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Saturday November 1, 1997

The morning started off nice and sunny. However, by 10 o' clock, there was an abrupt change in the weather. I decided that I wanted to take in the recycling that has been piling up in the "warehouse." Baby went with me. The rain increased in intensity such that I can only describe the experience as being similar to driving through a waterfall. I have no idea how that much water could pour down from the sky. We were completely drenched by the time we arrived in Kuapa Kai since my six-four has no windows. We ended up in Kuapa Kai because I wanted to go to the hardware store and purchase a wooden rod to mount my FM dipole antenna. Baby also wanted to go to Ross. Hard as it may be to believe, the rainfall increased even more. When we returned home, we quickly dried ourselves. The punchline, of course, is that the sun was back out by one o' clock. I thought that it was going to rain all day. That's why I decided to run my errands in the morning. Sheesh! I helped moms with the laundry even though most of it belonged to the Ninja Turds. Later, baby and I walked down to Koko Marina with moms to do some shopping. We went to the gym after that. Baby and I wanted to go to Barnes & Noble this evening. Our plans were thwarted by my sister-in-law's chili dog cookout fiasco. Apparently, she was going to make dinner for her family and somehow the chili dogs were ruined. When baby and I came home, there were dishes piled in the sink as a result of the fiasco. Moms was busily cooking more food for dinner because of the pathetic chili dog cookout. She was attempting to work around all the dishes and garbage that were piled up around her. I immediately washed the dishes and cleaned up the garbage. Where was my sister-in-law all that time? She was watching that damned Ninja Turtles video for the 99th time with her son. Apparently, she was not feeling very well. She spent most of the day sleeping. She also told moms that she was feeling cold. So, she took a long, hot shower and used up all the available hot water. Needless to say, we never made it to Barnes & Noble.

Baby and I went to Ala Moana again today just for something to do or, dare I say, to get away from all the nonsense at home. Even mingling amongst a bunch of rude tourists can be more relaxing than witnessing the stupidity at home. Although we did not do much productive, we enjoyed the day. It has been extremely windy since the storm yesterday morning. The ambient temperature is much lower than normal. Of course, it is still relatively warm compared with the mainland. I can't say that I am suitably relaxed to tolerate the anticipated nonsense at work tomorrow. Yet, if things went right, what would I have to write about?

I spent all day attempting to decipher the cryptic style of Active Server Pages. Pontus came by to talk this afternoon. He has been putting some time in on his Internet project. He is also running into similar problems. I have calmed down since the meeting of last week, and now I wonder if I have been a little presumptuous in my assessment of the situation. I printed out about 500 pages of documentation. I hate to waste paper, but I cannot read on-line documentation longer than an hour before my vision begins to blur.

I was a little tired when I came home. I went to the gym for a short workout. Moms was cooking dinner in the kamado. Moms works real hard. At 75 years of age, she still puts in a full day of work. And, she works seven days a week. I helped her out a little this weekend and I have to admit that it was physically taxing, especially hanging up the laundry with gale-force winds blowing. I wonder how my generation and subsequent generations will fare in comparison to moms' generation. To top off my day, I wrote out a check for $8,000 to the loan people. I am virtually penniless at this point. I still have $26,000 left to pay off. Where did all that money go? Rather than work on my employment queries, I spent the time working on future enhancements for LoserNet. Time is running out and, once again, I have been distracted. Sheesh!

After toiling all day, I was able to develop my first set of Active Server Pages (ASP). I will be able to design a fully database-driven and administered intranet site. However, the boss' fixation with dynamic HTML may be my undoing. I suspect that the ASP scripts may interact unfavorably with the scripts for the cascading stylesheets.

I have had a lot of difficulty sending e-mail lately. My ISP is apparently having more problems. I have been able to receive mail fine. My Net access at work has been limited. For some reason, neither Paul or I can get on-line until about one o' clock. Is the Net that busy? Is there that much downloading of hurdy-gurdy files? Anyway, I hope to catch up on e-mail before the weekend. Thanks again to all who put up with the ol' lavahead's tardy replies! Finally, thanks to Andy (e-mail withheld), who wrote:
 

" i think that if i had a site like yours, and that if it made even one person feel better in some way, that i would consider my work a success ... you have so many readers, so many faithful readers, that you cannot possibly consider your site anything but a success. i consider it a success ... i applaud your lifestyle and you as a person. thank you for creating losernet ..."
 
It has always been my hope that LoserNet had some kind of redeeming value. I've often thought that the ramblings of the ol' lavahead were about as worthless as my beloved i486 computer.

As I suspected, the ASP scripts did not work well with the collapsing menus that were implemented with JavaScript. There is really nothing that I can do about that, so I will move on to other phases of the project. The two designees met with me this afternoon to observe my progress. They had a few minor criticisms. Had they done their homework, they would have known better. I got a haircut after work and met baby at her office. From there, we took the bus to Kahala Mall. We looked around the mall briefly. Then, we went to Barnes & Noble. Surprisingly, the place was not packed with people. We found a table and ordered our coffee drinks. Then, we spent the rest of the evening reading magazines and relaxing.

Baby's daughter will be flying in from Oregon tomorrow night. I'm not exactly sure what my bro and sister-in-law think about that. All I know is that moms' house will be extremely crowded. Baby has had a few new leads about some rental housing in the area thanks to some of the neighbors. I do not know whether she will find something before the first of the new year. This could present a big problem. Another body in moms' house could increase the tension that already exists. I also worry about moms. She will have much more work to do. I can help her out whenever I am home but that is still not enough. I will be going into my sixth month in the "warehouse." The couch isn't too bad. After all, I slept in a sleeping bag during my last three years in Cali. Sheesh!

I actually succeeded in making the scripts and the ASP stuff work as planned. I wrote several Visual Basic scripts to work around the dynamic HTML. We had a staff meeting this morning that was strangely reminiscent of the Dilbert Zone. I looked at my haircut for the first time in the restroom at work. It looked just like the haircut that Michael Douglas had in the movie, Falling Down. All I need now is a pair of those nerd glasses ... you know, the dorky ones with the transparent plastic frames. Then, I would have to miraculously find a bag full of Uzis. After that, I could take a stroll through LA ... or maybe even Wai'anae!

Baby's daughter did not fly in this evening. There appears to have been some kind of mix-up. I am not sure whether the flight was cancelled. As it stands, her daughter should be arriving tomorrow afternoon. I will still be at work. Baby plans to leave her office early and take the airport bus to pick up her daughter. I hope that there will be no other problems tomorrow.

Baby left work early and went to the airport to meet her daughter. I left work at the usual time and met them downtown. Since they arrived there before I did, I must assume that everything went as planned.We took the bus to Ala Moana to look around. We ate dinner at Patty's Chinese Kitchen. I think the roasted duck just about did me in. Duck is very rich in saturated fat. And, I'm sure it did little for my elevated cholesterol level. We were supposed to go to Waikiki but we never made it. By the time we arrived at home and washed up, it was already after 9 o' clock. The duck was also taking its revenge on me for consuming it with little regard for my cholesterol problem.

Moms did as much preparation as possible prior to the arrival of baby's daughter. She cleaned and vacummed the house. Moms also bought a box of Manapua for us to eat. She also set up a small bed in baby's room. My bro and sister-in-law were very cordial to baby's daughter. I don't expect that there will be any problems during her stay here.

 Baby and her daughter walked to Hanauma Bay this morning. It is about half-a-mile from moms' place. Hanauma Bay is the beach that non-residents have to pay an admission fee to get in. Believe it or not, I would also have to pay the fee since I have no valid Hawai'i identification. However, I stayed at home to take care of a few chores like washing my beloved six-four and replying to most of the e-mail that has accumulated in my inbox. When baby and her daughter returned, they walked to Koko Marina to have lunch at Yummy's. Moms and I walked down to Koko Marina later to do some food shopping. Baby and her daughter left for the Bishop Museum at 5 o' clock. Baby had worked a short stint at the museum working under the museum's director. Well, she called the director earlier this week and made arrangements to view the Hawai'i night sky through the large telescope in the museum's Planetarium. They had a lot of fun.

I took the bus to Kahala Mall and met baby and her daughter there. We were planning on spending the evening at Barnes & Noble. The place was packed. Baby and her daughter walked to California Pizza Kitchen to eat a late dinner. Since I had already eaten dinner, I stayed at Barnes & Noble and perused a few computer books. So far, we have only driven once since baby's daughter arrived. That was this morning when I had to go to the hardware store in Kuapa Kai. Baby and her daughter went shopping at Ross. They said they would meet me over at the hardware store. Of course, I knew better. Babes in clothes store .... that could be an all-day affair. Sheesh!

This morning, my nephew was nagging his mother for a glass of milk. My sister-in-law was apparently taking her time about complying to the little prince's request. My bro lost it. As usual, my sister-in-law attempted to talk her way out of it. My bro told her to shut up and he also threatened to give her a slap on da head if she didn't shape up. My bro has been drinking quite a bit of booze lately. In fact, he has been dropping 'em back every night. I suspect that he is not happy with his marriage situation or at least it sure seems that way. The booze is definitely a sign of some kind of unresolved internal conflict.

 I went along with baby and her daughter to the Honolulu Zoo in Waikiki. The zoo is rather small but it hosts a variety of very rare species of animals, birds and plants. We spent several hours there. The chimps, of course, were the highlight of the zoo. I find these animals to be highly entertaining to watch as opposed to the Chimp^tm ... I'm sure that you remember the putz. The last time that I was at the Honolulu Zoo was when I was a kid almost 30 years ago. Moms had taken me there. The place has changed quite a bit. After our day at the zoo, we went to Ala Moana so that baby could do a little shopping to buy stuff for her daughter. We arrived home a little late. Moms had cooked a feast in the kamado. We were all tired yet comforted by the hearty meal, so we stayed in for the evening.

On the way to work this morning, I could not help but reflect on my childhood days now long gone. Perhaps it was my trip to the zoo. I was overcome by sadness when I thought back to those times. I never realized how much moms had done for me. I have either forgotten or just never realized all those things like the trips to the zoo. I still firmly believe that I made a serious judgmental error when I chose to stay on the mainland for so long. Sure, I had my own life to lead, but what kind of life was it? A semi-comatose existence hinged on the availability of King Cobra? Well, hey! Don't let the smooth taste fool ya!

Baby also had to go to work. She took her daughter with her. They left work around noon and went to the Bishop Museum again. This time, they went through the actual museum. Baby called me on my beloved cell phone while I was already on the bus. I met them downtown. We went to Ala Moana again, this time to do some last-minute shopping. Baby's daughter will be flying out tomorrow morning. She did not have a chance to see much of this island nor did she get to sample the elusive kama'aina lifestyle. However, baby's daughter will be moving here in January. And so, the adventure continues ...

Baby and her daughter left early this morning. They took the bus to the airport. Baby had to go to work after that. I stayed at home and worked on my six-four all day. I used the Navel Jelly that I bought at the hardware store to remove a few rust spots that had developed. I then painted the treated areas with black paint. By the way, my six-four is not black in color. I bought the black paint because it was the cheapest I could find. Well, hey! I'm not living in the lap of luxury! My bro got up around 8 o' clock. Within minutes, he was consuming a brewski. He dropped 'em back for about an hour. Then, he went to his room and passed out. Moms was gone all morning. When she returned, we had lunch and walked down to Koko Marina. On the way back, we saw my bro drive by. It was about one o' clock. He must have finally woken up.

Since I was moderately satisfied with the painting project, I decided to continue working on my six-four. I took the dashboard apart to clean it and to prepare it for painting. I happened to take my gauges apart to clean them. Like a putz, I was using one of those heavy-duty paper towels. The edge of the paper towel caught the tip of the gauge's fragile pointer and bent it. I tried to straighten it and only succeeded in making it look totally pathetic. I could feel the rage welling up. I was ready to explode. I decided to calm down and put the dashboard back together instead of pulverizing all the components with my mallet. Several small plastic pieces broke in the process. By then, I was so numb that it just didn't matter. Needless to say, I won't be painting the dashboard. Sheesh! The Cardinal called tonight. He just wanted to say hello. The Cardinal, Eric, The Bull and the Bishop went out for pizza last night. The Bishop is definitely moving to Monterey with his babe sometime next month. So, it looks like things are pretty serious. The Bull is still doing the gigolo thing. Matt has finally started construction of his new palatial manor. Some things never changes. And, the Cardinal ... he claims he's a monk. Sheesh!

The boss must have grown tired of his new CD-ROM drive, so he spent the last week negotiating a deal for a new house. He was overheard mentioning monthly payments of $3,500. So, he must be making big bank for basically choking the chicken. I have worked extremely hard on the intranet project. There have been many, many problems. I have solved most of them. The real problem is that the boss envisions the intranet Web as one big desktop computer. The trouble is that even a simple function like uploading a file would be a programming nightmare with a Web browser. Now, imagine if you will, when the prevailing thought is that everything can be done with databases. Short of spending several thousand dollars on a state-of-the-art database interface, there are limitations to what can be done. The boss already has a solution anyway ... Visual Basic, the programming cure-all! That's why PowerBuilder is going right out the door once Paul leaves.

I haven't even been that gung-ho about going to the gym lately. Although the gym is now my only diversion, it just isn't that captivating. Maybe I'm just getting too old for that nonsense. The one consolation is that I can take a hot shower there. At home, both baby and I take five-minute showers with the water pressure really low just to help conserve water for moms. As you know, it really doesn't matter. My sister-in-law takes long, hot showers with the water on full-blast. The gym is seemingly an okay place. It is never crowded although it is small. There are some meatheads, nothing like the gym back in Convalescent City. I am able to get a decent workout and shower in about an hour. There are a few small social cliques, but I do not get involved. I guess that I miss having a social life, but not enough to do anything about it.

Everything was going pretty good until my beloved cell phone rang. I was at work at the time. I answered the phone. At the other end, there was an obvious brain donor who just learned how stand erect minutes prior. The putz was either babbling or speaking in tongues. I had to hang up on him. What a maroon! Needless to say, I get charged for air time when an idiot calls me on the cell phone. I don't know why, but events like that put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day. The express bus arrived in Hawai'i Kai late because of traffic. I went to the gym, and it was actually fairly crowded. I did a short weight workout, and then I literally did a little time on the Stairmaster. I usually do my cardio workout first but there were too many people on the machines earlier. I did about ten minutes. Then, someone turned the fan off. Mind you, it is extremely stuffy in the long corridor that the Stairmaster and Lifecycle machines are located. I was overheating so I decided to call it quits. So much for my day the gym. So much for my day, in general.

I spent all day designing a work-around for a problem that I encountered with ASP-generated form objects. I could not access the objects even though they appeared in the browser. I had to import the database table values into a JavaScript array and then generate the form with JavaScript. The form objects were subsequently accessible. The (now defunct) JavaScript Institute has come in handy! I am happy that it is Friday. Wage slaves, like the ol' lavahead, live for Fridays. When I was back in Convalescent City, I never needed to look forward to Friday. I was living the eternal weekend. I was broke. What am I talking about? I am still broke! Well, the trade-off is that I now get to listen to my favorite tunes on beloved Bose Wave radio versus the proliferation of da man's music on the air back in Convalescent City. I sleep on a couch versus sleeping in a sleeping bag. I still have my beloved six-four but the oil pressure gauge has a bent needle. I still receive phone calls from idiots on my beloved cell phone. Well, at least I am no longer paying roaming charges. Sheesh! What a life I'm having!

Baby and I left fairly early this morning. Baby had an appointment in Kaimuki. I continued on into town to go to K-Mart. It was a wasted trip for me. K-Mart was running yet another advertisement for the frying pan set that moms wanted. I had gone to K-Mart two weeks ago when the same item was advertised. I have no idea why it was advertised when it is clearly not available. I took the bus to Ala Mo's (what some locals call Ala Moana) to meet baby there. She arrived about an hour after I did. In the meantime, I sat downstairs on my favorite bench with the other old guys. The bench is located near the main parking area. Between the exhaust fumes and all the cigarette smoking, there was very little breathable air. By the time baby arrived, my eyes were burning and I had a headache. This, of course, is another drawback of living in the city. The perceived necessity to drive and the tension of closed quarters, which leads to smoking, is increasing everyone's chances of contracting a respiratory illness. Baby and I walked along Ala Moana Boulevard to the Ward Center. The air quality was about the same as it was at Ala Mo's. We stopped in at Computer City. I bought a pack of rewritable CDs. Paul is going to cut a few computer CDs for me.

After dinner, baby and I took the bus to Kahala Mall and spent the evening at Barnes & Noble. We drank coffee and perused the usual selection of periodicals. On the way home, I was thinking about the situation at home. "There are some weird people living in this house," moms told me yesterday. She was talking about the various quirky behaviors of certain individuals. Somehow that inspired me to review the situation more closely. I believe that there is abundant evidence of psychopathology in the household. Take, for instance, the need to watch the same video every day for weeks on end. The longest running matinées are Home Alone and the Ninja Turtle movie, the title of which eludes me. My sister-in-law, in particular, watches these videos with novel curiosity each time. My nephew could care less about what is playing. Mind you, there is a Blockbuster Video store in Koko Marina. Why not rent some new videos? Most tube addicts don't watch the same thing every single day. Something is really strange about this behavior. There is much more strange stuff. Why are empty and half-empty plastic bottles of drinking water being horded in the refrigerator?

It's days like these that I can really appreciate my existence prior to wage slavery. Moms wanted me to cook the turkey that she bought in the kamado because she would be gone most of the afternoon. Since I would have to check on the turkey periodically, I could not really leave the house for very long. Baby and I decided to go to Kahala Mall anyway. We figured that we could be home in a couple of hours. Our bus either did not show up or it came by way ahead of schedule. We ended up arriving at home about half-an-hour late. The turkey was seemingly doing fine. However, at 4:30, I noticed that the coals weren't very hot. I added more coals and let the turkey cook for another hour. Well, the turkey was still not done when I checked it at 5:30. So, I had to cut the turkey into several smaller pieces and microwave them in order to have everything ready for dinner.

After dinner, baby and I went for a short walk. When we returned, I realized that I had not filled out some essential paperwork for my outstanding loans. I am trying to get another six-month reprieve from my creditors because I am due to be unemployed very shortly. My payments are slated to begin in exactly one month. I filled out the paperwork haphazardly and made several errors. Naturally, I did not have any correction fluid. I was ready to rip everything up and throw all of it into the recycler. That is exactly what the loan people want me to do. That's why those forms are designed as poorly as they are. The print is small and the space provided to fill in the information is barely enough to fit two words. Sheesh!

Wage slavery has turned me into an imbecile. What more can I say? Look at my life ... it's not even worth the virtual paper it is written upon. Sheesh! Fortunately, Big John wrote to me recently from Convalescent City. Big John had a conversation with his neighbor, Brian, about another neighbor that went like this:

"Is Anthony still planning to move to Santa Cruz?"

"Yes, Brian ... as soon as he can get up there and find himself a place to live."

"Does he have a job?"

"No, he doesn't have a job, Brian."

"Well, he can't move up there since he isn't working and everything costs so much up there! You do know that everything is expensive up there, don't you?"

"Brian, it's no more expensive than here!"

"Oh yes, it is! When an American moves to a foreign country, they're charged a lot more than normal people who live there!"

"Foreign country? Are you telling me that Santa Cruz is a foreign country? If you are, is it close to California?"

"Yes, it is a foreign country and is fairly close to California! And besides, they don't want anyone to move there who doesn't have a job!"
 

Well, I guess I won't be moving there, eh? Many thanks to Big John for that bit of levity. By the way, my old carpool buddy, Clare, is from Santa Cruz. I spent most of my evening responding to backlogged e-mail. I also did a few minor modifications to the LoserNet site. I have a lot more work to do. Ah, but that's the beauty of the Web ... the work is never done!

A major storm brought a lot of rain today. It's hard to believe that it was sunny and hot yesterday. After spending another day in the real Dilbert Zone (work), I came home exhausted. The rain was a good enough excuse for me to take a day off from the gym. I began the huge task of proofing the entire contents of LoserNet. I cannot believe the amount of material that has accumulated in the almost three years of its existence. Reading some of that old material was beyond mere nostalgia for me. I was reading about my so-called life as I lived it about three years ago. What a putz I was! I have to admit that there some humorous anecdotes. Sheesh! And, how about those rap days, huh? I managed to make it through only two chapters. Do I miss those days? I'd be joshing if I said no. Life goes on, however.

I continued with the arduous task of proofing the LoserNet site. I am still amazed at the amount of babbling that I did over these past few years. It takes me about an hour to go through each segment. I am also amazed at the number of typos and grammatical errors that I have encountered. I surmise that I haphazardly went through these before. I have collected more images to insert here and there. I doubt that they do much to break up the monotony of plain text. Aside from wage slavery and proofing the LoserNet content, there is nothing going on. I have reached the pinnacle of boredom.

I will refrain from detailing the stupidity of wage slavery today. After work, I took the bus to the Ward Center because I wanted to stop in at Border's. Paul had told me that there was a software clearance sale, and there were several copies of Linux available. Although the copies of Linux were still there, I decided not to purchase the software. I have given in to Bill Gates. Not only am I a wage slave, but I have become a slave to Microsoft. Just kidding! I don't even have a computer with a CD-ROM drive to install Linux. I also walked over to Computer City. I have been thinking about buying a new computer. How, pray tell? With plastic money, of course! If I purchase a new computer, it will have to be another notebook. I have no room to set up a desktop computer. I will have to pay a premium for the luxury of portability.

I met baby at Ala Mo's after she got off of work. We had our usual iced coffee drinks at Gloria Jean's. We looked around at the usual places. We always stop in at Shirokiya to look around. Shirokiya is an entertaining place. I spent the rest of the evening ... all two hours ... working on the LoserNet project. I snaked a few more images for inclusion in the earlier chapters. Anyway, it's a good excuse for me to read about my life as a putz.

The wage slavedom has gone beyond the Dilbert Zone. Paul has been trying to install PowerBuilder on a few of the NT workstations. He discovered that he could only install the program on one computer. He was supposed to be training two individuals in our department. This dilemma also presented another problem ... his application may not install on NT workstations. Why did it install properly on only one NT worstation? After spending several hours in communicating with the PowerBuilder people and in his own analysis, Paul discovered that the problem was dual-fold. The PowerBuilder installation program is a 16-bit application and the NT workstations that failed upon installation did not have the recommended DOS micro-partition. Paul was a bit frazzled. He received very little suport from anyone in the department including the boss, who was on the phone all day and talking to his buddies. Paul approached one of the system administrators with this problem. He was a little passionate in describing the urgency of the situation to her. She did not take too well to that. She apparently couldn't run to the boss and spill the beans quick enough. Funny, she is the same person who is always making snide remarks about the boss behind his back. I believe that everyone in this department is prone to running to the boss when things don't go as expected. That is why I am redesigning the intranet project.

I don't really trust anyone at work except Paul. This is typical of most office environments. Everyone is out for themselves. To cover their asses and their own ineptness, they must put up a smoke screen that usually involves pointing the finger at the designated scapegoats. No wonder that I have immersed myself in the proofing of the LoserNet site. I spent most of the evening doing just that. Actually, it has been both entertaining and enlightening experience. Finally, many thanks to all my virtual homeys far and wide including Fred (fred@interaccess.com), Starlayumyum (starla_14@hotmail.com), and everyone else for writing in.

I left early this morning for my appointment at the eye clinic. The good news ... my distance vision has changed very little. The bad news ... I need bifocals. However, I declined to get a prescription for bifocals. I guess I can seriously look at getting a pair of those old man reading glasses like Wally Mathau uses. I also was told that it is a good idea to get a pair of special computer nerd glasses. This is a special prescription that allows for a focal distance equivalent to the placement of one's computer monitor. What next? I may need a special prescription to tie my shoes! I walked to Ala Mo's after my appointment. Baby was supposed to meet me there. She called me on my beloved cell phone to tell me that she missed the bus because she was helping moms out. So, I returned home.

We did not do much for the rest of the day. We took the recycling in. Then, we did a little shopping for moms at Kuapa Kai and Koko Marina. My bro and family got all dressed up and went somewhere at 3pm. Moms said that they went to Sears at Ala Mo's to take a family portrait. No doubt, the finished project will end up haphazardly hung on the living room wall with all the rest of the pictures. Baby and I went to Kahala Mall after dinner. We ended up at Barnes & Noble for most of the evening. When we returned home, we found my bro passed out on the living room couch. He had a few brewskis as he does every evening nowadays. My bro has been coming home early from work for most of this week. There seems to be no explanation about this latest phenomenon.

Baby and I headed to Ala Mo's today. First, we got our usual iced coffee drinks at Gloria Jean's. Then, we walked to the Ward Center. I returned the CD-ROMs that I purchased last week at Computer City. Then, I went to Office Max and purchased CD-ROMs! I know that sounds nuts. I returned the CD-ROMs bcause it cost me $22 for ten after the rebate. I bought five CD-ROMs which will end up costing about $1 after the rebate. Baby did a little shopping at the Ward Center. We then walked back to Ala Mo's and caught a bus to Waikiki. Baby did a little more shopping there. Then, we came home. I spent the rest of the evening working on proofing the LoserNet files. This project has kept me very busy and I have had little to discuss in current entries. I am somewhat fascinated by the sheer volume of work that has been generated. It is taking me a long time to go through it all. And, I can sympathize with anyone who has sifted through all of this nonsense. Sheesh!

It has been windy since yesterday. There is a bit of a chill in the air. It was raining in town most of the day. On the way home, the rain got worse. The wind also increased in intensity. Within an hour, it was pouring down rain. Looks like we have another storm. Baby and I stayed in for the evening. I continued working on the LoserNet site.

Work continues to be trying for me. I am basically working alone on the intranet project. I have run into several major snags, but I have managed to figure out a solution for each. Paul has become increasingly frustrated over the situation with his project. The PowerBuilder people have identified the problem insofar as Windows NT is concerned. For some reason, the install program requires that Windows NT have a second partition resident on the hard drive. This partition is normally created when installing NT. However, for some arbitrary reason, the boss wanted only one partition. So, he mandated that the second partition be removed from all of the computers. The foolish part is that there is now a large, unused space on the hard drives because the existing partition cannot absorb it. Paul and I have just a little over a month left before our time is up. I have yet to construct a new résumé. Instead, I am proofing the content on LoserNet. Is something wrong with this picture?

Baby was in a bad way, mainly because of the trying conditions at work. The office she works in is another story straight out of the Dilbert Zone. Incompetence, Windows Solitaire, and stupidity contribute to the overall ambiance. However, today, it was worse. Apparently, the so-called corporate office people called and yelled at baby. This operation is far from being a conglomerate. It is a family operation headquartered in San Diego. They seem to be a bunch of losers. This is an everyday occurrence for the other members of the local staff. I guess these mainlanders just think we're a bunch of stupid lolos over here. It's too bad that I'm not Big Money Grip. Otherwise, I'd hire some huge Samoan guys and have them pay the San Diego office a visit. First, there would be a head-slappin' soirée. Then, I'd have them do some interior redecoration. I might even permit them to do some facials, if you know what I mean.

I happened to see a Computer City ad in the paper while I was at work. There were several coupons that offered discounts on varying levels of purchases. If I were to buy the Fujitsu Lifebook computer, for example, I would get an additional savings of $100. However, the coupons were only good for two days. After dinner, baby and I drove in my beloved six-four to Computer City. The computer I wanted was not in stock. Apparently, there were quite a few computer nerds who beat me to the punch. I checked out several other computers. I found another Fujitsu Lifebook model that was essentially the equivalent of the one I wanted. It was about $400 less since it was being discontinued. I decided to buy it.

The wind finally calmed down. It actually turned out to be a nice day. I spent most of the day in my deprivation chamber (read: cubicle) debugging one of my ASP scripts. I just could not get it to cooperate with me. Perhaps I was getting too cocky for my own good. Well, this has been a humbling experience. I stopped by baby's office after work. We took the bus to Kahala Mall and spent a relaxing evening at Barnes & Noble. It wasn't very crowded, most likely because tomorrow is a holiday. When we returned home, I broke out both of my computers. What a sight! I looked like a genuine computer nerd. I tried to reconstruct the events and thoughts of the last few days. I have been derelict in my duties lately insofar as this journal is concerned. It was difficult for me to write anything. I also discovered that some of the dates were off because I left out an entry one week ago. What a putz!

I am looking forward to a day off. The whole wage slave situation has made me very fatigued. I also have to cook the turkey in the kamado. And, I will spend a lot of time on my new computer. I have to prepare it for the transition to assume all the LoserNet functions. I also have to work on my résumé. Maybe not. I will also need to work on the continuous backlog of e-mail. So much to do, so little time.

I cooked another turkey in the kamado today. Fortunately, I added enough coals this time, so the turkey cooked perfectly. Baby and I went out for a couple of short walks around the neighborhood in the interim. There isn't really much else to do on a holiday. We all had a very nice turkey dinner. Later, I realized that this was the first time I have been home for the Thanksgiving holiday for over 25 years. I have much to be thankful for this year. Strange, isn't it? We have an acceptable custom to be thankful only once a year. Some people, who shall remain nameless, are not very thankful for much even then.

The concept of Thanksgiving, I realize, pertains only to this country. However, I am sure that we can all agree that there is much to be thankful for. This year, I have been fortunate to not have the sinister force or the sinister kahuna push me to the brink of insanity. That, in and of itself, is worthy of giving thanks. I hope that you have had a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving Day!

It was hard to go to work today. Fortunately, I did not stuff my face yesterday. The boss and Pontus took the day off. Paul has been tracking the performance of the Windows NT server. For some reason, it has been slowing down everyday. He said that he printed up his automated log and presented it to the boss. "It (the server) is within spec," the boss told Paul, as he wadded up the log and threw it in the trash. The other designee of the intranet joined Paul and I in an extended discussion that ranged from Apple's woes to Microsoft's world domination. Somehow, we got onto the topic of the Vietnam war. Paul had been there and served his time. Oddly, Paul and I are only a couple of years apart in age. I missed my chance at a tour of duty there, mainly because then-President Nixon wound things up in an attempt to divert attention from the Watergate scandal.

My nephew turned three years old today. In anticipation of all the hoopla, baby planned an evening away from the house for the both of us. We came home after work to get ready. We then walked down to Koko Marina. Baby took the ol' lavahead to dinner at Assaggio's, an Italian restaurant. She was dying to have some Clams Casino. I had the Sicilian Chicken. After dinner, we took the bus to the University of Hawai'i to see a play. The play was a parody of a Shakespearean classic. It was called Taming of Da Shrew. I surmise that you have guessed that part of the dialogue was in Pidgin English. Well, you are correct! It was an entertaining evening for the both of us.

How old am I anyway? You know, I didn't have the foggiest idea. So, I asked baby. Man, am I an old fossil, or what? Soon I'll need to use carbon dating to determine my age. Sheesh! B-day greetings to my virtual homey Duke (duke@dccullinan.com) and my homey Rod back in North Carolina! Say, you know what is strange here ... I did not receive anything from the Klingon Institute this year. Oh well. I don't really celebrate my birthday, so I did not do anything out of the ordinary. Baby and I went to Ala Mo's. We also stopped in at the Bose showroom. There was another promotion for the Bose Wave radio. We entered the contest to win another Bose Wave radio, and we got a pair of Bose coffee mugs as free gifts. The Bose showroom is a fun place to visit. We also went to Computer City. It was extremely crowded and people were stampeding madly about the whole joint. I could hardly wait to get out of there. I wanted to check on PC card modems and memory cards for my new computer since I will be using it as a development station. The real question is ... where am I going to get the dough for all of that? We returned home late and decided to stay in for the evening. Am I livin' large, or what? How many old guys live it up like this on their birthday? Before I forget, many thanks to Tracy (trellyn@concentric.net) for writing in!

It has been difficult to maintain multiple Web sites, especially since my Web access is time-limited. However, I find that it is necessary to maintain the sites in order to retain quality control. The reliability of the ISPs has not always been too good. Several of my virtual homeys have commented on this matter. I have been so wrapped up with the proofing of LoserNet that I forgot that the season finale is tomorrow. Sheesh! As you can tell, we are a little short-handed here at LoserNet.

This is the last day of the month and the season finale for The Keeper. I am way behind with e-mail replies as well as the proofing of the LoserNet content. I am also in the middle of configuring my new computer to take over all of the LoserNet functions. I should have spent all day with both of my beloved computers. Instead, baby and I ended up taking the bus to Kahala Mall and also to Kuapa Kai. We wanted to walk to Kuapa Kai but it has been raining frequently all day. I have exactly one month of work left. I think that my latest bout of fatigue and my tenseness can be attributed to that. I also have not been granted another six-month reprieve yet. I am beginning to worry because I have a $420 payment due within two weeks. Do I have the dough? Technically, I don't because I just bought a new computer. Thanks to the magic of plastic money, I still have virtual dough. Sheesh!

Well, let's recap the season now, shall we? I am a wage slave and will be one for one more month. Say, I already mentioned that. Am I going senile? My sister-in-law's sister is flying to Hawai'i next week. Baby answered the phone when she called. Apparently, the sister is staying at a hotel in Waikiki. She will only be there for part of the week that she reserved the room for. If the Ninja Turds "want a vacation," they can use the room for the remaining time. Vacation from what? Both baby and I surmised that the sister was making an obvious snide remark about our presence. As long as she doesn't get her tired, fat ass in my way, I won't be tempted to kick it. And so, the games continue.

Can you believe that this much time has passed us by again? Seems just like yesterday when we first made the Web scene. Times have changed. Lives have changed. Is The Keeper losing his will to continue on with the Web life and give in to total wage slavery? Hold on ... can he even find another job? What about the Ninja Turds? Will moms ever find peace and quiet? Join the whole cast for yet another laborious season of nonsense that is real life at its best (or worst) in Return of the Stoneface Mack.

The Keeper of Lost Lives: Stop This Island ... I Wanna Get Off!

Starring:
The Keeper of Lost Lives ... Tralfaz
Moms ... Herself
Baby ... Herself

© Copyright 1997 by The Keeper of Lost Lives
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