Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Mad Andrew's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
9:41 pm	A baby post... Next week she'll be five months. She's actively trying out her voice in different ways these days. I tend to think of it as a parody of the way we sound to her. Which is interesting. She gets ahold of different syllables and tries them at great length. Oh, and she loves to blow raspberries, which I think she picked up in daycare. And textures. She's obsessed with feeling different cloth, whether it's hers or ours. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
6:18 pm	Improving home... Took the day off today to devote to some home improvements. If we're going to sell our place in Aurora, we need to at least paint SOME spots, and repair the damage that the plastic sealants (which apparently Yankees put up in the winter, due to it being ungodly cold), and in the case of the Danger Room, paint one of the walls, and scrub the carpets (the oil that leaked out of the exercise machine is no surprise. The amount of blood DOES surprise me a bit). The only reason that I'd do this today, rather than one of the days this weekend (yay three day weekend!) is that the baby was at daycare, rather than around inhaling paint fumes. Which seemed like a pretty good option. (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
6:45 pm	Meh. As per usual, the pains of Linux system admin. come with gradual enlightenment. There is knowledge given, and knowledge earned, which I expect to be two themes that will recur as I become one of those ivory tower professor types. However, my work laptop (upon which I write this) is decently stable, and will remain so until the backup is rebuilt, which is fully underway now. The climb up from complete borkage has begun. If reality ever gets out of beta, I'll never know how. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
10:02 am	Linux borkage... I really am getting to old for this. A while back, I bought a new laptop, while my old one was still working. As some of you know, it's a good deal easier to install Linux if you've got a working machine next to you. So anyway, I've done it several times in the past, and this time went pretty smoothly, though of course there was the standard iteration of kernel parameters, etc. So I moved my work area and operations to the new laptop, but time to time made sure the old laptop was updated, in case I needed a backup at some point. However, there was a fairly disruptive change in gentoo portage structure which borked kde. A sleepless night later, I fixed it on my work laptop, but the old one resisted my efforts. And since it wasn't a very high priority, it remained borked. Fast forward to this weekend, I do system updates on my work computer every week, generally on Friday so that I can work out the kinks prior to work on Monday. But this time I had to do updates on Saturday and didn't get a chance to work on it Sunday, the combination resulting in: a non-working laptop Monday morning. Part of this owes to my adoption of KDE-4.2, a decision in the light of day I cannot fathom. I'm going to guess temporary insanity, or ocean-madness, or possibly swine-flu. Anyway, yesterday, which was already replete with a doctor's office visit for my daughter, was complicated by a non-working laptop complete with cryptic errors, the whole shebang. And of COURSE a presentation due for today. Obviously, since I'm typing this, my skillz are sufficient to make it work, and it works sufficiently for me to do videoconferencing from home, and finish my presentation, and restore some measure of order. And since I'm videoconferencing, I can in parallel attempt to de-bork my old laptop as well (I'm basically giving it a miss and completely reinstalling). But this is really not sustainable. In fact, for these and other reasons, I'm thinking I may get a Mac for work. Absurd, and conventional, isn't it? But for something for work, I can't really afford to indulge mixing in my hobbies, and I know I'll need access to true MS products. EDIT: And the Gentoo borkage of my current laptop wasn't my fault? GAWDAMMIT! (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
2:20 pm	Not Yogi, but close... The thing about leading order is that it's TOO probable. Which means it almost never happens. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
9:12 pm	1588. According to my journal information, this should be entry number 1,588. A strange number. I've been thinking recently, about how long it's been since I started this journal, how many things have changed, how I've changed, and what the next year is going to be like. And I think I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to give this up. For what it's worth, I've needed this place, needed someplace to write my thoughts down, and occasionally hear what others think about them (1,488 comments). But recently, I've had to censor what I write here more and more. And that's a trend that is going to have to continue. Somewhere along the line, I started getting somewhat elderly. I no longer can breathe the fire I used to. I have responsibilities. I have a wife, and now a daughter. I'm starting a new job this fall, and there will be much scrutiny. So let's say on entry 1600, that's it. That'll be the farewell, and after a suitable period after that entry, I'll delete this journal in its entirety. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
7:12 pm	Bizarre... "..wanna talk about pubs like I ain't got none...what, you think I sold 'em all?" (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
11:05 am	Once more with feeling... Working the 0400 shift again, for today, and two more days. Yes, working through the three day weekend, which may result in Friday becoming the "Feast of Maximum Occupancy" again. What doesn't suck: if things go as planned, this is it for shifts on D0. In other news, being up at 0400 is still somewhat hilariously like being drunk. Y'know, Funny drunk. Not Angry drunk. Which if you do know me, you probably DO know. (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 16th, 2009
3:55 pm	RAV4: Still the right choice. I am not one to go on at length once a purchase has been made. But it's SOOoooo good. The entire vehicle exudes an almost tactile solidity. Not that it's a great lummox of a car, it's just obviously superbly engineered, so much so that I get the definite feeling that should something go wrong, it must have to do with the guy behind the wheel, not this beauty. Part of this must be that I'm still reassuring myself that I made the right choice. But part of it is the undeniable excellence of the product. Enough commercials for Toyota. theAngela and I have the dubious task of attempting to clean up our condo so that we can sell it, hopefully either for what we bought it for, or only a minimal loss (c'mon, making a profit in today's real estate market seems unlikely in the extreme.). The nice thing is we'll be buying again, and moreover, buying in a market that's some factor of two cheaper. That's nice. But for now, back to work. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 9th, 2009
10:24 am	Saw Star Trek... Let me preface these remarks with a little backstory. I USED to be a Trek fan. I think I enjoyed this film a lot because I'm NOT particularly anymore. It's not that I left Trek fandom because I thought the series had gotten stale, or had a couple of lackluster series in a row (hell, I never even watched Voyager, and thus have no opinion on it at all). It's just that...over the last decade other things have grown to consume the time I used to spend thinking about minutiae and these days I find my time consumed with other things. In short, I grew up. So I went into this film without any particular expectations (despite liking J. J. Abrams' work). I went with some of my friends to see it on IMAX, theAngela who doesn't get along with the ear-busting IMAX, stayed with the child, and one presumes will eventually see it. And I was pleasantly surprised. It was a lot of fun, with enough action to satisfy, without complete and undying faith to the original. Frankly, I think that if everything had been constrained to follow the original, the result would have been lackluster. However, spoilers go beneath the cut... ( Dare you go beneath? ) (Comment on this)
Friday, May 1st, 2009
11:29 am	An odd observation from the car shopping... What I heard multiple times, which really confuses me, is that people tend to have A brand of vehicle that they purchase, and then they stay within that brand. Which is somewhat odd, if you think about it. The Honda dealership salesperson said as much to us, they get some crossover sales from folks who own Toyota, or Nissan, but not many from Ford owners. Likewise, for when other dealers asked what I was test driving, I always got some surprises when I mentioned the Ford Escape. Maybe I don't understand humans that well. If I was say, buying carrots, I don't particularly look at the brand. I will note that I tend to buy certain brands of say, milk, but that's mainly convenience. To scale things up, people don't always select the same homebuilder, do they? Which brings us to the subject of bias: to the very end in this process, the Escape was a real contender for purchase. Is it because I previously owned a Ford? I like to think the numbers included the Ford in the same range as the Toyota, et. al, but is that my bias? Is there some additional comfort that comes from buying within a given company? How is basic economics failing here, because the few data points I have seem to indicate that it does? What's special about car shopping? (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
8:08 pm	I has a new car! The Winner: Toyota RAV4. Despite the slightly higher cost, superior handling and brake performance, as well as lines which just can't be beat, combined with the best in class fuel economy, the RAV4 won out. Though I point out, mine IS the base model with the smaller engine and 2-wheel drive, so more appropriate would be RAV2. But whatever. (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 26th, 2009
8:03 pm	More test drives... Again, more auto related news. Test drove the Honda CR-V yesterday. While not as bad as anticipated, still, I don't think it makes for a real contender, except that it's cargo area (passenger fold up) was pretty awesome, and explains the additional cargo room. Handling was nice, but even really leaning on the gas, the pickup was pretty subpar. "0 to 60...eventually." Also, the last of the test drives, the Toyota RAV-4 was done. I'm trying to be clinical...but I love this vehicle. I do. I like the way it looks, I like driving it. I think if I say anything more, I'd probably start raving. The one quote: "I actually ENJOY sitting in this car". So we're down to two contenders, the Ford Escape and the Toyota RAV4. I have to say, on purely superficial external appearances, I like the RAV4 more. Interior...the RAV4 is more comfortable, but the Ford's control layout is better, and feels more spacious. The Ford's back seat folds completely flat, but the Toyota has a mechanism that takes the seats down with an auto release (it's awesome). So we're...pondering. None of the numerical facts are sufficiently different to provide a definitive answer. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
8:38 pm	Been a while... Meant to make an entry this morning, but it just didn't work out that way. Item the First: Noises have been made about my little girl being advanced. Particularly because she apparently attempts to talk back to the daycare ladies. I have a different theory. Early on in being a father, I decided that I'd skip babbling in nonsense syllables at my daughter, and talk to her exactly as if she could understand me. I've MOSTLY kept to this (I indulge that stupid babbling instinct on occasion). Therefore my theory is that she is learning to talk quickly because it's the only way she can get her Daddy to shut up. Item the Second: I had a moment this morning at the Post Office. A few years ago (hell, more than a few at this point), I was still working toward my PhD, and to fulfill my teaching requirement to Rice, I was grading for a class on remote. They'd DHL the papers to me, and I'd work hard to quickly grade them and express mail them back. Fast forward to today: I'm express-mailing the letters that I've signed for the job offer as a professor of physics at Florida State. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
11:24 am	No...more...meetings... Ugh. 0800 meeting this morning the very end of I skipped out to meet with another person. I then had to truncate THAT conversation to get to another meeting. This is ENTIRELY too much. I'd say I'm DONE with meetings, but I'm still IN ONE NOW. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
8:36 pm	A moment from the life. So since my wife and I had very different schedules today, we took separate cars to work, and thus, she (having the car with the carseat adapter, really, if I ever get a new vehicle I'll have one too) picked up Diana at the daycare, and went to chiropractic. Which is how, even though I left work at 1830 tonight, I got home and turned on the heater before my girls got here. Not by much of course... So theAngela comes in and puts down the carrier, and as per usual (she gets calmed usually by car rides), Diana is being quiet, but she's definitely awake. Since it's decently chilly outside, her mother had not only tucked in a blanket, but she was wearing a hat, and socks on her hands. I bent down and asked her if she'd like Daddy to get her out of the seat, and she gave me a certain quirky half smile that I think is becoming characteristic. So I unstrap her, and pick her up and talk to her a bit. As she sometimes does, she talked back. Weirdly, I understood exactly what she wanted. Diana: Whoo. Goo, dah. Lifts up one socked hand rather pointedly. Andrew: I get it. You want out of the socks, right? Diana: (smiles). SO that's a strange moment of baby telepathy from today. (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
4:42 pm	A not as serious post... I'm at work today, so there is no seriousness for you. None! My daughter, growing at an alarming rate, is going out shopping with her mom today since she's outgrowing her 0-3 month clothes (she's 9 weeks old at this point). She probably deserves this: having a good deal of her 0-3 month clothes purchased by your father is probably too big a cross to bear for such little shoulders. She also finished her first full week at daycare. The attendants tell us that she appears to be trying to talk back to them (they talk to her, she makes noises in reply). I've witnessed this, when I talk to her, she does appear to respond, but seems somewhat shy about it (which is of course, my perception of her expressions when she responds, yes this is somewhat meta: I analyze me, analyzing her). Probably too good to last. I'm off the blood pressure pills, which is good news. My current weight (by my reckoning, which is fully clothed, no shoes) is approximately 187 lbs), and measurements for the last week or so are all in the 186-190 range. I've got marching orders to monitor my BP over the next couple of weeks, if it goes back up I have to start the meds again, but c'mon: huge progress has been made here. The technician at the doctor's office asked me to confirm my birth date so that she could make sure she had the right chart. Like I've said before: I think they're used to people ignoring their advice when they tell folks to lose weight. And we're celebrating DD's graduation and newfound employment tomorrow, which I'm certain will involve beer. If for no other reason than that I will involve it. See, they're not all emo, locked posts! (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
9:16 am	Facebook fills me with hilarity. So I DO in fact have an entry in the monstrous entity known as Facebook. One thing I've discovered about it though: yes, you can reunite with folks you knew back when, but don't expect to be able to relate to them. Case in point: A number of friends are still in the deep south. And every so often a good bit of "concern" will emerge about "socialism". When pressed, I know from experience that these "concerns" tend to be founded on nothing but nebulous (I worry) and particular (abortions for all!) targeted issues. And watching the comments about possible Texas secession roll up the status page are humor at it's very best. Guys, I know some of you grew up to be Republicans. And that's too bad. But just like Jon Stewart said: "don't confuse tyranny with LOSING". That is all. (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
10:21 pm	So here's the thing... that you probably didn't get about the last entry. Having a newborn child is a lot like having a cat, only with less positive reinforcement. There's a reason for this: human mental development takes a while to mature enough to actually portray anything like real emotion. Before a child is mature enough to do so, s/he has two speeds: cry and sleep. There's very little in the way of acknowledgement. So when finally a child knows enough to see mommy or daddy and KNOW that these are the caregivers, this is something worth noticing. And it keeps us from throttling the little creature. Don't judge me. (Comment on this)
Friday, April 10th, 2009
9:28 pm	Smile... My daughter had her first day of daycare today, as theAngela went back to work. When we went to pick her up this afternoon, her back was to us at first, she was secured in a baby bounce chair. And when I came around the side, she looked up focused on me, and smiled the biggest smile I've ever seen on her little face. Out of just recognition and joy. Because she was happy to see her daddy. I could just cry. (Comment on this)