ferragus

About this Journal

Current Month

May. 17th, 2009 @ 08:53 pm Support Stem Cell Research

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

worried

Tags: public service announcement

Tell the Federal Government How You Feel About Stem Cell Research

(the above link says everything I want to say, and has a video too! You won't offend me if you just follow the link :)

This is important folks!
( Read more... )

About this Entry

1 comment
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Mar. 9th, 2009 @ 01:21 pm Great jumping sphygmomanometers!

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

cheerful

Tags: heathy

My BP has come down to 111/74 with a pulse rate of 68!

Still not the king.

But hey, I'll take what I can get!

About this Entry

5 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Feb. 17th, 2009 @ 02:04 pm Book pimpage day

Current Mood:

cheerful

Looks like everyone is talking about books today, so I thought I'd join in.

A little while back ( here if you're looking) I mentioned how

connerybeagle's Mom had a new book out.

and linked to the handsome cover thusly:

Well the new news is that it SOLD OUT!! and the bigger news is that IT'S GONE TO A SECOND PRINTING!!

So thanks to everyone that purchased a copy and encouragement to all that are waiting. Reports are that it's listed as in stock again, so it looks like a very fast (in my opinion) turnaround on the reprint.

Yay! Or even BAWHHHH!

(you can order a copy for yourself here.)

About this Entry

3 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Feb. 17th, 2009 @ 10:08 am for my Gluten free friends

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

chipper

Tags: gluten-free

A special person in my life is Gluten intolerant, so I've been looking for Delimex Beef Tamales for her (a fave). None. Nada. Zip. And in Albuquerque NM no less. (Ok that's like looking for Frozen Cheesesteak Subsitute in Phily, but go with me here.)

So I left a comment on the Heinz website (they own Delimex now, perhaps the worse website in the world as far as product information goes).

Today I got a response. 10 points out of 10 for Heinz! They sent me everything I asked for, everything I should have asked for and a recipe too. Still the worse website ever, but good job of customer service!

Full text of message is below cut for those interested in GF products:
( cut for those that don't care )
Only at Target in ABQ, go figure!

About this Entry

3 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Feb. 13th, 2009 @ 11:27 am 1234567890 seconds since the epoch

Tags: geeky goodness

From an old friend I hear this news:

A minute to mark the event.

1234567890 seconds, not counting leap seconds, since the beginning of the UNIX epoch: Jan. 1, 1970, will occur
Fri Feb 13 18:31:30 EST 2009
23:31:30 GMT on 02/13/2009

perl -e 'print scalar localtime(1234567890),"\n";'

http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS9473991308.html

(the perl is a perl programming language snippet to display this for yourself)

Gee it chokes you up (sob) I can remember when the epoch was only 123456789!

About this Entry

1 comment
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Jan. 31st, 2009 @ 11:10 pm Not my fault

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

cheerful

Tags: "dragon eggs"

I blame

queenoftheskies, she's always doing this.

Anyway, I've got a dragon egg, click on it and it will hatch.

What can I say, I'm always a sucker for orphans pets.

Thanks!

(ETA an actual link to the egg!)

About this Entry

1 comment
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Jan. 23rd, 2009 @ 02:27 pm Top of my list of things I DO NOT WANT

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

indescribable

Tags: wtf

A 25 day ocean cruise in a beer cooler!

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24936304-662,00.html

This is amazing, their story is that they forced to crew a 10M boat that broke up. It's possible that they are the only survivors from a crew of 20 and spent 25 days in the ocean, floating in what is basically a very large beer cooler.

About this Entry

Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Dec. 30th, 2008 @ 09:50 pm Because Really, I love this man.

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

happy

Tags: conventions

Congratulation to Sir Terence David John Pratchett (known to many of us as Terry Pratchett) on his inclusion in the New Year's Honoursas a Knight Bachelor. He may now refer to himself as Sir Terry.

Thanks to

shsilver for pointing it out, he's got a good Terry anecdote here and I'll take a moment and include my own.

In 2004 I was in Boston for Noreascon Four and there was a delay was we (I was rooming with "The" Donewitz as I recall, Ira why aren't you on LJ?) checked into our room, so off to the lobby bar we went. Terry was one of the Guests of Honour and sure enough I soon spotted him making his way through the hotel lobby. "Hey Terry" I shouted, and when he looked waved him over. "Let us buy you a drink." He graciously accepted and mentioned he could only stay a moment because he was meeting Mike Resnick to discuss a project. We assured him that we knew Mike by sight and would help keep an eye out for him.

It took the hotel nearly 3 hours to get our room ready, but every few minutes during that time some more luminaries would join our crew and be amused by Terry. Mike had, as I recalled shown up pretty quickly and just decided to go with the flow and stayed with us the whole time.

For me, it was one of the most memorable and enjoyable starts to a Worldcon I'd ever experienced.

So gather round folks, and raise your glasses high!

Cheers to Sir Terry!

About this Entry

2 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Dec. 17th, 2008 @ 11:40 am Changing Pharmacies

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

amused

Tags: consumer

One of the inevitable things about getting older, you can count on having prescriptions to transfer when you move.

So after asking around and deciding that the chain that was so stupid in Phoenix was worth a shot here in ABQ I took the plunge.

Showed up with my nearly empty pill bottles and they took the info down, my info and I said I'd be happy to get them Friday, since that was the last day of my current supply.

The score:

+1 point for being very close
+3 points for being 24hrs
-1 point for that only being the store front part and not the real pharmacy part, though I can pickup until 10PM so that's pretty cool.
+5 points for calling to transfer the script within 15 minutes of me walking out the door, which I know because ...
-2 points for calling me, instead of the pharmacy in PHX to make the transfer, and calling me TWICE!

But finally

+999 points for style when he covered the second mistaken phone call with "Oops, well sir, would you like to pick these up tonight?"

These guys have definitely redeemed my opinion of the chain from what was messed up at PHX.

About this Entry

3 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Dec. 8th, 2008 @ 09:21 pm Is Google Dying?

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

annoyed

Tags: weird

gmail, igoogle, even the google search weren't responding for me for about 4 hours tonight.

Now they're back...

No they're not.

Oh Wait, yes they are again.

So whatever is going on I'm still seeing it.

Good luck!

About this Entry

5 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Dec. 8th, 2008 @ 09:11 pm It's too perfect

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

amused

Tags: meme

2008 New Years Resolution Generator snurched from

fjm
below the
( cut )
You know, I tried to most this a week ago and for some reason it just wouldn't go.

About this Entry

2 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Dec. 5th, 2008 @ 02:29 pm Can you help a friend?

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

sad

Vera Nazarian is a good friend of mine in serious need. She's a fine writer and great human being having a rough time not of her own making. I know times are rough, but odds are they're not as rough for many of us as they are for her. If you can help, please do.

http://community.livejournal.com/helpvera/751.html

Please, if you can't donate, consider posting this in your LJ or other blog.

Thanks

About this Entry

1 comment
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Nov. 20th, 2008 @ 07:03 pm For those that played along

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

chipper

Tags: answers

I got a total of 11 replies to my post testing email (that would be here and all of the mail notices showed up reasonably quickly.

And yes

stevendj gets bonus points for posting it at exactly 23:59 his local time :)

Also of course I'm counting you too

monissaw, it's not your fault that when I set the deadline it was already 9+ hours past for your local time :)

Thanks!

About this Entry

1 comment
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Nov. 19th, 2008 @ 11:27 am Adventures in moving, next rock

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

various

Tags: insurance , moving , rant

Recovery from my broken toe and sprained foot are coming along nicely. I had some friends stop in and help me out with packing last Saturday and was really happy with how much got done.

On the way back to ABQ, I'm going through a mountain pass situation (winding, two lanes in my direction, two lanes in the other direction but separated by several hundred yards of mountain, heavy traffic at a high rate of speed 65-75 mph) when the car in front of me runs over a folding banquet table and it gets kicked up and hits my minivan on the right front.(http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=124784-74313-UT07S3U54D&lpage=none if you're really curious what hit me)

The table top broke my headlight and turn signal, and one of the legs hit my windshield hard enough to powder the glass at the impact sight, but not thank goodness to penetrate the inner glass.

I got home Sunday night and logged onto GEICO (my car insurance) and filed a claim. "Thanks and someone will call you on the next business day to set up an appointment" Happy with that expectation I went about my unpacking and was very pleasantly surprised when 90 minutes after I filed the claim I got a call to see how I was doing and go over the details. Ok, I know she was working off a script, but still it's a thoughtful touch. About 30 minutes after that I got a call to actually set up the appointment. Minor confusion because the car is in ABQ instead of PHX, but it was quickly handled and I ended up with a Tuesday morning appt to have the car appraised and give me an estimate on how long it would take to fix.

Would you believe One Day? Ok how about two :) But in all fairness it was less then 24 hours. Headlight w/ turn, fender (it was bent and I'd missed it), paint fender and blend paint over hood and rest of car, replace windshield. I'm very impressed.

But one thing that strikes me most is the comparison between this insurance related experience and the previous one (ER visit to patch up my mangled foot see http://ferragus.livejournal.com/124480.html for details).

In both Money isn't discussed, but with the car I Know it won't be more then my deductible (ok and the charge for the rental car). With the ER it will be my deductible, plus some percentage of the total costs, plus full payment for anything that my insurance says isn't needed for my injury. (Pain killers? heck just tough it out, walking cast shoe? if you're in that much pain why are you walking? Cast? for a toe? I don't think so -- ok all of that is made up, but if you've dealt with the US health care system it will sound very familiar)

When I pick up my car after work today, the bill will be paid in full and I won't get a second bill from the Car Anesthesiolgist or the Admitting Department or the Staff Mechanic (Dr) that signed for the repair but never actually saw the work.

With the ER visit I know from the last visit that those kinds of bills will be rolling in for the next 6-18!! months.

So what I really want to know is, why can't we get the same level of care our cars do?

About this Entry

2 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Nov. 19th, 2008 @ 09:17 am Please reply to this post

Tags: geeky goodness

This is a test of the email forwarding system for comments.

If you have a moment before midnight tonight (that would be until 11:59 PM 11/19/2008) your own local time, please reply to this.

I think you have to put something in the comment, but even a single character should be enough for the test.

Thanks!
Tom
(doing this out of curiosity for myself and

queenoftheskies )

About this Entry

14 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link

Nov. 18th, 2008 @ 07:40 am Job posting in MD

Current Location: ABQ
Current Mood:

busy

Tags: work

I'm posting it to my list because I know a couple folks that it might fit:

One of our leading clients is looking for Oracle DBA and Oracle DBE.
Location: Annapolis Junction, Maryland, US
Job Type: Full Time (Permanent)
Compensation: $110,000
Job Description:
Our Annapolis Junction area client is seeking Experienced Oracle Engineers and Oracle DBA's to provide technical expertise in database design, development, performance tuning and maintenance.
The ideal candidate would be responsible for daily monitoring and maintenance of enterprise databases; testing and applying Oracle release updates; monitoring, managing, and maintaining backup and recovery schedules for database servers using RMAN and Netbackup; and design and maintain data access control policies using Oracle Label Security (OLS).

The job also entails monitoring database performance and working with other team members to remove bottlenecks and improve overall performance, enforcing database policies and procedures, providing database administration for developers and team members, managing database design and partitioning, and developing procedures and scripts for deployment.

Required Skills:
4+ years of PL/SQL development experience
Experience working with 24x7 systems and VLDB (very large databases)
Experience with UNIX, Linux, NT Operating Systems
Experience with Oracle 9i, Oracle's Recovery Manager, Label Security, Enterprise Manager, performance and tuning packs, data partitioning, database design, data modeling

Desired Skills:
Oracle 10g
Database scalability and capacity planning
Knowledge of Java helpful in debugging and workingwith developers to write effective interfaces
Excellent debugging and troubleshooting skills
Demonstrated technical writing skills in support of software development
Experience with National Security and/or Intelligence Community
Security Clearance:
A current TS Security Clearance with CI or Full Lifestyle polygraph is required.
You must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

(Ahh $110K for an active Top Secret clearance, ok that's just par for the course, not a great offer after all :) Still if you're interested, or want to pass the job on to someone else, reply with an email address and I'll forward you the contact info for the position.)

About this Entry

Recent Entries \| Archive \| Friends \| User Info \| Previous 20 \| Top