BoomFlag

I just got a new video capture card. The idea, of course, is to take five years’ worth of 8mm tapes and convert them to digital format (mpeg?) so I can make VCD’s or even DVD’s. Sweet.

But reality sets in, and I’m learning that Linux isn’t the easiest place in the world to get video capture software running. I’m downloading and compiling (“grepping tarballs”, as a friend would say) but so far haven’t had any luck. I can SEE the dang picture; I just can’t SAVE it. Grrr.

I got some new speakers for my office yesterday. The old ones I had weighed about half a ton, took up a huge amount of floor space (which is at a premium in my basement corner here), and had been punched in by my kids years ago. Oh, and they originally came from a trash pile across the street, when our neighbors decided to upgrade their speakers to something manufactured after 1978.

So these “bookshelf” speakers (13×15″ is pretty big for a bookshelf, IMHO) are awesome. They truly to justice to my basement locale, because I can crank them and not bother the rest of the house… well, not TOO much anyway… and the sound is great.

Crank the trance music, baby.

What is it about clients?

It seems like every day I have a Client Moment, when something truly amazing happens with a client. And I’m not talking about “WOW, that’s cool” amazing; I’m talking about “HUNH?” amazing.

Take today. For weeks I’ve been waiting to finish the installation of a computer network for a client. I asked several times when the wires might be in place, so I could come in and hook everything together, and heard absolutely nothing in response.

Today I get a call around noon. “Jeff, all those network wires are in place. Can you come in this afternoon and hook them up?”

(Their office is about 45 minutes away.)

Uhh, no guys– I’ve got things to do today. Maybe if you’d given me more than a FEW HOURS of notice, I could’ve arranged something. Guess you’ll have to wait.

Ahh, clients.

So Laralee sends me a picture that’s scanned from a 1950’s-era magazine. It includes “instructions” about how to be a Good Wife when your husband comes home from work. It includes such gems as:

“Remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.”

“Prepare yourself. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair, and be fresh-looking.”

“Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity.”

It goes on; suffice to say it’s hilariously anti-feminist.

Of course my friend Steve learned (through who knows how much online research; he doesn’t appear to do much at work during the day) that it’s a hoax.

But the best part was my friend Stef’s response:

“I don’t know what you mean, Jeff… You know me…

I NEVER question Derek’s actions or judgement – I have no right to!

I know that his topics of conversation are MUCH more important than mine
are.

I always speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

I always put a ribbon in my hair so I can look fresh for him.

… I have to go now… Oprah is on and I haven’t taken my
medications…”

Okay, so maybe you have to know Stef.

And so it begins.

After a lot of stop-and-go, a lot of good intentions but bad follow-through, and a lot of “no, really, someday I’ll do it”, I’m going to start keeping a journal. Oh, sure, it’ll be this online thing that’s not very impressive and probably contains only rambling thoughts… but you’ve gotta start somewhere.

Ready… set…

It’s been a while.

Some exciting news on the house-hunting front, though. Last weekend we decided to visit a couple houses in our search list. One in particular didn’t excite me; the MLS listing said something like “unusual floor plan” and I immediately thought it would suck. But Laralee convinced me to take a look anyway, and I loved it.

It’s up in Longmont– about 15 miles due north of here– and not only is the house bigger than our current one, but the lot is a full quarter-acre. Huge for around here. I think this is the best we’ll do, considering our tough criteria. So we moved on it right away, and signed the papers Monday. We move at the end of next month.

Now comes the fun part: selling our house. It’s on the market, and we spent a frantic week preparing for that. Cleaning, dumping clutter, doing touch-up work, fixing things, and generally making it look better than it’s ever looked while we lived here. (Isn’t that always the nature of selling a house?)

I sure hope this works…

(Insert brief hiatus here.)

Well, things are interesting as always. A few weeks ago La asked if we should try to find a new house with a bigger yard. That got me thinking, and before we knew it we were caught up in the whirlwind. We started the Great House Hunt, with the singular goal of finding an acceptable yard, a decent house, and all without spending any money.

So far our luck has been poor. We found an unbelievable yard, but the house was cramped. We found a great house, but the yard was all hill. We drove into the mountains, we drove out to the plains. We found horse properties and empty lots and backyards no more than five feet deep. No, no, no.

We still have a few months, but I wonder if it’s even possible to find what we seek. It seems the builders in the last couple of decades just decided that people don’t want yards, and there you have it. We don’t have enough money to get a grand layout, so we have to hope we get lucky.

We’ll see.

Boy, it’s been a while since I wrote anything here. Time flies, I guess. First there was a trip to Idaho, then my birthday, then a week of being sick (and taking care of the rest of the clan when they caught it).

Then, interestingly, I had a really hard time getting motivated to do anything. I think having nearly two weeks off put a dent in my interest in work. I found that I wasn’t excited about my job, or the things I was doing for clients. It was a struggle, because I had a lot of things to do (which is a good thing) and I knew I had to do them. But I didn’t want to work long hours; I didn’t have the drive to work during the evenings like I had been.

So my laptop didn’t sit in bed with me late at night; instead, I read sci-fi books or simply went to sleep. No more 1:00 am nights. No more late-night “research” into network security or the latest web and database doo-dahs. No more journal.

Now it’s been a couple of weeks, and I feel that I’m starting to get some of that ambition and drive back. I hope I can get back in the “groove” and do good work, enjoy it, and continue my success. It’s important, because I see the point (only a few weeks away) when I’m going to be hard-pressed for work. I need to move, to find new things, to keep my inertia.

We’ll see.

I think if work ever slows down, and I find myself wondering where my next contract will come from, I’ll plan a vacation.

See, what seems to happen (with frightening regularity) is that Laralee and I plan a trip somewhere. We plan it a month or two ahead– giving us plenty of time to make arrangements for everything. And just before we’re slated to leave, all sorts of stuff begins to happen with work.

This week is no exception. We’re leaving Friday for a trip to Idaho (a five-day weekend in all), and all of a sudden I’ve got clients calling from all over. New contracts… proposals… old work resurrected. Couple that with a few “fires” I’ve had to fight this week, and I find myself putting in long days trying just to keep up.

Don’t get me wrong– this is a good thing overall. Every client is an opportunity to make money and market myself, so I welcome the challenge. Plus, I always thrive on the chance to jump between projects and keep myself from getting bored doing the same thing day after day.

So in the end, I’m a happy guy. It’s just this week I happen to be a busy guy as well…

What? Another new business?

For some reason– I’d like to think it’s my natural sense of ambition– it looks like I’m going to be involved in yet another new business venture. This time it’s in the arena of network security, something which I’ve been meaning to learn more about anyway. All the other technology (read “geek”) work I do can benefit from a greater understanding of security and its implications; why not start a company and do it on a paying basis?

So I had some initial discussions, and developed a sketchy plan to start figuring out how to make it work. Initially it will be a “side” job for me– a way to broaden my skills and find new clients– but hopefully over time it will become more mainstream.

So here I go…