Wednesday, August 30, 8:39 CDT
Weird. Can't connect directly to
Hardlink's servers, for some reason. Had
to connect from the local mail / shell server and paste the last couple of
updates into vi instead.
This is too early to be awake. Going to have to do better with my schedule next semester.
And it's off to physics...
Tuesday, August 29, 23:21 CDT
Well, I was going to get something done, but instead I wound up watching
Strange Brew. If you
haven't seen it, well, um... Let's just say it's that rare kind of stupid bad
comedy that's entertaining anyway.
Tuesday, August 29, 14:34 CDT (posted later)
Wow, I have been out of touch... I see
Debian has finally officially released
v2.2, which I've more or less been running for a while now.
LinuxPlanet has a good
review.
It also looks like they're going to be doing a
testing
distribution that'll be somewhere in between the stable (i.e., really out
of date) and unstable (i.e., as bleeding edge as the distro gets, and buggy)
trees.
I see Stephen's been updating his page again. And, it'd appear, leading a far more interesting life than I. Go figure. ;)
Did I say 20 k/sec? I've been getting 45k... This is like... Ok, I can't think of a good metaphor. But it would involve some sort of illegal narcotic.
Monday, August 28, 18:05 CDT
I'm back.
Got my computer back early this morning, after a certain amount of frustration. (Ok, maybe that's an understatement.) So I'm finally networked.
The network policy here sucks. Of course.
But hey, at least I've got a connection. And they can't ban *all* of the cool things you can do with a permanent connection. (20 k/sec transfer rates... Ahhhhhhh.)
Anyway, the past week hasn't been especially eventful. I've read a couple books, gone to classes, and that's about it.
As usual, I should be doing physics instead of this.
I had intended to write a lot here, but it can wait.
Sunday, August 20 (sometime or another)
Well, I'm officially a college student.
I am sitting in a dorm room doing nothing.
I should probably be out socializing or something.
Wait, I think I see a familiar pattern emerging here.
No network connection yet. Have to take the computer to the network services people and get a card installed. Which probably means it'll be a while before this actually gets posted.
I haven't checked my e-mail, IRCed, surfed, or fired off an ICQ message in long enought that major withdrawal symptoms should probably be setting in soon. Hands aren't shaking yet, but I keep feeling an urge to make the modem dial something, anything...
My room mate (one J. Anderson) has a copy of Mallrats. Think I'll go watch it.
"And he said to me, 'Bro, how the hell else am I supposed to get the gerbil out?'".
Saturday, August 12, 16:11 CDT
Just got off the phone with
Brent and Eric... Effective
conversation - voice is just more efficient in a lot of ways, but at the same
time I realize why I like IRC so much for this sort of thing: You don't have to
worry about *hearing* anyone with text. Or interrupting them.
Looks like I'm leaving tomorrow for a somewhat badly scheduled family reunion at Mahoney State Park (wow, is that ever a badly designed site... What sane reason is there for using 6 frames on a page and failing to provide any alternative?).
Finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo. *Excellent*.
Saw Hollow Man last night. I'll never get those hours back, but at least I didn't pay for it.
I suspect this will be my last update for a while. Could be wrong, but if not I'll probably be in a dorm room (Morey hall, for anyone else who's going to WSC) and on a network by the time I get around to doing anything with this page again.
Thursday, August 10, 16:40 CDT
Got home about an hour ago, I think. It's been a mostly uneventful week. Spent
the last couple of days alternating between talking to relatives, reading, and
eating. Yesterday I walked around a creek with my little sister. We almost
caught a monster frog that was blind in one eye.
It was hot. 100+ degrees every day.
I read Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follet (Folett? something). Thick historical novel set in the middle ages, with monks and cathedrals and wars and stuff. One of those books that frustrated me most of the time I was reading it, but I decided I liked it when it was over.
I'm about half way through The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas is cool.
Sunday, August 6, 19:41 CDT
Random observations on animal life: There're ~13 barn swallows sitting in a row
on the power line outside the South windows of this building. I suppose some of
them must be the ones that were in the nest on our front porch. They've been
nesting there ever since we tore down the old barn and all the assorted out
buildings that used to be the other half of this property...
Funny little birds, barn swallows.
After reading this, I checked out Kevin and Kell... A surprisingly good comic that's sort of hybrid furry/BBS/Internet/family humor. (Yes, that is in fact a bizarre combination. But hey, it works.)
I repeat my assertion that the 'net will be the salvation of the comic strip as a medium, even as newspapers demonstrate ever greater cluelessness about one of the coolest art forms ever created...
I'm taking off tomorrow morning with the family for Kansas. Probably be at my grandparents' house for a good part of the week. Think I'm going to take a big stack of books and make up somewhat for how little reading I've done this summer.
Probably also be good to spend some time away from anything resembling a keyboard.
And now I'm going to go look through assorted paperwork and figure out how deeply in debt I need to put myself to pay for college. Oh, this is going to be *fun*.
Saturday, August 5, 9:25 CDT
Well, the fair is over. And life returns to what passes for normal around
here, for a while. The tattered remnants of summer will limp on for a week or
two more. And wow, that's some awful metaphor mixing. This is definitely
earlier than I should be awake after reading that late...
To quote NTK, "Oh, The Man is going to *love* this."
I've been trying to stay off the computer lately, since my wrists are acting up again... Which probably means I should go do something else right now.
If updates are a little scarce around here for a while, there's my excuse. And I'd almost started a decent streak, too. Oh well. I should probably be concentrating on writing some stuff for POV anyway, if I'm going to be typing anything.
Tuesday, August 1 (posted later)
Updated my software and written
stuff pages a bit.
And now it's off once again to the excitement of the Dixon County Fair (been going on since Sunday, actually). Tractor pulls, livestock, and greasy overpriced food - just a few of the joys of participating in our multi-faceted agricultural heritage. And the thing is, I have absolutely no idea if I'm being sarcastic when I say that.
I suppose once the fair's over, I should sort of start thinking about college. However, for the moment, I think I'll pretend the summer's not about to come to a screeching halt.