Woa, over a month since my last post! Forgive me ...

Cold here today -14C, and not a lot to say. Maybe my brain is frozen. However, I thought that I should at least post something so that all of you loyal readers (ha, ha, ha, I kill me) wouldn't stop coming by.

One of the people I work with has a poster in his office of G.W.B. with infamous quotes all over it. It got us to discussing the fact that Jean Chretien (that's Canada's Prime Minister), has probably just as many, or more, of these barely comprehendable quotes. Maybe I'll put together a comparison... I think they could have a good argument over who was the biggest moron.

Hmmm, what else... Oh yeah, I'm off to San Francisco in a couple of weeks. I'm going to the king of the acronyms conference - I'll be doing GIAC training at the SANS CDI to get a GCFW. My father-in-law (CEO of BAN - that's Ban Acronyms Now) would be shuddering at that sentence. I haven't been to San Francisco for years, so although I'll be spending 8 hours a day in a meeting room, I'm still looking forward to the trip.

That's it for now, things at work have been so crazy, and continue to be, that I may not post very regularly. I'll try to though.

I've been reading the historical novels of Michael and Jeff Shaara over the last few months. They are excellent books, and even if you aren't a history buff, you'll find them a great read.

One of the things I find amazing is how small the world really was back then. If someone was to write a movie about guys who fought side-by-side in a war (or more than one), only to end up in battles against each other a few years later I would find it a little contrived. But this happened a lot in the U.S. The civil war truly pitted best friends against each other.

Up here in Canada we learned some American history, but it really wasn't very interesting (although neither was Canadian). Reading it in this context, however, really brings it home. The way men thought about war was so different from today. War was nothing like it is today, or even was in the First and Second World wars. Thousands of men marching into the onslaught of musket fire and cannon, many knowing they'd be killed, and they just kept on going.

I have often thought about what kind of mindset you'd have to have in order to have the excitement of going off to war that was in soldiers even in the 2nd world war. It's such a foreign concept to North Americans today. I think for the most part, even professional soldiers don't have the enthusiasm that the volunteers did back in the 1940's and earlier in the wars of the 18th and 19th centuries. Maybe it's the media (I can always finger the media, but this time it's not bad necessarily). Back before the advent of T.V. and even radio, the only way people new about what was or had happened was through the stories of the survivors. It seems that most veterans are reluctant to talk about the bad things that happened. They're more comfortable talking about the epic battles, the triumphs, rather than the horrors and defeats. However, with the advent of movies and T.V. in particualr we can see first hand the horrors of war. We don't need to have verterans tell us how miserable the conditions were, we can see it. We don't need them to tell us how many men died, what it was like to have your buddy blown-up beside you. We've seen it all and more. If I was to volunteer for a war, I'd be going in with my eyes already open to the horror. It would have to be a pretty horrible threat to my family to make me go and do that. Back in the 1850's though, it was all about idealism. I guess war back then was much more like the religious wars of today. The belief in your cause (or hatred of the enemy's) is so strong that you'll do anything to advance or protect those beliefs.

I've thought a lot about this before and now that I've been writing I'll be thinking about it a lot more. The religion theme reminds me of another book I'm reading right now, The Salmon of Doubt, the posthumous collection of writings by Douglas Adams. He has some very interesting views on religion. I'll have to explore all this stuff a little more.

Well I have lots of things to talk about but no time to do it.

I received feedback! A reader of my American Idol post suggested I checkout the Idol thread on his site. Go to perotheus.com and click around. The link to the discussion groups is "on the right side column, way at the bottom under the webrings and stuff is a picture/link to a message board".

Vancouver was nice. After an hour and a half delay here in the snow we arrived to a sunny, warm day in Vancouver. Had a pound of muscles overlooking False Creek on Ganville Island. Oh yeah, did the Windows 2000 Gold Standard cert. too.

I'm going to try my darndest to write a few times this week.

Thought for the day:

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war
in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic
fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged
sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it
narrows the mind...And when the drums of war have
reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate
and the mind has closed, the leader will have no
need in seizing the rights of the citizenry.
Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded
with patriotism, will offer up all of their rights
unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know?
For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar"
- William Shakespeare

Busy week! I can't believe it's Thursday already.

I discovered last week that I've actually had visitors to this blog! I don't think they've ever come back...

Off to Vancouver tomorrow for the day. I'm going for a course and it's in Richmond. That means I may make the trip all the way to Vancouver and not smell or see the ocean. That'll be a bummer, but I'm going to try to get to the water for at least a few minutes.

I'm now working from home 3 mornings a week. It's to enable me to take my daughter to preschool. It's working out pretty well (and that reminds me of a topic for another post!) and I like it for the most part. I haven't even been tempted to slack off yet. We'll see though.

There I've updated, bye for now.

I'm not quite getting this blog everyday thing done, but I'm doing it a lot more frequently than before.

I noticed the other day that there's going to be an American Idol 2-hour special where everyone gets back together for one last show (bilk the advertisers out of more stupidly spent money). It started me thinking (again) about this whole show. I'm not one for reality shows so I'm probably biased on this anyway, but I have a couple of big questions regarding this show.

1. Who thought up the idea that an idol could be produced in this manner?
2. Why does the idol have to be a pop star?

I've just rewritten a huge chunk of this because I just looked up the definition of idol. You really do learn something new every day. What I learned today is that this show fits the definition of idol perfectly. Dictionary.com includes as one possible definiton "One that is adored, often blindly or excessively" and "Something visible but without substance". What could be a better definition of this show's product than this?

That still leaves the pop star part. Although I guess if there's anything that could be defined as "Something visible but without substance" it's many of today's pop stars. Maybe they'll have an athletic one next where they try to prove who can jump highest, swim farthest, and lift the most weight.

This was a pretty pointless post, although that's the point isn't it? Just write down my thoughts. Oh well, I still don't like reality TV, so I guess I'm not destined to buy into any of these things anyway.

Frost on the roofs of houses this morning. Yikes! Fall is really just around the corner isn't it?

Oops missed a day or two there...

When I started to wirte this post, it was going to be about how much I love fall. That changed as I love all the season's (I think that's why I love living here, where we actually get 4 different seasons, sometimes all in one day, but those are the risks. Anyway...), but I think what it is is that I love the transistions more than anything. September is the month where you can have a hot day where you're in shorts working in the yard. The next day might be chilly, but fresh. The grass is still green but the leaves are starting to change and so the contrast between the green grass and the yellow and red leaves is very striking. You can still have your window open at night, but by the morning, you'll be burried under the covers to ward off the early morning chill. It stays light late enough that you can still go for a daylight walk after dinner.

I don't understand how poeple can live in climates where nothing ever changes, it seems like it would become very monotonous after a while. To each his own.

I love this time of year.

Played flag football last night for the corporate challenge. What a blast! Played at the stadium on artificial turf. Ouch, that hurts! Won one, lost one, no finals for us. But it was a perfect night for football, tonight - not so much. It's going to take me a few days to recover, I feel a bit like I've been run over by a truck (I think one of the guys that I ran into was that big). Sunday is the goofy obstacle course. I'm glad I was able to prove to people that I have some athletic ability prior to making a fool of myslef in flippers sifting through a pile of sand.

Do you say Pop or Soda? Apparently this is a large enough debate that a guy from CalTech is doing a mapping study. He's doing an online survey of what term people use to describe carbonated beverages (non-alchoholic of course). Go here to add your self to the map. It's quite interesting how regional it is, who knew people referred to them as "coke"?

After seeing the effect of the Sept. 11 attacks on the WTC on the North American (and world I suppose) population, I have to wonder about countires where this happens all the time.

Obviously you would get somewhat desensitised to it, but it must be an awful stress in people's lives. Somewhere like Isreal or India (just 2 of many possible examples), at least once a week, sometimes much more often, there is a tragedy where innocent people have lost their lives because of someone elses narrow-minded hatred towards them.

How do these people deal with this? They go back to their "normal" lives within days of these kind of events. Maybe part of the reason for ongoing fights like these are that people become unaffected by the events, so the memories of particular tragedies don't stay in their minds. It's easy for me to say I remember many details of my day on Sept. 11, 2001, but how many Palestinians can say the same thing of attacks on them a year ago? I guess it could be a coping mechanism too, if they don't hang on to the memories their lives are less tragic.

I'm sure it's one of those things that you can't understand until you are in the situation. I hope I will never fully understand.

A few days ago, James Lileks talked about what it was that he liked about blogs versus the general media. One of those things was that he felt most bloggers write just for the sake of writing, where columninsts must satisfy many people and come up with topical things to write about. It's this slice-of-life sort of banality that he felt really set blogs apart from other forms of media. At least, I think I paraphrased well enough, you'll have to read it.

Anyway, my resaon for the long intro is that it made me realize that I don't write unless I have something really inportant to say. I should just write for the sake of writing. So from now on I resolve to write at least once a day whether I have anything brilliant to say or not (of course you're probably saying "He hasn't written anything brilliant yet...").

WIll I do it? We'll see.

When I awoke this morning to the unending drivel on the radio marking the 1 year anniversary of the "attacks", I was more determined than ever to criticize the way this anniversary is being handled by people. Really, how many times to we have to hear "Imagine" edited to include news clips of the latest disaster.

I still feel that way, however after reading a number of blogs and news sites, I've decided that this isn't really the time to do that. Mostly it's just the media choosing to do what they think will boost their ratings and get more people to watch them rebroadcast the images of planes flying into the WTC than the other network.

I guess in some ways I should feel relieved with that. What's more American than replaying tragedy over and over and over again until you are completely sick and tired of it. It's good to see that this tragedy hasn't changed the American media.

On a more personal and sympathetic note; I always remember people talking about where they were the day that... As a kid I could never understand how something could affect you so deeply that you would remember not only the event, but where you were on when it happened. It wasn't until the Challenger disaster that I realized how this happens. Now as a 30-something adult, I can also say the same thing about when Princess Diana died, probably because we'd just finished watching the movie Evita. We couldn't understand what people must have felt for that lady that her death would affect them so deeply. Turned off the movie and there was the news showing people's reactions to Diana's death. I didn't feel that way, but it's something I 'll never forget.

Now I add the WTC disaster to that (unfortunately) growing list. And maybe that's why I tire of the never ending tributes etc that have been shown over the last week. I will never forget that day, ever. I remember hearing the first news report about a plane crashing into the WTC like it was yesterday. I remember thinking of Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor when I heard that a second jet had flown into the towers and that they were passenger jets, not private small planes. I remember everyone being in a daze at work and that all we did was surf news sites (when they weren't down) and watch TV. I remember getting a call from my wife saying that a friend of ours was in the WTC but had gotten out safely. I remember trying to avoid it while watching TV with my daughter so that she didn't have to see all the footage of buildings collapsing and people screaming and crying.

I remember all this and more so vividly. I will never forget that day, or where I was, or how it made me feel. So please media, don't bombard me with your memories; I have more than enough of my own.

Boy, that's a little disgusting, almost a month between posts. I know from all of the feedback (LOL) that you have all missed me terribly. I'll try to think up something usefull to say.

Summer colds are another reminder of what's in store when summer's over. It's kind of like snow in August (see my post from 8/6/2002), and yes they are once again forcasting snow tonight.

A summer cold is more than just a warning though. It is also a reminder of days gone by. Ahhh... Oh yeah. Remember when you were a kid and you got sick in the summer? There really was nothing worse. You couldn't go outside and play with your friends, you felt crappy, and it was probably 150 degrees in your room. At least as an adult (apparently I am) you are old enough to make the choice as to whether you can still go outside and play, even if you're sick.

Oh well, thank-you whomever, I'm remembering that in a few months I'll probably get the flu. I'm also remembering that just as I dislike being sick now, I disliked it when I was a kid.

Maybe I'm supposed to look on the bright side, I don't get to sleep all day in the summer anymore either.

This is very cool, I think I'm going to make it permanent.



Click on it to go get your own.

Anyone who comes in here now after I've replaced the template, will think that my last two template comments are a little bizzarre. What was I thinking? Oh well, no one is reading anyway, so who cares?

Had a great weekend. I missed the snow that everyone (well not quite) is bitching and complaining about. It's just snow, it's not the end of the world. I think it's just Mother Nature's way of telling us not to take the nice warm weather for granted. "Fall's just around the corner, and don't you forget it Sonny!"

Okay, that wasn't quite as painful as I had expected.

This template is a little more me.

I hope you're taking note of how cool this new template is...
I'll get to it eventually.

James Lileks mentions something in his blog today that is a big pet peeve of mine too. The whole seasonal stock thing in stores. Why is it that they can't have the current season's stuff in the store during the season?
We encountered a really typical example of this a couple of summers ago. We're visiting relatives at a lake in B.C. and while we're out on the water, my daughter's hat blows off and disappears into the lake. No problem we thought, we'll just go to the Wal-Mart in town and buy a new one. Well, apparently at Wal-Mart (and every other store) the end of July is fall not summer. They don't have any summer hats! They've got all their fall merchandise in stock, summer merchandise is gone.
Yeah, well I think you see where I'm going. The only exception seems to be Christmas stuff. They start putting it out in October and it stays in the stores until after Christmas. Why can't they figure out that this would work well all the time? Is it because people would never go back if they stopped carrying Christmas stuff at the end of November? Probably, but no one seems to care that all the other seasons are screwed.
Oh well. It's cold here today, maybe I'll go buy some new fall clothes 'cause that what it feels like. They say it might even SNOW!!!!! tonight! Welcome to August.
At least it's a long weekend.

Well, today is World System Administrator Appreciation Day. Don't believe me? Go here. So hooray for me and the others like me. For me I get to realize how lucky I am to work someplace where people voice their appreciation all the time.
Enough of that stuff. I'm thinking about changing the template, I think I need something a little less stark. What do you think? Hello...? Hmmm, I guess it doesn't matter anyway 'cause I'm just talking to myself.
Me: You should really do something with this template.
Me: Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.
Me: Whoa, cool.
Happy Friday!

Have you ever had one of those days when you realize just how messy your desk is? Today's my day. Yikes!

OK, this is the last of the WorldCom whining, honest.
Hello, investors! Did you not think they would file for chapter 11?!
What's with all the panic now that they have? This has got to have been the worst case of lemmings I've ever seen. These people really need to get away from the office and check back into reality. Get it together people, I'd like to retire before I'm 150 and with the way you're killing my mutual funds it doesn't look likely.

Oh well, slow and steady wins the race right? At least I can say I'm enjoying my life no matter what the stupid markets are doing.

I received today what has to be one of the most bogus marketing attempts ever. In the mail I received a thing from Microsoft. On the front it says: "Nobody told me there was a virus attached to that email" and below it - Solutions to this and other IT challenges inside.
I open it up and what is inside? Demo versions of Windows XP and Office XP. Most people (myself included) would consider these products to be the beginning of IT challenges, not the end.
Um, thanks but no thanks Microsoft.

Ah, it's working again!
I'm quite fascinated by this whole Northern Snakehead situation in Maryland. The whole issue surrounding non-native species introduction is interesting to me. I remember when I was in Australia a number of years ago, they were having (and continue to have) problems with Cane Toads. These are poisonous frogs that kill a lot of native animals. The whole problem with non-native species is that native species haven't built-up any defenses against them and therefore get whiped-out quickly.
Apparently this fish not only eats almost any other fish, but can actually breath out of water and can travel on it's front fins accross land. How cool is that? They say that some guy had a couple and decided that he didn't want them anymore, so he dumped them in this pond. Now the pond is under guard so that no fish will escape to the Petuxtent where it will kill all the native fish. If this happens it'll be a really visible lesson about how careless people can be when the choose and then dispose of a "pet".

There seems to be posting problems with blogger these days. I'm just writing this to see if it's fixed.

So we're driving in the car the other day and my daughter says, "Why don't you smoke?". My wife, seeing the opportunity to pounce on this issue early in our child's life, says "Because it's dirty, ugly and makes you sick." The reply is "But Uncle Don smokes." Ah yes, throw it back in our faces. Mom says, "Yes but Uncle Don is old enough to decide whether he wants to stink of smoke and get sick and maybe die from it." "When I get bigger I'm going to smoke."
At least it'll be 12 years or so before the neighbor's oldest kid can buy her smokes. We've got time to fine-tune our spiel.

I think Bob the Builder is going to single-handedly convince millions of our children to become construction workers (not that there's anything wrong with that).

There was a parade in our fair city last week and I watched it on TV with my 3 yr. old daughter. It's a big parade with lots of marching bands and floats, horses, baton twirlers, even the lonley Maytag repairman (I guess he had nothing better to do). Asked what her favorite part of the parade was my daughter replied, "Bob the Builder!". My daughter also has a Bob the Builder construction hat and a tool set. Apparently Bob the Builder is the number 1 pre-school TV show in the WORLD! It's certainly a nice break from Barney and the Teletubbies.
I've often wondered where children's story writers get their ideas. I try but always end up with something that borders on the bizarre, like a dinosaur who goes to the video store only to discover they're all out of Barney videos. It's tragic actually, but my daughter doesn't seem to be quite as captivated as she is with Mortimer. She'll probably read my blog someday and think it's just as bizarre.

You have to read this article at SatireWire today, it's even funnier because it could all be true with the way our government chooses to do things. If the hyperlink didn't work go to www.satirewire.com/news/july02/canada_invasion.shtml

I think it's kind of funny that I thought I had lots of things to say and lots of time in which to say it. Now that I have gone ahead with a blog...not enough of either.
I do have something to say about this whole Worldcom thing. Does anyone care? Probably not, but this is my blog and I'll say whatever I want (I don't think anyone reads it anyway).
Having worked for more than one public company in my life, I think that people in the investment community are getting their just desserts with Enron, Arthur Anderson, Worldcom, et al. Companies do well, investors buy stock, up goes the price, money comes in and the companies spend it. That's the whole free market system, I know and I'm all for it, but I'm getting to my point. Investors started to get greedy in the late 90's. If a compny didn't show exponential growth quarter on quarter, investors stopped buying stock, driving the price down and subsequently crippling the companies. These companies might still have been showing a profit, but that didn't matter because if it wasn't 200% it wasn't enough as far as the investors were concerned. At this point the investors start driving the business plan because the company will do whatever it has to in order to get people to buy its stock again. It doesn't matter if it's good for the long term health of the company or its employees, it only matters that the stock price goes up. Some companies handle this well and adjust their business model or lay off employees or whatever, and the investors flock back when they start seeing potential for massive profits again. Other companies do things that aren't so good, i.e. Enron, Worldcom, and friends. They screw the company, the employees, and the investors. The compnay dies, the employees may or may not find jobs ( and lose their entire retirement savings), and the investors go on to kill other companies all the while fattening their wallets in the process. That is why I think they should get screwed once in a while too.

Had a great long weekend, but then ended up having more work to do to catch up.
Tony Pierce (http://www.tonypierce.com/blog/bloggy.htm I haven't got links working here yet) said, on July 1, that Canada Day is the day Canada celebrates it's independence from America. Uh, thanks for playing Tony (of course nothing you read on his blog is true apparently). Canada has never been part of "america" (I assume he means the U.S.A.). Canada Day celebrates the signing of the Britich North America Act, which basically allowed Canada to have its own federal government. A sort of sudo-independence I guess.
I usually find his blog quite entertaining, however I couldn't let this pass.

Hey, does donating blood count as helping a stranger?

And I do know how to spell wierdest.

I gave blood today for the first time. That's right a blood donation virgin. It wasn't that bad...had to admit I was a little nervous. I'm not afraid of needles or blood or anything like that but my body tends to take control and do unexpected things. Like the time I almost passed out when my wife shut her finger in the car door. Anyway no problems this time.
Wirdest part of the whole thing? I went with seven others from our office as part of a blood drive. 4 of the 8 of us have type AB blood. AB is the rarest blood type, only found in 3% of the population. We also have a very high percentage of lefties but there doesn't seem to be a connection between being a lefty (I'm not) and having AB blood. There must be a way to get a government grant to study something like that. Oh well, maybe next week.
Have a good weekend!

The Friday Five, I can do this:
When was the last time you...
...Sent a hand wirtten letter? Whoa, too long ago to remember; probably when I was about 8.
...Baked something from scratch or made something by hand? Does yardwork count? It's probably been a few years since I baked something from scratch. I did build a fence a couple of years ago.
...Camped in a tent? That's easy, last weekend. Yup the whole family, we have a "fit everyone and the dog" size tent.
...Volunteered your time to church, school, or community? It's sort of ongoing, I'm president of a community choir that I sing in. That ends this year though, so I guess I'll have to find something else.
...Helped a stranger? Hmmmmm, that's a toughy. I donate lots to charity if that counts. Otherwise I'm a little low on the helping strangers scale.

Okay, here comes my very first public (assuming someone else reads it) rant.
There is a debate among many people in our city about protesters and the issues surrounding many of the violent protests of the last few years. Namely world domination by big multi-national corporations.
I'm going to get this out of the way before I go any further: Everyone should have the right to freely speak their mind in whatever legal forum they wish. As I am doing here.
An aquaintance came to me yesterday after having left work to join a protest that was passing the office. Organizers were dissapointed in the small number of people who actually showed up for the protest and this person remarked on the apathy of our citizens. Without thinking I said "well I'm sorry but I guess I'm one of those people". She said " Don't apologize to me, apologize to your children". I was quite taken aback and, as usually happens, I thought of a bunch of whitty and snide comments after the fact.
It got me thinking however. Where does someone get off telling me to apologize to my children for the fact that I actually stood up for my beliefs. I didn't go protest because I didn't agree with the protest, not because I was to afraid or didn't care. This person joined the protest when it was convenient for her and on work time. Was she going to take the morning off to go to the protest from the beginning? No. What does that say about her motive for protesting? Was she just doing it because everyone else was, and if so how does she explain that to her children (she doesn't have any of course so there's no reality check necessary)? This is also a person who sells a service to companies and would love to have some of these evil (my word not hers) mulit-national companies as clients.
I feel it just goes to further my belief that a lot of these protesters are hypocrites who are protesting because it's popular and they don't really have a grasp of the true issues. This isn't always true of course. I'm always impressed when someone can get up and speak knowledgeably about an issue and give some feasable alternatives to the help fix a problem.
I will unapologetically teach my child that she should stand up for what she believes using whatever means she feels necessary (always legal I hope). However she should always have a solid understanding of the issue and the problems all sides need to address.
There, I feel better now.

...there, that's better.
Send me feedback and check the links. I'm sure I'll have something to say a little later.

Just testing to see if my template changes worked. I can't bear to push the button...

Ahhhh, panic! In Blogger, the posts show who posted them. I'm trying to keep this somewhat anonymous. OK I freaked for second. Ready to throw in the towel.
Go to my actual blog and lo and behold, no names. Whew!
Yeah, I know it all makes sense to me now.

Hey, it worked!
Uh oh, writer's block. Think, think, think...

So here I go. I've been reading various blogs for a little while now and I thought that I'd give it a try. You know how we all think we're funny and intelligent and have interesting things to say? This is my test to find out if I am. I hope, of course, that the answer will be that I am, but I'm fully prepared to find out that I'm not. I guess I'll only find out when you have some way of sending me feedback. I'm sure I'll figure that out soon and when I do I'm prepared for the worst. Oh yeah, you'll notice that this isn't all lowercase. That may be a big no-no in the blogging world, but the thoughts in my head aren't all lowercase and so they won't be here either. If you're going to write, you might as well do it properly (my grade 6 L.A. teacher would be happy to hear me say that).
This blog will be very short on personal details. There are many reasons for this, the primary one being that my wife (there's generic personal detail #1) and my mother-in-law would both have a huge fit. I also (on a much lesser scale) have reservations about publishing personal details for all to see. As a systems administrator (generic personal detail #2). I am very well aware of how information can travel and tranform on the www and I'd rather that didn't happen to my personal information and more importantly my family's.
OK, here goes I'm going to make my first post...