29 Aug 00

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Jill of All Trades

There was a flood here Friday.  It started as a little dampness behind my toilet that I couldn't find the source of, and as I was leaving for work, passing the laundry room, I espied a lake in there, and dropped the super a note about it.

When I came home, though, the bathroom was under almost an inch of water, and the carpeting around the door and into the bedroom closet was soaked.

It's still damp.  I've been mopping and toweling, and there is no new flooding, far as I can tell, but the carpet is being very slow about drying, despite all my insistence.  Smells musty in here.  Blech.

I had already shampooed the carpet this weekend, but I Febreezed it today, and mopped the bathroom vigorously.  All the towels used in the mopup have been washed and are in the dryer now.  I'd leave the windows open, but it looks like rain and that would make it worse, rather than better.

I need more time to write.  Hell I need more time, period.  I have a project for springdew.com simmering slowly on the back burner.  It's a news site where the investigation process leading up to a story is revealed step by step, and the readers can have input concerning leads, opinions, and facts that can be checked and corroborated for inclusion.  If I ever get this site up, the first project will be Planned Parenthood, whether they do what people think they do, and how they impact the community.  I have one friend who thinks they are an incredible gift to the US of A, and another who thinks they are the standard bearers of pre-natal death.  I want something objective and thorough.

Another project is Jill of All Trades, Mistress of...Oh Nevermind.  Ok the title needs some work, but it's about being generally handy without actually excelling at much.  It's about trying to be the ultimate in usefulness, the sort of person you want with you on a desert island.  It's not meant to be a journal, per se, but a collection of ideas, techniques, and tactics to being handy, as well as points of distinction that stand in the way of acquiring mastery of things.

I'm freelancing another project at TheBeverageWorks.com, a site I had hoped to leave far behind me, but the price is right.  Unfortunately, this might turn into another of those projects that I'm ashamed to have my name associated with.  And as mentioned before, I am helping out Hobie with his LAN.

Which reminds me, he distracts me something fierce.  When I go over tonight, I have to remember the focus of the endeavor, and not let him lose me in questions and quick adjustments.  I need to meet my objectives and THEN answer any questions.

Objectives tonight:

  • Install laser printer
  • Install ink cartridges on inkjet printer
  • Install scanner
  • Install hard drive on Gateway (if he has it yet) or
  • Swap hard drives between Gateway and Compaq or
  • Duplicate Gateway's hard drive contents to Compaq (Compaq has 6 gig hard drive; Gateway has 600 meg! Yet Gateway is primary business computer)
  • Install ICQ on Gateway (or Compaq)


Eventual objectives:

  • Install network cards on Gateway and Compaq
  • Install hub and cables, and otherwise establish network
  • Make sure internet sharing is enabled
  • Install accounting software
  • Streamline auction posting process
  • Enable Hobie to videocam with relatives
I did some looking around last night for a new ISP.  I can't really afford a cable modem, and this Netzero stuff, while wonderful for emergencies and travel, really bites as a regular internet connection.  The connection frequently stalls out, and around here I can't usually get better than 28.8, though I did get 33.6 the first week I was here.  Wonder what happened.  Anyway, I need to find a 56K modem and enter the late Pleistocene at least.  Since I'll probably wind up with Eskimo North as an ISP (very highly rated at Dawn McGatney's, the ISP reviewers), and they don't even serve less than 56K, it's finally the kick in the ass I need.

There was something else I wanted to write, something that pushed all this over into getting written now, after 8 am, when I need to get rolling.  But I forgot what it was.

Oh, I got another email about the journal!  That happens about once every six or eight months (not counting people who already knew me), so it's always exciting.  Thanks!  

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