In a few hours from now, Jeff and I will be heading up to Provincetown for Bear Week. A stop tonight in PA at Jeff's 'rents to drop off Kodi and hitch up the trailer, a good night's rest and an early rise on Friday morning to head on up. Hopefully we get there with some time to spare, allowing us to set up everything then head downtown for a while. Last year we arrived late, in the middle of a downpour and had to set up in the dark while getting soaked.

Both of us can't wait.

How many LJers plan on being on town anywhere from from the 11th to the 19th? I know rootbeer1 and qbear will be there, slothel and his giant pooch are going to be there all week, and griffmoss will make a showing later on. If anyone wants to get together (and since my internet access will be nearly zero), IM me via my profile page or call me at 443- eight one two -6030. I will have email via my cellphoneofmanybuttons as well.

Can't wait to see y'all!

Among all the prepping I have been doing tonight for our trip to Provincetown, one task was to back up all the drives in my old server before shutting it down. I had disconnected it from the WAN/LAN but left it running till I could do the backups. I was afraid that once it was shut off for any length of time, I would have problems getting it restarted. You see, that old thing has been running constantly since late 1998. It only was stopped a few times, for upgrades and cleaning, but honestly, the old box was a 99.99% uptime beauty. I got to thinking today if that old computer could talk, it would have some stories to tell.

And I felt a bit sad.

In the countless terabytes that have flowed through it's network cards, there have been friendships made and lost, relationships dissolved (me and Kit), a wonderful relationship begun (me and Jeff), pictures, sounds, video, the war, my health issues, Mom's discovery of lung cancer and her ups, downs and eventual death, Bear, Kodi, new cars and trucks, projects, emotions, etc, etc, etc...

A lot has happened in ten years. And who would have guessed some old, oversized computer could have been an unseen companion through it all. I took in so much information in that time, and I sent a lot of words out as well. I dont have the heart to strip it of usable parts and toss the rest. For now, I think I will let the old beast have a much needed break. Yeah, it's just a computer, but I put it through so much. I hope it's replacement can live up to it's legacy.

If this does not let on how much of a nerd I am, nothing will.

Long day at work that was actually pleasant and productive. I hope the next three days are like that. After coming home and having a bite, I started getting things fixed up and ready for the trip. Our 10x10 easy-up canopy we take camping suffered a broken strut when it was used for a function where Jeff works. Tonight I brazed up the broken metal piece, cleaned and painted it and reassembled the frame. Good as new. I packed the truck with some sundry items and gave it a mechanical once-over. It's good to go, though I'd really like to wash the thing before the trip. It's a mess inside and out. I have a pair of folding reclining chairs that need repair after a rather large individual from LJ that shall remain nameless bent part of the mechanism. That will happen tomorrow. Most everything else is ready to go.

Put a 500GB drive in an external enclosure and am currently backing up this laptop. The new server has settled down and is behaving nicely (click on wood), though I still have to find out why the DNS service wont load properly at startup, yet runs without issues after starting manually. The server itself has it's own automatic backup schedule, so it takes care of itself. I realized that in the past several months I have accumulated nearly 11TB worth of hard drives. Newegg loves me. I await the inevitable day that I can look back and call that ridiculous amount of storage 'quaint'.

N.B. All those drives are not part of one computer, instead some are library drives for the HTPC, a couple small ones and one big one for the new server, a couple external drives, and about half that will make up the uber file/media server. The same data in a bunch of locations. And I promised myself no more god boxes. Sheesh.

I am reading where the NHRA, the sanctioning body behind professional drag racing (with cars, not with heels and dresses) is considering shortening the track from it's historical 1/4 mile (1320 feet) to 1000 feet in wake of the death of one of it's more famous drivers, Scott Kalitta. I'm sorry, but that is total BS. Yes, the cars are hitting record speeds again and again, and it's getting tough to haul them down from 340+ mph in the remaining track length, even more so when the cars or their systems are damaged. Racing of all kinds has always evolved the safety aspects as speeds increased. Much of this safety tech works it's way into our everyday cars. Time has come to advance the safety technologies once again to keep pace. Making the track shorter reduces trap speeds and leaves more room for stopping. But changing the track length invalidates comparisons of past record achievement with what will happen in the future. And some things should remain sacred anyway.

Sadly, our long weekend draws to an end. While Jeff was stuck working Friday and Saturday, I had the three days off, and with it a chance to catch up on stuffs. Much of the usual goings-on, interleaved as the days went along. No going to overcrowded fireworks displays, but we did have some eats typical of the holiday.

We worked hard in the yard today, cleaning out flower beds and spreading a half ton of mulch. Things look a lot better outside now. Kodi had an afternoon with the groomer and is looking doggie fierce. The server I recently built got put into service, with only a bit of frustration and is currently behaving and helping to bring this post to you. I was using an old keyboard with a built-in trackball that had seen better days. When the trackball would resist all my attempts to clean in order for the thing to actually control the cursor, I finally lost it and put my fist through it repeatedly. Sometimes beating the shit out of recalcitrant hardware is like therapy. Having to clean up dozens of keytops scattered about the room is it's vengeance, however.

Saturday night we went out to the movies. We saw WALL-E. Once again, Pixar had me charmed in my seat. I highly recommend this film, and I see it as one that will grow with repeated viewings. I don't know how the folks at Pixar do it, but they manage to explore the human condition so well, not needing to use humans. In this case, not having to use many words either. Go see it. You won't be disappointed.

This is a short week for me. I get to use my first 9-80 Friday off to travel up to Provincetown for the week. Both of us can't wait for this, our first 'real' vacation of the year. Because of time constraints, it will most likely be our only long vacation as well. We still have a couple Hillside weekends, and one at Knoebels in the fall. Hey, I am happy just having the ones we have planned. All work and no play makes me one grouchy, emo dude.

Hope everyone has a good week.

I am ordinarily saddened by someone's death. The closer they are to me, of course, the greater the feelings of sadness. This is true for almost all of humanity. It's our nature. However, I tend to find a relief when some person dies who lived to make others' existence pure hell. When I read early this morning that Jesse Helms kicked the bucket, I was not truly overcome with joy. Rather, it was more disappointment. Disappointed that his croaking did not open a giant sucking vortex into his brand of hell taking with him all of his kind, crushing and mangling their bodies on the way. I'll just have to be content with just being rid of his stinking carcass.

The fact that he died on Independence Day is only icing on the cake.

But, anyway.

Hope y'all are having a great day, and are able to enjoy a nice long weekend.

Reviewing my last series of entries, I come across as practically a basket case. This really is not the case, though I do have some issues, of course. Suffice it to say, I was a bundle of nerves at the thought of losing out on a chance to have a break, potential issues at work, and the weekend of the break was shadowed by my memories. Kinda like a perfect storm of emotions. Add to that a crashed PC and the potential for a great deal of lost work and data and me on the business end of a LJ posting interface, and, well, you have my last post.

All is not lost, however. This week I resolved some problems at work, Jeff got his dealings at work a bit more nailed down, and I am putting in some long term changes. PTown looks better and better, as we anxiously await our first true vacation of the year. I have changed to a 9-80 work schedule that will give me every other Friday off. This will allow me to catch up on stuff around the house as well as help to accommodate long weekends for things such as camping trips. This will also help to save some gas money as well. Just tonight filling up the truck, the MINI and a five gallon diesel fuel container cost me 165 dollars. Anything to put a dent in these increasingly major costs is welcome, and needed. So each step I take in these directions will lend themselves to my peace of mind. Something I sorely need. Issues like the busted PCs can wait, and I will tend to them after our big getaway.

I have to also thank everyone for their concern and advice. It's not being ignored or dismissed. Just knowing there are folks out there willing to take a moment of their time and offer good advice helps in itself. I've been taking some time away from LJ as well to tend to things, and also just plain collapse after coming home from work and recuperate. Lots of good things planned for the near and not-so-near future have both of us happily looking forward to some fun stuff and finished projects.

I see the light a the end of the tunnel, and I am pretty sure it's not an oncoming train anymore.

Today marks two years since I lost my Mom to cancer. Right now I am too numb to really think clearly about it. We left Hillside early in the morning, and I wanted just to get home. I could not bring myself to walk up to the memorial because I knew it would have caused me to break down completely, and we'd still be there. We stopped by Jeff's parents' place for dinner and to leave the trailer behind. Without the trailer I sped back home, unloaded everything and went back out for the week's groceries with Jeff. After coming back, having a supper of sandwiches and chips, I find my main computer irretrievably crashed. This after having problems before trying to make backups. I am in such a space right now that I might end up sledgehammering the thing, all 3 grand worth just so I dont ever have to look at it again. I am not looking forward to going to work tomorrow, as I had left some issues to be dealt with when I got back from my so-called relaxing trip.

I just dont know how much more of this I can take. I am tired of acting like a duck, with the illusion of gliding along in the water all the while keeping that mad kicking beneath the surface. Jeff is visibly tired of it as well, and I fear he's going to get fed up and leave. After that, there's not much more to go on with.

Sorry to vent, but I am running out of ideas now.

Jeff is up at the bonfire, socializing and enjoying himself. I'm back at the campsite with only Kodi as company. I thought I could make it, but my thoughts and memories got the best of me again.

Tomorrow marks two years since I lost my Mom to cancer. I still miss her greatly. This does not get any easier, but I guess I am learning to cope with the feelings of loss as the days roll on. Keeping to myself for a while helps I guess. I just want Jeff to enjoy himself to the fullest while we are here. For the most part, I am too. I just need my own space now and then.

That's the cool thing about Hillside. It can be whatever you make it. Tomorrow morning I might talk a walk to the Memorial Gardens they have here. It's a truly solemn place, dedicated to partners, friends and family of visitors that have been lost through the years. It's a cathedral in the woods itself. Anyone who experiences it gets choked up. Or more. I'm sure I will really be in the latter category.

We have achieved camping. Friends have been spotted and chatted with, good food has been eaten, it's great to finally unwind.

And there are as many unsecured wifi connections as there are trees.

Wish y'all were here. Really.

The grass was mowed tonight, more stuff packed in the trailer, other tasks done... not much longer. Both of us need a few days away. And, yes, the transmission filter has been changed.

Anyone else going to be at Hillside this weekend? Stop by site 22 and say hi. You'll even get a bearhug or two.

Both of us are keeping our fingers crossed in hopes our little long weekend vacation coming up will happen. To that end, we will be getting things ready and preparing. We both really need this little escape. Also, the trailer that is currently parked in the upper driveway in front of the house will be left temporarily at Jeff's parent's place between excursions. This will knock about 250 miles of towing distance for each trip (for a total of over 1,000 miles over all four of our planned camping trips, not chump change when it comes to gas mileage!), and it'll be great to finally have the upper driveway clear so the shrubbery and gardens can be tended to. Plus we get our parking spots closer to the house again.

This is where I beg everyone to send good vibes our way so that no problems arise from either of our jobs to shut it down.

In geek news, I have completed two computers, one is a simple, fully integrated thing with onboard video that will replace Jeff's tired PC, the other is the new server. Both are running well after being burned in for many hours and will get installed after this weekend. Soon after that, the LAN gets updated to gigabit, some Cat5e will get run around the house and to the garage, replacing some of the remaining thinnet left over from the late 80s. Between that and a new 802.11n access point, the uber-LAN here should be good to go for at least a few years to come. Once some of the gigabit Ethernet is in place, I will begin piecing together the media/file server. I buy computers in installments - a hard drive here, a case there, a motherboard... I find the good deals online as they happen and eventually gather up enough pieces to make a box. It's like layaway combined with instant gratification, piecemeal style.

As a reminder to myself, I need to get the proper trans filter for the new truck before the trip. For the last couple days, I kept forgetting. If I use my LJ to remind me, it might help. Then again, I would be posting a lot more strange gibberish than I already do.

George Carlin, comedian and anti-establishment hero, has died of heart failure. He was 71.

This man was a big influence on me as I was growing up. I will miss his social commentary and biting wit. The man was a genius, on many levels. And I will always love how he rankled the prudes of this country.

(Thanks to parilous.)

I hope my summer vacation does not resemble this one.

Friday after work, Jeff and I headed to Baltimore to see the Baltimore Orioles play the Pittsburgh Pirates. The evening was perfect for a game, the weather clear, warm and breezy. Due to parking lot construction, the parking pass we had got us into the lot next to Oriole Park, an unexpected bonus.





The game itself was excellent. Unlike the earlier game we attended where the O's trampled the Yankees, this game played close, with the Orioles snatching victory from the Pirates in the 9th inning, taking the game from a 6-6 tie with 2 outs, two men on base to a 9 point victory. The place erupted in cheers. Afterwards, there was an unexpectedly cool fireworks display set to music and lasting at least fifteen minutes. Sweet. Leaving the parking lot, usually an exercise in patience, had us leaving without a single car in front of us. Not only rock star parking, but a departure that would make Doris Day jealous. For a Friday the 13th, a lot of luck and good fortune was spread out over Baltimore.

A few more photos (taken with my LG Voyager cell phone camera) in my Flickr set here.