i am EXHAUSTED. no ways i'm going to work before going to work :P
i've been using limewire for the last couple of months... and have just experienced emule. i'm uninstalling limewire as i speak. i feel i've been jipped!
Friday, September 30, 2005
anger management
the first shift ended at 9pm, but the mongoose crashed his car so the plans got all screwed up. ended up sitting and chatting with the guys, then watching igby goes down. great film.
the second shift saw me at the first phone, and i was inconvenienced by a number of calls. it was a weird group, too. unfortunately, the last call i took was an abusive caller, who caught me totally off-guard and unprepared. i didn't have enough information at my disposal, and we're not allowed to be anything less than polite. and he was *just* not aggressive enough, in my opinion, to warrant disconnecting the call.
he seriously aggravated me, first by telling me i should maybe look for another job, then by constantly making cracks about me being a siberian. i hate stupid people. i hate stupid people even more when they're arrogant and offensive.
got some time to calm down, and played heli-attack 3 on miniclip. a change of style, and far improved.
i had to walk home, and so had plenty of time to contemplate. my attention has been riveted by the incident yesterday when being released. in fact, the girl in question showed me her arm today, and the marks are not only there, they've turned blue.
i am RAGING that that motherfucker, and people like him, exist. i keep wishing, as i'd hoped at the time, that he would have gotten up to fight. i've been playing the scene over and over in my head, and i'm frustrated at the loss of satisfaction i would have gotten from breaking him. in a way it IS selfish of me, but i don't care. he managed to trigger of surge of pure hatred, a total desire to see him learn a lesson in the most crushing way possible.
the situation has drawn up a montage of images in my head, of all the similar situations i experienced, all the suffering i've watched at the hands of these creepy fuckers, throughout my childhood, adolescence, and relatively short adult life - each image reinforcing and fueling my anger.
yeah, i'm a dweller. but next time i know to be more provocative. i'll come up with something better.
i'm going to shower and go to bed now; i gotta be up "early" (around noon) to go shopping. and run laundry. those two things are seriously high up on my priorities list for the weekend. and cleaning my apartment. i only noticed at midnight last night that the mongoose got sesame seeds EVERYWHERE, and i can almost feel the cockroaches on their way over.
the second shift saw me at the first phone, and i was inconvenienced by a number of calls. it was a weird group, too. unfortunately, the last call i took was an abusive caller, who caught me totally off-guard and unprepared. i didn't have enough information at my disposal, and we're not allowed to be anything less than polite. and he was *just* not aggressive enough, in my opinion, to warrant disconnecting the call.
he seriously aggravated me, first by telling me i should maybe look for another job, then by constantly making cracks about me being a siberian. i hate stupid people. i hate stupid people even more when they're arrogant and offensive.
got some time to calm down, and played heli-attack 3 on miniclip. a change of style, and far improved.
i had to walk home, and so had plenty of time to contemplate. my attention has been riveted by the incident yesterday when being released. in fact, the girl in question showed me her arm today, and the marks are not only there, they've turned blue.
i am RAGING that that motherfucker, and people like him, exist. i keep wishing, as i'd hoped at the time, that he would have gotten up to fight. i've been playing the scene over and over in my head, and i'm frustrated at the loss of satisfaction i would have gotten from breaking him. in a way it IS selfish of me, but i don't care. he managed to trigger of surge of pure hatred, a total desire to see him learn a lesson in the most crushing way possible.
the situation has drawn up a montage of images in my head, of all the similar situations i experienced, all the suffering i've watched at the hands of these creepy fuckers, throughout my childhood, adolescence, and relatively short adult life - each image reinforcing and fueling my anger.
yeah, i'm a dweller. but next time i know to be more provocative. i'll come up with something better.
i'm going to shower and go to bed now; i gotta be up "early" (around noon) to go shopping. and run laundry. those two things are seriously high up on my priorities list for the weekend. and cleaning my apartment. i only noticed at midnight last night that the mongoose got sesame seeds EVERYWHERE, and i can almost feel the cockroaches on their way over.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
a paneful day
yep, not a spelling error. a window "fell" (all by itself?) from the fifth floor of one of the buildings on base, and landed on a soldier fresh from basic training. the last thing reported is that he was moving and kind of able to speak.
let me tell you, getting around the crowds of observers was a BITCH.
a lot of those kids left the base scarred today. one of them left to intensive care (critical condition).
back to my day:
i had to read my own blog this morning just to remember what was going on. now THAT'S dependency. i've completely supplanted my long-term memory.
it was a very social day on base for me, most of the jobs i had to do were out-of-office, and i know enough people on base to keep me seriously entertained and occupied. i finally got to the end of my quest for code, and it turns out that nobody has a clue how to do what i need.
the dog and i came up with some interesting class designs too - so i have plenty to think about :)
turns out i CAN go on the unit trip - they changed the dates! w00t! but we have to sort ourselves out into rooms of 3, 5, or 6 people, and nobody knows who'll be in which configuration. that's kind of stupid.
i came straight to work - working until 9pm, going out to celebrate a birthday at the balcony, then coming back to work for a shift from 2am - 3.30...
let me tell you, getting around the crowds of observers was a BITCH.
a lot of those kids left the base scarred today. one of them left to intensive care (critical condition).
back to my day:
i had to read my own blog this morning just to remember what was going on. now THAT'S dependency. i've completely supplanted my long-term memory.
it was a very social day on base for me, most of the jobs i had to do were out-of-office, and i know enough people on base to keep me seriously entertained and occupied. i finally got to the end of my quest for code, and it turns out that nobody has a clue how to do what i need.
the dog and i came up with some interesting class designs too - so i have plenty to think about :)
turns out i CAN go on the unit trip - they changed the dates! w00t! but we have to sort ourselves out into rooms of 3, 5, or 6 people, and nobody knows who'll be in which configuration. that's kind of stupid.
i came straight to work - working until 9pm, going out to celebrate a birthday at the balcony, then coming back to work for a shift from 2am - 3.30...
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
i was me but -now-, he is gooooooone...
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Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Monday, September 26, 2005
all good on the home front
i don't know why, but i felt less exhausted when waking up this morning. i got to the base on time, and didn't desperately need coffee!
highlights from the army today:
1) running into java (jar file) problems, and feeling like an idiot. i then consulted with a group that develops enormous java projects, and they scratched their heads and asked me to let them know when i figure it out. i went online, took the first thing that looked liked a possible solution, and played with it. took a while, and a bit of frustration, but i got great satisfaction from going to aforementioned team to teach them how to do it.
2) finishing my Really Sweet Java App, and getting started on the awesome project i was raving about. i'm totally chuffed. i've got two months to develop the required wrappers and templates, and to report on the amount of hours i spend on each phase
3) having to choose between a fun trip with the entire unit, or getting my EMG test done. sucks to drop the trip, but i've delayed the test long enough
4) the mongoose's female friend bringing in WAY too many people into our office to make a movie clip for the jewish new year. THAT was amusing.
5) turns out my commanders both spoke to the dog today, and asked him why i have more financial problems than he does. aside from the fact that he gave them the reasons, and there are plenty - there's also the truth of my "living beyond my means". to be fair, if i wasn't in the army, i would be coining it. i'm kind of happy to suffer when i get immediate results.
the dog joined me for tekken, and then i had to work. so he sat here watching shaun of the dead, and then fahrenheit 9/11. i got through a large portion of the preliminary design, enough to send my contact an email saying that i'll be taking the job, and that it'll take two months.
are two new projects, both two months, coincidental? i dunno. i reckon it just figures. no - i *DIDN'T* mean the literal definition of the word coincidental. at least one of them will cover my expensive habits. and they're both interesting and important.
i got contacted by my relatives in herzeliya, so i'm finally sorted out for the holidays... i was getting worried there for a bit.
i also feel a hell of a lot better about SB. the crushing blow part is almost over, and i felt good enough to have a quick sms conversation with her this morning.
aaaaaaaaaaaaand i'm spent. i'm guarding tomorrow, so wednesday night i'll be back in the real world. i have to be on base early tomorrow, 'cause our systems crashed this evening, and i have to sort it out before working hours.
highlights from the army today:
1) running into java (jar file) problems, and feeling like an idiot. i then consulted with a group that develops enormous java projects, and they scratched their heads and asked me to let them know when i figure it out. i went online, took the first thing that looked liked a possible solution, and played with it. took a while, and a bit of frustration, but i got great satisfaction from going to aforementioned team to teach them how to do it.
2) finishing my Really Sweet Java App, and getting started on the awesome project i was raving about. i'm totally chuffed. i've got two months to develop the required wrappers and templates, and to report on the amount of hours i spend on each phase
3) having to choose between a fun trip with the entire unit, or getting my EMG test done. sucks to drop the trip, but i've delayed the test long enough
4) the mongoose's female friend bringing in WAY too many people into our office to make a movie clip for the jewish new year. THAT was amusing.
5) turns out my commanders both spoke to the dog today, and asked him why i have more financial problems than he does. aside from the fact that he gave them the reasons, and there are plenty - there's also the truth of my "living beyond my means". to be fair, if i wasn't in the army, i would be coining it. i'm kind of happy to suffer when i get immediate results.
the dog joined me for tekken, and then i had to work. so he sat here watching shaun of the dead, and then fahrenheit 9/11. i got through a large portion of the preliminary design, enough to send my contact an email saying that i'll be taking the job, and that it'll take two months.
are two new projects, both two months, coincidental? i dunno. i reckon it just figures. no - i *DIDN'T* mean the literal definition of the word coincidental. at least one of them will cover my expensive habits. and they're both interesting and important.
i got contacted by my relatives in herzeliya, so i'm finally sorted out for the holidays... i was getting worried there for a bit.
i also feel a hell of a lot better about SB. the crushing blow part is almost over, and i felt good enough to have a quick sms conversation with her this morning.
aaaaaaaaaaaaand i'm spent. i'm guarding tomorrow, so wednesday night i'll be back in the real world. i have to be on base early tomorrow, 'cause our systems crashed this evening, and i have to sort it out before working hours.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
*blank stare*
saturday:
approximately 00.30, ru55 picked me up with a friend of his from germany, and we drove about 3 hours to get to our destination.
which really was in the middle of the desert. it was absolutely mind-blowing to get out the car, and hear absolutely NOTHING. no ambient sound, whatsoever. and it was so incredibly beautiful.
when we arrived at the party itself, there were about 20 people, and the music was thumping. the dj began playing tunes with a rolling beat, which is nice and driving, but after one or two tunes with that beat it really becomes boring.
apparently the dj didn't have any other beats in his collection.
about 5am i lay down, and woke up suddenly at 6.30. with about 2/300 people around, and a packed dancefloor. even though it was still the same beat.
i milled around a bit, ran into ru55, and we went to the car to pick up some gear we'd forgotten. we got back at 7.30 - and they'd changed the dj. and the music - was - to DIE for. powerful, driving, and totally hypnotic. honestly some of the best trance i've ever heard.
the music continued like this until we left, which was around 11. i couldn't leave the dance-floor... as tired as i was, my body just refused to give up and i went HARD. and had a huge grin on my face the entire time.
hell, there were even pretty girls there, which generally doesn't happen. and all this digging was taking place in the middle of a -real- desert, and it's been two years since i've experienced anything like it. i haven't had that much fun in longer than i can remember, i really let go and got my mind cleared.
and my body a little sunburned... but who's counting?
ru55 got us to the closest petrol station, which was about 20km away, and i drove the rest of the way back. i enjoyed that.
i dropped myself off close to SB's, and walked to her place. it was REALLY nice seeing her again. i had a quick, and much needed shower (i was filthy), and we sat down to talk.
and talk we did. including a few VERY uncomfortable silences, and we were both awkward. eventually i got it together to ask the question that was spinning around and around in my mind: "what about us?"
and although it was anticipated, i still didn't like hearing the answer, and it hurt me a lot more than i expected. whatever the reason(s), we're not happening. we discussed some other things, and she then invited me to join her at some event she was on her way to - which i declined. not only is my heart still bleeding (more sadness that this story has ended like this, for both of us, than anything else), but i was totally broken from partying on top of general exhaustion.
i went for a walk through tel aviv. i found a games arcade, and for a short while distracted myself with machine guns. now there's an arcade machine that i need to OWN.
i got to the lincoln on my way home, and played an hour of pool. i was so down, that i couldn't even look in the eyes of the two cute girls at the next table who were hitting on me (at one point, one scaled my just-lit cigarette, the other then came over, all smiles, to apologize on her behalf. my responses were kind of lacking in humour).
i left the lincoln, and as i was walking out the mongoose called me to say he would be arriving at my place within ten minutes - when it takes me twenty to walk. so i walked until i could catch a taxi - which happened to be VERY close to home. and it cost me as much to get home as it normally does to get from my place to the lincoln, all the way.
that sucked. but the mongoose had been waiting already.
we spent a while talking, and listening to good music. he told me he'd kick my ass in tekken, so i beat him with EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER. and badly, too. he got upset, so i let him play counterstrike - which he's REALLY good at. i was very surprised - i'd been worried he'd give my nick a bad name... terrible pun that.
we then took a cab to the lizard. now, i had reached the verge of total meltdown, but a very good female friend (tiny, dead sexy, and seriously lacking in self-confidence) of his had been treated horrifically by some bastard the night before, and he was supposed to be going there again. my job was to beat the shit out of him.
i was horribly dejected, and hadn't eaten anything since the night before. and i did have a half-litre of beer at the lincoln. easy now, this story's not gonna be THAT exciting. i forced myself to eat what would have been a very tasty sandwich, while staring dejectedly into space. actually, the staring into space pretty much defines my evening.
sunday:
the guy never rocked up, so about 00.30 the girl gave me a ride home. i sat down in the car and feinted. suddenly i was home, and i had to take the stairs up to my apartment very, very carefully. i flopped into bed and slept until...
my alarm went off at 6.30. i have no clue how i got up. got to the base almost on time, and the first thing that happened was i got jipped by the coffee machine, which gave me smelly, foul-tasting water. i got seriously weird looks when i tossed it into a potplant.
i had breakfast with the mongoose. caffeine is the only reason i'm still breathing. i then went to have a chat with my section commander. we shouted at each other for a while. he described a possible project we'll be getting that would be AMAZING, if not for the fact that none of the projects he's promised us have ever come close to fruition. i went to the mongoose's section leader, had a talk with her about possibly moving to their section, and the results were most positive.
and then i spoke to my team leader. i told him everything that had transpired, and he's told me to get cracking on a prototype for the system the section commander described. and that's my job right now.
THAT - is the SHIT. i'm actually excited about doing it. i don't know how things will pan out, but at least for the moment i'll be okay. i'm not in the slightest bit under the illusion that everything's now peachy-creamy, but it does give me hope. if it all goes sour, which is a definite possibility, then i'm going to go crazy and do something irrational.
how's THAT for foresight?
i resumed work on my Really Sweet Java App, and then ran off halfway through a function change to a meeting with the guys from herzeliya pituach, about the SCM system. the meeting was an absolute pleasure, and the work is definitely interesting, but not too complicated. it's a serious system, and these people are talking serious money.
they want the system yesterday, so i've got to begin the basic design right away, so i can estimate time. once we've agreed on design, we'll talk money for real.
it was really nice to meet and have a serious discussion with real businessmen, who know what the hell they're doing. and can see past my uniform. it's always nice to be treated like a professional, and they were most impressed by the things i pulled out of my business science hat as well as my technical expertise. i know i sound like i'm blowing my own horn, but that's only because i am.
i spent the rest of the afternoon working on my Really Sweet Java App (completely forgetting about that function change, and getting bitten in the ass badly), and it's complete. and it turned out even sweeter than anticipated. not only does the damn thing work, and work NICELY, it looks pretty stylish too. i finally gave up on being clever with the other awt layouts, and stuck with the GridBagLayout. not too simple to "get", but easy enough to use. once i realized it works exactly the same as html tables, of course.
i came straight home... dozing off and waking up in a cold sweat every now and again, and have spent an hour working on a problem that's developed on the new hospital server.
after much pain and deliberation, i decided to test the same stuff on mine, and came up with an interesting result: the woman i work with ran exactly the same test on my machine, and NEVER CHECKED THE GODDAMN RESULTS. i have exactly the same problems from here. and we were going through all the code to see what was different between our machines.
FOOLISH HUMAN.
so i'm going to get back to that, and the design for the new system (med supplies). and then i'm going to keel over and die.
i haven't spoken to SB today, and i want to, but i have nothing to say. that kills me.
[added later] aaaaand i discovered that the mistake lies with me. there was something different in the database, and it wasn't all her fault. whoops. at least that's dealt with.
approximately 00.30, ru55 picked me up with a friend of his from germany, and we drove about 3 hours to get to our destination.
which really was in the middle of the desert. it was absolutely mind-blowing to get out the car, and hear absolutely NOTHING. no ambient sound, whatsoever. and it was so incredibly beautiful.
when we arrived at the party itself, there were about 20 people, and the music was thumping. the dj began playing tunes with a rolling beat, which is nice and driving, but after one or two tunes with that beat it really becomes boring.
apparently the dj didn't have any other beats in his collection.
about 5am i lay down, and woke up suddenly at 6.30. with about 2/300 people around, and a packed dancefloor. even though it was still the same beat.
i milled around a bit, ran into ru55, and we went to the car to pick up some gear we'd forgotten. we got back at 7.30 - and they'd changed the dj. and the music - was - to DIE for. powerful, driving, and totally hypnotic. honestly some of the best trance i've ever heard.
the music continued like this until we left, which was around 11. i couldn't leave the dance-floor... as tired as i was, my body just refused to give up and i went HARD. and had a huge grin on my face the entire time.
hell, there were even pretty girls there, which generally doesn't happen. and all this digging was taking place in the middle of a -real- desert, and it's been two years since i've experienced anything like it. i haven't had that much fun in longer than i can remember, i really let go and got my mind cleared.
and my body a little sunburned... but who's counting?
ru55 got us to the closest petrol station, which was about 20km away, and i drove the rest of the way back. i enjoyed that.
i dropped myself off close to SB's, and walked to her place. it was REALLY nice seeing her again. i had a quick, and much needed shower (i was filthy), and we sat down to talk.
and talk we did. including a few VERY uncomfortable silences, and we were both awkward. eventually i got it together to ask the question that was spinning around and around in my mind: "what about us?"
and although it was anticipated, i still didn't like hearing the answer, and it hurt me a lot more than i expected. whatever the reason(s), we're not happening. we discussed some other things, and she then invited me to join her at some event she was on her way to - which i declined. not only is my heart still bleeding (more sadness that this story has ended like this, for both of us, than anything else), but i was totally broken from partying on top of general exhaustion.
i went for a walk through tel aviv. i found a games arcade, and for a short while distracted myself with machine guns. now there's an arcade machine that i need to OWN.
i got to the lincoln on my way home, and played an hour of pool. i was so down, that i couldn't even look in the eyes of the two cute girls at the next table who were hitting on me (at one point, one scaled my just-lit cigarette, the other then came over, all smiles, to apologize on her behalf. my responses were kind of lacking in humour).
i left the lincoln, and as i was walking out the mongoose called me to say he would be arriving at my place within ten minutes - when it takes me twenty to walk. so i walked until i could catch a taxi - which happened to be VERY close to home. and it cost me as much to get home as it normally does to get from my place to the lincoln, all the way.
that sucked. but the mongoose had been waiting already.
we spent a while talking, and listening to good music. he told me he'd kick my ass in tekken, so i beat him with EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER. and badly, too. he got upset, so i let him play counterstrike - which he's REALLY good at. i was very surprised - i'd been worried he'd give my nick a bad name... terrible pun that.
we then took a cab to the lizard. now, i had reached the verge of total meltdown, but a very good female friend (tiny, dead sexy, and seriously lacking in self-confidence) of his had been treated horrifically by some bastard the night before, and he was supposed to be going there again. my job was to beat the shit out of him.
i was horribly dejected, and hadn't eaten anything since the night before. and i did have a half-litre of beer at the lincoln. easy now, this story's not gonna be THAT exciting. i forced myself to eat what would have been a very tasty sandwich, while staring dejectedly into space. actually, the staring into space pretty much defines my evening.
sunday:
the guy never rocked up, so about 00.30 the girl gave me a ride home. i sat down in the car and feinted. suddenly i was home, and i had to take the stairs up to my apartment very, very carefully. i flopped into bed and slept until...
my alarm went off at 6.30. i have no clue how i got up. got to the base almost on time, and the first thing that happened was i got jipped by the coffee machine, which gave me smelly, foul-tasting water. i got seriously weird looks when i tossed it into a potplant.
i had breakfast with the mongoose. caffeine is the only reason i'm still breathing. i then went to have a chat with my section commander. we shouted at each other for a while. he described a possible project we'll be getting that would be AMAZING, if not for the fact that none of the projects he's promised us have ever come close to fruition. i went to the mongoose's section leader, had a talk with her about possibly moving to their section, and the results were most positive.
and then i spoke to my team leader. i told him everything that had transpired, and he's told me to get cracking on a prototype for the system the section commander described. and that's my job right now.
THAT - is the SHIT. i'm actually excited about doing it. i don't know how things will pan out, but at least for the moment i'll be okay. i'm not in the slightest bit under the illusion that everything's now peachy-creamy, but it does give me hope. if it all goes sour, which is a definite possibility, then i'm going to go crazy and do something irrational.
how's THAT for foresight?
i resumed work on my Really Sweet Java App, and then ran off halfway through a function change to a meeting with the guys from herzeliya pituach, about the SCM system. the meeting was an absolute pleasure, and the work is definitely interesting, but not too complicated. it's a serious system, and these people are talking serious money.
they want the system yesterday, so i've got to begin the basic design right away, so i can estimate time. once we've agreed on design, we'll talk money for real.
it was really nice to meet and have a serious discussion with real businessmen, who know what the hell they're doing. and can see past my uniform. it's always nice to be treated like a professional, and they were most impressed by the things i pulled out of my business science hat as well as my technical expertise. i know i sound like i'm blowing my own horn, but that's only because i am.
i spent the rest of the afternoon working on my Really Sweet Java App (completely forgetting about that function change, and getting bitten in the ass badly), and it's complete. and it turned out even sweeter than anticipated. not only does the damn thing work, and work NICELY, it looks pretty stylish too. i finally gave up on being clever with the other awt layouts, and stuck with the GridBagLayout. not too simple to "get", but easy enough to use. once i realized it works exactly the same as html tables, of course.
i came straight home... dozing off and waking up in a cold sweat every now and again, and have spent an hour working on a problem that's developed on the new hospital server.
after much pain and deliberation, i decided to test the same stuff on mine, and came up with an interesting result: the woman i work with ran exactly the same test on my machine, and NEVER CHECKED THE GODDAMN RESULTS. i have exactly the same problems from here. and we were going through all the code to see what was different between our machines.
FOOLISH HUMAN.
so i'm going to get back to that, and the design for the new system (med supplies). and then i'm going to keel over and die.
i haven't spoken to SB today, and i want to, but i have nothing to say. that kills me.
[added later] aaaaand i discovered that the mistake lies with me. there was something different in the database, and it wasn't all her fault. whoops. at least that's dealt with.
Friday, September 23, 2005
how?
how does this work? why is today so much better than the others? why does the universe conspire to assist me today, but i have to suffer for so long?
i watched austin powers 2, which i still find extremely amusing. and i've always enjoyed watching series' backwards. there's a good chance i'm off to a desert party soon - the only party since the doof festival. sad i had to wait so long, but AWESOME that i might go.
and it looks like SB and i will be meeting up tomorrow. w00t!
gonna shower, and then look forward to a good evening. either the trance party, or there's something happening that the mongoose was telling me about, so i'll be alright both ways.
i watched austin powers 2, which i still find extremely amusing. and i've always enjoyed watching series' backwards. there's a good chance i'm off to a desert party soon - the only party since the doof festival. sad i had to wait so long, but AWESOME that i might go.
and it looks like SB and i will be meeting up tomorrow. w00t!
gonna shower, and then look forward to a good evening. either the trance party, or there's something happening that the mongoose was telling me about, so i'll be alright both ways.
superb! yeah!
nothin' wrong with goldmember. i rather enjoyed it - every inch of it, in fact o_O
i slept well... but realize that considering the amount of time i was awake and active, i've only slept the amount that i should have last night - so i'm still down a good night's sleep.
weird, that. and i'm not tired enough to crash now - hopefully i won't be completely wasted tonight.
i was woken up by the boss, he's set up the server, but i think his IIS settings are wrong. at least, that's the kind of response you give when your eyes are halfway open due to sleep deprivation, and you're asked to get out of bed and test a remote server. on the plus side, since the second the server's been set up, my work's become easier.
not that i'm actually planning on DOING any today. fark off.
SB called me, which was a pleasant surprise. doesn't mean a hell of a lot, but hopefully things'll be cleared up by tomorrow evening. i feel so girly: "i just wanna know"... i'm such a wanker sometimes.
*shakes head* (almost typed heads - freudian typo?)
erm - the mongoose never called me, and it's already 5.30pm... so i *guess* i'm not having lunch with his family. so i'll just arb, and chill. life's hard sometimes, y'know?
i need to clean my apartment - but i need to start cleaning in the morning. i wonder if i'll get around to it, the wossnames - dust devils, that's it - are getting unwieldy. one of them knocked me over on my way to my pc this morning (and my apartment is TINY).
i was reading articles concerning our levels of intelligence due to the technology we have available. it interests me that we've changed our evolution track due to the freedom of information. i'd like to think i'm better because of it. and smarter. but i've always been proved wrong before, so maybe i just fit my theory - only dumb people THINK they're smart. i notice a paradox in what i've just said, so i guess i'm experiencing smart flushes (whoops! there i go again! i'm styoopid, duh...).
i slept well... but realize that considering the amount of time i was awake and active, i've only slept the amount that i should have last night - so i'm still down a good night's sleep.
weird, that. and i'm not tired enough to crash now - hopefully i won't be completely wasted tonight.
i was woken up by the boss, he's set up the server, but i think his IIS settings are wrong. at least, that's the kind of response you give when your eyes are halfway open due to sleep deprivation, and you're asked to get out of bed and test a remote server. on the plus side, since the second the server's been set up, my work's become easier.
not that i'm actually planning on DOING any today. fark off.
SB called me, which was a pleasant surprise. doesn't mean a hell of a lot, but hopefully things'll be cleared up by tomorrow evening. i feel so girly: "i just wanna know"... i'm such a wanker sometimes.
*shakes head* (almost typed heads - freudian typo?)
erm - the mongoose never called me, and it's already 5.30pm... so i *guess* i'm not having lunch with his family. so i'll just arb, and chill. life's hard sometimes, y'know?
i need to clean my apartment - but i need to start cleaning in the morning. i wonder if i'll get around to it, the wossnames - dust devils, that's it - are getting unwieldy. one of them knocked me over on my way to my pc this morning (and my apartment is TINY).
i was reading articles concerning our levels of intelligence due to the technology we have available. it interests me that we've changed our evolution track due to the freedom of information. i'd like to think i'm better because of it. and smarter. but i've always been proved wrong before, so maybe i just fit my theory - only dumb people THINK they're smart. i notice a paradox in what i've just said, so i guess i'm experiencing smart flushes (whoops! there i go again! i'm styoopid, duh...).
sunrise: pretty, pretty sunrise
always a good time to be on my way to bed.
not including travel time, and about an hour where i crashed at work, i spent 9 hours in the army, and then 11.5 hours at work.
WOW.
we had a lot of calls, and a lot of them were REALLY stupid people. some were amusing though - one guy kept saying "i understand what you're requesting" after every instruction. i think he'd fail the turing test.
it's now 6.13, which means i finished work an hour ago. SB arrived at some point this morning, and has made no attempt to contact me. i get the feeling it's going to be a harsh weekend, because i plan on calling her at some point today...
i need to shower, then crash. yup, that's my game plan.
not including travel time, and about an hour where i crashed at work, i spent 9 hours in the army, and then 11.5 hours at work.
WOW.
we had a lot of calls, and a lot of them were REALLY stupid people. some were amusing though - one guy kept saying "i understand what you're requesting" after every instruction. i think he'd fail the turing test.
it's now 6.13, which means i finished work an hour ago. SB arrived at some point this morning, and has made no attempt to contact me. i get the feeling it's going to be a harsh weekend, because i plan on calling her at some point today...
i need to shower, then crash. yup, that's my game plan.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
what a day!
what - a day!
i woke up this morning having slept enough for the first time in the-elder-gods know how long. i was actually able to open my eyes BEFORE getting to the base!
a pleasant beginning, i got to the base on time, and immediately set about working. minutes into my Really Sweet Java App, i was told we had a problem requesting someone to come and fix our team leader's air-conditioner. normally i wouldn't care, but it's always fun to get things done on base - especially non-work-related things.
office A told me that they don't deal with these problems, i had to go to office B. B told me that they're not responsible for problems like these that occur in OUR unit, and sent me to office C. C put me on the phone with someone who really knew the procedures, and explained to me - in no uncertain terms - that A is responsible. back to A, who then showed me office D, where i finally found the guy.
the guy i had to speak to is one of the base commanders. when i got there, he asked why i didn't come straight there - there's a sign and everything. so i explained to him (in front of his team) that i don't (well, i said can't) read hebrew. much laughter ensued, and then he requested that i take exams for him in english :P
i look forward to that. being owed favours is the cornerstone of any army.
i'd forgotten that we had another volleyball match today, and had left my clothes at home. my section commander was hungry, so he gave me a lift home, i got my gear, and we went for an early lunch. i had a toasted sandwich that was OUT - OF - THIS - WORLD. they had a special going, so i stuffed every kind of meat they had for only NIS 15 (about R20). it was huge, and delicious.
got back to the base, fed the dog fishfood (he was sleeping in his chair with his mouth open, snoring. he had it coming), and then went for my first interview with the new commander of our wing.
-- crazy incident: his secretary made him coffee, i made for myself at the same time. she gave me a funny look, spat in his coffee, and continued stirring. that totally creeped me out, and i really didn't know what to do. --
it was supposed to take half an hour, but i spent an extra half hour repeating to him how dissatisfied i am with my job, and how disappointed i am that the army's wasting me. i actually stumped him completely a few times - he really wasn't prepared for someone with my attitude to show up. i don't think he's going to want to talk to me again.
after a quick coffee break, we had volleyball practice. i'd spoken to our "coach" in the morning, and we came to a good understanding about switching around players. straight after the practice we had the match, and we beat the team everyone was worried about.
two good teams meant lots of enjoyable rallies, and plenty of crazy moves and strikes. we were impressed. i didn't get much game-time, but what i did get i made use of. the switching in general was quite good.
spent the rest of the afternoon figuring out java calendars and dates - not too complicated once you get the hang of it - and finally my Really Sweet Java App is almost ready for testing. i just have to play around with the panels to make it look nicer, and wait for the database to become available so i don't do any accidental damage in case i forgot something important.
i came straight to work, even though my shift only begins at midnight - and they had a use for me. so now i'm sitting and "working", and chilling and catching up net-wise. i'm always amused that the more time i get to surf, the more there is for me to catch up on... "hey all you drug-addicts..."
i woke up this morning having slept enough for the first time in the-elder-gods know how long. i was actually able to open my eyes BEFORE getting to the base!
a pleasant beginning, i got to the base on time, and immediately set about working. minutes into my Really Sweet Java App, i was told we had a problem requesting someone to come and fix our team leader's air-conditioner. normally i wouldn't care, but it's always fun to get things done on base - especially non-work-related things.
office A told me that they don't deal with these problems, i had to go to office B. B told me that they're not responsible for problems like these that occur in OUR unit, and sent me to office C. C put me on the phone with someone who really knew the procedures, and explained to me - in no uncertain terms - that A is responsible. back to A, who then showed me office D, where i finally found the guy.
the guy i had to speak to is one of the base commanders. when i got there, he asked why i didn't come straight there - there's a sign and everything. so i explained to him (in front of his team) that i don't (well, i said can't) read hebrew. much laughter ensued, and then he requested that i take exams for him in english :P
i look forward to that. being owed favours is the cornerstone of any army.
i'd forgotten that we had another volleyball match today, and had left my clothes at home. my section commander was hungry, so he gave me a lift home, i got my gear, and we went for an early lunch. i had a toasted sandwich that was OUT - OF - THIS - WORLD. they had a special going, so i stuffed every kind of meat they had for only NIS 15 (about R20). it was huge, and delicious.
got back to the base, fed the dog fishfood (he was sleeping in his chair with his mouth open, snoring. he had it coming), and then went for my first interview with the new commander of our wing.
-- crazy incident: his secretary made him coffee, i made for myself at the same time. she gave me a funny look, spat in his coffee, and continued stirring. that totally creeped me out, and i really didn't know what to do. --
it was supposed to take half an hour, but i spent an extra half hour repeating to him how dissatisfied i am with my job, and how disappointed i am that the army's wasting me. i actually stumped him completely a few times - he really wasn't prepared for someone with my attitude to show up. i don't think he's going to want to talk to me again.
after a quick coffee break, we had volleyball practice. i'd spoken to our "coach" in the morning, and we came to a good understanding about switching around players. straight after the practice we had the match, and we beat the team everyone was worried about.
two good teams meant lots of enjoyable rallies, and plenty of crazy moves and strikes. we were impressed. i didn't get much game-time, but what i did get i made use of. the switching in general was quite good.
spent the rest of the afternoon figuring out java calendars and dates - not too complicated once you get the hang of it - and finally my Really Sweet Java App is almost ready for testing. i just have to play around with the panels to make it look nicer, and wait for the database to become available so i don't do any accidental damage in case i forgot something important.
i came straight to work, even though my shift only begins at midnight - and they had a use for me. so now i'm sitting and "working", and chilling and catching up net-wise. i'm always amused that the more time i get to surf, the more there is for me to catch up on... "hey all you drug-addicts..."
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
last post for the day
i like being at home all day. i like multiple blog posting. i think i may need to get that fixed.
i'm off to bed soon, just felt the urge to describe (especially after synk's scathing remarks) an awesome counterstrike experience. after finally logging onto a decent server, i was getting my ass handed to me. repeatedly. didn't feel so good.
my score was 1-8. one round with the machine gun, and just going absolutely crazy and firing like mad (true terrorist style), and my score was up to 7-8. and the victims were PISSED. i truly enjoyed the moment, and was totally satisfied as they made it their mission to hunt me down for the next few rounds.
now for the next terry goodkind book (although it's in pdf format, which kinda sucks). and tomorrow's my first inspection in a long, long time. yippee.
i'm off to bed soon, just felt the urge to describe (especially after synk's scathing remarks) an awesome counterstrike experience. after finally logging onto a decent server, i was getting my ass handed to me. repeatedly. didn't feel so good.
my score was 1-8. one round with the machine gun, and just going absolutely crazy and firing like mad (true terrorist style), and my score was up to 7-8. and the victims were PISSED. i truly enjoyed the moment, and was totally satisfied as they made it their mission to hunt me down for the next few rounds.
now for the next terry goodkind book (although it's in pdf format, which kinda sucks). and tomorrow's my first inspection in a long, long time. yippee.
before i forget...
the most insightful comic i've ever read: crfh
the dog bought himself a harmonica today. he said he was thinking about me when he bought it, but somehow TOTALLY FORGOT TO $!@%ING BUY ME one. maybe this is his form of revenge. and he's used it already, so i'm not swiping it.
FSCK.
anyways, i've updated my profile. i listed all my Favourite Movies Of All Time, but the list was too long. i tried cutting it down unsuccessfully - there're just too many that i can't leave out. and i forgot to copy and paste, and i'm NOT compiling that list again. sorry.
i think my fix for the new bugs worked, so i'm back on my own pc. it's like a security blanket for me. *sucks on the corner*
*spits*
that tastes FILTHY.
i think that's as interesting as my night's going to get.
the dog bought himself a harmonica today. he said he was thinking about me when he bought it, but somehow TOTALLY FORGOT TO $!@%ING BUY ME one. maybe this is his form of revenge. and he's used it already, so i'm not swiping it.
FSCK.
anyways, i've updated my profile. i listed all my Favourite Movies Of All Time, but the list was too long. i tried cutting it down unsuccessfully - there're just too many that i can't leave out. and i forgot to copy and paste, and i'm NOT compiling that list again. sorry.
i think my fix for the new bugs worked, so i'm back on my own pc. it's like a security blanket for me. *sucks on the corner*
*spits*
that tastes FILTHY.
i think that's as interesting as my night's going to get.
later that day...
and then i remember that a not-quite-ripe apple is the only way to go.
we worked hard today - and we're in beta! FINALLY!
just before we finished, i went out and got a hot-dog, that turned out the be the best hot-dog i've ever eaten. i walked back munching in a daze.
i crashed hard, woke up almost 2 hours ago with a call to say that the university system's in shit again. programmatically, i don't mind learning things in order to create something. what i loathe is having to learn something completely new in order to fix a stupid screw-up that belongs to someone else. and i can't test the results directly, so i have to wait for my boss to become available. so i'm stuck using the work-machine until this is resolved, which means blogging and checking mail is all i can do with my time.
i'm missing the unit event. i don't care. i'm sure i'll find out how wonderful it was tomorrow morning. i went and did some shopping, had an unpleasant experience with some old woman who was convinced that if she could sneak things into my pile, i'd pay for them. i opened my mouth to say something scathing, and then thought better of it.
i was still a little cloudy-headed on my way back home, and was jarred into alertness by the sheer agony of the oracle development i do on a day-to-day basis. i don't know why, but an incident flashed into my mind that occurred a few days ago, where i got so frustrated that i scared the shit out of scout by screaming and storming out.
hmmph. at least the java dev's fun.
we worked hard today - and we're in beta! FINALLY!
just before we finished, i went out and got a hot-dog, that turned out the be the best hot-dog i've ever eaten. i walked back munching in a daze.
i crashed hard, woke up almost 2 hours ago with a call to say that the university system's in shit again. programmatically, i don't mind learning things in order to create something. what i loathe is having to learn something completely new in order to fix a stupid screw-up that belongs to someone else. and i can't test the results directly, so i have to wait for my boss to become available. so i'm stuck using the work-machine until this is resolved, which means blogging and checking mail is all i can do with my time.
i'm missing the unit event. i don't care. i'm sure i'll find out how wonderful it was tomorrow morning. i went and did some shopping, had an unpleasant experience with some old woman who was convinced that if she could sneak things into my pile, i'd pay for them. i opened my mouth to say something scathing, and then thought better of it.
i was still a little cloudy-headed on my way back home, and was jarred into alertness by the sheer agony of the oracle development i do on a day-to-day basis. i don't know why, but an incident flashed into my mind that occurred a few days ago, where i got so frustrated that i scared the shit out of scout by screaming and storming out.
hmmph. at least the java dev's fun.
i'm home! i'm HOOOOOME!!!!
from yesterday:
8am sharp i arrived in my office. 8.15 the dog arrived. fortunately for him the commander
was a bit late, so he didn't notice.
we had a meeting where we got crapped on, and punished in all sorts of unpleasant ways.
not the least of which is that we have to remain in full uniform even when in the privacy of our office. with spot checks.
fugging prick.
yesterday was the first day since i began serving that i REALLY got to program. way better than the crappy c xml parser i wrote once upon a time, and for the first time i've actually worked with java's awt and database stuff. and it's not NEARLY as complicated as the tutorials made it out to be.
i suppose if they'd just been coded better... nevermind. i finally understand what it's all about, and i'm THRILLED. i actually ENJOYED working yesterday.
i had to choose between staying an hour and a half on base last night, or staying on thursday night. i'm working night-shift on thursday, so i had to accept. the 1.5 hours became working until 2/3am. i - got - FUCKED. not nearly as badly as our connection on the induction base, 'cause due to all my guarding, i'm always ready to sleep on base.
i spent a couple of hours with friends (and very pretty girls) while they were guarding, so it wasn't all bad.
while the dog was still with me, i got a call from a crazy kid who used to train with us... he's being inducted into the army in a couple of months. we're going to try to get him to join us - that would kick ass ^_^
and he'd kick ours', he's a brilliant and strong fighter. not just that, he's now officially the first person i know who trains in "tricking", which is absolutely the SHIT. maybe i can learn some funky stuff from him. after all, he was my primary teacher in taekwondo for my first year... (which also means he's caused me an incredible amount of pain)
so eventually i crashed, and woke up at 9am this morning. after brushing my teeth, i went for coffee with some buddies, and then left the base. i just got home, sweltering heat once again, and am currently working. looks like we just might get to beta this week!
finally doing some laundry, and gonna try to get out of some arbitrary unit event tonight. i got a call about a new project, so i'm meeting the guy on sunday, and there's a chance that a friend of mine might be able to pull a few strings army-wise to get me the hell out of where i am. i actually reminded my section commander yesterday that he's a bastard and knows that he can't justify keeping me around.
must - rest... must - shower...
8am sharp i arrived in my office. 8.15 the dog arrived. fortunately for him the commander
was a bit late, so he didn't notice.
we had a meeting where we got crapped on, and punished in all sorts of unpleasant ways.
not the least of which is that we have to remain in full uniform even when in the privacy of our office. with spot checks.
fugging prick.
yesterday was the first day since i began serving that i REALLY got to program. way better than the crappy c xml parser i wrote once upon a time, and for the first time i've actually worked with java's awt and database stuff. and it's not NEARLY as complicated as the tutorials made it out to be.
i suppose if they'd just been coded better... nevermind. i finally understand what it's all about, and i'm THRILLED. i actually ENJOYED working yesterday.
i had to choose between staying an hour and a half on base last night, or staying on thursday night. i'm working night-shift on thursday, so i had to accept. the 1.5 hours became working until 2/3am. i - got - FUCKED. not nearly as badly as our connection on the induction base, 'cause due to all my guarding, i'm always ready to sleep on base.
i spent a couple of hours with friends (and very pretty girls) while they were guarding, so it wasn't all bad.
while the dog was still with me, i got a call from a crazy kid who used to train with us... he's being inducted into the army in a couple of months. we're going to try to get him to join us - that would kick ass ^_^
and he'd kick ours', he's a brilliant and strong fighter. not just that, he's now officially the first person i know who trains in "tricking", which is absolutely the SHIT. maybe i can learn some funky stuff from him. after all, he was my primary teacher in taekwondo for my first year... (which also means he's caused me an incredible amount of pain)
so eventually i crashed, and woke up at 9am this morning. after brushing my teeth, i went for coffee with some buddies, and then left the base. i just got home, sweltering heat once again, and am currently working. looks like we just might get to beta this week!
w00t!!!
finally doing some laundry, and gonna try to get out of some arbitrary unit event tonight. i got a call about a new project, so i'm meeting the guy on sunday, and there's a chance that a friend of mine might be able to pull a few strings army-wise to get me the hell out of where i am. i actually reminded my section commander yesterday that he's a bastard and knows that he can't justify keeping me around.
must - rest... must - shower...
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
i'm passing out.
i was so tired between last night and this morning, that i woke up certain it was tuesday. so i woke up late, then missioned off to the bank, assuming i was on a half-day holiday.
hell, i even had breakfast on the way. thoroughly enjoyable belgian waffle, with oodles of chocolate, and good coffee. things were going well.
i never made it to the bank. for some reason - which nobody's been able to explain to me - all the bus routes were changed this morning. it took me ages to get the right stop... and after waiting half an hour (in terrible heat) i noticed a sign saying that the lines i was waiting for have been closed until the end of the year. or something to that effect.
by that stage, i had to return to base. and even if i HAD made it to the bank, for what i need to do i can only go on tuesdays, so it wouldn't have helped.
but i didn't know it was tuesday yet.
i found out when my team leader phone to scream at me for being late. i argued with him, but when i realized what had happened all i could do was laugh. he eventually found it amusing too. sad that i've had to cancel the half-day holiday for tomorrow, but i wouldn't have made it to the bank anyway.
i did a smidgen of work, then went for a humus lunch with the mongoose. then worked a bit more, then went to volleyball practice.
between practice and the match, i had a long talk with our section commander, and unashamedly told him how i feel about my job in the army, and reminded him that he doesn't need me - any monkey can do my job, and that i want to leave. he's still sore about it. i still can't officially talk to anyone about it.
the tournament: match 1. we should've stormed them, instead beat the 2 - 0, leading with 6 and 3 points respectively. and for two reasons only: because our "coach" switched players badly (which we'd discussed before the games, and he thought he knew better), and because players had difficulty returning to their positions.
i was surprised at how satisfying it is to be the person who wins the last point - they couldn't respond to my serve. extremely gratifying. that on top of a generally well-played game.
the dog got a call from his mom, so i grabbed the phone from him and gave her a FULL REPORT, from my perspective, of how he's been. the dog's face went from shock to horror, and he didn't know what to do. i've been waiting for an opportunity to speak to her in front of him for AGES, and this had hilarious results. he was with me when i promised to keep her informed, and i think he conveniently forgot that he was part of the deal.
i couldn't stop smiling for the next half hour, while listening to him defending himself (unsuccessfully, his mother's insane and cannot listen to reason) as his mom went on the attack.
i really am a bastard sometimes.
we (the dog, scout, and myself) hung around a bit while waiting for firefighter (can't be arsed to look up what i called him last time), and then we all went off to the lincoln. due to confusion with bus routes, this took a LOT longer than expected, and involved much silliness and singing together at the tops of our voices.
the pool was fun, and scout's improving dramatically after only a couple of times playing with us. nice to see that :)
we then went for supper to the zinc. i had the best roast-beef sandwich (well, vertically challenged sandwich, anyway) of my life, the others seemed happy with their meals too. and we drank beers, even though in uniform (it was the waitress! she made me!). aside from the food the atmosphere was great as usual, and we all told funny stories.
i took a bus home - broken from the moment i left the table - had a cool shower, and HAD to blog before going to bed. we have a meeting at 08:00 sharp, and we've been warned about being late. i get the feeling the dog's going to fuck up, and i've been told by both commanders that if he does, he's gonna be in deep shit. i don't know if i'd feel more sorry for him than amused by him, but he's had it coming for a long time now.
hell, i even had breakfast on the way. thoroughly enjoyable belgian waffle, with oodles of chocolate, and good coffee. things were going well.
i never made it to the bank. for some reason - which nobody's been able to explain to me - all the bus routes were changed this morning. it took me ages to get the right stop... and after waiting half an hour (in terrible heat) i noticed a sign saying that the lines i was waiting for have been closed until the end of the year. or something to that effect.
by that stage, i had to return to base. and even if i HAD made it to the bank, for what i need to do i can only go on tuesdays, so it wouldn't have helped.
but i didn't know it was tuesday yet.
i found out when my team leader phone to scream at me for being late. i argued with him, but when i realized what had happened all i could do was laugh. he eventually found it amusing too. sad that i've had to cancel the half-day holiday for tomorrow, but i wouldn't have made it to the bank anyway.
i did a smidgen of work, then went for a humus lunch with the mongoose. then worked a bit more, then went to volleyball practice.
between practice and the match, i had a long talk with our section commander, and unashamedly told him how i feel about my job in the army, and reminded him that he doesn't need me - any monkey can do my job, and that i want to leave. he's still sore about it. i still can't officially talk to anyone about it.
the tournament: match 1. we should've stormed them, instead beat the 2 - 0, leading with 6 and 3 points respectively. and for two reasons only: because our "coach" switched players badly (which we'd discussed before the games, and he thought he knew better), and because players had difficulty returning to their positions.
i was surprised at how satisfying it is to be the person who wins the last point - they couldn't respond to my serve. extremely gratifying. that on top of a generally well-played game.
the dog got a call from his mom, so i grabbed the phone from him and gave her a FULL REPORT, from my perspective, of how he's been. the dog's face went from shock to horror, and he didn't know what to do. i've been waiting for an opportunity to speak to her in front of him for AGES, and this had hilarious results. he was with me when i promised to keep her informed, and i think he conveniently forgot that he was part of the deal.
i couldn't stop smiling for the next half hour, while listening to him defending himself (unsuccessfully, his mother's insane and cannot listen to reason) as his mom went on the attack.
i really am a bastard sometimes.
we (the dog, scout, and myself) hung around a bit while waiting for firefighter (can't be arsed to look up what i called him last time), and then we all went off to the lincoln. due to confusion with bus routes, this took a LOT longer than expected, and involved much silliness and singing together at the tops of our voices.
the pool was fun, and scout's improving dramatically after only a couple of times playing with us. nice to see that :)
we then went for supper to the zinc. i had the best roast-beef sandwich (well, vertically challenged sandwich, anyway) of my life, the others seemed happy with their meals too. and we drank beers, even though in uniform (it was the waitress! she made me!). aside from the food the atmosphere was great as usual, and we all told funny stories.
i took a bus home - broken from the moment i left the table - had a cool shower, and HAD to blog before going to bed. we have a meeting at 08:00 sharp, and we've been warned about being late. i get the feeling the dog's going to fuck up, and i've been told by both commanders that if he does, he's gonna be in deep shit. i don't know if i'd feel more sorry for him than amused by him, but he's had it coming for a long time now.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
only when it counts.
i'll begin at the beginning - waking up bright and shiny in the morning.
a sweltering morning.
arrived on base and resumed my task from last weekend, and learned some nifty ms word stuff in the process.
i went to talk to my welfare officers about my situation, to see if they could help me out at all. the result of which: i have a choice. i can continue to live more-or-less close to tel aviv, and close enough to be able to see friends and go out every so often (more often than less, lately ^_^)... OR, i can move to a cheap and nasty apartment near the base, and be able to quit working so hard.
big decision, that one. at least i remember now what it is i'm suffering for. i'm suffering so i can have a semblance of quality of life.
the guy in charge of guard shifts called to say he hadn't got my note, so i had to go over there and point it out to him (it was on his desk, in front of him. he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer).
what i found quite disturbing was that even though we've never spoken, he knew exactly who i was from the moment he saw me.
i guard too much.
so we had a friendly chat while sorting everything out, and i'm in the clear.
spoke to the guy i'm doing the data haven project with, and we ended up with an understanding that my current situation is not condusive to the work... hopefully i'll be discharged relatively soon, but there's no betting on that.
lunch in the mess hall was actually pleasant. THAT was surprising.
the dog was up north, so the other guy in my team - i really should come up with a good name for him: i'll call him scout - and i went for ice-creams and arbing. got called back by our team leader to deal with an emergency. another oracle emergency. i LOATHE oracle.
this time, we have a deeper understanding of what's wrong. and it's TOTALLY illogical. basically, everything's been running fine, after a WEEK the code develops an infinite loop. all by itself. if we run it manually, there's no problem. but once the problem's started, there's nothing to do but kill all the sessions and redefine everything.
i ABHOR oracle. i actually let my commander know EXACTLY how i feel, not only about oracle in general, but about our systems specifically. he was shocked. i actually BEGGED him to let me in on his secret for dealing with this shit, and it turns out that he actually agrees with me, but is too lazy to care as much as i do.
great.
i finished the ms word job, and then ran off for volleyball practice.
it was boiling hot, and we worked HARD. we were absolutely revolting afterwards, and my eyes were crusted with dirt and dust, and i got mildly sunburned. and dehydrated. but a few of us did well, and managed to teach the hangers-on a thing or two. hopefully the match tomorrow will be dealt with correctly. if we choose the correct team configuration, we'll kick their asses. if we don't, we'll be humiliated.
i dealt with the guys responsible for fixing our servers... a few weeks ago, we requested that they fix one of them. it doesn't MATTER what's wrong with it. every few days, they've called to make sure that we still want them to fix it. today, they'd finally called in an external techie, and wouldn't let him touch it until i'd given the go-ahead. so i explained to them in no uncertain terms that i didn't care how, the server would be up and running and better than before.
they finally fixed the damn thing.
and it's up and running and better than before. amazing what a little aggression achieves in the country. i hate that it's necessary.
i bussed to the lincoln, got there all smelly, but in time for coffee and a chill before warm-up. i SUCKED for half an hour, then began the first round.
the guy i played was REALLY good, and i still wasn't in game mode. he made a few mistakes here and there, and i was on/off the whole time. eventually, we were 4-4, and it's first to 5. he was going for the black, and i still had 5 balls on the table.
and i got into the zone. i cleared the table with absolutely fantastic shots, and off the last one lined up perfectly for an easy shot on the black.
i focused, i KNEW what to do, i exhaled... and shot. and put the black ON THE GODDAMN POCKET. he couldn't have missed unless he was trying. i GAVE him the match. when it counted the most - but REALLY counted - i fucked up. that KILLED me.
i said my goodbyes, then went to wait for the bus.
waiting for the bus gave me an opportunity to reflect. it rained - RAINED!! - while i waited, and the atmosphere gave me a moment to collect my thoughts and to get back to my natural state. felt GOOD.
after missing a couple of busses due to overloading, i finally got home, and still haven't showered.
why haven't i showered?
because i've been working. i was totally stressing at all the changes that needed to be made, had a crazy argument with the woman i'm working with, and then we discovered that she's been misusing the stuff i wrote, which resulted in us arguing about different things. turns out what i've done is just fine - more than adequate, really - and she's just begun testing. now to wait and see.
and shower. and go to bed, at some stage. i'm bloody exhausted.
a sweltering morning.
arrived on base and resumed my task from last weekend, and learned some nifty ms word stuff in the process.
i went to talk to my welfare officers about my situation, to see if they could help me out at all. the result of which: i have a choice. i can continue to live more-or-less close to tel aviv, and close enough to be able to see friends and go out every so often (more often than less, lately ^_^)... OR, i can move to a cheap and nasty apartment near the base, and be able to quit working so hard.
big decision, that one. at least i remember now what it is i'm suffering for. i'm suffering so i can have a semblance of quality of life.
the guy in charge of guard shifts called to say he hadn't got my note, so i had to go over there and point it out to him (it was on his desk, in front of him. he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer).
what i found quite disturbing was that even though we've never spoken, he knew exactly who i was from the moment he saw me.
i guard too much.
so we had a friendly chat while sorting everything out, and i'm in the clear.
spoke to the guy i'm doing the data haven project with, and we ended up with an understanding that my current situation is not condusive to the work... hopefully i'll be discharged relatively soon, but there's no betting on that.
lunch in the mess hall was actually pleasant. THAT was surprising.
the dog was up north, so the other guy in my team - i really should come up with a good name for him: i'll call him scout - and i went for ice-creams and arbing. got called back by our team leader to deal with an emergency. another oracle emergency. i LOATHE oracle.
this time, we have a deeper understanding of what's wrong. and it's TOTALLY illogical. basically, everything's been running fine, after a WEEK the code develops an infinite loop. all by itself. if we run it manually, there's no problem. but once the problem's started, there's nothing to do but kill all the sessions and redefine everything.
i ABHOR oracle. i actually let my commander know EXACTLY how i feel, not only about oracle in general, but about our systems specifically. he was shocked. i actually BEGGED him to let me in on his secret for dealing with this shit, and it turns out that he actually agrees with me, but is too lazy to care as much as i do.
great.
i finished the ms word job, and then ran off for volleyball practice.
it was boiling hot, and we worked HARD. we were absolutely revolting afterwards, and my eyes were crusted with dirt and dust, and i got mildly sunburned. and dehydrated. but a few of us did well, and managed to teach the hangers-on a thing or two. hopefully the match tomorrow will be dealt with correctly. if we choose the correct team configuration, we'll kick their asses. if we don't, we'll be humiliated.
i dealt with the guys responsible for fixing our servers... a few weeks ago, we requested that they fix one of them. it doesn't MATTER what's wrong with it. every few days, they've called to make sure that we still want them to fix it. today, they'd finally called in an external techie, and wouldn't let him touch it until i'd given the go-ahead. so i explained to them in no uncertain terms that i didn't care how, the server would be up and running and better than before.
they finally fixed the damn thing.
and it's up and running and better than before. amazing what a little aggression achieves in the country. i hate that it's necessary.
i bussed to the lincoln, got there all smelly, but in time for coffee and a chill before warm-up. i SUCKED for half an hour, then began the first round.
the guy i played was REALLY good, and i still wasn't in game mode. he made a few mistakes here and there, and i was on/off the whole time. eventually, we were 4-4, and it's first to 5. he was going for the black, and i still had 5 balls on the table.
and i got into the zone. i cleared the table with absolutely fantastic shots, and off the last one lined up perfectly for an easy shot on the black.
i focused, i KNEW what to do, i exhaled... and shot. and put the black ON THE GODDAMN POCKET. he couldn't have missed unless he was trying. i GAVE him the match. when it counted the most - but REALLY counted - i fucked up. that KILLED me.
i said my goodbyes, then went to wait for the bus.
waiting for the bus gave me an opportunity to reflect. it rained - RAINED!! - while i waited, and the atmosphere gave me a moment to collect my thoughts and to get back to my natural state. felt GOOD.
after missing a couple of busses due to overloading, i finally got home, and still haven't showered.
why haven't i showered?
because i've been working. i was totally stressing at all the changes that needed to be made, had a crazy argument with the woman i'm working with, and then we discovered that she's been misusing the stuff i wrote, which resulted in us arguing about different things. turns out what i've done is just fine - more than adequate, really - and she's just begun testing. now to wait and see.
and shower. and go to bed, at some stage. i'm bloody exhausted.
a nice ending to a chilled weekend
i got my ass handed to me in counterstrike. then sammy came over, and i handed his ass to him in tekken - although in his defense, he DID get a match in on me at the end.
we then went to play pool, which was great fun. played like crap, but was time well spent.
he dropped me off at the lizard. the music was good, but not for dancing. i spent a lot of time chatting and drinking, then made my way home. i had a long conversation with my mom, and the conclusion of that conversation is that it would be best if after my EMG on the 11th of october, the army decided to let me go. i could get a real salary, move to an area i'd be happy in, save money, work on my projects, and sleep.
oh - and travel a bit, including south africa.
all of which sound absolutely SUPERB to me.
i just posted something important to me on slashdot: here.
going to shave, wash dishes, and crash...
we then went to play pool, which was great fun. played like crap, but was time well spent.
he dropped me off at the lizard. the music was good, but not for dancing. i spent a lot of time chatting and drinking, then made my way home. i had a long conversation with my mom, and the conclusion of that conversation is that it would be best if after my EMG on the 11th of october, the army decided to let me go. i could get a real salary, move to an area i'd be happy in, save money, work on my projects, and sleep.
oh - and travel a bit, including south africa.
all of which sound absolutely SUPERB to me.
i just posted something important to me on slashdot: here.
going to shave, wash dishes, and crash...
Saturday, September 17, 2005
blown away.
terry goodkind - stone of tears is without any doubt the most powerful, enticing story i have ever read. and SO well told.
FLAWLESS VICTORY.
i'm completely gobsmacked.
FLAWLESS VICTORY.
i'm completely gobsmacked.
*wipes tears*
slashdot post about a man who allegedly burned carpets and plastic (?!?!) due to static buildup
i got a response from the email i sent back regarding the phishing scam. not only did i NOT get the photo i requested, but it was a lame autoresponse with all the details and some more crap.
i must admit, i'm disappointed. well, if nobody's prepared to actually READ my email, then i'm not going to participate.
in other news, i have done nothing of value so far. and i'm PROUD of it!
now... to continue...
i got a response from the email i sent back regarding the phishing scam. not only did i NOT get the photo i requested, but it was a lame autoresponse with all the details and some more crap.
i must admit, i'm disappointed. well, if nobody's prepared to actually READ my email, then i'm not going to participate.
in other news, i have done nothing of value so far. and i'm PROUD of it!
now... to continue...
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