Month: April 2007

Sitting in the sun

Perhaps the only good thing to come of this cold I’m coming down with is that it has given me the opportunity to sit in the sun and do some work at home, rather than at my desk at the office. I sometimes feel that our lovely sunroom is underused, as we spend much of the sunny part of the day at work and not at home. Not today, however.

Drawbacks include the fact that my 10K on Saturday will not wait for me to stop sniffling.

Edited to add: Very shortly after I posted this, the sun went away. Now it’s raining. Such is life.

Alas, poor Vonage

Vonage shakeup: CEO resigns, cost-cutting announced

Things are not looking good for my VOIP-provider of choice.  I suppose I don’t blame Verizon for suing Vonage instead of attempting to compete, since certainly they have a clear financial incentive to see Vonage go away.  But it’s still a crappy thing to do.

And losing a CEO is usually not a sign of positive things to come.  Sure, maybe they’ll find someone else to take them through this.  But when you lose the CEO because he just left, rather than you taking a proactive step of replacing him, that’s less “shakeup” and more “rats from a sinking ship”.

Looks like I will soon have to find a new VOIP provider.  It will not be Verizon.

Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007

Perhaps a strange source for this news, but I am honestly saddened to hear that Kurt Vonnegut died last night.  He wrote some fantastic books, and some equally (perhaps even more so) fantastic short stories.  I highly recommend that anyone who reads this should go out and find something he wrote and read it.  Cat’s Cradle was one of my favorites.

My source for this news, noted above, linked to this article, which is a nice read.

New book

Fresh on the heels of The Assassin’s Gate: America in Iraq, a new book arrived today from Seashell books via AbeBooks. While reading The Assassin’s Gate, I realized that it would be much easier to understand what has been and still is going on in Iraq if I had a better understanding of Islam. And, perhaps, of the happy fairy world where George Bush and his band of lunatics live. But I don’t think anyone has yet written a book on that.

So, I wanted a book on Islam. My sometimes-moustached brother-in-law recommended The History of Islam.

My new (to me) book

It has a nice inscription in the front.

Book inscription

Too bad I’m not Pop. But I hope he enjoyed the book.

Anyway, I have another book to read before I get to this one, but I’m looking forward to reading it and understanding a little more about the religion and the culture behind it.

New job, crazy rules

I don’t have permission on my new work computer to even change the desktop theme from the stupid Windows XP theme back to the “Windows Classic” theme that I much prefer.  I’m not sure how anyone is expected to do a job on a computer without admin access.  Certainly there are people who don’t know computers well enough to safely be granted that sort of power over their machine.  However, I think that computer classes, not ridiculous restrictions, are the answer there.

I honestly can not do my job on a computer without admin access.  I just can’t do it.  Even if you forget about the convenience issues of being able to install the helpful software, there are real roadblocks that can not be overcome without admind access.  It’s ridiculous.

I can’t even use the Windows calendar because they have no “view only” mode.  I just want to see whether May 13th is a Saturday, but I can’t. 

And I have to use Internet Explorer.  The horror.

Did you send us a gift card?

So, the wife and I received a package today, USPS Priority Mail.  Inside was a catalog and gift card from Home Decorators Collection.  Noticeably absent from the package was any indication of who might have sent it.  The pleasant woman who answered the phone when I called them couldn’t look it up without an order number, which wasn’t included.

It looks like they have a bunch of nice stuff, so I’m looking forward to ordering something.  But I’d also like to thank the person or persons who sent us the card.  So, if it was you, let me know.

Three blocks to Sierra Nevada

I am so glad I made the three block walk down to Hi Market at the corner of Fuller and 15th NW. It may not look like much, but they have a great beer selection, and they have Vitamin Water. What more can you ask for from your local market?

They have the wife’s favorite, Sierra Nevada. They have Red Stripe (Hooray, beer). They have Magic Hat #9. And they have some other cool stuff. Awesome.