Concepts in the Paradox

If you live in the city, or even in the Bay Area, there is something you should go and see. Stop what you are doing, go ahead, just stop what you are doing and leave right now. Get on the J, and get off at 15th and Church. There is an amazing mural of the city from the Ferry Building to 8th street showing the Ferry Building as the past, and moving toward 8th street with time, with 8th being the fantastical future of San Francisco.

It’s worth a visit, really. Trust me. I was looking at it for a good 15 minutes.

While I was at it I walked around some more to find some artists filling dilapidated alleys with their art work. not tagging, not graf, but their creations on parts of the city that few people driving about would ever see.

Every day I come through Hallidie Plaza, often just known as the “Powell Bart” or “Powell Muni” station, on my way to my apartment in the Tenderloin. It isn’t the best part of my day, often I’m greeted by indigents begging for money, hordes of pigeons pecking away at trash, or someone, not even an indigents at times, urinating in the corner. On the way up and out of the plaza, I always see open air drug deals in broad day light, and if you come at 3am to the plaza… well, just don’t do it.

The Chronicle calls for the plaza to be filled in, citing it as another mistake of ’70s urban renewal. Years ago, the plaza was occupied by far more useful theaters, lost to the building of Bart and Muni Metro in the ’70s.

Coming out of Powell station was different today, however. Read more »

My oldest sister, Christa Ballew-Matthews, passed away September 18th due to complications from breast cancer. Christa, I love you, I miss you.

See the Sept. 21st Nevada Appeal obituaries. The print edition also has a photo. Also published in various Columbia, MO and Bartlesville, OK papers.

I joined City Car Share to see if is a feasible replacement for my dear Subaru, which I have to park all the way across town in Western Addition and pay $230/mo in insurance for[0]. The nearest CCS car is across the street from me, a Civic Hybrid. Pending my application approval, I’m going to check out a Tacoma next weekend and do an Ikea run. If anyone is interested, I’d like to split rental/milage fees.

Also, Sam, I put you as a reference. Expect driving credits!

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[0]Geico is $172/mo, so I may at least switch from RapeStateFarm.

Over the next 3 days I’ll be moving this site, along with my hostees, email, blogs, image server, and database to a new swanky machine courtesy of DataSieve. I have tons of data to move, so I’m going to have to move services over one at a time, so if the site is inaccessable or images are broken, don’t panic, I’m all over it.

For the technically inclined, I’m going with a Dell PE w/Dual PIII’s at 1Ghz + 1GB memory, 60GB disk. Not high end, but this is a shoestring operation! OS: FreeBSD 6.1, jails as ‘containers’ for various services. I’ll have an implementation doc posted as soon as I’m all done.

Today is Spare the Air, and you know what that means? Invasion of the rollerbags. I’m getting pretty good at jumping over roller bags that people stand beside on the escalator. Please stand on the right so people can pass on the left and get to work.

It must be some sight to see: a 6′1 male running down the escalator and flying over a rollerbag. As my friend Sherrod says, “I look out the corner of my eye thinking it is a dog, but then I’m sad when I realize it is just a bag.”

Well, I was over at “Burger Gourmet” in downtown Oakland, enjoying a mushroom burger when super genious me bit a chunk out of his own lip on the inside.

Ouch! Mmmm… blood.

Also, ever notice that everyone is very patient as they wait in line for coffee at Starbucks? It doesn’t matter what time of day, or how long the line is, everyone waits in a friendly manner for their cup of crackjoe. Maybe they should offer Starbucks coffee at the DMV?

Anyone want a 1 year+ contract doing general Unix stuff in Oakland at my work? You’d be working with Solaris and SAN ideally, but just having half a brain when it comes to Unix would be enough.

Job opening.

One of my nieces, Elora, is 6 years old. She knows everything about boys versus men.

“You are a boy, not a man!”, she informed me.
I replied, “Why am I not a man?”
“You aren’t married.”

Zing!