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"I remember when I was 4 years old, I told my mother I wanted to be a rock star when I grow up. She said, 'You can't do both.'" - Steven Tyler
One more finger in the big bowl of corporate soup. Sometimes the thought process here amazes me. I arrived early today. I don't particularly like getting up early, but I like the peacefulness of the morning hours. I hope the men's room on our floor gets one of these soon. I'm not especially excited about the weather in Houston today. Mug. E.

"To the Lake" - Edgar Allan Poe
In Spring of youth it was my lot
To haunt of the wide world a spot
The which I could not love the less -
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with black rock bound,
And the tall pines that towered around.

But when the night had thrown her pall
Upon that spot, as upon all,
And the mystic wind went by
Murmuring in melody -
Then - ah, then, I would awake
To the terror of the lone lake.

Yet that terror was not fright,
But a tremulous delight -
A feeling not the jewelled mine
Could teach or bribe me to define -
Nor Love - although the love were thine.

Death was in that poisonous wave,
And in its gulf a fitting grave
For him who thence could solace bring
To his lone imagining -
Whose solitary soul could make
An Eden of that dim lake.

Despite all the family activity this weekend, it was a relaxing and completely enjoyable time. We spent a lot of time socializing and sharing memories. I worked on my amateur photography skills by trying my best to fill the half gig of compact flash in my camera. I couldn't do it. I did learn however, that the best way to get better at manual photography is to photograph like a mofo. Take pictures of everything... anything... just never stop taking pictures. Ever. I still suck, but this weekend rendered at least one photo I'm proud of... this one. It's about 2MB, so if you really couldn't care less either way, please don't download it. My server is slow as frozen molasses and it's just not worth it. When I was setting up the shot for that flower, I noticed a small bug trying to grab some dinner... I snapped a few, but they didn't really turn out well since I wasn't ready yet. You can see scaled down versions of those shots here. I still suck at this photo thing, but I dig it. Anyhoo, we left for Houston around lunch-ish and made pretty good time despite the occasional clueless driver barricading the fast lane with sub-speed-limit cruise control. It's good to be home. Happy Mother's Day!

Camron's graduation ceremony was a struggle. I'm really proud of her and I wouldn't have missed it for the world, but I felt like a sniper rifle to pick off the stupid ass parents that brought their screaming babies would make me feel better. I hope that I'll understand after I have children... if I have children. Maybe it's just me, but it seems that a college graduation commencement isn't something you take an infant or uncontrolled toddler to... like I said, hopefully I'll understand someday. After the ceremony, EL and I went to Bob's bar to see JR play. I really like that guy. He's incredibly talented. Camron and mom showed up later and they made EL "blow the duck". I'm not in a place where I can upload the photo, but you'll get the scoop later. Camron turns 27 today, so we are going to my grandmother's this morning for some family time and birthday celebration. It's so peaceful and quiet outside. I love that brief time in the mornings when it seems mother nature is still waking up. I miss the sea air and gentle sound of waves lapping the shore. Unlike you might imagine, it doesn't remind me at all of my eight years in the Navy... it reminds me of my childhood. It always amazes me how it's the tiny little nuances that bring it all flooding back... never what you expect. We're off to the City Torilla Factory. Ciao.

The drive down was smooth. We managed to escape the bulk of the Sugarland parking lot on the way out. Éclair was great in the car… she loves trips. We stopped for a snack at Mikesas on the way to El Campo. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried that place, but the food is yummy and it is quite a novelty. There are more stuffed, dead animals in the restaurant than anywhere I’ve ever seen. It is a little spooky. Camron was cool enough to tape CSI for us. EL and I are officially addicts. I can’t wait to see my Nana. I haven’t seen her in months. I have no excuse since I only live a few hours away. We shaved the dog this morning. Well, not shaved really, but it’s pretty damn short. EL shaved one side and I did the other. She looks like a mangy hyena on the side that I did… the side that EL did is smooth and even. She’s a show off. Anyhoo, we are off for a lunch time rendezvous before Camron’s graduation ceremony starts. Toodles.

Busy as fuck. My sister graduates from college mañana and EL and I have to drive to my mom's tonight. I need to put new tires on her car and get the oil changed sometime between work and departure. I don't see how I'm going to swing it, but I need to roll out of here early. I've been pretty busy today with various meetings. I hate meetings. The Solaris box got a GNOME install yesterday in an attempt to keep the OS without using nasty ass CDE, but it didn't work out so well... the 64 bit PCI Permidia 2 based card in the Netra doesn't like anything. My head feels like there is a road crew doing construction work in there... jackhammering up the old asphalt. I need to plan my escape route.

Last night was pretty cool. EL and I picked up Michael and Stephanie and headed up to the Laugh Spot at Willowbrook. Billy Bob was performing his first stand-up ever... there was no way I wanted to miss it! We went to the Willowbrook Sam's Boat for a few minutes afterwards with a bunch of folks that showed up from our old company. It was fun, but we didn't get home until late and that made for a rough morning for me this morning. I'm not used to staying out so late during the week anymore. I'm feeling my age I guess... domesticated. We had a little trouble with one of the tires on EL's car, so that's on the high priority list this week. Today has been a blur. I'm thankful that the day is passing because if it were to slow a little, I may fall asleep. I was supposed to go to the CHUG meeting tonight... my first one... but I think some relaxation at home is in order instead.

On a serious note, the state-level "Super DMCA" (S-DMCA) legislation that is being pressure sold by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is pissing me off. Basically, the MPAA is trying to get Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Oregon, Tennessee, and Texas to adopt legislation that would have "serious consequences for freedom of speech, encryption, and the public's rights"... including making firewalls illegal! Fucking ridiculous. Check it out.

I hate the MPAA for many, many reasons... this one is now at the top of my list.

It turns out the Netra 1120 had a bad CD-ROM. In scavenging for a replacement drive, I also managed to find a dual port gigabit ethernet multimode fiber NIC... schweet. Solaris is eating hard drive space as I type. It's just a matter of time before those twin UltraSPARC's will be doing my bidding.

I'm such a geek.

The Houston Police Department building was surrounded by fire trucks this morning. Firemen littered the streets, but there was no smoke. There was no indication of a fire in progress. It was really odd... then I saw this.
You can't really see it well in the photo at that resolution, but if you look a little closer at the original res image, you see that those firemen were pretty damn busy...

A snap of the alternate egress from my office... ironic, isn't it?





I have this eerie feeling this morning that things are going to spiral. I saw a management report that was generated by faulty data gathering tools that are supposed to track employee time based on activity. It was so ridiculously skewed that I don't see any validity in it's use toward the determination of actual productivity. Bean counters. Is it really worth it? I requested admissions information yesterday for going back to finish my degree... so Jason, if you read this, I need those fuel cycles and reactor physics books. My little sister graduates from college this Friday. I'm so proud of her. My alma matter is Hard Knocks. It was a rough curriculum. I suppose I should take a few minutes to socialize with my miserable coworkers. The negativity in the air is stifling. I may just choke.

It's that time again... already.



How do I find a way to just keep getting paid without the actual work part?

"Black holes are where God divided by zero." - Steven Wright

I could use a nap. With no cash for capitol projects and the poor moral and bad disposition of most of the employees carrying over to their productivity which directly reflects upon their need for internal infrastructure support, my days are sketched with intermittent work and administrative headaches, but not filled with productivity. I'm certain that this, like all things, will pass... however, the question remains: Will I be here to see it? Many days I feel I could be, but the question I try to ask myself more frequently is whether I truly want to endure the worsening times to come. I like my job. I don't like this instability. Seems simple enough, eh? If it were only so...
Have you ever had cube burn? I had forgotten how bad that sucks since it's been a couple years since I had access to corporate cube furniture coverings. That shit is worse than rug burns by a factor of three... hands down. Speaking of hands... check out this story. Heh. Anyhoo, I think it's time for an ergo-break. This fluorescent prison has revealed new constraints since they took away my sunlight.

Filter fun...





and lunch at Star Pizza...




today is moving right along.

Actually, other than the latest lay-off rumors, the day is going great.

Cool article.

"One of the many implications of recent cosmological observations is that the concept of parallel universes is no mere metaphor. Space appears to be infinite in size. If so, then somewhere out there, everything that is possible becomes real, no matter how improbable it is. Beyond the range of our telescopes are other regions of space that are identical to ours. Those regions are a type of parallel universe. Scientists can even calculate how distant these universes are, on average."