Bleah.

For me, it's going to be another quiet, dull, mostly solitary holiday.  Which is normal, really...

Rule #1:  Never go to Wal-Mart on the day before Christmas.  The place is an insane asylum at the moment.  But when you need to get some groceries, it's about the cheapest place to go.  Fortunately, I didn't need much, found an express lane with just one person in line, and was out in minutes.

Rule #2:  Never go anywhere on the day before Christmas.

Ah well...

Well, Ida is finally here.  More or less, the rains got ripped from the storm (as expected) and left the winds behind, which are now arriving outside.  With the gusts hitting 40mph, I guess that work decided to hold off calling folks back in, as I'm still waiting for word on when I'm to start working today.  The announcement said a decision would be made around 10am, which means only half a day... bleah.

Ah well, at least I get a little time this morning to relax and otherwise not have to worry so much, just watch the trees outside sway from time to time.

Well, the impossible is about to happen.  We're going to be visited by what may be still a Category 1 hurricane in two days.  The NHC just posted the watch area for me (of which the center is Pensacola) and since I'll be on the bad side of the storm... it's going to get windy and rainy and just downright nasty.

Thanks, Mother Nature for giving us a reminder that the season's still not over.

Here it is, November 7th, and I'm staring a tropical system in the eye now.  According to the latest, the storm is forecast to get within 120 miles of me, but I expect that will change later on this evening.  Just what we needed, a tropical storm.  In November.  What's next, a blizzard in December??  (I can wish!)

Ah, November has arrived.  And with its arrival some nice, serious chill in the air for now.  Which means I get to open windows and let some fresh air into the place where I live.  Anything to get the memory of summers in Florida out of my mind for a while.

In case I hadn't mentioned it, I'm back to taking classes again, this time going for my Masters degree.  The company I work for decided to cut educational benefits, but since I began classes before the cuts were enacted, I'm grandfathered in.  They did whack my stock option, however, which might not be a bad thing since the stock's been tanking hard.  I still have a hundred shares, which I'm holding onto just in case.

Las Vegas is still three months away, but I'm still keeping an eye on rates and such.  Southwest did a three-day fare sale, and I managed to get a credit with them for the next trip (they don't refund on non-refundable fares, naturally, but they do give you a year to use what you paid for.)  And I'm still expecting the hotel rates where we're staying to drop a little more, but they're easier to work with.

I should write more here, but to be honest I rarely have anything to talk about.

As you all know, being in IT we are expected to have many roles. But there are days like today when the roles we have to play are more suited to a carnival side show than IT. For example, you have to be Mr. Amazing, the weight lifter (hauling 20+ Dell PW5400 systems and monitors from one building to another).  Then you need to be Abu, the Rubber Boy (wrigging about between boxes and junk to get all the cables connected). Not to mention The Amazing Whodini (make magic happen with their network connection) and Ms. Mystero, the psychic (read my mind and know where I want the stuff). And don't forget the Human Target (avoiding the knives in their eyes when things aren't to their satisfaction) and the Fire Eater (as you're forced to swallow the flaming emails that their management sends out to your management). And to wrap it up, you're the Elephant Man (as everyone treats you with scorn and disdain).

As of yesterday, I officially turned off my Windows XP x64 partition and reformatted my drive.  After nearly four years of good, reliable service, I decided to move up and completely work under Windows 7 64-bit.  What is so sad is that this OS, which very few knew about, was one of the few times that Microsoft released an OS that actually worked without issue or problems.  It was rock solid, never gave me any grief, came up quickly, was as reliable as any product from Microsoft could be (and we all know how reliable their stuff tends to be), and was a good package.

But all good things do have to come to an end, and thus it was time to move to something new.  Despite the quirks and annoyances that Windows 7 has, the core part of the OS is as stable as x64 was, the behavior is quick and reliable enough to meet my needs, and it's working reliably enough in my mind that it's time to migrate.

So this morning, it's loading applications and software, and getting things settled.

... or at least one week of it.


Needless to say, getting away for a few days from the cow-orkers, the lusers and the idiots that make up manglement was needed.  I hadn't taken a week off since January, and needed to go somewhere.  That somewhere turned out to be New Orleans for a few days, then Biloxi.

Why Biloxi?  Two reasons... one, the Beau Rivage was offering me two nights free stay at the hotel.  The only caveat was that I had to participate in the Gulf Coast Classic poker tournament.  But that was ok, I found the one game I was interested in playing, namely a fixed limit Omaha Hi/Lo.  This meant I could play a while and get used to playing in a real tourney before getting knocked out.

So I went to New Orleans on Saturday (the 4th) and spent some time with mshollie for a while.   It was a fun time, and Tuesday we went to the bus station and caught the bus to Biloxi.  By noon we were in Biloxi and soon settled into the hotel room.  It was on the 5th floor, overlooking both the pool and the Gulf of Mexico, a much better view than the land views (signs of Katrina damage still visible in the buildings nearby.)  And at 4pm I started playing in the tourney.

I like Omaha Hi/Lo, but this was a lot more challenging than online.  My stack grew, shrank, and grew again just before the dinner break.  Dinner was provided for free and I snagged one for Aki, so we both enjoyed a free meal.  Then back to the game... and I finally was knocked out around 11:30pm.  I don't know exactly where I went to the rail, only it was around 50th out of 122 players.  And to give you some idea of how difficult the table was, two of the nine players made the final table from where I was seated, giving you an idea of the competition I was dealing with.

Wednesday was going to be a lazy day, and it was.  We wandered over to the Katrina Memorial that was erected across from the Hard Rock, then had dinner there.  Once again, the meals were free, this time courtesy of my comps I had at the Hard Rock.  While at the Hard Rock, I decided to try one of their weekly blackjack tourneys, and actually made it into the semi-finals before crashing out courtesy of some really lousy hands (can't get 20 every time...)  Afterwards, I went back to the room, and we slept for a while...

... meanwhile at around 7ish, the power went out momentarily at the Beau Rivage.  It came back, went out again, and when it came back online, the casino's computer system wasn't.  The bounces and surges apparently took out the servers, and down went a lot of systems in the casino itself.  And under gaming regulations, the casino was closed.  They had hoped to get back up around 10pm... then 1am... then they made an announcement on the intercom system in the hotel at 1:30am, waking us up.  *snerk*  They could have kept that information to themselves, as it was 5am before they were given the ok to get back in operation.

Such fun... had to get Aki to the bus station by 5:30am to get her bus to New Orleans at 6, then I had 5 hours to kill at the Beau before leaving for home.  Just for grins I checked my comps at the Beau... and found out I had meals galore available.  So breakfast was free... it'll work.

So back home to schoolwork and real work... bleah.  But it was fun... and enjoyable.

Otherwise known as Windows Vista, Second Edition.

Ok, I've got the software installed, the Windows 7 Ultimate 64 RTM.  And there are things that are good about the changes, and there are things that are bad about the changes, and then there are things that absolutely anger and infuriate me about the changes.

The good:  Yes, it's faster.  Good gods, it's much faster than Vista ever could hope to be, and much better in handling resources.  On my system, with 8gb of memory, things tend to fly very well.  Just as fast as Windows XP x64 flies, which is saying a lot.  File copying is much better than the debacle that Vista foisted on the public.  And things are a little less obtrusive (the UAC isn't as annoying as before).

The bad:  The UAC is still annoying enough.  You'd think that Microsoft could have developed something a little more unobtrusive, but I suppose they couldn't steal anything from Linux or Mac OS X.  (Then again, having dealt with Linux, it can be just as annoying as UAC, but just give it the sudo password and it won't bother you again.  UNLIKE Microsoft, which seems to want to bother you anyway.)  The default screens for like My Computer are still all wrong (I want details, not a bunch of icons) and they now use this stickybar idea for programs on the task bar.  You know what, Microsoft, I LIKE a clean taskbar, with things in Quick Launch (which you so conveniently REMOVED and I have to reinstall.)

The anger:  Microsoft, I love Aero.  It's nice, it's clean, it's good enough for a window manager.  But did you have to completely remove and disable the ability to turn off the damned popup screens when your mouse goes over a window box in the task bar?  You at least gave users the ability to turn it off in Vista, but in Windows 7 you've ripped out the ability to turn it off.  I want the damned thing OFF!!!  I don't want a mini screen of the window popping up when I move my mouse, I want it rid of!  Oh, and your desktop background slideshow function keeps failing after an hour or so, turning the background completely black and forcing a reboot.  Is this normal behavior or are you out to test how annoyed users can get?

I'll probably stick with Vista SE for a while, but not for anything critical.  Not until Microsoft fixes some of these issues, or I can find a way to disable the "functionality" and "user experience" Microsoft seems to think users want.

Well, Mother Nature sure loves to throw curveballs.  Remember yesterday I mentioned the two storms in the Atlantic?  Well, she decided that she wanted one right off the coast of Florida, so now there's TS Claudette.  Which is projected to make landfall somewhere close to me.  Whee!!

What fun!!

NOT!!!

Yes, Mother Nature has ignored both the National Hurricane Center and Dr. Gray's forecasts, and has given us not one storm, but two... Ana and Bill.  Already Ana is on a track that looks like it'll come up into the Gulf in 5 days, but Bill... Bill I suspect is going to ignore the models and the forecast track, and come up this way as well.  And of the two, Bill looks like it'll be the nastier of the two.

Ah, summertime along the Gulp! Coast...

Living in Fort Walton Beach isn't bad, but when you don't own a car transportation can be a problem.  Flying out of the airport can be not only frustrating but expensive, and the only other alternative is Greyhound if you're on a limited budget.  But to give you some idea of how idiotic and stupid Greyhound can be, let's look at this example:

I'm planning a trip to visit Aki in early September.  At the same time, I'm planning to take her during the visit to Biloxi for two nights at the Beau Rivage (free lodging... can't beat that.)  So I call up Greyhound on how to schedule a multi-segment trip.

"Oh we don't do that."

"What do you mean you don't do that, I'm asking for a round-trip ticket with a layover of two days in Biloxi."

So I look at what the cost would me.  This is what I found out on a 21-day advance purchase:

Round trip Fort Walton to New Orleans - $67.00
One way Fort Walton to New Orleans - $33.50
One way New Orleans to Biloxi - $12.00
One way Biloxi to Fort Walton - $19.00
Total for three tickets - $64.50

That's right, folks, it's cheaper to buy three tickets instead of one.  I still end up with essentially a round-trip ticket, but Greyhound's reps can't understand that fact.

And they wonder why they're not making money.

To a certain extent, it's hard to believe I've made it this far.

After all, when I was born, Eisenhower was still in office.  The Space Race had just started.  There were only three networks, CBS, NBC and ABC.  Phones were rotary dials.  Flying wasn't the common way of getting there, nor was the car, but the train.  Cameras still used film.  Your radio only picked up AM, maybe shortwave.  Televisions were in black and white.  Movies were the big events for the entire family.  Air conditioning was a rarity at home, maybe a single window unit in the living room.  Rock and roll was still in the early days, the Beatles weren't even a thought.  Cuba wasn't under Castro.  The Soviet Union was the big threat.  Vietnam was just a place in Asia we weren't involved in much.  Calling long distance meant calling the operator first.  Pen pals meant writing a letter, putting a stamp on it and dropping it in a mail box.  In school, you had Future Farmers of America and Future Homemakers of America.

There's more, I'm sure...

@WHEE!

... it's been three hours since the astronauts landed on the moon.

Gods, those were the days.  Glued to the television, just waiting for those first images.  Didn't care that it went past midnight, didn't care that I didn't sleep that night, I was going to watch that moonwalk.

I was almost 10.

Where's my moonbase?

Well, I rarely take a vacation away from work, except for the yearly excursions to Las Vegas with mshollie in January.  But given that I'm nearing my max number of hours I can keep on the books, I've been thinking of taking a few days off for once.

And curiously enough, the Beau Rivage in Biloxi might just help there.  They're holding a blackjack tournament in mid August, and it comes with a three-night complimentary stay at the hotel.  So I'm in talks with Aki about us meeting in Biloxi and enjoying three nights there.  And at the same time, I can try to win the tourney... the grand prize is $25,000 (half in cash, half in table chips).  Not bad for two nights worth of work... *chuckle*

Possibilities abound...

Yes, today is the first day of summer.  And Mother Nature is making it one to remember here, with record-setting temps and heat index readings approaching 110F.

Summer is fine for youngsters and those used to these temperatures.  But for me, it's misery city.  I lost off of my resistance to the heat over the years, and feel much more comfortable in cooler climates.   But it's where my work is, so... I deal with it as best I can.

It's still miserable...

So here's the Memorial Day weekend, a three day holiday away from work.  And what am I looking at outside my window?

Wind, grey clouds and rain.  Lots of wind, lots of clouds, and lots of rain.

It seems our little low almost, ALMOST managed to pull things together to form a tropical system.  But while it's not going to get a name or anything, it's pulling all this rain and wind up into it, and as you know, the bad part of the storms are always to the east of the center.  And where am I relative to this?

Yep.  East of the center, right were all the rainbands are rolling out of the Gulf and into Florida and Alabama.

*sigh*

As if I really wanted clear blue skies, warm temperatures and barely clad babes at the beaches.

*chuckle*

Today is May 17th, which means there's two weeks until the official start of hurricane season.  OFFICIAL start, that is.  But just to show who is in charge, Mother Nature might decide to throw out the first pitch early.

From the National Hurricane Center:

MANY OF THE GLOBAL MODELS ARE SHOWING LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING OVER THE N CENTRAL CARIBBEAN...
EITHER EXTRATROPICAL OR SUBTROPICAL...AND MOVING GENERALLY N. THE DEVELOPMENT AND TRACK OF 
THE LOW REMAIN UNCERTAIN...THOUGH COMPUTER MODELS SUGGEST THAT WINDS WILL INCREASE AROUND THE LOW.

And from the National Weather Service in Mobile:

LITTLE CHANGE TO EXTENDED PACKAGE THIS AFTERNOON AS MODELS REMAIN IN FAIRLY CONSISTENT IN
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GULF LOW PRESSURE THAT WE HAVE BEEN MENTIONING FOR THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS. 
AS MIDSHIFT SAID...THERE ARE SOME SLIGHT DIFFERENCES AMOUNGST THE MODELS...BUT ALL OF THE 
GLOBAL MODELS DO DEVELOP A SYSTEM WHICH EVENTUALLY WINDS UP IN THE NORTHEAST OR NORTH
CENTRAL GULF COASTAL REGION IN THE FRIDAY/SATURDAY TIME FRAME. WILL HAVE TO CONTINUE TO 
MONITOR THIS SITUATION. DOES NOT APPEAR THAT THIS SYSTEM...SHOULD IT DEVELOP...WILL BE 
PURELY TROPICAL BUT A GOOD RAIN AND SOME GUSTY WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE IN THE WEEK AND 
NEXT NEXT WEEKEND...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND NEAR THE COAST.

Just what we needed... thanks, Mom.

What 10-15 science fiction movies would you have in your ultimate collection?  Here's my choices...

2001: A Space Odyssey
Blade Runner
Solaris (1972 Russian)
Forbidden Planet
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 version)
A Trip to the Moon (Georges Melies, 1902)
Things to Come (1936 version)
When Worlds Collide
Fahrenheit 451
Colossus: The Forbin Project
1984 (1984 version)
Aliens (1986 sequel)
Akira
Serenity
Twelve Monkeys

Comments?  Thoughts?  Suggestions?  The floor is open for debate.

Just saw the new trailer for Disney's "The Princess and The Frog".  Which takes place in......

.....

.....New Orleans. 

You may all panic now.