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Sunday, 4 March 2001
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Once again, a real blessing. Some cousins who had moved away to other cities were in town for a wedding, and it was wonderful to see them again. Then I had a chance to spend some time with my long-lost brother, just talking. I know I'm an lazy lump of clay, but I really do get such enjoyment from mere conversation. I should probably have been out enjoying the snow that's blanketing the northeast, but 1) alas, that's not me; and 2) this is March, man! Enough already! So I lounged away my day in splendid (if occasionally chilly) indolence.
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Monday, 5 March 2001
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I use Executive Software's Diskeeper Lite Freeware on our NT servers, because the price is right, and it's slightly better than nothing. Slightly. The company I work for is pretty tight with a buck, but I really gotta see if I can get them to spring for the real thing, or Symantec Speed Disk for NT. Pretty much anything that's intended to go on a server is more expensive than desktop versions, though, and these are no exception. But we could really use the benefit. Diskeeper Lite goes through its routine, turning red areas into blue areas, but it generally stops with lots of red left, and a helpful reminder that upgrading to the whole shebang would clear up these other little situations. Poop.
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Tuesday, 6 March 2001
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No entry. Sorry 'bout that.
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Wednesday, 7 March 2001
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I'm getting spam emails at my usa.net address from MSN losers with nonsense IDs like ovo4761i6m, j10uk3lkh7, and i3tabqy. What kind of people actually think someone will respond to this type of thing? Does anyone? I'd be more than amazed. So I add each new one to the spam filter, though I expect they generate new random IDs for each batch of spam. A motto for spammers seems to be "Reach out and infuriate someone." I don't let that kind of stuf make the vein in my temple throb, but there's still a deep, reflexive response of utter disgust and anger. I don't quite understand it, myself, except that it feels like a personal intrusion, like those telemarketers that call at supper time. The price of freedom, I suppose.
I just had lunch with a friend at work, and we talked about spiritual things a lot. Well, to the extent that one can while on a half-hour lunch break. He said he loves to hear about amazing things that the Lord does in people's lives, as long as he can believe that the events weren't simply invented for excitement, like professional wrestling. I was pleased to share a couple of experiences from some people that I know personally, of the type that might well provoke scepticism if they were told about complete strangers. But make no mistake, the universe is not only stranger than we know, it's stranger than we are capable of knowing. And for people who are genuinely trying to get closer to God day by day, things don't happen by accident. It seems that around the world, as people witness the failures and systemic limitations of various human ideologies (communism, capitalism, the consumer culture, etc.), more and more people are trying to find something spiritual to help them cope. And that's a Good Thing. Because he who keeps asking, receives. He who keeps seeking, finds. And to him who keeps knocking, it shall be opened. That's my experience.
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Thursday, 8 March 2001
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I just ordered a 128 MB Compact Flash card (Simple Technology STI-CF/128) for my Jornada from Page Computer, whom I found via c|net's Shopper.Com. It cost $153.50, plus about five bucks ground shipping. I tried a co-worker's 32 MB Compaq card just to see how it is to use those, which I'd never even seen before. I pushed it into the slot in the back, and nothing seemed to happen. Except I suddenly had twice as much storage as before. For fun, I tried out the little built-in backup routine, copying a folder from My Documents to the flash card. There it was, good to go. Kewl!
I figured I needed something like this, and I base my thinking on two things: 1) with my "trusty" Palm III, I would crash hard from time to time, and lose everything not recently synched. In fact, over the maybe two years that I used the Palm, I think I had a total of five of them, with all but the first being refurb / replacements. So I tried to back up early and often. 2) The Jornada runs a Microsoft operating system. (!) SOOOOO... I decided I'd better get some non-volatile storage ASAP, in case Bad Things Happen. Because they do. I figure a CF card ought to survive anything that doesn't involve lightning, bathtubs and electrical appliances, or being hit by a bus. Actually, I expect that the card would survive the bus thing, but I don't expect I'd be in a position to care one way or the other. So we'll see what it does for me, starting in about five business days.
I had an interesting conversation with Mr. HP Tech Support Guy before I ordered the (not an overpriced HP) card. According to Mr. Guy, when the Jornada's LED flashes red for no obvious reason, I probably need to check my calendar (synched with Outlook) to see if I missed a scheduled event. OK, I guess I can buy that for now. Then I asked him why when I finish synching, I often found a random application open, say for instance Contacts, with a record open for editing. Disconcerting. To this he discoursed to the effect that (see point 2 above) a little "prophylactic reboot" action on the reset button once a day would act like a precautionary dose of castor oil (my analogy, not his), and keep everything sliding smoothly along. OK, for the time being I can live with that. But this Jornada is adding up to quite a pricey little toy for one of my slender means. (Alas, my means are the only thing that's slender nowadays.) Nevertheless, I'm still enjoying it. Don't miss the next exciting episode.
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Friday, 9 March 2001
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I had jury duty last night in town court. I assumed it would be a DWI case, since it was only town court, yet still required a jury. Well, we all got there at 5:30 and sat around for a while waiting for some instructions. By the time we got called into the courtroom, the situation had changed. Hizzonner explained to us that the young man had decided, just as the potential jurors were walking in (were we that intimidating?), that he would waive his right to a trial by a jury of his peers, and simply plead guilty. I'm not actually sure we were his peers, come to think of it. At least, I don't think any of us were twenty-something problem drinkers. It's funny how little sympathy I have now for people like that, considering the not insignificant number of times in my misspent youth that I myself wafted erratically homeward on a wave of woozy, alcohol- and chemical-induced paranoia.
Then again, perhaps it's simply because I've grown up and gotten over that silly, youthful, rebellious phase that I just want other such "indulgers" to snap out of it and grow up. It's kind of the same feeling I get when I see men with long hair, such as I sported in younger days. It's like, man, get a clue — grow up and be a man. Especially those sad, sad cases where the ponytail is impressively long, but the top is woefully thin. It looks like they were partially scalped. Geez. So anyway, the judge thanked us for our time, and said we were off the list for the next few years, having done our civic duty by merely showing on time. OK by me.
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Saturday, 10 March 2001
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No entry.