It wasn't quite the day from hell but it was pretty close.

The morning began with the location services apps on my employer's production systems spontaneously dying. Without the location services, nearly all of the core customer applications fail so this was a big deal. We have three servers running separate instances, load balancing between the lot but it didn't help: each one was collapsing in sequence so I spent nearly two hours playing whack-a-mole to restart the services while the applications teams tried to debug the issue.

No sooner had that little issue settled down when the next crisis happened along: my Blackberry Storm suffered a stroke.

It was working flawlessly all morning, but it crashed, then hit some form of error within 15 seconds of starting a reboot so the reboot would start over again. At no point was an error actually displayed: the screen hadn't been activated before the next crash would overtake it. I tried pulling the battery to do a cold power cycle but it did no good.

Why is this bad? I'm supposed to be on-call this week for work, it's a holiday tomorrow so the shops won't be open, traffic was already hell and we were supposed to leave for southern Virginia tonight. Wonderful timing.

I signed off from work and began driving to the local Verizon store. I got half-way there when the Blackberry decided it would work after all so I turned around and headed back home again, hoping to get it plugged into my workstation for a full backup before it died.

The machine crashed again when I got within a half-mile of home.

I set out for Verizon once again, this time taking my laptop with me so I could perform the backup immediately should the machine resurrect itself. Sure enough, as soon as I got into the parking lot of the Verizon store, it booted flawlessly. After performing a full backup, I went to talk to the store weasels but found there was such a line it would be two hours before I could get anything done. Figures.

I couldn't spare the time so I'm crossing my fingers that the beast will behave itself for another day or two. So far, it's been peachy but I can't say I trust it.

The balance of the day has been spent working on imaging a couple of blades into new servers over the Internet in our California office. It felt like a slow-motion root canal without anaesthetic. The infrastructure in the San Francisco really needs an update as soon as possible... it should never take this kind of pain to kickstart a new box.

BTW, if Cthulhu pops by to claim a soul, send him in my direction. I did get the machines imaged but the estimated cost was a little higher than budgeted.

Even now, the blades aren't done yet: they aren't talking to the correct network subnets. I'm too frustrated and annoyed to deal with this currently. I suspect the folks who deal with these machines daily have some ideas of what's gone weird but everyone has left early for Thanksgiving so it will have to wait.

Now to go pack for our trip tonight...

We were touring the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore yesterday. We happened up on this statue:


It's the traditional Madonna-with-baby-Jesus motif, with a slight variant in that Jesus is holding a sphere representing the world. However...

( Those who take their christianity *very* seriously may wish to slip past this... )

Let's hope I can get this posted before the lightning strikes.

I got a handful of minor work-related annoying tasks completed earlier today, along with a small stack of tasks during lunch. These included:
- dropping off some bodies at the local subway station;
- getting the oil in my Civic changed;
- getting a haircut;
- purchasing & consuming donuts as a reward for the above items;
- ordering a replacement toner cartridge for my laser printer;
- and a bunch more.

There are still some nagging issues:
- our household insurance needs to be updated with current property values and itemizing some of the major, pricier contents, not to mention noting that cuyahogrvr lives here;
- our car insurance payment is due in mid-January so we should shop around a bit to see if we can get a better deal well before xmas;
- reviewing my medical flex spending account, I see that they've allocated all of cuyahogarvr's expenses against my account and none against his. This will be some fun to sort out.

In more uplifting items, here's a couple of shots of Tommy who changed the oil in my car:

Not shopping over a long distance, but shopping for a long distance service provider for our residential telephone.

MCI has been our residential long distance provider for years but they're getting out of the residential business. I'm sure the default long distance charges via our local provider (Verizon) will be horrendous so I'm looking into possibilities for a replacement provider.

Verizon has a couple of packages offered online but it's not clear how much calls to Canada would cost --our major long distance destination. I went online to check with our mobile phone providers about their long distance rates but they're even more ambiguous.

I'll have to talk to a human at some point to get this sorted out. Ew.

I've been maintaining the gay & lesbian chorus mailing list on the Internet for a little over 18 years now. (Wow, I'm getting old.)

This morning, one of the subscribers sent a message to the list. The list isn't moderated so it was relayed faithfully per the list settings. The message itself wasn't offensive in any fashion and seemed too be a perfectly innocent & valid request for information.

Within an hour, I received an email from the president of that chorus stating that the prior message from one of his own members was "an unauthorized posting using the [edited] Chorus name." He asked formally that I remove the message and let him know when it is completed.

Where do I begin with the list of issues in that request?

1. If the original email was unauthorized, how can I tell if the following removal request is authorized and not a forgery of some form?
   
2. Um, Mr chorus president, how would you feel about me reaching into your mailbox to delete messages addressed to you which other people arbitrarily determined weren't suitable for your viewing? You're asking me to try that on others... are you willing to have that done to you?
   
3. Such a request is banking pretty heavily on my honesty and skills. Assume I had some technological fairy dust to do what you ask: you'd better hope I delete the correct message and don't decide to go spelunking through the rest of your mailbox, deleting any additional messages which strike my fancy.
   
4. Ultimately, there is no magical way to reach into someone's private mailboxes to arbitrarily delete message. If it were possible, someone could make a pretty penny running an after-the-delivery spam removal service... anyone seen such lately? And imagine the nightmares which would result from malware being able to delete valid messages at will!
   
5. Even if there was a mechanism for me to retract a previously-delivered email message, it's guaranteed to be less-than-successful. Mailboxes rarely stay in one designated place: larger Internet service providers may move the box transparently among several servers, individual customers may download their messages to their private machine & log off, some people will store copies of messages in private archives, their iPhones, their Blackberries, etc.. The odds of nailing even a significant fraction of these devices is pretty poor.
   

Some people just don't really understand the implications of what they ask.

Three days of sucking up to Barry's cat have not improved its disposition in the slightest.

Kitty is all chummy & friendly when Barry is in the room but the moment Barry leaves, the beast flips into security mode, defending his territory by hissing & swatting at me. On the good side, Security Kitty has been declawed and has made no attempt to bite me.

Today is my last day at Casa Barry so the cat will have his domain firmly under his control once again.

Compared to the past few days, today has been light & leisure-filled.

We met up with the newlyweds, the groom's sister and her beau for breakfast at 8am, then saw the sister & beau off as they hit the road back to Williamsburg, VA.

We returned to Casa Vannello and napped.

At lunchtime, we visited the groom's other sister and her husband at their place east of Cleveland. Pizzas were ordered and NASCAR was watched. Why do I suddenly feel like putting a car up on blocks and living in a trailer?

We returned to Casa Vannello and napped again.

This evening, we met up with Dr. Mark and Brian K for dinner. Our first choice of restaurant wasn't open. Neither was the second. Or the third.

We did ultimately landed at a tiny hole-in-the-wall thai restaurant. Really tiny. I think they could have seated 10 people, tops. The food was slow out of the kitchen but it was very, very good... I'd definitely eat there again.

For dessert, we visited Malley's, a local ice cream institution. I'm now 50lbs heavier but I regret nothing.

Much additional chocolate shopping was also done to supplement a prize basket we'll be raffling off at the upcoming Harvest Festival Hoedown square dance weekend.

We are now back at Casa Vannello once again, this time to pack. We hope to be on the road by 8am tomorrow back to DC.

I'll dispense with the drama: it was a pretty good wedding, all things considered. Everyone said "I do" at the correct intervals, no one died and the chapel didn't burn to the ground: I consider that a success.

There were moments of suspense though...

kent4str and I were ushers. I had a fun time escorting little old ladies to their seats, schmoozing with the families & friends, etc.. We were getting a little nervous when the 10am wedding time came & went with no sign of activity from the bride's ready room. We learned later that at 10am sharp, the bride was OK but the bridesmaids themselves hadn't even started changing into their dresses. (Twits.)

As the ceremony began, kent4str and I escorted two of the family matriarchs to the front of the chapel where each was to light a candle. Later in the wedding, the bride & groom would use these individual candles to light the larger unity candle in the center of the display. The ladies were dutifully brought forward and we collectively discovered the lighters which were to be used weren't there. Oops.

In a quick shuffle, the minister tossed me a Bic lighter emblazoned with the NASCAR logo which he obtained from the groom --classy stuff-- which I then gave to one of the ladies who started the candle lighting. Crisis averted.

The bride & groom were great but I now understand the old adage among television & movie directors about working with animals and small children: it is to be avoided. The bridesmaids were accompanied by four very young girls --perhaps the oldest was nine but the youngest wasn't yet two years of age. Kids being kids, they didn't get the solemnity of the affair and the parents of the kids, having not bothered to instill any sort of discipline thus far, couldn't control them: the young one just wandered the stage at will, walking across the bridal train, pulling at the pantlegs of the misc groomsmen, and generally misbehaving.

One of the older kids --maybe five years of age-- broke ranks to try to restrain her younger sister but the younger one resisted and the older one just added to the chaos.

To his credit, the minister pushed ahead unfazed, not bothered or distacted in the slightest. In 30 minutes, all was complete but a handful of photographs in the chapel itself before we departed for the reception hall down the block.

The reception itself was pretty good too. We had perhaps 50+ guests in a quaint hall of a historic building. The caterers were prompt and the food was plentiful & delicious. The DJ played a good mix of music at appropriate volumes. Much mingling ensued.

All nearly ended perfectly except for an administrative hang-up: the caterer, while previously indicating the soft drinks bar & bartender's wages were included in the total, changed his tune. There was an unexpected bill of $366 for the bar and $84 for the bartender. Oops. Fortunately, we had brought the checkbook with us and we were well under budget from our estimates from the initial plans in the spring so all was rescued.

Per usual, we ended our day of family fun with ice cream. I had the cinnabun ice cream this time: highly recommended!

This morning, the hubbies went shopping at the Westside Market while I attempted to sleep in a little. I had no success: my crackberry was going nuts with incoming emergency pages from the office. While there was little I could to do help the work situation, I also couldn't easily ignore the crackberry, or simply turn it off in case something I could tackle should arise.

With reluctance, I eventually roused myself from bed to at least tend to some code deployments to our disaster recovery site, catch up on some minor documentation on our wiki and test some network adjustments made by our network engineering team.

When the boys returned home, we scooted out to "Mi Pueblo" for lunch: great food, fast service and very low price! I'd go back again.

By mid-afternoon, I was still feeling like a slug --as were the boys-- so we opted for a brief nap. Yay for mid-afternoon naps!

By late afternoon, we were on our way to the party supplies store to pick up some items, then off to the hall where tomorrow's reception following the wedding will be held. We were originally going to be assisting with decorating; somehow, we were placed largely in charge of it. The same sort of thing happened yesterday at the wedding rehearsal: kent4str and I were going to be there in support of cuyahogarvr (father of the groom) but have since been escalated to being ushers for the wedding and escorts for the bride's mother & aunt for the candle-lighting portion of the wedding. Whee!

Before ultimately getting to the hall decorating though, we returned to the same ice cream shop we visited yesterday. I wanted to have a double-scoop of the wintermint ice cream with hot fudge sauce, but my dear ones staged an intervention and talked me down to a single scoop. Bastards.

- Mine is the large one in front.

The decorating went well so after chatting & coordinating in the parking lot of the hall, the larger portion of the family sped off to the local Red Robin's for a light dinner. I was seated next to step-grandson Kevin again so brace yourself for baby cuteness:


We're now back at Casa Vannello, mellowing for the balance of the evening. We need to be back at the wedding hall for 9am tomorrow to do a final setup prior to the 10am service. Pray for sunshine!

cuyahogarvr playing with his 9 month old grandson:

I received my annual social security statement in the mail today. For the first time since I became eligible for social security (ie. worked for 10 years in the US) in 2006, I've compared the latest statements against the prior ones.

( Numbers follow... )

In any case, I'm still larding up my 401(k) as my primary retirement vehicle. If social security still exists in a recognizable form when I turn 67, it will be a happy supplement for my ice cream expenses rather than the core of my retirement budget.

I have nothing else for today so I offer the following:

My contribution for the meme du jour, flash your facial fur.

I called the regular club night for the Chesapeake Squares tonight: two Mainstream tips, a handful of Plus tips and a single Advanced tip. It was... interesting.

caller_dayle was on hand to give me an evaluation and offer some suggestions for things I should change or work on for future.

I thought the first tip went fairly well but he pointed out that I was unconsciously adding some unnecessary verbal commentary & feedback on mic during the tip. It was mostly harmless --one square was having difficulty so I would try to occasionally add a comment that their rebuilt formation was indeed correct or at least consistent with the other square, etc.. Dayle pointed out that while it wasn't harmful per se, it could be distracting for some dancers who are already burning up their synapses just trying to remember the actual call definitions. For the rest of the evening, I was to refrain from any speech on mic except for the calls themselves or cues if absolutely required. If I could turn this off & on as needed and was more self-aware of it, it would then become a useful tool in future rather than a habit or reflex.

Sticking to that plan was much harder than it sounds. Dead air just didn't sound right. Dayle did point out that silence is itself a tool when used judiciously. In any case, yes, turning a reflex into a managed tool would definitely be a Good Thing.

The other major item I must work on is smoothing out vocal delivery. When I started calling, I was hesitant and shy on mic: the calls were delivered feebly, without conviction and utterly without energy. It seems I've swing a little too far in the opposite direction so I now need to ratchet back the assertiveness & staccato delivery for something smoother and more consistent in intonation. Going comparatively deadpan for the balance of tonight sounded just as uncomfortable to me as the aforementioned dead air, but the point is to break my default inclination so that I can bring it under control and use the full range of expression at will as a tool in future.

My next calling gig is with the DC Lambda Squares on Thursday. It will be a challenge, but anything worth doing usually is.

It's another heavy week

No C2 tonight as our instructor has a schedule conflict.
I'm calling for the Chesapeake Squares Tuesday night.
No A2 Wednesday because the church needs the hall but I have to work a night shift.
I'm calling for the DC Lambda Squares Thursday night.
Friday is dedicated to happy hour.
Saturday, kent4str is teaching an all-day Mainstream class; I'll be an angel and possible guest caller if he'd like a break.

And in this entire mess, I'm the office on-call UNIX geek until next Tuesday.

We're now home from our latest trailer weekend, and the last for 2009.

It wasn't pretty.

The campground was a huge mudhole thanks to non-stop rain Friday and Saturday. Not only was it wet, it was cold. Thank god we have a trailer: we stayed in a great deal, enjoying the civilizing effects of a working furnace.

The leaves were changing colour, but the heavy overcast skies made even the brightest trees dingy and grey. I took a few photos (below) during occasional breaks but I suspect the real show will be next weekend with sunny skies and more trees in transition.

In all there, were about 30 people in the entire campground. The population drops off sharply after Labour Day but I suspect the weather also kept a lot of folks away. The next weekend will be a bigger draw as it is the annual halloween bash; we'd like to attend but have no end of scheduling conflicts preventing that.

One of the highlights Saturday was the annual chili cook-off. There were seven entries, including kent4str's contribution. Awards were given for hottest, most original, sweetest, best overall, etc.. kent4str's chili was tied with another for spiciest, which is evidence enough to me that people were voting to support their friends rather than honestly evaluating the chili: kent4str's contribution was the only hot chili in the lot. Indeed, submissions #5, #6 and #7 were utterly bland. I cannot fathom how #5 could be deemed to be a tie with kent4str's. Ah, well... there were no prizes in this contest beyond a certificate and it was fun to sample all the entries --as well as not have to clean-up our own kitchen.

As previously mentioned, we chose this weekend to winterize the trailer to close the season. All linens, paper products, foods & liquids and such were packed and brought home. All appliances were cleaned and powered down. The propane tanks were closed off and the battery removed. The water system was flushed with non-toxic antifreeze. The water & electrical feeds to the trailer were disconnected and wrapped in protective bags. The trailer itself was entirely wrapped in cover to protect it from the the worst of UV radiation, snow, hail and generally ugly weather.

The folks with trailers at Roseland will be invited to a reunion weekend in early February although the announcement of which city we will be visiting is to be announced next weekend. (The odds are in favour of Pittsburgh, PA.)

The camping season reopens the first weekend of April, 2010. I'm looking forward to it already!

( Click for photos... )

This past weekend, I slipped on a damp grassy slope and landed flat on my butt. There was only minor embarrassment to me although my clothes gained some grass stains. A few minutes later, I noticed that my camera also took a hit: there was a tiny scratch in the lens. Regular close-up shots show a blur in the upper left quadrant although use of the telephoto mode fades it out so it is unnoticeable.

The lens is built into the camera, not an add-on like an SLR. Checking with Olympus, they would fix it for a prix-fixe of $160 USD. To help decide if this was worthwhile, I went to eBay to see what the going market value of the camera is currently. The bids seemed to run about $130 USD, making that decision pretty easy.

Checking a little further, I found an auction for the next model up for my camera for only $120. In the next 24 hours, the bidding went up slowly but I ultimately won it for $153 including shipping, a 2GB card, a USB cable, lens cleaning items, a carrying case, etc..

I won't have the toy for the coming weekend of fall foliage but I'll live.

My Blackberry has a lovely feature: the ability to disable data services when roaming. I shudder to think how much of a bill I could have run up checking email internationally! Being able to at least have the telephone functions available for emergencies has been a comfort.

The lack of email checking also had a clear impact on the battery life. Normally, I need to recharge my Storm every 48 hours. I've only had to do that once since arriving last Thursday. It will take some experimentation to determine if the energy expense is in the telecommunications or in the screen illumination when I look to see what news has just arrived.

Thank god Halifax Airport has free public wifi: I've been able to catch up on email at both home & work, cleaning up hundreds of messages. Otherwise, my poor PDA would explode with overactivity the moment it came within ping distance of a Verizon Wireless tower!

I've noticed a few personal changes over the past few days.

Despite much walking, my right knee is still holding up relatively well. I did give it a mild twist after sliding on wet grass on Sunday but it was only a minor setback. Wearing the knee brace during yesterday's hike was probably a really good idea; I'll keep it for square dancing for another month or so but will probably stop wearing it on a daily basis.

My carpal tunnel syndrome in my left wrist has improved. I was feeling the old familiar twinges in my wrist and pressure sensitivity in my fingertips a few weeks ago. Using a wrist brace helped but the only real cure is stop typing for a while. The past five days in Halifax have dramatically reduced my keyboarding so all is back to normal.

I can apparently still function on five hours of sleep per night for at least five days. All the tourist stuff has kept me on my toes, trying to pack in as much family time and site-seeing during this limited visit in essentially a new territory for me (I've only been to Halifax once before, 15+ years ago). I really do need a solid extended night's sleep in my own bed and, more imporantly, on my own pillow.

I've just completed my registration for the upcoming LISA conference, taking advantage of the discounted registration rate prior to October 12, 2009.