dasgeek

Yesterday afternoon was a new and different experience for me.  L invited me to attend a Native American "sweat".  That's right, complete with red hot rocks, chanting, singing, drumming and a sweat lodge.  Although I'm fairly reserved by nature I found myself beating a drum and chanting along (Well, I do not speak Lakota, so not very well!).

Then it was into the lodge, stripped down to a pair of boxers to be nearly melted by red-hot rocks.  I have no idea what the actual temperature was inside, but it was way beyond "toasty".  Just about the time I thought I was getting used to the heat, the lodge master dumped a couple of ladles of water on to the glowing rocks.  Oh  My  GAWD.  The added humidity just about took away my breath.  Ten minutes of that and I was ready to ask for the door and take a break (Fortunately for my pride, someone else asked for it first!).

Well, to make a long story short, the rest of the afternoon was spent either gasping for air and guzzling water outside or inside the lodge pouring out sweat and listening to the Native Americans recount tribal history and legends.  The whole event was followed with a feast of Minnesota wild rice soup and bread with one very untraditional twist-  red wine to wash it down with.

No, I did NOT have any visions or great revelations.  No, I did not get adopted by the Lakota Nation.  Yes, I did get "smudged" several times.  Yes, I did gain a few new understandings of the Lakota.  Yes, I was invited back to the next sweat by several people and yes I will go again.

Interestingly enough I did feel pretty darned good when all was said and done.  I think that perhaps sweating out about a gallon of sweat may have done me some good!  I do know that I drank about one and a half GALLONS of water during the day and had no desire to visit the restroom until after I got home....

L wants me to put up a small sweat lodge here at home, out by the fire pit but I will have to think that one over.  I'm not that sure I want to have that many visitors (Most of whom I won't know.) here and building a sweat lodge is a non-trivial task as well.

PS.
Lakota is NOT a misspelling, in case you were wondering if I had lost the ability to use a spell-checker.

Read this please and protect yourself!  And be very wary about unsolicited "dream job" offers...
The link to the web page is at the end of the warning below-

 Monster.com and USAJobs.gov's databases compromised
Published: 2009-01-23,
Last Updated: 2009-01-23 22:55:51 UTC
by Joel Esler (Version: 1)
0 comment(s)

We got a tip from a reader (thanks David!), that apparently
Monster.com's database and USAJobs.gov's database was compromised and
information was stolen.  To clarify, USAJobs.gov's database is ran by
Monster, as outlined in their post here.

(Monster's press release is here.)

Quoting from USAJobs.gov's website:

"We recently learned that the Monster database was illegally accessed
and certain contact and account data were taken, including user IDs
and passwords, email addresses, names, phone numbers, and some basic
demographic data. The information accessed does not include resumes.
The accessed information does not include - sensitive data such as
social security numbers or personal financial data."

So I am sure some phishing attempts will come of this, as both of the
press releases allude to.

Monster states in their release that you will be required to change
your password on the site soon.  So I'd recommend that you go ahead
and do that proactively.  Don't use a password that you'd use anywhere
else. (For those of you that use the same password on Monster.com and
yourbankhere.com.  You know who you are!)

http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5737&rss

Well, winter has officially arrived according to the Calender any way.  I spent the day shoveling the driveway and decks after 7 inches of snow fell yesterday.  Actually I shoveled yesterday as well but overnight winds of 25 to 30 MPH drifted the driveway over, and what was not accomplished by Mother Nature was covered nicely by the snowplows.  It was a refreshing -11 degrees below zero when I started, and warmed up to a sweltering 5 above during the heat of the afternoon.  Coupled with that wind, the wind chill readings were in the -25-35 ranges all day long.

It should be a pretty quiet week for me at work, as almost the entire company is pretty much GONE until next year.  Unfortunately, I still have some things to get done before I can call 2008 over so I will be in the office Monday and Tuesday and working from home on Friday.

Dull entry, but I am just too tired to be witty and entertaining.

Long time readers will remember a previous entry about the syncope episodes I have been experiencing of late, and the resulting battery of exams and tests that I have undergone to try and find the cause.  After nothing but negative results my doctors decided that the most likely cause was a moderately advanced case of CVI in my left leg, and after three months of no results with conventional therapy decided to go with a surgical solution.
So, Thursday was the day I was scheduled for both a aambulatory phlebectomy and a saphenous vein ablation. 

First step was to go into a pre-op room where the nice nurses gave me a fashionable hospital robe, had me strip below the waist and proceeded to map the veins in my leg with a high-tech ultrasound scanner, and a LOW-tech sharpie marker and inject anesthetic at the incision points.  So far so good, although the nurses had a pretty good chuckle when I blushed like an idiot during the "upper" mapping stages.  "Dale, can you please hold 'The boys' out of the way while I connect the dots?"".  Sheesh.

Next I had to stand around and walk for a few minutes to encourage the veins to make themselves expand and present the best possible target for the procedure, clutching the robe closed as not to flash anyone.  WHY do hospital robes close in the back anyway???  Fifteen minutes prior to entering the operating area, the nurse gave me three tabs of Valiums and warned me that I would start feeling them in about ten minutes.  Sure enough, ten minutes later and I was a very happy idiot!  Off to surgery I went.

The vein ablation procedure was actually pretty cool, as well as fairly painless.  The surgeon let me watch the screen as they ran a laser equipped catheter from an insertion point just above my ankle and ran it all the way up to my groin, injected a local anesthetic into the vein and then started zapping with the laser as he withdrew the catheter.  There was some minor discomfort, but it was bearable.  I'm guessing that the whole procedure was finished in 30 minutes or so.

The ambulatory phlebectomy began next.  Not so fun.  Lots of pulling and snipping accompanied by the surgeon muttering that they really should have made the incisions a hair less "micro" as he was having a hard time getting the veins out of my leg and into the light of day where they could be snipped and removed.  This part of the adventure went well past the time that was projected, and was decidedly not pleasant. The high point of this procedure?
"Hey Dale, want to see what a vein looks like?"  Folks, there is a REASON that skin is opaque!  Ewww...  In any event the surgeon eventually called his work done, told me to have a nice day and hastily departed leaving me in the care of the nurses who cleaned up the incisions, used some surgical version of Krazy Glue to close them and promptly wrapped my legs up in surgical dressings, two double length ace bandages and a layer of self adhesive wrap from foot to thigh.

Still feeling pretty good, I was walked to the recovery room, laid down on a table for about half an hour while they wrote up my post procedure sheet and (Damn it!) told "L" what I was and was NOT allowed to do.  Finally I was allowed to get out of the accursed robe and dress for my ride home.  On the way out, the nurse handed me prescription for some pain killers, and told me I should be sure to fill it on the way home, as I would be in some "significant" discomfort in a few hours after the local anesthetics wore off.  No kidding.

Three hours later I felt as if I had been hit with a Louisville Slugger wrapped in barbed wire.  I had no qualms whatsoever in popping two of the oxycodones, two ibuprofen and limping off to bed to put my leg up and whimper quietly for the rest of the night.  Friday was a bit better and I was able to work from home most of the day, other than a trip to the doctors office to have the dressings changed and the ace wraps replaced by the accursed compression stocking.  I did manage to get through the day without taking any of the narcotics, but it was definitely an extra-strength Tylenol day in addition to the ibuprofen.

Still feeling some discomfort today, but I hope that a shower will help, as well as some moderate exercise.  Photographs and such will have to wait for a bit, but I will remember to take a snap or two before the shower.
Post Op1
Pincushion
X Marked the Vein

I guess it had to come- but I had hoped to use the Weber a few more times this year!

This is SO apropos of how I feel about the election results:

http://userfriendly.org/

But I for one am very, very annoyed with the automated calls from various committees,  all with the same damned message.  I am tempted to just turn the ringers on the land lines off until after the elections.

I think I have determined why my basement office tends to be the warmest room in the house.  But when I am really playing/working hard, it gets even warmer.  Let us not go into details of the server closet!  I suspect that the local power company will be sending me a Christmas card or something....
I also suspect that just maybe I have a bit of a geek in me.

"WASHINGTON - Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Friday admitted to an extramarital affair while his wife was battling cancer. He denied fathering the woman's daughter. Edwards told ABC News that he lied repeatedly about the affair with 42-year-old Rielle Hunter but said that he didn't love her."  I'm not quite sure what was going through his mind when he told the media that.

In other world news, it appears that Russia has invaded Georgia (The former USSR republic, NOT the state, you twit.  Did they think that the world might not notice because of the Olympics opening ceremonies??  I love this quote:  "One U.S. State Department official involved in the diplomacy called the conflict a "very dangerous situation"" end quote.  Well excuse me but any time you start flinging high explosives and high velocity projectiles around it seems like it might not be too healthy!

From the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas- ""While this may seem like any standard security hole, other researchers say that the work is a major breakthrough and there is very little that Microsoft can do to fix the problems. These attacks work differently than other security exploits, as they aren't based on any new Windows vulnerabilities, but instead take advantage of the way Microsoft chose to guard Vista's fundamental architecture. According to Dino Dai Zovi..., 'the genius of this is that it's completely reusable. They have attacks that let them load chosen content to a chosen location with chosen permissions. That's completely game over.'"  Have I mentioned I like my Mac's lately?  You KNEW I would have to have some geeky news in here, and this can overshadow the recent DNS vulnerabilities which were to be the "Big News". 

And finally-  I heard a rumor that there is some sort of sporting event going on in China and Brett Favre IS NOT THERE!!

I'm turning off the news for good.
 

Ok, so the non-MOO folks may be unaware of this, but I made an appointment with a specialist to take a look at my bum shoulder again.  Yesterday they had me in for a MRI with contrast and I had a follow up with the doctor today.  The MRI's showed some deterioration of the cartilage in the joint, not bad enough to warrant surgery yet, along with the tear in the labrum, which I was told is not repairable through surgery (Swell.).  The disturbing news?  I have the beginnings of a nice case of osteoarthritis in that shoulder.  Arthritis??  I'm not old enough for that, dammit!  In any event, all I can do for now is to up my glucosamine and chondroitin intake...

I joke about being an old fart sometimes, but this is really depressing.

It's good to have some face time with people you chat with. The 2nd annual MOO-BQ was last night at necronius's place in Thornton. Good conversation, good food (Too much food for me!), and generally a good time for me. I did manage to get back to the hotel without mishap although I did encounter a few folk with rather interesting ideas about what staying in their lane meant. I suspect that a few of the individuals would have been better off in a taxicab...
Most of us had the pleasure of meeting "J", who seems to be doing a nice job of getting necronius domesticated. Thanks for introducing us!

Bison Burgers are the absolute BOMB. I had one of those in a wrap with some salsa and really had to fight the urge to have another, which is unusual. Must be the altitude. Also, the hot sauce that icanhaspustule brought was DAMN tasty, with enough heat to be interesting without being painful. Very good flavor to boot. I'll have to ask him where he got that...

I sincerely hope that the MOO mob will now cease giving me a ration about being too skinny after last night's event. Obviously I did not blow away in the wind, fall through the cracks in the deck or shrivel up and disappear after being bitten by a mosquito (Twice, dammit!).

2008 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
SERIES M			#2 vs. #6
Fri., May 9, 2008			Pittsburgh Wins, 4-2
Sun., May 11, 2008			Pittsburgh Wins, 4-2
Tues., May 13, 2008			Pittsburgh Wins 4-1
Thurs., May 15, 2008			Philadelphia Wins 4-2
*Sun., May 18, 2008			Pittsburgh Destroys Philly 6-0
2008 WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
SERIES N			#1 vs. #5
Thurs., May 8, 2008		Detroit Wins 4-1
Sat., May 10, 2008			Detroit Wins 2-1
Mon., May 12, 2008			Dallas Wins 5-2
Wed., May 14, 2008			Dallas Wins 3-1
*Sat., May 17, 2008			Dallas Wins 2-1
*Mon., May 19, 2008			Detroit Wins 4-1

My picks?
Pittsburgh over Philadelphia in six games and Detroit over Dallas in five games.

Update:  Not bad!  Got both the final teams right and missed the game total by one.

Spent most of yesterday night hauling stuff to the end of the driveway for the annual curbside pickup day.  Once a year the City will pick up darned near anything you can haul to the curb.  Old furniture, dead refrigerators, computer equipment, anything other than gas and oil.  In addition to the free exercise that this provides, one also gets the entertainment of watching all of the dumpster divers, scrap metal collectors and assorted other cheapskate pack rats cruising the neighborhood for trashy treasures.  One thing I noticed in the last two years is the practice of some of the scrap metal collectors to drive slowly down the street with a pair of diagonal cutters, clipping power cords from appliances regardless of whether they are in working condition or not.  It seems pretty rude to me.  This is why I have made it a habit to take all of my still functional junk to a Good Will style organization (No, there was no BRUSHED ALUMINUM in that trip!).  In any event, I have now finished gutting the house of everything I no longer need or use and can start on the painting and reorganizing work.  I'm actually pretty excited about that.

I saw the chiropractor again on Thursday, and I must admit that his efforts seem to be having a pretty positive effect.  My back is being pretty cooperative in spite of all the heavy lifting and hauling I have been doing of late.

A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH
FRIDAY EVENING.

HEAVY SNOWFALL IS POSSIBLE THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY FROM WEST
CENTRAL MINNESOTA INTO SOUTHERN MINNESOTA. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS AROUND
SIX INCHES APPEAR POSSIBLE...WITH ISOLATED HIGHER TOTALS
APPROACHING EIGHT INCHES.

THE WINTER STORM WATCH INCLUDES LOCATIONS SOUTH AND WEST OF AN
ALEXANDRIA...TO MINNEAPOLIS...TO RED WING LINE. SOME OTHER CITIES
INCLUDED ARE MORRIS...CANBY...WILLMAR...HUTCHINSON...REDWOOD
FALLS...FAIRMONT... MANKATO...ALBERT LEA...AND NORTHFIELD.

THE SNOW IS EXPECT TO BEGIN IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS
AFTERNOON...AND SPREAD TOWARD EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA
THURSDAY EVENING. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO BECOME MODERATE TO HEAVY
IN NATURE DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...AND PERSIST THROUGH MUCH
OF THE DAY ON FRIDAY. SOME AREAS MAY PICK UP ONLY FOUR INCHES...WHILE
ISOLATED SPOTS RECEIVE EIGHT INCHES OF WET SNOW. THERE SHOULD BE A
FEW PERIODS WHEN SNOW SHOWERS BECOME HEAVY...RESULTING IN
VISIBILITIES UNDER ONE HALF MILE.

IF YOU WILL BE TRAVELING...STAY TUNED TO LATER FORECASTS...AND
POSSIBLE WARNINGS OR ADVISORIES. MAKE SURE YOU SLOW DOWN...
ESPECIALLY ON BRIDGES AND RAMPS.

Peachy!

UPDATE- For once they were right on the money. Woke up to six inches of heavy, wet March SLOP. Oh well, I needed the exercise, I guess.

Well, the 'nix server has apparently fried the video card , which is preventing the machine from completing the POST and booting normally. So, with the addition of a new 256 MB video card, it's going to be back on line later today or tomorrow. Seems odd to be putting in such a powerful video card into what is essentially a headless server, but both the 128 MB and 256 MB cards were the same price, so....
Off to do a maintenance window at work, a trip to the dentist, then home to nap and then restore my networks to their former state of glory.

UPDATE: Well, picked up the server on my way home from the maintenance window yesterday, and after doing some much needed cable clean up in the server closet, "max" is back up and running performing all of it's duties as a jump station, IDS and general all around network troubleshooting machine. It is silly to be running a 256 MB Geforce 6200 in a machine that does not even have X installed, but it seems that my options were pretty limited to what my friendly neighborhood parts store had on the shelf. I had no idea that AGP video adapters had dropped in price so much.

The silver lining is that this did get me off my butt and actually straighten out the rat's nest of cables in the server closet.

Seems my main 'nix server at the home office is kaput.  I'll be MOO-less until I can either get it fixed up or install TF on one of the Mac's.

UPDATE: So I woke up early today (Unintentionally), and moved another server over to take the place of the defunct server. This machine is way overpowered to serve as a simple jump station/proxy but will do for now. Hopefully I will be able to do some troubleshooting this week to determine the exact problem and order repair parts. Given the age of that box, I may have to do some serious scrounging for bits and pieces...

For the heretics- problem was not getting tinyfugue to run on the BRUSHED ALUMINUM Macs- it was finding another piece of hardware to fit into the "recreational" network!! I certainly was not going to put one of the lab machines online, without making sure it was safe to be exposed to the Internet or vice versa!

Well, sorry to disappoint but there really is not much to discuss on "Roomie-Gate".  "L" and I are getting along and all the household routines are being established with very little friction.  I know that the dogs are much happier to have someone around the house more, and even the Edgar the cat has started to adjust.  I am actually pretty optimistic that this is going to work out just fine.

Spent the last few days helping the new room mate get settled in, and have made some pretty significant progress. Naturally there have been a few adjustments in lifestyles and habits but all in all this is working out better than I had expected.
Tomorrow is back to the salt mines for me, so I want to get as much done as I can before then. One of the adjustments that I have had to made is to try NOT to get my day started quite as early. "L" is a late sleeper by preference, and with her current unemployed status has been enjoying some late mornings. So I have to remember to keep the noise level down when I am doing my usual dawn routine.

So, what started as a relatively quiet week has taken a rather interesting turn. A good friend of mine, whom I have known for years was recently let go from her job through no fault of her own. Unfortunately she has not been able to find another gig yet and February's rent at her apartment is out of the financial question.
Well, it's a big house I live in. There are separate bathroom's. Dogs are no problem. Edgar the cat will adjust. DasGeek the hermit bachelor will adjust. I'm sure that this will be an interesting experience, having a "Roomie" after more years than I can recall. Besides, it is a temporary thing, right?

Couple of inches of snow last night, so I was out at 8AM, doing the deck and the driveway shoveling thing. Fortunately the temperature was finally above zero and there was no wind so it went pretty well. The forecast is actually calling for two WARM days, with temperatures in the thirties. I'll take it!!!

You might also notice that there are no diet-crazed entries of late. I'm still tracking it of course but due to popular demand I have marked them as "Private."

Anyway, I am off to continue removing all signs of myself from the guest bedroom which has started to take on a decidedly geeky atmosphere, what with the MacBook Pro, uberbox and the iMac having taken up semipermanent residence there. Not sure exactly where they will move TO yet, but I'll think of something.


Stay tuned. I'm sure I'll be griping about things soon enough.