Month: April 2004

Almost A Big Oops!

Funny thing happened at the office yesterday… actually, I was noticing that my version of the Gallery software was now out of date. So, I downloaded the new version to my laptop and uploaded it to my server. From there, I intended to copy the file to the proper directory for extracting. Unfortunately, I made a typo. The typo ERASED this entire web site!!! Fortunately, I had a backup. However, that backup was over a month old. I was able (thank you Google!) to locate some cached archive pages from this month and last month in order to restore the entries and such that I had lost. Those of you with RSS readers pointed at my site will probably notice some duplicate entries in your readers… You might think about flushing the entries and starting over. Up to you, though.

I guess I shouldn’t try to type Linux commands while I’m tired…

So, I have restored the site fully to what it was – and completed the Gallery update – now version 1.4.3. And, it’s backed up again. Now, I should have weekly backups – it should make things easier.

I Think I Like This Place

I am definitely beginning to like Oregon. Beaverton is a cool suburbial city with some great restaurants – I love the Thai food especially as well as the sushi. The weather has even improved to the point that there aren’t even any more clouds. It’s cool and bright and I’m lovin’ it! I even saw snow covered mountains on both sides of the airplane on my way in.

Only one problem: I have not been feeling good this week. I have had some allergy or cold or something. It’s given me a sore throat and a cough and generally made me tired. I haven’t even been able to work out at all this week. I’m trying to make sure I get some rest, though.

On the bright (sort of) side, my laptop has a new keyboard and it’s a pleasure to type again. My keys and mouse buttons had started to stick on the old one and I called warranty services and they shipped me a new one – in one day, no less! Maybe I’ll be able to work on some more pictures for the web site… Of course, I only have one picture that I’ve taken here… I haven’t gone anywhere or done anything… I haven’t even seen anything outside of the valley that the highway lies in. I’ll be really glad when Laura comes up here with me – not only for her presence, but for the fact that we will be doing stuff and hanging out on the weekend and taking pictures… I love pictures…

Dark, Cold, Wet, and Rainy

I’m now in Beaverton, Oregon – a small community outside of Portland. It’s dark, cold, wet, rainy… and I have a headache. Why? Probably because for me, it’s almost 1:00am and I got lost coming here. Thanks to my friend Bill, though, I have survived my navigation malfunction and have arrived at my hotel. Thank you Bill!

From what little countryside I did see from the air before the sun went down, this place is GREEN. Lots of trees and grass – I guess that’s what you get if you have rain all the time. Of course, I hear it’s not always rainy… but I’ve only seen it rainy. Of course, this is the first time I’ve been here, so my experience is a bit limited. I hope the rest of the week brings some sun. Otherwise, how am I to get great pictures?

Travel Map

2012-01-08 23:28:58

Mike has on his site a map of all the states he has visited so I thought I’d post my travel map. The states in red are states I’ve been to [43 so far, 44 if you count DC].

US Map

I guess I travel too much. I’m not counting the states I just drove through. Here’s a map of the world countries I’ve been to:

 

[Country Map Service No Longer Available]

 

Here’s a detail of Europe:

EU Map

I know, you’re tired of looking at all the places I’ve been to, but you aren’t the only one! I really DO travel too much…

Chernobyl By Ninja

My friend Andy sent a link to me that you might find interesting. It it written by a Ukranian girl who regularly rides her Ninja through the “dead-zone” of the Chernobyl disaster. Her father is aparently a nuclear scientist at work near the area so she has special permission to ride through. She took many pictures of the site of the disaster and talks about what happened then and what’s happening now. You may find it interesting, even if the pictures show a somewhat somber schene. To read this, click here.

I don’t know that I’d want to take that ride, but I am practicing on my own dangerous course: the back streets of Houston. No radiation lingering, but polution, stress, and driver stupidity could harm or kill anyone out there on the road. Here I was thinking: “This girl is crazy! I’d never ride somewhere that dangerous…” Yet, what do I do when I take that bike out every day? Maybe she’s not the crazy one…

[Update: 4/29/04 – It looks as if this girl’s site has gone down, so I’ve removed the link for it from this entry. I hope you got to look at it while it was up. – JP]

Working Again?

After one week of training and one additional week of bench time, I’m ‘working’ a little again. I am helping a sales group with some proposal work for Active Directory. However, I have been waiting all weekend for a phone call that would send me to work in some mid-western town [name of town/city/state unknown]. From what I understand, the opportunity would be great for my career development. But – I heard NOTHING all weekend. I even took my computer with me on Easter weekend to check my email in case they couldn’t reach me by phone. No calls, no emails. Now they tell me it might be later this week or early next…

I will say, though, that my new computer backpack is great. Not only does it fit all of my electronic gear, but it fits my financial materials and a few study books as well. There’s even room for more!

Bike Weather

Wonderful biking weather out today. Good thing I have the bike close by! Laura and I will go run a couple of errands on the bike today – one of those things we can do to become more and more familiar with riding. So far, we haven’t gotten on a freeway and I don’t intend to for a while. I love riding up and down Memoral Drive – beautiful trees, winding road, low speed limit. Great for cruising.