I just bought my wife a subscription to an MMO, an expansion pack, and a Logitech gamer headset for our two-year dating anniversary. Because she wanted them.
Hee!
I got some Neil Gaiman crack and some BSG crack.
We’re such nerds.
Author Archives: David Crampton
Relevance of Bias
Virg Bernero or Carol Wood. Hard times make it difficult for an incumbent, and we are definitely in hard times. I’m the first to admit that I’m not the biggest Bernero fan – I voted for Benavides – but I’m definitely not a fan of Carol Wood. I, like everyone else, like you, have preconceptions and biases that will play a large part in how I vote.
Sure, it’d be more noble to approach the election as a blank slate, but I think it’d be less wise, not to mention damn near impossible.
It’s important to consider a candidate’s past actions, even if things have changed in recent years. It’s relevant to consider what’s relevant to you and why. These biases should then be thoughtfully compared. What, in the long term, will be the candidate’s effect on you, your family, and your city? On our city?
I’ve never met Virg Bernero in person, but I’ve heard about his temper. According to my ex-wife, he blew up while giving a presentation to her class at LCC. I remember the City Pulse reporting about expletive-filled voice mails left to a City Council member. He’s known to be volatile. Has that taken a toll on his ability to do his job? It’s certainly put a dampener on his relationship with the City Council. It’s put him at odds with other strong personalities. Did it push Carol Wood to run against him?
I’ve only been to a few City Council meetings over the years. The regular speakers, addressing whimsical and often nonsensical concerns to the governing body, only provide so much entertainment. I got bogged down with the hours of worthless referendums and acknowledgement ceremonies. Every time that I attended, though, Carol Wood stuck in my mind. The impression that I got was one of micro-management, of a need to control at every level, and to apply too much makeup.
Something bothers me about her, and while I’m hoping not to find out what she’ll be like as Mayor, I’ve got reservations about Virg as well. I’m going to be devoting some serious thought to this, as it might make or break Lansing’s recovery from Michigan’s sinking economic trend.
Gizzard City Cafe
From my paper journal…
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Written 25 Sep 2009
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Downtown Potterville – all two blocks of it – literally sits in the shadow of three giant silos. I’d seen this referenced online as I’d sorted through search results about “Gizzard City.” The world’s only one, mind you. The first time I’d driven through, on a day that was overcast and spotting rain, the whole place was ominous. I’d seen Joe’s Gizzard City, downtown’s solitary bar, and the Gizzard City Cafe next door, but I opted to try Charlotte instead. I had ended up at a KFC, which my stomach later regretted.
Today, with a brisk breeze and the sun shining, the silos don’t seem to loom as much. They’ve retreated into the background, allowing themselves to be glossed over in favor of homes and yards and signs letting me know that the gizzards are, in fact, next door.
I’ve stopped at the Gizzard City Cafe, which has teased my Diner addiction all week. My co-workers, who got breakfast here this morning, pointed out that not only is there a web page with a copy of the menu, but DIners, Drive-Ins, and Dives had the bar next door on their show. Now that I think about it, Nikki may have pointed that out to me a while back. Anyway, the co-workers also pointed out that both places had the same owner.
Hence, the “gizzards next door” signs.
I’ve come on my lunch break, starting a bit before noon, and it’s gone from two other tables sat to just me. With the size of the town and the economy being the way that it is. I can’t say that I’m surprised. Though, on the other hand, it wouldn’t take much to fill this place up.
This place feels as welcoming as Theio’s does, but far more relaxed and, honestly, clean. I have no doubt that I could sit here for several hours, sipping coffee and writing. Of course, I might have a hard time staying focused, as they advertise free Wi-fi. While the clientele screams small-town diner, it’s surprisingly geek friendly. I’ll have to test that out during a future visit.
I ordered the olive burger, well done. It’s advertised as 1/3 lb, and comes in a basket with a side of fries. The olive sauce is standard with the exception of huge chunks of olives and pimentos instead of the usual diced. The burger was cooked all the way through without being dry, and the fries were right out of the fryer basket. I do wonder if a non-standard bun might be better, but I have zero complaints. My pop was kept full, and the waitress was pleasant and attentive.
Yeah, I’ll be back.
Thoughts on working
From my paper journal…
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Written 11 Sep 2009
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I got the job. Linux System Administrator for Broadstripe. I start on Monday. Monday! I’ve already got meetings scheduled for my first day.
Wednesday was a big day, my friends. It was the first time that Cian slept through the night in his own crib in his own room. He’s done it twice more since then, and I can’t tell you what a relief it is. We’ve been co-sleeping up until this point, and CIan has been up all night nursing, kicking, squirming, punching, and generally keeping
Later on was our Meet-the-Teacher session with Hunter’s third grade teacher. I have a pretty good memory of what third grade was like, compared to previous years. We had just moved to the TWP, so the trials and tribulations of a new school must have cemented it in my brain. It’s so very odd to think that I’m in similar shoes to my parents back then. In any case, Hunter’s teacher seems very kind. I hope she’s not a pushover – I really want to see him progress this year.
In the middle of the session, I get a phone call. It’s a number I don’t recognize, so I get up and head out into the hallway. Honestly, the little kid’s chair had been killing me. Long story short, they want me. They want to give me a very reasonable number of green pieces of paper in return for my brainmeats working for them several hours per day, five days per week.
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13 Sep 2009
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I accepted, talked a little about kids and scouts and what my first day will be like. The rush was incredible – every hair standing on end, every nerve ending tingling with adrenaline, the word “finally!” coursing through me after nearly a year of unemployment… yeah, it was good. :-)
I came back into the room and gave
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18 Sep 2009
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I’ve felt more stable and more me than I have in a long time. At the same time, there’s a lot of fear from learning the ropes so quickly, and from the amount of responsibility that I’m taking on. It’s probably a bit anti-climactic to put this out there now, but it feels good to be employed again.
Writer’s Block: I May Be Crazy
Tribal mask for some kind of wolf diety or spirit.
USA Puzzle
I got this as a forward from
Score: 82%
Avg Error: 53 Miles
Time: 535 secs
http://jimspages.com/States.htm
Varied and Sundry
Why, for the love of all that is holy, is the grease from cooked pepperoni so vibrantly red?
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There is now an HP LaserJet 4000 sitting in my basement, hooked up to the print server via parallel cable. It came with two extra boxes of toner, which was good. The toner in the printer had a damaged roller, which was printing lines down the side of the paper. Swapped out the toner, and all was good. Soon, it will have an ebayed JetDirect card, thereby removing any issues between Vista, Samba, and the little technology demons that like to mess with my network. :)
The Epson Photo Stylus 780 is pronounced dead after many, many long years of faithful service. It’ll be going to GoodWill for their electronics recycling service.
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I’ve been irritated with the way Firefox works under Ubuntu, but then, it’s always been that way. It’s always had issues. It figures, now that I don’t have problems with putting the laptop to sleep or into hibernate, that Firefox would crash literally half of the time I resume from either situation. I’ve tried installing Firefox 3.5 (Shiretoko), and it only crashes a third of the time. However, page load times are ridiculously long. This version of Ubuntu doesn’t seem to play nice with Skype, either. I’ve thought about trying OpenSuse, like George has recommended so many times, and I’ve thought of testing the release candidate for Windows 7. I’ve heard good things about the latter from
All my servers are still Linux, so I don’t feel like I’m abandoning the “cause” or anything. I am interested in the price point that Microsoft will offer for those upgrading from the free RC to the full-blown version.
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We’ve had nearly a week without Hunter or Aidan, and it’s been pretty quiet, overall. Becoming Mr. Mom while
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I had an eye doctor appointment yesterday. It turns out that not only did DOC sell me shoddy frames and then close their Frandor location, they warped the right lens when they made it. My new doctor found little ripples caused by compression, which is usually applied at the time of lens manufacture. So, my prescription’s only gotten a little bit worse, and I’ve picked out new frames. Rather,
Focus on the Goal
Back to the goal. Move the floaty bits down onto paper so that they’re more real. Summing up the conclusions thus far, and the resultant actions, pending or otherwise:
Full class load is too much.
- Dropped all but the Japanese class.
- Need to finalize sitter for while we’re both at class.
I am depressed.
- Asked for help from the gods.
- Need to apply for Ingham County health plan, as we’ve been denied for Medicaid.
- Need to find a professional to talk to.
Starting my own company is worthwhile.
- Stop doubting yourself, dumbass.
- It’s okay to be idealistic. This is why you have the vision for the company’s future.
- Stop holding back; this is worth putting your all into.
Job hunt.
- Difficult to tell if this is worth it.
Then there’s the kids. When I hide, when I push away, they get a lot of it. They’re the ones that most often ask for attention (positive or negative), so they get rebuffed the most. And, of course, the constant denial just makes them want to try again and sends me farther up the Irritation Crazy Train.