23 August 2005

Eventually we'll get back to being a middle aged suburban engineer with a mortgage.

Really, I'm a nice guy, although I suffer occasionally from Hendrix's http://www.jimihendrix.com disease, aka mild bipolar. My 14 year old housecat publishes letters in the local paper,
as well as having my phone listed under his name. (It costs to be unlisted, but not to use
a pseudonym). I'm a cypherpunk, libertarian, remove crucifi from public streets
when I see them, and know the folks who clean the city by pulling down war pornography http://www.geocities.com/andy_zelinko/, and love the Bill of Rights. http://archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/bill_of_rights.html
(The Constitution is mostly administrative boredom)

I grew up in the countryside, and regard cities as prisons for the clueless/scum.
Suburbia is a compromise I tolerate. My neighborhood is safe, my commute
about 10 minutes, the schools are supposedly good, and I love California geology
(and the flora and fauna; I recently saw my first wildcat at http://www.ocparks.com/caspers
after 18 years of being here). Poison oak is about the same as poison ivy (as a kid,
I put the sap on a square of my forearm and took notes about the sequalae), black
widows mostly hide, and only this year did a rattlesnake see me before I saw him.
(A rattlesnake with a red/blue lightbar and tits is pretty much a hyperstimulus)

Getting back to the nominal topic, I was taking things apart as a bored kid and fascinated
by the mechanical logic in some of them. This led to an interest in computers, which turned
out to be lucrative, without intending it to be so; I always thought that interest in things
--reality-- would provide, and it has. Later of course every grandmother has a computer
and internet connection, mostly using the former as glorified telephones on the latter.

Only this year (2005) did I get a cell phone, which is mostly off, recharged by an inverter
in my car. Its for peace of mind, safety, really useful if you get stranded on a freeway,
but otherwise not much used. I was amused/amazed to find that I'm not the only
dinosaur, many of the folks at work don't have them --though they are electrical
engineers. I really like the intelligence and senses of humor of folks at work, this
motivates me to stay, much like the 'brotherhood' felt by soldiers even when their
commanders are idiots.

Enough rambling for tonight. Perhaps I'll keep this log going another night.