525,600 Minutes

Posted on April 18, 2009 by kellyzdude

Turns out Rent was right. There are 525,600 minutes in a year. I always thought it was too small a number, but I just did the calculation (I was going to use the right one) but 60 x 24 x 365 = 525,600.

Anyway, I’m going off topic before I’ve even started. Today is April 18th 2009. Today marks an important day in history, for me, for my family, for Kelly and her family, and a handful of others. On this day one year ago I stepped onto Qantas flight QF2714 and flew from Wellington to Auckland, waving goodbye to my family and friends at Wellington Airport. In Auckland I walked from the domestic to the international terminal, and boarded flight QF25 bound for LAX. I haven’t seen New Zealand with my own eyes since.

I remember that all three flights that day were late. The first one was late because of mechanical problems earlier in the day that had caused delays and they were trying to get back on schedule. The second was a fault that had apparently been fixed but they were still waiting on a problem with paperwork for it. The third we had to wait at the gate at LAX for mechanics to get to us after their list of other faults to fix.

I remember walking through customs at LAX having filled out my little I-94 card, and being unsure what to write for “Country of Residence.” The customs lady walking the line checking things before we reached the officers processing us was angry at me that I didn’t know, but I truly didn’t. At that moment I didn’t live anywhere. On April 17th I resided in New Zealand. As of April 19th I would be residing in the United States. April 18th? I was homeless, as it were.

Despite all the mechanical problems and delays, I arrived in one piece at Dulles, although I was about 45 minutes late as I recall, landing at 12:30am on the 19th, walking into the arms of Kelly (followed by everyone else that was there).

People keep asking me if I miss home, and to a degree I do. It’s not so much home though, as aspects of home. I miss walking to the end of the street and getting Fish and Chips for a snack because I was bored and hungry. I miss driving to McDonalds and getting a large coke and a large chocolate thick shake for the same reason. I miss catching the bus and train to work and back every day. I miss Sunday night drives to the beach or around the bays, or somewhere else random that we wanted to go, with Sue and Amber. I miss having a cell phone, and understanding how the billing for cell and landline phones worked (I still think it’s really messed up that you have to pay to receive calls/messages etc..).

I miss driving to Paraparaumu via Paekakariki Hill one way and SH1/SH2 back for the fun of it. I miss knowing where everything in the supermarket is, and what most things are even if I haven’t had them before.

I miss the surprise of seeing Dad’s face in the window when my train pulls in to take me to work, I miss the sound of my brothers mock screams when I play a trick on him, and I miss the sound of my mother trying in vain to make me stop when she finds out what I did/was doing.

I miss having the opportunity to drive almost anywhere if I had time or money to pay for gas (and for whatever I wanted to do when I got there), ranging anywhere from watching a movie to eating dinner to going to Parachute. I miss having the contacts to do sound and lighting gigs with semi-professional companies and organizations when they needed the help.

Most of all I think I miss seeing people I know and love that I haven’t seen for a year or more, it’s nice seeing the young kids grow up through photos on Facebook etc, but it really isn’t the same.

So, what have I accomplished in my year of USA-ness? Not a lot, I fear to say. Having arrived in April 08, I was married in May 08, and filed immigration paperwork before the cut off date in July 08. In February 09 I received my Employment Authorization Card, and started applying for jobs. Of all my applications (around 30-50) I’ve had one solid lead (Summer Camp Counselor), and one official rejection (“Position has been filled”). The biggest problems I run into are experience (or lack thereof), lack of College education, and lack of US Citizenship or security clearances. I have no problem relocating 2 hours away (or commuting that far until relocation can occur), since there are practically no IT jobs in this area at the moment.

I have a drivers license (Learners permit, will sit the full test some time soon). I have fixed several computers, some for money. I helped with the church’s VBS program last year, and probably will again if I don’t get the camp job. I traveled to North Carolina for gas money to visit a long time friend and work on his church’s network. I created several new websites, including DailySerene.com, and several personal sites. I also rebuilt the websites for UCCN and C-IRC (C-IRC with the help of Ed), and developed an IRC-based trouble management system in PHP.

We bought a puppy, rented an apartment, gave up an apartment, took out a $2000 loan, moved twice, started a modern worship music section in a traditional church service, bought a guitar, taught Sunday School to High Schoolers, took several thousand photos, and had a few bad times, with lot of good times.

All in all I’m having a great time. I’m glad I moved, and while if I had to live my life again I’d probably do that part differently, I’m not at all unhappy with the way things worked out. In fact, I look forward to what the next 525 thousand-odd minutes have in store.

Day 4

Posted on April 13, 2009 by kellyzdude

We got him Friday, today is Monday, and what a weekend we have had! The first night he didn’t have a crate so was wandering free in our room, and we were awake every two hours whenever he whined or made noise. He also peed on newspaper, which was OK.

Saturday we got a crate, (thanks Dawndrea!) and he was in and out of it most of the day being locked in and such. He still whined all night and we got little sleep again.

Sunday went well, we got up early anyway as there was a sunrise service at church followed by breakfast (thanks Debi and John!), and so we fed him before church, and then came back and pooped him after feeding Azule and checking on Peanut Butter (a dog and a sheep we have been petsitting for this weekend, along with a cat whose name I do not know).

He got to run around with his cousin Bella, as well as eating a big bowl of sloppy joe that we hadn’t finished at lunch. Dawndrea also called to tell us that she’d looked at Crash’s paperwork and thinks he’s more than likely purebred retriever, as his mother is a retriever and she and her three puppies that went to the SPCA were all from a breeder.

Today he’s been out and about a bit more, I let him loose in the back yard for a bit and had him chasing a tennis ball around, and we also let him off leash while we did dishes in the kitchen (after closing doors and blocking the door-less doorway to the living room). Now he’s asleep in his crate again, and we’re planning to give him dinner and then put him in the car and drive to the park (he’d never walk that far, aside from getting tired we have to pick him up by the harness and ‘make him’ walk because he just flops down and won’t move inside or outside or anywhere he needs to be.

We did have a call from the SPCA today warning us about a potential illness he could have, called entropion. Quoting Wikipedia, “Entropion is a medical condition in which the eyelids fold inward. It is very uncomfortable, as the eyelashes rub against the cornea constantly.”

Basically it will be confirmed at his checkup (which will be free aside from shots) this week, and if he does have it it can be fixed when he’s neutered in June. Kelly suspects he may be OK, as she noticed the eyes of Crash’s brothers were watering and not as healthy looking as his were, I suppose we’ll find out for sure in a few days.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Posted on April 4, 2009 by kellyzdude

Dear WordPress,

There were another 7 or 8 paragraphs to this post which disappeared. I’ll fix it later. I’m not happy.

Zeke.

———–

Dear Diary,

I didn’t really do a whole lot today, but this has become the norm over the last few months. Last night I set my alarm for 9:30am, and snoozed it twice, awakening at around 9:45ish to turn it off through it’s second 9-minute round.

———–

Let’s try this again..

———–

Dear Diary,

I didn’t really do a whole lot today, but this has become the norm over recent months. Last night I set my alarm for 9:30am and snoozed it twice, waking at around 9:45am to turn if off half way through its 9-minute round.

Upon awakening, I was able to log in and check my emails, and began the conversion from DV tape to PC the footage from last nights Battle of the Bands concert, where my brother-in-law did play.

I apologize, dear Diary, as the internet connection is particularly slow, owing to the upload of aforementioned video footage to YouTube. I’m sure it will be available for viewing shortly. I must say, my dearest Diary, that I was not pleased when two of the band members berated me at midnight (with a headache, no less!) with regards to my recording of their performance and its availability for their viewing! I was very pleased when my brother-in-law ushered them out of my room and out of the house shortly afterward!

I was also able to accomplish some small programming work today, and Diary, you’ll be glad to know, it was entirely successful. Primarily bug fixes on my Support Ticket system, I also fixed the remote panel for UCCN’s dynamic remote include (which wasn’t giving link blocks to the client servers!).

I found great amusement, my dear Diary, from sitting in the IRC channel for Data center and server-host Sharktech. It seems they failed to adequately configure or test their new routing equipment before placing it in a live environment, much to the dismay of their clients and customers! Many a complaint has been laid as their customers servers have consistently dropped over the last 18 hours (and counting).

I am certain that you, dearest Diary, will also be as disgusted as I when you learn that at least two data centers were raided by the FBI with no warning, little evidence and less investigation. The tale of those are here and here. While I agree that raids should be conducted in conjunction with an investigation, my dear Diary, I must believe that investigations should have valid and usable evidence and be run by people with knowledge and qualification with regard to what they are investigating!

After lunch (a Strawberry and Banana flavored Low-fat yoghurt), I went with my wife and her brother and mother to the Salvation Army store, where we looked at clothes and such, as well as to a local hardware store to collect an additional two strawberry plants for their garden. I also learned that my sister-in-law is likely getting a beagle to live with them also, and it shall certainly be an interesting time at their house. I understand I shall be able to meet the puppy tomorrow when the family gathers for a cookout. I’m uncertain of the cause or occasion, although I will also be losing the majority of my hair also. I hear my wife has several ideas for photographs to be taken of my hair as it is removed, and I shall ensure they are available for you to view at a later date, my dear Diary.

I just remembered, I applied for another Information Technology job today, a local university is looking for a User Support Specialist, for which I placed a formal application upon returning from the stores. My father-in-law found it in the newspaper while we were venturing, and presented it upon our arrival home. I also await a return phone contact from the camp to which I applied to be a counselor during the summer. Another possibility to consider later in the year, is one Ethan suggested on Thursday evening, whereby he helps another camp by providing high-ropes assistance, and asked if I would be interested in joining him in the Fall. It is certainly an adventure I would enjoy, I shall have to reconsider it closer to the time with regards to my schedule.

I believe that is all, dearest Diary, although I have probably forgotten something during the second-round posting of this entry, the first forever lost in the emptiness that is the Internet. So my dear Diary, I shall close a second time today, and leave you to your quiet mulling of my pointless words. Until I write again, be safe, my dear Diary, and await my return with further uselessness.

Yours,

Zekey.

Maintenance

Posted on March 30, 2009 by kellyzdude

Today was the go-live for the new Christian-IRC.com and UnitedChristianChat.net sites. Everything seemed to go fine, and the old UCCN site was re-themed as a support site. In the next few weeks I’ll be writing a bunch of new stuff in PHP/JavaScript to help out with webmasters and such.

I also did a bunch of .htaccess redirect rules, and I was able to delete a bunch of direcories and clean up the public_html folders too!

So, check out the new sites:

And now ends my shameless plugging 😉

Web Design

Posted on March 29, 2009 by kellyzdude

I reminded myself yesterday and today how much I enjoy, and how much I hate webdesign.

I guess thats why all my site designs are simple as poop, make it work and then plug it with PHP, and then make it work with the PHP.

This weekend saw two new sites for the United Christian Chat network – one for unitedchristianchat.net, and one for christian-irc.com (a subsidiary).

I did one entirely on my own, and Ed helped us out by doing the C-IRC one, though it was graphiced for UCCN and I’ve updated/changed the wording on the images.

I played around with Gimp doing them, and was pleasantly surprised compared with my previous experiences with anything photoshop-like. In fact, most of my problems were CSS side rather than graphic design.

They aren’t live as yet, we still have a few minor changes to make, but here are some screenshots to wet your appetites:

UCCN on the top, obviously, and C-IRC on the bottom

Amusing Sermon Notes

Posted on March 23, 2009 by kellyzdude

I’m listening to sermons from my old church, I helped Dad put up a podcast for them and was testing it out.

Anyway, we had a guest speaker, Pastor Tuks, who I haven’t heard of for a long time! Anyway, he had an awesome quote in the first 10 minutes:

I’m a school teacher, I’ve dealt a lot with teenagers. I wanna tell teenagers this morning, you know some teenagers think that without a girlfriend they’ll perish. Get real guys, girlfriends will come and go. You won’t perish without one. I’ve known guys who lived their whole teenage life without one. They’re fine! They never died! They’re still alive today! You know we have girls walking around thinking “If I don’t get a boyfriend I’m gonna perish.” Absolute rubbish! I was standing in a schoolyard one day, these two girls came up to me, one was crying and the other was all sympathetic and stuff, and came up to me and said “Mister, my boyfriend is being mean to me.” So I said “Well, what did he do?” and she said “He ignored me when I wanted to talk with him, he was playing table tennis. Can you go and talk to him?” and I said “I’ve got better news for you. Drop him. If he thinks a game of table tennis is more important than you, kick him into touch, girl!” And she started crying even more! I thought that was wise counsel. And she sad “Mister, you’re mean!” and I said “No, I’m not mean girl, drop him!” and she says “No I can’t!” I said “Why?” she said “Because I love him!” I said “Bollocks, girl! You don’t know what love is!” That was the end of the counseling session..

Productive

Posted on January 12, 2009 by kellyzdude

Today was fairly productive. Kelly, for the last 3 nights, hasn’t slept much at all. Thursday night she had Nyquil, and Friday night was Tylenol PM, partly for her sick, partly to help her sleep. These were an epic fail, resulting in not sleeping longer than 10 minutes at a time, and being paranoid about all kinds of things (mostly my alive-ness). Wednesday night she had Nyquil and was fine, except for a short patch where she rolled onto me, looked up towards me and said “WHAT?” before rolling back over and being quiet again. I prefer this to being constantly asked “Are you OK?” and giving the same answer “YES” — in her defence she thought I was dying.

Anyway, last night she didn’t sleep either, though this time she didn’t have the paranoia either. She instead slept all day, and it worked out as I had planned for Sunday School too. We’re working our way through Romans, last week reading chapter 1, today looking at it a little closer and reviewing the importance of Romans to the bible and to Christianity as a whole.

This afternoon Matt and I went and picked up about 15 boards of cherry wood that a family friend is giving away to anyone with a good use for it, I’m planning on building a special coffee table – more on that later. I also played Command and Conquer (Yuri’s revenge), and beat 3 brutal enemies having lost my construction yard (the first one was eliminated by the other two computers, and I was able to commandeer an MCV from one of the two remaining – my good income had allowed me to create enough troops to overpower the enemy base.)

I also did some more rough plans in church regarding how I want to set up I-aL/Infinitech, particularly server utilisation and what-goes-where type stuff. Small web stuff will go on Rizzo, the VPS. Also probably 10 paid eggdrop accounts, and the administration server for the entire thing. Rizzo will also likely be the master DNS server, and secondary MX. Rhapsody, Mack’s server, I’ll be able to utilise for web, secondary DNS (he’ll be using it as primary), and secondary MX. Telly will be secondary DNS, master MX, and also house backups. I plan to write a basic secured administration site to run from Rizzo providing dynamically updated DNS zone files, Apache Virtual-hosts files etc, and potentially controlling who can and can’t log in and how.

Also, I’m trying to decide between postfix, exim4 and qmail for each server – I’m guessing that the secondary MX’s should be configured the same as the primary rather than mixing MTA’s, the question is which.. All 3 servers are running debian, and all three have a different MTA. Fortunately Rhapsody is likely to be reinstalled this week, and Telly may be going the same way soon too, that just leaves Rizzo with a reimage if required..

Finally, today also marked the completion of the immigration package. We put together all the paperwork that has been requested to date and a folder will be purchased tomorrow to permit the sending of the paperwork to USCIS on Tuesday. We continue to hope and pray that this time we have everything together, and that everything will be approved quickly (or we’ll be told what we need to do and we can do it quickly).

Selling the Jawbone

Posted on August 30, 2008 by kellyzdude

Two weeks ago the Sunday School class looked at the story in Judges 15 I believe, where Samson kills a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. Last week we put together an infomercial to sell or market the jawbone. Using the jawbone of a deer, belonging to my father-in-law, we unscriptedly performed in order to create what we disrespectfully call, Ass Bone.

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