Update

It's been a few days since my last update, so here's the latest (and it's not Emode test results, either!).

Life at DIT is good; lots of friendly faces, and lots of welcoming handshakes. Lots of work to do, too - it's nice to be busy again.

Life with the AirPort is nonexistent. It's worse than that; it's dead, Jim, dead, Jim, dead. Apple seems to take delight in their stance that the $300 piece of highly specialized electronics "has no plan for service," i.e., if it breaks the move to fix it is buying a new one. Apple is now a pioneer in the field of the disposable wireless base station. Hope the Cupertino crowd is proud of itself. >:-(

There is a range of serial numbers for which Apple will perform a free replacement, but mine doesn't fall within the range. Fortunately some disgruntled dead-AirPort owners have been working on the problem, and if you want to get creative with a soldering iron and some $10 replacement capacitors from Radio Shack a fix is available. I have a soldering iron and tools for taking on such silliness should I land a free weekend, and the thing is a doorstop now anyway (I can hardly break it any worse), so I'll probably give the fix a shot one of these days.

Further bulletins as events warrant,

-Rich

Just so I get a post in...

My Flavor from emode.com...

Mmm ... dark chocolate! Rich and luxurious, you're the flavor of pure decadence. (In fact, we think we feel our hips getting bigger just thinking about you.) Utterly indulgent and as smooth as silk, you're impossible to deny. Some might even call you addictive — and, truth be told, for those who love you, it's usually a life-long craving. Poor saps. It's not your fault you're so irresistible. But you're happy to let people worship at your altar — as long as they're willing to wrap you up in gold foil (24-karat, mind you), you're delighted to be adored. Sumptuous and intoxicating, you're a truly tasty treat.

...Everyone taking notes? :-D

-Rich

Frigging wonderful. A plane went down in NYC. Preliminary reports are that there's no direct indication of terrorist intent, but the proximity is a smidge close for my comfort.

-Rich

Blogging Duty Calls

Jeez, I forgot to mention that my new job starts tomorrow. :-) Yep, today's my last day as a free spirit; tomorrow I once again go under the thumb of the Man.

I'll be working for the Virginia Department of Information Technology, System Development Division (DIT SDD), and thus seeing old friends again and learning new skillz. Rather than Visual Basic (which has fallen from favor due to some incompetence on the part of another agency), I'll be hip-deep in ColdFusion, and perhaps Java servlets under Linux. W00t!

Also, my AirPort has decided to fall over and is blinking its three LEDs an angry red, refusing either to see the DSL-modem-providing CAT5 cable I've got plugged into it or to acknowledge the 802.11b hailing of the iBook right next to it. Sad, tormented AirPort; to make matters more humorous, Apple support is having phone line difficulties, and as such I can't call for help until 11 AM or so. Oh well, I don't generally surf from Tangy Beep anyway. It's my writing machine, and so the removal of distracting influences from it would normally be a good thing. Except that AirPorts don't grow on trees, and I hate the idea of being stuck with a busted piece of hardware.

Hmm. What else is going on? Today's Laundry Day in preparation for tomorrow. I also got bored a few weeks ago and put together this leafy montage of Autumn by running around my apartment complex and making a nuisance of myself with my Earthlink-freebie digital camera. The thing came with some album management software that allowed the automated throwing-together of a page like this one, so I figured, what the heck. :-) I don't usually fall prey to shutterbug fits, but give me too much time on my hands and I can apparently be dangerous.

-Rich

Wow, I missed October

Oh well. I haven't been in much of a blogging mood, despite having troughs of free time, spending it online and/or kvetching about the fact just didn't sit with me.

Nevertheless, I do feel in the mood for some test copycatting, so here goes:

I AM 62% GEEK. Nerd, Freak, Geek, Dweeb. Sound familiar? That's okay, cause I will be the richest person at my 15th year high-school reunion. If a "con" isn't happening that weekend.	Anyone really surprised here? :-) I'm actually surprised this result wasn't a lot higher, but the hardware in my bedroom isn't Cisco, it's Linksys and/or custom.
I AM 13% PUNK. It's not a fashion craze, or even a cool thing to do. I should just swallow it, get Lost, and take my friends with me.	Punk? That's funny. If I had shaved anything outside my chin (or failed to shave that, even) when punk was anything emulable, I'd have been sent to military school for sanitizing. :-)
I AM 25% GOTH. Goth by night, normal by day. Deep in my heart I know I am evil, but not on the company's time. I do need to eat.	Strictly speaking I'm too old to have a shot at being Goth in any way, though I could possibly have gone that way if it wouldn't have gotten me skinned at school or shipped off from home (see above). The test didn't ask musical preferences, though... Does the fact that I like Godsmack and Rob Zombie count?
I am 16% Raver. Have I even been to a rave? I'll go home. Loser. I suck. Actually, I am probably just a normal person taking this test and don't know why.	RAVER? Don't you need to know people who go to parties to be one of those? ;-)