Death of a Bully

I found out after the fact that my bully from grade school died. He was not well liked by most people, if I remember correctly, but I was surprised at the outpouring of emotion online when his death was announced. A lot of years have passed in the interim and in hindsight, I suspect there … Read more

Pokemon Go Incident

So we had a Pokémon Go incident a few days ago. This mother and son came to the office asking if they could catch the Pikachu that likes to hang around here. I didn’t see a problem so I let them in. Well the kid was super excited, running and jumping around everywhere. Well, he … Read more

We Are The Champions

Now, devotees may argue that one sport or game is inherently better than another. For me, sport is actually a chance for us to have other human beings push us to excel. Robin Williams as John Keating, Dead Poets Society (1989) If this blog somehow survives me and is read sometime in the future, I … Read more

So Glad It Wasn’t Me

I had to be part of someone else’s bad day, and it sucked. Please keep confidential, unknown to <name> at this time. Meeting is scheduled for 9:00 tomorrow, in the conference room. Please have someone get his laptop shortly after 9:00 and disable him from the system. Please also have someone discreetly gather his personal … Read more

Linux Doesn’t Ask “Are You Sure?”

Preface: This happened a couple of years back and has completely resolved since. It’s also one of those events that fellow sysadmins might relate to that make you go back and rethink (and rewrite) your backup scripts and policies involving production machines and how to not be stupid, in general. Today is the day after … Read more

Birds of a Feather

While attending a fundraiser at a bar tonight a girl approached me and asked if the penguin on my shirt was the Linux penguin (It was). I spent the next 40 minutes chatting with her and her boyfriend (a chef) about Linux and other assorted geekery. Totally restored my faith in humanity. Thank you, Anthony. … Read more