June 21, 2004

There were 6 posts published on June 21, 2004 (this is page 1 of 1).

Bellsouth Is 0 for 4

Unbelieveably, Bellsouth managed to screw up my phone order one more time. I was promised that as of 6 PM today, a message would play on my old number directing callers to my new number.

A call was placed at 6:01 PM and then twenty minutes later. No joy.

I can’t begin to express how mad I am at Bellsouth right now. The old number is on all the resumes I sent out. What if someone calls with a job offer and can’t find me? What if I miss out on a job?

I decided yesterday that Bellsouth just doesn’t deserve my business anymore. I’m shopping around for a VoIP provider which:

a) serves this area with local numbers, and
b) offers Local Number Portability, because I want to be able to take my number with me if their service sucks, too.

I don’t know how Bellsouth went so fast from earning my admiration to earning my scorn. It’s truly unbelievable. If there’s ever been a time to cut the landline, this surely is it.

This Is What I Call A Neighborhood

We blew off cleaning the old house tonight (got too late) in favor of taking a walk around the neighborhood. Met my friend Mandy’s sister-in-law, Candace, who was out walking her dog. We chatted for a bit before continuing on to the Path.

The Path is the neighborhood path that leads into Durant Park. We wheeled Hallie down the path and were pleased to find ourselves in the middle of Durant Park. Kelly and I laughed and hugged the whole way down the path, both of us thrilled to be within walking distance of such wonderful woods.

I remember taking Kelly mountain biking through Durant Park early on in her Raleigh days. As we rode past overhanging flowers and open ampitheatres, I remember thinking what a great place it would be to have our wedding. The magic of the park stayed with me and still holds me in its spell.

People say we lucked out in happening upon this house, and upon this neighborhood. The truth is, it felt like home six years ago.

Asterisk class notes posted

I put up my class materials from the Asterisk talk I did for TriLUG on June 12th. I’m still working on the audio portion, but it’s forthcoming.

I took video, but it mostly features me walking out of the frame. And the few times I’m on camera, my balding head washes everything else out. So audio-only seems to be the way to go. 🙂

SpaceShipOne Makes History With First Private Flight To Space!

Scaled Composites, the commercial venture of Burt Rutan and Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen, successfully reached space this morning during a test flight of its SpaceShipOne vehicle. The pilot, Michael Melvill, becomes the first astronaut to earn his wings on a privately-funded flight to the 62.5 mile boundary of space.

Allen spent a mere $20 million on Rutan’s company, which is most certainly chump-change by NASA’s standards (and by Allen’s. Heh). It costs upwards of $500 million to get the shuttle off the ground: each time! I hope this flight sends NASA back to the drawing boards. A little competition in space flight can go a long way towards lowering costs.

No word yet on when Rutan’s team will make a try at the X-Prize. The $10 million prize will be awarded to the first company or individual who sends three people into space and does it again in less than two weeks using the same vehicle.

My money’s on Burt!