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June 17th, 2008
11:10 am - No nuclear reactors: Check.
Software is not designed, licensed or intended for use in the design, construction, operation or maintenance of any nuclear facility and Sun and its licensors disclaim any express or implied warranty of fitness for such uses.
It astounds me the things that people put in their license agreements sometimes. It also makes me wonder what event prompted the inclusion of such a phrase. . .
Wow, two posts about work in one day: It's like Christmas for people who want to know what I do for a living wage, except there's no baby Jesus involved.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/confused.gif) confused
Current Music: "Lovely Cruise", -JB
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08:44 am - Huh?
It is weird to see nearly a million dollars with my name on it.
That is all.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/wink.gif) weird
Current Music: "Last Mango in Paris", -JB
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June 5th, 2008
09:24 am - Of Army Men Who Cannot Stand
I have an army man who can't stand. He's not one of the cheap plastic army men (I have plenty of those, truth be told, most of whom cannot stand), but rather a little detailed reproduction soldier on a 1:32 scale.
And if something has a "scale," you know it's a quality reproduction.
Currently, he's leaning against a mobile anti-aircraft vehicle (from a war his grandfather probably fought in, rather than contemporary to his own equipment: I haven't bought an M1A1 yet for this infantry group). This is interesting, because he's posed to be running, not leaning. But it's either that or deal with him looking gut-shot instead of active.
And really, who wants a figurine of a First Marine Division soldier that looks like he's gut shot and lying on the ground? It's not like I have a Corpsman to pose next to him.
This is a minor issue, really, but one that bothers me for some reason. I could glue him down, or find some other creative way of securing him, but what I really want is for him to stand on his own.
It's odd, and it's childish, but hey: I may grow older, but I don't expect to ever grow up.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/angry.gif) aggravated
Current Music: "Off to See the Lizard", -JB
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April 29th, 2008
05:19 pm - Vision
"For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;"
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Locksley Hall"
 Four months ago, I was given the opportunity to take on a new role within my unit at Ohio State. Right now, the position is interim, as a new Chief Information Officer needs to be hired before the position I'm currently filling can be officially filled (this position reports directly to the CIO). A CIO has been selected, and has (it seems) accepted her new role with OSU, so I expect to know more about whether this position can become permanent in June or July.
Yesterday, I received a payraise to reflect new responsibilities. That was nice, but not at all what this entry is about. Instead, it's about Vision.
Vision is something I have come to think much about recently. Running a Grove required vision, and being the Grove Priest for 3CG seems to require it even more. This new job requires vision, and even the debate over whether to accept the new responsibilities or to go to Colorado involved much intense soul-searching and testing of possible options, with one solid and sure path finally appearing before me. My life has been consumed by vision in the past six months.
As I go into this job in particular, dealing with many different kinds of people and entities, I find that I'm developing vision almost like one would develop a muscle: though constant use, pushing its limits, and working hard to keep it in good working order.
I have found myself slowing down, taking stock, and deliberating a lot more with myself. My choices are certainly better than they used to be, and my understanding of the long-term effects of my actions is clearer and more defined. I have seen my actions bear more fruit than they have in the past, and understood how they work over time. I have watched tiny seeds of action and thought grow into strong young trees that have weathered fierce storms.
Vision has an interesting effect on the individual, as well: it makes them more confident, happier, and responsive. I've noticed it within myself, too. I know what I want, I know I will achieve it, and I know what actions I need to take to obtain that goal. I am more often achieving said goals, and I am reaching that achievement in manners that are far more concerned with virtue than previous means I have used.
Vision brings knowledge and joy. The joy it brings is as deep as the joy of ignorance, but the breadth of this vision-joy is wider than the broad earth that supports the mountains and nourishes the trees, not slim like the path of a rock dropped in the ocean of ignorance.
I don't consider myself "visionary," nor do I think of my self as always "acting with vision." But I do find myself seeing more, and interpreting what I see in better, more complete ways. It is like walking past a bright, spring green tree against a deep blue, empty sky and saying, "I have never seen those colours before in my life, but I know them well, and they are natural together."
"The true voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes; in seeing the universe through the eyes of another, one hundred others—in seeing the hundred universes that each of them sees."
-Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922), "Remembrance of Things Past"
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: "Wonder Why We Ever Go Home", -JB
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March 11th, 2008
12:47 pm - Shoes, bags, and shopping for accessories
It has been a full couple of days. Yesterday was full of win, for instance. Today is looking up, but I'm still riding high from yesterday.
I went shopping last night, looking for a good brown belt. A man should have a good brown belt, I have always thought, and yet I have not owned one since high school. What I would really like is one with an old D-style buckle, but those appear to be out of fashion. It's like trying to find a good double-breasted suit: you cannot find one anywhere.
The worst thing, though, is that nearly all belts, particularly dress belts, are reversible. There is something inherently wrong with a reversible belt: a sort of crisis of identity and painful realization that the belt will never fully understand what it is or what it was designed to be a part of.
I also found myself looking at a variety of dress shoes. While what I would really like are a pair of brown dress boots, I found myself looking at a number of pairs of brown oxfords. This brought to mind a certain story I have not read yet, but that I love the title of: "The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford" by Philip K. Dick. I didn't buy any, but I have an idea of what I'm looking for, and that's what's really important. I suspect I will read the story before I purchase the shoes, because participation in mythic drama makes our lives meaningful.
Anyone who has shopped for dress shoes recently will know that men's dress shoes are now more like jester's shoes: long, pointed toes; or long, blocked toes. All they're missing are the damn bells. There is, perhaps, a reason that I am still relying on suits, shoes and accessories purchased in the late '90's. I have simply been unable to find clothes that I really like.
Not long ago, I replaced my messenger bag with an old World War II gas mask bag. It's a Mark VII, which some of you may recognize. I am pleased with this transition, as the bag is actually pretty good at carrying everything I need, is lighter than the messenger bag, and is very strongly constructed (designed, as it was, to withstand the Blitz). I very much like it. I bought it primarily because I've been working so damn hard, I really needed some sort of reward.
What's all this about? Well, my wardrobe has had to change with new responsibilities: jeans are entirely out, and I keep a suit jacket in my office "just in case." New shirts and pants and ties have all been purchased, as I'm building a wardrobe for an interview I hope to occur sometime in June or July. I even own a new pair of cuff links (the words "men's jewelry" had never appeared on a receipt for anything I had purchased before that: pictures of these most awesome cuff links are forthcoming).
It's amazing how the old adage "you have to spend money to make money" can apply so specifically to what you have to buy to fit in at your job. . .
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif) amused
Current Music: "Defying Gravity", -JB
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February 1st, 2008
04:14 pm - New office
I entered my new office this morning, and took a picture of it (because everyone needs to have a picture of their office, right?)
( see my new office )
But the best part, of course, is not what the desk looks like (the clutter that's on it is work left over from my predecessor, who did all he could to ensure that he didn't leave work unfinished, but was just overwhelmed. . . only the white mug and the blue pen are mine), or the old-school pencil sharpener, or the bookshelves, or even the window, but rather what else this office comes with:
( The best feature, which I have never had in an office before )
Eventually, this office will look more like it's "mine," but until then, I have a lot of paperwork to go through and finish/fix.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: optimistic
Current Music: "Livin' It Up", -JB
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January 27th, 2008
09:51 am - Adventures in Linux (or, Saving Six Study Program Documents from Certain Doom)
Not long ago, I actually got "real" internet access at home. This consists of the cheapest possible DSL connection that I could possibly obtain: $15/month, which I split down the center with Tina. Since it's on my phone bill, it's not an extra bill, just more like an extra feature.
I also received ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) red_sput's computer from my parents at about the same time. He had run into the classic confusing issue of "Windows just shuts down before fully booting," which indicated that there was some sort of issue with his WinXP installation. I offered to look at it, but he bought a new computer back in November, so it wasn't really urgent.
When I pressed the power button, the computer sprang to life, and I watched in amusement as the entire thing booted and popped into Windows with no problems at all. "I have it working," I told my father, who had seen it not work before. "What did you do?" he asked. "I turned it on." "Huh, nothing else?" "No," I said, "nothing else. There's a magical aura that tech support people have that makes it impossible to replicate an issue once the computer is in their hands. I have that aura."
It turns out that the issue was a combination of spyware, viruses, and (as I soon found out) a faulty hard drive.
Since then, I've been playing around with the machine (and am currently typing on it). I've used it for all sorts of things, from gaming to updating the Three Cranes site. But two days ago, I heard that ominous clicking on boot.
The hard drive had gone. Gone, daddy, gone.
While there was nothing of actual importance on this machine, I did have some ADF Clergy Training Program work saved on this machine and it was not yet backed up. While I can always re-write some of this stuff, I was kicking myself for falling victim to something I've told many, many Dedicants over the years: back your work up!
As a result, I went back to a solution I used last time a hard drive died: Linux.
( Geeky stuff ahead, but interesting )
In short, I think that the older versions of Knoppix are what I recommend and will probably stick with if I actually have to do anything in the future.
For the really short term, though, I'm just going to get a new hard drive for this bad boy and use my flash drive to back everything up until this one finally craps out. While it's on its last legs, I did manage to get back into Windows and boot from the hard drive. I noticed yesterday that the hard drive had appeared in Knoppix, meaning that it's working temporarily. So for now, the machine is intact. Sorta.
Did I mention there's also a c-clamp holding the monitor together?
I love computer repair and support. It can be so. . . ghetto.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Mac the Knife", -JB with Frank Sinatra
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January 18th, 2008
05:05 pm - Sin City Is Where the Holy Make Money!
I received my W2 today from Ohio State, which happens every year. This year, though, I made more than last year (always a positive thing), and broke a number in my pay that I've been shooting at for years. As a result, I have revised my internal sense of worth and my goals about what I would like to earn in my current job, with an eye to future employment as well.
Just as a matter of curiosity, I decided to see how I compare with others in my field. To do this, I landed at the Bureau of Laber Statistics.
I learned some things about my current occupation (mostly that I get paid pretty much normally, which is disappointing because I can't complain as much as I'd hoped), but stumbled onto something far more interesting: the statistics for what clergy earn, nationally speaking:
BoLS Stats on Clergy
It looks like Nevada, where the mean pay for a clergyperson is $55,700, is the place to go if you want to marry and bury people for a living. Here in Ohio, the mean pay for clergy is $37,290 per year (in Columbus proper, the mean pay for clergypersons is $43,110 per year).
Of course, I'm not paid to be clergy. It's odd, though, to see that people *do* get paid to be clergy, and they get paid a damn sight better than I do at my "real" job.
I've recently been thinking about my clergy-ing, and my actual job (which, I should mention, is on the up-and-up recently), and I thought about it like this:
I have two jobs. One that doesn't pay enough cash, and one that doesn't pay any cash at all. One I don't like, and one I love. One I spend 40 hours per week doing, and one I spend 50-60 hours doing, without overlap. One that is a paycheck, and one that pays in amazing and unexpected dividends I can't cash anywhere. I don't think that most people realize how much time I put into both these jobs. I'm not sure I realize how much time I put into both (or I didn't, until I started thinking about it three weeks ago).
I wish I could just do the clergy thing. I drive past churches at night and see the priest planning out his blocking for that Sunday's service through the window. I see another priest changing the sign in front of his church, adding a stupid slogan like, "Fight truth decay: brush up on your Bible daily!" I go to an interfaith service and I'm underprepared, a bit lost, and too short on time to actually help beyond the actual meeting (i.e. you can't count on me to do any sort of homework or volunteer for additional meetings). I often find myself a bit jealous of other clergypersons: I want to do those things!
I've made time for a lot of the really important things that I feel I need to do as Clergy, and it's the sort of stuff I really love. Despite that, it's taken a bit of a toll on some of my personal relationships over the years, and I almost never manage to complete a conversation over email anymore.
The odd thing is, though: I'm not tired, nor lacking energy. I'm not feeling the "burn" that so many people get. I understand my limits and what I'm doing in the scheme of things. In fact, I'm actually busier now than I have been in my life, and yet I'm also more productive and putting out a higher quality of work.
In all, life is pretty good.
Let's see where it takes me, shall we?
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Landfall", -JB
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November 6th, 2007
08:27 am - Re: last entry
Hi. I'm fine. I'm afraid I don't particularly want to talk about it, though.
Thanks for the concern, those who showed it.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: working
Current Music: "False Echoes [Havana 1921]", -JB
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November 5th, 2007
05:36 pm - Another day survived. . .
And I admit, I didn't think I'd ever be somewhat worried about my personal safety in my own office.
Well, today was definitely different.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: annoyed
Current Music: "Off to See the Lizard", -JB
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October 31st, 2007
09:48 am - I'm Part of a Paisley Mythic Drama
As an FYI, this post is about a country music song. But even if you dislike country music, you might find this amusing.
There's a song out by a guy named Brad Paisley. It's about a pizza delivery guy who is balding and fat, yet has an online presence that is simply amazing.
When I first heard the song, I immediately shouted (to no one in particular, as I was in my car at the time), "Hey! That's me!" (For those just joining us, it's been established in previous entries that I am, indeed, fat, and we all know that my job is the source of all unhappiness in my life.)
The song really spoke to me on a lot of levels, not the least of which is that I have an interesting set of online perceptions that are often very different than "real life" is. I may not pretend to be who I am in profiles (e.g. those pictures are actually me; I can claim some modeling experience, but it's obvious that it's me in the photos; and I even live where I say I live), but there is a definite perception of me in online communities that I'm "so much cooler" than I really am that is simply not borne out in reality.
Really, I'm mostly a socially awkward flake. Of course, I'll admit that. :)
Anyway, I love the song, and it could very well be about me, if a few key details were changed. And I spent a few more hours each day online.
And the video has William Shatner in it, so you can't go wrong with it!
Brad Paisley - "Online" video
Trust me, it's worth a watch.
(Thanks to starrchilde for posting a link to the vid.)
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Spending Money", -JB
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October 23rd, 2007
08:33 am - Meditations on the Ancestors
As I was reading the other day, I began to think about our ancestors as a long cycle of cosmic recreation, the microcosm becoming the macrocosm becoming the microcosm, and on and on. Stone becoming bone becoming stone becoming bone.
I even wrote a little preliminary chant (I'm showing my age):
"Bone to stone, stone to bone:
Never end, always change.
Breath to wind, wind to breath:
Rising up, crashing down.
Eyes to sun, sun to eyes:
Ever seeing, always knowing."
Really, I actually just wrote that down on the fly while writing to someone last night. It's not even thought out, honestly. I haven't thought of a rhythm or melody for the chant, or even checked it to see if it scans reasonably. I think it's really just an idea, not an actual attempt at any sort of chant.
But this led me into doing something I actually like to do, which is writing prayers, evocations and presenting pretty liturgical language.
I suspect I'll have my final version of what I wrote last night (much better than the chant) posted here by Samonios.
My eyes opened last night in such a way as they haven't before, to the way the Ancestors and the cosmos interact.
Can't wait to see all those "Pagan New Year's Resolutions" start floating about LJ. . . My own resolution? Well, it's more of a hopeful desire: I want to get back to updating my website, Chronarchy.Com, with more regularity. I'm already started, and things are going well. I'm working particularly hard on my Dedicant Path documentation, updating that with better-quality essays. And yes, my old essays will remain available (part of the value of my website is to show that even a monkey with a typewriter can do the DP); I really did want, though, to provide some decent essays, especially after discovering that some of my essays which would not pass under the current requirements have been held up as "examples" of "what could pass." Even notes on some things saying, "This passed under the old requirements, and would not pass under the current Preceptor or requirements," haven't stopped folk from pointing to it. Just because I'm mediocre (at best) doesn't mean your work shouldn't be excellent.
So, I expect that to be a major update. But, now I've typed more than I intended, so it's back to the grind: I have so much to do today, and so little time to do it!
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: "California Promises", -JB
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October 18th, 2007
09:07 am - Ritual Stress, and Unstressing
Yesterday, well: it was rough. Mostly, I had a rite that I really wanted to go well last night, but which I was really, really worried about. I'd spent a lot of time working through songs and trying to get them ready to go, and to learn them, only to end up forgetting melodies and underestimating the time needed to learn them.
Work has put me under more stress than usual, as well: I've been working my ass off for five solid weeks with no end in sight. Combine that with my usual pre-ritual anxiety and you have one basket-case of a priest.
It wasn't until I began to ritually pack the altar items we'd need that I finally started to calm down. There's something about going through the rite and all the stuff that's remarkably calming on me.
In the end, it turned out not to be the quality of our singing that was vitally important to Cantlos, our "ritual of songs" for this Druid Moon; it was the amusement and joy I saw on people's faces around the fire. Between forgotten words, failed reading of the lyrics, and our Grove's general "I-don't-sing" sentiment, the rite was full of songs and laughter and new jokes. Honestly, it was rather fun.
Props to the Grove for that processional, btw. Definite props.
I wouldn't have ever dared to do a ritual with that many songs and that little rehearsal as a public rite, but as a Grove rite, it was a lot more relaxed and fun. It may not have been as excellent as we could have made it, but we certainly learned a lot from it (like next Sept., we're going to need a meeting where all we do is rehearse songs for this ritual, and write new ones).
And boy, my Trance Journal got a hell of an entry on last night. I'm still not sure what to think of all that, but I see a lot of room for improvement on induction and focus.
We've a long way to go toward excellence with this particular rite, but I think we can manage it well. We have a year to look at it again, and the omens were not at all bad, though I think that the Powers were perhaps a bit confused by the shear number of songs we used, and possibly by the number of people making up songs on the fly, a la druidkirk. The omens are speaking to me more strongly this morning.
A favourite part of the rite last night, though, was after the rite: sitting and singing/listening to karaoke with the Grove. I was there until 11:30 (when I figured our hosts might like to get some sleep. . .)
The next Druid Moon Rite, Samonios, is already in the formal planning stages now; I'll be chatting with the Grove tonight about what they'd like to do at the next Druid Moon. I suspect that removing the variable of *that many* songs will help a lot in the planning (and my subsequent stress). But I'm particularly looking forward to December's Druid Moon Rite, where we get to go back to doing initiations for a night.
That's something I really look forward to doing again.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "What if the Hokey-Pokey is All It Really Is About?", -JB
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August 2nd, 2007
10:43 am - Perhaps my dullest update ever
After encountering the weirdest error ever on my computer, commonly referred to as a "stop error" (which is not all that uncommon, really. . . but it caused a restart with no warning and no chance to halt, save, or terminate an offending program, whichever one it was, which is surprisingly not something I have seen happen so severely before), I slipped out of the office and went home.
There, I set about doing more cleaning in the house until 11, when I decided to watch an episode of As Time Goes By, a rather amusing and quaint show that I very much enjoy for a variety of reasons, most of which are rather incomprehensible outside of my own mind. If the DVD set wasn't $132.99 (on sale), I'd be buying it.
After that, I spent the evening working on the ADF Clergy Training Program, trying to get these two courses, Divination 2 and Trance 1 out of the way. Once those are finished, I can get back into helping to create further courses. I will be spending my next few lunches working on these courses, I think. If I manage two per night (like I did last night), I think I can finish it in about two weeks. Minus the 5-month journaling requirement for three courses, of course.
The aim, I suppose, is to be through the Inititate Program by early next year. Right now, I feel like I'm on a relaxing, easy pace, like it will get done in plenty of time and well before I wanted to actually be done. It does not hurt that I realized I was already journaling on something I was supposed to be doing, anyway.
I cannot describe how relaxed I feel since Tuesday. It was a much-needed vacation.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: relaxed
Current Music: "Landfall", -JB
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May 17th, 2007
09:42 am - Lessons from the Universe, part 1
Universe: So, Michael. What did you do today?
Me: I got blackholed by MSN and can no longer send mail to any of their servers (including HotMail, MSN.com and anything else on Passport)!
Universe: How did that happen?
Me: I politely replied to an email to the ADF Office from an MSN user, and I got a bounce-back. It said, "Reasons for rejection may be related to content such as obscene language, graphics, or spam-like characteristics (or) other reputation problems." Maybe it was the fact that the person was using obscene language and I was dumb enough to leave their original message intact?
Universe: Well, that'll teach you to be polite! Indeed it will, Universe. Indeed it will.
Sometimes, there are hazards with working with the ADF Office. I mean, now I can't send mail from my email address to folks who have any MSN address, which could impact my dayjob, even though I didn't do it on university time. I can't wait to get our Networking folks involved in this issue.
On the whole, though, things are interesting in my life. Tonight is the Grove Liturgy Meeting (we're going over stuff for ComFest), and then the season finale of Smallville (_crow365__, you're welcome to stay for that, presuming I can get decent reception), and then it's off to the dollar theatre up at the Continent (not Carriage Place) for the 10 PM showing of Pathfinder! All are welcome to join me for that little shindig of Injuns v. Vikings!
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "The Great Filling Station Holdup", -JB
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May 11th, 2007
03:27 pm - Groovin' down the Path
Today's Jimmy Buffett Oracle is pretty straightforward:
64. I'll put on my Bob Marley tape and practice what I preach. I happen to know exactly what that means.
This morning, I updated my Liturgy Practicum 1 journal for what I hope is the final time (*fingers crossed*). . . there's a space for a final essay, but it's not required, and I'd like more time to reflect on the journal before I actually do it: it's only been about 5 months since I finished the course, and I'm very happy with how it worked out, but I want more "space" before I start trying to analyze and distill the lessons.
At lunch today, I found myself wondering about two questions in particular:
- Is there some code among girls that, if a guy makes you a mixed CD or mixed tape, he's "totally into you"?
- Why do I have no Patsy Cline in my entire music collection? How has it taken me this long to notice?
I also re-started my re-working of my Dedicant work today at lunch, and I began with the eight High Days. I expect to retain my old, original work on my website, but I will make a very clear demarcation between the "good stuff" and the "original crappy stuff".
So far, I'm finished with Imbolc and Autumnal Equinox. A key change I've made to the format of my previous submissions of High Days is to use the actual ADF terminology for the "Eight ADF High Days" (see Article 4 of the ADF Constitution). Well, close to it, as I numbered the "crossquarters" as "first crossquarter" and such, and also indicated the season the astronomical phenomenon fell in like "winter solstice". And I included both the "modern Neo-Pagan name" for each and the "Gaulish name" (from Ariotanos Iuranantantios' work).
I'm really enjoying the mental exercise of going back to the basics here. I've said, time and again, that anyone can gain from walking the Dedicant Path. I've been a major influence on lots of DP's in the past four years, and I'm finding a lot of worth in going back to re-do it.
And for all those Dedicants who have the habit of telling me that I'm somehow inspiring, I'd like to point out that it's your work that inspired me to go back and re-work my own DP. And I mean that.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: "Cinco de Mayo in Memphis", -JB
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May 2nd, 2007
11:26 am - Oh, my poor fan: you are lost to me!
 So I'm sitting in my office, and it's freakin' hot in here. I know there's nothing to be done about such a thing, so I set about turning on my fan.
Now, my fan has been working very poorly (to the point that most people would give up and call it "broken") for over a year. Do I care? Not a chance. Just because something is slow and takes a bit more effort to enjoy doesn't mean it's outlived its usefulness (says the guy who prefers his 8-bit NES to a Playstation 3).
So I go to turn on the fan. It's a normal, every day Boston 9" oscillating fan, the kind you see on everyone's desk. It would have been 10 years old this October, according to the sticker on the bottom.
Over the past five years I've worked here, the fan has developed what we'll call a "quirk" (a much more even term than "flaw"): it requires you to open up the cage and manually start the blades moving, because the motor doesn't have the ability to start the blades on its own. I have always thought about this as if I were preparing an old bi-plane for takeoff. I just needed one of those silly hats with the goggles that Beryl Markham and Amelia Earhart used to wear, and I could shout, "Contact!" when the blades caught and the fan began to turn on its own.
I totally need one of those hats. But that's off-topic.
Anyway, today, I decided to see if I could do anything to improve the fan's condition, because, honestly, it was making some weird noises and having trouble turning. And if you can't show a little love to your appliances, you might as well find another line of work.
So, I unplugged the fan, snagged my screwdriver, and began taking it apart. Really, there was only one screw to remove to get to the motor, and I was in.
I glanced over the motor, and said to myself, "Well, first things first: clean it and see if it works!" So I got out my compressed air and went to town on the motor, blowing all sorts of dirt and dust around.
"Well, that might do it," I said to myself, the usual optomism of someone who doesn't know a thing about maintenance creeping into my voice. "Let's give it a shot."
So, the plug goes back in, and I hit the button. It turns! I smiled at it, noting that it wasn't turning quickly (though it was moving faster than other initial startups over the past year), and wondered if I should go deeper this time.
"FFFp!" it shouted at me, a bright blue flame shooting from the center straight toward the ceiling.
And then all that was left was the sickening smell of a dead appliance.
I guess it showed me what a little love is worth!
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif) hot
Current Music: "Barometer Soup", -JB
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April 2nd, 2007
03:21 pm - Great. Just great.
Maybe I'll just stay in Greece.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: working
Current Music: "Pascagoula Run", -JB
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March 13th, 2007
10:30 am - More CTPing
 Last night, I turned in at about 1 AM, after writing four of the essays for Magic 2. I simply couldn't hold my eyes open anymore.
I should be finishing the final two non-practice requirements tonight (I've been using my new-found lunch hours to outline my responses to wonderful effect), and then moving on to Divination 2.
I pushed for a much more verbose (and, resultantly, intensive) Divination 2 course originally. Most seers would have been able to take their CTP studies and publish a book on just the essays alone, if my original idea had gone through. I admit to being happy it did not. I should be able to complete Div. 2 in about a week, I imagine, with a couple of key exceptions:- The 5-month journal (which should match up some with my Magic2/Trance1 journal)
- Nine divinations done for others (for those I've done divination for, you'll get an email or note asking permission before I publish)
- Three omens taken by me in public ritual (a clergy-only requirement for Div 2)
Once that's done, I'll start in on the journaling, and I expect the next five months of my life to be pretty darn busy with trancework, magical work, and divination work. I find that the work I'm doing is intensely personal, and if the CTP's journaling experiences are anything like the Lit. Practicum 1 journaling experience was, well, I'll be having a hell of a good run.
I understand why priests in most other religions don't have dayjobs :) The dayjob gets in the way of studying (you can't study while you're maintaining email accounts, I've found), which means that you have to make time for your studying during what used to be "personal time" that was outside your other job: being clergy. Of course, a lot of my time designated as "personal" has recently also been "on-call," but I actually like that (odd as that sounds) and don't find myself minding if it continues to increase.
Anyway, by the end of the day today, I expect to be finished with all but two requirements for Magic 2. By the beginning of next week, I should be finished with all but one requirement for Divination 2. After that, I'll work on Trance 1 (I should have enough time over spring break to finish up the non-practice requirements there). Once I've finished Trace 1, I'll start my journaling and practicum for those courses.
I'm looking forward to it all!
[side note: while searching for a picture to match this entry, this freaked me out.]
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Bama Breeze", -JB
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February 20th, 2007
04:21 pm - Vacation math: gettin' to festivals
So let's see:
Currently, I have 12.5 vacation days. I accrue at about 1.1 day every four weeks (give or take). By the time Greece starts, I will have about 14 days.
( festival math, or how I do it )
But, if I (again) take no vacation until the next festival season, I'll have 8 days built up when Trillium 2008 rolls around. So we'll say that this'll all work out for the best.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Buttermilk Grove", -JB
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