2007b.tar.gz

Compile the timezone files:

zic europe
zic africa
zic northamerica
zic southamerica
zic backward

Check to be sure that /etc/localtime is a link, not a copy, or just ensure it by doing this (or similar, for your timezone):

rm -f /etc/localtime && ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime

Test it by typing:

zdump -v /etc/localtime | grep 2007

/etc/localtime  Sun Mar 11 06:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Mar 11 01:59:59 2007 EST isdst=0 gmtoff=-18000
/etc/localtime  Sun Mar 11 07:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Mar 11 03:00:00 2007 EDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-14400
/etc/localtime  Sun Nov  4 05:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Nov  4 01:59:59 2007 EDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-14400
/etc/localtime  Sun Nov  4 06:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Nov  4 01:00:00 2007 EST isdst=0 gmtoff=-18000

Which should yield that sort of results.

I understand there are work-arounds for unsupported Windows platforms. You may want to use those.

Once again, the day got away from me. Left for work at 0630, back by 1915. Whew. I'm staying busy, that's good, at least. Mañana!

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February 21, 2007

No Post...

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February 22, 2007

2142 - Good evening. And the days fly by. I'm busier still than a one-armed paper hanger: my apologies. We are taking some time each evening to take in one of Derek Jacobi's fine Brother Cadfael gigs. And tonight I cut in around the rest of the trim in the master bedroom. Tomorrow I'll finish in the field on the last two walls. Saturday, I'll re-prime everything and we'll go get the top coat paint - two gallons will be more than enough. Then color goes up on Sunday. That leaves the week following for tweaking the trim, possible finishes and adjustments before the new carpet goes in on the 6th of March. Now, on to the email...

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February 23, 2007

No Post.....

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February 24, 2007

0841 - Good morning. It's a sunny day in the low 40's, and I'm ready to put the second coat of primer on the walls. Back later.

2111 - Good evening. Welcome to later. First bit of fun was this picture from a couple of weeks ago. Lucy was sacked out on a chair in the family room, and couldn't be bothered to move, even while I ran upstairs and grabbed the camera to capture her ear just trailing in the breeze off the edge of the chair. What a lazy puppy!

I did get a complete room coat of primer done today. One of my downfalls is the inability to do something half-assed. There's a minor crack in the paint, where the joint tape was slightly delaminated. It had been that way for years, I guess, well-hidden by the dark walls and faux finish. Now with plain flat primer, every flaw shows up. I can live with minor dings and bumps - people pay, after all, for the distressed look. But no, not a straight-line vertical bead, even one that would have covered reasonably well with primer and topcoat. I cut it out, and refilled. So I primed around that, and I'll sand and reprime tomorrow. That can dry while I cut in the edges of the color coat. By the time I come around again with color in the field, it'll be well dry.

Now I need to figure out how to re-title pictures on the camera. Wish me luck, see y'all tomorrow.

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    SUNDAY  
February 25, 2007

1109 - Good morning. <Page UP> buys you a gratuitous Lucy picture, and some description of yesterday's prep and painting work. We did make it out in the early evening to buy the color coat. This morning, the shopping is done already and I should start painting. But my responsibility calls ...

• Tech. Sgt. Scott E. Duffman, 32, of Albuquerque, N.M., died Feb. 18 when the coalition Chinook helicopter he was riding in crashed in eastern Afghanistan.
• Sgt. 1st Class William C. Spillers, 39, of Terry, Miss., died Feb. 17 in Baghdad, Iraq, from a non-combat related injury.
• Spc. Chad E. Marsh, 20, of Wichita, Kan., died Feb. 18 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when a grenade detonated near him during combat operations.
• Sgt. Matthew S. Apuan, 27, of Las Cruces, N.M., died Feb. 18 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with the enemy using small arms fire while on combat patrol.
• Pfc. Justin T. Paton, 24, of Alanson, Mich., died Feb. 17 in Taramia, Iraq, when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire.
• Sgt. Pedro J. Colon, 25, of Cicero, Ill., died Feb. 19 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit came under attack by enemy forces using multiple weapons.
• Spc. Montrel S. Mcarn, 21, of Raeford, N.C., died Feb. 19 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit came under attack by enemy forces using multiple weapons.
• Chief Warrant Officer Hershel D. McCants Jr., 33, of Ariz., died Feb. 18 in southeastern Afghanistan when the Chinook helicopter he was in crashed.
• Chief Warrant Officer John A. Quinlan, 36, of Bradley Beach, New Jersey, died Feb. 18 in southeastern Afghanistan when the Chinook helicopter he was in crashed.
• Sgt. Adam A. Wilkinson, 23, of Fort Carson, Colo., died Feb. 18 in southeastern Afghanistan when the Chinook helicopter he was in crashed.
• Spc. Travis R. Vaughn, 26, of Reinbeck, Iowa, died Feb. 18 in southeastern Afghanistan when the Chinook helicopter he was in crashed.
• Spc. Brandon D. Gordon, 21, of Naples, Fla., died Feb. 18 in southeastern Afghanistan when the Chinook helicopter he was in crashed.
• Pfc. Ryan C. Garbs, 20, of Edwardsville, Ill., died Feb. 18 in southeastern Afghanistan when the Chinook helicopter he was in crashed.
• Pfc. Kristofer D. S. Thomas, 18, of Roseville, Calif., died Feb. 18 in southeastern Afghanistan when the Chinook helicopter he was in crashed.
• Capt. Todd M. Siebert, 34, of Baden, Pa., died Feb. 16 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
• Lance Cpl. Brian A. Escalante, 25, of Dodge City, Kan., died Feb. 17 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
• Lance Cpl. Blake H. Howey, 20, of Glendora, Calif., died Feb. 18 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
• Pfc. Brett A. Witteveen, 20, of Shelby, Mich., died Feb. 19 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
• Sgt. Clinton W. Ahlquist, 23, of Creede, Colo., died Feb. 20 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
• Pvt. Kelly D. Youngblood, 19, of Mesa, Ariz., died Feb. 18 in Ramadi, Iraq, of wounds suffered during combat operations.
• Cpl. Timothy D. Lewis, 20, of Lawrenceburg, Ky., died Feb. 15 as a result of non-hostile action in Jolo, Republic of the Philippines.
• Sgt. Shawn M. Dunkin, 25, of Columbia, S.C., died Feb. 19 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when the vehicle he was in was struck by an improvised explosive device.
• Pfc. Matthew C. Bowe, 19, of Coraopolis, Pa., died Feb. 19 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when the vehicle he was in was struck by an improvised explosive device.
• Pfc. Adare W. Cleveland, 19, of Anchorage, Alaska, died Feb. 19 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when the vehicle he was in was struck by an improvised explosive device.
• Spc. Christopher K. Boone, 34, of Augusta, Ga., died Feb. 17 in Balad, Iraq, of a non-combat related injury.
• Pfc. Jason D. Johns, 19, of Frankton, Ind., died Feb. 21 in Bagram, Afghanistan, of a non-combat related injury.
• Sgt. Richard L. Ford, 40, of East Hartford, Conn., died Feb. 20 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered during combat operations.
• Staff Sgt. David R. Berry, 37, of Wichita, Kan., died Feb. 22 in Qasim, Iraq, when the vehicle he was in struck an improvised explosive device.
• Spc. Louis G. Kim, 19, of West Covina, Calif., died Feb. 20 in Ramadi, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire.
• Sgt. Buddy J. Hughie, 25, of Poteau, Okla., died Feb. 19 in Kamdesh, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades.

Regarding CWO McCants, I normally make some effort to identify the hometown of a fallen warrior, when the DoD site doesn't do so. But according to various reports online, CWO McCants has ties in Arizona, Tennessee, and Oregon. So there you go. My heart goes out to the families of all the fallen, and my pride to their units, who continue to soldier on.

Now, on with the painting. Ciao!

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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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