It seems to have been the day of phone calls.

First, there was the almost unintelligible call from what appears to be an Indian outsourcing company which is looking to put someone in a position in a city about an hour or so from here.

Normally, I don’t have a problem dealing with accents. I’ve known a lot of people from all over the world, so accents are really just par for the course for me. The problem with this one was the fact that it sounded like it went from an actual phone somewhere to a VoIP server, became packets that were flung across the internet via various combinations of physical lines and satellite, hit another VoIP server, were translated back into an actual phone transmission and then ended up at my handset.

That makes things a bit harder to understand.

The other call was from a recruiter in Pitt calling about an opening in Cleveland. Unfortunately it was a senior position and I’m not a senior person. On the upside, they sounded like they were interested in me for other possible positions, so they are supposed to be calling back tomorrow in order to get to know me better. This kind of behavior is kind of strange for a lot of “recruiters” because they tend to just throw resumes at a position and hope one sticks. I take this as a positive sign about these people.

Sometime next week, I should be having lunch with a local businessperson who runs a tech company here in town. I saw a strange posting on a job board for them so I decided to drop them a line and ask about the unusual requirements and introduce myself. On a personal/tech level, we seem to have hit things off since we seem to have some things in common.

Don’t look at me like that. It’s purely professional. Besides, it will be nice to have someone to talk to in this town considering the fact that I know almost nobody here.

Current mood: tired
Current music: INXS & Jimmy Barnes – Good Times

Well, my least favorite task is done for the year.

The cat has had his vet visit. Vet visits are never fun. There’s whining, biting, dirty looks and the cat doesn’t take it well either.

It’s hard to get him into the carrier at the house. It’s hard to get him out of the carrier at the vet’s – the carrier quite often has to be taken apart. It’s very easy to get him back into the carrier, and you’re lucky if the carrier has a door left on it when we get into the house.

This year wasn’t so bad though. These vets actually listened and left the handling of the furry demon up to me (he’s part wildcat – probably bobcat, and I am about the only person he won’t normally stick his over sized fangs into and if he does, it’s only to play or a light warning bite) after I warned them that he left his old vet in stitches a couple of times.

I thought it was amusing that the vet marveled at his teeth. She’d never seen fangs that big on a “housecat”. Hey, to me he’s a big fluffy marshmallow. To most other people on the other hand…

Standard checkup, rabies, leukemia, etc shots and his worming (this year they decided they valued their hands and gave him the shot instead of pills. That’s where he always gets revenge on the vet) and we were on our way back to the house. Once out of the carrier, he was torn between wanting to curl up next to me for comfort and snubbing me because I was the evil bastard that put him through all of the horrible tortures of the day.

Current mood: relaxed
Current music: Toad the Wet Sprocket – Hold Her Down

Keyboard came in, and for the last day I’ve been getting used to the layout as well as the shape of the keys.

Shape of the keys, you ask? Yes, this is one of the ergo boards that have parallelogram shaped keys to allow you to have a natural wrist position when you type instead of having to lay your hands at the “normal” typing angle. The frightening thing is that it really works.

It occurred to me this morning that the keyboard and mouse might not work with the linux partition on the laptop. Yes, I just realized that this morning. I was pleasantly surprised when it recognized both on boot up. Getting linux to recognize anything used to be painful when I first started using it years ago.

It really is improving. Now I just need a wireless card with linux support. Broadcom has real issues.

But, for now, I’m just sitting here, killing Spree.

Relax. I’m talking about the candy.

Fruity =]

Current mood: relaxed
Current music: none

Well, the keyboard should be here sometime tomorrow. Then I can finally get things arranged in a comfortable manner and get back down to business. It feels so nice to have a real workspace again.

I still can’t believe that I had to order something as simple as a USB keyboard. It’s no wonder there aren’t many technically oriented businesses here.

There is one other thing I want. One of these and a 200gb IDE hard drive to go with it. Anyone want to buy me one? =]

Current mood: amused
Current music: Nine Days – If I Am

Birthday was rather uneventful. Mostly time just spent out of the house. I think the most exciting thing I bought was lunch.

The next few days saw me rearranging things in this room and picking up a new desk and leather office chair. All I can say is that my wrist ached after putting together the desk. Two hours with a screwdriver was just no fun.

But now the desk and chair are together and being used. My frequently used books are sitting next to me, I have space to work and have a reference book open next to me, and a much more comfortable place to sit.

I love my chair. I know it sounds silly, but I’d forgotten how nice it is to have a good office chair. =]

Now I just want to get a USB keyboard so I can have things in a more natural layout. It’s sad when you have to order something that simple online, but there is no place here in town that has one I want.

Current mood: tired
Current music: Living Things – Bom Bom Bom

It’s my birthday.

I really need to get out of the house and spend some time alone so I probably won’t be here all day. If you need me, call the cell.

Let’s hope this year’s is better than the last.

I love Penn and Teller. When I was a kid, it wasn’t the David Copperfields or Houdinis of the world that got me interested in sleight or hand, stage magic, etc, it was Penn and Teller.

Why? Because they were smartasses about it, had fun with it, and weren’t afraid to show you how they did it. With them, it wasn’t some big mystery. In fact, I remember seeing them do tricks again after the initial presentation using clear props and showing you just how bizarre the whole thing really was.

Their personalities just really clicked with me.

What does this have to do with anything? A book I ordered came in today.

I’ve wanted this book since I first heard about it as a kid when it came out back in 1992. It’s out of print now, so about the only way you’ll find it is on the used marketplace on Amazon (or ebay, etc). I finally got around to getting a copy and have been giggling evilly ever since.

What book? “Penn and Teller’s How to Play with your Food”

Yes, you can run in fear now. The people who know me fairly well already know that I enjoy cooking. Put this together with my prank loving side and the world should be afraid.

For those of you who know me in person and think I seem too uptight to enjoy a good prank (either playing it on others or having it played on me), you really don’t know me as well as you seem to think.

Let’s just say that I’m going to make their special heart shaped Jell-o. The difference is that I have a *real* heart shaped mold *wicked grin*

I have one shaped like an anatomically correct brain too =]

Current mood: amused
Current music: Eve6 - Bang

I think I have just seen the absolute worst statement from an open source fanatic (not all people who use open source licenses are fanatics – I know I’m not).

"Frankly, your arrogant pragmatism nauseates me."

I don’t know what to say to that. Gee, I guess I’ll just stop actually doing anything and simply pontificate on how the world should be. Sorry, folks, but we pragmatists are the ones who actually get things done.

Could have something to do with the fact that we’re…what’s the word I’m looking for? Pragmatic. Yes, that’s it. We get things done because we’re pragmatic.

Good grief.

Current mood: amused
Current music: Clash – Rock the Casbah