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GRAFFITI -- September 24, 2007 thru September 30, 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.

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September 24, 2007

No Post.

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September 25, 2007

1552 - Good afternoon. Grrrr. Sorry about last night, but you know which road is paved with which intentions. I *did* finish reading The Stone Dogs, though. Oh, and I got an email from Mat Lemmings just now...

Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:02:54 +0100
From: Mat Lemmings 
Subject: Bloody Hell!

   Hi B - long time no speak.

   I always thought there was something strange about you... now I realise
   you've been living all these years undercover.

   So, with reference to your latest daynotes photograph, does Dan Ackroyd
   know he's got a double...?

   Hope you're keeping well over there...

   Slainthe!


   Mat

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September 26, 2007

2041 - Good evening. Ahhhh. 80's pop - Nena's 99 Luftballons ... That lead me down a path that few dare tread, past The Cars, and U2, ending at Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis singing Cruisin'. I may have to leave the internets behind, if I do that too often. </shudder> Not much more to report. I'm battling a weird DNS issue, but I'll suss it out one way or another. Ciao!

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September 27, 2007

1934 - Good day. Changes. After several years (well, I don't know how long, to be precise. Three or four, I guess), I've cancelled my Safari Bookshelf subscription. I try and try, but I don't like reading online. Articles, journal posts, blog entries? Sure, easy. But book-scale concentration wants paper, for me at least. And at the 10 buck-a-month rate, I could generally have three books at a time, for a minimum of 30 days each. So it's hard to use as a reference. In a happier world, I'd just bust for the 40 bucks-a-month and get Library, which would be how I'd really like to use such a tool. But I can find *most* of that information for a lot less money through my friend Google. So I'll just be picky, and buy an occasional book instead. I often didn't do that because I was already paying for Safari, and figured I could wait. But then I wouldn't even use the site for a month. Grrrr. Good idea, just didn't work out for me.

I've got salsa-marinated chicken braising right now on the stove, so I think I'll leave you to your own devices. Ciao!

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September 28, 2007

No Post.....

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September 29, 2007

1140 - Good bye, Jewl. We lost a sister-in-law to cancer Thursday, and got the news last night. She'd reached the point where the chemo was killing her as fast as the cancer was. So she stopped, and made her peace. Think kind thoughts for her, if you will. She was a good person, funny and bright.

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September 30, 2007

A new Mediterranean scene

1456 - Good afternoon. We got out to do the shopping, and managed to find Art, as well. Okay, it's production-line art with oil overlays, but it looks pretty good - a nice scene well rendered with the knife. It's a nice scale, too, above the headboard.

Yesterday I took all the bulb remnants out of the front beds, and lightly remulched to clean up the look. Y'all have seen that before, so I'll not reshoot that, this go'round. Then I finished up the reseeding and fertilizing, front and back. I've got lots of watering to do, to keep up with things until the Fall rains finally come (we're hoping, anyway).

I installed the beta of Gutsy Gibbon (Kubuntu, actually), into a Parallels VM. It was not uneventful - at the end of the install, the bootloader installation (Grub) fell over sideways. So the installed system wasn't bootable. After rebooting the beta cd, and selecting the Rescue System option, I was able to get into the installed setup. Therein, I tried to install Grub, and it failed, revealing the underlying problem in the process. A package from an online repository was conflicting with a CD installed package. Happens from time to time, damned awkward during an install. So I updated the package lists, and issued an "apt-get install -f" to force repair/install the pending packages. With that out of the way, I could install grub. Then I force-unmounted the /boot partition, remounted it, and ran first "grub-install", then "update-grub" to get everything aligned. Thereafter it booted like a champ. I'll note that the Parallels video driver doesn't work worth a damn yet, either. But the mouse does, which gives me in-and-out transitions from guest to host and back, without escape keys. Haven't had much time to explore yet, more when I know more, if I know more.

A shorter-than-usual list of casualties this week, While that's better than some of the long, long lists that have appeared in this space over the years, it's still too long by ten. My condolences to the families and units of our fallen troops.

• Command Sgt. Maj. Jonathan M. Lankford, 42, of Scottsboro, Ala., died Sept. 22, in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.
• Spc. Joshua H. Reeves, 26, of Watkinsville, Ga., died Sept. 22 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Spc. David L. Watson, 29, of Newport, Ark., died Sept. 22 in Baqubah, Iraq, of injuries suffered from a non-combat related accident.
• Sgt. 1st Class Matthew D. Blaskowski, 27, of Levering, Mich., died Sept. 23 in Asadabad, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire during combat operations.
• Staff Sgt. Kevin R. Brown, 38, of Harrah, Okla., died Sept. 25 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Cpl. Anthony K. Bento, 23, of San Diego, died Sept. 24, in Bayji, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire.
• Staff Sgt. Zachary B. Tomczak, 24, of Huron, S.D., died Sept. 25, in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire.
• Petty Officer Second Class Charles Luke Milam, 26, of Littleton, Colo., died September 25, while conducting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
• Pfc. Christopher F. Pfeifer, 21, of Spalding, Neb., died Sept. 25 in San Antonio, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire Aug. 17 near Kamu, Afghanistan.
• Pfc. Mathew D. Taylor, 21, of Cameron Park, Calif., died Sept. 26 in San Antonio of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle July 23 in Sarobi District, Afghanistan.

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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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