Ende

More than half the day finished here on the right coast.

I would say that 2023 has been a bit less-eve3ntful than the few before it.

Going month-by-month would be difficult.

Generally, though, the first half of the year was really unsettled; I didn’t know what was going to happen going forward.

I ended up heading to see my mother in March, as my grandfather was worried about her after a few trips to the hospital.

Message the Fantasy Football league where I finished dead last. Aaron Rodgers’s injury on the first drive of the damn season kinda iced it for me very early.

Oh well.

Work, after half the year being in doubt, has been incredibly stressful before December. I’ve checked out a bit the second-half of the month since the HR geniuses stole the equity (read: unused leave) I’d bargained for when I took the gig. Whatever.

Time to figure out what to do for the first bit of the year. Dreading the MRI results in a few weeks.

At the same time, whatever. I’ve done the things I need to do to get us in a good place.

Time to take a break?

But I’m really never going to do that as long as I can type.

This is what I do. Even if I don’t get paid. (And if you’ve been on the Intertubes as long as I have, you’d understand that a .org is for non-commercial endeavors…)

In Spite of Myself

I have a bit of work left do to pay my EBG!# protection racket. (Hint)

I hate it. Nearly every second.

But I got a few things out of it so far, I suppose. The audit tools available in modern Linux systems are kinda neat. I will think, however, that a Defense-In-Depth strategy is more effective, but I guess I get it.

I do still think it’s absolutely criminal that I have to pay hundreds of dollars for the privilege of continuing to work.

What.

Still trying to figure out how to align newer software development methodologies with Infosec procedures.

It’s worse in DoD, where often silly old guides have been grafted onto NIST standards.

I’m hungry; I should probably go eat something. All I’ve had today was a scone with my coffee.

Quitting

For All Mankind

I tried hard, but this discussion kept running through my head as I watched Ep. 1. While I was going to give it at least one episode, I just couldn’t.

The speech about Chicago 1968 finally prompted the stop.

But I could have done it before…

When Ted Kennedy cancelled his trip to Chappaquiddick to deal with the news that the Soviets had gotten there first.

Or when the controlling Navy wife was upset that her husband wasn’t going to go after drunkenly shooting his mouth off to a reporter, and the prospect of him going to Pax River or to Vietnam.

Or the fact that her name was “Karen.”

Yeah, I’m not wasting much more time.

I’m really bad at giving up on things that just aren’t working for me. See: my work history from 2013-2017.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I can’t bring myself to try on that anymore.

Maybe I’m progressing.

Twiddle Thumbs

Furiously preparing for Shmoocon. Um. I guess it’s kind of taking away from me trying to pay my protection racket that’ll let me keep working. Until my vision finally gives up the ghost.

I have until May. The goal is to basically finish this coming week.

And I’m not doing anything for the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

Except take my damned shot.

I was really worried about being late last month. I’m not sure if that was coming across in my writing.

Maybe that sort of thing gets lost in the November writing streaks.

Considering abandoning the November streaks after next year (year fifteen), but we’ll see. Really trying to commit to skipping what I’d been doing in the summer.

Had a pretty good conversation with my wife about the occupational licensing requirements that are pervading the business environment lately. Thou shalt pay union dues, and pay some group’s protection racket, even if you’re not gonna need a degree in MDDR. (It’s pretty lazy to say that every politician with whom you disagree is a Fascist while ignoring the kind Communist regimes from the last century. Many, many, many policies I see floated in Maryland would fit right in in East Germany. But we’re not going to talk about East Germany. Or Romania. Or any of the other nasty places from behind the “Iron Curtain.” Maybe I should make it a point to visit Victims of Communism Museum.)

I should make it a point to do that. I think going to the book signing, and the Liz Phair show was the sort of thing I was excited about moving up here.

We’ll see how the Shmoocon weekend goes. What do I take with me, what do I smuggle back?

Running Late

Didn’t get a Shmoocon ticket, but I think i might have a hookup.

If not, I’ll just take time, and watch online.

Still a little upset that they’re still on with the fu^H^Hmasks.

*wanders away and back*

Yeah, it looks like I’m going. Okay.

They haven’t released the schedule yet. I’m sure there’ll be something interesting.

Aside: the predictive text in the browser as I’m typing is really annoying. I miss the days when I could write my entries in EMACS.

Next week, I get to pay that IT organization’s protection racket. Something to do the week before Christmas. I do have to go in one day for work, but it’s fine.

I’m going to do a few things I enjoy.

Immediate thing is that it’ll give me a chance to write compulsively…which I’m not supposed to be doing.

Oh well.

So little motivation to do anything today.

What I do

Writing on Saturday mornings i sone of them.

Longish week, but I did make it through. Circling in on the things that I need to do for the rest of the year.

I’m tired, but think I will be able to relax some towards the end of the month.

November was really the busy month, and I did get through it.

Still listening to too much Exile In Guyville. I don’t think I actually had that on CD back in the day. I did have Whip Smart, and Whitechocolatespacegg, the latter of which got significant listens going back to and from Carlisle to visit the Form(er)skins training camp in about 2002.

I had one of my vivid disturbing dreams about the vehicle I drove back then. The dream was probably sparked by something I was dealing with health-wise.

I was angry about how I was being treated. Or not, depending on how you look at it.

I revert to my default position of just removing myself the situation, completely. You Can Leave.

It’s probably not healthy, but it’s how I operate. Along with randomly writing things that few people will read.

Sort of getting back into the podcast queue.

So many meetings.

Ugh.


EDIT

I forgot to link the story I saw coming on early today.

It’s about Lake Meade. Shortened version, so you don’t have to try to read that absolutely awful article — it’s not completely barren, as we’d expected, but CLIMATE CHANGE scary, and you should be really, really, seriously, truly worried about it.

You say that when your previous proclamations were incorrect.

Admit You’re Wrong/Oh, no, not yet

So you missed on something. Okay, and?

I guess any self-reflection is a sign of weakness.

.

Okay, then.

Step Away Saturday

I barely worked yesterday, and didn’t succumb to the temptation to do so.

I didn’t completely avoid work, even though I “took the day” off.

What’s an hourlong meeting, really?

Rumors on the Internets that I nodded off towards the end of it are untrue. I did manage to close the close out the app; I couldn’t be that far out of it, right?

Oh well. I’m engaged, even when I’m not supposed to be.

But the extra sleep helped me out.

I should spend time rearranging things here in my office space, but I’m really not finding the motivation to do that.

Thursday night, I watched both the football game, and debate between Newsome, and Ronnie De.

Whoever lost proved my hypothesis — you give up forty points, serve up the Fortyburger, you lose. I still haven’t seen it disproven. Yes, there’s been instances where teams have come back, sent the game to overtime, etc., but I’ve yet to see one come back and win. You serve up the fortyburger, you lose.

Then the debate. Newsome said, maybe in his opening remarks, even, that he and Ronnie De were going to be their parties’ nominees. Agreed.

But I was watching, really, with my own weird political confirmations. With the utter destruction of the Libertarians Party, I’m kind of to the point of where I am really only concerned about voting against someone I don’t like.

But that’s where I am.

It opens me up to live pretty much anywhere. Whatever. I’m going to vote against the worst candidate only in situations where my vote might make a little bit of a difference.

Hm.

Little dog needs to go outside, I think, but I’m going to do my late charitable donation first.