Yesterday was a busy day around the house. Aside from the critically important tasks, which included researching ways to update the maps in our new used Prius’ navigation system without paying $250-$300 to the dealer for the newest update, I attacked a number of things on the honeydew list.
I planted tomatoes and peppers.
I mulched the Japanese maples in the yard.
I weeded the lilac and butterfly bushes.
I refinished the surface of the dining room table.
I put grass seed down in the front yard.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention, the next-door neighbors who were renting to own moved out. I said it from the beginning, renting to own never works. It’s always structured in an unbalanced way in favor of the landlord/seller.
Today I just kind of sat around trying to nap. Watched Fight Club, had a beer, etc.
And yes, we bought a Prius the other night. My commute is 55-60 miles, and now we’re spending a lot less in gas to get me to and fro.
So I’ve got a new job, working for a security consulting company in northern Virginia. I’m working with a bunch of really sharp guys, using a lot of great advanced technology. It’s exciting.
Meanwhile, I’m also studying for more advanced certifications, although I haven’t nailed down exactly where to take it just yet. I think I may ultimately continue down the Red Hat path for a while, aiming eventually for RHCA, which would end up costing at least $4,500 for the exams alone. I function better on self-study than on classroom curriculum, which is good, because the classes for this series would cost a total of around $19K if I took them all. The tactic I’m using is to write articles on isp-guru.com as study aids, and then study the materials myself. I find that teaching helps me to learn. So regardless of whether anyone actually reads it, if I write as if I have an audience, then I fulfill multiple purposes: (1) I help myself learn; (2) I potentially help others; and (3) in the spirit of <i>if you build it, they will come</i>, I build up one of my sites which has been monetized for advertising, and hopefully populate it with useful materials for actual studying. I started with the first three articles for studying for the RHCSS cert (Red Hat Certified Security Specialist), which are set for release over the next few days. If things work out, I may be able to consider writing a study guide for that cert.
I’ll be working on my kayak some more this weekend. The plan is to install the deckbeam and carlins. After that is complete, I will be able to turn it over and snip the wires. Then I can begin the process of sanding in preparation for glassing the hull.
I’m really happy with the weather over the past couple of days. If I can just line my commute up properly with traffic situations, I’ll be sitting pretty. Sitting in the rush hour bumper-to-bumper in the heat SUCKS on a motorcycle.
I finally got around to working on my kayak again. When I last updated here, I had completed all of the stitching, and was awaiting the “glue phase.” Then I got distracted for, idunno, a year or so. Today I went down and filleted and glassed the chines, and gave the entire interior a coat of epoxy - bow, stern and cockpit. Now it cures for 72 hours, at which point I can give it a second coat of epoxy and then move on to the next phase… whatever that is.
Right now, despite a half hour of scrubbing an a half hour of picking, I still have a bunch of epoxy on my hands. Man, I hate epoxy. I’ll try and put up a picture tomorrow.
I had a good day today.
Section 1: 100%
Section 2: 93% on RHCT requirements, and 89% on the RHCE requirements.
RHCEPDF
But today, I RockBoxed my Ipod.
Yes, you read that right.
I got tired of the limited amount of information displayed in the Ipod screen while music is playing. I started Googling. “How can I display the year on my Ipod screen?” Well, the answer, saving you the pain of searching, is that you can’t, using Apple’s Ipod firmware. You can’t customize JACK about the Ipod using Apple’s firmware.
“So,” in the words of the great Tim Allen, “I rewired it.” Rockbox is an open-source music browser which has been ported to numerous players, including most of the Ipods. It allows for customizable themes which let you put ALL SORTS of information into what they call the WPS (While Playing Screen). Including the year. It’s kinda cool. You can also customize the background, which I started to do but haven’t completed yet.
They’re killing monks in Tibet again,
and people are blowing themselves up in Iraq again,
and the government’s about to bail out some banks again.
Meanwhile, I fixed the fence in the backyard, and made hot dogs for my girls.
Life goes on, even in times of uncertainty.
From the Daily Record UK:
A GROUP of cannibals have been locked up after they ate a friend who offered to cook them dinner.
Alexander Stepaniuk, 41, had invited four pals to his house for a meal.
But the teacher ended up on the menu after the two men and two women beat him to death with a hammer.
The cannibals, who had been drinking vodka, cut Mr Stepaniuk’s body up before barbecuing the parts.
They were arrested after worried neighbours in Chernovtsi, Ukraine, called police.
Alexander Woytseshko, 34, Dmitri Chuba, 45, Lilia Kisilitsa, 23, and Svetlana Lupan, 26, admitted murder.
The monsters told cops: “We had nothing against him personally - we just wanted to see what human meat tasted like.”
They were sentenced to between three years and life in prison.
Driving home tonight, I noticed something peculiar. The gun shop on Kings Highway near Ferry Farm, which used to be called Damage Inc., and then changed to Combat Solutions, is gone. In its place? It looks like… a flower shop.
