May 2009

Saturday's Blog

Just an update for y'all-

Chapter 28  of "A Loss Of Rights" has been posted for your reading enjoyment.

I went to see my friend at the hospital last night and I can tell you this; he didn't look like he was going to make it. pulse was 100, blood pressure was 88/55, oxygen level was 96 despite being intubated. He also had a fever over 100 degrees. I'm still feeling very somber right now.

That's all for now, I will post the answer to Friday's quiz on Monday. Have a nice weekend!

Slainte Mhath!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Friday's Quiz

OK, here's the first question.

Q. Kellan Meig'h is the author of what series of writings?

If the answer is not found on my website, I will direct you to the proper site. Use the Haloscan comment function below to submit your answers. I will post a question on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

On a more somber note, my friend that sick is doing worse. I will be going to see him tonight after work and I hope he's still with us for his roommate's sake. His roomie is very distraught over this and it was him that suggested we go see him tonight.

Take care and have a safe weekend,

Slainte!

Kellan Meig'h

What? No guesses?

So ... nobody figured out it was duck-tape holding the wipers to the wiper arms? Sheesh ...

Now, to get the vehicle maintenance people to admit that they did this ...

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Wednesday's Blog-Viewpoint

Intense Pain is my new companion ...

This is my second work day, and I have to be honest; I may not make it to Friday afternoon. As some would be wont to say, "I'm in over my head".

I'm hoping a good night's sleep will make me feel better physically. Mentally, I'm not sure. A friend that I've known for 24+ years is dying. You have to understand, he's had a 'death wish' for some time now. He's diabetic and he also knows just how much extra insulin to take so he can eat a box of donuts. Pretty scary, huh?

Well, the doctors have been trying to save him but his heart is pretty much done. He's already had a quad bypass done and numerous stents put it. Last I heard, his heart rate was down as was his blood pressure and he was intubated to keep him oxygenated. Since I am not family, I cannot go see him. Kaiser Hospital, however saw fit to call me and ask me to authorize a procedure for him! He does have a niece that lives nearby, by the way. It was probably due to my being on his contact list.

So, that's my report for today, with this exception. My vehicle has a new addition since I last drove it. See if you can spot the addition.

This is despite the fact the guys at work 'Strip Mined' my truck while I was gone. They even took my personal jacket! Grrr!!!

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Update

Well, we went horseback riding Sunday and it was a great cleanser for my mental well being. How am I doing Physically? Not bad right now (after a few pain pills). Ask me later on, tho. I will update you all.

My mount, Dusty is a very gentle palomino filly that is colored just like Willi Marie Delancey, a character in my "Immortal Warriors" series of stories. We went up to Cerro Este, riding with the eagles. Speaking of eagles, we were very fortunate to observe a California Golden Eagle in flight! What a rush! I was so engrossed in watching that magnificent avian soar that I forgot to take a few pictures! Oops!

Anyway, the camera kind of let me down with the usual battery issues so it's time to junk the existing battery packs and pick up a half-dozen fresh ones. I've noticed these Kodak batteries aren't the longest for lifespan.

I'll post a few pics over in my Cerro Este Gallery  for you to enjoy.

Slainte Mhath!

Kellan, the old warhorse

*Note-edited gallery hyperlink

Sunday's Blog

Well, Sunday is here and I'm kind of on edge. The reason, you see, is I'm going back to work on Tuesday.

I guess I should be happy to go back to work but for some odd reason, I'm dreading it. I've been off work since last September 1st and I can tell you, I have cabin fever like you couldn't believe. It's just ... well, I'm apprehensive as to the real condition of my back. I'm in constant pain and a day out of the house with my family puts me in the bed the next day. I guess I'm worried, that all.

Anyway, Chapter 28 of "A Loss Of Rights" is still being worked on. I expect to finish it in the next few days. There will a few big surprises in store so stay tuned.

Slainte Mhath!

Kellan, the old warhorse.

Update!

Announcement!

PlanetFurry came back up a few minutes ago, 20May2009 @ 0920 hrs central time.

Kellan, the old warhorse

Just some information

For my friends that frequent PlanetFurry-

I know that some of you may have not read that the server for PlanetFurry was being moved. I know it was scheduled for 23May2009 but I guess there was some reason that Hikaru had to move it sooner. That was 2200 hrs central time on 18May2009. PF was supposed to be back up in 24 hours but as you all know, there are unforseen troubles that might crop up. As of now, 0840 hrs pacific time, 20May2009, PF is still down. If I hear something more, I will post it.

Kellan, the old warhorse.

Friday's Post

Tomorrow, we're attending the Livermore Scottish Games. Hopefully the weather will be nice (read: not too hot), and we won't lose another sun shade to the wind like last year.

For all of you following "A Loss Of Rights", Chapter 27 has been posted for your reading pleasure. It's just a hair longer than usual but it sets the stage for what happens after this chapter.

Have a nice weekend,

Slainte Mhath!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Monday's Explanation

So, my hosting Co. finally answered my email asking if there was a problem.

This is what they sent me;

[paste]

Dear Customer:

An upgrade to the mysql server caused unexpected performance issues

resulting in connection issues. It has been reverted back to restore

service. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your

patience.

Thank you,

[/paste]

I thought you were supposed to test these things before going live.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Sunday's Oddities ...

Have you ever seen this?

[paste]

General Error

SQL ERROR [ mysql4 ]

Too many connections [1040]

An sql error occurred while fetching this page. Please contact an administrator if this problem persists.

[/paste]

I believe that someone is attempting a brute force attack against the forum I host here and on another family website.

How goes your Sunday?

Kellan

It's Posted

Chapter 26, such as it is, is posted for your reading pleasure.

Slainte Mhath!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Reasons to pick your contractor carefully

I will not say where these pics were taken but it suffices to say, if you hire a contractor, make sure he's qualified.

Does your contractor stay properly hydrated on a hot day while he uses a nailgun?

Whaddamean? Those are the short nails!

Slainte Mhath!

Kellan, the old warhorse

It started very innocuously ...

This all happened on a forum that I belong to, just to set the tone for ya -

A new poster to this forum did the classic "Wall Of Text" by posting a story via a thread on the main section of the forum. they added a poll for us to express our feelings about the story.

I started to read it but had to stop several times due to "Wall Of Text" induced eye strain. I kept thinking to myself, "I have read this story somewhere before." By the way, the poster gave a link to the story on Scribd.com, where they had uploaded this story to.

I guess I should state that this was an incomplete story that the poster alluded to completing either by the original author or they would complete it, if enough interest could be generated.

Those people that read the thread on the forum warned the poster that completing the story w/o the original author's permission was treading on thin ice. Those warnings were answered by some very angry responses.

By this point, one member posted that he stopped reading the story. The poster asked why. The member stated it was boring. The poster typed/said, "How much did you read? The first sentence?" It was out of hand by now.

Meanwhile, I found the original author and got the straight scoop. The story wasn't abandoned as suggested by the poster. It was a filler for a magazine called American Journal of Anthropomorphism. Apparently there wasn't enough illustrations to fill 128 pages of the magazine so he used his story as a filler in issues #1 through 3. By Issue #4, they had 128 pages of illustrations and didn't need it. Issue #5 wasn't printed due to issues with the publisher. He wasn't amused by the theft of his story, unfinished or not.

Back at the forum, the admin/moderator had had enough of this person's arrogance. He locked the thread and issued a warning that further abuse, etc. would result in the "Fall Of The Banhammer." OK, problem solved, right? Nope.

The poster starts a new thread, using the admin's name for the thread name, and calls him out. No shit. I cringed even before I opened the thread to see what had been typed.

In the largest font possible, the poster pretty much told off the admin. I won't go into specifics (those of you that know him can ask him directly) but yeah, as you can guess, the banhammer dropped. Account deleted, posts deleted. It was deserving.

The owner of the story went to Scribd.com and had the story removed due to DCMA violations. Good show.

According to the admin in question, this person tried several times on our forum to drum up support for this story. Why they just didn't finish it w/o permission, I don't know. Why they didn't contact the original author (which took me all of 5 minutes to locate, btw) is beyond me.

Anyway, there's your little piece of drama for the week.

Slainte Mhath,

Kellan, the old warhorse