journal for 2003-03-05
plumcake
I thought I’d try to get Linux running on Gloria’s computer today, and I brought home a Debian disk. I got it up and running quickly, but it’s been problematic ever since. Mostly, ever since I upgraded to a 2.4 kernel. First, I couldn’t get the NIC working—largely because PCI wasn’t recognized. Finally, I found a kernel param to fix that. Then the mouse wasn’t mousing. I did some param futzing to fix that. Now I can’t find good support for the video chipset for Xfree86. That’s kind of a deal-breaker.
Also, the NIC’s driver spits out status of the linespeed at apparently random intervals. It’s just the weird little box, I suppose. I have faith that it can be made to work nicely. Also, despite these hassles, I’m liking Debian so far.
In some ways, I agree with the “I’ve paid my dues” camp—I’ve run Slackware for years now, and I know enough about the innards to move on. Of course, it does mean finally learning Sys V style init, but I think I’ve grasped a lot of it already. It’s certainly interesting, anyway.
diet soda
Today, I begin my survey of diet sodas. I’ll eventually put together a nicer presentation, but for now you can find my first tasting (of Diet Mt Dew) already in a relatively permanent location. I think. Diet Dew was not the straight ass of which I’d been warned. Still, it wasn’t amazingly good, either. We’ll have to see how the other diets stack up.
work
Work has been busy and slow, as is often the case. I’m making a little progress on a lot of things, and it’s frustrating. I’m still directing a lot of energy toward this Sales project, which is a bit of a PITA, since I’m building hacks that, by their nature, will later need to be ripped out and rewritten. Still, I have to put the fires out.
I had a conference call with the new guy in charge of IT and ERP stuff in the UK on Monday or Tuesday, and that went well. I’m eager to show him what we’re working on, here. Good God, maybe I can get one more person (and someone of some stature) behind the drive for a second coder!
Everyone has been sick at work. Steve was out yesterday and today. Mike was sick. All of shipping and receiving has been sick. I’m trying to hide out in my office with isopropyl and soup.
home
Gloria has been feeling pretty beat lately, and we thought it’d be Just Fine to stay home from the gym today. I don’t mind a break either (man, was I ready for it!) and it’s good to not keep ourselves so worn out that we’re more likely to get sick!
We chilled out, I did some work on plumcake/debian, and we watched the Muppet Christmas Carol. It was pretty darn good. I liked the Ghost of Christmas Present and, of course, Headmaster Sam Eagle.
I thought it was funny that there was nearly no reference to Christ in the whole thing. Well, not really funny, but… typical. Of course, Dickens’ work isn’t exactly an exegesis to begin with.
Later, I got into a religious argument on IRC. I do my best to avoid them, but sometimes there’s just such asshattery that I have to argue at least a little. One of the regulars was making some kind of insinuation that The Pope was someone to be scorned; then that the general manner of most missionaries was a problem, if not the material; then that the material was the problem. Then we got into “religion good, spirituality bad.” That’s the kind of drivel that sends me into a tooth-punchin’ rage, so I STFU and went back to working on plumcake.
I also realized that I’ve got a PKD book on my shelf that I haven’t read yet! It’s like finding a ten spot in my pants pocket! I’ve got Time Out of Joint to read, now, and Our Friends From Frolix 8 comes out in reprint next week. Of course, I should also finish the Simulacra, but the similarity to the short stories from which it was derived is annoying.
Meh. I’m beat, but not sleepy. Still, I should try to sleep so that I can be daisy fresh in the morning. Whee!