“It’s not a hole in the wall. It’s a…. controlled penetration.”

Must….not…. take out of…. context….

Attention Health Alliance,

It’s proabaly not a good idea for your website to be down on the last weekend of state Benefit’s Choice period. In order for me to change to your plan, I must provide UI a primary care physician number, and I can’t look that up on your non-functioning web presence. You should fix that, preferably before May 31st. Thanks.

Sincerely,
A potential future customer

winston 070

Originally uploaded by TromboneKenny.

This is from three weeks ago.

Day two since Winston left us, and things are still pretty hazy. Normal things, comfortable things, just don’t hold my attention. I find myself sighing a lot, unconsciously. It’s weird how a deep breath can make you feel better, at least for a few seconds. Afterwards, it’s back to empty and sad.

Thanks to everyone who’s told or sent me kind words. I appreciate your strength and comfort. I’ve been talking with my mom and brother a lot this weekend. That’s been nice, although there’s not much we seem to be able to say to make anyone better. I also have been searching around the web for pet cancer relief, and have found some Yahoo groups and many website memorials. It’s numbing the amount of people whose lives are touched so deeply by their pets; and the understanding those people have for those who have lost theirs is amazing. They call animals dying ‘crossing the rainbow bridge’ and there are poems and flash animations that range from stupid to tearful. I do know this: so many people light candles for lost pets – it makes the world a brighter place, in many ways.

Winston hated to be away from his mom and his boys. His last trip up the stairs was under his own will to get to Mom and Aaron. Too sick to lay down, and too exhausted to stand – he made his way up thirteen steps from the basement to be with his family. Not too much later, he didn’t go off in a corner to die, but laid down into the arms of his loved ones who hugged him as he expired. He was only really happy when he was with his family; I can’t imagine him being far away from us right now.

I’m sad. Here’s a picture from 2003. Goodnight, sweet princy.

Goodbye, Winston. Your family loves you.

New pictures from the baseball game on Saturday and Winston on Flickr. http://flickr.com/photos/trombonekenny/

As overheard in a staff meeting this morning, this is how my boss (not to be confused with a PHB,) explained how GPS technology works:

However it works, it makes it work.

That quote’s a keeper.

This came in from Elizabeth from The Reputation listserv:

The text of the opinion states: “On the evening of May 29, 2003, Hayden was smoking crack with three other folks at a trailer park home on Chain of Rocks Road in Granite City, Illinois. Murphy, Sr., who had sold drugs to Hayden several years earlier, showed up later that night. He was friendly at first, but he soon called Hayden a “snitch bitch hoe”1 and hit her in the head with the back of his hand.” Footnote 1 — explaining “snitch bitch hoe” — reads: “The trial transcript quotes Ms. Hayden as saying Murphy called her a snitch bitch “hoe.” A “hoe,” of course, is a tool used for weeding and gardening. We think the court reporter, unfamiliar with rap music (perhaps thankfully so), misunderstood Hayden’s response. We have taken the liberty of changing “hoe” to “ho,” a staple of rap music vernacular as, for example, when Ludacris raps “You doin’ ho activities with ho tendencies.”"

I appreciate the humor, and the fact I know where Granite City and the Chain of Rocks Road is.

I used to play on a MUD with a guy named Rychosis. He mailed me in 1998 and asked me about UIUC, and came to campus for a tour. I remember showing him my crappy dorm room and being so proud of it, for what it was. Well, he came to Illinois (despite my tour!) and got more degrees than I did – include a masters in GSLIS. So, I had lunch with him last week and here are my notes from our conversation. It was good to see him again, and it’s always interesting to hear what people liked and didn’t like about their school experience. My notes:

Brian Heidorn – his digital library and info system classes are good.

Core classes are mostly reading and exams. The rest of the classes have very few exams, but projects and papers.

He recommended Bruch Schatz, who I met before at a colloqium at Siebel Center.

Matt thought independent studies are cool and recommended I try it.

Matt liked Twidel’s user interface class, but he recommended I take the more advanced one. He took it after Heidorn’s class and said the ‘big picture’ to individual user jump in perspective is cool. (I remember thinking that taking CS225 and CS231 at the same time.)

He advised to beware of online information system classes. They’re mainly about using info systems, not designing/implementing them.

He recommend Schilling history of info distribution as a cool class that explores the social aspects of technology.

WallyNews reports Greg’s killer goes to trial today. The charges being brought against him are “failure to aid in a motor vehicle accident where a fatality occurred” and “reckless homicide” which have a maximum sentence of up to 14 years each. Since I read that last night, it’s been haunting me. I miss my friend; I don’t think it’s fair he died; I want justice and fair punishment — but I also kinda feel like it’s another life that’s going to be wasted. This guy needlessly and wrecklessly ended someone. I want to say “an eye for an eye” and nothing less is just — but I can’t. I guess in our legal system, the sentencing is different than the innocent/guilty determination. I think he is clearly guilty of both charges. I wonder what his punishment will be.

If I’m torn like this, I can’t imagine what his family and sweetheart are feeling about today, and my heart and strength goes out to them. They’ve put up website to remember Greg since his death almost 13 months ago. Give it a read – it’s not as sad as you’d think.