Missing Rudies

[Eva]

Haven't 'seen' Des for a while. And Andrea...
How are you girls 'n guys?

Eva

[sister rose]

I've been wondering about PK and Fursky........:confused:

[GodSistah]

I'm still here! ;)

And ready for the SF show! Yippie!

I have been on-call forever though because the other Animal Control Officer here where I work is injured. So I am very popular in my city right now! 1 Animal Control Officer to 100, 000+ citizens and all their animals! :o

Still checking in though! Thanks for asking!

~Andrea :)

[Eva]

I bet you are happy that Janis is coming to California, Andrea! :)

Eva

[GodSistah]

ECSTATIC!

Sorry, no yelling, lol. ;)

~Andrea~

[Gandalf]

...by a wizard more evil than I am. Let's see...

My time is seriously limited.

I started a new job back on May 22nd. I am the senior UNIX administrator for 180+ and still growing boxes, mostly AIX (Yaay!) and Solaris {shrug} with some HPUX and Linux thrown in. Those are just my boxes. We've got lots more.

I'm seriously loving this job. I contracted for this palce for a year, and did EVERYthing until I made myself so indespensible that they decided that they needed me. I recommend this technique.

I'd been out of work for a year before that and times got a wee bit strained. I don't recommend unemployment.

But now I'm working for a huge HMO. We have saved them millions of dollars by taking them off IBM mainframes and putting them on UNIX boxes. Will they pass these savings on to you, the consumer? No comment.

Are they getting performance equal to or better than the mainframes? You betcha. Plus, my work is audited by outsiders for secuity, HIPPA, and SOX compliance.

On the plus side I have absolutely great co-workers, including some real wizards who are my juniors, though we tend not to wear the pointy hats in the office.

The facility I work at has a store, a video store, a lending library, a dry cleaners, and---Way best of all!--a nice gym right on site! Oh, and free coffee, tea, and hot chocolate all day every day and free sugar-laden goodies on Thursdays.

On the down side, this site is blocked at work. And I spend so much time at computers right now that I don't want to come home and turn on a computer.

That is most of the reason I haven't been around.

My partner is in Ohio for the week, so I am catching up a little bit with my own interests, and also avoiding some chores I should be doing.

Let's see. What else?

My daughter moved to Newark, NJ 'cause she got a great job in Livingston. I plan to visit her next weekend. She claims that she lives in "a safe part of Newark" and this I gotta see!

My son moved to Rhode Island to go to school. Bright kid. Wonderful, witty, charming, and an out-of-this-world good singer. He'll be 21 in the Fall, and we're still waiting for the common sense part to kick in. His last phone call to me was shortly before midnight, a couple of weeks ago, and started with: "So, uh, Dad? Do you happen to own any bolt cutters?" No midnight phone call is good when it starts like that. Trust me on this one, please.

Ah. My brother. We'll not talk about HIS last phone call, except to mention that I opted not to throw his bail this time. Nuff said?

My mom is 87 and it's time for her to finally admit tht she needs to go into ACLF (an assisted communal living facility). Problem: she's not quite admitting this, yet. Of course she's seeing things and people that don't actually exist, but heck, she's been doing that all my life. (Actually not a fun way to grow up but ah finds mah humor whers ah can, suh. Or ma'am.)

But now she is not falling down. Oh, no. Invisible people are sneaking up behind her, throwing her to the ground, and running away before anyone can see them. Yeah, yeah, I know. If they're invisible why do they need to sneak up or run away? I learned early in life that there is no profit in asking these kinds of questions.

I'm working on getting her into a place where the bruises can get taken care of before she really hurts herself (or burns her condo down), where they can help her take her meds regularly (have you guessed yet that she's not?) and where they can keep those invisible men under control. And those invisible babies hiding behind her couch. (I hate it when they do that!)

My mom agrees in principle that she needs an ACLF. So it's a breeze from there, right? Nope. She is insisting that she can't move until she gets insurance and that she doesn't have any because George Bush canceled it so she can't move without selling her condo and she can't sell until George Bush gets out of office.

By the way, her condo is fully insured. The association makes sure of that.

I still spend a fair amount of time practicing karate (a nice balance to long hours of office-type work. )

Q: Which is the Yin and which is the Yang? Work or karate? I never did figure that part out. Anyone out there know?

Plus I'm doing some volunteer work, so life is really busy here on the shoreline.

So, if you've read this far:
A. You must be really, really bored, and
B. These are the main reasons I haven't been around.

I trust that you all have been behaving yourselves???

I would hate to have to spank any of you.

Oh, wait. No, I wouldn't hate it. <insert evil grin here>

[Eva]

Gandalf, how nice to see / hear / read from you again. Congratulations with the new job. I am glad to hear that you like it.


did EVERYthing until I made myself so indespensible that they decided that they needed me. I recommend this technique.
Ehm... yes, I tried it but it didn't work... :( I still have to go. Thanks for the tip though.


so life is really busy here on the shoreline.
Yes, it sure sounds like it!


So, if you've read this far:
A. You must be really, really bored
Not really. It's just a lazy Sunday... :)


I trust that you all have been behaving yourselves???
I would hate to have to spank any of you.
Oh, wait. No, I wouldn't hate it. <insert evil grin here>
Oh no...! You too!? :eek: But yes, we were all very good. Of course. Maybe... I think... Well... Who knows...

Eva

[david uk]

and Henry Metxalfe (soul merlin)??

[Gandalf]

...it seemed major at the time.

About 3 weeks before I became a full time employee there (instead of a contractor) I developed an interesting case of Bell's Palsy. I was pretty disappointed...

...'cause this would have been perfect for Halloween!

Actually, everyone else was a lot more concerned about this than I was, fearing that I'd had a stroke. I knew I hadn't because I could still stand on either leg, esecute a slow side kick, hold it out, then slowly draw my leg back, all on one leg, either side. The doctor was not convinced that this proved anything, so this landed me in an emergency room.

In the next bed was a heroin addict who was in REALLY bad shape. He was in 3-point restraints, but he was getting so violent that I was wondering if they would hold him. And it's hard to defend yourself when you're intubated.

I seem to have a knack (or something) for this kind of thing. The last time I was in an emergency room (I don't do this often) was when I found out that I was allergic to aspirin by the simple process of having my breathing stop.

They plopped me into a wheelchair. Right next to a drunk. Who turned his head, looked straight at me, and heaved all over me.

I don't like hospitals.

Anyway, the Palsy is gradually going away, and my face is probably as normal and balanced as it's ever going to get.

And I managed to have my fun anyway.

This :-, is a smiley with Bell's Palsy.

So, for one last time, here on this MB, I will sign off as:

-Ole Slipface

P.S.
There was also http://www.henryfarkas.com/weblog/07042006.html this interesting incident, demonstrating the amazing number of things that can go wrong at one single party.

Enjoy!

[Amy in Vermont]

Gandalf:

My dad had a round of Bell's Palsy many moons ago... he eventually recovered fully.

[Manchester]

Nice of you to update us, looks like you made yourself indispensible on your short term contract; good plan o' mighty Wizard!

Sorry to hear about the palsy, but loved the smiley! Nice to see it hasn't affected your sense of humour.

Anne