Up and running… for the future!
Well, after nearly three weeks of work—including one weekend where we spent 20 hours upgrading, installing, copying, moving, testing, and fixing—the new server is up and running.
Let me guess… most of you never noticed. Well, that was kind of the point.
Now, this wasn’t three solid weeks of work. It was work in our free time, after the 8-10 hours a day that each of us spent at our “regular” jobs. And when I say “we,” am I, perhaps, referring to the mouse in my pocket? No, I’m talking about my server admin team.
Well, bless my heart
Southerners have some of the best sayings in the world. I’m talking about gems like “Horny as a three-dicked dog,” or “Nervous as a long-tailed cat in a rocking chair factory.”
So, to put it in good Southern fashion, I’ve been busier than a one-legged man at an ass-kicking contest.
How busy? Read on…
Update, schmupdate.
Hi, gang.
I’ve been meaning to write a blog post for a couple of days now, but I’ve been busy IRL. Sorry.
First, the good news. Nereids is complete on Ruthie’s Club. If you’re not already a member, you can join for a 7-day trial for only $9.95. So, now’s your chance to read Nereids in its entirety (along with hundreds of other illustrated stories). Otherwise, you have to wait till the Ruthie’s Club exclusivity period is up.
On to other good news. I just sent the first part of “Breakdown” to my editor. I expect to post it in a week or so. The schedule will depend on my team’s schedule, but you have that to look forward to.
In other news, I’ve been working on my web site and doing computer upgrades.
MacBug
Well, I discovered a genuine bug in Mac OS X. And I had my first experience with Apple Technical Support.
Before I get to the tech support experience, let me say that Apple’s online support options suck. They suck—in the immortal words of Dick Cheney—big time.
This is part-and-parcel with my only major complaint about Apple and the Mac OS in general: they’re aimed at stupid people. Yes, you read that right… stupid people. The Macintosh is the greatest computer in the world, as long as two things are true: 1) you don’t want to figure out how it really works, and 2) nothing breaks.
My Life With the MacBook Kult
Well, I’ve had the shiny white MacBook for almost a week now. UPS delivered it at 2pm last Wednesday, along with another package with RAM and a few other things. I took the computer out of the box and went through the first-time setup routine. It found my wireless network and seamlessly logged on (in true Mac style, it didn’t show any security specifics… it simply detected my encryption and asked for a password).
After I made sure everything worked out of the box, I shut it down and read the manual about how to upgrade the memory. It wasn’t the easiest upgrade I’ve ever done, but it was pretty easy. And from what I’ve heard about older iBooks and PowerBooks, the MacBook is an absolute breeze to upgrade RAM and HD. Anyway, when I restarted, the system told me I had 2Gb of RAM, running at 667MHz, which was what it should’ve told me.
The white menace!
Tomorrow will be the end of an era… and the beginning. At the moment, I’m just brimming with excitement. Why? Well, friends, let me tell you.
I just got a friendly e-mail from Amazon.com to let me know that my recent order has shipped. Now, when I placed my order barely 3 days ago, Amazon listed the ship-time as 1-2 weeks. Weeks? Yes, weeks. But I placed the order anyway, because it would save me $170+ over buying… “it”… in the local store.
Now, before I tell you what “it” is, I’m going to gush about Amazon Prime. It’s an added-value “club” at Amazon, where members get free 2nd-day shipping or $3.99 next-day shipping. I signed up for the free trial when they first introduced the program, and then I paid the $79/year to continue my membership.
So now I don’t have to combine purchases to reach that “eligible for free shipping” threshold. I simply order whatever I want, whenever I want it, and I don’t have to find some DVD for $5.99 to round out my order and save on shipping. These days, I just order the 50-pack of slimline CD/DVD cases, or the red Henckels kitchen sheers (for my lovely wife), or… whatever. Needless to say, I get my value out of Amazon Prime.
But I’ve probably milked the “it” mystique for all it’s worth, so I’ll tell you why I’m so excited.