bigfatgeek.net

In my day job, I am frequently called on to create ad-hoc solutions to various challenges. More often than not, MS Access is the tool I use. My company is in bed with MS, already upgrading everything to Vista Business. Most users have Access installed, making Access solutions a fast fix.

Regardless of the tool or platform though, data, in and of itself, is really fascinating to me. So often misunderstood and misused, in form and function.  Give me a text list of 235,000 lines, with mismatching data formats especially, and I see 30 minutes of fun. Is that weird? I guess so. But the challenge to make that data usable, faster, and more efficient, is to me a great source of enjoyment and satisfaction.

Day tah? It’s the way Captain Picard pronounces Data, the ultimate android. Unable to feel, unable to love… yet loved by many.

Ahhh… a taste of the good life. I only wish I could have more of it. The hardest part has been getting my head back into work again. This was on the oldest and smallest (733 ft) ship in the Carnival fleet, and I highly recommend it. They have won top honors two years running for the food and service… no small feat in a fleet as large as Carnival. I don’t believe this ship (25 yrs old) will be in commission much longer, so if you want a taste of the good life with a touch of nostalgia, go soon. The Carnival M.S. Holiday departs from Mobile Alabama, and is the only cruise ship to do so. As such, they have a very large and modern terminal all to themselves. The lines on and off the ship are relatively short and fast compared to other busy ports. The service is incredibly personal and caring. Every crew member associated with us called us by first name immediately, and treated us like we were the only ones on board. One of the stops (Progreso, Yucatan) offers a taste of rural Mexico life, Mayan style, once you wander out of the pier area. I can’t say enough about how relaxing and fun this trip was…

Tomorrow morning we set sail on our first cruise. If Internet access is reasonable I’ll try to post an at-sea update or two with some pictures.

http://recordings.talkshoe.com/rss20037.xml

I just listened to the Episode 0 of Linux Cranks… It gets better about half-way through. I think if they stick to it and develop the relationships a bit, this could be pretty entertaining.

Episode 1 is already out too…

Well, I finally found the source of some of my lock-ups and crashes. Seems I’ve had a misbehaving gall bladder for at least a few years. For the most part my symptoms were general aches and pains and feeling run down, similar to a cold as well as crankiness and indigestion. I’ve been having these mystery symptoms about 5 out of 10 days for the last two years or so. I had it uninstalled.