Daynotes On A Budget, V6.0

 Some years ago, I worked for a manager who told me "you will meet two types of IT people.  Those who haven't lost a job because of a backup that couldn't be recovered, and those who have."  About ten years after he told me that, I lost a job because of a broken backup. It was about 85% my fault.  We dropped and deleted a table which I thought had been backed up.  The consultant asked if he should delete the table and recreate it, because he needed to, I asked if it was safe, and he said it was.  So I said do what you need to do.  And it turned out the table was not safe. I mean, if I'm the one responsible for having to delete something, I do several things.  First I check to see how big it is, and secondly, I make a copy of it.  Then I document what it is I'm deleting, then I export the data to a file I can import.  Then I move the file to another drive out of the way so I can replace it.  And if it's a table, the name changes to "...

 Yeah, again. When we moved into this current location  little over 5 years ago, our mailbox shared a post with the neighbor.  Who did car repair from his garage.  Which is, per our local zoning laws, illegal.  Mind you, you can certainly do your own car repairs, but running a business like that, it's illegal.   I do not know the full history of it, but I can make a few guesses.  I should start with the history of the suburb I currently live in, not that I know it all that well, but it seems that the suburb I live in was once the possible target of annexation by a larger suburb across the river.  And because the local residents did not want that, they formed this new city.  And then the nannies got their fingers into it.   In my suburb, there are rules against things like back yard clotheslines.  That's right, rules against energy-saving methods to dry your clothes, because, I guess, some one found the sight of other peopl...

So I typically scan CNN for breaking world news, and a few other ... things several times a day.  I don't check the news on my work computer because I'm working.  I used to, back when I was a salaried employee, because my days typically ran more than 8 hours a day (my typical work schedule when I was not on a timeclock was around 7:30 am to around 4:30 pm, and I note "around" because I would typically try to arrive at the office prior to 7 am in order to mitigate any ... overnight IT disasters like a server needing a reboot, etc., and get a start on the day before the computers were needed.  If there were MAJOR updates which needed to be applied, you can bet I would be in there before 7 am, or on weekends.  I've noted most places I've worked, the rest of the staff will usually work later into the day which means I really don't want to try to out-wait them and then fix things, it's easier to beat them to the office. Anyway, I noticed the headline "...

 I know, and I apologize.  Been dealing with things that aren't normally a problem for me, which makes it difficult.   And I offer another apology, as I won't touch on the issues until I get a real handle on them. One of the issues which is rather surprisingly difficult for me has been, believe it or not, woodworking.  And specifically, there, I know I am a little beyond upset and trending towards a rather low-level depression regarding woodworking in general.  Time has become somewhat nebulous to me when it comes to thinking and planning with regards to woodworking, so I do apologize.   I believe that last year, I finished the monster table, and set off to use it for various projects.  That is, I suppose, I should describe it.   As a boy, I distinctly remember my father in the garage at various times, building things.  This goes a long way back to his youth, from the memories I gained from him talking about how he did things....

 It is extremely strange when you see national guard helicopters flying around and over your town.  I don't suppose that it gets normal for anyone, but this past year has been extremely ... sad, strange, frustrating, and enlightening.  And I know more things now that I wish I didn't have to know, but as the days go by, that is also something I have the privilege not to deal with, thanks to my skin color. Which is what is driving most of the change, unfortunately.  I used to think that maybe we'd gotten past the racism that was prevalent in the world, but it seems it's just gotten far more deadly and insidious.  On 05/25/2020, George Floyd walked out of a convenience store in his neighborhood and the police ... well, they killed him.  We've had one trial so far completed, and it determined that yes, Derek Chauvin did kneel on his back until Mr. Floyd was no longer breathing. I was sitting in a pediatrician's office with my son a number of years ago.  He...

Been a long week.  But it's over.   We've been working in a new-to-us system this week.  Previously we used one system to find out what work needed to be done, it was done in another system, where we had a third we had to look to for documents that might not have been attached to the first system, and then there's the inevitable part of the job where we ask for approval of our request, which some insurance companies provide through a phone call, some use faxing back and forth, and some have their own web sites that you submit your request to and receive your approval. Before you snort too much about the faxing, it's secure.  I cannot email requests because of the design of the email system. Back in 1998, I was working as the IT guy for a medium-sized company.  We were privately owned, so we didn't show up on any sort of list, including Fortune.  We were a fairly hot company on some lists, so we kept growing.  But that also made us a target and ......

 As a young boy, I did not get the chance to watch much television.  The first home I remember with my family was what today is a fairly standard "ranch" home.  Our "ranch" consisted of a yard which was, in total, about half an acre.  A good chunk of it out front was taken up by the road that went past, and so we got to put the septic tank in that fringe.  The side yard to the south of the house was wide open, and the back yard had large flat spots, and a slight ridge about 15" tall that raised the rear fifteen feet or so - which was where my mother's garden was, therefore we were not permitted back there. Inside, the main door in and out of the house ran through the garage.  We very rarely used the front door.  But the "back" door entered into the kitchen, which opened into the dining room.  Down the center of the house, with one eight foot wide gap, was a bearing wall.  It separated the kitchen from the front living room, where the Televisi...