<quip src=‘lazlo@netrack.net’>Maybe your server needs Viagra</quip>

I said Nah, port 25 gets enough of that as it is.

Netrack really does have good service. They just changed which magic option to select to get high-priority support. Now, if Lazlo wasn’t just in a cell-hole…

And I am so tired that I just hosed my backup server, too.

I am in such a jolly mood.

Rargh!

So the server goes down. Nobody is reachable. CISP, with its 24/7 tech support, only has level 1 techs on until 0800EST. Netrack, with its 24/7 support, has managed to make the priority voice mailboxes dissapear completely, so good luck getting them until … god, Monday? I’ll be calling people’s private home numbers long before that, if I can find them.

All this happens while I am copying files to another machine so I have a hot backup in case this happens. I hadn’t been keeping it up because it’s resource-intense to keep everything in synch. And now it goes down while I am setting it up again.

Going to bed. I hope that tech calls me promptly at 6, because I want to have this taken care of in time to go pick up Carrie at 9.

Damnit. My main server went down again. Hardware, I think.

For all y’all trying to get on IRC, try /server 206.168.119.2

Time to install server and all updates: MSSQL, 4 hours. PostgreSQL, 10 minutes.

Time to create first database: MSSQL, 10 minutes, PostgreSQL, 10 seconds.

Time to connect to first database: MSSQL, 1 hour, PostgreSQL, 10 seconds.

Time spent adjusting firewall rules: MSSQL, 30 minutes. PostgreSQL, 5 minutes.

Time spent figuring out how to read the middle part of a merged field separated with a delimiter: MSSQL, 4 hours. PostgreSQL, 1 minute.

Time to restart service after configuration changes: MSSQL, 1 minute, PostgreSQL, 1 second.

Ease of finding documentation: MSSQL, as terrible as trying to read a book online without hyperlinks, PostgreSQL, well-made online documentation with an interactive updates section.

Score: MSSQL, 0, PostgreSQL, 7. Looks like a win for open source.

Lennart Poettering has my amazement and grattitude. There’s software there that I was going to write. Dude.

aredridel@mizar:~/rpm/SPECS$ ping mizar.local PING mizar.local (206.168.67.102) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from mizar.nbtsc.org (206.168.67.102): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.047 ms

mDNS is just cool.

Install Howl with a poldek -i howl and edit the config file (very simple) and start the daemon. Now the name is “out there”.

Then install nss-mdns and put mdns in /etc/resolv.conf and ping away.

Next up: plug Ruby into Howl.

Rargh!

At least I know shit comes in waves.

I had a great talk with Dawn tonight, catching up on three years of history. Gosh, there’s a lot of it…

I miss a few certain people. If they read this, they can probably guess who they are. If that’s you, hey. Mwah.

I’ve run a full course of Spiro now, been basically without testosterone in my body for several months. This week, I eased back off for now, not having a refill on hand, and partly to double-check what I’m doing, to see what the effects really are.

I’m more motivated this week.

I can’t concentrate nearly so easily.

My joints hurt more. Tendonitis is back more than usual. All my muscles are harder to relax.

My blood pressure is on average higher, but the swings are far worse.

I don’t sleep as well. I’m waking up tired.

My mood swings are harder to deal with. Not less frequent, not less severe, but harder to express and harder to figure out.

Food isn’t tasting as good.

I smell bad.

My sex drive is higher. It’s not really that comfy. I prefer the impetus to not be so entirely physical.

I don’t get cold quite as easily.

My skin is rougher and greasier.

I need to shake myself out of my routine. I don’t take things for granted, but I’m deep in my rut, comfortable but not seeing any scenery that’s new. My mental landscape is dwindling, and the richness of life suffers for it.

Some things never change.

Dawn and I have been old friends for as long as we have known each other. The first moments were close and honest. For better or worse, anger or not, it’s lasted in whatever form it has, and I’m happy. I realize now that that connection hasn’t gone away despite trying to ignore it, worrying about both of us having changed, and time just having passed. I assume that all relationships just go away when you don’t pay attention to them.

I’m home now. I’m listening to the Cranberries for the first time in months. It makes me think of Carrie, how she was when she first came here. Not the shy part, but the rebellious girl well in touch with her tough Irish heritage, angry and proud and a bit intimidating.

I have decided to leave you forever

I have decided to start things from here

Thunder and lightning won’t change

What I’m feeling

And the daffodils look lovely today

(From The Cranberries “Daffodil Lament”)

I found some photos on the web of England, where I’d been. Particularly fun is someone standing exactly where I was.

Ah, England.

Mix three cups of wheat flour (not stale), three cups of water, a heaped teaspoon of yeast, and beat with a whisk.

Let this sit a bit — half an hour is great.

Add a heaped teaspoon of salt, and three cups of flour, white or wheat. Knead. Knead well — it is not hard to knead well, but five minutes of vigorous work leaves you with excellent bread.

Put this in the fridge.

When you want bread, rip off a piece pleasant to hold in one hand. Roll it out flat with some flour under it. Don’t squish it around except for the rolling.

Turn a heavy drying pan or griddle on high, with no oil in it. When it’s reasonably warm, throw your flat piece of bread (which should be seven or eight inches across) on it. When it gets toasty on one side, do the other.

All told, there’s maybe ten minutes work in this. Bread dough easily keeps a week in the fridge if you cover it. It gets better with age to a point, too, so no fear about using it all in a day. Share it. It’s best hot out of the pan, still soft.