Slightly Off Kilter

So, I placed the order (using PayPal) and checked the box. The next day, they sent me a quote for shipping. The quote was a bit higher than I would have liked (the item is small enough to fit in a USPS flat-rate envelope) but it was only a $5 difference from what I would have liked, so I sent the shipping by PayPal. Then I waited.

Continued...

We recently encountered this building on a downtown corner in Walnut Creek, CA (1700 N. Main St.). The building, which currently houses a Realty office, was converted from a drive-in bank. The small building in back is apparently used for storage.

The architecture (and brickwork!) are really interesting:

I've had a rather eclectic career. Most of the time, I've been a programmer, starting with Unix (shell, awk, and some C), then moving into Perl. At other times, when the mood suits, I've been employed as a technical writer.

I've also been a Quality lead and a Linux sysadmin. I've created web pages, managed mailing lists, provided Macintosh support, and written code in JavaScript and Visual Basic. Regardless of my job title, I've always been happiest when I'm helping other people to be more productive in their work, either by writing code or writing and editing documentation.

At present, I'm a TWiki adept. Read more in commentary.

I read an article today, in Read Write Web, on Facebook's "privacy changes". The headline screamed "Facebook's Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over" .

Well, apparently that's not actually what Zuckerberg said. That was an interpretation for a sensationalist headline.

Read my commentary.

♥  Happy New Year Pacific Standard Time USA! Wishing you all everything you hope for in 2009. Time to turn off lights and watch for fireworks.  ♥  Gorgeous day. Sunny. Blue sky streaked with whispy clouds. Clear as far as I can see. Sailboats dot the Bay. Perfect view. How's your day?  ♥  Oh not again! Now we're having a peanut butter scare. No reports of contaminated peanut butter in CA, but it's been pulled from the cafe. :(  ♥  Just removed a tuft of cat fur from under my trackball. Wondering how the ball has been working with that in it. A marvel of technology.  ♥  The cat says it's 4pm. At 4pm, on days when I work from home, it's "Stop Typing and Pay Attention to the Cats" time. Plus crunchy snacks.  ♥ 

Japan and Europe are already in 2010. As I write this, California has 4 hours to go.

I keep a journal — started in College (real paper notebooks), stopped for many years, then picked up again in 2003 (this time electronic). So, at this time of year, I can look back and see: what happened this year?

Here are some of the highlights from my view of 2009.