Nix wrote:

One person at work keeps a file named -i in important directories on Solaris boxes, just to catch rm *'s in them.

Do they keep an extra pair of underpants in their car in case they shit themselves on the way to work?

Earlier this week, tyggerjai and bunnikins stopped in lovely San José, so 2wanda and i, plus elmuchacho, met them for lunch at Morocco's Restaurant.  It was a lovely repast, from start to finish, and we were regaled with tales of high-flying Russians.

Saturday, Kim and i had brunch and conversation with syringavulgaris and blarglefiend at Scrambl'z, which is what you'd get if Denny's didn't suck.  Later that night, we headed to dr_memory and missionista's last hurrah party before the birth of their child, where i finally met illspoken, who is a delightful conversationalist.

Remember, if you come to town, contact me.  Then offer me food or booze.  Only good things can happen.

Billy O'Connell, Kristin Hersh's husband and manager, has coined the following term:

IMbush v. to interrupt or virtually 'jump' someone when you spy their IM status change to 'available'

<davewsmith_blog> so, the bizarro 'this can't be happening' bug today is eventually explained as documented ms sql server behavior.
<dws> when provided with a datetime in milliseconds, it rounds to the nearest 1/300th of a second, which may be in the future.

It's usually a bad sign when a contrarian reverses position, right?

 

This is all lifeinbeta's fault.

<ronebofh> palecur: netflix is big on not hiring assholes.
<palecur> rone: for true? That is a good thing
<rone> but i slipped in anyway.
<palecur> you're not an asshole
<palecur> you just sometimes get ridden by Baron Rectum, the asshole loa
<palecur> then we throw rum at you and youre ok

Q: What do you call a plan to stack your raw fish in a pyramid and pour citrus-soy sauce over it?

A: A ponzu scheme.

The Communist dictatorship doesn't always crush the pacifist monks, but that's the way Tibet.

Dave Grohl (Nirvana & Foo Fighters) got Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and John Paul fuckin' Jones (do i need to say it?) together in a new band, Them Crooked Vultures. They're touring now (sadly, only east of the Mississippi and Europe).

Thanks to syringavulgaris for the heads-up.

The only healthcare system that thrives in a true free market is the one where you get a proctological exam from Adam Smith's invisible hand.  And always remember: a free market is worth exactly what you paid for it.

I'm going to register Republican so that i can vote for Tom Campbell for governor in the primary election.

I've been spending more time with Hallcrest: i prepared yeast and added it to a tank of chardonnay i helped harvest; i showed up at 06:45 one morning to help sanitize the bottling machine; and last weekend, 2wanda came with me to help pick a bunch of cabernet sauvignon grapes (we got just over a ton) at some recondite house almost smack dab in the middle of the line between Morgan Hill and Scotts Valley, after which we had a big party to celebrate.  I'll be picking more grapes for them on Sunday.  In addition to that, we pressed our pinot noir, which yielded nine gallons.

Still no job, although i'm feeling quite hopeful that i'll be employed by the end of the month.  I've gotten some valuable (and some not-so-valuable) feedback from places that have turned me down.

I got up at 05:10 on Saturday to go to Los Altos Hills and pick grapes for Hallcrest, along with eight high schoolers who were raising money for their soccer academy.  We harvested about 2 tons of chardonnay and a half-ton of pinot noir.  After a midday break, i headed to the winery to experience the first crush of the season.  The chardonnay fruit was dumped straight into the press, and while that was being processed, the pinot noir fruit was crushed and destemmed, then packed away with a CO₂ blanket.  I was exhausted by the end of the day, and a full night's sleep wasn't enough to restore me.

On Sunday, after going to the garden and picking about a bajillion tomatoes, 2wanda, her mom, and i headed to Hollister to buy our pinot noir for this year's wine.  We bought it from the same folks from whom we bought it last year.  After that, we headed down the road to taste at DeRose, whose wine is notably higher in alcohol than average, but you wouldn't know it from its flavor.  I've been a fan of their négrette, but their late harvest viognier was a revelation; it was subtle and far from the sweetness you'd expect in a dessert wine.

I spent the day today at Hallcrest again, helping them bottle a couple of cabernet sauvignons and a pinot noir.  The bottler is a little fussy and we had a few hiccups, but we got through them and didn't break a single bottle.  Also, i am helping translate for one of the employees, whose English is poor.  My experience is growing in leaps and bounds!

I received a call from my House Representative, Zoe Lofgren (and i note that it's not Zoë because she doesn't pronounce the 'e' in her name), asking me to join a phone conference about health care reform.  The various people who chimed in with comments and questions ran the gamut from people who showed various levels of support and opposition who made civil and thoughtful contributions, to outright morons, such as one dolt who said, "I don't want the government in charge of health care.  I'm an employer and people tell me they don't want benefits, and if they need anything they'll just get it for free at the emergency room."  Another clown added, "Health insurance companies want to turn a profit, and there's nothing wrong with making a profit; that's what this country was founded on."  Funny, i thought this country was founded on tax evasion.

It's been a rough few weeks, interviewing for jobs, getting turned down by some, waiting for contact from others, and dealing with family shit.  Once we finished moving butterflygenius to her new digs yesterday, 2wanda and i finally got to unwind and went to Hallcrest Vineyards for a barrel tasting which toropeza kindly paid for.  While there, i spoke to the winemaker, and knowing that it's getting pretty close to harvest time, asked him if there was anything i could do for him, so that i could get practical experience in commercial wine production to go with my fancy book larnin'.  He told me that, in fact, he'd be giving some training today on using the equipment involved in the crush, such as the crusher/destemmer and the bladder press, as well as other equipment and steps.  I jumped at the opportunity and not only did i learn a lot this morning, he fed us all some very tasty baby back ribs for lunch.  I need to look at my schedule so i can send it to him so he can let me know when he can use me next; they'll be bottling tomorrow, but i have an interview, so i'll be sadly missing that.  Nonetheless, today was very encouraging and educational.

In many ways, foreign health-care models are not really "foreign" to America, because our crazy-quilt health-care system uses elements of all of them. For Native Americans or veterans, we're Britain: The government provides health care, funding it through general taxes, and patients get no bills. For people who get insurance through their jobs, we're Germany: Premiums are split between workers and employers, and private insurance plans pay private doctors and hospitals. For people over 65, we're Canada: Everyone pays premiums for an insurance plan run by the government, and the public plan pays private doctors and hospitals according to a set fee schedule. And for the tens of millions without insurance coverage, we're Burundi or Burma: In the world's poor nations, sick people pay out of pocket for medical care; those who can't pay stay sick or die.

If there are problems within the Obama Administration's healthcare plan, let's identify them and argue about them.  But let's knock off the goddamn FUD.  The Red Scare's been over for decades, OK?

I have read some stuff out there about how Romney's healthcare plan in Massachusetts could be a viable alternative to Obama's plan, because it doesn't have the dreaded Maoist public option, and yet everyone is covered anyway.  What is your view of it, as someone living with it?

(source)