The Time Sink

Well... Yeah, school starts today... That's just too soon for us: It hasn't seemed like we've had anything like a normal Summer here. Maybe it was school getting out a little later than in the past, or maybe it was a bunch of semi-unplanned stuff that happened, but regardless...

Last night was the final touch ups to the backpacks and binders and such (Brad's binder has a picture of the hawk on the back and one of Anya on the front) and the final bits of coordination about the events of the first week. I suspect entire military campaigns have been launched with less logistical support...

Your morning quiz...

Who should be the sleepless one(s) in the house?

a) the MS patient?

b) the old guy?

c) kidlet one, in his first week of eighth grade?

d) kidlet two, in his first week of fifth grade?

Notice I left out " e) all of the above " simply because that's the current selection. Please address your answers to the distaff side; I'm a bit too tired to process things...

Good grief! Two days of school and homework both nights for both boys... Where is the fun in that? Oh, yeah, it's not supposed to be fun. I for one disagree <g>!

Actually, both of the guys are doing okay and both seem to be settling in well enough with their teachers. Brad's we know from last year when he ran a combo with Brad in the lower half; this year he has just fifth grade and things seem to be running smoothly. We'll meet Daniel's gang when we have his Back to School Night in a week or so...

Hmmm.... I think it's time to update the computer at work. I've been waiting for an excuse and a grand cluster a few weeks back reminded me that there are times I can be a bit of a bother the the IT people. Oh, it is a trade off: they tolerate me and my funny ways and I contribute to the local knowledge base when I can...

...but I think it is time to retire the venerable P-200 box I put together back in '97. Yeah, Win95b, fully Farquhared, still running the original pair of Maxtor 2-gig drives (overkill at the time) and just humming right along, albeit a tad slowly compared to today's machines. ...but two things are tipping me toward spending some evening time in a geek fog: the IT chief really would like to see what his Exchange servers would do with Evolution running against them, and Antec has come out with a Small Form Factor case...

Ummm... Yeah. That's not as small as the Shuttle I'm running Linux on here at home, but it is a bit of a departure for Antec and I'm a nut case for new stuff. ...and the price is right. ...and it'll hold maybe three spindles. ...and ... well, yeah, I'm due.

Hmmm.... The signs of an approaching autumn... School is back in session. The pomegranates are splitting on the trees. I can park the van on the Office Depot side of the Costco parking lot and be in shade again...

It's a school year Saturday in late Summer, and for the first time in more years than I can remember, neither of the boys has to be at a soccer game... What a shock... Those games were one of the reasons I quit teaching a few years back (no, I won't be restarting; twenty years was enough). ...but to not have to get up? Wow...

Other changes are in store though: Brad is playing football this year to see how he likes that. ...and Daniel found out yesterday he's made the golf team at his school.

More? Sure: tomorrow we'll have a teenager in the household, although the job description has been rather nicely filled for at least six months <g>! ...but there is a bright side to that, albeit a short-lived one: later today we'll be spending a few party hours at the local Laser Quest where I'll be enjoying myself hunting down my offspring!

...almost a flashback. The short hair, the red and chrome of the ice cream place...

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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic."
Arthur C. Clarke, "Technology and the Future"

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