For my favorite cowgirl..

Well, the word is out. I am leaving my current client, Lockheed Martin, for a position at Express Scripts. The past week or two has been a blur of phone calls and meetings.

My Linux box was being temperamental. It would not allow me access to my email. I have it set up to download the email from my gazpacho.net domain as well as yahoo.com and hotmail.com. Then all mail is filtered through a custom-configured SpamAssassin. I then use Mozilla Thunderbird to read it via imap. Well, somehow the imap database became corrupted. Also, one or more Berkeley DB binary files may have been corrupted/deleted. I took the opportunity to upgrade to Fedora Core 7. It was a painful process that took me most of the Labor Day weekend. I’m not going there.

I ordered a Dell laptop with Ubuntu Linux on it. My plan is to migrate my files off of the Fedora Linux box.. and be rid Fedora and its RPM madness for good!

I watched signgirl’s dog while she went up to Chicago. Her dog was an angel. But she made me concerned because the silly thing would not eat her food.

Signgirl has been selling some of my junk things on eBay. It is amazing what people will buy. A sealed box of Lord of the Rings Risk went for more than I paid for it at retail. A bag filled with Gregory Horror Show miniatures went for approximately $30 to a lady in the United Kingdom. Somebody wanted the copy of “The Satanic Rites of Dracula” DVD I won as a prize at a LARP. Who knew?

The other day my neighbor saw me outside ripping out some dead landscaping and came over to talk. Boo, I have bugs! Anyway, I tend to avoid my neighbors. At the last block party a neighbor lady referred to me as the guy who waves from his car.

How well do you know your next-door neighbors? I do not really intend to be anti-social but I have seen quite a few families move in and out of my block over the last five years. In fact when my house was built most of the surrounding lots were just muddy plots. Careers bring change and people move on. While I try to be a good neighbor, I am just not a very social one. I don’t know my neighbors very well. I am okay with that.

My buddy Larry is getting married. I plan to go to his ring ceremony in a couple weeks. He has been married once before. I think he realizes that being bitter does not help anything. He moved on, met a nice gal not long after his divorce and is getting married after a few months of dating. I respect his resilience.

He and his wife wished for a church-sponspored ceremony that only Mormons can attend. Since Larry is Mormon and his ex-wife has not filled out the proper paperwork, then the ring ceremony may turn into a full-fledged wedding.

What was the last wedding you went to? Mine was a coworker’s wedding almost a year ago. They had a nice reception in the Gateway Convention Center. It is the same center in which they have Archon. I asked folks at the reception to picture the place filled with Klingons and nerdy gamer types. It was funny to think about a dude with Spock ears standing where a dude in a tuxedo was standing.

One of the cool things I witnessed was that the photographer took the wedding photos digitally. The bride and groom were able to review them at the reception. I think that is a wonderful idea.

I have been using a bar of the custom-made Atomic Squash caffeinated soap I had made to give out as prizes at the Spycraft LARP. Folks, I’m a believer. The caffeine in the soap definitely gives you a boost.

Now I wonder if I can find more bars of caffeinated soap for a reasonable price.

I disconnected my home phone. I seldom received calls at that number other than telemarketers. The line was often filled with static to point of being impossible to hear the conversation. The “new” AT&T had the nerve to tell me my cellular phone might have issues with its quality of service. Oh k. If you want to reach me, please use my cell phone number, friends.

Signgirl and I went to the Southwestern Illinois College sixtieth anniversary dinner. We were messing around with the disposable cameras on the table. Halfway through you can see the flash from another camera go off.

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