| Monday, September 1st, 2008 |
| 8:18 pm |
Anual Posting
Well Folks, It's that time of year. Time to log in to LJ and see if my account is still active. And, yes. It appears to be so. In about 2 months I will cross the threshold and be a parent. I am approaching that moment with fear, excitement, and optimism. I just finished a Feldenkrais session with Stacey and I am letting the nerves reprogram. Back to the great office clean of 2008. Current Mood:  calm |
| Thursday, November 22nd, 2007 |
| 12:34 am |
I'm surprised they done nuke my account for idle waste of space. It's been so long since I visited here that it looks all different now. |
| Tuesday, October 17th, 2006 |
| 5:47 pm |
I am so high...
in the cholesterol department that is. This past year has been a banner year for bad habits. I've cut way down on excercise(at least the kind that's hard and makes me sweat out the bad), I've been loving the greasy/carby egg and bagel breakfasts, and I have spent way too much time on my ass staring at the screen. I'm feeling the end results of too much sitting around dovetailing with bad diet. I have a 6 month goal of lowering my levels by 30 points. It's time once again to enact the 30 minute lunch walk and stop eating lunch at my desk. Current Music: Boards of Canada - Campfire Headphase |
| Friday, October 13th, 2006 |
| 12:51 am |
Tubes
Net Neutrality. I was pondering this topic tonight, instead of sleeping which I should be doing, and I stumbled once again into our old buddy Ted Stevens(R Alasks) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtOoQFa5ug8No matter how you come down on this issue, Ted's gotta make you laugh. Nothing is funnier than an elected official attempting to sound knowledgable in an area where they are clearly clueless. |
| Thursday, October 12th, 2006 |
| 1:05 pm |
Finally DST4EVR
Something bordering on a conservation minded energy initiative. FROM 2007: Daylight Saving Time begins for most of the United States at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday of March. Time will revert to standard time at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November. http://wwp.daylight-saving-time.com/usa/dst-2007.htmLet's see what those hold-outs in Indiana have to say. Current Music: The Orb |
| Wednesday, October 11th, 2006 |
| 4:53 pm |
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| 2:38 pm |
tnk. tnk. tnk. is this thing on?
Time for my yearly post. It sucks being the hatchet man, when the heads on the chopping block are those of people that you hold dear. One of the benefits of working in IT is that in a sense you are a shadow member of every department. You get to know people in the organization as the people that they really are outside of their departmental categories. You are privy to a wide spectrum of information that really helps you develop a more holistic sense of how a company functions. In fact, it's rather difficult for an IT group to function effectively if they are not woven into the fabric of the company. So, when you know beforehand that layoffs are imminent and widespread it sucks. When you finally see the list of names, well then is sucks even more. To my good friends Dan, Dmitri, Joel, Alex, Kismet and all the others.. I will miss you. -J Current Mood: You KnowCurrent Music: FFWD |
| Friday, March 10th, 2006 |
| 3:41 pm |
Thank you for holding! We appreciate your patience.
I loathe automated systems. I find it so insulting to be told thanks by an automated system. I dislike being forced to listen to a recorded message every 45 seconds that tells me what a valuable customer I am. I can't stand the affectation adopted by phone operators who thank you with a syrupy tone that really only conveys a sense of loathing. I don't understand why businesses think that this continual barrage of bogus goodwill is going to make me a happy customer. I suggest: Soothing music(not played on wind pipes) until I am finally connected with the representative, who will speak in even tones and not flood me wiht servile blather about what a great and valued customer I am. Current Music: MAS2008 De-cyphered Music |
| 12:34 am |
My Grains
I recently discovered what it's like to have a migraine. I had always assumed that migraines were a headache, but apparently I am visited upon by the kind that are more akin to an acid flashback. As 1:00 AM is fast approaching I once again wonder why I can never get to bed on time. Why is the Internet such a crazy waste of time. Somehow this used to be more fun. Lately it seems to kill peoples real connections with each other. Current Music: Boards of Canada |
| Friday, October 28th, 2005 |
| 12:57 am |
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Gosh! I feel like a giddy 10 year old. I can hardly wait to wake up and find out that several "key" staffers at the White House have tendered their resignations, pending indictment. Of course I'm prepared for this not to happen as well. In which case I'll be happy that "the prez" was finally served an obvious slice of "shove it" pie with the withdrawl by Harriet Miers. Current Mood:  awakeCurrent Music: Boards of Canada "The Campfire Headphase" |
| Tuesday, October 19th, 2004 |
| 1:35 pm |
Tucker Carlson is a Dick
I've just finally watched the Jon Stewart Crossfire interview. In fact I have watched it about 6 times today. I am so impressed with Jon Stewart and his well made points about journalism. If you haven't seen the segment catch it on ifilm. One payment to go and I'll have the DV-50 at home in my system. This source player is truly amazing. I went to the Esoteric Demo at CES last year. A group from their engineering team was there to give a demo on their transport. Teac, the parent organization, has always been highly regarded for their transports and I've got to say that I was impressed by the level of detail that they put into every aspect of this universal player. Current Music: Philosomaticka Psi Trance |
| Thursday, October 7th, 2004 |
| 12:20 am |
New Job Time off
The best part about starting a new job is how you make sure to front load all the mini-vacations that you had in the queue. Of course nCircle is the best place in the world to work and every day is like a holiday! Why can't I ever get to bed on time!!! |
| Friday, October 1st, 2004 |
| 11:56 am |
Oh F
Rent. A steady dependable drain of 800 bux every month. Debates: Christ is Bush dumb. US Policy: Former bug exterminator and still insect Tom Delay is a shithead. (on the subject of gay marriage) "This is only the beginning, I'm telling you," said Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, stressing that the issue was too important to abandon. "Marriage is the basic unit of society, the very DNA of civilization, and if that civilization is to endure, marriage must be protected," he said. If his assertion is true then why not pass legislation banning divorce? Current Music: di.fm Trance-o-rama |
| Thursday, September 30th, 2004 |
| 11:45 am |
The hardest part
... of this sysadmin job is when you have to be involved with layoffs/firings/ and the like. It feels really weird to grab someones system when they are at a "meeting" and then proceed to remove all their system access. I know it goes with the territory but that never makes it any easier to stomach. Current Music: Di.fm Goa-Psy Trance channel |
| 12:58 am |
Pizza
Wasting 10 Minutes b4 the Backups kick off.... My vote for best tasting pizza in San Francisco. Pan Handle Pizza on Hayes. Sure it's not a thin crust New York style jobbie. But damm is it tasty. Not quite a Chicago deep dish style, but a think cornmeal crust covered in fresh toppings with quality cheese. One of my biggest beefs with Pizza in SF is that low quality Cheese always makes the pie taste like ass. Plasticy, chewy ass that leads to "internal distress". On a different topic, George Bush is truly an idiot and must be rm -r *d as soon as fucking possible. |
| Sunday, September 26th, 2004 |
| 11:21 pm |
This has been the year for seeing all of the artists that I have always wanted to see but somehow managed to miss or avoid. Earlier this summer it was Skinny Puppy. That show proved beyond a whisker of a doubt that I was both to optimistic and um non-goth to be as infatuated with them as I once was. Songs like Dig It, Addiction, and God's Gift Maggot don't really translate into my adult life. Although I rather liked their 2004 renditions of Warlock, VX Gas Attack(which seemed rather timely with it's reference to Baghdad, and Tin Omen. I still rank "VIVIsect VI" as one of my top 100 favorite albums. Just a couple of weeks ago I saw what may have been the best show of my Life. The great Purple one himself. Prince. In spite of the fact that we(Luke, Melissa, Signe, and I) had SHITTY seats. I'm talking nose bleed from the altitude, ceiling 10 feet from the top of my head, near the last row of the upper levels in the Oaktown Colosseum, the show was Amazing. I don't say this lightly. Prince is a genius. I have never seen anyone work a crowd with more finesse. I have never seen anyone perform every note of every song with such enthusiasm. He performed a half hour set solo acoustic. He glided through 3 plus hours of material, mixing the old with the new, riffing on old songs, melting one song into another creating a medley that ran the risk of sounding like he was simply being a crowd pleaser, but came off as the work of a master able to bring new life out of his old creations.Classic tunes like Kiss or When Doves Cry we as much fun now as they were 20 years ago, even with the 2 16 year old girls screaming, nae shrieking, in my ear for 3 hours. I kept wishing that they would go hoarse, but no such luck. Today it was the Pixies at the Greek theater in Berkeley. Signe and I went together braving the late-fall afternoon sun to enjoy the east-bay outdoors. Man. Shit. What a show. Perhaps the best set list ever. Black Francis(you know Frank Black, or Charles Thompson if you want to get down to the nitty gritty) and company were so live and so real. During Debaser he fucked up the guitar part right near the end and terminated the song with a laugh. Then without missing a beat they replayed the whole song from the beginning. It was like going to a show where the band plays every song from their repertoire that you love, perhaps a testament to my infatuation with the Pixies. From Caribou to U-Mass, Vamos to No 13 Baby Kim, Black, Joey and Dave played their hearts out. Not bad for a crew that hasn't been together in nearly 11 years. 2 standing ovations and well deserved. Current Music: Aphex Twin Selected Ambient Works Vol 2 Disk 2 |
| 1:24 am |
Things are pretty good
New job: Senior Systems Administrator nCircle Network SecurityNew Laptop: Power Book G4 New Bedtime: 1:00 AM I'm having the most problem with that last one. In fact the actual new bedtime should be 12:00 so that I can sleep till 8:00 and be out the door by 8:30 so that I can be at work by 9:00, but well there are still issues with that whole go to bed early thing. Sig usually crashed before me, but if she wants to stay up later, then I have a terrible time trying to go to sleep before her. I'm 33 but my brain is still waging the same war on sleep that got me through college, both the first time and the most recent out with a second degree. I had one of those "not prepared for the exam" dreams last night. It seems that I was sitting in on my Calculus II final and was suddenly aware that I had no idea in hell how to work any of the problems. In fact I was overwhelmed by that sinking feeling as my dream self had not been to class in several months and had no clue how to begin. Oddly right before I woke I can recall recognizing that one problem was about integrating to determine force over a horizontal distance. Those problems were always my favorite, unless they involved too many trapezoidal areas that had to be added separately. Current Mood: chipperCurrent Music: Oscillations ( The lost Silent Records Sampler) |
| Thursday, July 22nd, 2004 |
| 5:07 pm |
Work Work Work
Damm. I've got work coming out my ears. I was already chugging along fine with a good base of clients when I got recruited out of the blue by a local non-profit. But man, they aren't paying like a non-profit. $76 per hour 30 hours per week. My title is "Network Systems Engineer & Trainer". Mostly I have to sit through countless meetings and fill out seemingly endless paperwork, while eagerly awaiting time to actually work on their tech problems. Two weeks ago another out of the blue call for a local startup. I did an hour phone interview and got a callback to meet with the technical director. Today I did a 3 hour Interview(an oral exam and a written exam) at nCircle.com for a sysadmin position. Entering the office took me back to the good parts of working at mPower. I haven't felt such a wave of nostalga in years. The office was stylish but spartan. The staff friendly and optimistic. Even if the outcome is not favorable, I enjoyed the experience. BTW di.fm has some great streaming tunes for those of you who like the thump thum thump kind of music. Current Mood: presentCurrent Music: DI.fm Trance |
| 4:30 pm |
(l)users
Why should I ever have to explain to anyone why keeping all the company's passwords in an unencrypted, unpassword protected file is a bad idea? Peoples desire to remain vulnerable and inability to learn alternate ways of working is simply baffling. Current Mood: cafinatedCurrent Music: } } X T C . R A D I O . L O N D O N { {International DJ Journeys Into the Underground |
| Wednesday, June 30th, 2004 |
| 1:04 am |
Gonna have to kill the KFC.
From my Notes: The Building Department is responsible for noise associated with work that takes place under a building permit. Construction noise is generally permitted in San Francisco between the hours of 7A.M. to 8P.M. seven days per week. Work that occurs outside this time period requires a special permit to work at night (Section 2908, San Francisco Police Code). Complaints regarding construction noise should be directed to the building inspector assigned to the jobsite. The telephone number for the Department of Building Inspection is 558-6096. I'm guessing that the guy in the KFC parking lot sawing, ratcheting, pounding, and basically making a fuckton of noise is not familiar with Section 2908. He probably has no cores other than the fact that he's got a nice little off the books gig with KFC to "fix" as if that's possible, their little establishment in the AM. The very early AM.. It's one in the fucking morning and my new job makes me get up early and I'm irritable. My new title, however is quite cool. Network Systems Engineer & Trainer. My new paycheck is even cooler and I'm only working 30 hours a week so I can keep all my clients. This is now only a couple of months away. Right after I pay off the mountain of credit card debt from the student life. |
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