BOFHJournal - June 2000

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30/06/2000 [17:00] Oh, a journal entry. Why didn't you say so? UPS arrived, got it plugged into the hubs. Swapped a new machine in for one of the complaing secretaries at lunch time and then had to show a Macintosh user how to use Windows NT. Just before I went out, the Wirelsss LAN stuff arrived. I've had a quick test this afternoon and things are looking... promising. There's this cool feature where you can power the radio hub from a spare pair on the RJ-45 connection. Thus allowing you to keep the adapter back at the comms cabinet. Which is cool. The only problems so far are that the transmitter is vastly under-powered, the building is a shite shape and has too much metal and concrete and that as a listed building I can't go around drilling holes in walls to put the hub up in the middle of the library. Still, it's the girlfriend's party tonight, so I get to pack away some of the speakers and eat lots of unrecommended food. Nice.

29/06/2000 [12:50] Meeting all morning. Most of the discussion was of Microsoft's ADS stuff. Something I do not want to get into. In fact, I wish to to leave all Microsoft operating system administration by the time it becomes widespread in any way. Either that, or run NT4 quietly somewhere where no-one will bother me. Just ordered Ghost (Enterprise Edition) so when we do the new public access machines we don't have to dick about installing them all the same and worrying about permissions and stuff. Set up a nice machine once, set up the policies properly and then ghost nineteen more. Simple. Ha. Anyone have any nightmare stories of Norton/Symantec Ghost Enterprise Edition? The ability to reghost remotely and stuff will be excellent. Centralised administration of NT takes some of the bile from my stomach... and probably liberally redistributes it over the network. Still, having machines faster than P100s with 32Mb of RAM running NT4 whatever their configuration will make things a little easier. At least until the lusers install shit on them. These machines are going to be so locked down it'll make their gonads ache. The lusers' not the machines, I haven't yet found a machine with reproductive organs. I didn't mention that yesterday I spent the best part of 45 minutes going through a Macintosh user's Word documents making sure they were all named with valid Windows names and had a .doc file extension, in preparation for ftping the whole tree structure off her aging machine, onto one of my linux boxes, then tar'ed up and NFS copied to my samba server, untar'ed and copied from a mapped drive to the new NT4 machine for this person. I'm sure there's a quicker way, but I'll enjoy the challenge. Such as it is. Of course, then I have to introduce this user to the concept of a "right mouse button" and just how Windows isn't quite as accomadating when it comes to filenames. Still need to buy the UPS for the hubs. The shelf for the cabinet came yesterday which was good. Spent a few pleasant minutes doing some screwing and thumping to make it fit. Should hold a UPS of up to 50kg. Which is good. Lunch time now. [17:30] Bah, dragged into do training on the new IT and A/V equipment we have now. This is annoying. Still, I get to tell them exactly how to use it, and what not to do. With luck, sending the email notification this late means that not many people will turn up.

28/06/2000 [14:50] Reading "DNS and BIND" from ORA today. Some of it's heavy going. The PFY is taking the time I'm engaged with it to install machine. Today it's FQDNs (really resolver issues, but hey) and the domain name space idea. Oh yes, happy birthday to the girlfriend, 23 today!

27/06/2000 [11:30] BOFHcam II crashed, finally. In a way it was good to know that whatever is wrong is still wrong with it. I make take the time to change from 3.2-RELEASE at some point. Grab the modem stuff and reinstall. I got the PFY two bottles of semi-expensive read wine to thank her for the works she's put in in enabling me to slack off majorly for the last month or so. I think it's fair. I have just had to do a fucking finicky piece of statistics for the last dregs of the DoD. That stuff really drags on. As it is I've got to go now to get to the south of the city for a training course for the afternoon. I'll leave you with the PFY and leave camera II running. I can always kill it from home tonight so I'm guaranteed dialup. Anyway, there's something in the wind relating to job, so I'll try to remain as cryptic as possible. Oh yes, ordered the ORA book "DNS and BIND" because not knowing the specifics is damaging my credibility. You know how it is.

26/06/2000 [10:00] Guy on the radio's just asked if the word "forth" is ever used outside of the phrase "back and forth", so I've emailed him with "go forth and multiply", fuck off, basically. Hope he doesn't take it the right way. Then again, he's one of the better DJs, so I'm a little undecided. And, as I type, my email's just been mentioned in a sanitised manner. Although we're just suffering the statistical backlash of the DoD this first half of the week, it's not something that's desperate as far as I know. This is good as I've just realised that the external training for the new accounts software starts today, this afternoon. I have to cycle all the way across town to go to this damned thing this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon and then cycle all the way back to the gym. So long as the weather stays fine I might not mind too much. PCs arriving this week, I hope, for the secretaries. Once they're in place all but one of the machines will be modern enough for me only to need to worry about the software on them, rather than the boxes themselves. Also waiting on the shelf for the rack so I can find out what size of UPS I can get for the hubs so I can feel reassured that in the case of a power failure the servers will be shut down remotely from the one connected to the UPS on here if the cut goes on for too long *gasp*. Anyway, on with the show. [11:10] Arse and feck. Fuck, arse, bollocks. Gah, how can a company send me a flyer for wirelss LAN at one price, sell it to me at that price on Friday, then tell me on Monday that 3Com have hiked their prices and therefore the companay can't sell it to me at the original price. How can I spend ten minutes on the phone with a numbnuts salesweasel who has either tried damned hard or is a good liar who can't get the price changed. How can I then agree to pay another £134 on top of the money I'd already arranged? Simple, it's not my money. Even so, I don't like being dicked around. I confirmed the price on the phone, sent in the order and have ontl now been told that the goods are at another price. I'd complain, but frankly I can't be bothered. Still, the new machines for the secretaries have come in. It's therapeutic installing Dell NT, just sit back and wait. [17:10] One down, one to go, still boxed. With luck the woman won't come back and scream bloody murder because "everything looks different", which it doesn't. The other woman claims to be right in the middle of stuff right now, and doesn't want a new PC. Weirdo. I've also been asked to stay late (after 17:00 and not off my own bat) till around 18:00, and it doesn't feel right.

23/06/2000 [15:15] Busy morning. The last few claws of the DoD have been raking across my naked cerebellum (or cerebrum if you really care) with the strength of a dying gorilla. It's been much better than last year though, what with the PFY getting a lot of the DoD organised and with a uniform interface. Must get her a bottle of something as thanks. Don't want her to leave just yet. Anyway, it's Friday today, the girlfriend spent the morning minding the builder who's been drilling and cutting the path for the cable TV wire (and the cat-5 I'll be running) for the television. I'll stick the phone extension down it too so finally I should be able to close the door to the lounge upstairs and put DVDs on at something approaching slightly too loud. The landlord was there this afternoon while the girlfriend went to work, he was using my free dialup connection, luckily the BOFHcam II still hasn't crashed. Really odd. Gym this weekend, and I get to meet the person who ordered me a Dolby Digital plaque (which I have to pay for). [16:40] Woohoo! Through wit and guile and my damnably good looks I've managed to swing the purchase of some 11Mb/sec 3Com AirConnect radio LAN kit for laptops. Rest assured I will be testing it extensively when it comes in. After all, what are carefree days and afternoons of trials under dappled sunlight all about? This Friday just got better.

22/06/2000 [12:00] Got a reasonable night's sleep last night and feel about as bad, if not worse, as yesterday morning. Sitting in work the AO burst in with some complaint about the stats the PFY had been slaving over. "Shit!" she says, one we re-re-explain to her than Excel can only sort on three things. We redo it on green paper so she can go haring off to her meeting with the stuff sorted subtly differently. It's doubtful it'll make any difference. Still, it got the blood flowing. Knowing her she'll come in in a few hours/days to apologise or berate us some more. You can never tell. As it is I'm not informed that the new AO will be starting at the beginning of July(ish), or maybe August, so it'll be a good time to get some new kit in. Apart from the Axis 2100 Network Camera which kicks serious excretory appendage (and I doubt I'll be able to swing by people here as they value their privacy) I'm in the mood for wireless LAN. As such I've taken a look at the 3Com offering of AirConnect. The Starter Pack has a base station and three PCMCIA cards and I can get it for £671 plus VAT. I think I can make a case for it. Either way, having three laptops equiped with it should mean less running around making ports live in obscure places for people to misuse. Structured cabling might be a Good Thing, but not having to take a trip to the racks every two minutes is even better. [17:00] The reason I've been away all afternoon is because I've been setting up the two Dolby Digital/dts rooms. Lots of fun with Lost in Space (the only non-violent in places DVD I own that's both Region 1 and Dolby Digital) and a set of speakers. It's only a shame people work here late into the evening or I'd have turned it up and listened to the end credits. I still may do it as I've not been able to get the keys back to the custodian as he's gone home already. Shame. The AO and I are doing a late shift tonight to get a turnaround on the important statistics. As I've done almost bugger all on the DoD this year I can't really see a reason not to mind, overmuch. I expect BOFhcam II will be left running for it's first 24 hour shift since I installed it. With luck and a following wind it won't lock up for once. The public access machines needed a new plugin installed this afternoon. While the PFY and I were dashing round one of the users called up on us to help her with a Word document which had been futzblughered quite thoroughly by an auto-recovery. It didn't help that she was preparing it for publication in two hours, half the body text (in German) had gone and her footnotes were all over the place. As it was, I explained it was completely fucked and was actually slightly embarassed to see her eyes glisten and the tears begin to pour down her cheeks as she sat there silently trying to work out what to do. Luckily she'd got a backup that was identical except for not having 45 footnotes, and she thought she might be able to get it done almost within the two hours. When she told me that they'd been two days late in getting it to her I advised her to take two days extra in getting it back to her. This cheered her up no end. Which was kind of nice, for once.

21/06/2000 [10:20] I'm in a better state than I was planning to be in. At this rate I could do the whole day if required. Which is a bit of a downer. As it is we went to the shindig last night. It was O.K., not as good as I'd hope. The dodgems (read: bumper-cars) were a Good Thing, as was the freeplay on Sega Rally Championship. I can quite truthfully say I 0wned most people's asses. Which is nice. Food and drink and stuff was done, unfortunately at around 03:00 we (her and me) decided to call it a night and walked the three miles home. She was up for about 06:00 for a 36 mile cycleride, I dragged myself out of bed at 08:00 feeling like the inside of a rat. It's amazing though, I'm beginning to feel better as the morning goes on. With luck, the statistics I'm doing should be over by midday and I can still go home anyway. [14:00] Hmm, do I go home or not? Is it worth losing half a day's holiday when I don't feel too bad? Maybe if I leave at 16:30 (it's only two and half hours away) I can claim a full day's work. I do know that the stuff I've done this morning is more than I've done in the last week.

20/06/2000 [10:45] Party day today. The A/V people are here. I tried to hang with them and make sure they didn't squander the cable I've bought but I was fifth-wheeled (didn't want me to see their voodoo at work) and I've been relegated to other stuff unless they ask for my help. [10:50] Like treking down three flights of stairs to open a combination-lock door that's defeated some of the 'finest minds' in the building for over twenty minutes. I'd laugh, but they'd get me in trouble. I've been going to bed later and later recently in the hope I'll be able to make it through the all-nighter tonight. As it is I have to come in for at least tomorrow morning (see 15/06/1999 for how badly I took it last time) to make sure things are running smoothly-ish in the high-point of the DoD. I'll try to get out of there by 13:30 at the latest. With luck the girlfriend and I will be able to get the landlord to watch the house on Friday morning (leaving me to do vital work at work) and then the girlfriend can do the afternoon session. [14:15] On a spur of the moment I've shifted the new PCs for the library in there and dragged up the old ones for storage until I can either sell the boxes or the librarian asks for them back. I hate leaving Windows95 boxes publically accessible, so shifting even to NT is a blessing in some ways. At least I can reboot them remotely in a sane manner, rather than having to send them malformed packets.

19/06/2000 [1:20] Just come back from the dentist. In case you were interested, no fillings of any kind and just a clean and scrape. The weather here is fine. It's already twenty-seven degrees in the office, but I don't care because the fans are going and I'm in shorts. The PFY and her two data monkeys are working hard on the DoD and all I have to do is hold the fort for the moment. Maybe order some PCs. [16:55] True to form it's been a real Monday of a day. First of all I sweat cobs getting the two new presentation tellys set up, both weigh as much as I do. Then I find that the expensive Ixos coaxial interconnects don't fit (until I ring the hifi show and am told how to loosen them), before I get them to work the AO comes in and we have a Problem with me taking time off on Wednesday and Friday (party recovery and builder). I've had Words, plus the PFY is being a hero(ine). I'll really need to get her something to thank her for this after the event. Anyway, the AO interrupted the work I was doing and dragged me down to the DoD room to go over the exact procedure that is being followed for the input of the data, checking and storage (online and off). Meanwhile I'm sweating about this non-fitting pair of interconnects I'm stuck with, I'm going to have to make a trip tomorrow to get new ones in time for the A/V people who are arriving in the morning. I escape back to my room to make the required calls when the A/V people arrive out of the blue and I have to take them round, remind them that drilling small holes in the main building supports won't cause too many problems (such as building stability being compromised) and allow them to take away a speaker or two to order brackets that'll support them. With luck they'll do the wiring tomorrow and then attach the speakers in time for the A/V indoctrination gubbins I have to do on 4 July.

16/06/2000 [09:25] Bit colder cycling in this morning. I've been shorn upon my head. Also managed to get the builder booked to come and cut holes in the house next Friday. He'll be drilling between the floors to allow us to run cable TV upstairs without the need to run 13m of black coaxial across the dining room and up the stairs. It'll also mean I can run the modem cable the same route and any Cat5 I care to use. Of course this means I have Monday morning off (dentist until 10:15), Wednesday afternoon off if I need to (all night party on Tuesday night until 06:00 and I hate sleeping in the morning, then going into work) and if possible, all day Friday. Naturally, next week is the busiest week of the year when it comes to the Databases of Doom. The PFY says she and her helpers (she'll have two next week) will be able to cope. I just have to sell it to the AO. I think I can do the dentist because it's not for too long. The Wednesday afternoon I can claim on account of doing the same thing at the same time last year when it was only me doing the DoD and things going according to plan. No, the only real problem is going to be Friday. I'll broach it when I see her later today. The problem is that the girlfriend has much less leave then me, plus she's in the middle of a development crisis at her workplace. Damn. This builder has been so hard to pin down, it's now or 'never' really. Perhaps that'll help. Also need some kind of UPS for at least one of the hubs which service the floors. This is so that in the event of a power failure the one machine with the UPS attached can tell the others to shutdown also. That was the problem last time; I thought I could shut them all down when the power went out, but I'd fogotten the role hubs play in computer communication. Suggestions? Only really need to power one SuperStack II for about 36 minutes. [15:50] I'm now 15 padlocks the richer. Keyed alike too, don't tell the lusers. Makes it easier to have one key that opens all the padlocks in case we lose a key. Of course, having 30 keys that open all the lockdowns for the PCs in the building probably isn't really a great idea. Who cares?

15/06/2000 [12:10] Gah. Bloody domain carpetbagging advocates at 3C Technology rendered me speechless with rage this morning. I sent off an email criticising their tactics and stuff along with a demand not to hear from them again. With luck I'll stop getting paper and email spam from them. Idiots. Sorted out helping someone with Web/LCD projector/laptop stuff this afternoon, just before I go for a hair cut. Going to the gym in this heat is a nightmare if you have the mass of hair I have. Fixed some typos on the site as well. Why did no-one tell me the Register gif wasn't coming up? Hmmm, what else? I dunno. I'm here for lunch, the new FreeBSD seems to have some more stuff for Brooktree cameras in it, bofhcamII hasn't died yet. [16:00] It's actually been one of those rare days, a boring one. Nothing much has happened, I've not had to deal with anything particularly hairy, I've not done more than the normal amount of work, I've barely left my machine and I've not had to do much thinking. Must be time to get a haircut and go to the gym.

14/06/2000 [11:00] I think I've found a new bug in Eudora, I've narrowed it down to both the Light and Pro versions, and the Subject: line. Either it's a buffer overrun problem (too many characters), or the fact that it's got ISO encoding information in it, and contains accented characters (the text was French). Eudora versions over 4.x are not affected and seem to get the right characters out of the pot. For some reason, BOFHcam II doesn't seem to have crashed, yet. This will probably jinx it to such a degree it'll lock up today. Back from lunch, I've found that the accounting software that's being adopted by the institution (Oracle with JInitiator/Java) requires me to go on courses to learn how to use it. Not only that, but I'm on two courses before I actually get to go on the 'Getting to know the database before going on any of the courses' course. Which is good. Taking up my fricking time with this pile of poo is only going to give me gas. And shorten my temper. I'd like a new job.

13/06/2000 [10:30] I got itchy fingers and upgraded Apache this morning. You probably haven't been able to get to the site since about 09:30 this morning. Rest assured apart from some weird module problems, me and my good friend Tom will have the server up by the time you read this journal entry... RedHat really doesn't do standard installs for Apache. Or didn't, a while ago. While I'm pottering around waiting for the modules to compile I'll ask you a question. I've had one or two requests for a 'guestbook' type affair so people can see what other people are saying. Perhaps make the BOFHcam site something for to talk to each other occasionally, exchange Useful Information, etc. I dunno. I don't want to go the way of Userfriendly, or a poor man's Slashdot discussion forum. While I'd like to hear your opinions, remember that you are nothing to me. Sputum, navel-fluff, the last 3cm of a Pepperami. RedHat and apache really don't get on. And RedHat's packages seem to be quite... obscure, sometimes. Anway, it all seems to be done now, thanks to some sterling efforts from Tom. So on with the show. [18:00] Either you're all boring, or you've gone home. Anyway, there seems to be no problems with Apache. I've also found an Olivetti Personal Computer M24 which, once cleared of dust appears to boot to BIOS, but requires a 5.25" disk to boot from. I think I have DOS on a disk somewhere. I think I'm going to go home. Being allowed to wear shorts from now on has made me feel quite light-headed.

12/06/2000 [8:45] Don't ask me why I'm in this early. I won't be leaving any earlier this afternoon because of it. I will be going to the gym though, because I can feel the tension rising already. The data we were missing for part one (of four) of the DoD has luckily come in. So I don't have to rip someone's ribs out. However I've had to look at the timetable for training for the new accouting software that the institution is adopting. 26, 27 June, 4, 5, 7, 12, 24 July. All over town too. I don't mind the travelling, but the sessions are going to be soul-destroyingly boring. I am not an accountant, I'm a technician, with a PFY. This does not make me a beancounter. I have to get four SCART cables, some high quality coaxial and an imperial buttload of speaker cable ordered and ready to go by 20 June as well. To be ready for the final stage of the new A/V I need to plan where the speakers are going to best placed and get some opinions from the custodian staff who actually seem to have some idea which bits of the ageing and decrepid building we inhabit won't mind overmuch having holes drilled in them. Rant from an anonymous Mister X detailing that Monday Morning Feeling we know so well. [17:30] Been fiddling with samba again this afternoon. Odd program. Browse lists aren't the sanest things either.

09/06/2000 [16:00] Deadlines. If people expect me to get stuff done for deadlines, this means they have to stick to the sodding things too. If you want a while load of dead tree output with stats and stuff on, you have to give me the raw data to pass on to the input monkeys under my domain in plenty of time to get it input and processed. Do not say "Yah, it'll be with you by 12:00 Friday, O.K." and then be unreachable all of Friday. The phrase Don't Make Me Come Over There springs to mind. Guess who gets it in the neck of the stuff isn't done in time, too... Been trading emails with people today on the subject of the new accounts stuff we're getting for the institution as a whole. We are not happy. However we've been told off for airing our grievances on the 'public' list. Still, no matter, we've got more than enough bile to fuel a private conversation. Gah, now I've been relegated to calling round people until I find the people who are supposed to be getting the data done. I hate this job. What I want is a job where I can slowly move from Windows to Unix and then never have to deal with DoD and the Windows GUI again. In the meantime I'll take a job doing Unix/Windows intergration. Yeah, that'd be cool. Looking at the new NIS stuff and soforth for Windows 2000 and how to get Unix et al. to work with it. I reckon I could do that. No trouble. Hell, if I do some more samba and stuff there must be somewhere that'd appreciate my talents. Not that I want to leave here, no. At least it's Friday. There's two days of peace before the fan gets truly clogged. [17:10] I'm not depressed. How could I be when I'm surrounded with technology? Hmmm. I wonder if anyone would notice if I moved all the servers and workstations over to linux and fvwm95 over the weekend. That's be fun. Yeah.

08/06/2000 [16:00] Appreciate the comments on Samba. As soon as I have an opening in my busy schedule I'll have another play. Most of today has been taken up with waiting for data to come in for the underworked data input technician. If we don't get anything soon, next week is going to be tough on her. Currently I am no taking the time to kick back and listen to some most excellent Prodigy (Fat of the Land) and read manuals for DVD players, sorround amplifiers and video recorders which the institution has purchased under my direction.

07/06/2000 [09:00] Got samba working from a RH6.2 box last night. While there are some hairy bits not mentioned except in some FAQs, it's not really that hard, is it? I plan on seeing if I can get a tiny machine to be the NT PDC and run nothing but the minimum services and then mount all the profiles and shares off of the samba box. Printers would then be next (dunno how that would work, perhaps I'd do that off of the PDC as well) followed by a wait for domain PDC stuff to be finalised. If anyone can tell me how to change the string that appears in the PDC's Server Manager (not the description/comment, but the 'Type') it'd be appreciated. I was sure it was "os level = [string here]" but it doesn't seem to have worked. Might go and collect the speakers and amplifiers this morning/afternoon. I've got a present arriving from my parents (who've in Ireland for the last two weeks) which is on special delivery and requires putting in the fridge as soon as it arrives. I'm betting on salmon, or maybe oysters.

06/06/2000 [14:00] More fuckwittedness at the ranch. But not from Erin ans Jen who've sent me a postcard from their honeymoon to Hawaii. Thanks guys, the mostly naked bird on the picture side got me a few sharp looks from the rest of the admin level (them being female and old with barely an exception). Who cares though, she's good looking. The fuckwittedness refers the continuing adventures of me and the deliverable PCs which I have to ship out to people. Apart from teh taxi driver who complained about having a PC on his seats ("We have special taxis for stuff like this." he complained) because it would leave marks, I had to deal with a luser who's never used windows before, let alone NT. She also complained that she'd have to buy her own ink for the printer once the ones we supplied ran out. Like, she expects us to pay for her printouts? The sysadmin for the section wasn't too happy to accept the PC under her umbrella of responsibility either, but then, I don't really give a shit. I've decide to document where my responsibilities as regards these PC actually lies and then slap it in the face of anyone who complains. Fuck 'em. The PFY and the Data Input Persona are plugging away at one of the nastier statistical analyses we have to churn out this year. It's good to delegate. I was trying samba yesterday for the first time. Sambaclient works like a dream, of course smbd is a bit more fiddly. I filled up the /var on the box I was scratching with, and tried to do some partition juggling in single user mode. It didn't go well. I'm reinstalling, because it gives me something to do.

05/06/2000 [16:00] Hmm. Monday. Naturally things are shite. The new accounts system which requires a JInitiator 8.5Mb download before it'll creak into life, is crap. The Oracle database it 'interfaces' to, is slow and frighteningly obtuse, and I have to learn how to use it. As a result I've been signed up for four courses which will attempt to tell me how to put in equipment orders from the comfort of my own PC. Cower now brief mortals as I do stuff much more slowly (it's a browser interface) and with more paper printouts at the end of it all. Fucking hell. I hate computers and I hate databases even more. We've got lusers bleating about PCs not being delivered still, too. I've given in slightly and will be installing one of the four we have sitting here tomorrow between 09:00 and 13:00, probably around 10:00. I've had some sympathy from the BOFH who works in that section of the institution, so at least I can have a natter while she does the final systems check (IP and the like), then I hand over the 'administrator' password and although the machine belongs to us, it's no longer my responsibility. Should shift the other ones sometime soon. Big hi to "jurgen" who connected to ua2.compsoc.man.ac.uk and is probably reading all the back messages as you read this. I really feel like going home already. Gods, I really need to learn some samba/linux Windows intergration stuff and get the hell out of this job. Isn't it Friday yet?

02/06/2000 [16:10] Unfortunately, the weird and wonderful help file I was writing for UA (telnet ua2.compsoc.man.ac.uk) got lost when my roaming profile under NT decided not to roam back to the server when I logged off a few weeks ago. This has necessitated me starting from BLOODY SCRATCH AGAIN, but I think it's better this time around. I've also been setting up another laptop, stacking machines ready to go out (got six sitting here not doing anything at the moment) and working out how the hell we're going to get someone to do all the data input this year for the DoD. Still, more X-Beyond The Frontier this weekend.

01/06/2000 [11:00] Another month, another luser. The PFY set up a machine to my exacting standards of neatness on her own yesterday afternoon while I was ordering kit. There's hope for her yet. I got the amplifiers and speakers ordered. With luck I'll be able to get them on Friday, with the PFY's car. We've been on a secirity marking jag this week. Marking everything technological with some Selectamark gunk and stencils. Naturally, most of the tubes of gunk have evaporated, but we've still managed to do many of them. We've gotten permission to replace eighteen machines with about twenty brank spanking new ones sometime between now and the beginning of October. Naturally, this, coupled with the machines I have to get for fifteen-ish other people will necessitate a copy of Ghost, or similar. The DoD should start today. We've found another machine for them, so that's good. I wonder what excuse I can have for leaving early today? [14:30] Lunch was good. Bought a birthday card for my father (birthday was on May 30th) who's in Ireland until next Tuesday and a copy of X: Beyond the Frontier because I installed someone else's copy and liked what I saw. It's kind of like Eliete 2, only with the gameplay of Elite and the graphics of Freespace, kind of. I also had An Idea. I don't get them often, but when I do, they're usually good. If this Idea comes to pass it'll be Good. In fact it will be Great. I'm saying nothing more for the moment. But rest assured, if it all works I can see my life changing for the better and prospects will be improved. Hell, I'd be prepared to cut back on something to gain it. More later in the month. Maybe. If this Idea comes to pass... Shit, it'd be good.