Diary of a Wolfeman

Things accomplished:
Two loads of laundry
A load of dishes put away
A load of dishes washed
Cleaned my garage table
Cleaned the inside of my car
Filled the paper recycling bin
Filled the plastics recycling bin
Swept kitchen
Spot-mopped kitchen floor
Changed the litter box

And somehow, I also managed to find the time to locate, install and hand-configure a SuperKaramba sensor theme for the Linux install. Hand-configured, because there is apparently no easy way to automate the configuration. Installed because, well, I like to know what’s going on in there.

Now, when I say hand-configure, I mean it. This included commenting out the portions of the program I wasn’t going to be using, assigning the variables for the portions I was going to be using, and then hacking the display dynamics to get everything to line up again – including Gimp-ing the background images. (Gimp is the Linux equivalent of Photoshop, for you Windows users.)

Not bad for a guy who isn’t a programmer, if I do say so myself :)

On the downside of this, I’m now feeling a bit cross-eyed from poking through all the code. Too many lines of tiny type…

So, it looks like the CEO’s of several major Telcos were sitting around one day, wondering how best to squeeze every last cent out of the world when they came up with a great idea: “Hey, we’re already charging our customers 3 times what their service should cost, but I know how to make even more money – we’ll charge the content providers to deliver their data!”

Today, the FCC backed the idea. No surprise there – the gutless twerp Bush put in charge of the FCC has his nose so thoroughly up Big Biz’s sphincter that he won’t be able to see daylight unless BB leans it’s head back to let some up it’s nostrils. This is, after all, the same guy who let AT&T put itself back together – years after the FCC took it apart in the first place.

What’s next? Brown charging the shipper and the ship-to? Better yet, will Wal-Mart start charging the manufacturers for shelf space?

Dear FCC – do you remember when DARPA created the first network, and what they did it for? To ensure communications integrity. A nationwide network that could not be brought to its knees by foreign attack. Sure, it spread to the whole world, and has become a huge medium – better for all of us. Don’t let it be turned into a bunch of privatized networks. Everyone will lose. Bring back the Common Carrier rules as they were written.

Yes, I am a slacker for not having written anything lately. Kind of in a rut, I suppose – just more of the same on my end. My boss is a flake, my job is still the same, and the kids are healthy and happy. Ratboy is becoming a bit of a ghost around here since he got a job, but he is looking better for it, and I know he’s enjoying having money he earned himself in his pocket.

There is, however, much outrage over what happened to the Roomie. There is some satisfaction in knowing that the place is going to have serious problems finding someone to fill those web-footed shoes, but it isn’t enough by any means. The only thing I can hope for on that front is for Greyduck’s actual boss (who was not involved in the procedings) to have a big enough pair to write him a glowing letter of recommendation – hopefully nefore he sits down and figures out how truly screwed the department is.

Ugh.

…then gives it back, and takes it again.

I got a note from the Oregon Dept. of Revenue a while back saying they were going to take money from my Fed return to repay back Oregon taxes – no surprise, I expected it. Sure enough, they nipped $401 and change. Cool, I don’t have to write any more checks to them.

Then I get a note on Friday that they were going to nip another $405 and change from my state return.

Huh?!?

Monday, I figured out how the state gets away with all of their “miscalculations” – they take the phone connected to their 1-800 number off the hook during tax time. Either that, or they have pissed off about a million people, because I tried calling them over 15 times in two days, and never got anything but a busy signal between 8am and 6pm.

Today, I figured out what happened when I checked my mail. There is apparently some stupid rule someplace that says they can nick your Fed return, but if they later discover that you would still get a state refund, they give the original money back then nick the money from your state return. I got a check for the original $401+.

Some of you may have noticed the difference in the amounts. That would be the additional month of interest, since I technically had not paid those taxes, since they attached the Federal money unnecessarily.

Yeah, that’s what I said.

That loud crash you just heard was me falling out of my fucking chair and trying not to bust a rib laughing. Go see for yourself.

Questionable Content

Everybody’s had one. You know, that one idiot friend or roommate from your past that you always knew you’d find in the paper someday, doing something stupid. For me, it’s Geordie, the Guy Under The Stairs. He lived in the cupboard under the stairs of the townhouse I lived in waaaaay back when in ‘Vegas. He was a Dead Head, didn’t shower anywhere near often enough, and was either funny or damned annoying, never anything in between.

B:tNG pointed this out to me the other day:

Two more arrests at Biscuit fire salvage

Liam O’Reilly of Ashland and Gordon Gilbrook of San Diego were charged with disorderly conduct and interfering with agricultural process, authorities said. They were booked at the Josephine County Jail.

Rich Parrett was driving a log truck early Thursday when he spotted Gilbrook in the middle of the road. The activist was suspended 20 feet high in a platform below two poles anchored to a Volvo.

A banner below the platform read “These forests need fire, not old-growth tree removal.”

Yep, that “Gordon” would be Geordie. I’m betting two things. 1) – Geordie was trying to get in some dreadlocked patchouli-smelling hippie-chick’s pants, and 2) – the sign was somehow mispelled.

It’s only Wednesday, isn’t it?

Home: busy busy busy, since Pookie’s stepfather TS is out of town on business. Since the EMC doesn’t drive, Pook has been sleeping here every night due to the closer proximity to her school. (5-minute drive for me, 1 1/2 hour bus trip for EMC)

I hate waiting. I have a big fat check coming from the IRS, and I already have it spent in my head. I want it to be here already! (Of course, there will be an additional two or three days of waiting once the check gets here, because the parts I’m buying are from Internet suppliers…)

Had to replace the Ratboy’s power supply last weekend – thankfully, that and a fan were all that went.

Work: Bossman went on a rant at a couple of meetings about how we aren’t doing enough business and he’s going to have to cut hours to make up the slack. Then he calls me later and tells me I will be the last one on the list to get my hours cut, since I’m the one bringing in money.

Today I sold a $1155 computer; had to revise a bid to a bigger server ($3000 to $5000) that will almost positively sell (and will lead to a couple more PC’s in a couple months), and finished off the notes so Bossman can finish up two more thousand-and-something-$ project bids.

One of the things that keeps me going in this job is the “Hallelujah!” look I got when I popped a floppy disk out of a drive and booted a supposedly “crashed” computer. Next week I’ll see that customer’s “contented peace of mind” look when I install an external storage drive and backup software.

I rock :)

My Roomie posted an email from Spud that was really well thought-out. So well thought-out that it got me remembering the sports we played in PE back in Podunk when I was a kid.

Basketball: not so much. We were all VERY white and we all sucked. Sure, we had a school team and all, but man, what a bunch of no-talents. Come to think of it, that described all of our “official” teams – with the exception of our footbal Defense squad. It seems that bailing hay all summer sets a guy up pretty well for throwing around other guys his age.

Baseball: I never really played; I became a Little League Umpire instead. I was the one in the sleeveless shirt with the ponytail. We did play a little softball for a while though. The one time I can remember, Coach Bradshaw was pitching to give everyone a “fair pitch”. (I think he just liked to pitch.) I remarked off-hand to one of my chums as I walked up to bat “watch me hit him.” First pitch came in low, and I let it go by. The second pitch, though, that pitch was perfect. That aluminum bat sang as it connected with the ball.

Coach grunted as the ball connected with his leg, just a couple inches lower than the jewels. You should have seen the look on his face as I took my bases.

Wrestling: what the football D-squad did off-season. The rest of us stayed the hell away.

Football: In PE we played flag with a 5-aligator rush. This means the when the ball is snapped, you chant ‘one-aligator, two-aligator…up to 5 ‘gators before you can rush the quarterback. We did this because the 6th-grader with the least talent invariably got made center, and there was no way he was going to stop an 8th-grade nose tackle.

Jarrod and I were the only 8th-graders in that class one day, and we of course appointed ourselves QB and Nose Tackle. I’m only so-so at tossing the ball, but I had an absolute talent for counting 5 gators in about 1/10th of a second, running a few steps and launching myself into the air. There would be poor Jarrod, trying to find an open receiver with Da Wolfie hanging in the air over his head like the hammer of Thor.

The funny bit came when Jarrod tried a running play and I ended up chasing him. He could run just the slightest bit faster than me, and he was pulling away when I just leapt for him. Somehow I managed to get both of his flags in hand as I fell back to the turf, and things got a wee bit embarrassing for Jarrod. See, Jarrod had a habit of crushing the Velcro tabs of his flags as much as he could so they wouldn’t come off – and when I hit the dirt, so did his flags, his flag belt,…and his shorts, which immediatley tripped him onto his face.

So there’s poor Jarrod, faceplanted, with his bare ass in the air. And 20 6th graders laughing their ass off.

It’s a good thing I never liked Jarrod, or I’d have felt guilty about it :)

Winter was when PE really got to be fun. Podunk Oregon, like any other stretch West of the Cascades, is bloody wet from October through April, which means we were largely confined indoors. This equated to a lot of co-ed games like volleyball and badminton. This of course meant we had a fair number of girls bouncing around in skimpy shorts and worn-out t-shirts.

And my chums all wondered why I liked PE ;)

One girl I can remember to this day. Julie wasn’t one of the pretty girls – she was unfortunate enough to have the eyes of a bat, and wore true coke-bottle specs that did nothing to improve her appearance. She did have, however, a spectacular body to offset the glasses.

She came into PE one day with the best shirt ever: a picture of Garfield with the caption “You might as well take all of me, because the parts you want won’t come off!” spelled out across her chest. I almost fell over laughing.

I took a rough estimate of my tax picture today and came up with good mews and bad news.

Compared to 2004, I think I may have finally found the sweet spot for making sure I don’t owe any taxes: pay the State an extra $25 a paycheck. The sad part is, that just breaks me even – I won’t be getting a State refund. (Gee, like I’m surprised.) The Wolfie Savings Plan seems to be working as well, because the extra $15 a paycheck I gave the Fed should turn into a rather nice chunk of change on my 1040 return.

Here’s the bad news: how I figured this all out. I kept a copy of my 2004 returns, and compared my wage listings with my final paystub for 2005. They are almost identical.

Most of you are thinking “hey, that’s not so bad. Sure, you didn’t get any raises or anything, but it all works out.” True, except for one salient fact: I was unemployed for 8 months in 2004. Three months at my previous job plus about a month of contract work plus 8 months of unemployment equals what I made working 12 months straight.

Yup, that’s right. My job sucks.

On the brighter side, that Federal return is going to be put to good use. The Beastie will get some TLC, and the Rayboy will get some time in a dentist’s chair. Anything left over after that goes to the computer slush fund. I smell a 64-bit upgrade :)

Good: I have the urge to write.

Bad: I can’t think of a damn thing to write about.

Indifferent: You get stuck reading this tripe. ;)

Good: Was asked to interview for a job that pays alot more than what I’m getting now. (Yay!)

Bad: Spent 2 1/2 hours piddling around doing other stuff while waiting for Micro$haft to fix their activation servers today so I could finish rebuilding a client’s PC.

Indifferent: We’re only 1 for 2 on the SpySweeper Enterprise install for that client – seems it won’t run on Server2000, but runs fine on Server2003. Now I have to monkey with the router settings to add the 2003 server to both networks. *shrug*