Time Keeps On Slipping Into The Future

Wow. I knew my blog celebrated an anniversary this week. I thought it was seven years but it turns out I've been doing this for nine years. My first post was July 5, 2003. Actually, my first post was late on July 4 but blogger didn't have a save feature back then and, well, The Internet Ate My Homework.

I have gone through periods of prolific blogging and periods of sparse blogging. The reasons for both are various. I have learned lessons, thankfully none of them hard-learned, and (I think) I've found a voice. Overall it's been a lot of fun. I still thank Wil Wheaton for being such a cool frood and showing me how awesome blogging could be.

I'm going through one of those sparse periods right now but that doesn't mean I'm not publicly active. I'm just concentrating on something else right now. Back on March 2, 2012, my friend Kevin and I recorded episode 1 of the Two Rambling Idiots Podcast (TRIP). We have produced a show every week since then and just cranked out episode 20.

The podcast is a little more work than putting together a blog. Sure, Kevin and I could sit there and yap free-form for an hour no problem but how would that be interesting to anybody but us? The editorializing is almost exclusively free-form but covering tech news requires a little bit of preparation. For one, you actually have to review the tech news in order to cover it. Plus, I try to make the story my own, at least in some way, so I spend a good amount of time writing summaries. That way I'm not just regurgitating what other people publish. If you do that it's a lot harder to defend yourself against plagiarism by calling it "research."

Just like I thanked Wil Wheaton for getting me into blogging, I'd also like to thank Todd Cochrane for getting me into podcasting. It's his Geek News Central Podcast that TRIP is modeled after. Plus, he's kind-of an authority on podcasting. You could say he wrote the book on podcasting.

So, thank you, Wil. Thank you, Todd. And, most importantly, thank you, my dear readers, because without you I'd just be talking to myself.

Am I Boring you?

There are people who know their lives are interesting to others and some of them bask in that and thrive on it. There are people who wish their lives weren't quite so interesting to others.

I think that if you ask most people, including many celebrities, they would say their lives are ordinary and mundane. That's what I think of my life. I've often considered the process of writing an autobiography but I can't think of anything to put into it.

I was born in Burlington, VT. So were thousands of other people. My first job was in a grocery store. Again, true of a large volume of the population. I was a nerd in high school. I went to college. I got drunk and partied in college. I miraculously graduated from college. I got married. I bought a house. etc. etc. etc. Sounds pretty plain, doesn't it?

So why is it that personal blogs remain popular? What do we find so fascinating about each others lives?

I think the reason other's lives are interesting is that their experiences either remind us of our own or their experiences are so outside our own that we are mesmerized by them. Yes, I was born in Burlington, VT like thousands of others. But only a few of them can say that their family has been so deeply involved in the volunteer fire department in Richmond, VT that the one and only time the town had a Fire Marshall was when they created the position to keep my grandfather, a highly respected and revered man, involved with the fire department as his health declined.

Yes, my first job was in a grocery store. But that job was as a bag boy. My only responsibility was to bag the groceries and assist people with transporting them to and loading them into their cars. An extinct occupation that faded into obsolescence like the attendant at the corner service station.

That's what makes those stories interesting. The components unique to my (the author's) experience. Doing the job that doesn't exist anymore. Having the personal connection to an entire town. Watching a friend take a flying kick at a trashcan while walking home from my 21st birthday gathering at the local watering hole... and having the distinct pleasure of laughing at him as I explained that they were bolted to the sidewalk.

So keep writing those blogs. Keep telling those stories. Keep sharing those experiences that I can either relate to or enjoy vicariously.

Here's To A "Spiffy" New Year

2010 has not been a fantastic year for me. It has also not been a terrible year for me. A FaceBook friend said 2011 was going to be "spiffy" so I plan to make sure that it is. (is there a resolution in there somewhere?)

My blogging in 2010 was considerably less than previous years but, surprisingly, I find myself with several ideas and updates running through my head as the new year dawns. I will present them in no particular order since each one finds its way to the front of the line in random and recurring order. Some will be, I hope, eloquent and profound. Others will be random and scattered. Most will probably be the latter.

I will start with my wrist.

Now, see, the job just jumped to the front of the line. It will have to wait since I already mentioned my wrist. I only mention it now to ensure that I come back and give it its turn.

I have had minor problems with my wrists for the last 3-4 years. I'm pretty sure it is the beginnings of Carpal Tunnel or some other repetitive motion injury. It has never been bad enough to go to the doctor and usually only lasts a couple of days.

Shortly after starting the new job I ran down the battery in my car. Someone came along and helped me out with a jump start but I had to push the car out of the parking space so we could access both batteries. After that, my right wrist started hurting bad enough and long enough that I went and bought a wrist brace. I wore it, iced my wrist and took Aleve for about a week and everything settled down.

This week my wrist started hurting again. A lot. I'm wearing the brace again but I really need to get an ergonomic keyboard at work (more on that later - maybe). I think typing on the iPad aggravated it. I will also mention it to my doctor when I see him on Tuesday.

Now for the job. I have read the company social media policy and can, in fact, tell you I am working as an Enterprise Technical Support Analyst for Dell in Oklahoma City. I do phone support for tape backup units of all shapes and sizes. I must, however, tell you that the statements I make and opinions I express do not necessarily reflect those of my employer and the statements and opinions expressed by my employer do not necessarily reflect my own. As a friend of mine puts it: I do not speak for Dell and Dell does not speak for me.

I have been taking calls for about a month now. A lot of it is coming back to me. I sometimes get frustrated when something comes up that I have seen before or that I used to know and can't bring to mind the solution. As predicted, the most difficulty has been in (re-)learning procedures and using the new case management software. I am becoming more proficient every day.

The toughest part has to be the sales tool. technicians are now allowed to prepare quotes for and sell spare parts, warranty extensions, etc. Pretty much anything without a service tag. It's a good idea because I can now give out of warranty customers an answer to the question, "How much is that going to cost?" The problem is a) I am not a sales person and b) It doesn't come up very often. We are encouraged to do a bit of suggestive selling (i.e. I see your warranty is due to expire next month. Would you like me to help you with a warranty extension?) but we're not allowed to push. No means no. The good part is if we prepare a quote and the customer purchases off that quote we get the credit and the commission. The bad part is there is a reason I'm not in sales. Nobody has asked me to make a quota so I'm good with it. I like having the ability to help them all the way through the process.

I'm still loving the iPad. It is sort-of like a giant iPod touch but with more cowbell. I have paid for a couple of apps (one of them being a remote desktop app called SplashTop Remote) and have been hording free apps and paid apps that are temporarily free just like I did do with my iPhone.

The iPad has 3G capability so I can use the cellular network when WiFi isn't available. The problem is that since AT&T dropped their unlimited data plans across the board, I'm afraid to use that functionality for fear of getting raped on data usage charges going over my allotment. An iPad can eat up 250MB easily. I used 352MB on my iPhone last month (thank goodness they grandfathered my unlimited plan) and I don't really use it that much since leaving the last job.

With the iPad I also received a Camera Connection Kit. This is a set of two dongles. One of them has a USB connection on it, the other has an SD card slot. With the USB dongle you can direct-connect your digital camera or your iPhone and the SD slot is self-explanatory. Whichever way you go, the iPad automatically launches a built-in transfer app that allows you to transfer all the photos or to select specific photos to transfer. It is not without its limitations. When connecting the iPhone it will only pick up photos from the camera roll. It does not see any in the photo albums. (this also means that the dongle does not add a functional USB port to the iPad unless you know something I don't) When using the SD card the card apparently has to be formatted from a camera. The iPad does not react if you insert a card full of JPG files. Yet another Apple limitation that seems to have no rhyme or reason.

Speaking of the iPad (still), I have been on the hunt for an iPad case since I got it. When the wife bought hers she also bought one of the Apple cases. We then headed to Radio Shack where she bought a nice leather folio bundled with some other accessories. She used the leather folio for about a day then went back to the Apple case. I have been using the leather folio. This leather folio is actually quite nice. I can't tell you if it's genuine or synthetic leather but it is padded and well constructed. The inside has slots for papers, cards and other small, flat items. There is a leather tab/strap that slides into a slot to keep it closed.

There are a few reasons I have been looking for another case. First, this case does not function well as a stand. I use/wanted the iPad primarily to watch movies on my lunch break and propping it up, even with the strap inserted, I am constantly concerned about it tipping over forward or backward. There is also no "typing angle" available. Second is the way the iPad is held in. It is held in securely but not functionally. On the bottom are two formed, leather corner pieces. The right one partially covers the speaker but doesn't seem to affect the sound. The top is held in with two elastic straps.

From a manufacturing standpoint elastic straps are cheap, functional and easy to install/use. The problem is that they block key parts of the iPad. They always do, it's not just this case. The left strap all but covers the headphone jack and does cover the microphone. It can be pushed out of the way for headphone insertion but shouldn't need to be. The right strap covers the power button which is not a big deal since it can easily be actuated without moving the strap. The right strap also covers the mute switch (formerly the rotation lock switch). The strap has to be removed then replaced to actuate the switch. Sorry, this one's the deal breaker.

At first I thought I just wanted a leather version of the Apple case. These are plentiful on eBay in a variety of colors. Then I discovered something. If I'm sitting in my car (stationary, of course), I can fold the cover back over the top of my steering wheel and secure it in place using the leather strap. Connect it to the AUX audio input on my radio and I have in-car theater! (the photo also demonstrates the full reflective nature of the iPad screen)

This development necessitated a modification of my criteria. My new case needed to be leather, preferably padded, it could not use elastic straps to secure the device, it needed to have the capability to operate as a vertical stand as well as a typing stand, and it needed a closure of some sort to allow me to wheel-mount the iPad. You would think that wouldn't be hard to find. You would be wrong.

Some are WAY overpriced. Some are fun but don't fit the criteria. Some downright suck. Most don't make the cut because of stability issues when using as a stand, cheap materials, or poor quality control. I looked on Amazon. I looked on eBay. I read reviews. I just couldn't make a decision on one that would be right for me without going to the iPad Case Store and touching each one and examining the quality. Unfortunately, there is no iPad Case Store.

In the end, I pulled the trigger on a unit on eBay for $12.00. I figure that way I can see how well the design works for me but I'm not out much if the quality is lacking.

Okay... what else... Ah, Christmas in general.

On Christmas Eve we met my wife's side of the family for our traditional Christmas Eve Dinner at the Olive Garden. This tradition grew out of a desire not to spend my father-in-law's birthday (December 24) alone after his passing. For the last 5 years it has been a fun time of feasting, conversation and remembrance. There has been a lot of controversy on that side of the family over the last year but it was all put aside for the gathering.

On Christmas Day we drove to Kansas City to be with my family. From there we all went to St. Joseph, MO to my niece's house for Christmas Dinner. There was lots of laughter and loudness - just like it should be. It's always good to see my nephews as well. Each one of them thinks very differently from most people and their thoughts and interactions are often amusing to behold.

I, of course, brought my camera and took several pictures - including some group portraits. Using the Camera Connection Kit I uploaded them to my iPad and started showing people pictures of themselves. In short order someone else was holding my iPad with several others gathered around looking at all of the pictures. It was really cool to see.

Well, I've been sitting here for a couple of hours working on this and I think I (and you) have had quite enough. Here's wishing 2011 is as "spiffy" for you as I plan on mine being.

Is The Personal Blog Dead?

A little over seven years ago I started my blog. I have always been interested in writing and journaling but was never able to stick to it. Something about blogging and having an actual rather than imagined audience and getting feedback kept me writing and made my blog a lot of fun.

I still enjoy blogging (obviously) but over the past three years my frequency has dropped off considerably for various reasons. I have noticed this same trend in several of the personal blogs I try to keep up with. So, why are personal blogs withering?

The Twitter and Facebook factor has a lot to do with it. I don't think people are necessarily abandoning their blogs for Facebook, although some I know have come right out and said as much. Twitter and Facebook provide an instantaneous outlet for transient and clever thoughts. The effect of this is like nudging your BFF standing next to you and saying, "hey, check out what just flashed through my brain." And, like the chuckle he/she gives you, the feedback of the like button and comment system are comforting and addicting.

Blogging is more like being the street-corner preacher. We stand on our soap boxes and cast our prose to the winds hoping it will fall on sympathetic ears. If we're lucky, someone comes by, stays a while to listen, and maybe even strikes up a short conversation. If we're really lucky, we catch the odd commuter as he passes by every day and he gives us a little of his time as he heads to wherever he is going.

When you really think about it, blogging is difficult. You have to stop and think about exactly what you want to say and you have to construct an engaging story around that. Then, you have to hope someone cares enough about what you have to say to make and take the time to read it. Even with RSS it's a fairly passive endeavor - like going to the library.

With Twitter/Facebook, it's more like having a conversation. You throw something out there, your friends see it, take 10 seconds to read it, then put in their own 2 cents. You don't even have to direct it to them. Your friends have made the choice to listen to you. If they check on a regular basis they see your posts on a regular basis. It's all about smaller bites and easier feedback.

Professional and commercial blogs are a different animal, of course. They are more like a newspaper (some of them are newspapers). People actively seek them out for information and opinion. But who cares what Joe Fusco from Stillwater, Oklahoma has to say on a day-to-day basis? A few but not many.

Will I keep blogging? For the time being, I will. But being able to use my iPhone to immediately post a thought or observation to Facebook from wherever I might happen to be is so much easier and provides so many more opportunities.

Downtime

I'm still here. I'm having one of those periods where I have plenty to say but just don't have enough of the whateveritis that makes me do this in the first place to actually post anything. Readjusting some priorities, I guess. I'll be back in full swing one of these days.

Now the drive-by update:

• The work situation is MUCH improved
• My HTC Fuze is getting flakier by the day
• I'm sure a full reset would help but I'm waiting for the launch of the iPhone 4
• Scored a quesadilla grill @ a garage sale for $8 abt a month ago
  
• Can't stop using it
• Came home for lunch one day to find a small tarantula hanging out by the door
• Shooed him away with a stick
• Next day it was a 4' water snake laying in front of the door
• The wife & I were coming home from dinner
• She F R E A K E D
• I'm not telling her about the tarantula
• Been looking for a flash memory camcorder
• Settled on a cheap toy-type at Big Lots but haven't been able to catch it in stock
• It went on sale this morning for $25 and I got one
• It's about as good as an old flip phone cell camera
• What do you want for $25? I'm pleased enough with it for what I want it for
• Working on reworking my celebrity photo site
• The site itself has been setup for several months now
• Finally getting back to sorting, editing and watermaking the pictures - stay tuned

I'm thinking too hard to come up with more so I'll end it there. Have a great holiday weekend and thank a serviceman. Thank you Steve, David, Scott, Beth, and especially mom's cousin Eddie.

Comment Bankruptcy

I've tried to find a way to preserve my Haloscan comments. I did find one person that did it but it involved Python scripts and wasn't exactly step-by-step. I have to remove them from the blog because Haloscan is shutting down.

I decided it wasn't so bad to lose my historical comments and reverted to Blogger comments. I have the comment dump from Haloscan so if anyone ever comes up with an easy way to import them I can still do that. I've thought about switching to Disqus and may still do so but for now, Blogger it is.

I Have A Decision To Make

I have been with Blogger for all six and a half years I've been blogging. I've seen them grow and change and add features and continue to become better. Before Blogger had commenting capabilities, I signed up with Haloscan. When Blogger added commenting abilities, I stayed with Haloscan because I didn't want to hassle with trying to convert my comments. This is the same reason I stayed with Blogger when I toyed with the idea of hosting my blog myself.

I learned today that Haloscan is shutting down. I have no choice but to try to convert or disconnect all of my comments. Haloscan has graciously provided an export mechanism but they know of no import mechanism for any of the popular blogging platforms. I'm sure if I spend some time with Google, someone has information on how to get my Haloscan comments into Blogger - or they'll eventually surface.

So now I have a decision. Do I stay with Blogger or do I move to another platform such as WordPress? Do I go with a hosted solution or do I host it myself? Blogger has a lot of easy to use features that they didn't have six years ago. Template and layout changes are simple and easy. Photo uploads are a no-brainer.

The advantage of hosting it myself is it is whatever I want it to be, wherever I want it to be. The disadvantage is I have to keep paying for it to keep it going. I also have to manage my own plugins and deal with spam comments (something I'm getting a lot of on some other WP blogs I have).

What do you think? Is it time to move on?

Milestones (Post Number 1,000)

I've been journaling, off and on, for a large portion of my life. Sometimes it has been an assignment for school, but mostly it has been for myself. To put my thoughts down in some sort of permanent fashion. The assignment books ended when the classes ended but I also have several journals with only a few pages filled and large gaps between the entry dates. For some reason, I never could consistently stick with it.

One theme that permeates my journal entries is that I write as if I am speaking to someone - telling a story. I want the words I write to be read and not just to myself. I want an audience for my writing. For classes, the audiences were the teachers and sometimes the other students. For the personal journals, it was no one in particular. My audience was some future person or persons with whom I would share my words or who might read them after I was gone to find out who I was.

I started this experiment that is The Internet Ate My Homework six and a half years ago after hearing Wil Wheaton speak about blogging at a Star Trek convention. He even read excerpts from a book published mostly from entries in his blog. He had an audience and it had just grown by one. (I no longer read his blog. It took a direction I didn't want to follow.)

When I got home I Googled blogging (there's a sentence we never could have said ten years ago) and stumbled upon Blogger. I typed up a mildly eloquent entry about how much it had surprised me that Wil Wheaton was so entertaining and how he and his blog had inspired me to start a blog myself. And because I didn't understand the interface well enough, and because the interface basically sucked 6.5 years ago, that wonderful entry went to that great bit bucket in the sky. Thus was born the title.

I have never kept a paper journal for this long (often because I've lost track of the actual journal). I think TIAMH has lasted this long because I finally have an audience. My audience is actual people named Mary and Ron and Brent and Carl and several others I don't know the names of but the audience is no longer a nameless, faceless future person who may or may not ever read my words.

Recent events in my life make me glad that I have done this. I have looked at photographs and heard stories from other people and I simply don't recall those events. With my blog I can go back and read about the things that were important in my life and understand the things that stood out to me as important at that time. I become my own audience. I can see how I've grown and I can see what I've learned.

For instance, with that "first" post, I learned not to judge public figures based on what you see on TV. I discovered I had some good stories in me and started to find a voice. Then, because of some stressful times (that ultimately ended in epic failure), I realized I'd lost that voice.

I have shared joy and sorrow and random thoughts and inner thoughts and fun stories from my childhood and things that are just weird. And I have found my voice again.

This experiment that is The Internet Ate My Homework has taken me places I never thought I would go. It has been part of my life longer than I thought it would be. It is an outlet. It is a comfort. It is a reflection. It is a catharsis. It is not something I will abandon for social networking. This is me.

I have thought about moving my blog to my own hosting service but I have been with blogger so long it's just so much easier to stay. And I hope you will stay with me (and recommend me to your friends) for the next 1,000 posts.

A Year In Review 2009

Instructions: Go to the FIRST BLOG of each month for the past year. Copy and paste the LAST SENTENCE of each blog. That is your Year in Review.

January 2009: Actually, I don't think I will make it exempt. Walrus pixel buzzer, Wankel rotary engine, dogs are barking, can't fly without umbrella - TAKE THAT!

February 2009: I probably won't be worth s#!t for the rest of the weekend.

March 2009: I'm just going to go with it. [I should just make this my general philosophy]

April 2009: But it's sucking in dual channel mode now.

May 2009: As an IT professional, it's not every day you get to see something like this in your normal course of duties.

June 2009: Why wouldn't it be pre-set to initiate a sync partnership?

July 2009: Here's to many more years to come.

August 2009: Whoever came up with this concept is a genius! I applaud you but I have to stay away

September 2009: I think once I have this trip/wedding out of the way work will also be settled down enough that I can shift my focus to other things.

October 2009: More later as I discover more of its doo-dads and widgets.

November 2009: Maybe that's why blogs and things like Facebook and Twitter are so popular.

December 2009: Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah/Hanukkah, Joyus Kwanza, Uprorious Festivus, or Blissful Binging... whatever floats your boat.

In reading through some of these I have decided on a resolution this year: To have more direction. It seems I started or said I would start or said I had been thinking about starting several things that never quite got completed.

The Blog Of ME

Not too long ago I said that I wanted to start using my blog to record my memories. That way, I might actually create a memoir like it says in the title.

I have written a few of these memories and I have a couple more in the queue but, as I'm sure you know, sometimes it's hard to know what to actually record (and sometimes it's hard to find time). With that in mind, I picked up a copy of The Book of ME. It is designed to be a guided memoir with questions grouped into different categories designed to help you write your story.

I'm sure I won't be answering every question here in this public forum. As I skimmed through the book there seemed to be a couple of questions that didn't seem to apply. Plus, some other questions I saw prompted such simple answers, at the time, that they wouldn't make good stories.

Stay tuned as we go through this journey together.

Another One Of *Those* Posts

It's the holiday season. That means more time spent out of the house visiting friends and relatives and shopping as well as more time in the house making and wrapping gifts or imbibing adult beverages that numb the pain. Whatever the reason it means less time for blogging.

I have been popping up on Facebook a lot more lately. It seems a lot easier. For one, I can do it from my phone so it's more immediate. For two, it's an ideal forum for quick messages that convey my thoughts at the moment. The blog always seems like a blank sheet of paper begging to be filled in its entirety.

Thanksgiving went well. We didn't have "the dinner" until Saturday because it wasn't until Saturday that all the niece and nephews could gather. When we did there was the usual fecetiousness, joke-telling, all-in-fun insults and general mirth. We arrived on Thursday so by Sunday, we were ready to head home.

In general, we did not participate in Black Friday. There were a couple of small items my wife wanted from W-Mart so she got up just before 5am, popped across the street from our hotel to the store, grabbed the 2 or 3 small items she was interested in, and was out of the store less than 45 minutes later. When she returned to the room, she went back to bed.

On Saturday, The Wife's laptop gave out. It was generally unresponsive and completely unusable. I tried everything I knew to try to revive it including installing a brand new hard drive with a fresh load of Windows and flashing the BIOS but it didn't help. Parts for her computer are scarce and expensive. To get a new motherboard would have cost over $200 dollars (assuming we could find one in stock) so we were forced to participate in Cyber Monday where she found a new laptop of the same brand for $400. It was a necessary expense since she is currently in an online-only Master's program. Luckily there was still some financial aid money sitting in her account to help offset (or cover) the cost.

That's about it for now. I'm sure I'll be back soon but in case I miss you, may you all be blessed this holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah/Hanukkah, Joyus Kwanza, Uprorious Festivus, or Blissful Binging... whatever floats your boat.

Theres A New Bear In Town

Hey, check out my traveling companion's blog http://blog.travelingjackson.com

Note: There appears to be some issue with the DNS for that address. If the above link doesn't work, try http://blog.travelingjackson.info

But How Was The Trip?

So sorry I haven't written about the trip yet. I was busy sleeping Monday night. Then last night I was getting the photos downloaded, doing laundry, replacing the LCD on the laptop, actually FIXING the laptop, and setting up a WordPress blog for my new travel companion that I may or may not keep as a WP blog and may move to Blogger... I dunno. Anyway, details soon, I promise. Maybe I should do like my friend Kristina and bring (gasp) a paper journal with me when I travel so I can remember everything.

Where Did That Come From?

My last post started out, as I said, as a satirical commentary. When I read my friend's comment, that thing I've always had about the icons of Jesus being white went off in my brain like my faux "theory" about Hurricane Katrina. I once said Katrina was an experiment by Al Queda in weather control. They took Katrina, built up its strength, and steered it into New Orleans. They later tried again with Rita but because they actually created Rita, they weren't able to build its strength sufficiently and finally just let it take its own course. (someone once actually asked if that was true)

Anyway, when I was done with the White Man/Jesus rant I felt like it needed more and I also didn't want people to think I actually believed the tripe I spilled upon my blog so I added a little more... and it ended up as a massive brain dump.

Oh well, it is what it is. I'm anxious to see what people think.

Crunch Time

I've been posting so sparsely and have wandered away from the storytelling because it's crunch time. I work for an educational institution and classes start Monday. I still have a big project to wrap up (updating the software on all of the computer lab machines) so I'll be at work probably most of the day today. All of my employees are paid hourly so its just going to be little old me. That's partly my fault (that it's going to just be me) and, trust me, that won't be the case next time.

Why am I behind the 8 Ball?
1. Timing: I got a late start because this is my first cycle being responsible for getting all of this together
2. Tools: I spent a good amount of effort at the beginning of the Summer trying to find a drive imaging solution only to find out that we already had one.
3. Knowledge transfer: I've made the mistake of continuing to ask one of my subordinates (whom I thought was experienced with the ins-and-outs but either doesn't understand what I ask, doesn't articulate answers well, or doesn't care) about how things work around there and what resources we have available instead of asking my boss.
4. Resource allocation: I need to learn how to delegate better. I have this tendency to want to do things myself the first time so I know what's happening and can efficiently direct resources next time... but that's not always the best way to get things done. I gotta find that balance.

Strong At Six

It was a little over six years ago. I was at Trek Expo and one of the guests was Wil Wheaton. I never thought much of Wesley Crusher so I wasn't exactly excited that he was on the guest list. I went to his talk and was totally blown away. He was funny, he was engaging, and he was nothing like Wesley Crusher.

One of the major activities he focused on during his talk was his blog. At the time, I had only the vaguest idea of what a blog was (okay, I'd heard the word but that was about it). As he read excerpts from his online journal, I became more and more intrigued. I had started journaling several times but never stuck to it because, in my head, I was writing for an audience. I never stuck with any of the journals because I had an audience of zero. There was nobody to share things with so it was no fun.

Shortly after the convention was over, I began to explore this blog thing. I found that there was free blog hosting with free blogging tools and happened to land on Blogger. I've heard some malign Blogger as the AOL of blogging but I've been pretty happy.

At first, Blogger had some reliability problems. It was quite easy to navigate away from the editor and lose everything you typed. It also often hiccupped when you hit publish with the same deleterious effects. That's exactly what happened to my first post... it just went away into the great bit-bucket in the sky. The original name, I believe (hey, you're asking me to remember what my thoughts were during about an hour period that occurred six years ago, gimme a break), was Star Trek Memories or something similarly lame but after my truly inspired eloquence (seriously, it was a good) disappeared, thus was born The Internet Ate My Homework.

Over the years, Blogger has become more reliable and they have added many features and many tools. Overall it's been a good run and I'm quite happy to stick with them. I've thought about moving my blog to my own space but had trouble moving the comments with it and realized that, should I decide to stop paying for my hosting service and shut down unclebubby.com, my blog goes with it.

The past six years have had their ups and downs. I've found my voice and lost my voice. I've been too busy to blog and I've had time to be voluminously verbose. I've told some wonderful stories, I've done a few drive-bys, and I've even phoned it in a few times. Let's take a look back over the past six years and see what gems we find, shall we?

• I still remember my encounter with Robin Curtis at Trek Expo 2003
• I never did get to The Secret Cow Level
• So began my season in Hell
• I lamented the end of Saturday Morning TV
• I went on a memorable fishing trip with my dad
• I salvaged Thanksgiving
• I started one of my passions, candlemaking
• I wrote my favorite blog post, ever
• Now you know why I can't sleep in
• My season in Hell continued
• I experienced a really shitty day (no, I'm not going to softball it)
  
• I lost the first dog I ever had (it still brings a tear to my eye)
• Simple memories
• I met John Doe (swear to God!)
• I believe in angels
• Attack of the shoes
• I broke my lawnmower
• More fishing with dad
• The season in Hell started to end
• I remember the best Independence Day ever
• Never was lawn mowing so intriguing
• No, I didn't lose my mind, I was just playing with words.
• I lamented not spending my last dollar for James Doohan's autograph
• I remember 9-11 and many other memorable events in my lifetime
• My friend, Eric, was knighted in the SCA
• An explanation of the season in Hell
• A good idea that was never executed (to maybe avoid another season in Hell)
• I discussed some fundamental differences between the way my wife and I think about money
• A funny headline
• I had a flashback to an old part-time job
• Remembering my grandparents' house
• I shared my favorite Christmas memory
• I answered an age-old question
• I shared some funny email spam subjects
• My father-in-law passed away (Feb. 13, 2005)
• I attended my 20-year High School reunion
  
• flang
• I finally got out of Hell
• You have to be patient to make candles
• Spent some time with family during the holidays
• After switching jobs, I still found it difficult to find time to blog Much of 2005 and 2006 is pretty sparse (and I never did get to hire that 2nd assistant)
  
• Tigers and Springfield and the Tulsa Fair, oh my!
• I learned what German food is really supposed to be like
• We took our last trip to Winter Park, CO
• Things started to look not so good on the work front
• We added to our family
• 2006 in a nutshell
• Life went topsy turvey: I got laid off
• Then I got hired
• I started listening to podcasts (I don't make time for them lately for some reason)
  
• But I never actually started the job
• We moved to Boise, ID
• We started to settle in
• We were reminded what it's like to have a landlord
• I went back to Oklahoma to finish clearing out the house (which never quite got emptied)
• I turned 40
• I got part time work while looking for full time work
• My blogging story
• I had trouble finding good restaurants in Boise
• I had trouble finding a doctor in Boise
• I sniffed a scam in my job search
• I did a little stargazing in Boise
• I began to doubt our move
• But found solace
• The unemployment ran out
• And the bottom fell out a week later
• And we started to pack to head back home to Oklahoma
• We were moving home and I was ready for it
• I learned that my dog, JD, was very sick
• I told our other dog about it
• JD didn't make it home with us... and it still hurts
• I decided to stop going to Taco Bell (and I haven't been back since)
• We made it home and I got a week's worth of work under my belt
• I was very thankful
• This about sums up 2007
• I was going to photograph my niece's wedding... but decided I'd rather attend the wedding
• I got a Microsoft Zune... for free
• I moved my website to a new host (GoDaddy) which I am still very pleased with
• I worked on jazzing up my blog with a banner
• There was a busy weekend of buying, bargaining, and building
• I was still missing JD
• I got some new tools to install some laminate flooring that still hasn't been installed
• I performed an unexpected upgrade on my computer
• I had an awesome night at the movies (even though the movie was so-so)
• For the first time, I intentionally skipped Trek Expo
• Just another weekend
• We all got a chance to see SNL at its roots
• I saved a life
• Life took a turn for the better
• And had an interesting last day at work (FYI - turns out it was IBS and I'm still struggling with it)
• I learned just how bad CFLs are
• I finally got a smart phone
• Anabelle's first Christmas
• I made some New Year resolutions... and I need to start following a couple of them
• I finally started transferring my dad's Beatles records to digital format
• I needed a replacement remote... so I went overboard
• I killed my 'evil twin' (although his ghost seems to be hanging around)
• An unintentional experiment
• Google AdWords finally paid off
• It was finally time to say goodbye to my little Nikita (she was my first pet ever)
• I started to like my smart phone not so much
• I pegged a Survivor contestant as a pathological liar
• I found an old friend
• My sister said goodbye to her Sam Cody
• I phoned it in
• I had a winning weekend
• I resolved some of my phone woes with an unofficial official update
• I became an iPod owner... twice over... and ended up having to fix the second one myself
• I remembered why I started this thing and started telling my stories
• I had a different experience at Trek Expo 2009

And that, my friends, brings us to today. Six years. It amazes me that I have been doing this for that long.

One thing I noticed as I was compiling this list. For the first three years, I was telling stories. Then, I was just bitching about work for the most part. After that what I wrote about was in the now. Finally, I think I've come back to what I wanted this to be and will start telling stories once again.

Thank you, everyone who has been with me and those who have just found me. Here's to many more years to come.

Quick Check-In

I have several things I could talk about but have been a little busy. I literally took 5 or 6 phone calls in a row yesterday. They were timed so perfectly that my cell phone didn't even have a chance to ring in between. Then, the last time I tried to put together a real entry, Blogger wouldn't let me in to the editor.

I wasn't going to do this but here's a few things happening:

• Had my performance review @ work
• I should probably be a little upset about it
• Was judged on some unspoken expectations
• That have now been spoken
• Rearranging the office
• And it's not going particularly well but we're almost done
• Got a new 'netbook' at work (Dell Latitude 2100) and having fun with it
• Switched from the Matrix Pro back to the Fuze
• The Fuze's ringer is too quiet since I flashed the ROM
• There's a fix but I haven't found it yet
• Wish I could combine the two phones
• Still think I'd be happy with a slate style smartphone with a touch screen
• Laughing at the 'new' features of the iPhone
• That Windows Mobile has been doing for over 10 years :)
• They couldn't fix the iPod hard drive
• Found a replacement drive on eBay for $20
• Waiting for iPod to come back and hard drive to get here
• Hope they both arrive at same time

I could bullet-ramble on but I'll stop there. Have a good Thursday y'all. And leave me a comment to say hello. It's getting lonely just hearing from my sister. I love her dearly but sometimes you want to hear a different voice. Plus, I'm wondering if anybody else even stops by.

Remembrances

One of the friends I was with this weekend had a book that her grandfather had written. It looked like something he'd put together then had copied and wirebound down at the local copy shop for distribution to family and friends. It looked very nice but it was obviously not meant for wide distribution. Her grandfather had recently died so she was going through it and rereading the stories.

I mentioned how I would love to do something like that but that my life seemed so mundane that I didn't feel I had any really good stories. That's when she pointed out to me that the stories were just stories - seemingly mundane recollections. They were mostly about two brothers getting into trouble together but what made them interesting was they were from a perspective over 50 years ago. That's when I decided I could do the same.

Stay tuned and I'll start telling you about some of my experiences. Maybe you'll find them interesting, maybe you won't. Maybe my grand nieces and nephews will find them interesting in 30 or 40 years.

[Insert Witty Title Here]

[Insert eloquent, humorous and thought provoking blog entry here]

(await numerous laudatory comments)

Lots Of Things On My Mind

I read another blog today about someone's cat dying. I couldn't finish reading it. It made me too sad. I thought maybe I could tell you about my cat the way he told about his.

I received a 'believe in God or he'll smite you' message from my father. I believe in God and I see His work in my life. I thought maybe I'd write an entry about why I don't go to church and where I stand in my beliefs.

I finally started fiddling with one of the two extra computers I have. I thought maybe I'd tell you about installing and using Ubuntu linux (I'm using that box to write this entry, by the way).

Then I thought, maybe I'll just make a note of those and, perhaps, someday I will write about them in detail.