Oh, not quite yet. I forgot – I’m in the Eastern time zone, so it’s 2003 here, but this blog entry is still dated 2002. Doh!
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
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Happy new year! I’m not much of a party animal. My folks throw a party every year for their friends, and I happen to be up in Michigan, so I went. Ordinarily I’d just stay at home, and I guess technically that’s what I did. It was a lot of fun – saw a lot of old family friends, and a girl I used to babysit. She used to be so short, and now she’s graduating from college. Wow, what a difference. You never notice time passing by looking at adults – you notice it by looking at children. Anyway, it was a hoot.
If this year is half as good as 2002, I’ll count myself lucky. I had a wonderful year, and I look forward to spending many more growing old with Erika. I’ve been plenty blessed in 2002, and even if I fall on bad luck in 2003, I’ll still be in good shape as long as I’ve got her. I love you, beautiful.
And no, that’s not alcohol talking, because I only had a few sips of champagne tonight. Like I said, I’m not much of a party animal. I’ve downed about a pot of coffee, though – still focusing on hot liquids trying to soothe my sore throat.
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
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I like travel. I really do. But sometimes, I come across people in the travel industry who are so incredibly rock-stupid that I’m inspired to stay in close proximity to my apartment.
This morning, I started my travel odyssey in an effort to get to my Dad & Caryl’s for New Year’s. I was booked on standby, but couldn’t make the overbooked flight, so I traipsed down to the baggage area to retrieve my checked suitcase. A woman sat in the baggage claim department counting coins on her desk. I know they were her coins because when I walked out in frustration several minutes later, she poured the coins into her purse. But I digress.
I began to explain my situation when she abruptly directed me to Terminal B. I disagreed, since I’ve played this game before, and had to explain to her twice that I was indeed flying her airline, as witnessed by the big logo on my ticket, and that the baggage was in her command. She relented, then told me that my bag probably made the flight without me.
I was surprised, because that’s against the law now – you can’t load baggage for passengers who don’t board the plane, because of the possibility that someone would check a bomb into luggage and then never board the fated flight. She insisted it was completely okay, and that they do it all the time. Ahhh. Silly me. Laws don’t apply to people like her. Especially the law of natural selection. But I digress.
When I finally cajoled her into radioing the ground crew handling that particular flight, they informed her that they really had no clue where any of the bags for that flight were. They might be on the plane, they might be left behind. She set my ticket down on her desk and resumed counting coins.
Now, I’m a relatively quick fellow. I’m not stupid. But I still had to ask her if I should wait out in the lobby area or just sit at her desk. She helpfully suggested to me that I go out for breakfast, because it could take an hour or more before she’d know anything. My personal hunch is that she was grossly underestimating the time involved for that particular goal: I’ll have many a meal before she knows anything. But again, I digress.
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
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I was talking to a friend yesterday and he complained of his bad luck with women, money, and jobs. The guy’s all of like twenty years old. This morning, I remembered a favorite old song, and thought the lyrics bore repeating here:
If you’re wondering whyAll the love that you long for eludes youAnd people are rude and cruel to youI’ll tell you whyI’ll tell you whyI’ll tell you whyI’ll tell you whyBut you wouldn’t believe meYou just haven’t earned it yet babyYou just haven’t earned it sonYou just haven’t earned it yet babyYou must suffer and cry for a longer timeYou just haven’t earned it yet babyAnd I’m telling you now
The song’s timeless lyrics, penned by the ever bright and sunny Morrissey, speak to all of us. (Especially L0ki, anyway.)
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
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Merry Christmas! I’m up as usual because Erika works today. I’m hoping Starbucks will be open again this year, so I can go hang out in there and surf around.
Erika’s uncle got their kids a little turtle, but when she told him that they carry salmonella he decided to get rid of it. Erika wisely offered to take the little fella in, so in a few days we may have another one. I’m going to try putting him in the tank with the big boys first, because they’ve been so polite to the two remaining goldfish.
Ah, the goldfish. A few weeks ago, I started getting feeder fish for the boys, and they loved it. But this last time, I got them a dozen (too many, I’m sure) and they couldn’t finish the last three of them. It’s been several days, and two of the goldfish are still just swimming around. The boys don’t even bother these two fish, whom I envision wearing leather jackets and talking in New York accents.
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
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Erika & I went to Samia’s wedding last night. It was the first Muslim wedding we’d attended, and it was beautiful. We had a great time with a table full of Erika’s coworkers. Best wishes to Samia & Arslan, and may they have way too much fun to update their wedding web site for at least a few weeks.
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
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Erika & I went to Samia’s wedding last night. It was the first Muslim wedding we’d attended, and it was beautiful. We had a great time with a table full of Erika’s coworkers. Best wishes to Samia & Arslan, and may they have way too much fun to update their wedding web site for at least a few weeks.
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
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Survivor’s over, and Brian won. I was quite happy with that: he was a heck of a contender, and I admired his strategy. Plus, of course, it’s just cool that a pr0n star won, hahaha.
Getting closer on bringing my webcams live again. I’ve had a string of problems with the firewall where I’m hosting the server, the firewall protecting the server, and other unrelated stuff. Just a bunch of nasty coincidences that I haven’t had the time to work through. I think I’ve got one of them back up & running at least temporarily, but haven’t tried the laptop cam yet.
My holiday shopping is almost done: still have to get stuff for my parents and my sister, Emily. I know what I’m getting everybody except my Dad. I wrapped Erika’s presents yesterday to ensure that she wouldn’t stumble across them in the apartment, even though they’re well-hidden.
I’m getting the urge to redesign this web site. I think it’s been a couple of years now with this exact same look, and it’s time to do something new. When I get that urge, I like going down to Barnes & Noble and looking at industrial design magazines for ideas. I’ve always felt that building a web site has nothing to do with traditional graphic arts, and more to do with architecting a building. You have to put certain frameworks into place for navigation, for example, or else the site can’t hold up as you add pages. Lately, I haven’t been adding pages, and I’ve been letting this blog thing take care of new content instead. It’s definitely easier, and I get good comments from readers, so I guess that’s a good thing.
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
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Almost forgot: Survivor ends tonight. My prediction: Brian will get voted off because he’s a threat to the other three. Then one of the women will win immunity and toss Clay out. The two women will end up in the finals.
Not to say I like that. I’m actually rooting for Brian and Helen. Those two are awesome survivors in my book.
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
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Saw the finale of The Amazing Race last night. Erika’s addicted to that show the way we’re both already addicted to Survivor, so she wanted me to get a taste of it. It was pretty interesting, but I couldn’t stand watching that annoying, whiney Flo. This woman complained about everything, constantly broke down under pressure, and didn’t enjoy the beauty around her. Oddly, it made me think of some of my own relationships in the past, and it made me really thankful for Erika.
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
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