Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Of Compulsive Flossing and Super Powers

I hate dentists. When I was still in high school I went in for a teeth cleaning. That guy was an incarnation of Satan. Not in the good way. Every part of my mouth he touched hurt. Now I know why he was wearing a mask. It was to hide the glee he took in inflicting pain. Evil Bastard. That’s what he was, and so was the rest of the staff. Short version is that I avoided going to the dentist. I had adopted the notion that they were all evil bastards intent on causing pain.

I went 19 years without seeing a dentist. Add to that the fact that for a good number of years I thought turning 30 would be the end of the world.

Wednesday afternoon one of my teeth started to hurt. Now this tooth, it had caused me a bit of pain in the past, but I wasn’t going to see an Evil Bastard. Any of them. The pain got worse. Vitamin ‘I’ just wasn’t doing it. By 11pm I was taking about 1gram of ibuprofen an hour. When Thursday morning eventually came, which seemed to take it’s sweet ass time to get there, I knew that either I was going to take the tooth out, or I was going to have to visit an Evil Bastard.

This was a tough decision.

I had waited too long. Buried my head in the sand and hoped that everything would be ok. I began to call around to find a dentist that could see me right away. Perhaps if I’d been to the dentist in say, the last 19 years, I’d know that Evil Bastards take Thursdays off. Close to an hour of calling later I reach an Evil Bastard that has a nice receptionist. She said that the Evil Bastard, she didn’t call him that of course, could see me as soon as I could get there. On one hand, I was relieved; the pain might stop soon. On the other hand, there was a good chance that this Evil Bastard was a big enough sadist that having a sweet and concerned sounding receptionist just added to the fun; I could almost hear the whir of a drill bit in the background. I told the Evil Bastards pain thrall that I’d be there as soon as I could. I got directions and headed out the door. The EB’s office was next to the states largest shopping center. As I got close, there seemed to be a lot of police everywhere. The street that I’d planned on taking was closed. Blocked off by cruisers. Did they open a Krispy Kreme? I parked a few blocks away and walked in agony.

When I got the office, the minion of pain behind the desk did a great job of pretending that she was worried about me. After filling out the Patient Information Survey, or was it “Your Going To Scream And By Signing This, We Get To Enjoy It”, I was seated with a glorious view of the Pacific Ocean. The Evil Bastard showed up a moment later. He wasn’t wearing a mask. Ok, now what does that mean? We talked a bit. He asked for a little history, and I told him that all Dentists were Evil Bastards. Ok, so I managed to be a tad politically correct at that point. He explained the pain scale from one to ten, with one being a little pain. I told him that the previous night and that morning I was at eight to nine. I told him that I was at a six then. This is all before I opened my mouth. He said that he needs to take a look and will not touch anything. He looked, and kept his word. I saw this as just another little thing to make me lower my guard. He applied some topical pain numbing gel to the tooth and gums around the tooth and did a closer inspection. His minion took an x-ray of the tooth. EB kept asking me where the pain level was, saying that the longer I could go without getting a pain shot, the better blah blah blah. I honestly don’t remember why. I figured it was bullshit and just glee seeking.

When the x-ray came back he told me it was a badly abscessed tooth and gave me three options:
1. He could give me some pain meds and I’d end up in more pain. (I read this as pulling my own tooth out with pliers in the garage)
2. He could drill an opening and relieve some of the pressure, but it would be just a matter of time before it became infected again.
3. He could pull the tooth and there was a good chance that the pain and infection would go away.

This is the point where everything seemed very surreal. I had been in some serious pain for about 20 hours. I managed to get about a hour of sleep when I chased eight 750mg Ibuprofen with rot gut vodka. I must have said I would have to think about it as he asked for the pain number (now seven) and walked away. Was he really going to take my tooth out.. just like that? In retrospect, it doesn’t seem all that implausible, I was thinking of doing it myself. There was an even chance that Doctor Pain Bringer was going to at least pretend to numb my aching tooth. When he came back I told him to yank it. He used a topical numbing patch on the roof of my mouth and said that the roof of the mouth is very thick. When he was ready to give me the first shot, he said “This will hurt, but it’s going to feel better in two seconds. Ready?” I mumbled yes and while I wasn’t looking, he swapped the needle with a dull pencil. That was a 9 on the pain-o-meter. It was a long pencil too. I counted onemississippi twomississippi threemississippi FOURMISSISSIPPI FIVEMISSISSIPPI SIXMIssissippi and the pain dropped back down to a seven. A tear had dripped down into my right ear. He gave me brief nod and said he’d come back in five minutes and the pain should be at zero. “Finally”, I thought to myself.

(I realize that this blog has Flossing and Super Powers in the title and I’ve yet to mention either. They’re coming)

I tried to pay attention to the pain and by pure force of will, make it recede. Very slowly, it dropped to six, and then to five. The dentist came back, and asked how I was doing. I said, “Five.” and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“Hmm, we need that to be zero. Let’s get you another shot then” as he thrust the needle (Yes, the needle this time) into the roof of my mouth. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
When he came back, the pain was no longer in my tooth, but in my whole jaw bone on one side, and the roof of my mouth was almost flat from the teeth on one side to the teeth on the other. When he returned, I mumbled “Four” and the look on his face was genuine astonishment.
“A few more minutes” he said turning and walking away.
The pain had not subsided when he returned the second time. He gave me the third shot into the pincushion, er, roof of my mouth and walked away to talk with his staff.
When he returned, the pain had gone away, though the feeling of surrealism had increased ten fold. I told him zero and he wiggled the angry tooth to confirm. I could feel it moving, but the pain was gone. Of course, my entire head was numb, including the opposite side ear.

(Gory tooth removal details here – removed so I don’t wright a Michener novel)

He finished up and told me that the abscess was worse than the x-ray showed. If all went well, I should heal up fine. He packed some gauss into the gap and told me to bite down Delirious, I got up, thanked him and went to settle my account. He wrote me a prescription for Vicadin and Amoxacillin and headed off to the next patient. As I spoke with the nice receptionist about my follow up appointment and current charges, the pain began to creep back. By the time she had run my charge card the pain was back up to a five. This was 20 minutes after the dentist (yes, I did not call him an evil bastard) had finished. Not wanting to be a wuss, I tried to deal with it. As the pain rose, my ability to pay attention to the receptionist failed. I asked her if it was supposed to hurt and she scurried off to get the dentist.

I’d like to say that the look on the dentists face was.. something interesting.. but I just don’t recall.
He asked, “Where’s the…”
“Slebin” I mumbled with a mouth full of pain and soggy guass.
He hurried me over to a chain and popped ten to twelve shots into my mouth, along the gums and swollen roof of my mouth. He was very surprised to see some one shrug off three shots and said that those shots should have lasted at least three hours. The new shots usually last eight hours, though he thought that I would only get four or so. He told me to go fill the prescriptions and go home, I was going to be in for a long day. The pain gradually dropped down to around two, which is below where I usually bust out Vitamin I. Heading back to the office (I blame that on the drugs), I started to feel a little tired.

Walking into the office, I do remember seeing the looks on people’s faces. I must have looked like shit. After stumbling around the office for a few minutes I was sent home.

I drove to the drug store and decided to close my eyes for a bit. I passed out for an hour and a half. The pain was back. Vicadin only took the edge off the pain. I ended up taking the Vicadin with 750mg of Ibuprofen so I could focus enough to work.

I feel privileged. Most people don’t ever get to discover what their Super Power is. Mine? I’m nearly immune to certain pain medications. When I called the dentist, such a fine fellow, and told him how quickly the medication wore off, he said that in 17 years of dentistry, he’d never had someone metabolize the painkillers that quickly.

But what about the flossing, you ask?

At my follow up visit, a week later, the hygenist taught me about flossing. Lack of flossing is why that tooth got abscessed.
Fear of a pencil being driven through the roof of my mouth has turned me into a compulsive flosser. I carry floss with me now.

Thanks for reading.. go floss your teeth.
And make sure to get down into the gums.

Maarburg.

Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'43.98 W158 01'06.29
Elevation: 12ft
(accurate to within 16ft)

Friday, July 14, 2006

I don't understand.

The most popular way that nations make electricity is the burning of natural gas.
Iran is estimated to have the worlds second largest natural gas reserves; numbering nearly 16% of the total.

Why is it thinking of using nuclear power for electricity?

Option One: Iran knows that the world is rapidly running through it's gas and oil reserves and is trying to get nuclear power online before the cost of oil and natural gas extraction drive the cost of using fossil fuels through the roof.

Option Two: Nuclear Bombs are great deterrents to invasion and intimidation.



Marburg
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'43.98' W158 01'06.29
Elevation: 12ft
(accurate to within 11ft)

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Just started reading Getting Things Done

and found this interesting quote:
Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs."
-Vaclav Havel


Marburg
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'43.98' W158 01'06.29
Elevation: 12ft
(accurate to within 11ft)

Monday, June 26, 2006

Unnecessary.

What's the deal with 'u' following 'q'?
Always.
(OK, not always, but damn near often enough to be considered always.)
Quickly, think of a word that has the letter "q" but not the letter 'u' behind it.

If you came up with more than just "Qantas", as in the airlines, you probably are very familiar with the Arabic or Hebrew.

In fact, there are only twelve words recognized as legal for use in scrabble in North America that do not have a 'u' following a 'q'.

So my question is.. why do we bother typing the damn 'u'. To me, it just seems like an unnecessary step. North America has over half a billion people, and lets assume that only 1/2 of them are literate. So you have 250,000,000 people typing or writing this completely unnecessary vowel.

Think of the productivity gains.

Question to Qestion
Quotation to Qotation
Quarter to Qarter
Qualified to Qalified
Queen to Qeen
Quick to Qick.

Just thinking of the time we could all save.

(don't get me started on how 'beard' and 'heard' don't sound the same)
Marburg
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'43.98' W158 01'06.29
Elevation: 12ft
(accurate to within 11ft)

Monday, June 05, 2006

Balance.

Why is it that even though, as a species, we never seem to be quite
as productive as we think we can be? The zen answer is that we fail
simply by trying. By wanting, and acting on that want, we create
the pain of not having, and the pain of want. And that works out…
until we have to start doing things like paying the mortgage and car
bill and food bill. That requires us to go to work. Work requires us to
succeed. Which, by it’s nature is quite un-zen. So, where does that
leave us? Trying to balance zen and non zen, when zen means that
all things are interconnected, and in fact there is no line separating
this from that. Unless we give up the house and the car and actually
live…

There’s no way that T will dig on that vibe. Though I do see hints of
the answer in simplicity. Complex answers are almost never correct.

P38Pilot
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'42.15" W157 51'32.79
Elevation: 144ft
(accurate to within 11ft)

Thursday, May 04, 2006

What you wont hear in the mass media...

20060503
On November 1, 1979 Iran's new leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini urged his people to demonstrate against United States and Israeli interests. Ruhollah Khomeini was anti-American in his rhetoric, denouncing the American government as the "Great Satan" and "Enemies of Islam".

On November 4, amid another chaotic occupation of the grounds, a mob of around 500 Iranian students calling themselves the Muslim Students Following the Line of the Imam (although reported numbers vary from 300 to 2000) seized the main embassy building. The guard of Marines was thoroughly outnumbered, and staff rushed to destroy communications equipment and sensitive documents. Out of 90 occupants, 66 were taken captive, including three who were taken from the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Fourteen women, African Americans and non-US captives were soon released, leaving 52 who remained captive until their release in January 1981. Ayatollah Khomeini claimed he was not aware of the students' plan, but he applauded the action afterwards (Though in actuality he had been informed by the "Muslim Students" on November 3).

Former hostages Dr. William Daugherty (who worked for the CIA in Iran), Kevin Hermening, David Roeder, US Army Col. Charles Scott (Ret.), and US Navy Capt. Donald Sharer (Ret.) have alleged that Iran's later president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (elected 2005) was among the hostage takers. All of them have claimed that they are certain that Ahmadinejad is the man whom they remember from their captivity.

Col. Charles Scott recently told the Washington Times [1] that "He was one of the top two or three leaders; the new president of Iran is a terrorist."

On 10 January 2006, President Ahmadinejad declared that his government is following the "religious mission" initiated by Navvab Safavi, a Shi'a cleric who assassinated the historian and author Ahmad Kasravi in 1946 for "insulting Islam." In 2001, Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, Ahmadinejad’s ideological mentor, praised Safavi and encouraged Muslims in taking similar steps against the "enemies of Islam." [15] [16]

There have been allegations that Ahmadinejad was involved in terrorist activities during the Islamic Revolution (given the gaps in Ahmadinejad's official biography for that period), and he has been connected to senior Hezbollah figure and terrorist, Imad Mughniyeh [17].

In December 2005 Ahmadinejad made several controversial statements regarding the Holocaust and the State of Israel, at one point referring to the Holocaust as a "myth" and criticizing European laws against Holocaust denial. He said that although he does not know whether or not nor to what extent the Holocaust occurred, if it had in fact occurred, European countries should make amends to the Jewish people by giving them land to establish a state in "Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska" instead of making "the innocent nation of Palestine pay for this crime". The statements were condemned by many world leaders.

Ahmadinejad is believed by many to belong, or to have once belonged, to the anti-Bahai and anti-Sunni clandestine society known as Hojjatieh. An Islamic society to which Ahmadinejad belonged when he attended Alm-u Sanat University was, according to an article that appeared in the Asia Times Online, an extreme, traditional, and fundamentalist group that maintained close links with Hojjatieh. Three members of Ahmadinejad's cabinet are said to have Hojjatieh backgrounds, including Hojatoleslam Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejehyi, the intelligence chief who graduated from the Haqqani theological school, founded by Hojjatieh. Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, a Shi'ite cleric closley associated with the school, issued a fatwa urging two million members of the bassij Islamic militia to vote for Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential elections.


The current president of Iran is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and is currently working very hard to develop nuclear technology.


References provided upon request.


P38Pilot
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'43.98' W158 01'06.29
Elevation: 12ft
(accurate to within 11ft)

Monday, April 24, 2006

Public Radio

Recently, say from Jan '06 or so, I've been listening to quite a bit of public radio.

I learn quite a few interesting things....

The Panama Canal is over 92 years old, and they are thinking of widening the lochs to accommodate the new fleet of cargo ships.

There are 104 Nuclear energy plants in the US, and none of them were build after the Chernobyl disaster; 20 years ago.

Earth Day was started over 36 years ago.

Good thing I have a blog, or this information would just be wasted.

:-)

P38Pilot
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'43.98' W158 01'06.29
Elevation: 12ft
(accurate to within 11ft)

Monday, April 17, 2006

A question of ethics?

The owner of the company currently work for is racist.

There's just no other way to say it.

Now in the islands, there's a bit more flexibility and tongue-in-cheek about race. In fact there is a very popular comedian that does entire bits dealing with race. But there is a significant difference between comedy and racism.

I don't think there way to use the word 'nigger' in a sales meeting and it not be racist.

I was flabbergasted... and I still am. At first, I thought it was an attempt a humor. A poor attempt, like most of his analogies. I was wrong. Over the last few months, he has made comments that confirm my belief. "The darker side of town"..

I am usually a rather understanding kind of person, but this is just stupidity backed by arrogance.

P38Pilot
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'43.98' W158 01'06.29
Elevation: 12ft
(accurate to within 11ft)

Monday, April 10, 2006

The Book - Translated

Quoted Text from one of my favorite authors... in a new languate.

Bizarre and then some!

"lu le cukta li'u tcita ledi'e xe fanva be le lisri pefi'e la xypyp. lyfkreft. zi'epede'i li ji'ipasocivo .itu'efu'eju'ocu'i

ni'oni'o mojykalsa .i'unaisai bu'ocu'i .i norju'o ledu'u le cfari mokca pu fasnu ca ba'e makau .iki'ubo so'iroixipa se'o banli .ii purci mi .ije so'iroixireku'i se'o le cabna cu mokca co selsru le grusi je tarmycau cimni .iji'a ca'o benji ledei notci fu le nalselju'o .iju'a mi cusku .iku'i ruble jijnu ledu'u le xe benji bele selsku be mi be'o bei le stuzi be le tersku poi mi djica ke'a ku'o ba cizra jela'aru'e baltepygau .iji'a cfipu murse fa le mibypre smuni .iru'a ba'o banli te jenca lifri .iju'eru'e krasi fa le mabla se manci jalge be lemi nunrapli poi rircyrai je tolfadni lifyfau .i ri mulno je se birti se krinu lebi'u curselgre cukta goiko'a .i .a'e morji le fakstu ko'a .i puki manku je jibni le xekri je raskai rirxe poi stodi muvdu bumru cnita .i revycla mutce se kumfa .i le kajna co gu'e fusra cukta culno gi drudi tcena cu simlu co fanmycau porsi vile cankycau ke nenri kumfa je kevna .iji'a barda je tarmycau derxi le cukta vi le loldi .e le rufsu tanxe .i mi facki fi le ko'a vi pale derxi .i na snada lemu'e cilre le cukta tcita .i claxu le crane papri .i ko'a karzukte vi le cukta fanmo .ibabo mi suksa je tortei viska da poi runtygau le sarxe flexu pele gasysanji

ni'o steci da .i mu'a liste le se cusku je se zukte ku .i'u.iire'e.a'unaisai .i da tcidu slabu mi sedi'o le se ciska noi mlimipri ke'a zi'enoi rigni joi cinrycai ku'o bele mintu be fu'e.u'ere'e le cizra je tolcni pevykakpa be fi le snura se mipri bele munje be'obe'o poi mi pu djica je ckire tcidu le cukta befi ke'a .i .au.a'afu'epe'a ckiku je gidvu fu'o ko'egoi lebi'u gremokca je banrytadji poi le cesyfenki ru'i senva je blesku ke'a ze'upu le remna nuncfa ku'o zi'epoi gasnu le te facki .e le se zifre vu'ovoi bancu le marjymunje .e le plini .e le kesycanlu joike temci te cimde vu'o poi slabu mi'o fu'o .i sorctona'arbalvi lenu zo'e morji gi'a djuno co stuzi vau da .i ko'a ba'e revycla .i genai le minjypri gi le fekmli jdasivni xance ba'o ciska leko'a ckape je latmo jufra peseci'a le ruvle'u co se manci ka tolcni

ni'o ki .a'e morji lenu ko'igoi lebi'u nanmu noi tolcni puki gege ckasu se jvinu gi cizra cmila gi nalsau xansni zukte calenu mi ko'a batybei .i puku ko'i toltugni lenu mi fi vo'a pleji ko'a kei mu'i de poi clabalvi se smadi le mibypre .i calenu jarki je kruvi je bumclu rirxyla'i bo klaji sutrykla le zdani keiku mi terpa se xanri ledu'u le smamli stapa jamfu ca'o .o'unai bu'o jersi vo'a .i le xaksu tolvitno sruri zdani cu simlu le cnino je bilma jmive poi zukte zi'o le palci .ibo fu'epe'a ba'o suksa kalrygau ko'ogoi le purganlo co jilra nunsanji fu'o .i bitmu .i batytcena rudykoi .i gu'e dertu bliku gi te mledi mudri je bakri .i le peseta'i lo salpykurfa ge'u kanlysmi canko cu simlu co ckasu se jvinu .i fu'eda'i .ii rora jibni lenu nalkakne co narcfa co nerkla je danryspo be mi fu'o .iseni'inaibo ba'o tcidu le paucma po'o po'u lebi'unai jdanatfe ve sinxa pulenu ganlygau ko'a gi'ebabo batybei

ni'o ki .a'e morji lenu puki mulno tcidu .uo.u'a .i za'e pilda flira .i stela le nitydru kumfa poi mi ze'u pilno ke'a lo tolfadni nunsisku po'o .i mulsma fa le zdabra .ito'unai nicte midju .i ki su'a ju'oru'e lanzu puku .iku'i na tcila birti .iju sefpre si'imei ju'osai .i na detri sanji .i ba ra ku fu'e.u'e.i'unai ba'o lifri so'i cedra .e kestei .ije ba'o runta je cnegau lemi temci sidbo fu'o .i pukiku mi lakygrana se gusni tcidu .i ru'i digyfarlu lakse .ai .i di'inai se janbe le darno galdinju .i cizra pe'ipei jundi le se janbe .i da'i mu'ibo lenu mi terpa ledu'u tirna fi ra fe di poi darnycai je zunti tonga ge'ero'enaisai

ni'o .a'i.ue co'a sance le guska joi juxre .i bartu le canko .i canko le vorme poi te jvinu le gapru co drata drudi pele tcadu .i ko'u cabna lenu mi sagbacru le somoi pemcypau po'u da noi mujyclira .ice tepydesku jimpe fu'e.ainai le smuni be ko'u .i ca'e lo pagre be ko'e roroi te jmina le ctinytai .ije la'edi'u se balvi leza'i mulkansa fu'o .iba'o makfa benji .iju'o ko'a dunli le se jijnu be le pu mibypre .u'anaicai .i ve'a le mintu nicte kuku fe ko'e pagre le balsarlu co temci joi menli .ije le cerni nitydru bo kumfa zo'u viska fa le balmibypre ne'i le bitmu .e le kajna .e le ve lasna fe le narpruselvi'a

ni'o na viska le munje teki'i le purci ku ba la'ede'u .i roroi mixre fa le cabna bemi be'o le cabna ku joi le so'omei be le purci .i ro le pu slabu dacti cu simlu le cizra xebe'i le cnino je zenba pu'u viska .i ze'ubakiku senva cadzu pa'o le se manci peta'i le se tolju'o .a le se junmle .i daxiny.poi fu'epe'a ckiku je gidvu fu'o zo'u li ny.mei ve mlecu fi leka mi kakne co saurju'o le dacti po'u le jarki munje noi clani bapli mi .i mi .enai lo drata cu viska le vanbi bevo'a .i smamau je naljikca binxo balmibypre seki'u lenu mi na simlu le fenki .i le gerku mi ta'e terpa .i ra jijnu fo'agoi lebi'unai ctinytai noi noroi nalylamji mi .i si'a ca'o tcidu .i tcidu le cukta .e le slanycku vu'opoi tolgubni ja se tolmorji ke'a zi'epoi le cnino puvyviska cu gidva zo'i ke'a .i mi danre pagre le darmau se ckiku pe'a pelo kensa canlu .e lo nunzasti .e lo banrymorna ge'u le muctymunje midju co se tolju'o

ni'o ki .a'e morji le nicte poi vi ke'a ku mi puki zbasu mu midjymintu cukla le jelca bu'u le loldi .i sanli le midju .i sagbacru .i fo'egoi le tolcnano stepemci ba'o notci se bevri fo la tartar. i le bitmu ba'o runme .ibabo le xekri brife mi vilbei pa'o le balcoi co lolcau je grusi .i minli se cnita le jesnysmi jipno be le nalslabu cmana .ibaze'aku mulno manku .ibabo te gusni co gigdo tarci ta'i le cizra je tolslabu tarmorna .i ta'onai viska le plita co crino se gusni peni'ave'u mi .i vi ra ku sarlykru galdinju tcadu tepa'a no tcadu poi mi djuno ja tcidu ja senva sera'a ke'a .i jbimau fluvoi fa'a fo'igoi lebi'unai tcadu .icabo viska le banli rokci je kurfa dinju vi le kunti foldi .i cinmo le tolmelbi nunterpa poi jgari pe'a .i tepcmo .i damba .i za'i kunti co menli .ibabo di'a nitydru kumfa .i vreta le mu murse ke loldi cukla .i le steci nicte pu'u litru kei cu se pagbu gezu'u le mlecu befi leka cizra kei beife so'i purci nicte be'obe'o gizu'unai le zmadu befi leka tepcai .iki'ubo jimpe ledu'u mi zmadu fi leka jibni le bartu pe'a balcoi je plini keiku fe ro purci be mi .ibabo co'a to'e darsi co makfa sagbacru .i naku djica lenu seirgau le balmibypre .e le xadni .e le terdi ne'i le se tolju'o balcoi poi mi na kakne co sezyxru ke'a ta'a fu'otu'u"

P38Pilot
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'43.98' W158 01'06.29
Elevation: 12ft
(accurate to within 11ft)

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Geek Mode.

One of the things I really liked about my last job was the ability to go into geek mode, and get paid for it. I'd spend a full day either writing code or researching something that I thought might help the biz. The mundane world would just fade away, and only the project at hand would, or could, be thought about. Now, I'm not a geek. More rather a geek wannabe. I have nither the skills nor experience to classify myself as a geek, though I do know the culture. So, when I say geek mode, I'm trying to convey a deeply satisfying and focused time. A happy time.

(Makes it even better that I was supposed to be working at my new job.)

Today I successfully installed, on my notebook:
Apache Web Server
PHP
MySQL
and an e-commerce engine.

Problem is, I gots no ones to share it with!

I'm the alpha geek in my world. (With the exception of some friends that I don't get to see F2F)

P38Pilot
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'43.98' W158 01'06.29
Elevation: 12ft
(accurate to within 11ft)

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Things that I'm afraid of...

To quote a prophet of mine:
"No aliens, psychopaths or MTV hosts
Scare me like vampires, mummies and the Holy Ghost"

But seriously..
These things scare me:
Acinetobacter baumannii - Currently accounts for 7% of all hospital acquired infections and few drugs can fight it.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - 102,000 infections per year and becoming ever more resistant to antibiotics.
Aspergillis - Once present in the bloodstream, you have a 50% chance of survival, even with the best antifungicides available.
Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium - Major cause of heart, brain and abdomen infection. About 10% of hospital patients are infected. Current drugs fail to kill it quickly.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa - One of the best at learning how to adapt to anything we can throw at it.
Escheria coli - Nearly half of the drugs used to fight this infection are no longer working.
Klebsiella - Nearly half of the drugs used to fight this infection are no longer working.
H5N1 - Not really terrifying, yet. Current speculation is that it will enter the US soon. It's been the cause of over 200 million dying from the disease or being killed to prevent it's spread.


Maybe I shouldn't be working in the Sanitation industry...

Oh, and more subtley, I'm afraid of the Hamster Syndrome.

P38Pilot
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'43.98' W158 01'06.29
Elevation: 12ft
(accurate to within 11ft)

New Day

Ok.. so it's a new day. Big fragging whoop.
I loath my new job and that makes actually showing up a bit of a chore.

There are so many things missing, from what I think a company's structure should look like.
We lack simple things like an org chart or SOP manuals. For a company this complicated, they are a necessity. And they are totally absent. Leadership would be nice.

I learned a few things about the owner. He's never worked for someone else.
His father ran this company until his death in '96. He dropped out of college to take over.
This explains quite a bit about how things are run, or rather allowed to run, as there is certainly little direction be offered by The MGMT.

This also explains why the Monday morning meetings don't start until he shows up, sometimes over an hour after the scheduled time, and the use of words in which I'd not post in a public forum. Quite obviously, the use of the "N" word in a sales meeting is inappropriate.
Many have told me to record a meeting and turn him in....
Though that would be the 'right' thing to do, there are issues with me not having the ability to pay the mortgage shortly afterwards.

Side note: Thinking of going on a bit of a fast for Lent. Not that I've any inclination towards religion, but the timing seemed to fit my need for a change.


P38Pilot (Skillset Exportable)
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'88.98' W158 01'52.29
Elevation: 78ft
(accurate to within 11ft)

Change your mind.

For a good number of weeks now.... frag, it's more like months..
Anyway, I've been in a funk.
I followed a difficult desicion (quit my job) with the accomplishment of a goal that I was never really certain that I could complete. (See Viscious Cycle Blog)

The new job did take a bit of time and I let some really sorry-ass excuses get in the way of living my life. Life began living me. And that sucked.
I dropped off the diet that I was on... and quit riding.. and more of less gave up on a lot of the goals that I'd planned for the new year. Sorry ass excuses really..
Today, in a fit of enthusiasum (which has been quite rare of late) I decided to change my mind.
To rethink why I do the things I do and change the behaviors I'm less than pleased with.


P38Pilot
Current meatspace coordinates:
N21 18'43.98' W158 01'06.29
Elevation: 12ft (Sitting in a hammock)
(accurate to within 11ft)

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Like Nailing Jelly to a tree.

Business is slow. Times are tight. The competition is agressive and capable.

I don't have access to a computer at my desk. This means that I have no price list, except the one that I hand typed. I have no accout list, except the one I typed.

I have to share the one general use computer that can print and access the product/client database with 6 other salesmen/and one office person.

Inevitably, when I get to the computer.. the printer is jammed.

Working here is like nailing jelly to a tree.

P38Pilot
N21 19.190' W157 51.734'
(accurate to within 91ft)