Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Brian's LiveJournal:

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Friday, July 2nd, 2004
3:01 pm	Still looking for the strangle button on the phone system Imagine a scenario if you will. A woman has a computer in another room. It is a laptop. She refuses to bring the laptop into the same room as the phone, and she cannot test her connection while on the line to technical support. She also promptly forgets anything you tell her when she walks to the other room. Including if you ask her to write down any error messages she gets. This, quite understandably, makes it nigh impossible to troubleshoot. She's getting connected, because she's showing up on our calls online. I just can't prove this to her when she calls. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 29th, 2004
7:43 pm	Call Stats are Depressing Sometimes I feel bogged down by the sheer volume of calls I'm handling. Today, I foolishly decided to check the call stats to see if I'm really that bogged down or if it's all in my head. I'm not imagining it. I've received about twelve more calls than anyone else on the workgroup. This is extremely depressing when one of my coworkers has been on the line with a customer for the past half hour, thus shunting even more calls my way. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 24th, 2004
8:48 pm	I need eStrangle! Same woman called back. The one with the used computer. Got my coworker. Apparently blames us because her computer doesn't work, when all that's wrong with it is that it needs to get files from disks she doesn't have. Also apparently can't wait for the person that sold it to her to get back from vacation, so she feels the need to make us miserable. I'm kinda sketchy on how the phone systems on here work. I'm trying to find the one that lets me make her phone cord rear up and strangle her stupid neck. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
7:03 pm	#$%#% Used PCs! Okay, I work for an ISP. We can help you if your internet connection isn't working. We can't do a whole lot if you bought that computer used, and lack any and all driver disks that the computer might request in the process. That's not our fault. That's the fault of the jerk that sold you the computer. Stop asking. (Comment on this)
12:08 am	Mutant! This is really frigging cool. Somewhere in Germany is a baby Superman, born in Berlin with bulging arm and leg muscles. Not yet 5, he can hold seven-pound weights with arms extended, something many adults cannot do. He has muscles twice the size of other kids his age and half their body fat. DNA testing showed why: The boy has a genetic mutation that boosts muscle growth. Full Story Comic book stuff, but it's real! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, June 21st, 2004
9:45 pm	Geek Convention The new job is awesome. It's a little disturbing, but my coworkers all look vaguely similar to me. Work policy on surfing is pretty slack, so no worries there. I think I'm going to like it there. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
9:39 pm	A Madness of Fireflies I've determined that the proper term for a group of fireflies must be a madness. This is the part where I wax poetic, so bear with me. The greatest beauty in the insect world has to be fireflies. Butterflies may be a close second, but I dare you to find something that compares to a thick, arching tree filled with hundreds of tiny winking lights. I was treated to this sight and much more as I drove home from work. Entire farm fields lit up like fairy groves as I went by. It's so odd a thing. It's out there for everyone to see, but it's somehow intimate. It's as if they're doing it just for you. June is such a wonderful month. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 16th, 2004
2:43 pm	Permanent Employment Looms Close Innernet, a local ISP, has offered me a permanent helpdesk position. I mentioned them in an earlier entry, and now a couple days after my interview with them, they've given me confirmation. I start Monday. I'll be working evenings again, but thankfully not the graveyard shift. They don't even have a graveyard shift. That's refreshing. They've got some cool benefits, too. They obviously cater to geek employees, with discounts on their broadband and wireless services, and selling hardware at-cost. I'm naturally pretty excited. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 8th, 2004
7:40 am	So they want me to work Helpdesk again... One of my older prospects finally called back to see if I'm interested in a position. The Navy base I had to apply for the clearance for seems to be moving very slowly with my agency. I almost wonder if I should take the Helpdesk position. It's a shorter drive... (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 7th, 2004
9:54 pm	Son of Wallbat? Christa my downstairs neighbor called me today to ask for some condensed milk. Turns out she's nursing a newborn bat she found in the hall? Could this be the spawn of Wallbat? I hope not. Wallbat's been getting quiet. I'm worried about him. (Comment on this)
3:50 pm	Curse You, Wallbat! I have a bat in my wall. Literally. Between the drywall. He's an antsy little fucker, too. Then again, wouldn't you be if you were trapped in a wall? I feel guilty, because there's no real way for me to get him out of there. It's depressing to think that Wallbat is just going to die in there. Still, for now he's just stress. Constant scratching and squeaking, which drives the cats up the wall in the most literal sense. Sometimes makes it hard to sleep. (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 6th, 2004
11:03 pm	Forgetting to Eat So I stumble through this fine Sunday blissfully unaware that I have absolutely neglected to eat. Then, I start getting ready for bed, and my tummy rumbles. Fuck! To Sheetz! I will have a breakfast sandwich and an obscenely large frankfurter! (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 3rd, 2004
2:31 pm	What is this "meme" you speak of? Anyhoo, unless I'm mistaken, this qualifies as one. Post your own and we'll all bond or something. All-Time, Desert Island, Songs to Bawl to List These are the songs that make me misty: Fire and Rain, by James Taylor - This one has a lot of emotional significance due to a dear but distant friend. I can only listen to it alone. My Immortal, by Evanescence - I associate this with the death of my friend Andy and how it affected our mutual friend Erin. Piano version is more effective than the radio mix. Tomorrow, Wendy by Concrete Blonde - Goes back to high school. Never been able to explain it. Both Sides Now, by Joni Mitchell - If you don't cry hearing this song, I don't know what to say. You're a machine. Moons and junes and ferris wheels The dizzy dancing way you feel As ev’ry fairy tale comes real I’ve looked at love that way But now it’s just another show You leave ’em laughing when you go And if you care, don’t let them know Don’t give yourself away I’ve looked at love from both sides now From give and take, and still somehow It’s love’s illusions I recall I really don’t know love at all (1 Comment |Comment on this)
12:41 pm	Ridiculously Beautiful Outside where I work, there are some gorgeous day lilies. What I noticed today is that some morning glories have crept into the lilies, and have wound around them. The result was a day lily with at least a half dozen morning glories in full bloom wound around the stem. That's almost picture-perfect. I love it. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2004
11:07 pm	No, kitty, you can't live in my shirt I don't care if you heard thunder and wanted to hide, shirts are for me, not for kitties. I might have excused the mix-up if I wasn't wearing it at the time. Criminy, you'd think stuff like this would only happen in cartoons. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, May 30th, 2004
4:19 pm	Note to Self Following one's boredom muse in LiveJournal not always advisable. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
12:48 pm	Feline Alarm Clock The cats are entirely too used to my work schedule. Six AM they meow at my door, like clockwork. I tried to explain the concept of "Memorial Day Weekend" to them, but they just kind of looked at me funny. I had to give them time out in the guest room so I could sleep in. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 29th, 2004
7:03 pm	Black Angels I've been meaning to remake my chaos sorceress for WH40k ever since the new figures came out for the Witch Hunters line. Today I found out that the wings off of Tomb Kings Carrion fit perfectly on the same tab Sisters of Battle have for backpacks and jump packs. This is also the same tab the Living Saint has on her back. I think this will be a fun kitbash. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, May 28th, 2004
6:22 pm	Seemed Applicable Maybe you've read it before, maybe you haven't. Still seemed to correlate fairly directly to the odd microcosm that is LiveJournal friend lists. In particular: Geek Social Fallacy #1: Ostracizers Are Evil GSF1 is one of the most common fallacies, and one of the most deeply held. Many geeks have had horrible, humiliating, and formative experiences with ostracism, and the notion of being on the other side of the transaction is repugnant to them. In its non-pathological form, GSF1 is benign, and even commendable: it is long past time we all grew up and stopped with the junior high popularity games. However, in its pathological form, GSF1 prevents its carrier from participating in -- or tolerating -- the exclusion of anyone from anything, be it a party, a comic book store, or a web forum, and no matter how obnoxious, offensive, or aromatic the prospective excludee may be. As a result, nearly every geek social group of significant size has at least one member that 80% of the members hate, and the remaining 20% merely tolerate. If GSF1 exists in sufficient concentration -- and it usually does -- it is impossible to expel a person who actively detracts from every social event. GSF1 protocol permits you not to invite someone you don't like to a given event, but if someone spills the beans and our hypothetical Cat Piss Man invites himself, there is no recourse. You must put up with him, or you will be an Evil Ostracizer and might as well go out for the football team. This phenomenon has a number of unpleasant consequences. For one thing, it actively hinders the wider acceptance of geek-related activities: I don't know that RPGs and comics would be more popular if there were fewer trolls who smell of cheese hassling the new blood, but I'm sure it couldn't hurt. For another, when nothing smacking of social selectiveness can be discussed in public, people inevitably begin to organize activities in secret. These conspiracies often lead to more problems down the line, and the end result is as juvenile as anything a seventh-grader ever dreamed of. Yeah, there's a bit of happy shiny inclusiveness involved in LiveJournal. Still, every now and again, there are people you should avoid. Very apt here. Also: Geek Social Fallacy #4: Friendship Is Transitive Every carrier of GSF4 has, at some point, said: "Wouldn't it be great to get all my groups of friends into one place for one big happy party?!" If you groaned at that last paragraph, you may be a recovering GSF4 carrier. GSF4 is the belief that any two of your friends ought to be friends with each other, and if they're not, something is Very Wrong. The milder form of GSF4 merely prevents the carrier from perceiving evidence to contradict it; a carrier will refuse to comprehend that two of their friends (or two groups of friends) don't much care for each other, and will continue to try to bring them together at social events. They may even maintain that a full-scale vendetta is just a misunderstanding between friends that could easily be resolved if the principals would just sit down to talk it out. A more serious form of GSF4 becomes another "friendship test" fallacy: if you have a friend A, and a friend B, but A & B are not friends, then one of them must not really be your friend at all. It is surprisingly common for a carrier, when faced with two friends who don't get along, to simply drop one of them. On the other side of the equation, a carrier who doesn't like a friend of a friend will often get very passive-aggressive and covertly hostile to the friend of a friend, while vigorously maintaining that we're one big happy family and everyone is friends. GSF4 can also lead carriers to make inappropriate requests of people they barely know -- asking a friend's roommate's ex if they can crash on their couch, asking a college acquaintance from eight years ago for a letter of recommendation at their workplace, and so on. If something is appropriate to ask of a friend, it's appropriate to ask of a friend of a friend. Arguably, Friendster was designed by a GSF4 carrier. Now, to avoid this particular one I've set up different friends lists, and I'll acknowledge that not everyone who reads this will be able to read everything I post. Some of you know me from real life. Some know me from the internet. I don't expect you all to merge into some demented friendhive. The rest of the article is here if you want to read it. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 22nd, 2004
2:47 pm	Okay, so I didn't make it. You may have noticed I didn't make it to Burhans Station on Friday. In all fairness, I was thoroughly unconscious. (1 Comment |Comment on this)