Just a Post

With all the web and regular work we have been doing, it's hard to sit down at the computer and do more. Working at home has been both a blessing and a curse. My time is very flexible and I can pretty much work as I choose. What really happens is you wind up working many more hours than you thought and at odd times. Many's the night when I wake up at 2am with an idea and have to go to my office and work on it. Then I look up and it's 5am and I have an hour or two of sleep before all the web meetings and conference calls start.

Mom spends her time on the computer too. At work, that's all she does. Staring over her glasses at a computer screen. She then comes home and stares at it again, either researching genealogy or playing Freecell. She likes it though and we are making excellent progress on the Maughan family with several people added in the last 30 days. If you are interested, try www.parkerfamilyhistory.org and click on What's New.

That is one thing that is annoying me, the lack of participation on the Parker web site. We have 18 users on the Hull side and 4 on the Parkers counting Debi and me. Outside of our immediate family (just Catherine, actually) there is only one user. I hope to get the sites out on to Google where we should get more traffic. Security is pretty good, so I feel confident.

A final note, stability is peaceful but somewhat boring. We need something else for spice. Maybe an art class or a trip.....oh yes, we are going to DC for Thanksgiving, a welcome respite from the daily drudge. Catherine and Jeff are salt and pepper, Vanessa is a little jalapeno!

Web Site Mania

While there are many things on my mind at the moment, (not the least of which is a burning desire to go on vacation again) I wanted to focus on the Hull Family History website. I won't even talk about the Parker site, it's not up yet.

Building a web site the way I am doing it is like learning how to make bread except you have to learn to prepare the field, plant the seed, learn how to tend it, harvest it and grind it into flour all while you are learning to raise the chickens for the eggs and raising and milking the cows for the rest of the ingredients. I didn't forget the yeast, but I figure my poor brain is a substitute for the yeast. Iknow, it would be easier to just have someone host it for me and pay monthly for the privilige, but where's the fun in that? Besides, I would never have gotten a Mac out of that deal.

So, I have the site up, which means that the flour is ground and I have the milk and eggs. PHP is working (it's a scripting language) and the TNG software is up which manages the front end to the database. It's the dang database that is giving me fits. MySQL is required by The Next Generation of Genealogy Software or TNG. Now I work for a database company and have been in the database business for maybe 10-12 years and MySQL is easy, but add Linux, even in the exceptional form of Mac OSX it becomes hard.

However, I am almost there. I figure tonight I will create the database, add the users and attempt to put data in the tables (database tables). Maybe I can then put the bread in the oven and then sit for a while, smelling that wonderful smell and anticipating a warm slice with butter and honey later.

Grandparenthood!!

Well, we are now officially grandparents. As of 5/10/05 (very symmetrical) Vanessa Jill Watson has made us Nana and Grandpa Parker. Our metamorphosis will be more complete when we make it to Gaithersburg and get to hold her in our arms.

I will not put any of the details of the birth on here as Catherine will probably do that in her blog. We don't want to steal her thunder, after all. We are just happy that all is normal and everyone is healthy. That's all that matters.

We will be putting more information on our new websites, www.parkerfamilyhistory.org and www.hullfamilyhistory.org. They should be online in June.

The next new arrival is Andrew and Angela's puppy around mid-July. Look for pictures and other information on Andrew's blog (assuming he ever updates it again).

Ever the environmentalist, Bruce wanted to get his eyes checked in a natural setting. 

Linux, Mac OSX and the vagaries of Technology

Well, yesterday we made progress on the great Linux saga. Dad finally got the network up and updated the OS to Debian 3.0 (I think). Linux is pretty cool and I like hacking around in it, but it is taking a lot of time to figure out. Plus, I feel that I spend entirely too much time with technology and not enough time with something else more.....creative. Like the song in Napoleon Dynamite, I do love technology, but I am tired of figuring it out. It always feels like working, not play or relaxing anymore.

We went over to Nana Simister's last night to install her wireless. I did not bring my laptop to configure the repeaters and so we have to go back Thursday. **sigh** Frankly, I wish they would just spring for their own DSL and not share Lisa's. It would make my life a whole lot simpler! Less time configuring yet another computer system. I even spent an evening last week fixing my ex-boss, Jeff Unruh's computer.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love these people and would do anything for them. It is a service that I can perform. Some of us work in food kitchens or mow widow's lawns. I service computers for free for non-geeks. Really though, playing with the technology is fun most of the time. I just need a break from it. It has become a 24x7 job both at home and work. I was reading a bulletin board the other day and one guy who was a Linux SysAdmin (administers computers all day) said that he didn't want to come home and administer computers all night. Hence he had Macs at home. Mac and Linux are cousins (Mac uses the Darwin kernel for you geeks out there) so he was comfortable with the system. The tools and GUI (graphical user interface) really make the management simple. So now I am on the lookout for tools to help finish the setup and then administer the new Linux server. Then I have to start designing the web site. See what I mean about never-ending? If the Linux system does not work out, Mac Mini, here I come!

However, I feel the pressure from the spirit to get this website up for the family history. Mom has made some real jumps with Nana Simister's family, going back at least two more generations (maybe 3) and the Hull family (my grandmother's) wants to compile a new book on the family to supplement Robert Rigby Hull's book (aka, the Blue Book) using the web site. This will make it a living document online that anyone can download. I just have to figure out how to do it. Maybe set it up as a blog, I don't know. The spirit of Elijah grabs us all according to our talents, so I am stuck behind a keyboard and screen for the forseable future. I will be golfing or some other less technical pusuit soon. Ya gotta catch a break sometime!!

Short One for Zuke

This is gonna be short, because I am not feeling particularly loquacious today. Zuke was berating me for not writing here, so.......this is for you Zuke!

Linux and Apple are the new computer passions in my life. I am learning Linux, finally and like it alot. It's hard, but it takes me back to the days when I was learing DOS and computers in general. Confused, reading tons of books. Surfing the net (not billboards as in olden days) and just trying to get educated. I do have a system up, just not connected to the network yet. I am trying to sort that out. Between wireless complexities and routing tables, I am up to my ears. I did get XWindows figured out and am running Gnome as my interface, but want to try others. KDE looks like it will be the eventual winner, but who knows? I do have another system running Red Hat, but I may blow that away and run Debian on it as well. Use it as a test machine.

What I really want is an Apple Mini. I figure that with the new Apple Xgrid I can create a parallel supercomputer using $500 minis. Start small and add as you need. Could be cool. Front end would be a 20" iMac. Ah, well, more computer dreams.

More importantly, I want my theater and a remake of the house. Been waiting a long time for that and it's close. Just gotta save a bit more money.

Deb and I are working on the genealogy, Deb doing research and me finally getting to the DVD backlog that I have. All this time in front of the computer makes me want to run screaming out to run in the hills, but I have to wait for the snow to melt a bit more. Hopefully it will warm up and I can get out to play some golf with Andrew.

I guess I am loquacious today. Gotta get to work.

Prayer is a Funny Thing

For the past several months I have been praying assiduously over my job. I had to have some success to give me relief from the stress I was feeling. Well, my prayers were answered, but not in the way I thought. I was "riffed" on January 14, 2005. RIF is shorthand for Reduction In Force, a modern day euphamism for layoff or firings. As soon as I got off the phone with my manager, I called another person at Oracle and in 2 hours I had a job in a group that needs someone like me. So now, while I don't get commission checks, I will get a better salary and control of my own destiny. No more sales for this boy, it's not my cup of tea. My new job is in customer service, I am a project manager for large customers who purchase Oracle's OnDemand services. It's a perfect job for me, manage a virtual team, get the customer happy and move on to the next assignment. I am so happy about this. It is truly an answer to my prayers, though not in the way I envisioned. It's so much better.

God knows our needs better that we do. I am grateful.