I am officially declaring myself in favor of a constitutional convention for California. There are too many fundamental structural flaws in the way this state’s government is set up - the ludicrous 2/3 supermajority requirement, the inane government-by-popular-vote Proposition system. The legacy architecture is broken. Let’s start over.
Neglecting Online Venues
June 10th, 2009I have been sadly neglecting this blog…and heaping even more inattention on the main diary that once was my primary means of online expression. I think the main reason is the interactivity. Facebook and LinkedIn provide actual contact with other people, while this blog and the diary are mainly one-way communications. Why sit here and wank by myself when I can go wank in public?
I will, however, post a picture of my harmonica performance at last weekend’s HDI summit in Colorado Springs…
8 Days to Cabo
May 1st, 2009A week from tomorrow we are set to depart for a week at Casa Del Mar in Cabo. The flurry over the Swine Flu has given us pause, but we are pressing ahead. Precautions are being taken:
- Anticipating that the times of highest interpersonal contact will be at the airports, we’re buying a stock of face masks which we’ll wear on the way there and on the way back.
- We’re also stocking up on antiseptic hand-cleaning gel, which we’ll repackage into containers small enough to go through security.
- We have both received and filled prescriptions for Tamiflu, to be used in the event we should start showing flu symptoms while on the trip.
I think we’ll be okay. But it still feels a bit strange to be intentionally traveling to Mexico in light of all the media buzz.
The Risk of Generic Flash
April 13th, 2009Last week at McCarran Airport on my way home from Vegas, I ran into the event that is ultimately the risk assumed by anyone who selects a tattoo from a book of flash in the tattoo parlor. I saw a young woman with the exact same tattoo I have, the Celtic band on my right arm. There was no question that this was the same ink - it even had the slight “bunching up” of the knot structure around the middle of the design. Instantly recognizable.
The conventional wisdom among tattoo enthusiasts is that one should never ever use flash directly from a book, to avoid this very event. Yes, you told me so. It took 12 years for me to encounter someone with my tattoo. Hopefully I’m done with that now…
HDI Conference Update
April 8th, 2009Tonight is the last night of the 2009 HDI Conference at Mandalay Bay in overbuilt Las Vegas. The conference is understandably a bit more subdued than it’s been in recent years, with lower numbers of attendees as well as exhibitors. However, the information being disseminated in the sessions continues to be revelatory and valuable…this truly is a great way to keep up with what’s happening in the IT Help Desk industry.
Last night I was part of a team that hosted a networking event for attendees from the “Western Region.” Attendance exceeded our furthest estimates, with almost 100 people coming in to press the flesh. I am already contemplating plans for next year’s event…
Lovely Sunday
April 5th, 2009It’s a beautiful, clear blue day here by the coast. Warm sunshine, and the slightest touch of a cool breeze off the ocean to keep things comfortable. Today I am packing for the HDI Conference in Vegas, where my already dirt-cheap room has been upgraded to a 750 square foot suite. Signs of the desperation being felt even in Vegas.
Today, Dana and I are mainly just enjoying each other’s company and having a really nice day. I’ll be gone Monday through Thursday…and the last time I traveled was for HDI last year around this time.
Successful Saturday
April 4th, 2009We are recovering from having hosted a lunch guest who stayed through dinner. As a hosting team Dana and I do quite well, but it does take a physical toll. Meanwhile, excellent leftovers.
Looking at my web logs, I have seen 8 visits in the last 72 hours from Google image searches on my Cabo 2006 web page. Yes, they’re cool images, but why are people in Houston, Maryland, Indianapolis, Fremont, Atlanta, Redondo Beach and the Phillipines suddenly interested in my vacation pictures?
New Job!
April 3rd, 2009I am DELIGHTED to say that this morning I received the phone call with the verbal offer for a new job. I have been seeking work since mid-February, which has been an understandably stressful activity considering the general economic malaise.
I hesitate to name my new employer here in the general interest of online discretion - I have been burned in the past by saying too much about the company I work for. Suffice it to say that I will be supervising a nationwide desktop support team for a health care company in Long Beach.
Shaggy Blog Story
April 3rd, 2009This is my first entry in a new Wordpress blog I just added to my web site. The intention here is to get a feel for how these things are installed, configured, maintained and used.
I have maintained an online diary since 2000. However, that diary has (aside from a brief Guestbook dalliance in 2005) never been an interactive forum. This one is different, in that as I post things people can add their comments.
I don’t go so far as to imply that I’ve got any ground-breaking perspective that compels attention from the world. It’s just a thing I can do, and so am doing.
Here’s a graphic:
Costa Mesa Sunset, December 2008