keeping your life under (version) control

I find version control to be very useful and keep everything in it. From avatars for forums to plans for engines in the Z, to my writing, to my dotfiles (.zshrc, etc) and config files (vhosts for apache), and on down the line, it's got everything. The problem is, the repository is damn huge. It has gotten to the point where 'svn stat' (those of you about to say "use hg!" or "use git!" can.. git.) is taking a very long time. And, worse, I just found another 198mb of cvs repository I thought I'd lost that I now have to cvs2svn and svnadmin import. So it will be even bigger, and of course I don't organize things now the way I did in 2002, so it will take considerable time just cleaning up this new stuff that is, frankly, precious.

It's like finding a pile of your kids' art from when they were twelve. Or maybe I'm a narcissistic DINK.

dammit

The Urban Circuit needs not quite a rewrite, but a lot of fixing, and some chapter reordering. I thought I had a lot more material than I did. Skonkworks has a lot of content, but I'm just not ready to write that book. I'm going to cannibalize it like I did Limits and get some short stories out of it. However, Skonkworks (not its real name, naturally) is a lot more palatable and involves no "...ultraviolet feasts for the forensic apes..."

Meh. Meh, bang!

but, note, he writes.

The transition to userless workstations

I am now 100% "userless." All the users on these machines are in the directory (OpenLDAP and krb, via Leopard Server). I log in to icarus and thunder with users from the directory, which is great. But for some reason this only works once. After that, they're unable to log in. I think this is because their home directories get un-auto-mounted when they log out, and wont re-auto-mount them when they log back in.

But until I see otherwise, I'm the only dude using Kerberos on a Mac, so I don't expect anyone to have the answer to this.

Oh. And leave the network (e.g., take a walk with a wireless machine)? Beachball city. Gotta fix that. Offline/cached files, or something. AD does this.

No, seriously, we tied up a fifteen year old girl because she was crazy.

Choice quote:

The strange illness apparently affects young people more than old, putting them in a trance and giving them super-human strength, according to Knight and other witnesses. "A 15-year-old girl with siknis can overpower 6 or 7 men," Knight said. "The men can't detain her, and have to tie her up in bed sheets."

Via ProMed (see above link for the rest)

Centuriano Knight, the regional health coordinator for the RAAN told The Nica Times yesterday [3 Mar 2009] in a phone interview that 34 people have reportedly fallen ill with grisi siknis in the river community of Santa Fe, 7 people in the nearby community of Esperanza, and 2 in the neighboring community of San Carlos. The outbreak of grisi siknis, which has no scientific explanation, is the largest case of collective hysteria since a massive outbreak in the RAAN community of Raiti in 2003.

Ask yourself: would this work in Southeast DC?

Icarus restore

Short: netbooting; mac software.

Built a netboot image for icarus, my Air. Determined to get it right (like with jumpstart and kickstart, no point in continuing unless you know it works. Every time. Perfectly.) Here's the (startlingly large) list of software I've installed from the Leopard baseline:

• Office 2008 (word, excel)
  
• iWork 2009 (keynote, numbers, mathtype, endnote)
  
• iLife 2009 (iWeb)
  
• Scrivener
  
• The OSX Server admin tools
  
• XCode 3.2
  
• Chax & Warp
  
• Radon
  
• Google Sketchup 7
  
• Trolltech QMake/QT
  
• Last.fm
  
• Transmission
  
• MenuMeters (disk r/w lights for the menubar)
  
• Meteo (weather for the menubar so I know whether I can/should ride)
  
• (probably will install Songbird & rebuild & reinstsall)
  

My user account lives in kerberos-land, which worked for the first time, perfectly. I wonder what happens when I go off site. I'm way too lazy to find out right now. If it works right, though, other than network assets not being there, krb shouldn't have a problem with my tickets until they hit the expiry, which I set myself, comes up, in which case, I'll have to log in as a local user. A lot like AD.

This is, incidentally, by design. Guess who was first.

Oh, and having Leopard Server at the gateway (Echo Base, naturally, 10.3.14.1/24, the krb'd wirefree domain, is natted through LS) is splendiferous. All those patches are just hangin' out on the network, waiting to be added to a netboot image or added the old fashioned way. I don't gotta download jiggabytes of updates.

So, it's fast. What I can't get over (other than how obtuse Sketchup's interface is) is the absolutely huuuuuuge collection of apps I have installed on this thin, thin machine. I still haven't decided whether to install Lightroom and Photoshop CS4 after realizing tonight just how beautiful some of our Maui pictures turned out and what Photoshop can do with a NEF that Aperture and iPhoto <sound of spitting/> can.

And, so far, I've achieved, OS included, my 32gb target for the netboot image, and I'm using OpenDirectory to keep track of disk quotas (restricting me to 24gb so I know well in advance that the 1080i porn is filling up slash again.

Okay, so I need a $1600 amp for the Senn HD800's

So maybe this is a little better....

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=17036+KT

Those silly indians!

I only wish I could have preserved the font colors and faces. Seriously, I know a few real good recruiters. Maybe five. The rest of them are just dumb as stones. Here's one of them. And I'm going to protect the innocent and not give his name out.




Hi

Please put the things in writing requested of you below:
(1) Your willingness to work with us at $ 30  /Hr on 1099 all Inc.
(2) YOUR UPDATED RESUME FOR THIS POSITION
(3)Declaration: You have given Staffing Tree the right to be represented for this opportunity and that you will NOT directly /  indirectly try to apply for this same job through any other party and that you have to go through Staffing Tree to be able to be considered for this job.
AGREE / DISAGREE:
(4) 1 Reference: Hiring Manager's name, Designation, Company's Name, email id and phone number.

Appended below are the job requirements and other job details regarding the project
 My client in in CT has following position open for 6 months rate not to exceed $30/hr on 1099 all inc.

Key areas of responsibility:
•           Create and maintain documentation in collaboration with corporate staff in order to facilitate the migration of existing corporate applications to a new data center.
•           Coordinate, Perform and complete User Acceptance Testing to customer standards and practices.
•           Ability to communicate technical information to non-technical personnel.
•           Work with applications using various platforms including client server, web based and UNIX back end database/data warehouse processing.
•           Work in a diverse technical environment on software written in-house as well as Vendor supported applications

Strong written and oral communications skills, self starter, able to take an assignment and work independently.

Senior Level Experience Required in:
- UNIX, LINUX, Windows XP, Windows Server
 - Oracle, SQL Server

Review: Lidoderm 5% topical patches, Endo Pharma

First, let me say that Endo makes percocet and its common generic, endocet. They also make a beauty called norco (10/325 instead of the usual 10/750). So, let's look at something important here:

Pain, folks, is a great investment. Endo. They make the drugs that you can only get by begging a doctor for, and only when you desperately want them. What better product is there than that? Even tobacco and alcohol are easier to get hold of (hint: their stock is in the shitter).

What we can't do here, folks, is compare Mylan, Sandoz, and Endo with DJIA or S&P or anything. Comparing Mylan (currently under hostile threat from Icahn) with Endo is useless as their charts are near identical and they have a very high beta. Furthermore, Sandoz, the only serious competitor in this market except perhaaaaaaaaps purdue pharma, is privately held.

So let's get to this review here, because that's what I want to talk about. I just wanted to get it out of the way that you have any choice in your pain treatment. They got you, folks, by the balls. I went to a neurologist today because I may have some neuropathy in my back with the damaged ribs &c.

Here is what he gave me. Lidoderm. If you've ever had a dental outpatient treatment, you've probably been given viscous lidoecaine (2.5%) to treat, topically, the pain you have in your gums. We give this to toddlers who are teething.

What we are now also starting to do is give the 5% solution to people with, uh, this sounds real insensitive, and I apologize – I had four dry sockets, and that shit hurt – but they're giving this mickey mouse crap to people with real pain.

So let's get started right off the bat with THEY DO NOT FUCKING WORK. They can be coaxed into working a little more than zero by having constant pressure applied to them, like by sitting in a hard chair (the granite chairs in the DC metro being a perfect example).

Otherwise, they're subject to the countours of the body, and to sweat. Within a few hours of applying them, you're left with a useless wet patch that feels not unlike a hairy lasagne noofle. Don't worry, as you worry with the fentanyl patches that the hundred mikes an hour might kill someone not tolerant, because these stupid noodle things couldn't anaesthetise a rat.

Endo's a great company, has always been a good investment, but I'm serious. I liquidated everything. Sooner or later I might be able to grow hydroponic opium right along my tomatoes and Savinas, and maybe sell it all as local produce.

But this offering, from Endo, is pathetic. I'll carry a few in the "bike backpack" for road rash, along with quik-clot. Otherwise, though, it's a worthless product for pussy doctors who don't want to prescribe Sched II. Hey, you guys in that group: I hope you get run over by buses. All of you. And nobody gives you any meds. Seriously, BUSES.

sky is falling. like, for real man.

Fidelity declined to give me a prospectus on any of my funds today. Co-incidentally (as in, at the same time, not suspiciously so), Sandy and I realized that the (very) high powered rifle scope and motorcycles are worth more than our portfolios, and more than they will be even if the market comes back thirty percent a year for two years, which will never happen.


Folks, I am officially getting 100% out of the market. I am keeping my rifle because the apocalypse is coming. I am keeping my car (the Z, the one with no motor in it) because anything with four wheels that can go is going to be worth more money when people realize there's nothing left in ^DJIA.

And, by the by, I will never be investing with Fidelity again. Not because they underperformed, because everyone is. I am never investing in Fidelity again because I found out this way that they are about to be pwned by CHANGE OBAMA or whomever it is that now owns their bitch asses.

So, really, is Tom DuBois going to have to channel Stinkmeaner and bust out some whup-ass? Save your money, they said? Fuck saving your money. Buy a rifle, buy a motorcycle, buy a car, stockpile ammunition, and never live below the third floor or above the fifth.

don't get me wrong, it's cool stuff

but I hope they laughed when they wrote this abstract (emphasis mine):

Summary: We present the first experimental demonstration of a feed-forward linearised uncooled laser at 5.8 GHz in a wireless-over-fibre system for the transmission of multi-channel broadband 16 QAM and 64 QAM signals over 2.2 km of single mode fibre intended for wireless LAN applications. We demonstrate that with such a linearisation scheme, a reduction of 20 dB is achieved in the spectral re-growth caused by a strong adjacent channel. Significant reduction in the error vector magnitude and improved constellation and eye-diagrams were observed. Intermodulation distortion is reduced by 13 dB when two strong channels are at +10 dBm input level.

Cuteness

This might explain it being unresponsive this morning. Hmmms.


Mar  1 00:00:00 thunder newsyslog[32007]: logfile turned over
Mar  1 00:00:11 thunder kernel[0]: unknown SIGSEGV code 0
Mar  1 00:00:11 thunder kernel[0]: unknown SIGSEGV code 0
Mar  1 00:00:41: --- last message repeated 2 times ---
Mar  1 00:00:51 thunder kernel[0]: unknown SIGSEGV code 0
Mar  1 00:01:21: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
Mar  1 00:01:31 thunder kernel[0]: unknown SIGSEGV code 0
Mar  1 00:02:01: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
Mar  1 00:02:11 thunder kernel[0]: unknown SIGSEGV code 0
Mar  1 00:02:41: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
Mar  1 00:02:51 thunder kernel[0]: unknown SIGSEGV code 0
Mar  1 00:03:21: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
Mar  1 00:03:31 thunder kernel[0]: unknown SIGSEGV code 0
Mar  1 00:04:01: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
Mar  1 00:04:11 thunder kernel[0]: unknown SIGSEGV code 0
Mar  1 00:04:41: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
Mar  1 00:04:51 thunder kernel[0]: unknown SIGSEGV code 0
Mar  1 00:05:21: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
Mar  1 00:05:31 thunder kernel[0]: unknown SIGSEGV code 0

Just absolutely insane ideas, really

I'll have more to come when I've got 3-d models and the like (yeah, that insane), but right now, I wanted to share that I am actually happily living with kerberos at home, and that the directory administrator is using a very – very – lightweight web browser called Radon (which is awfully promising, in a way) because frequently all the diradmin wants to look up is "zomg why is shit borked," not "hey, I want to enter that pepsi contest."

To quote Colin, the software is tits. Which is to say, it's awesome, and nobody in their right mind wouldn't like it. Awesome stuff.

DC police on 250cc rebels

Saw a DCPD cop on a rebel 250 today. Had a (comically) huge windscreen that said "POLICE" on it – otherwise you might think someone was joking with you – and the usual markings. Just… smaller. I asked the officer about it, and he said that where the hogs can't go (their enormous 1500cc HD's), and the squadcars obviously can't (we have Malibu's and Crown Vic's here, mostly), the little two-fiddies can. Apparently, his was the first (it was DC-0001), but there are more on the way because they're useful.

How cool. At least he had the stones to cop to it being his. :)

Life with my Air

short: status update on my Macbook Air

I don't think it's been quite a year since I got the Air. I could look it up, but I'm too lazy. The point is, it's probably close.

At this point, it's mostly a great machine. I've had no major hardware defects. I've had no major software defects (although one niggling issue we think is actually the base station since it affects the MacPro, one of our PC's, and the Air equally) either, and I absolutely love the touchpad and gesturing (there's no way for it to know when I'm using my middle finger; that would be nice. Also, I'd like for it to have a "four finger" wave gesture so I can switch workspaces with a gesture).

The one thing that's failed me, and it hasn't outright failed, is the hinge. The display is "floppy", with a play back and forth of probably 25mm. This is juuuuust enough to make the light "not quite right" when you're e.g., using the last bit of light in the living room inthe afternoon – which I've been doing a lot of lately.

It's been making some small clicky whirry noises and the occasional That's a Very Bad Noise noises (in the form of strange high pitched beeps from things that don't have speakers), but nothing's failed.

I have not been using it anywhere near as hard as I used my Macbook (plastic) – I haven't bothered installing Photoshop (or even Acrobat Pro!), VMWare or VirtualBox. Basically, the Air, icarus, runs thin. I suck everything out of my subversion repository on semperbellum.org, check it back in when I'm done with it, and keep it backed up with time machine.

icarus will probably be the first machine in the house to be totally reliant on the kdc when it gets reimaged (it's just time for a reimage...), and will be given its own address on the (presently empty) lan segment for machines that have authenticated to krb, and will thusly be reachable by name (e.g., icarus.semperbellum.org will resolve correctly wherever I am). This also allows me to use a number of certificate and biometrics-based authentication schemes that appeal to me more and more as my paranoia increases and the technology available to the black-n-white-hats gets increasingly .... skeery.

More events as warrant.

Forced rehab

short: gaze into my navel with me. no more nude photos, i promise.

No, not that kind of rehab. Today, for the first time since this most recent injury, I got some writing done. What's more, I've been forcing myself to read. With the concussion, I have had tremendous difficulty reading printed text, like you'd see in your average paperback. Stuff on the computer displays was not a problem. Interestingly, larger fonts, or sans-serif fonts (I think this is the crucial difference) and even colorful fonts are easier for me to read, so I do real well with magazines.

I've been forcing myself to read. It hurts, a lot, to have to stop at a paragraph because you're not able to understand what you're reading, or because it gives you a huge headache. I used to read so much, and now I'm able to choke down most of a magazine in a day if I try real hard, and maybe a page or two in a printed book if I try really hard (this latter bit can take 2-3 hours). But I'm getting there. And, the more I read, the more I want to write again. And so today we had a spurt of writing. Just 250 words, kid stuff, but because of the material I've been reading, it's something I can develop if I care to, or just use it as a sort of mental exercise ball.

What kind of cool things does this say about the brain, in general? That, at least in my case, the part that reads on a display is sufficiently developed that it is separate from the part that reads on paper? Or vice-versa? Wow. I would wager nobody's even studied that (and I know an experimental psychologist who might think that was kind of interesting). Or that I can read tabloid-format magazines (Discover, not The Enquirer, tabloid format, not content) but not books? Brains, man. Strange stuff. Zombie food, keepers of the CNS and all of human knowledge, yet fragile and adaptable in ways we don't understand. At any rate, I'll put down the bong now and continue.

The other thing I've been doing since I haven't been working is watching documentaries and trying to write software. I've been watching documentaries on everything, but historically I've been focusing on the middle ages in Europe (including Simon Schama's A History of Britain, which is a rather soporific but incredibly thorough twelve-hour documentary (BBC of course) and book, which I'm unable to read, probably even without the concussion). I've also been watching a lot of my usual astronomy, cosmology, and physics documentaries (I'd give anything to be able to audit Alex Filipenko's lectures, really – and maybe if I'd gotten that job working for Fujitsu on the big Island, I'd have met the man. It's such a small planet to have regret for not meeting someone, but alas, there it is...).

The software I've been writing is kind of mundane other than it gives me a neat safety vest for my computing environment. I've been writing a bootstrapping set of scripts that will allow me to netboot-netinstall my laptop from cold metal (that is, without an OS on it, powered on "for the first time") to having all my applications (from iWork and VisualHub and XCode to additionally having bits and pieces of ruby and python installed, and my own ~/Applications directory) to having my subversion repository checked out (and my ~/Projects directory created and properly chmodded), as well as joined to my useless living-room kerberos domain. The neat thing about being joined to the domain is I can log in to all my machines as ahab (so much cooler than root, right?) and have proper privileges (especially now that we're segregating some of our applications, like Photoshop/iPhoto/Aperture and iTunes/VisualHub/Handbrake into their own user accounts now, too). Another neat effect of this is I can now deploy Xgrid, although having a Macbook Air deployed to a grid that happens to have, oh, say, a MacPro with eight damn cores is kind of silly. Still cool, though.

Jeremy Clarkson is gay.

Seriously. Season one, episode six. However, as I stare longingly at Clarkson's SL55 (which he has of course gotten rid of since), I look over my shoulder and see how sunny it is outside. I am tempted, before the trafficky people show up to congest the roads, to take the bike out for a wee spin. It's so... vulnerable looking without its fairings. In fact, I've been meaning to post some...

NUDE PHOTOS

(my god, no, not of Clarkson)

Ok, seriously, I had to do that. Naked pictures of my baby, the affectionately named Hammer. The pictures have been tweaked substantially since they were taken in a dark garage. (a few of these are very high resolution – most of them are just 1600x1000)

Here you can see just how monstrous those front brakes are – I swear those calipers are bigger than the calipers on the STI. Not much else to see on that side of the bike.

190/50ZR17's. Damn, if I didn't own the STI, this bike would make me feel awfully insecure about my automobile. That's the stock sprocket, due for replacement this spring (a few weeks!! wee!!). Chain of course has gotta get replaced, too. This was pre-clean/lube. Probably going to replace the chain guard too.

I love this about motorcycles: you can see just about damn everything (well, after you get the fairings off, right?). Here we see the rearset: this pedal is the gearshift, and if you follow the pedal, you can make out a rod that connects to the transmission (it's visually just in front of the "toe" part of the pedal, but this is a trick of the lighting; it's further away). We also see the chain and swingarm, we see the rear suspension, we see the oil sump (that big rectangle thing in the middle of the photo, behind the kickstand). We also see the "on/off/reserve" switch for the fuel tank. Getting to this stuff is a giant pain in the ass on a car (especially the reserve fuel!).

I love how adjustable everything on the bike is. This is (part of) the rear suspension. Those two "collars" are adjustable with a wrench that is, naturally, included with the bike, and stored conveniently under your seat. Maybe this will help people understand why I don't "do" cars anymore – I spent my whole "career" with cars fighting them to get to the adjustment I wanted, to get them to move the way I wanted them to, and the bikes, well, they just goddamn do it, or let me make whichever adjustment I like, even if it's absolutely stupid and will get me killed. That's my damn right (but you do see me wear appropriate gear for whichever speed I am traveling – I actually wear more gear if I know I'm going to be on the freeway, etc).

Hey, look, it's those big goofy turn signals I'm getting rid of. They're great, everyone on Earth can see them. Nobody has any question about where I'm going. But they stick out so far that they get broken all the time. And then there's the giant spaceship swoopy front cowling. I personally like it, but then I also think the Katana is only a little gay (okay, I like it a lot, but it's a lot more femme where this bike is more butch, and the '7 is kind of clinging on to what little butch it can muster).

And this, really, is a more "lovable" shot of the bike, although one must note there are no damn fairings, so, yes, it does look a little goofy.

Just what is lurking in those intake, what dwells in those huge anime/hello-kitty headlamps (yes, they're HID, and they're a far sight, hah, than the Subaru's)? Well, if you look deep into the face of the hammer, all you see is the blackness of its soul. Actually, just kidding. Its soul isn't very black. It's kind of, you know, Japanese.. Anyways, behind those mesh covers is a dual-chamber air "horn" that results in airflow that's a little more turbulent at low speed and a little less turbulent at high speed (turbulence is good, but positive intake pressure is better). There's also a spot for water ingested to be, er, relieved. But seriously, I could sit and stare into the front of this bike for a while. What is she thinking?

The "driver's seat." It's actually surprisingly comfy. That's an aftermarket rear cowl (normally, the '7 came with a second seat – you'd have to be insane, really), and it doesn't fit real well. I'd like a taller one that gives me a better bolster when the bike stands up, and I've got some other ideas like a USB bus and solar panel back there (for GPS and 3G communication, for example). Those handles are the bike equivalent of "oh shit handles" you see in cars. The reason they remain is they're awfully convenient for hanging luggage off of (such as the disc lock).

And this, in addition to the giant rear tire (seriously, this is the OEM size of the damn Hayabusa; I think in 1996, Kawasaki was trying to make a statement. It's big by today's standards, even), is the equally giant can. The muffler is so big that it causes people trouble when cornering as you can drag the damn muffler. There are marks where this has clearly been done on mine (though not by me; I assume the PO). I also think that's a removable baffle inside the muffler, but I haven't looked into removing it. Rather, I've been thinking of fabricating a new exhaust from a MotoGP-style trumpet and a stainless header from Delkevic (which are real cheap; no need to drop a kilobuck on the Muzzy just to chop it in half!):

Yes, I notice the fact that the bike on the right (which is a ZX-7R) has a single-sided swingarm. The good news is, it's still in production. The bad news is, that bike is likely to be loud as an entire flock of migrating B-52's heading over the Arctic Circle for the winter. It just looks so damn cool. Maybe I could find a baffled megaphone (like a supertrapp or something). I know they exist. Hrms, hrms.

(and, yes, this post has accomplished what it was supposed to do: take long enough to keep me off the road long enough that the roads were so congested I didn't want to go out for a ride. The doc told me to stay off the bike till I see the neurologist and get a prognosis on the concussion)

Progress on the Hammer

short: year of the project update. this time, motorcycle.

(all references to "suspension" here are front suspension; I didn't have time to get to the rear end)

Yesterday, wifey and I took the bike out to lube the chain, turn the engine over, and set the front suspension. I haven't been riding, and I am concerned about the bike sitting. So we have a road that's not really "completed" (it goes from nowhere to nowhere, basically, with a "T" intersection that comes from "somewhere," but is little-used) behind the apartment, and I can ride up and down it a few times to warm the bike/chain up and to see if the suspension has gotten cocked up.

So, with FSM in hand, factory toolkit in hand as well, and wifey standing dutifully by (she is such a trooper), I began with the sportrider guide to "setting up" (as opposed to "setting to default") your suspension. As it happens, the previous owner had the suspension at the default settings except on the right hand side he was too tight one click (I'm not sure how serious this is... I never noticed it). While I'm normally opposed to using someone else's idea of what is right for a vehicle (the Z has adjustable suspension, and I regularly set it to whichever I wanted, and would never have taken advice unless I had a serious problem with the car), it was just so convenient that sportrider.com also had a suggested setting for the ZX-7 which wasn't the factory setting (which is based on a 160-lb dude, which I am not), and I applied them to the bike.

Wow, what a huge difference. It's very difficult to describe the difference in the way the bike "feels" and "handles" other than my first thoughts were "wow, it's telepathic." Basically, while it doesn't feel any lighter to push around (this is still a biiiig, heavy bike, and I'm no lightweight either), it feels like it moves more readily. Almost as if it is less inclined to stay planted in the direction it's going. Perhaps this is why Kawi did not set it at this level. It doesn't feel unsafe, but I haven't ridden it too much yet. I also haven't "gotten the ass in line," so to speak. Once that's done, I expect to do a lap or two of the Circuit and see how it feels. Maybe we'll get wifey's bike adjusted then, too. She at the very least needs a carb tuneup.

Just so everyone is clear

I have a birthday coming up. Let me help: Sennheiser HD800's.

As pretentious as having a set of your own laws is

Alex's first law of marriage is, "never marry someone who cannot make killer fried rice."

edit: yes, this means I'm eating again. I think we're going to be vegetarian for a while to keep it easy on my stomach, but I can actually eat. This is progress.

More year-of-the-project stuff

I purchased a replacement fairing for the bike to replace one with a little road rash on it. Unfortunately, I accidentally purchased the fairing for the opposite side of the bike. Now this isn't all bad; the "wrong" fairing had a crack on it, and I intended to replace it anyways. But these fairings are $350 apiece, and I pay a 20% "restocking" fee to swap this one for the other one, plus shipping this one there, a new one back here. It doesn't make any sense to spend a third or more of the cost on the part to get rid of it, when I was going to replace it eventually.

So for the moment, I have a naked ZX7-R. I'll have some pictures tomorrow. Weird stuff has come up, like, "do I need heat shielding and fire-retardant foam on the fairings"? The new fairings are NOS, but don't have the insulation and grommets of the OEM ones.

Will be pestering SBN, I guess.

Finally, calories

With a prescription for phenergan, I am now able to keep gatorade, saltines, and mild soup down. I had some rice and potatoes in a light muttar curry for dinner after the diagnostic imaging. No idea whether it will stay down after the phenergan wears off. Presumably we now have a sort of "race" between my digestive system (in trying to get food turned into, uh, whatever it is food gets turned into), and my endocrine and hepatic systems which are trying to flush out the Rx. Such strange lives we primates lead.

sync

I have a pretty serious concussion, but no hematomas, bleeds or anything requiring surgery. I received my usual diagnosis from the hospital – there's nothing wrong with you. It's always very frustrating for me, and frustrating for the doctor, when this sort of diagnosis comes up. Clearly, there's a problem. I have tremendous pain, am visibly dehydrated, have reduced cognitive abilities and speech issues, but they can't prove there's anything wrong with me. So, when given test results, I usually reply, "well, but both of us can clearly see there's a problem." To which the doctor replies, uncomfortably, "yeeeeees. It does seem that way."

Why can't doctors just cop to it? Say, yeah, you've got a problem, and my instruments here aren't doing anything for me. Let's work in a different direction.

At any rate, I'm disabled. Pretty gosh darn, even. It's not safe for me to leave the house, so I will be sticking home, trying to read, but mostly watching documentaries and corresponding with friends. It's terribly lonely being locked in the house. I have some motorcycle-related projects which should provide a little bit of zen for me, and since I can't ride, I don't mind taking substantial parts of the bike(s) apart.

If we're friends, and you read this, write me.

Oh my. There are plenty of people worrying complaining about the "upcoming" generation (I'd say, those in the fifteen to twenty-five age range), but sometimes it's really hard to blame the complainers. I have a really hard time finding redeeming values in a lot of people in this age range.

This, from 43things. I may be misinterpreting or missing out on things (like this "revolution" is at a high school, not a "regime change at home"). And it may be the owner of these things (please don't go yell at them, he seems like a nice a guy) actually understands the precedence these things have to happen in.

But if not, holy cow... somebody who realizes they are unenlightened and lacking in understanding of things philosophical who wants to start a revolution? What would that actually entail? A sort of neo-secular-luddite movement? Eek.

exercises in failure

cutting the patches didn't result in reduced nausea. if anything, it's increased. i think at this point, we have to start looking seriously at the possibility i've sustained a pretty ugly concussion. i've been living on popsicles and corn muffins. i can't even bring myself to eat paneer and rice. i'm dehydrated to the point my lips are cracking because drinking water makes me sick. going to the neurologist now.

i'm officially unemployed as cannot work; i can't concentrate enough to read more than a page or two.

Hilarity ensues

precious liquids!!

i can keep down flat soda (which usually doesn't come up, but is relatively benign if it does), and that's about it. ugh. think i'm to start cutting the patches and see if i can find some point between pain and emesis that's acceptable.

Is it can be Snow Leopard Time Now?

Pls?? Can I has a ZFS? Or maybe I should just buy their SCSI cards and disks so I can use megaraid(8)? Or FC and XSan?

I am a sad panda.