A scary thing happened to me on the way home from work the other day. I pulled up at an intersection, right behind a driving school car. I could clearly see the learner and his instructor. To my horror I saw that both were wearing hats! OMG, the blind leading the blind is an old phrase but freakishly accurate. As I sat there waiting for them to move off I saw them each pointing in a variety of directions, blissfully unaware of the traffic building up behind them. This went on for over a minute. Long enough for a good half dozen vehicles to be stalled at the tumbleweed-empty intersection on Hwy 3. Normally, one would assume the instructor was pointing out important things and they were discussing scenarios. Based on my theory and experience, it is more likely they were deciding which way to go next. Since one of the directions was up, either the discussion had ranged to the need to yield for oncoming aircraft or the car was about to spread wings. I started to worry. Eventually, they decided they were going straight across the intersection, and off they went. They were narrowly missed by a truck. Which are louder, do you think? Air horns or air brakes?
Is it just me that attracts these things?
I’m new to blogging but I fully expected a certain amount of spam comments and replies. It goes with the territory. Anyone that puts their head above the Internet wall can expect a few sniper shots. I got one last week from a person claiming they could make me and my visitors rich within a week, simply by following a link and yadda yadda yadda. Well, you guess correctly that I trashed it on the spot. Imagine my surprise today when I checked my comments and there was an angry post from that sender, asking me why I deleted it when all he was trying to do is make people rich and stuff. I’m used to spam, but spam with menaces is a new one on me. Screw that, thought I, and retaliated. I’m what you could call ‘a bit of a techie’. Instead of blocking the IP both messages came from, I traced it. A professional spammer would neither waste the time nor risk contacting a site owner, so it’s quite possible he’s dumb enough to use his actual IP, not a spoofed one: If so, he has a pretty long plane journey ahead before he can egg my windows. I won’t lose any sleep just yet.
If I get a repeat performance I’ll post a Google Street view of the buggers house for all to see. Paybacks are a bitch. If that person happens to read this, please try me. I’m sure my visitors are all dying to know what kind of car you drive. 🙂
Some otherwise well educated people…
Girl calls in today, very pleasant, obviously intelligent and a pleasure to talk to. After the preliminaries, got down to business.
“How can I help?”
“I can’t connect to my server anymore. Was alright yesterday.”
“Let’s see if we can fix this for you. Let me get some details.” Checked the basics, power, fans, lights: Server and PC both OK.
“Maybe it’s just a network problem. Is the server connected straight to the router or do you have switches and stuff?”
“Er…to the router…?”
“OK, what about the PC? Is that connected to the router as well?”
“Oh, no. That’s connected straight to the Internet.”
“OK.” I didn’t bat an eyelid, just went with it. “Does the Internet have any flashing lights right now?”
“No. Should it?”
“Yes. Can you check the power cable?”
“Oh! Wait. Yes! The cable was out. Wait…there are all kinds of flashing lights now. It’s not going to blow up is it?” – nervous laughter.
“Haha, I don’t think so, you should be safe enough. Give it 30 seconds and try to get into the server…can you?”
“I got right in! That’s great!”
“Glad to help! Anything else I can do for you while I have you on the phone?”
“Well now you mention it yes. I haven’t been able to get my email all morning. I think it’s broken.”
“……….”
If you are going to clean the office, don’t unplug the Internet so you can use the outlet for the vacuum. Or if you do…plug it back in when you’re done. Always check the basics 😉
Barbara Anne
Typing away here and the old Beach Boys song came on the radio. Reminded me of when I was 16 and went to a party. The two girls hosting it were non-identical twins. Both incredibly hot but my favourite (yep, U) was Karen. Divorced dad was away for the evening so as you expect, all the teens gathered at their house. Lots of beer later, we all got asked to leave before the dad returned. Me being so polite, I headed off down the driveway until I realised I was alone. My buddies were lining up to kiss the girls goodnight. Naturally, I did a military style about face (approximately 1440 degrees) and headed back.
By the time I got to the door I was passing my buddies in the driveway. But I was on a mission! I kept walking. My timing was imperfect. I reached the door in time for it to be closed in my face by the laughing girls. Ha! As if that would stop me! The door was plate glass. I walked straight into and through it. With a huge crunch I found myself in the kitchen demanding a kiss from each of the twins. Oh dear.
There was much yelling and threatening of life and naturally the imminent return of the father did not help. Suffice to say, I got my kiss from both of them before I left, punching the air and to cheers from my waiting buddies. I walked home on air that night. And returned the next day to apologise to the father and take the hit for the broken door.
Smokin’ Buddha
Ate out tonight. Company starred the edible Nikki, Mike and Melinda, her parents and several new friends. Mike on guitar, with Tommy P and Sam switch hitting on vocals and guitar. Bottom line, food was awesome, company too and the music on the patio signed the deal. We’re going back. Really, if you’re in the area, stop by. Do your tummy a favour. Yes, there’s a ‘U’ in there. I bravely tried another shrimp tonight. First one in many years, and the last. Shrimp? Not for me, I fear. Korean beef? Oooh yes. I am not sure what those Koreans do to those cows, but it really tenderises the meat. Yes, there’s an ‘S’ in there.