Archive for August, 2004
Monday, August 30th, 2004 | LiveJournal Archives | 3 Comments
LUAU!!!
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Monday, August 30th, 2004 | LiveJournal Archives | No Comments
Well, I had a bunch of Gmail invites, but I gave them all away suckas!
Monday, August 30th, 2004 | LiveJournal Archives | No Comments
well, it’s the first day of the new semester and so far things aren’t horrible. Only had to sit in the lab for about an hour this morning until a lab attendant walked up looking for work. The down side was that the lab was insufferably hot, as was the entire building. It’s finally gotten down to a tolerable 78 here in the office, but that’s because we’ve got a fan blocking off the entire doorway, blowing in the cool air from the hall. I still have some scary gaps in the schedule right now, but I’m sure, as it does every semester, things will work out. I will, however, have to hire at least two people. I”ve got three good resumes on my desk, but I should still post a sign in the lab. I think I’ll just post up my old sign that I used years ago, it’s still current, for the most part.
Hmmm, as I look at it, it could probably do with a couple little changes… I should still have the file.
Anyway, so I started reading the WoD book this weekend after finishing up Homeland – Book I of the Dark Elf Trilogy. 
Derek hit the nail on the head with his description. He said it was kind of a combination of Call of Cthulu and Hunter: The Reckoning, with a bit of X-Files thrown in for good measure. All good sources, all good moods, all good in one book.
So yeah.. uh, gotta do some work.
Friday, August 27th, 2004 | LiveJournal Archives | 1 Comment
It’s the last day before the semester starts and of course this is when things inevitablly go wrong. We’ve had a really good track record the last three semesters running, so it’s only fate that brings this semester to our knees.
We re-image all the machines every semester. This is so that they are clean and uncontaminated, and so that they have the latest greatest software. This semester was going great on the rebuild until Wednesday. I got the image for the PCs all updated and functional and pushed it out to the systems. When it finished, 12 didn’t boot. We determined they were all from the same lot and must have a hardware conflict. For four hours, we tried to repair the problem, but finally resorted to installing Windows back onto one and updating with SP2 and windows update. Things are good with that one now. We pulled the image and pushed it out to the other 11 and of those, 4 didn’t boot. They are from the same batch, but have a different video card, so there’s a driver issue and we couldn’t even get into safe mode or anything to reinstall it. So I’m now reinstalling windows on those 4. Next semester I’m at least going to insist that we buy all matching video cards for our lab machines.
Anyway, so while we’re in the middle of all that, we have a second batch of lab computers that get a slightly different image that includes some special software, software that needs to be configured special after the re-imaging. We started to push out that image, to all 22 machines at once, and, of course, it stops half way through. We end up having to cancel the push and start it all over, only this time the machines won’t connect to the network in order to recieve the image. We try all kinds of things to get them to connect and then I run into Steve who comments that a system downstairs is not talking to the network. We run some other tests and it seems we’re not connecting at all. I try to call HelpDesk, who manages the campus networking (where we manage our own school’s networking) and the phone won’t even connect. WTF? So I call them on the cell and tell them we’re landlocked from campus.
Shortly after, connectivity seems to come back and we’re now back on track with our imaging. Nick and Steve are off eating right now and I’m typing this with crossed fingers hoping the cast will complete.
Oh, and to top it all off, I need to congratualte and berate Nick for getting a new job and leaving me right when I need him the most. He’s moving across campus and I’ll be without a lab tech right at the most critical week of the year. Oh well, congratulations you bastard.
Wednesday, August 25th, 2004 | LiveJournal Archives | 3 Comments
another one of those “I haven’t posted in forever so here’s a quiz” days.
Wednesday, August 18th, 2004 | LiveJournal Archives | 4 Comments
Fuck it’s been a long time. I’ve been playing Shit-Tons of City of Heroes and every time I sat down at the computer, I thought, I could load up Livejournal and read tons of back posts, or I could play CoH. Needless to say, CoH won every time. I’m building a new PC lab image so I’m almost too distracted to play right now. That’s why I’m here, I can safely take a break from reading or writing to work on the image, without fear of dying.
So anyway, my parents came in to town Saturday morning around 10:30. picked them up at the airport no problem and then just sat around chatting all afternoon and evening. There was a bit of a debate as to whether we were cooking for them (which we hadn’t planned to do for the 4 nights they were going to be with us), or if we were going out to dinner (which we expected we’d do for all 4 nights). Apparently we were under different assumptions. So anyway, we ended up going to the Greenhouse (even though we headed out to go to Giuseppe’s). It was really good and we had a good time. Though I made the mistake of having pork-chops even though I daid I’d grill for them the following night and the thing I enjoy grilling the most is Pork Chops. We (Heather and I) decided to do Swordfish instead, and though it was expensive, mom surprised us and payed for it at the store. She griped at me for closing the grill while I was cooking the fish, even though I was using direct heat, she said it should cook with the grill open. Then when I asked her how it tasted, she said it’d taste better if I left the grill open the whole time. Sheesh, is it so hard to get a compliment out of her without sarcasm? My dad said it was really good and looked genuine in his statement.
While they were here, we puttered around the house some, doing things that I could have done if dad wasn’t there, but he was the impetus to get up and do them. We trimmed the trees that had branches dragging on the roof, we pulled some old cable and telephone wires off the side of the house that are no longer in use. Stuff like that. We made a huge mess of the patio when we swept the pine needles off the roof, and when Heather, mom, and I went to Recycled Books, dad took it upon himself to hose down the patio, and did so with more enthusiasm that I had done before they came. Sheesh. Bored much dad?
They left for Memphis, Monday morning and I had already decided to take a few days off this week. Well, my throat was decidedly sore when I woke up Monday morning as well, and I had apparenlty come down with some kind of cold. I don’t know how or why, but it certainly changed the reasons I stayed home Monday and Tuesday. I played a fair ammount of City of Heroes while I was home, but there were a couple times I was not in a state of mind to do so because I felt ill. Kind of a waste of a day off if you ask me.
So, yeah, I’m at work today and will probably be at work tomorrow to try and get the new lab image up to date for next semester. Don’t know if it will be done, but then again, our images have become secure enough, we don’t have to have them rebuilt for the first day of the semester anymore. I’m debating coming in tomorrow too. I had already planned to not come in on Friday, since my parents are supposed to get back in town, but the more I sit here, the less I want to be. And since I’m not really sick anymore, I could actually enjoy my day off tomorrow.
But for now, I need to go to the bathroom, so I’ll end this rather than trying to contine writing in there.
Tuesday, August 10th, 2004 | LiveJournal Archives | 4 Comments
what crap, I don’t read or post for almost a week and this is all I have to show for myself…
Your parents’ murder drives your overwhelming need to impose justice on an insane world. With no super powers, you rely on your sharpness and intense training — and when all else fails, your amazing gadgets. You’re a loner except for the sidekick who keeps you sane.
Thursday, August 5th, 2004 | LiveJournal Archives | 2 Comments
For those of you who know Chelsea, she and I have worked together as a team to get her Blogger account syndicated through LiveJournal, so now you can read On The Down Low – Kharma Payment Plan, which is her online journal as a friend on your Livejournal Friends list.
and yeah, so I misspelled Karma, BFD.
Wednesday, August 4th, 2004 | LiveJournal Archives | No Comments
Whoooo. I finally have time to sit and write something in livejournal. Lets think of something to write.
Hmmm. Okay, so I’ve been playing a lot of City of Heroes. Uh, most people don’t want to hear about it, and those that do, I’ve pretty much talked to in person.
Finally got back out to the Rec Center yesterday. I say finally, but it’s only been since Thursday, but I skipped Sunday and I could feel it. I mean, I didn’t skip as much as Steve did (well, okay, actually, we skipped the same, but he usually goes on Friday too), but it was still noticable. I didn’t go on Sunday because Heather and I were going to go for a bike ride and I figured that would make up for skipping a leg workout at the gym. Little did I know that our ride would be me putzing along waiting on, or slowly following behind Heather. I mean, I know she’s not up to the same level of biking I am, but come on, I thought I’d at least feel like I did a little work. For as much as I could feel it in my legs, and as much as my heart rate increased, I might as well have been one of those guys in the 1800’s riding those bikes with the really big wheel in the front, wearing a suit to church. I was sweaty, but that was mostly from the humidity.
Did I mention I finished painting the main walls in the office at home? I almost didn’t have enough paint and so long as I don’t stare at the walls, that’ll be my story, and I’ll be sticking to it because I don’t want to paint it anymore. I really should have painted the walls in a different order because one is going to be almost completely covered, I only painted it so that if any color did show through the fabric, it’d be the right color and so until we get the fabric and chinese doors up or if we ever take them down, the wall is consistent. But had I at least saved that wall ’til the end, if it wasn’t painted so good, it wouldn’t matter at all. As it turns out, I saved the wall that’s most visible from the hall for last and it was really noticable that I hadn’t dont a good job so heather and I spent a little while Friday evening scraping the last of the paint out of the can to finish it. Now I just need to figure out what to do for the baseboards. I still don’t have to do that until Heather finishes the floor, which it’s looking like she may not get done in time. Maybe I’ll move the computer to the living room for the time being so that when my parents come, they won’t have my computer in the room they’ll be staying in (oh, and so I can play City of Heroes and Heather can still watch TV without feeling like she can’t watch shows we record for us both).
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