Screws In My Coffee

Lonnie and Del Kimbrough as Santa Usually I am such a "Bah, Humbug" person this time of the year.  This year I surprised myself by being sort of in the holiday spirit without any sarcasm.  There are two highlights to this Winter Solstice that I would like to share. One seasonal highlight is that I took this picture with my direct supervisor Del Kimbrough who is dressed as Santa Claus.  He was asked by the Albany State University Early Learning Center to pose as Santa for the children.  During a break between the classes some of the IT staff wanted to take pictures with Santa.  We had a lot of fun with the photo sessions. Another highlight of this season is that I put Winter Solstice lights on my bicycle.  I got the inspiration from a rider in the Bicycle Commuter Cabal of which I have been a member for over a year.  I got the battery powered lights at Target.  I have had fun riding to and from work with them on.  during this time of the year my morning and evening

All links in this article support my point of view.  As with anything on the Internet do not believe what you read just because it is on the Internet.  I believe all of this stuff about the actual birth of Jesus because my dad explained it to me at a very young age. This is why I really miss Austin, music and free thinking culture.  It was a rare occasion that I was driving my truck to work instead of riding my bicycle and I heard this interview on NPR about For An Ex-Christian Rocker, Faith Lost Is A Following Gained .  It really hits me and made me realize that as a son of an African Methodist Episcopal minister that I too have become an atheist or humanist . I have always had a big problem with not living life for now instead of living life and putting off everything because you are waiting for something better after your die.  Believing that some entity has control of your life or believing that all you have to do is wait for some help with your problems does not make sense to

On November 25, 2013 I spent a cold and windy morning on the roof of the ASU academic building watching a crane lift chilling units to the roof.  I was then with the son of my boss Wiley Kimbrough. I may edit out the wind and add comments later, but for now here is the raw video and some still shots of the install with the crane. Part 1 Old units Part 2 Extending the crane boom Flipping the units from shipping position to install position. Part 3

The Brown Dirt Cowboy When I first came to Albany, GA in January 2010 the president of the small HBCU where I was hired to work told me that he was happy to see that there was going to be a "west coast attitude" on campus. After living in South West Georgia for almost four years I am starting to to understand what he meant. I grew up in southern California where I was surrounded by 80% white folks and the rest were "other".  I did not know that I lived in a bad neighborhood until I was older and had moved away from it and told people where I was from.  I spent my early childhood in what was called South Central Los Angeles or was lumped into being called Watts after the Watts Riots in 1965.  I thought it was normal to live in a neighborhood with two rival gangs, the Crips and the Bloods .  It was not until I moved to Pomona, CA that I realized that there were Hispanic gangs in California as well.  It was not until I moved to La Jolla in north San Diego count

Beef brisket samich I had fun this past Labor Day weekend smoking two beef briskets.  Every time I take the time to fire up my little smoker so I can BBQ some meat I think about why I do it.  It takes a lot of effort and patience to smoke beef briskets.  A typical brisket that I smoke can take 12 to 16 hours.  If I love eating brisket why not just settle for eating brisket at a restaurant like Sonny's? The love of smoking meat on hardwood was instilled in my when I was about 8 or 9 years old. Both my father and my mother were born and raised in the country of Texas.  My dad was from a small central Texas town called Winchester.  My mom was from an east Texas city called Texarkana .  I was not born in Texas.  I was born in Glenridge New Jersey , but my parents moved to Los Angeles when I was two years old so I grew up in California. I suppose this would be a good time to define some terms for this discussion.  To me the term Bar-B-Que (BBQ) means that you are cooking with w

I finished the wall mural.  It took two more days.  I did not want to pain a bunch or flowers by hand so I broke out my air brush and made three stencils for the flowers.  All in all it turned out OK.  I am a bit rusty on painting, but I really like to paint big. See day one and day two . End of Day three.  Crappy had painted flowers. Major tee trunk and limb redesign.  Made the whole structure thinner at the request of Sylvia. End of Day three.  Crappy hand painted flowers. End Finished mural and front door finished mural finished mural finished mural flower details flower details

Can we say Oracle?  I have been on a deep dive into the land of Oracle 12c for the past two weeks.  Oracle has come a long way since my first encounter the the database during the last century with 8i.  I love the fact that Oracle now has it's own Linux distribution and it works.  Java installers work beautifully with SSH X11 exporting.  Yeah, you still have to know your way around some of the Oracle command line silliness, but that is to be expected. IMHO Oracle 12c is now a lot like Microsoft SQL in that Oracle now uses a concept called container databases.  With Oracle 12c you can have multiple plug-able databases in a container that you can start and stop independently of each other.  This is similar to MS SQL server in that MS SQL has multiple databases in an instance that you can manage independently. So I am glad that Oracle is moving in a new direction that I can wrap my head around.  i am sure that I do not have it all figured out, but so far I really like Oracle 12c.

Added the small branches and one large branch in the background.  Added some more shading details.  Planning how to paint the flowers next.  I am thinking of making a stencil for the flowers.

+Sylvia Wormley wanted a tree mural for her birthday, so here goes. The inspiration that Sylvia wants in the entry room My sample palette and paint cans.  The thumbnail plan. Blank wall with masking tape on wood work.  You can barely see the chalk lines. Blank wall with masking tape on wood work.  You can barely see the chalk lines. first coat of gray paint to fill outlines Adding some shading to drop limbs to front or behind.

I finished a number of lighting projects this weekend at the homestead.  These projects have been hanging around for a long time.  +Sylvia Wormley wanted a ceiling fan over the kitchen table.  She also wanted the chandelier moved from above the kitchen table into the entryway.  When we bought the home there were some old T12 florescent bulb lights present. I replaced them with some cheap odd sized florescent bulbs soon after we moved in.  The replacement lighting did not last long so version one of the under counter lighting was replaced with version two lighting, LED lights. Old school switch plate covers.  I am also going to replace all of the old lighting switches from the old school plates and flippers.  When I painted the walls I painted the cover plates as a temporary measure for dealing with the faded bone colored fixtures. New school switch plate covers The new covers will include the modern square switches with the flat rocker flipper.

I normally do not wake up at 4:30 AM on the weekends.  This weekend is the second weekend that I have to work on a special project in the data center.   Since I did not want to go back to sleep and I am taking a break from cycling because of a minor skin rash, I decided to watch some Netflix. One show I like a lot is New Girl .  I started watching it when I had cable but only saw a few episodes.  Now I am watching the first season and I really enjoy it.  New Girl has all the elements for a good comedy show, a quirky main character who is so Lucy like in her mannerisms and a good supporting cast.  The show also makes me laugh and think in each episode.  The humor always has a focus and sometimes it makes me tear up. The next show that I just discovered today is called Hit & Miss .  This is a show that not everyone will like, but it has all of the elements that I like in a good action drama.  First of all in the pilot someone gets killed in the first two minutes, so  that means t

I am attending a family wedding this weekend.  My step son Dean Lackey is getting married to Anne Marie.  The wedding is being held at an eclectic event location out in the country between Leander and Liberty hill Texas.  the property is adjacent to the blue hole on Google maps.  this is a small creek tat is just big enough to get tubes and kayaks in and just float around to keep cool. I took some pictures of the buildings just before the wedding to give you an impression of true Austin decor.  the woman that owes this property also owns a business in Austin called Lucy in Disguise . This is a great costume shop and if you are ever in Austin you have got to check out south congress Avenue.

I am at a place in my life where I am health and happy. Getting to this state was no accident. I have had to listen and learn and I have had to turn a deaf ear to a lot of advice along my journey. My eating  and exercise habits are at the heart of my health. Before continuing I will state what you should written by an author or speaker that offers health advice, This is what works for me . I eat what I want and I exercise because it is fun. I was in a conversation with some close friends as we were watching the 2013 Tour de France. The discussion topic drifted to long distance cycling. I mentioned how I would love to do the Ride Across America. The reaction from some was that it would be like torture to ride that long. This morning as I was riding my 50 mile commute I thought about what experiences that others would enjoy that I would think were torture. A few came to mind. 1. Going to church 2. Listening to Yanni 3. Discussing politics 4. Swimming laps in a pool. I eat as

If you hear someone tell you "I know what right looks like" they probably do not know what they are talking about.  I have been to more than one rodeo in my IT career and I have run into more than one IT professional with a degree and certifications that could not get past a SSH command prompt to save their lives. Knowing networking theory and managing a network are two different ball games. The difference in teaching routing protocols and configuring a router in a production is like the difference between going to church and jumping out of a helicopter in a war zone.  Which guy would you want on your IT team, a preacher or a battle tested sergeant. The debate over whether Cisco knows what it is doing with their product line and it's business has been a debate for decades.  I have been around long enough to have used several of the products of companies that Cisco has eventually acquired   I used Aironet wireless gear before Cisco purchased them.  I was using Linksy