Posts from 2001

Jeez, have I ever fallen behind.  Things are flying every which way, metaphorically speaking, and trying to duck the swooping events while also being productive has consumed a lot of time and energy.  All of which is my lame way of saying, “Sorry I’ve been so silent.”  I’m not going to really do penance right now, either, because I don’t have time to make up for it.  Maybe tomorrow, we’ll see.  So why am I writing?  I have two recommendations to make.  The first one is for Clevelanders who want some great Japanese food: go straight to Matsu and don’t come back until you have.  If you’d like to meet Kat and I there, then let me know and we’ll schedule something.  Second is for anyone buying technical books: Bookpool.  They have great prices on stuff like O’Reilly books, so if you aren’t going to use a local merchant to get your tech references, go to Bookpool instead.  I get absolutely no money from them for saying this, nor have I ever ordered from them; I just noticed that their prices are outstandingly low, and wanted to give everyone else a heads-up.

• Tuesday, 13 February 2001 was published on Tuesday, February 13th, 2001.
• It was assigned to the General category.
• There have been no replies.

…aaaand we’re back.  So Kat and I made a snap decision to go to Disney World.  Okay, Kat made a snap decision, did a whole ton of research on prices and availability, laid all the groundwork, and then convinced Eric that a vacation was needed.  As usual, she was right.  Florida was sunny but cold, although since their low temperature was higher than Cleveland’s high temperatures, I wasn’t complaining too much.  The only real drawback was the difficulty in swimming in the pool.  The water was warm enough, but since it was off-season the pool had limited hours and we were always off doing stuff.  Lord knows, there’s more than enough stuff to do at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and so forth.  Being there in the off-season meant basically no lines at all, which was wonderful.  So was the food.  What is it about our vacations and food?  Maybe I should become a culinary critic, which would be some sort of über-dream job for me, now that I think about it:  eat great food, write about it, get paid.  Where do I sign up?

• Wednesday, 24 January 2001 was published on Wednesday, January 24th, 2001.
• It was assigned to the Travel category.
• There have been no replies.

Although things may seem quiet, life certainly hasn’t lacked for Stuff To Do.  The companion pocket reference to CSS:TDG is getting perilously close to a printer, which means it might be available for purchase sometime soon.  It already has an Amazon.com sales rank of 1,667,067 (although that number may have already changed), so obviously the New York Times bestseller list is just days away.  In other ink-on-dead-trees news, my next book is nearing the end of the writing cycle, with just a few more things to be done, and technical review to be undertaken.  As we get closer to having that book go to a printer, I’ll share more details.  Then there’s the dead-electrons-on-monitors news, which is that I should (he said hopefully) have an article published on the O’Reilly Network tomorrow.  Update: looks like it will be published this coming Friday, not tomorrow.  I’m anticipating a bit of controversy, frankly, but you can’t push at a way of thinking without honking off someone.

• Monday, 15 January 2001 was published on Monday, January 15th, 2001.
• It was assigned to the Books category.
• There have been no replies.

Wow.  We all made it.  Now where’s my Pam Am shuttle flight, two-week holiday at the HoJo’s in low Earth orbit, and neurotic AI?

I don’t really have that much to write about, but of course I had to make sure that I wrote an entry for today.  The date alone made it worth it for me.  Kat and I did have a really great time at last night’s party (at someone else’s place for once!) and are looking forward to the New Year with a mixture of trepidation and anticipation—the same mix as usual, I admit, but this year it runs a bit more deeply.  If nothing else, we should have a very interesting year… and if you’ll recall, the Chinese had a curse along those lines.

May your year-to-come be healthy, happy, and wholly wonderful!

• Monday, 1 January 2001 was published on Monday, January 1st, 2001.
• It was assigned to the General category.
• There have been no replies.