The Time Sink

Well, Mandrake 8.1 arrived from LSL on Saturday. ...and since I want to play with that distro some without mucking up my Linux testbed-that's-become-a-workstation (didja' notice that most of last week's posts on this site were made from Tux? Nah, I didn't think so...), I think I'll throw it on the laptop with some interesting cards plugged into the PCMCIA slots then move that HDD to one of the Webpads. (Let's see, one... two... Nope, not the record for the longest semi-legit sentence by a Daynoter, but certainly a viable candidate for 'Honorable Mention'<g>...)

Anyway, I need to keep trying to get a wireless combination back up; I didn't realize how useful that was last spring on the sanity front. ...and I've blocked myself rather thoroughly with the start/stop cleaning machine take downs I've done this summer. Time to take advantage of the earlier darkness; get home and blade; and get the kids to bed earlier...

Just remember: You heard it here second! Well, third... Okay, at least fourth. I got it from Patti, who got it from Jerry, who got it from...

Then one of us gave it to Cecil, who gave it to... And so goes the linkage. (Although, I have to agree with John and Brian that the "Time Sink" bit hit a little close to home<g>.) I tell you, when the Great Gord gets back from his Asian trip, he's going to find quite a legacy to continue.

On a more somber note, it's things like this cartoon from Wiley that will bring back the memories of September 11th (yes, you'll have to click on the link; I don't consider it 'fair use' to republish his work intact) whenever I check my archives. (...and no, they're not posted yet, but I had a rather reasonable request the other day and I think I'll follow through on it.)

You see, from my point of view, it's important to move on with life no matter what has happened. Sure, an appropriate period on reflection and contemplation needs to occur (either on your terms now, or your mind's terms later); but wallowing in an emotional pit for any length of time is counter productive to life and growth. At the same time, I think it's important to remember the past and the events that precipitate the future we live in. "Those who cannot remember..." and such.

There have been many defining moments both in our lives and the lives of the societal framework we live within. To write chapters off and just move on ignores a heritage (both good and bad) that is part of what defines us individually and as that society.

Okay, so I got it mixed up yesterday and put the geek stuff on the blog and the musings over here... I'll get it correct sooner or later.

Not so correct was the spam list yesterday. Man, there were some real prizes in there... Starting with the guy who uses spellings like "Intrest", "preformance" and "Increse" to catch my eye. ...and ending up with the guy who wants to sell me gas masks. Not to mention the 'not-an-invoice' that showed up in the mail at work trying to scam us into buying sixty 40-watt fluorescent bulbs for $995 (shipped within twelve weeks of receiving our check). Sheesh.

Briefly, as I'm hammered both at work and at home. ...but that brings me to the irritation of the day: last weekend I mentioned that Logitech's Windows drivers now allow horizontal scrolling in some dialog boxes. Shortly after, I received the 'head slap' note from Brian (please note I'm omitting the embarrassing part about exactly who slapped my head) mentioning how he'd been horizontal scrolling in his boxen for quite some time. ...something about just placing the mouse pointer on the horizontal bar and scrolling away. The things only friends will tell you...

Well, it reached a break point today at work as I had to keep dragging that blasted horizontal bar around on the Windows box! Less than a week and I'm spoiled out of my mind...

Friday, Friday, Friday... At least the job side of the week is winding down. 'Cause I am so ready to take a break from what's been a very full week. ...'cept that Saturday is going to fire up very early: I have the soccer duty since Shelley and Bradley are headed off to the kid's edition of the Billy Graham Crusade.

We went as a family Thursday evening and had a fine time. The musical talent turned things up a notch from what I was expecting (more about that on the blog this evening) and the speakers kept even the boys' attention.

In case it's not evident, I'm not that much of a people-person; and a crowd-person I am emphatically not! Still, even with somewhere around forty-thousand people, I managed to have a good time.

I guess this is what Saturdays are supposed to be like... I haven't had many 'regular' Saturdays for about twenty years, what with the teaching gig kicking in each semester. So when I took a back seat this fall, I wasn't really sure what it would be like. Well, it's not all that good in the cash flow department; but in the family time department, it's been overflowing.

The transition from summer to fall this year just seemed to flow, rather than the seasonal jarring jump into class prep and teaching. ...and not having any commitments really came in handy when Mom was in the hospital. But I think the concept of actually having a family day finally locked in today. I took Daniel to his soccer game to start the day; then we were off to the team picture event at another field. When that ended, we dropped by my Mom's to deal with a few things and then came back home. Shelley took over the homework chores while I napped and then it was time to watch the local team almost kill their undefeated season... All in all, not a bad way to spend the day.

It looks like my weekend posts may just be sparse for a while. ...at least as long as things to do keep coming up. Today was part two of 'early fall prep'; that would be like winterizing; but we haven't dropped below eighty yet (hope are high{low?} for this week and there's no rain in any of the long range forecasts. So mainly I just finished changing out a flower bed and started the general cleanup. With any luck, I can finish the fall stuff up next week and maybe even work on that walkway I was starting on when I trashed my ankle back in May.