:: So It Is Written... ::

:: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 ::

 

Vocational introspection:

My boss's boss brought up a point yesterday that I hadn't thought of before.  It takes 18 months to get a cert for our system here, and he pointed out that you can get a master's degree in a year and a half.  So, basically, he says we're earning a master's degree in our ISS subsystem.  I think that's pretty neat, really.  And very true, when I think about what you have to go through to actually get awarded your cert. 

Thought I would share. 

:: posted by Tmber :: 4:31 PM ::
(0) comments

 

Quote of the Day:

"Basically, the pilot exceeded the "don't never ever" exceed speed and the wings broke off."

(As a note, the rest of the email refers to the pilot breaking the DNEES.)

:: posted by Tmber :: 4:27 PM ::
(0) comments

 

Some good quotes I heard in a lesson a few minutes ago:

"Good decision makers assess risk… bad decision makers are teenage boys."

"If all you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail."

And I think my favorite:

Quote of the Day:

"My goal in life is to never have a 60 minutes crew stick a mic in my face and ask me 'Why did you think that was a good idea at the time?'"

:: posted by Tmber :: 11:52 AM ::
(0) comments

 

So I need to print a one page document I'm reading.  So I click print, wait a minute, hear the printer warming up, and walk over there.  The first page rolls out, and it's not mine… and it says in the corner "page 1 of 672."  and I think to myself, why yes… yes, it is Monday. 

:: posted by Tmber :: 12:43 PM ::
(2) comments

 

It's not everyday that you see something banned because it's "un-American."  Shunned, sure… but banned?  As in, outlawed.  Made illegal. 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245380,00.html  (my hyperlinks aren't working for some reason).

Tells the story of horse slaughtering plants that are being shut down.  The plants ship the meat overseas.  Or, they did.  The American Vet. Assoc. said it was a kind way to deal with older horses, but the Humane Soc. disagreed and helped shut them down. 

The thing that really bugs me about this has nothing to do with horses.  It has to do with the law behind it.  Is it really any different to slaughter cows or dogs?  The humane society does a great job of killing stray animals.  There's nothing illegal about it, assuming it's done in a humane way.  So, why outlaw this?  Because it's "un-American." 

What is that?  What is american vs un-american?  If we're going to make law based on such a vague concept as un-american-ism, rather than, say, rights, freedoms, justice, or punishment, then hey… we need to make some serious changes. 

There's nothing more American than a celebrity, right?  So, we should make it legal to drink and drive, cheat on your spouse, commit tax evasion, do drugs (lots of and many types of drugs), etc etc etc. 

I could come up with many different examples, but I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to fill in the blanks. 

:: posted by Tmber :: 11:42 AM ::
(2) comments

 

So apparently, I have superhuman focusing ability.  Unfortunately, my visual acuity sucks.  So, basically, I can see things in 9 shades of blurry. 

This might explain why the other optometrist said I was a problem patient, though.  Apparently, on any given day, my eyes can accept a range of prescriptions.  However, I'll still get headaches if my prescription doesn't match my true needs.  Thus why the last prescription didn't work.  I wasn't crazy… the other optometrist just wasn't thorough. 

:: posted by Tmber :: 11:23 AM ::
(0) comments

 

I was chastised by IT today. 

A little bit of background.  My old job, computers and software were all strictly controlled.  Seriously.  Everything was under restricted access and configuration management.  Even your use of the alphabet was monitored.  Have you ever tried estimating the number of 'E's you'll need for a week?  Do you know how frustrating it is when you run out of 'T's or 'S's on a _hur_day?  _uddenly, you find your_elf filling ou_ you’re ac_ivi_y repor___ and _igning your _ime_hee_, and __nding _mail _o your bo__ _o g__ mor_ i_ a pain in _h_ a__.  ((apparently, I ran out of e's towards the end, too).

I digress.

So, comparitively, the IT world here has been likened to the wild, wild west.  You bring in what you want, and take responsibility for it.  You try to fix your own problems first before you call someone else.  If you call someone, make it someone in your department.  Almost no problem is big enough for IT. 

Consequently, I have become the goto man for our department.  I fix problems.  I feel the need, somehow, to compare this to a sheriff.  IT would be the wondering judge that only rolls through town once a season. 

So, today, a coworker lost her minimized programs.  I have never seen this problem before.  When you minimize a program, it disappeared.  There were no little nice boxes on the taskbar to help you.  The programs were still running, and you could alt-tab to them, but the taskbar ate their boxes.  This happened while I was out, and after asking everyone around, the coworker resulted to calling IT. 

So, when I got back, they called me over, and I spent several minutes researching online and found a solution in the form of a VBS script of unknown origin, on a strange website, which claimed to solve the problem.  Being no dummy, I did not recommend the coworker run the strange VBS script before IT show up, since they had already been called, anyway. 

IT woman showed up, played with the computer, and declared they would have to delete the account and reinstall it onto that computer.  I suggested that since she had to delete the acct, anyway, why not try the script.  She did.  It worked.  And she actually asked me why I didn't run the script before she got there and cancel the IT call so that she didn't have to come all the way to our building. 

Indeed. 

Then she made me email her the script.

Moral of this story:  I think I'm now empowered to run very strange vbs scripts on "company" computers.  That, and I still know more about computers than US Government IT people. 

:: posted by Tmber :: 5:10 PM ::
(2) comments

 

Stephen King wasn't a literary genuis… he was psychic…  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16670768/wid/11915773?GT1=8921

I love the fact that the world doesn't have enough deadly viruses in the world, so we have to "genetically reconstruct" the worst flu we can find. 

(as a side note, I did check that the plural of virus is viruses, but in the process came across several references that say not only is virii or viri incorrect, but it is also the plural of vir, latin for Man.  I think I had heard the analogy of men and viruses (which, in and of itself is very interesting and plausible), which used the latin meaning of virii as supporting evidence.  Good to note that it isn't true…  but it's still an interesting argument, anyway…   makes me want to watch the Matrix.)

:: posted by Tmber :: 4:52 PM ::
(0) comments

 

Quick, run to the store.  Buy bread, milk, non-perishable items, canned goods, cereal, bottled water, toilet paper, etc, etc, etc.  While you're there, you may want to pick up a shotgun and enough ammo to defend yourself should things get bad...

Now, I hope you're asking yourself, what could it possibly be?  Are we preparing for an earthquake?  A hurricane?  Armageddon?  The answer is:  rain. 

Not just any rain, mind you... This rain is special.  It's in houston.  And it's pretty cold, too. 

Today's forcast:  low of 33 this morning, with a high of 38, and getting down to 36 tonight. 

This is apparently scary for Houstonians.  We have (let me just pull up the page here...)  a winter weather advisory, a winter storm warning, and an ice storm warning.  They closed down businesses.  They closed down streets and highways.  They closed down every major school district in the Houston metro area.  Seriously.  It's not freezing, and it won't be freezing any time today, and they closed down all the schools.  I lack the words to appropriately make fun of and chastize such a large group of people. 

What amazes me is that we've been under an Ice Storm Warning for our second day, and I didn't even see any light rain until this morning.  I mean, really.  How can you have an ice storm with no rain and only near freezing temperatures?  Am I missing something?  Did the laws of thermodynamics change while I was out to lunch? 

I could continue to rant, but I think you get the point.  And yes, I concede the point that overpasses may freeze in low-but-not-quite-freezing temps, but is that a reason to close a city?  (especially when it's not even raining?) 

:: posted by Tmber :: 12:16 PM ::
(3) comments

 

Not because it's funny, but because it's true:

Quote of the Day

"Be careful asking those 'Why?' questions.  The answer is either 'Because' or 'you don't want to know.'"

:: posted by Tmber :: 1:10 PM ::
(0) comments

 

So, big houston marathon this weekend.  26.2 miles.  People came from all over the world to race.  (race was actually won by two ethiopians, actually).  This article (http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4470490.html) is one of the stories about the marathon that made the paper. 

What bugs me is that not one of the stories that made the paper tell about the number of people who had strokes and heartattacks during the race.  Not one story mentions the three people who died during the race.  Yup, three people's hearts just gave out, including one 22 year old guy.  (One of my coworkers is also an EMT, and the EMTs were busy during the marathon). 

Anyway.  Thought that was morbidly interesting.  Also interesting that it would be blotted out from the media.  Makes sense, though, if the race is sponsored by the city, and the city would not want people to not race, ya know...  

:: posted by Tmber :: 11:12 AM ::
(2) comments

 

yeeeeaaahhhh, ok?

Quote of the Day:

"i kind of like my self-consciousness... it's like... a chia pet. "

:: posted by Tmber :: 2:09 AM ::
(2) comments

 

Quote of the Day:

"They say that office dust can be up to 90% dead skin…   I'm slowly eating you all."  - coworker

Put the quote first because it was a good one.   Christmas was also a good one for us.  So good, in fact, that I had to rent a u-haul to get everything back home from my parents' house.  A u-haul.  4' x 8', and it was full front to back, side to side, and about 3/4 to the top.  Now, some of that was just stuff of mine that I wanted to bring back, but I just through it in there to fill up the trailer.  My parents bought me a portable grand piano for Christmas, so the trailer was a must, anyway. 

Also, Deedee got me a banjo for Christmas, so I have actually claimed one room of the house as a music room, now.  Also going to put all my wolf stuff in there, so it will be basically my room.  Which is good, as I didn't previously have any room of the house that was entirely mine.  Now I just have to figure out how to put a theater, a pool table, air hocky, and a bowling alley in that one room. 

I have noted, though, that we're on our way to building a Clue house.  We already have a study, a library, and now a conservatory (plus the obligatory hall, kitchen, dining room, and lounge/den.)  We were planning on putting couches upstairs, which would move the lounge area, and I am considering a pool table for the garage, which would create the billiards room.  If I somehow manage to recreate the downstairs den in such a way that I can rename it the ballroom (a disco ball, maybe?), I'll be done.  Then I'll just be missing the spiffy secret passage ways.  And a dead body.  But if I do manage to do that, I have decided that I'm going to hang some random decorations around the house... Like a lead pipe in the hallway.. a candlestick in the dining room.  Maybe a coil of rope on the wall in the garage, I mean billiards room. 

Ok, back to work.  More later.

:: posted by Tmber :: 1:59 PM ::
(1) comments