Today is the first day of spring. And what a beautiful day it is! We just got back from a walk around Lake Johnson Park. Now it’s lunchtime before we do some work in the yard. This evening, we’ve got dinner at the Reid’s, which is always fun.

I’d say this spring is getting off to a pretty good start!

Type “the next president of the United States” into Google and see what comes up first.

Here’s one sent in by loyal mt.net reader Mike B. Thanks, Mike!
—
Two boys in Raleigh were playing basketball when one of them was
attacked by a rabid Rottweiler. Thinking quickly, the other boy
ripped a board off a nearby fence, wedged it into the dog’s
collar and twisted it, breaking the dog’s neck.

A reporter from the News & Observer witnessed the incident and
rushed over to interview the boy. The reporter began entering
data into his laptop, beginning with the headline: “Brave Young
Heels Fan Saves Friend From Jaws Of Vicious Animal.”

“But I’m not a Heels fan,” the little hero interjected.

“Sorry,” replied the reporter. “But since we’re in North
Carolina, I just assumed you were.”

Hitting the delete key, the reporter begins again, “NC State Fan
Rescues Friend From Horrific Dog Attack.” “But I’m not a State
fan either,” the boy responds. The reporter says, “I assumed
everybody in this state was either for the Heels or the
Wolfpack. What team do you root for?”

“I’m a Duke fan,” the boy says.

Hitting the delete key, the reporter begins again, “Arrogant
Little Yankee Bastard Kills Beloved Family Pet.”

The daily grind at work has not been all that satisfying lately. I suppose the repetition has begun to wear on my the way Vann long ago said it would. I try to add a little creativity into each demo. That’s usually enough to keep my engaged. But now I’m doing some scripted presentations which take all the fun out of things. If I don’t find a way to jazz these up I believe I’ll quickly go nuts.

The road trips I’ve taken seem like the best parts now. I love the unknown territory each one presents. There’s no doubt that exploring is a big part of my personality. I value the new friendships I’ve made on each trip, as well as the skills I take from every one. If it weren’t for the extended time away from my wonderful family, I’d be happy with the traveling.

I suppose I’ll have to be more creative in how I do my job, so that I can focus on those fun things that made it so thrilling at the start. My job satisfaction is largely up to me.

I’ve created a page for some of the RPMs I build. You can find things like wx200d and gwx (for the weather station), Liferea (the Linux newsreader), and other goodies. They’re mostly for Fedora Core, but I do have some Red Hat Linux 9 RPMS to add once I get a chance.

Check ’em out on the package page. Linkage on the right of this page, too.

Whoa!!
A 100-foot asteroid will just miss the Earth Thursday night. Any time a rock comes close enough to pass between the Earth and the Moon, it’s a close call. Fortunately, this one will miss. But there’s no shortage of Doomsday Rocks flying around out there.

I’m wondering if I can get a newsfeed for the Near Earth Orbit mailing lists, or some other sort of heads-up. I’d like to know when I’m spending my last few minutes alive. 🙂

I found out about this one from Fark. Funny how when the real rock comes a-callin’, I’ll likely find out about it from Fark.

Oh no. There goes any productivity I’d hope to accomplish today. It’s the first day of the NCAA Tournament. Non-stop college basketball for days on end.

Spring really is my favorite time of year! Heh.

Yesterday, I was in the neighborhood of HAHT Software’s old building on Six Forks Road, so I decided to pop in to see who was there now. The old building sits at the Six Forks intersection of the Beltline. I drove up to the building, parked the car, and bounded up the familiar steps. A turn to the left brought me to the elevator, and I instinctively pressed 3.

The doors opened to a familiar sight: the third floor hallway. Doors were open and the lights were off, indicating the space hadn’t been rented. It seemed safe to wander through, so I did.

Minutes later, I was standing in the middle of my old office, now devoid of all furnishings. The wall where I had my bullet-riddled poster of Bill Gates was still there. I pictured my desk along the wall where it used to be.

Also walked through the other offices, still very much left untouched. In fact, there were lots of things still hanging around from the earlier HAHT days. It looked like HAHT had just moved out the past weekend, and yet its been five years since HAHT moved to the Newton Technology Center (formerly Charter Hospital) on Newton Road.

Kind of bizarre finding a five-year-old time capsule of your former work life, but interesting, too.

From the Interesting People list. The BBC’s Channel Four is running ads which would be immediately banned by the FCC. Numerous celebrities are asked their favorite swear words and speak them on camera.

They’re just words, but it highlights the difference between America, which supposedly values freedom of speech, and countries that actually do value free speech.

A local copy of the Shockwave Flash clip is here. The original link is here.

Warning: Not Safe For Work! Without headphones, at least.
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