Diary of a Network Geek

Oh, I got my glasses yesterday!

Sometime back, I decided that I would get some new glasses from a discount eyeglass place on the Internet. Well, the other night, while I was out, a nose-piece fell off my hoidy-toidy, expensive glasses that have never fit right.  It was the proverbial straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back.  That very night I got home and immediately ordered a pair of glasses from Goggles4U.com, per reccomendations on GlassyEyes.com.  After picking a set of frames and filling out the form with my perscription, my total, including shipping, came to $25.99.  The only downside?  They’d take ten to fourteen business days to arrive.

Well, they did finally arrive Tuesday via the regular, U.S. Postal mail.  They were quite well packaged and came with a hard case and an extra set of nose-pieces!  Also, right out of the packaging they fit better than the one’s I’d paid over $150 for about eighteen months ago.  In short, I’m quite happy with them.  So happy, in fact, that I’ll be ordering at least one other pair, so I have a back-up pair and fashion options.  I think this time, I’ll go rimless.  Possibly, I get a third pair that are different still.  At these prices, it’s almost a shame not to do so.

Sorry, though, no pictures yet.  Not enough hair for pictures, yet.

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"No matter what goes wrong, there is always someone who knew it would."

Okay, so, I got the results of the biopsy today.
It came back clear. No sign of malignant lymphoma cells.  Cancer free.

After getting that kind of news, I feel like I should write something pithy and wise and profound, but, I don’t have anything right now. Maybe later.
Right now, the most profound thing I can think to write is just this:
I’m alive.

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"A man is known by the company his mind keeps."
   --Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Sooner or later, we pay for everything.

So, I’ve been thinking again.  Always a dangerous thing with me.  Tonight, I was thinking about what things cost and how I’ve paid for them over the years.   No, I’m not talking about cash and the level of debt I carry.  Well, I’m not talking about cash, anyway.
Nor am I talking about any simple, tangible form of payment.  Tonight, I found myself contemplating lost opportunities.  It’s a reality that hadn’t occurred to me until I was in college, really.  The idea that by choosing one course of action, or inaction, other courses were lost or unavailable.

I’ll give you an example.  If LK had stayed involved with me last year, she likely would have missed out on the opportunity to move to Denver and do all kinds of great things for her business.  Sure, she would have had that relationship, such as it was, but, I think she would have missed out on a bigger, better opportunity for her.  That business was her life, in many ways, and, as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t help her enough with it.  And, yes, I’m glad that she made that particular choice, because it was the best choice for her.  But, it did have intangible costs associated with it.
For instance, if she’d stayed here and with me, we might have gotten married.  Granted, where I was mentally and emotionally at this time last year, that was pretty unlikely, but, still a possibility.  Or, any of a number of things could have happened here, in Houston, for her and her business, that she didn’t get to experience because moving away cost her that opportunity.

I think I missed out on an opportunity myself, recently, because I spent too much time considering it and not acting on it.  It happens.
And, then, there are all manner of lost opportunities that passed me by while I was in the hospital taking chemotherapy.
On the other hand, passing up those few, small, opportunities allowed me to continue living, which will provide a whole lot more opportunities that won’t pass me by.

Funny, when I sat down to write this, that’s not where I thought I was going.
God sure does work in mysterious ways.
I wonder what opportunities I’ll have tomorrow?

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything."
   --William Conner Magee

Just a little something for the techie manager-types.

I know I still have some tech-geeks who read this blog. I mean, I did start out, all those years ago, blogging about mainly technical stuff and some of the real die-hards have to still be reading, right? Well, I do try to keep y’all in mind and occasionally write up something that might help you get things done. Most of you fellow geeks know me as a Novell enthusiast, but I don’t limit myself to just one set of tools. There’s an old saying that when your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Well, I like to keep a bunch of tools in the old tool bag to solve all kinds of problems.

Sometimes, though, it’s not that easy to figure out which tool to use. So, when I saw these two related articles on TechRepublic about choosing the right tools, I thought I’d share. The first is a blog post that describes the D.I.C.E framework. (In short, D.I.C.E is an acronym for Difficulty, Investment, Capability and Expandability. All things to keep in mind when implementing new technology.) The second article is really a download. It’s a spreadsheet that helps you evaluate systems in relation to the D.I.C.E framework.
So, between the two, you should have a little extra help determining what technology to install and support.
And, you might even pick up a few ideas about how to present it to the boss, too!

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this; decide what you want."
   --Ben Stein

Be kind to your IT staff.

Don’t do this to them. Do not walk into their office and ask questions like “Are we having a problem with the server?” or “Is the Internet down?” Asking us questions like that result in responses like “No, the server is fine. But why don’t you tell me about your problem now?” and “No, I’m on the web right now and it’s fine. Do you have an error message?” or even “Why don’t you tell me if you’re having a problem?”

I swear by all I hold sacred, there is nothing more frustrating than having someone who really has no idea whatsoever how anything on a computer or network works wander into my office with that special stunned cattle look on their face only to ask me very specific questions about a problem they’re having. Even when I answer their question with another question in the voice I normally reserve for precocious toddlers, for the fifth time, they come and waste our collective time doing this, instead of simply describing their problem to me.

Don’t do this to your IT staff. Just tell them what the problem is. Don’t make them guess what you really want. Please.

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects."
   --Arnold Glasgow

As I mentioned the other day, my doctor wants to do one more biopsy.

Well, I finally got scheduled for the needle biopsy last night.
I go in on Monday for the pre-flight check.  That’ll be just an “interview” with the doctor to prepare me for the actual event on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, I have to be there at 7:00AM, ready to get poked.  If the procedure proceeds as it did back in March, I’ll have what little dignity I have left stripped away with one of those flattering, open-backed gowns and spend several hours waiting around for the doctor.  The procedure itself should take about an hour or two, to line up their shot and stick the enormous needle into my chest for a teeny, tiny sample of cells.  At least this time, I know what they’re up to when they tell me not to touch the needle and that they’ll be “right back”!  I’m sure it will take most of the day and, because they’re giving me anesthetic, they’d like me to have a ride.  Personally, I’m more worried about driving home and having my lung collapse, but the end result is the same.

I have to admit, as much as I’ve enjoyed writing up these little updates for you all, I’ll be glad when I don’t have quite so much excitement in my life that they’re necessary.  Though, I have to admit, having my eyebrows growing back has gotten quite exciting.  When someone tells you that it’s the little things that matter, I bet you never thought they meant having eyebrows!

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"There is no try. Do or do not."
   --Yoda

One way to support Linux.

Okay, now, considering my personal debt structure and how deeply I’m into the credit card companies, I normally stay away from anything that smacks of a reccomendation of a credit card. But, this one is a little different. It’s a rewards card, but not the normal kind. This card pays money to the Linux Fund, which supports several Linux and Linux-related projects. So, basically, when you spend money on this card, it helps some of your favorite geek projects. If you dig Linux, it’s at least worth taking a closer look.

But, do yourself a favor, try to pay it off every month and stay out of debt.

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"The Constitution of America only guarantees pursuit of happiness; you have to catch up with it yourself."
   --Gill Robb Wilson

I woke up this morning spooning my dog.

Let that soak in for a minute…
Spooning.  My.  Dog.

Now, while there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with this, I still found it a little disturbing.  Perhaps more so because I had a dream about getting two flat tires with my ex-wife in the car and her remaining perfectly calm the whole time.  Obviously, it was a dream, because that would never have happened in life.  Trust me.

In any case, I am sure that this is a sign I need to get out more, eyebrows or not, if only to meet more people that I’d feel safe dating.  Right now, my best prospects are a Federal parole officer, a friend’s ex, and a reformed lesbian.  Actually, I’m just kidding about one of those, but I’ll let you all guess which one.  So, I think I need some updated pictures for the on-line dating sites I’m still a member of and, well, to start getting out more.

Pray for me.

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Failure doesn't mean you are a failure... it just means you haven't succeeded yet."
   --Robert Schuller

Now that my eyebrows are growing back, I’ve been thinking about getting back into shape.

The first thing I need to do is to stop eating like I’m still on chemotherapy!  It’s not that I’m fat, mind, but my six-pack is very well insulated!
In any case, I figured I might add some things to my regular workout routine, when I start that again, that would help me burn the fat around my gut. In pursuit of that, I found an article on MensHealth.com called “15-Minute Work Out – Lean Routine”.
Now, if I can just convince myself it’s worth getting up that extra fifteen minutes…

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."
   --Lady Dorothy Nevill

So, yesterday, a pair of recently married friends were asking me about my dating plans.

Well, I hadn’t thought about that much, really.  I mean, I’ve been pretty focused on just getting through my cancer treatments.  And, now, I’d really rather wait until I have hair again.  Or, at least, until my eyebrows grow back in all the way.
But, for those of you who are actively dating, here are a couple things to think about…  First, tips for dating a co-worker, beyond “Don’t”, of course.
Second, there’s tips that men want women to know. And, yes, we do, please read it.
Thirdly, if you get far enough, guys, here are some tips about sex women wish men knew.

And, yes, when I eventually start dating again, I’ll probably post about it here.

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"You may give out, but never give up."
   --Mary Crowley