The Phone Call

It's been a long time since I've written any fiction, and even longer since I've put any of it online. At any rate, here goes some short fiction...

 

I hung up the phone with disgust. The call had not gone well, and I wasn't in a good mood to begin with. I was pissed off that they'd screwed up again. I was pissed off that I had to make the call because of the screw up. Mostly, now that the call was done, I was pissed off at cell phones.

There was something satisfying about slamming an old-fashioned receiver down into its cradle at the end of an argument, just as your adversary was about to hang up. It had always made me feel better. Now that Ma Bell had eaten her children and suddenly died of indigestion, that was no longer an option.

Cell phones. Everyone had to use these cheap-ass cell phones. I was really starting to loath them. What were you going to do? Dramatically slam the "Off" button?

After a quick trip through a local store, I flipped open my phone and calmly pressed redial. As soon as Alan answered, I let off the air horn I had just purchased and then calmly pressed the "Off" button.
Now that I was satisfied that there would be no mistaking my feelings on the matter, I smiled inwardly. It wasn't quite the same satisfaction, but it still felt good.

Bloglines

Just a quick note to mention that Bloglines appears to be having some serious issues right now. I didn't realize how much I use it to keep on top of things until I took a quick break from coding and realize it wasn't working.

BBS Software

I've been moving a little closer to getting the BBS up and running. I've got a spare computer to install everything on, and I've downloaded a bunch of stuff to check out. I've gotta decide on software, though. I'm leaning mostly towards WWiV, but I haven't totally ruled out VBBS. I know I'm not going to set it up for general access, but I also discovered that DLX is now freeware.

Towel Day 2006

You sass that hoopy Douglas Adams? Now there's a frood who knew where his towel was. You are invited to join your fellow hitchhikers in mourning the loss of the late great one. Join in on Towel Day to show your appreciation for the humor and insight that Douglas Adams brought to all our lives.

That's right, it's time to start thinking about Towel Day again! Mark your calenders, grab your towels, and help us celebrate the life (and mourn the loss) of Douglas Adams on May 25th!

And now for something completely different...

Sometimes you come across a website that's just too good not to share. Such is the case with The Dialectizer. The description on the site is The Dialectizer takes text or other web pages and instantly creates parodies of them! Some of them can be pretty funny.

Ask a glass of water...

"It's unpleasantly like being drunk."
"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?"
"Go ask a glass of water."

This is one of my favorite exchanges from the entire Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, and until recently I didn't really appreciate it. For the past couple of weeks, I have been suffering from dizzy spells. The kind like you get when you're really drunk and go to lie down, and the room starts spinning. Only I haven't been drunk in an extremely long time, which made the entire experience extremely unpleasant. Sorta like a glass of water must feel when being drunk.

At any rate, I think I have finally figured out what is causing the dizziness. I have been getting way too little sleep because of the course load in school along with my work schedule, so I think I have been suffering from exhaustion. I came to realize this when I got a couple of good nights of sleep (without sleeping too much) and the dizziness when away. Once the sleep patterns got screwed up again, the dizziness came back. So, in the fall, I don't think I am going to return to school. An associates degree isn't going to really help me much because I've got the experience, and a bachelors is not available without transferring to a different school. Instead, I am going to study for the CCSP, and possibly grab the Network+ and Security+ certificates while on my way to the CISSP. InfoSec is where it's at these days, and I've always been interested. I'd just about give up management for an entry-level position if the pay was right.

Hello Netherlands!

I just checked my March logs, and the number one non-US tld appears to be for the Netherlands, followed not-so closely with India. Norway and Taiwan tie for third. The US Government is again represented, as is the US military. However, my Arpanet visitor did not return this month.

Overall, nothing too strange in the logs. Just a minor drop in traffic from February, but traffic ebbs and flows.