Happy 2009 Winter Solstice!

[http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert (Robert)]

Happy Winter Solstice!

My solstice update is below.

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News

Lifestyle
  * Careers
    * Not chained to a desk.  This year has seen a lot of late nights,
      partially due to server problems in the middle of the night or
      scheduled late night software deployments.  There's still a few more
      months of this, but we're all hoping next year will be better.
  * Family
    * Drop-ins.  We only had 1 family visit this year: from my brother and
      sister.  It was a team effort -- Noelle and I traded off entertaining.
    * A dearth of dearth.  It seems like we're at the age when more of our
      established friends are having kids.  Most of them we see less.
      Some invite us to functions which focus on their kids and, although
      we see our friends, we can barely interact with them.  We've been
      attending more childfree events in our local area ('tho it's
      becoming so suprisingly popular that the events frequently fill up).
  * Home
    * There're some places like it.  Since it seems like things are
      affordable for us and we're frustrated with our rented place, we've
      been looking for a place to buy.  It's been difficult so far.
      We've bid on a few places, but nothing has come of those.
    * No motivation.  We tried continuing the Silicon Valley cohousing
      effort for a few more months, but finally concluded that nobody in
      the area was dedicated enough to stick with it.  So, although I
      still maintain the groups online, I have stopped organizing meetings
      and stopped further outreach.
    * Divorced from widows.  We had a small black widow infestation this
      year in our compost and outside the house.  We did various things to
      make life very uncomfortable for them and they did seem to go away.
      Thankfully.
  * Pets
    * Everything must pass.  Our cat Dolly finally died this year.  We
      don't exactly know the cause of death but it was probably related to
      her thyroid problem -- possibly kidney related.  She faded away
      quickly over a matter of weeks.  It was a sad thing to watch.
      We still have some pictures of Dolly when she was healthy at
      http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=dolly&w=9249148@N04
  * Transportation
    * Bicycle
      * 3 years old is too old.  My work organized a mechanic to come in to
	tune-up people's bicycles.  This was one of the more humiliating
	experiences I've had.  After deciding to work on every other
	bicycle taken to him, the mechanic guy took one look at my bike, said
	the chain had stretched and there was nothing that could be done
	for it -- it could not be tuned up.  So, although it seems that
	most products become obsolete and must be replaced after 5 years,
	that number seems to be just 3 years for bicycles.  (I think the
	dismissive judgement is partly due to the bicycle snobs residing
	in the silicon valley area.  I've had my other bicycle for 18
	years and it's still going strong.)
      * Once a year is OK.  After a bit of planning and researching of
        routes, I managed to ride my bike to work on Ride Your Bike to
        Work Day.  It took 1 hour and 20 minutes one way.  (It takes me 50
        minutes if I ride my bike and take the train one way.)
  * Food
    * A night of cooking.  Noelle and I participated in a vegan
      Morrocan/Ethiopean meal.  By "participate", I mean that we were
      among a group of people cooking a meal.  Although things were a bit
      disorganized and disagreed with some of the techniques used, it was
      good to experience a really nice kitchen and have some interesting
      interactions.
  * People
    * Missing persons.  Last solstice message, some messages bounced.  I no
      longer have email addresses for these people:

        Louis Dunne
        Clayton Glad
        Jin Young
        Dave Parker
        Louise Zivnuska
        Bruce Moreland
        
      If you're in contact with any of these people, please tell them that
      I am missing their email addresses.
  * Health
    * Thriving insomnia.  In order to see if my sleep problems (which I've
      had since I was young) were pulmonary, I did a take-home sleep apnea
      study kit.  The results were negative.  It may just be my biology
      and I'll just accept it.
    * Everybody must get stoned.  While on our way back from Santa Barbara
      during Thanksgiving, we stopped at Pismo Beach and Sycamore Mineral
      Springs.  While there, I had a hot stone massage, my first.  I was
      hoping it would help my sciatica, but, although it felt good
      overall, it didn't seem to do a thing for my sciatica.  (The hot tub
      in the room was also soothing and stimulating, but, again, did not
      improve anything.)  We have some pictures at
      http://www.flickr.com/photos/noelle/sets/72157622798659919/
    * Spines like us.  Noelle and I took a course at Esalen.  It was
      "Spinal Awareness".  It's interesting how much psychology and
      societal norms are mixed up in having a good back.  Pictures are at
      http://www.flickr.com/photos/noelle/sets/72157622916137403/
    * Psyche
      * May pessimists endure.  Barbara Ehrenreich always has something
	thought provoking to say, and a discussion in Palo Alto about her
	latest book ("Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of
	Positive Thinking has Undermined America") did not disappoint.  I
	was surprised that there were so few people in the audience, but I
	think this is the sort of message that Americans don't like to
	hear.  (Much like they didn't want to hear about exploitation of
	the poor and the jobless future of the overeducated.)

Entertainment        
  * Movies
    * Riffs in space.  Noelle and I saw Fanthom's broadcast of Plan 9 from
      Out Space in a theater in Milpitas.  It was fun and interesting,
      'tho I wish it hadn't been during a week night.  We continue to
      watch and enjoy Rifftrax (http://rifftrax.com ).  We've slowed down
      our pace a little and expanded our experiences to iRiffs, but it is
      every bit as good.
    * DVDs by mail.  If you'd like to be my Netflix friend, please click on

          http://www.netflix.com/BeMyFriend/PkvARh1w2ZXNcwhbyLjZ

      And my Netflix queue is always available from http://tinyurl.com/qu8lj
      or via RSS feed from
      http://rss.netflix.com/QueueRSS?id=P8598597045281752300300559819027949
      My Movielens ratings of recent movies continue to be at
      http://tinyurl.com/3xxea .
  * Television
    * Exploiting labor is funny.  We've been watching The Office on
      Netflix.  I think Noelle initially wanted to watch it to cope with
      her work and workplace, but it really doesn't seem to be reflective
      of any real workplace.  (We watched the mini-series Generation Kill
      about the war in Iraq and I found it to be more descriptive of
      working in corporate America.)
  * Outdoors
    * A big joystick.  Noelle's dad had a coupon for 2 people for riding
      Segways at Santa Barbara's beach front.  He gave it to us.  We
      learned and rode these Segways the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
      Getting on and off was the trickiest part, but after I while I found
      that it's operation was a lot like using a joystick as a mouse
      pointer -- it sort of "learned" where your center of gravity is and
      adapts and, then, when it gets it wrong, you have to re-teach it.
      Noelle's analogy was to skiing (which was lost on me having never
      been skiing).  We have some pictures at
      http://www.flickr.com/photos/noelle/sets/72157622798659919/?page=2
  * Music
    * Byrne in the house.  Noelle, I, and a couple of friends saw David
      Byrne at the Greek Theater in .  Although interesting, we
      agreed that the opening band, DeVotchKa, was better.  Noelle ended
      up buying their CD.  (Gypsy punk seems to be all the rage these
      days.  Although categorized as gypsy punk, I would say they are less
      gypsy and more rock.)
    * No contribution to U2.  Noelle insisted that we see her favorite U2
      tribute band (Zoo Station) twice this year (she actually saw them 3
      times).  The most recent time also included a Police cover band
      (Stung), who were quite competent.  We have some pictures at
      http://www.flickr.com/photos/noelle/sets/72157622679426099/
    * Just a tiny cut.  We found out that Shonen Knife was coming to San
      , so we had to go.  (Not that we're big fans, but almost no
      mainstream punk rock bands ever come to where-I-live.)  It was fun, but
      sadly quite a short set.
  * Theater
    * Mime jive talking.  Again, we got to see the San Francisco Mime
      Troupe this year with a less radical friend who nevertheless liked
      it.  We saw them in San Lorenzo Park in Santa Cruz.  It was
      enjoyable and thought-provoking, as usual.  I also bought their
      documentary (which I had been looking for) on DVD (we haven't
      finished it yet).

Technology
  * Computers
    * Hardware
      * Networks
        * Man off wire.  Since I was given a Netflix Roku for Christmas, I
	  bought a wireless access point, a D-Link 3200AP.  (My primary
	  requirement was that it support WPA2.  The wireless router I had
	  only supported WEP.)  Besides making connecting the Roku easier,
	  it has allowed me to use my Ubuntu laptop wirelessly which
	  allows me to get into positions which can take pressure off my
	  back and legs.  Although expensive, it has been a good
          investment.
      * Mobile devices
        * Far from tabula rasa.  I acquired a Nokia Internet Tablet this
	  year.  I know that an iPhone is the thing to get but it didn't
	  have everything I wanted: an FM radio receiver, ability to play
	  ogg, a camera, and downloadable maps.  (Actually I'm still not
	  sure whether it can play ogg!)  The Internet Tablet was the
	  closest, plus it runs a mobile Debian derivative.  (I'm thankful
	  that it was Debian that I chose over any other distribution back
	  in 1999.)  The camera's kinda crummy and it turns out I don't
          use the FM receiver as much as I thought I would.  And, given
          that I don't like talking on phones much, I think it's a good
          fit.