Update on musician Mark Turner

Aaron Parks posted an update over the weekend about jazz musician Mark Turner’s progress in healing from his recent finger injuries:

Hi everyone,

I know many of you have been asking for more news about Mark’s condition. Out of respect for the privacy of him and his family during this difficult time, I’ve been a bit reluctant to make any more posts about it. Also, there’s a lot of people who have known him for much longer than me and would probably be better chosen for the job of keeping people informed. At this point, though, it seems that this blog has become the primary source for information about what happened, and therefore, it’s the place many people are coming to for information about ways that they can help. It’s with this in mind that I’m writing this post tonight.
Continue reading →

Asterisk project brewing?

Yesterday, I found there is definite interest in an Asterisk project I’ve been mulling for a while, related to the annoying fake caller id telemarketing calls I’ve been getting. There’s a need to be filled and I have a great solution. Its just a matter of figuring out a revenue model for it.

Sometimes a break from a regular job can offer a refreshing change in perspective.

Jackpot on school reassignments

Kelly and I danced with glee when we discovered this morning that Wake County School System’s proposed reassignment will have the kids going to nearby Enloe High School rather than across town to Leesville High. Its nothing against Leesville itself, of course. Its just that the distance to travel to and from Leeesville would cut considerably into the kids’ free time.

Enloe is an award-winning high school roughly a mile away. It is ranked by Newsweek as one of the top 100 high schools in the country. And Ligon Middle School is a fantastic school as well. We’re all very excited about the proposed changes.

If all that wasn’t enough to cheer about, the reassignment webserver runs Linux! Too cool.

Aches and pains

I think an appropriate gift for my upcoming 40th birthday is a bulk supply of ibuprofen. Trying to leash-train a two-year-old Labrador is quite a workout.

Steven Sabock

I’ve watched the videos of Cherry Hospital staffers ignoring mental patient Steven Sabock for 22 hours and there’s one thing I want to know: who was this poor man? How did he wind up at the mental hospital? Did he have any family or friends? Its infuriating that the staff would treat Sabock like furniture for 22 hours, but its also sad that the only thing we know about him is that he’s the victim.

We all know how this poor man died. How did he live?
Continue reading →

Six days

I’m drooling at the idea that telemarketers will soon start paying me. That’s right, in six days our home numbers will be listed for the magical 31 days.

Says the N.C. Do Not Call page:

Q: Can I enforce my rights myself?

A: Yes. Individuals can also bring their own enforcement actions under either state law or the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. If you have received more than one telephone call by or on behalf of the same entity that is in violation of the Do Not Call law, you may go to state court to stop the entity from continuing to call you and to recover up to $500 for the first violation, $1,000 for the second, and $5,000 for the third and subsequent violations.

Now the state Do Not Call list says the number has to be listed for 3 months, while the federal page says 31 days. And the federal page doesn’t say what can be collected from the jerks.

So I suppose in actuality I’ve got two more months to wait before I can sue them for violations. At any rate, it can’t come too soon! This is a case where my Asterisk server will start paying its way around here.

Mail

Wow. I just saw the mailman actually delivering mail to us at 1 PM. Something must be wrong: the mail has always come after 6 PM at this house. I mean always.

I wonder if we finally picked up a regular letter carrier, rather than being stuck with whomever was available that day.