Archive for May, 2007
Have I ever told you about my redneck neighbors? I know more about them than I should, because the man who built the house they live in (next door to mine) is now a friend of the family due to his daughter being in class with one of mine.
Apparently, some eight or nine years ago, my friend moved out of the house he built next door to here (several years prior to our house being built) and moved farther out into the woods. The family he sold the house to was moving out of the trailer park, into their first purchased home, due to a settlement.
Apparently nobody told them what happens when you buy a house (you’re on your own), and for a couple of years afterwards, they were calling my friend and informing him of things that didn’t work. Of course, my friend politely informed them that it’s their problem now, they are homeowners.
The man of the house worked for the park service, and apparently somehow appropriated one of those charcoal grills that’s usually planted in public parks, and planted it in his back yard. It’s still there. They used it just yesterday.
Sometimes they have little get-togethers, and bring a recliner out into the front yard to hang out. I guess they’re too tired or fucked up to deal with it at the end of the night, because we wake up in the morning and it’s still out there, surrounded by empty beer bottles.
They have a pool, but it’s on its second year of being filled with green water. I might have to call the health department, it’s a mosquito breeding ground.
I’m a forward-thinking guy, generally. So when I got this new PC at work, and then Dell offered a nearly-free Vista upgrade for it, I said, sure, why not. It’s either now or later, right?
So I backed up my shiznit, and did the upgrade. I was amazed and how stinking long the upgrade took. Like four hours or so.
First Vista reboot, and everything’s just peachy! Most of my stuff works, except Symantec needed an upgrade and Itunes needed a minor fix.
Next reboot, my PROFILE IS GONE. Not just hidden in the super secret hidden profile folders you hear about in smoky bars late at night. IT’S GONE. And so are ALL my documents, all my nudie pics, and all my goatse pron. No problem, I have a backup, but why????
It took me a week to find the culprit, and only because Bill’s Space was brave enough to expose it (or, like me, stupid enough to experience it).
Apparently, when my domain account was created, my super-friendly (or super-lazy) domain admin added me to all groups (because I should have access to everything, of course. I can understand his thinking. After all, I <strong>am all that</strong>.
And apparently, when you login to a domain with a Vista client? It checks what groups you’re in. If you happen to be in the GUEST group, <strong>no matter if you’re in the Administrators group as well</strong>, Vista issues you a temporary profile. No warning, no backup. And when you log out, Vista promptly, cleanly WIPES it.
I can’t tell how many people have been bitten by this yet, because I am convinced that Microsoft and Google are in cahoots on this one, to keep it hush-hush. Maybe they made a devil’s pact with Legato, and this is all a giant trick to convince people they need good backups. Anyhow, to test my theory, I am blogging about it here.
MICROSOFT IS EVIL. BILL GATES IS THE DEVIL. VISTA SUCKS. Although it’s REALLY PRETTY. If this helps even ONE person, please let me know.
I thought being home while the kids were in school would be a piece of cake. Get them up, fix them breakfast, get them cleaned up, dressed, and out the door. Relax for a number of hours. Receive them, feed them, check on the homework, give them some play time, and then off to bed. Sounds simple, but jeez.
But hey, I did plant the six heirloom tomato plants today, including digging a new “raised” bed for them. And I got some “work” work done. And worked on several sites in the Empire.
Tony’s funeral service is tomorrow. Last funeral I went to was Judy’s, I believe.
Massive heart attack. http://www.tonydouglasjohnson.com for condolences.
Life begins – we spent all day saturday digging around the lilac bush and the butterfly bush we planted last weekend, and planted a dozen Siberian Irises, six each in a semi-circle around each bush. A pink rose bloomed on the other side of the house, Sophie says it smells like Froot Loops. I had to fix one of the wheels on the wheelbarrow, it had come off the rim.
We spent today at John & Amy’s. He recharged my air conditioner, the kids played with bunnies and chickens and hamsters and lovebirds, and jumped on the trampoline. We built a bonfire and roasted marshmallows.
Life ends – In the blink of an eye, Tony is gone. We got the call at John’s. We don’t yet know the cause of death.
Another portion of the dream has us attending an Oprah show and exiting the show by a huge fire ladder.
What if the afterlife is just as it is now? No answers, no authoritative guidance, just people trying to make their way, and you still have to take out the garbage so the kids won’t eat spoiled cookies?
