Author Archives: bilborg

About bilborg

I am who I am, there's plenty of data on this site to tell you more. Briefly, I'm a husband, computer geek, avid reader, gardener, and builder of furniture.

Launch weekend

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Well, it was a launch for NASA’s LADEE mission, a lunar orbiter (full name Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer”), from Wallops Island in Virginia. I headed up by the tennis courts to get a better south east view, further from the trees. Using binoculars, I was able to clearly see the ascent from about 10 seconds post-launch, through first stage separation and second stage firing, and on into the distance for a long while. Very cool. Usually the Wallops launches aren’t so spectacular, and I’m usually clouded in and can’t see them anyway from this distance.

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In other news, I stripped Scientific Linux (a Red Hat respin distro) off of Serenity, the home Linux box, and refettled the hardware with the latest Kubuntu. For a home box, I wanted a bit more versatility and package selection than SL had on offer. Start to finish about 24 hours. Lots of stuff to copy off the old box, then rebuild RAID and boot stuff, copy backups on again, and configure services so that all the assorted jobs and services that depend on this system work again. All good now, far as I can tell.

Also over the weekend, I started re-finishing the small table I had in my office – that’ll be an occasional table in the guest bedroom once I’ve got enough coats of poly on it.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and unit of this fallen warrior:

  • Staff Sgt. Todd J. Lobraico Jr., 22, of New Fairfield, Connecticut, died Sept. 5, 2013, from wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

Travels done

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And we’re back!

Nine days in California and in the air are done: We flew out to SFO on the 22nd, and flew back through DFW on the 30th. We visited with my folks for about three days, then headed over to SF and stayed there while I attended VMworld 2013. I attended three general sessions and 19 technical sessions in four and one-half days … my brain nearly exploded. I watched countless demos, met many wonderful and smart people, and acquired enough t-shirts to last me until the next millennium. The weather was lovely, and Marcia split her time between the City and learning some design software.

While in the air, I was reading a couple of Liaden Universe novels by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Agent of Change and Fledgling are both available for free at both the Baen Free Library and on Kindle for the time being. You can consider those to works to be a gateway drug, since the writing is wonderful. You’ll spend some more of your time and money on their books, because you should. Learn more at http://korval.com/.

I’m not sure, but I’d guess that the authors get more of your money if you purchase through Baen … you can always ask them. It’s certainly worth encouraging the Baen Free Library when you buy from Baen, too.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • 1st Lt. Jason Togi, 24, of Pago Pago, American Samoa, died Aug. 26, in Hasan Karez, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
  • Sgt. 1st Class Ricardo D. Young, 34, of Rosston, Arkansas, died Aug. 28, in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire.
  • Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, 24, of Staten Island, New York, died Aug. 28, in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device, small arms and indirect fire.
  • Staff Sgt. Joshua J. Bowden, 28, of Villa Rica, Georgia, died Aug. 31, in Ghazni, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire while on dismounted patrol.

Virtually busy

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I’ve been doing a lot with virtualization at work recently (using VMware), and at home too, using KVM on Scientific Linux. It’s fun multiplying my hardware without spending any money (at home, grin). The garden is sad, and the heat is back.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • 1st Lt. Timothy G. Santos Jr., 29, of Helena, Alabama, died Aug. 18, in Fort Bliss, Texas, from a non-combat related illness diagnosed on March 24, in Kuwait City, Kuwait.
  • Master Sgt. George A. Bannar Jr., 37, of Orange, Virginia, died Aug. 20, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire in Wardak Province, Afghanistan.
  • Spc. Kenneth Clifford Alvarez, 23, of Santa Maria, California, died Aug. 23 in Haft Asiab, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device during combat operations.
  • Pvt. Jonathon Michael Dean Hostetter, 20, of Humphreys, Missouri, died Aug. 23 in Haft Asiab, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device during combat operations.

Working weekend

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It was a working weekend. Not as much as others in my department, but several hours yesterday, plus early morning snapshots and patching this AM. I note this not to whinge about it, but to observe how important it is for me to do things the right way, regardless of the time of day or week. Some tasks require commitments outside of business hours, and I’m happy to do that, and enjoy a job well done. “Well … enough.” anyway, as GladOS would say.

I’m also caught up on the coffee roasting, did the shopping and a self-inflicted hair cut today, and managed to relax for a couple of hours each day, so life is pretty darn good. Oh, yeah, and I made a lobster pot full of red sauce. Yum!

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Staff Sgt. Octavio Herrera, 26, of Caldwell, Idaho, died Aug. 11, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with indirect fire.
  • Sgt. Jamar A. Hicks, 22, of Little Rock, Arkansas, died Aug. 11, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with indirect fire.
  • Spc. Keith E. Grace Jr., 26, of Baytown, Texas, died Aug. 11, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with indirect fire.

1400 miles later …

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Saturday last we departed for the big vacation of the summer, and spent a week in Saugatuck, Michigan, with family from Marcia’s side of the tree. Good times, picnic with grand-nieces and -nephews, etc. Oh, yeah, and three days of fishing. We did some shore fishing on Kalamazoo Lake, and managed a couple of dozen fish between us – all catch and release. Here’s one of the carp that Marcia reeled in:

Marcia's carp

Marcia’s carp

The drive was 700 miles each way, taking about 10 hours and change on each of the Saturdays. Overall, we got 34.8 MPG out of the 328i for this trip, which isn’t too shabby.

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Back due to popular request, the back yard rain gauge stands at 37.50″ fallen since just before Sandy came ashore last fall.

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Our condolences to the family, friends, and unit of Specialist Welch:

  • Spc. Nickolas S. Welch, 26, of Mill City, Oregon, died Aug. 6, in Bethesda, Md., of injuries sustained July 23, when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device in Soltan Kheyl, Wardak Province, Afghanistan.

Cool times

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Very oddly for July and August around here, it’s been quite cool. Lows were in the high 50’s, and highs in the mid-80’s, with mild humidity. Quite strange. And a month of solid rain, followed by heat, did nothing good for the garden. It’s dying early, sad to say.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Sgt. Eric T. Lawson, 30, of Stockbridge, Georgia, died July 27, in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device and small arms fire.
  • Spc. Caryn E. Nouv, 29, of Newport News, Virginia, died July 27, in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked her vehicle with an improvised explosive device and small arms fire.
  • Sgt. Stephen M. New, 29, of Bartlett, Tennessee, died July 28, in Bagram, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by small arms fire in the Sarobi District of Kabul Province, Afghanistan.
  • Spc. Nicholas B. Burley, 22, of Red Bluff, California, died July 30, in Pul-E-Alam, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with indirect fire.

 

Garden bonanza

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Garden bonanza!

Garden bonanza!

Serrano and habañero peppers, lots of several different types of tomato, a few cucumbers, and a bunch of potatoes – all this came out of the garden this evening. Some of that stack became first salsa of the season: Tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro from the garden, yellow onion and a bit of garlic from the store: Yum! Oh, yeah … the salsa became dinner. I’m likely to regret that, but it was super delicious.

Home Office Done!

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Here’s the picture I envisioned for the office, back in October, when I was in the home-stretch on the degree warpath:

Brian's proposed office furniture and layout

Brian’s proposed office furniture and layout

I started working on the project in mid-December, apparently moments after I was done with the final paper of the last course I took. In early February, I installed the first shelving unit. Today I installed the final piece – the back counter, which is fabricated from 3/4 cherry ply and banded with hard maple (thus complementing the desk in the center of the room).

I’ve built every piece of furniture in my office, discounting the Aeron chair … I’m pretty damn proud of it, too. No one piece is perfect – they all have flaws, but they’re mine. Huzzah.

Brian's Office - View 1

Brian’s Office – View 1

Brian's Office - View 2

Brian’s Office – View 2

Brian's Office - View 3

Brian’s Office – View 3

Sadly, this apparently means that I now have to start working on Marcia’s list of things to be done…

 

Last days

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For the home office refurb project, that is. Today, I fabricated and attached the hard maple edge banding onto the back desktop. I also got two coats of poly applied. Depending on how it feels tomorrow, it’ll either get two more coats of poly, or get installed. I’m hoping for the latter. The garden has languished for attention, but I’m probably going to make salsa in the next couple of days for the first time this year. Yay!

Legacy technology

Legacy technology

I spotted some legacy tech today while shopping. I think you pick that thing up, put in some coins, and talk Ernestine into connecting you with your party.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Spc. Anthony R. Maddox, 22, of Port Arthur, Texas, died July 22, in Landstuhl, Germany, of a non-combat related incident that occurred in Andar, Afghanistan.
  • 1st Lt. Jonam Russell, 25, of Cornville, Arizona, died July 23, in Soltan Kheyl, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Sgt. Stefan M. Smith, 24 of Glennville, Georgia, died July 23, in Soltan Kheyl, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Rob L. Nichols, 24, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, died July 23, in Soltan Kheyl, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

It ain’t a Dry Heat.

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It’s been, finally, much like a DC summer for the last couple of weeks. The rain stopped coming, except for pop-up thunderstorms that miss us, north or south. Heat and humidity are the order of the day, every day. We were supposed to have a front through last night, and cooler temps behind, but there was no rain for us, and it was 90+ by nine in the morning.

However, finally, some significant amounts of tomatoes are coming out of the garden (though mostly still cherry, but you won’t hear me complain, they’re yummy):

Cherry tomato haul

Cherry tomato haul

A couple of other tomatoes, some cucumbers, and a few peppers round out the day.

Most of the last week, outside of work, has been a march to get the finishes on the two cabinets. I think I’m done with those … but I have a problem. I used up the last of an old batch of poly on the drawer/door fronts. A new can of poly (same brand and type, but new) is going on the carcasses. Sadly, the fronts are a LOT yellower. Frantically different. I’m either going to have to live with it, or strip the finishes and start over. Right now, my vote is “live with it.” If I change my mind later, I’ll take the drawer fronts and door off, and redo them. Later. Much later.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

Lance Cpl. Benjamin W. Tuttle, 19, of Gentry, Arkansas, died July 14 at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center following a medical evacuation from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), during a scheduled port visit in the 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility.

Staff Sgt. Sonny C. Zimmerman, 25, of Waynesfield, Ohio, died July 16, in Mushaka, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was attacked by a rocket propelled grenade.