Spinning, Again

More silence here. It should end sooner rather than later. Consulting work has been keeping me busy in the early mornings and late evenings, and I haven’t had much time to write, though there’s plenty to think about. I’ve promised a few folks a long-ish entry taking account of my current political leanings, but that requires more time than I’ve had. Instead, you’ll have to make do with this…

First, Matt Chester has two posts that are worth reading. He’s extended the fixed gear mindset to his general lifestyle.

We are currently experiencing what remains of hurricane Katrina, though it is merely a blip on the radar compared to what Mississippi and Louisiana have survived. A waterfall pours down the newly hung screens on our back porch, illuminated by the white light in the alley. The steady pulse of water pouring from the downspout from the roof into our backyard mixes and compliments the pitter-patter of raindrops on the cement of the sidewalk in front. The commute to and from the office today was a wet one, but, after four days away from the bike, it was pure bliss. I thought I may be able to avoid stripping down the bike this evening, but large amounts of grit in the drivetrain drove me to it. A full overhaul is likely in my future.

The boy (new pictures here and here) is talking up a storm. While he is hardly speaking perfectly (“I go this-a way going”), it’s rare when he can’t get his point across, and his ability to parrot words, and even learn their proper usage, is staggering, really.

In other news, we are officially an all-Mac household now. The hard drive on the laptop died last week (I think it had something to do with a combination of sub-standard hardware and coffee), and with class starting up again for Jen this week, we needed to do something rather quickly. A co-worker had offered to sell his older i-Book previously, but at the time we decided against it. Thankfully, he was still willing to put the machine on the market (at a nice, discounted price no less), and a few days later it was ours. After a few false steps, it now also has an Airport wireless card in it, and we’re humming along better than before (despite what you may read, USB wireless networking devices for Macs actually suck, and Netgear’s model doesn’t even have an Apple driver). The machine has been working out well for us, and I’ve been able to jump right into PHP development on it (though I’m still fighting to get su access on the CLI).