Found on a cut scene in a video game:
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.”
-Abraham Lincoln
Fits and starts
So, you will have noticed the theme has changed. The old one had several issues and I just don't have time to fuss and tweak a theme right now. Not really in love with this one, so expect some variation over the next few weeks while I find a theme I like.
Long absence over?
So it's been ages since I posted. Some of it has been time constraints. A couple of years ago when I was more prolific, I was also working a job that taxed about 25% of my ability so I had lots of time on my hands. Sounds good to some, I suppose, but it was spiritually debilitating. So I quit said job and went back to school and got a Masters of Social Work, graduated during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, freelancing I was surviving on evaporated and I was rapidly burning through what savings I had. That much my six followers already know.
Back in April I got a job working as a therapist at an adolescent substance abuse center. It was an exhausting and often frustrating job. Working with adolescents is hard. It's the age of infinite wisdom and few are really open to hearing that they don't have all the answers at the ripe old age of 16. Still, it was rewarding in its own way. You learn to appreciate the effort it takes to make baby steps. Not to mention the people I worked with were great. When I came out of a session wanting to bang my head on a wall, they were there to listen and to share how they struggle with their case load as well. When I came out of session feeling like something was actually accomplished, they were there to congratulate me.
I would still be doing that except the pay was crap. I knew it would be and I was counting on continuing to moonlight as a freelance web developer would make up the $1500/mo. counseling was leaving me short. That wasn't working out so well. Most months I was still coming up short, leaving D to pick up the slack. Not to mention it's extremely difficult to come home drained and then try and sit down and go back to work. So when a friend called and offered me a job that paid somewhat better, I took it. Still need to moonlight, but the gap isn't nearly as wide.
I've been working since I was about 10. I think that's about the time I got my first paper route. Thirty years of working and moving from one job to another and leaving my counseling job was the first time I was sad to leave a job. I'm enjoying the new job, but most days I still have mixed feelings about the switch.
That was a really long way of saying working two jobs didn't leave me with a whole lot of time or energy for blogging. Has that changed? I don't know yet. I hope so, but I guess time will tell.
Molly Comes Through
To say that life has been stressful the last couple of months would be an absurd understatement. My primary client unexpectedly lost his funding, leaving me several thousand in the lurch. New work has been slow in coming and my savings is evaporating at an alarming rate. Not to mention I just spent several thousand on a shiny new degree only to graduate in the worst economic conditions of my life. In other words: no. one. is. hiring. I've started applying for employment as a web developer, even though the thought makes me want to cry. Not exactly the best frame of mind for a job interview.
So when I found Molly Muses this morning and this little gem, a good laugh felt very nice.
If masturbation, alcohol, caffeine, premarital sex, smoking, sexy underwear and rated R movies are all verboten (and let’s add married sex in anything but missionary position to that list for many folks), sugar and fat are the last vices left to you. Part of the reason Mormons tend to get so tubby is that you need a lot of rice krispy treats to compensate for all that purity. But it does mean that if you ever get dragged to a Mormon gathering, head straight for the dessert table because wow.
The only good news I’ve had all month
Stopped into the gym today. It's been a while, so I wanted to make sure my membership was still active before I walked in there thinking I was going to work out. I thought I had only signed up for two years and figured it was getting pretty close to being up, if not already passed. Turns out I'm good until 1/2012. And it's paid for, so that's one thing at least that won't vanish with my income.
The Doom of History
The opposition in this year has already imported into this campaign a very interesting thing because it's foreign. They have imported the propaganda technique invented by the dictators abroad. Remember, a number of years ago, there was a book, Mein Kampf, written by Hitler himself. The technique was all set out in Hitler's book, and it is copied by the aggressors of Italy and Japan. According to that technique you should never use a small falsehood. Always a big one. For it's very fantastic nature would make it more credible if only you keep repeating it over and over and over again.
Well, let's take some simple illustrations that come to mind. For example—although I rubbed my eyes when I read it—we have been told that it was not a Republican depression, but a Democratic depression from which this nation was saved in 1933; that this administration—this one, today's—is responsible for all the suffering and misery that the history books and the American people always thought had been brought about by the twelve ill-fated years when the Republican party was in power.
In the same video he also says, "The people of this country know the past too well to be deceived into forgetting...." Apparently not.
Forgive me, Father…
...for I have sinned. It has been three weeks since my last cup of coffee.
So the doctors tell me that caffeine aggravates a condition that I have. I'm a bit skeptical. They claim to know very little about how to control said condition, but are nevertheless certain that caffeine makes it worse. Add to that that different doctors say different things. Some say I should abstain completely. Others use the words "to excess," implying that some consumption is OK. Not to mention I don't feel a whole lot different when I avoid caffeine.
At any rate, I've decided I'd stay away from caffeine for a while and see what happens. I used to stop at 7-eleven and get coffee a lot. So today when I stopped at 7-eleven to get gas, my brain said, "Ooo! Coffee!"
Little backstabber.
One can hope.
IE6 is the bane of the web developer's existence. I know. I am one. I hate IE6. Not a big fan of IE in general. Sorta goes along with the whole Microsoft trying to be the bully in the playground and control which marbles we're allowed to play with. IE6, though is an unqualified piece of junk and a huge failure. And yet, current guestimates suggest up to 25% of traffic is still coming from someone using IE6.
An new initiative is out there to put an end to IE6: IE6 No More. As much as I'd like to hope it will make a difference, I'm skeptical. For starters, as Mashable points out, many folk still using IE6 are stuck because of IT restrictions. I occasionally do work for one such company. Have you ever worked for a major corporation with a firmly entrenched IT bureaucracy? I have. It takes an act of God to change anything. Wouldn't surprise me if the aforementioned company has just gotten around to deploying XP SP3.
Then there was Save The Developers initiative that was started late '07 or early '08. Check out the web site and see how far that went.
It's too bad. If it were up to developers, we'd have quit supporting IE6 the minute IE7 came out. It's not though. It's up the the client. Can you think of a single company willing to risk alienating up to 25% of it's audience? I thought not.
Personally, I do my best to ignore IE6 unless a client has a specific need. None of my clients are trying to reach anyone in a developing nation, and basically—based on the types of sites I generally work on—if you're working for a company with a draconian IT department, you probably shouldn't be on my site while you're at work anyway.
Michael Jackson dies at 50
Whatever else he was, Michael Jackson will always be a tragic figure to me. Phenomenally talented and by all counts a sensitive soul, let us hope that whatever demons he wrestled have died with him.
Rest in peace, Michael.
