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Well, it’s just after 03:00, on Sunday, and I’m still up. I’m writing this post from the laptop, partly to test out the email and partly because it’s been a little while since I’ve updated in any substantial way and so I figured might as well. Ever since my Mom visited, my sleep schedule has been way out of whack, but that’s a problem I always have to be on the watch for. If left to my own devices, I will stay up all night and sleep during the day, or at least most of it. Obviously, this plays havoc with the work schedule, because in most cases, (especially mine), You’re expected to get up and work something that resembles normal hours. In the technology department, I’ve switched from DSL to cable, because the DSL has turned out to be a lot less stable than it should be, even in the case of consumer accounts, and I have a business account. Well, I say switched, but I haven’t canceled the account yet because I’m not about to cough up the excessive contract termination fee just to get out of paying $34.99 each month. So what I’m going to do is switch the phone to the cable’s “digital” (VOIP) phone service, kill the phone part of the account, and pay the $34.99 until the contract ends. I don’t like it, but I guess I’ll have to just deal. Another thing I have to deal with technology-wise is the unforeseen consequence of my network being disabled since the cable company gives separate IP addresses for each system. I had forgotten when I was setting everything up that they were only going to give me one IP initially, and so I tacked on two more since I needed one immediately for the phone for work and the laptop. So I have three IPs, everything gets net connectivity, but no network since everything’s on separate IPs. So a router purchase is in my future, which will fix this problem. I’ve been saying I was going to do that for months now, but have been able to put it off since I have a hub, but the days of putting it off are now over. But the speeds I’m getting seem to be more stable for now, and faster, so all and all I can’t complain. Since this post has sat on my screen for almost an hour now, I’ll end it here. Until next time.

Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

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Hi all:

I’ve got about an hour and a half before work, and I figure I’ll post an update. I’ve been reading about custom groups or whatever it’s called, and I think I may create one for certain posts. I think it’s cool that LJ offers us that extra level of security. Sure, I could implement this at Customerservant too, and I may do that at some future point, but that’s going to require some hacking and general backendiness that I don’t have time for this morning. I’m still kind of sleepy, and I think I’d love to ban Monday from the calendar. The weekend was way too short. Mom came to visit, and given the potential for drama, the visit went off splendidly. We had steaks and watched Borat, and pulled an all-nighter Friday night, which meant I slept for a large part of the day on Saturday. I did the grocery shopping Saturday night, and just generally lazed around yesterday as well, but the weekend was still way too short. I’d love to take a three-day weekend. Well, that’s all for now. I’ll update later.

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Wp seems to have eaten the last incarnation of this post, so we’ll try this again.

There’s an app I use called Online Bible, which, as the title suggests, allows one to study/read the Bible, (and whatever other books one decides to import into the thing), on one’s PC.
It’s a very powerful app, allowing, among other things, the creation of one’s own modules by simply marking up a text file.
Someone’s even created three different translations of the Qur’an for the thing, and after eight years of use, I still haven’t figured out how they did it.
The only drawback I’ve found with the program is that if you’ve acquired a ton of modules like I have, a complete install can take at least three hours, and that’s if you work at it non-stop.
What I’m trying to find out is if there is a way to create a single install for everything, so that I can avoid this if I ever have to reinstall.
You can back up all the modules, and when you’re creating modules for distribution, there’s a setup utility that can be included so that a user can run a self-extracting archive and have the module automatically install.
I’m thinking that this method may be used to create a single install, if I include all the backups in the same directory, and also include the setup utility.
I’ll post more if I get more information.

Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

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I’ve been a very bad blogger lately, but I suppose that’s because I’ve been busy.
First, a mazal tov is in order, for Andre, on the occasion of his engagement last weekend.
And on a completely unrelated note, I’ve decided that I need to get myself more acquainted with Office 2007, so that I can do all the neat little html things from Outlook, instead of using the writing panel.
Thanks to the holiday here in the US, I have a long weekend, and I hope to spend it resting and doing some of the things I haven’t gotten to do in a while.
I’m supposed to be going out with my aunts for a picnic on Sunday, which will be cool.
Here lately I’ve been making an attempt to incorporate more faith-based activities into my life, (prayer, Torah study, but mostly prayer), along with some exercise.
Both of these help relieve the stress, and I think I’m better for them.
The drier has finished, and so that means that my sheets and blanket are ready for bed.
So, for that matter, am I.
so I’ll end this, and I hope to post more this weekend.

Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

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 I typed the below post on my phone while I was on my lunch break a little earlier, but it didn’t get sent out due to one of those “problem exists between chair and keyboard” (Pebcak) issues, specifically, me typing the wrong email address in the “to” field.  
so let’s try that again, shall we? 
 

I’m on my lunch break, and since I’m not very hungry, I figured I’d take advantage of the free time and sit outside for a while.
I’ve started work on my first book review, which I hope to post later today.
I’m also experimenting with different ways of writing post

[The entire original message is not included]

Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

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I’m going to just start typing and see where this ends up. I apologize in advance for the rambling.

I enjoyed the nice long weekend. It’s nice to have one of those every once in a while. I spent a good bit of it thinking, mostly lamenting the fact that I allowed myself to become less jaded since accepting the job last year. I mean, I’ve not allowed myself to become naive, but nonetheless, I allowed myself to give my corporate superiors the benefit of the doubt when I probably shouldn’t have. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not pining for Convergys. I like the fact that I can count on none of my coworkers coming to rob me, and I like the fact that accessibility is a part of my workday. I suppose maybe I thought, on some level, that since this is a smaller company, people would be in closer proximity and so would have to view each other as human beings, which might prevent some of the back-stabbing and other miscellaneous crap that went on at Convergys. And to a certain extent, that’s true, but I now wonder if that doesn’t have something to do with the smaller number of people, coupled with the highly specialized nature of the job, and not with the people themselves.

I’ve been thinking also that I need to make this job work for me, that maybe next year when my lease ends, or gets close to ending, I may look into moving to Tenessee. Granted, it would have to be a small town, because my current salary will not permit me to rent some place in Nashville that would be in a safe neighborhood, nor would it permit me to really even survive. When I took this job, it was with the knowledge that it would go where I go, which is definitely a plus. So I think it’s time I test out that plus. I’ll be giving that some more thought and planning in the coming year.

Until next time.

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I’m sitting here watching 24 when I know I should probably be in bed or something, just to make sure I don’t sleep the day away on Sunday. This has been a busy week. It really got interesting yesterday though, well, I suppose yesterday should actually be Friday.

The day started out fine, but by 12:00 the internet was down due to a state-wide DSL outage. It stayed that way until about 4:30. The boss got in touch with me at around 4:00, asking if I would be willing to make an international call to Mexico so that I could help someone set up a network install of Jaws. He offered to pay the rates, but I told him I don’t have international service, (which I don’t), and I’m not sure the call would even go through. But the ‘net came back up, so I ended up making the call on the work phone and getting everything straight. Then, after work, I tackled the mail problem I’ve been having since Thursday afternoon. It seems my email account on the server has decided that i need all this mail from all the way back in december, in triplicate. So I’m waiting for the mail to download, and eventually, I’ll start seeing my current mail. Saturday’s training went well, if long. I’ve got audio of it, which is always good, because i find it easier to take notes on a recording than I do on a live lecture.

I took a long nap after the training, longer than I wanted, which is why I suppose I’m up this late. I’ve also spent some time catching up on the friends page. I’m thinking I will call gina tomorrow, and chat with her for a little while. I figure that keeping in touch is always good, and I enjoyed our conversation last week. I suppose I should probably also call my Mom and wish her a happy Mother’s Day. I also plan to do very little in the area of actual work, hopefully. I need at least one day that doesn’t involve customers, or the technical side of anything.

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This is not going to make for a very good work day later on. I got off work yesterday with a migraine, so I laid down after work hoping to let it run its course. Well, it seems to have run its course, but now it’s 03:00, and I’m wide awake, even though I should be sleeping. It is Wednesday though, which means I’m almost halfway through the week. Yes, you read that right, almost. I have training on Saturday from 09:30-14:00, which sucks, even though I’m getting paid for it. Monday night, I had a Come-To-Jesus meeting with a certain marine creature when it decided to destroy my display chain. I ended up having to rip the whole thing out by its roots, reinstall, and then go rehook the drivers. I ended up staying up late for that, which is probably what partly caused yesterday’s migraine. So since the cycle continues, I can pretty much expect one for today as well. But maybe I’ll get lucky. It’s possible, and it’s happened before. More later.

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I wrote this yesterday, and attempted to post it via email, but since it didn’t post, i’m reposting. It was originally written yesterday evening.

I’m going to break all the supposed blogging rules and say sorry for not updating in so long. I’ve been busy doing the usual things, working, working and working. I’ve been trying to keep at least one book going on the reading list, but the one I’m reading now, The Secret Magdalene by Ki Longfellow, is just not keeping my interest. I’m going to finish it, because I try to finish everything I start, but it’s taking a lot of will power. I’ll probably write a fuller review later. I talked to Gina for quite a while today on the phone. I really should make it a point to keep in touch with her more. We had an enjoyable conversation. I have the messengers up most of the time during the day, so I need to make it a point to contact her at some point. I’m not ready for the weekend to end. Weekends are always way too short. Hopefully this week will be uneventful. More later.

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For the last couple of days, I’ve been looking for an accessible RSS reader, other than IE. Something I could install on my system, and use as a desktop reader, that’s preferably not going to pop up yet another IE window. I have enough of those open for work, and one less would be nice. Naturally, my first stop was Google. The most accessible reader I found was Accessible RSS, which is a piece of software that seems to embody every single stereotype concerning the blind in the area of technology: Very few options, an on-board browser that goes beyond not offering any bells and whistles down to the level of not offering any features that could remotely be considered complicated. It’s like Lynx but worse. You can’t even copy URLs, (ho option in the context menu), so this means that it’s not a function/feature/bug of the screenreader in use. I never figured it would be this difficult to find an accessible desktop feedreader, and I definitely never figured that one that is billed as the most accessible would be so because it cators to my least favorite definition of accessibility, the one that says that in order for something to be accessible, it has to exclude anything but what’s absolutely necessary for use. I ended up uninstalling the reader, and the search continues. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to leave a comment.