I'm back.
A vacation was exactly what the doctor ordered.
My head is clearer than when I left, and at least for now,
I'm able to take a step back from work and see the things
that are really frustrating me with it, rather than
the "emergency of the moment" that has always seemed to
loom as the dominant problem. The realization: I just don't
like doing this anymore, or, more accurately, don't like
doing it the way I'm currently doing it. I take the most
joy in my day out of helping people turn on the little
lightbulb over their heads, not out of doing what I've
actually been hired to do. I think I've reached the point
of a career change, but there is still much contemplation
to be done.
As far as the rumored layoff went, nothing
happened while I was gone, except for an all-company
meeting (where "extreme cost cutting measures" were
emphasized) and the dismissal of a few of the consultants
around the office. The rumor mill is now speculating that
we'll see something happen on Friday, though, and it
appears that the co-worker that I was concerned about is no
longer on the list. But, it's all just speculation at this
point.
Vacation rundown
Okay, so I've been informed that people
actually read these entries I make every once in a while,
so I'd better give a quick rundown of the two weeks. My other
half and I hit the road for two days driving through St. Cloud, MN, US and back to Brandon, MB, Canada, where I finally had
a chance to catch up with some old friends, under much
better circumstances than the last time I saw them. Then,
another day on the road to get to Unity, SK, Canada, where we
stayed with Mom for a few days, visiting with my sister,
one of my brothers, and their respective families. There, I
was witness to something I hadn't seen for a while; someone
who has never used a computer before trying to
figure out the basic means of making it "do stuff". A few
days of playing Solitaire, and her mousing skills improved
dramatically, and she can even double-click with some
dexterity now, but she's got quite the learning curve ahead
of her. Anyways, then we were off for three days of driving
stopping in again in Brandon, then in Kenora, Thunder Bay,
and finally Niagra
Falls, all in Ontario. We spent a day
there, seeing the sights (the Clifton Hill area is
definitely worth walking around) and getting wet (there are
numorous opportunities for drenching near the larger
Horseshoe Falls). Then, a final day's drive home to Naperville, IL, US. A lot of driving
(well over 4000 miles), but definitely worthwhile,
especially getting a chance to see the falls. Yes, it
really is that impressive when you hop aboard a Maid of the Mist
boat and slide right up to the foot of the falls, assuming
you can see them through all the water spraying at you ;-
).
Revision Control
<RANT>ClearCase
sucks.</RANT> Specifically, ClearCase for Linux
sucks. Even more specifically, MVFS for Linux (their
versioning filesystem) sucks. I can hack in third-party
patches into kernels all day long, but there isn't a damn
thing I can do with that binary blob they're calling "Linux
support" when it fails. So, tomorrow comes a whack at
upgrading to ClearCase 4.2, and trying it out for the first
time with a 2.4.x-series kernel. I'm not holding my
breath.
Reading
No computer-related books this time around;
this episode of "Ed's Book Club" features good 'ol Western
annoyance (see above) meeting up with Eastern thought.
First stop: Thomas Cleary's excellent The Essential Tao, which includes modern
translations of both the Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tzu, along
with an extensive series of interpretive notes. For the
geeks, consider this the Taoist reference guide. ;-)
The second book on today's list is Zen and the Art of Making a Living by
Laurence G. Boldt. At first, I was pretty skeptical about
this one, expecting a cheezy self-help guide, but I was
bored in the bookstore and it was there, so I quickly
flipped through it. An hour later, I decided I should
probably just buy it and give the chair up for someone
else. It's a hefty read, and I'm only partially into it so
far, but the first few chapters deal heavily with the work
you do, how all workers are really artisans, and the
importance of building your life's work by following the
Way (seeking your bliss, doing what makes you happy, or a
host of other ways to put it). If you find comfort in this
manner of contemplation, and find yourself stressed about
work regularly, this is the read for you. Surprisingly,
it's also an accessable way to understand the Zen mindset
(or arguably, the lack thereof).
And, as an added bonus, both of these are a
low-cost buy. $10 for the first, $14 for the second,
assuming
you get them in paperback (although, I'm considering
spending the $18 on the hardcover edition of The
Essential Tao).
Oh hell, I guess I did pick up a geek book
after all. I grabbed RHCE Red Hat Certified Engineer Study Guide
(Exam RH302) by Bill McCarty, mostly for the CDROM
tests so I can be sure I won't waste my money if I decide
to go for the RH302 exam. Once I've had a chance to read
through it, I'll try and remember to give it a quick review
here. A point of amusement for me: the testing software and
CDROM frontend only run under Windows, despite the subject
matter. (The entire book, however, comes on the CD as PDFs,
which is rather handy if you're still into using Adobe products. ;-)
Hacking
I have a backlog of rblcheck email
that I haven't responded to. :-( Need to get on that pretty
soon; I've been too busy playing around with my Jabber server, now that I
have decent connectivity at home.
Enough already; this is turning into a thesis. More later.