Everything Old is New Again

A very good friend of mine inspired me to read back through this blog today, and I happened across this entry, created 3 years ago to the month. Amazing. I find myself in nearly the same position once again.

My Mom is currently in the hospital and soon to be living in an assisted-care facility, so I'm being forced to consider moving, which will entail finding a new job as well. Since I moved her in with me 3 years ago, her retirement pay has gone toward offsetting the rent here. That support is ending, as we need to divert funds to her care now. The pay I receive, while above minimum wage, is insufficient to allow me to rent another place in the ridiculously expensive city.

I hope this doesn't become a habit; every three years having to post that I'm soon to be homeless and unemployed.

These are times that try men's souls, as it were. If I were ever to doubt my atheistic conclusions, days like this provide the opportunity. How nice it would be to think that some super-being would swoop in and make everything better. How comforting it would be to dump all my problems in the cosmic lap of this being and expect him to fix them. But I'm not tempted at all. Reality may not be all that comforting or pleasant, but it is reality. I will muddle through this current situation much as I always have, depending on myself and my friends and family to find a resolution. No guarantees, no promises, no hope in mythical beings. I can only be determined and thankful for the help I get.

The Internet Crash of 2007

The Onion outdoes CNN...

Follow your dream

There are people who don’t always fit into society as smoothly as others. They are the ignored, the passed-by, the unimportant. Those are seldom attributes they assign themselves; they’re assigned by others.

But then there are those who have found the nugget of value within themselves. Paul Potts is one of those. He’s not especially attractive. He got bullied in school. He could easily have become bitter, disillusioned and withdrawn. Instead he uncovered a talent, an absolutely beautiful voice, and despite being a mobile-phone salesman, he gathered up the courage to risk humiliation by sharing his ability with the world. And the world is better off for that.

Please allow yourself to enjoy this too short video, and let it encourage you to follow your own dream.

Blogged with Flock

Computer Dominoes

A different kind of computer crash...

Weemee

Oliver kicks back

 
In two short months, Oliver has adapted to his new home admirably. He already has a favorite chair and a favorite blanket. It doesn't appear he finds KPBS mentally stimulating.

Penguin Pete's Blog - 10 Signs you've been using Firefox too long...

Penguin Pete's Blog - 10 Signs you've been using Firefox too long...
Penguin Pete offers the following 10 signs you've been using Firefox too long...

1. You sit right next to a window but you still just look at your ForecastFox icon to see what it's like outside.

2. You fumble with the TV remote for a minute before remembering that you can't open another channel in a new tab.

3. Everybody else says "Google it" now, but in addition you can also Yahoo it, Wiki it, and eBay it.

4. Your sole measure of a celebrity's popularity is whether they appear on Stumble-Upon.

5. You have to think hard to remember what a pop-up or a banner ad looks like.

6. You think Debian should have backed down on the whole Iceweasel thing.

7. Your distaste for Internet Explorer has branched into an irrational phobia of the letter 'e'.

8. You message your spouse through ChatZilla to find out what's for dinner instead of just going upstairs.

9. A web page without CSS looks naked to you.

10. Your spelling used to be terrible until version 2.0 came out.

I refuse to say how many and which of those apply to me, but it's more than one.

Blogger's Blues

I guess for some geeks, nothing could be more depressing, more disheartening, than to do everything they can think of to increase their blog's audience and interest - submitting site maps to Google, studying SEO tips, posting every 13 minutes - and then see a Google Alert for blogs return a result like the following;

First post- why blog?
ProgressiveU.org - San Mateo,CA,USA
My name is Kaylen and this is my first blog. I'm going to write about WHY I made this blog, and why I am planning on writing in it each day. ...

It makes me just want to slash my wrists.

Well, not me...I meant the hypothetical blogger I mentioned above.

Blogging for bloggers

I've been reading a lot of comments from internet pundits lately predicting that 2007 will be the year that blogging will reach its zenith in popularity.

The blogging phenomenon is set to peak in 2007, according to technology predictions by analysts Gartner.
The analysts said that during the middle of next year the number of blogs will level out at about 100 million.
The firm has said that 200 million people have already stopped writing their blogs.

BBC News

Since I'm notoriously oblivious to most trends, I'm choosing to ignore this one as well. While I might agree that the number of quality personal blogs may level off or even decrease in the near future, I think we're going to see an increase in the number of companies that embrace the blogging ethic to create a relationship with their customers and the public at large.

To help empower bloggers, I'm creating a forum for both personal and professional bloggers that will offer resources and support. Check it out and join up. Share your knowledge and pick up some hints, learn more about customizing your site and how to provide quality content. Any type of blogger using any platform/software is welcome. Bloggers need community, too.

Bloggers-exchange.com forum. Let me know what you think.

Test results

My test post went well, as did the switch over from the old Blogger to the new Googlfied Blogger. So I guess I'm ready to resurrect this, my oldest and original blog.

I'm a huge fan of the blog concept. Blogs are the first realizations of a true world democracy. Whether that is for good or ill still isn't known. So far I perceive the positives as outweighing any negative aspects.

I don't expect that the Chinese government, perhaps even our own, would agree with my statement. But that in itself is encouraging. Governments are legitimate only as far as they pay attention to the needs of their citizens. Now, the citizens have a way to let their needs, concerns and attitudes be heard. The internet could very well be the impetus for a worldwide democratic revolution. No longer do groups of people have to suffer in silence. On the web, every voice has an equal chance of being heard.

Even yours.

This is a test

This is a test of the new Blogger system. Had this been a real post, there would have been interesting content.

Useful Dead Technologies || kuro5hin.org

Sometimes I feel like a ludite. Even though my house is full of electronic gizmos, there are times I regret not having the sturdy, dependable hardware of the 50's. So when I read what mcgrew published over at Kuor5hin,Useful Dead Technologies || kuro5hin.org, I had to chuckle. I guess I'm not the only curmudgeon around here. What's really amazing is some of the feedback he got. Whew...That's why you never have a conversation like this in a bar.

Serial blog killer

I just killed off "Weakly Whirled News" and I intend to also kill "News and Reviews" before the evening's out. I had to hesitate when it came time to hit the "Delete this blog?" button. Killing off content that sometimes took a day or two to perfect is really difficult. For a writer, it's a little like killing off a child, though the state looks much more kindly on killing a blog. But I really need to limit my blogging to just the two that I originally wanted to have, so the dross needed to be culled. Hmmm, maybe I'm a serial culler...

That's so gay

With my deepest apologies to James Taylor...

Sometimes my brain likes to modify song lyrics and find new meanings in older tunes. So here's my nomination for the Queer Nation anthem:

"Shower with the ones you'd love to love,
Show them the way that you feel.
Everything's gonna be much better
if you only will..."

OK, I promise to behave for a day or two.

San Diego gets weather

COX.net for San Diego - Local: "(San Diego, CA) -- For the second-consecutive day, heavy rains and gusty winds caused blackouts throughout San Diego County. SDG&E officials say most of the outages occurred between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., leaving a total of about 82 thousand homes and businesses without electricity. Hardest hit were Logan Heights, City Heights, Encanto and the College areas. The public is being urged to stay away from downed power lines. Crews are working as quickly as possible to restore service. For an update on outages in your area, visit www.sdge.com.
"
See, we do occasionally get real weather. Rain, winds, darkness...we'll be talking about this week for the next six months. Any weather outside the usual 50-70 degrees, light winds, sunny makes the news for ages afterwards. Of course our inches of water pales in comparison to the tsunami-affected areas of the world. Tidal waves are things of our nightmares. Living along the coast as we do, it's a frequent worry, and always a possibility. Even here I understand we had 8 foot waves as a result of that earthquake. Amazing.

Blog about a blog about blogging

Take a few minutes and read this Shovelware entry in which Mark Dery shares his thoughts on what constitutes an interesting blog. He even wonders if the term "blog" isn't just ugly and awkward enough to qualify for improvement. I would add that the term "blog" has now become a pejorative term in the general population, spoken with more than a little smirk in the tone. It makes me apologetic when I mention my blogs. "Journal" at least has maintained a bit dignity.

I agree with much of what Mark writes. I'm more a fan of the one-voice blog, even though bOING-bOING and Fark are two of my favorites. But they don't give me a sense that I know the person behind them. I'd still rather read Doc Searls, Joi Ito, Chris Pirillo, and even Mark Dory. I still enjoy a conversation, even when it's electronic. Dave Berry's blog gives you a very general view of what qualifies as interesting to him, but that's it. Doc shows you pictures out his window, then discusses the current state of online publishing, or his recent trip to England. Always interesting, always personal.

But I haven't gotten caught up in the "newsy" blogs much. I admire those with enough time and the proper connections to be able to practice electronic journalism that's as good or better than that provided in print or on television. -I like that major news services are having to credit bloggers with having broken a few important stories, or at least providing the flame that begets the fire. And I'm not surprised or bothered by the bias expressed in their coverage. It's that personal voice thing again. But I'm more philosophical than topical, so I simply don't read that many of them. I do like Andrew Sullivan, because he'll speak forth on esoteric and often unpopular themes.

Spreading the...joy?

Not exactly, unless you enjoy the effects of influenza.

Of course I haven't helped the situation any. I sit and complain about people that come to work with a cold or the flu in an environment in which we share confined spaces and headphones and wind up infecting me...while I too am at work. My excuse is that as a new employee I don't qualify for sick pay until after 90 days. But in truth, none of us is wealthy enough to be missing work very often. So this bug is sure to be going around for a while yet.

I now believe one of the worst jobs to have with an illness that causes you to sneeze and cough constantly and clogs your sinuses completely is one that requires you to talk to people on the phone 8 hours a day. It has to qualify as a form of torture. I'll bet I took half the number of calls last night that I usually do, simply because I had to pause after each one to blow my nose and pop a coughdrop in my mouth.

And my attitude really takes a dive when I don't feel well. I'm one of those cranky sick people. It takes all my 20+ years of customer service skills to remain pleasant and upbeat on the phone. I've noticed that it's also very difficult to troubleshoot a problem when your brain is fuzzy with antihistamines. Usually I try to think in a flow-chart fashion, from easy to hard, simple to complex. Hopped up on DayQuil, my mind seems to wander all over the place. "Oh shoot, let's go back to device manager for the third time and let's check another thing I should have had you check the last two times we were there." Blah...I hate doing that to people. At least they know I'm not following a script. No one would write a script that screwy.

No, the crises ain't over

But I was getting tired of that online mid-life crises thing. It was one of those "good ideas at the time".

Instead I decided to give this blog a more general title, the name I would have given to my bar in the Bahamas had life taken me in that direction. But I never got to be another Jimmy Buffett. Hell, I never got to be another Warren Buffett. Just another cat in cyberspace.

My love for jazz is the inspiration for the Juke Joint subtitle. If I'd have been around in the 40's, I'd have had a juke joint downtown somewhere, a smokey place with live jazz and beer, conversation and marijuana. Basie and Mingus hanging out in the back room, while Peterson held the stage for a set or two. Red neon and Blue Moon.

Oh yeah...dig it

Low man with totem pole

I've had a few jobs where I was able to move from new hire to management in six months. I even worked for a company in the '70s in which I was able to go from part-timer to Vice President within a year.

But I've never before now worked for a company that on my third day of employment invited me to sit down with the head of operations and several others to discuss the future developement of the company. And this was not a "welcome to the job" type meeting. This was a true working session, with input welcome and noted and good ideas incorporated into the planning documents as we talked.

I'm amazed, and impressed. To have the #2 man in the company (actually he's the #1 man, as the company's president is a woman) asking me direct questions and listening to my responses...not just listening but noting down and including in the planning documents my suggestions...made me realize that here is a medium-sized company (perhaps 300 people at this location) that doesn't just say they value their employees, but proves it by recognizing experience within it's employee pool and taking advantage of that experience, even when it involves someone they've only known for a few days. It has certainly given me a reason to try and make this opportunity work to not just my benefit, but the company's as well. I'm always willing to offer my loyalty to a company or group that is willing to reward it by showing loyalty in return. I hope that turns out to be the case here.

Amazing, I've survived two days...

...on this job and thus far no one has died or even been seriuosly injured. I think that's pretty good considering the circumstances.
Tomorrow's only my third day on the desk, and already I've been invited to a meeting being conducted on new directions the management wants to take the company in, particularly a pay-for-call help desk setup. Well, I do have a bit of experience at that, and have a few opinions on the concept, so I guess I'll attend and see how much my 2 cents are worth in the corporate world.