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GRAFFITI -- June 04, 2007 thru June 10, 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   
June 4, 2007

No Post.

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Mon    TUESDAY    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
June 5, 2007

2000 - Good evening..

Mmmm. Yeah, I noticed. Sorry about the time getting away from me like that, but houseguests (friends from California that we hardly ever see) is a very nice excuse. We went for Chinese on Sunday night, to Grace's Fortune here in Bowie. In the evening, following up on a chance conversation at supper, we watched History of the World, Part I. Yesterday, while I worked, Marcia took them to Baltimore. In the evening I grilled pork chops and made pesto pasta and a salad. Yum. No, nothing from the garden yet, except ...

Bucket loads of strawberries, over a gallon after the core/slice operations were completed. Yow! However, as you can see from the pictures above, the plants are mostly going gangbusters. I don't know why the cucumbers seem to be lagging so, but I'm sure they'll catch up. We already have small summer squash setting, and small tomatoes on the lowest rungs of most of the 19 plants. Yeah, 19. I may have too many tomatoes this year. But there's no point in trying corn yet again. Frustrating and non-productive - that's what corn is for me.

I continue to adapt to my new working environment. Eventually I'll start making major contributions. Right now my goal is to ask as many annoying questions as possible, often starting with the word "why", because I want to understand when something is done a different way than I would have done it, were I King.

Okay, time for doggie treats. Be well...

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Mon    Tues    WEDNESDAY    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
June 6, 2007

2119 - Good evening. Sometimes I feel bad, really I do. The problem is that mostly the computers just keep working well. Makes life hard on those whose job it is to whine about such things. Of course, Marcia's work box sometimes doesn't want to let go of the external USB drive. But that's been our only trouble here, of late.

I've been amusing myself with Solaris Zones and Resource Containers at work. Zones are a bit like virtual machines - they contain the processes that run therein, making the host a safer box, and much easier to segregate disparate services on a single physical system. Reconfiguring them isn't black magic ... but configuring them to work properly with Oracle may yet prove to be. So far we've been experiencing remarkable success.

I do have Solaris 10 - 11/06 release running on an x86 platform here for experimentation purposes. One of the things I need to look into is how IPF (the new BSD-derived firewall code, replacing Sunscreen) interacts with zones. I'm also interested in something a coworker mentioned about workstation zones - using zones to keep browsing separate from email separate from normal work separate from confidential work. I assume (with no research at all yet) that means that it might look like virtual desktops to me (as the user) but be virtual machines (zones) to the system. It'll be fun to dig down into that, then work on protecting such a thing with IPF.

There are megatonnes of strawberries crying out to be eaten with chocolate ice cream. This is my current mission, should I choose to accept ... Heh. Later.

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June 7, 2007

1135 - Good morning... From a conversation with an HR person this morning:

me: Hi, _____...

HR: Hi, Brian. How are you doing?

me: Well, I can't complain...

HR: That's great!

me: No, you don't understand. I can't complain. It's a hypnotic block.

HR: [her face falls] Oh.

I guess I take some getting used to. Back to the grindstone.

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    FRIDAY    Sat    Sun   
June 8, 2007

No Post. I played World of Warcrack, but only until a reasonable hour.

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    SATURDAY    Sun   
June 9, 2007

Fire in the sky.

0940 - Good morning. It's been a productive day already, but last night was stormy. We had a bit of rain and some distant thunder a while before sunset, but the real deal started at around 2030. Buckets of rain, lighting, and thunder. Much of the flashy stuff was cloud to cloud, rather than ground to cloud. So it wasn't as boom-y as it might have been. But still it was enough to get Molly a little upset. She doesn't like flashbangs. But more rain, even in moderate amounts, is a very good thing. I'm too cheap to water the lawns much, but I'm not a fan of brown dead yards, either. Downside: I'll have to mow tomorrow.

Berry extravaganza.

The strawberries have been rapidly prolific this year. But it's a short-lived crop. I expect that this bumper crop (pictured at left) is likely to be nearly the last we'll get. Yeah, just two weeks after the first berries. Even though I water, the berries seem to have suffered in the dry heat - many ripening small and sour, then rotting on the vine. It doesn't mean that we haven't gotten more than our money's worth out of the time and investment in plants, especially since they'll produce again next year. But the confluence of weather and whatnot makes for variations in production, no?

Marcia and Linda Rose are off for a girl's weekend at Charlestown. If they're lucky (if I'm lucky), they won't drop too much on the slots and ponies. But I'm sure that a good time will be had.

1031 - One short delay later... I needed to login at work and make sure some modified cronjobs ran at the right time. They did. That's good. Now, to figure out what I'm going to work on — nothing outside since it's already 90° F out. Okay, on with my day. Happy Saturday.

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    SUNDAY  
June 10, 2007

1244 - Good afternoon. So, shortly after midnight after I'd been asleep for some time, the sound of amplified voices outside. Not music. Hmmm. Two "unmarked" plain white Impalas in front, about 100 feet up the road, and personnel walking down the path into the community area. When I look out that side of the house, we have another car out on the grass, and a couple of uniforms interviewing a couple of kids in the headlight/spotlight combo. The noise and lightshow went on for about another hour, I'd guess. Then, at about 0230, Lucy decided she had to go outside. It's a message I ignore at my own peril, so out the dogs went. Now they're sleeping. I should take a nap, too. But then I'll not get to sleep at a decent hour tonight, and that's not good either. So I'll just slog on through the day. The shopping is done, now, and I've chosen not to mow this weekend. There's not stunning growth yet, and there won't be unless we get more rain, so I can probably safely put that chore off another week.

What I won't put off is my regular Sunday duty to our men and women in uniform. I know, it isn't much, but it's mine. As I was driving home from the stores, Traffic was stopped for a large contingent of, I think, the Patriot Guard Riders. They rock, too!

• Spc. William J. Crouch, 21, of Zachary, La., died June 2 in Al Hadid, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Spc. Doonewey White, 26, of Milpitas, Calif., died May 29 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations May 28 in Baghdad, Iraq.
• Spc. Romel Catalan, 21, of Los Angeles, Ca., died June 2 in Ameriyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Lt. Col. Michael A. Robinson, 42, of Sylacauga, Ala., died June 1 in Kabul, Afghanistan.
• Staff Sgt. Travis W. Atkins, 31, of Bozeman, Mont., died June 1 in Al Yusufiyah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit.
• Sgt. Bruce E. Horner, 43, of Newport News, Va., died June 1 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire.
• Chief Warrant Officer Christopher M. Allgaier, 33, of Middleton, Wis., died May 30 in Upper Sangin Valley, Afghanistan, when his helicopter crashed apparently due to enemy fire.
• Chief Warrant Officer Joshua R. Rodgers, 29, of Carson City, Nev., died May 30 in Upper Sangin Valley, Afghanistan, when his helicopter crashed apparently due to enemy fire.
• Staff Sgt. Charlie L. Bagwell, 28, of Lake Toxaway, N.C., died May 30 in Upper Sangin Valley, Afghanistan, when his helicopter crashed apparently due to enemy fire.
• Sgt. Jesse A. Blamires, 25, of West Jordan, Utah., died May 30 in Upper Sangin Valley, Afghanistan, when his helicopter crashed apparently due to enemy fire.
• Sgt. Brandon E. Hadaway, 25, of Valley, Ala., died May 30 in Upper Sangin Valley, Afghanistan, when his helicopter crashed apparently due to enemy fire.
• Sgt. Charles R. Browning, 31, of Tucson, Ariz., died June 1 in Mehtar Lam, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Sgt. Shawn E. Dressler, 22, of Santa Maria, Calif., died June 2 in Baghdad of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations June 2 in Baghdad, Iraq.
• Pfc. Joshua D. Brown, 26, of Tampa, Fla., died June 3 in Baghdad of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations June 2 in Baghdad, Iraq.
• Spc. Jeremiah D. Costello, 22, of Carlinville, Ill., died June 2 near Qayyarah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Spc. Keith V. Nepsa, 21, of New Philadelphia, Ohio, died June 2 near Qayyarah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Tech. Sgt. Ryan A. Balmer, 33, of Mishawaka, Ind., died June 5 in Kirkuk, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device.
• Staff Sgt. Matthew J. Kuglics, 25, of North Canton, Ohio, died June 5 in Kirkuk, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device.
• Staff Sgt. Greg P. Gagarin, 38, of Los Angeles, Ca., died June 3 in Thania, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Sgt. James C. Akin, 23, of Albuquerque, N.M., died June 3 in Thania, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Sgt. Tyler J. Kritz, 21, of Eagle River, Wis., died June 3 in Thania, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Sgt. Robert A. Surber, 24, of Inverness, Fla., died June 3 in Thania, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Sgt. Caleb P. Christopher, 25, of Chandler, Ariz., died June 3 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Sgt. Andrews J. Higgins, 28, of Hayward, Calif., died June 5 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire.
• Spc. Jacob M. Lowell, 22, of New Lenox, Ill., died June 2 near Gowardesh, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using a rocket propelled grenade and small arms fire.
• Staff Sgt. Juan F. Campos, 27, of McAllen, Texas, died June 1 at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, of wounds sustained when his unit was attacked by insurgents using improvised explosive devices and rocket propelled grenades May 14 in Baghdad, Iraq.
• Staff Sgt. Timothy B. Cole Jr., 28, of Missouri City, Texas, died June 6 in As Sadah, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device.
• Pfc. Shawn D. Gajdos, 25, of Grand Rapids, Mich., died June 6 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by insurgents using improvised explosive devices and small arms fire.
• Pfc. Justin A. Verdeja, 20, of La Puente, Calif., died June 5 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by insurgents using small arms fire.
• Sgt. Kimel L. Watt, 21, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died June 3 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Sgt. Matthew Soper, 25, of Kalamazoo, Mich., died June 6 in Bayji, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device.
• Pfc. Timothy R. Vimoto, 19, of Fort Campbell, Ky., died June 5 in Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by insurgents using small arms fire.
• Senior Airman William N. Newman, 23, of Kingston Springs, Tenn., died June 7 south of Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device.
• Sgt. 1st Class Greg L. Sutton, 38, of Spring Lake, N.C., died June 6 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device.

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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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