HerdingChaos

About a year ago, my main linux machine was sent to be the backup hardware for the server that runs this blog and several other sites. We have at last figured out what the problem was with the server hardware. My old linux box is now back in my office. I set it up tonight. I gave it a fresh upgrade to Fedora Core 4 so I could try it out.

Only one thing is wrong. While the machine was away I must have stolen the mouse. I had to dig in my stash of old equipment and find an old one to use. I don’t know if you will remember this, but there used to be mice that had a little ball in them. The ball would move when you moved the mouse. The ball would them cause a cylinder that has lint caked on it to move in erratic ways. These erratic movements would then drive the mouse cursor around the screen.

I must make a Fry’s run tomorrow to get a replacement. This mouse refuses to move to the right unless it moves around 200 pixels at a time. Hitting it on the table is not helping and has frightened my cat.

is getting up and not stopping. Have been sick since about a week ago. I went to the Doc since I was having labored breathing and was a little worried it might be something really nasty. He said I had bronchitis and gave me some drugs. He also told me to lay around and take it really easy.

I have not been getting much better. Today I got a bit tired of the "lay around and take it easy" stuff and really started to push myself. I figured I would either get alot worse or stay the same but either way I would not feel like a really big lazy bum. Strange thing happened. I feel better. I had two really horrible coughing fits and spit up some stuff that I would rather not describe.

I worked on: cleaning the house, mowing and edging the backyard, fixing the edger that I broke while working on the back yard, cleaning the gutters, blowing off the deck (required after the gutter cleaning), and getting ready for a little party.

Right now I feel better than I have in a week. I still get a little short of breath, but I think getting up off my ass and getting something done has kicked something into gear and my body is now working on getting better.

I have another doctor’s appointment tomorrow at 10:30. If I feel this good I am going to cancel it. 

Andrew started school this week. He has been doing really well at drop off. When we ask how the day went he is always positive. Becky was asking him about what types of things he had been doing in school and which activities he enjoyed.

Becky asked, "What type of things did you learn today?"

Andrew responded, "It’s not really a learning kind of school."

I guess the first week of school always felt like that to me as well. You just end up spending all of your time getting used to the way this new world works. 

I went to meet the teacher day at Andrew’s school. When I parked there was not a dark cloud in the sky and it has not rained in days. I leave the top down and go inside to meet Andrew’s teacher for 20 min. Some squall blows through and I end up with standing water in the seats of the car.

Oh mighty rain gods! What I have I done to offend thee?

Bleh. Just as I am starting to get caught up I am now sick. The sickness is weird. I feel strange and not like I have in the past. I went to the doc today and all the vital stats looked okay. I guess I just need to take it easy for a while and hope all the drugs they prescribed kick in and kick this funk.

When you have been traveling for two weeks and don’t have a feeling for how the weather has been acting at home it is a bad idea to leave your car window down with a one inch gap to keep it from getting too hot. The thunderstorm blew through and I didn’t even think about the window. And yes, the window that was open was on the upwind side of the car. The cup holders in the center console had standing water in them.

I always go through cycles at work. When we are in the middle of development for a project I travel very little. When we are working on the design of a new product I tend to travel all the time. We are in the middle of design. I spent the past two weeks traveling. Earlier last month I was also in London and the south of France for a while. I am very happy to be back home. The kids have been doing cute stuff and I usually find out over email from my wife.

The good news: I don’t think I will be traveling for at least the next two weeks. Andrew starts school in around a week. This will be his first day at a real school, but he has been going to pre-school since he was 2 so I don’t think this is going to be too hard on him. I think his sister Tracy is going to find his absence difficult to deal with. Andrew and Tracy have been playing together all the time. They get into the normal spats between brother and sister, but they also seem to be the best of friends. Tracy has always been a little shy in new situations. We have signed her up for pre-school  but it starts two weeks after Andrew starts school. I fear that the adjustment to loosing Andrew as a playmate during most of the day followed by thrusting her into a class that does not have any of her old teachers is going to be a problem for her. I hope she is strong and self-confident when we start her pre-school.

I am looking forward with apprehension to both first days at school. I am really happy I am going to be home for them.