LONG WEEKENDS
Summer's upon us again. The kids just got out of school on Wednesday, which reminded me that my last post was to say that the kids were just starting back and I haven't said a word since then. Anyway, we have them signed up for pretty much every summer sport offered and Gabby's getting ready to start piano lessons, so they'll be keeping pretty busy. Jen and I have been mulching the flower gardens, to the tune of about one pickup load of mulch per weekend.
Read moreUP IN THE MORNING AND OUT TO SCHOOL
Well, it's officially school time again. Gabby and Ari started back yesterday, and Jake went this morning for the first time. Gabby seemed really happy. She got in line with her friends and immediately jumped back into the swing of things. When we took Ari into the Montessori preschool, she ran off to play with the other kids as if she'd been there all along. When I picked her up in the afternoon, she told me that she'd learned how to read (so I suppose that they'll cover math today, and maybe start on biology next Monday).
Read moreTILDEN DAYS
Last weekend, we took the kids to Tilden's "Prairie Days" festival, a celebration that raises money for various local organizations. Events included: Whiplash, the dog-riding monkey. We arrived about ten minutes too late to see him, which was unfortunate because he was the main thing the kids were looking forward to. An officially-sanctioned cow chip throwing contest. I didn't know there was an official governing body for such things, but there is.
Read moreRUNNING BEFORE WALKING
The kids started swimming lessons yesterday. They all had a great time and left smiling. As I was putting Jake to bed, I asked him about his day: Me: What was your favorite part of swimming lessons? Jake: Jumping off the diving board. Me: Really? Jake: Yeah. It was a little scary, though. Me: Well, sometimes the most fun things are a little scary. Jake: Yeah. (pause) I wish I'd done a back flip.
Read moreIF GOD MEANT FOR MAN TO ROLL
It seemed like such a simple idea at the time: I'd buy a cheap bike and ride to work whenever possible. I'd get fresh air, exercise, and a tan, and most importantly I'd save money on gas (because I'm a cheapskate and hate paying $3.00 per gallon regardless of whether I can afford it). So, I went to Happy Fun Land — what we call Wal-Mart when we want to antagonize the kids — and picked up their $80 generic mountain bike.
Read moreHOW TO MAKE A SURVIVAL KIT
On my birthday in 2005, I read a Slashdot article discussing what things you might want to take with you if you had to evacuate your home. This was only a few months after Hurricane Katrina leveled southern Louisiana and Mississippi, so quite a few people had given this a lot of recent thought. The article started off talking about which personal documents you should take copies of (driver licenses, marriage certificates, passports, etc.
Read moreOUR BIRD IS DEAD
Gabby was in the preschool at Christ Lutheran School, and her classroom had a caged parakeet. One day Gabby told me that their bird was dead. Since she was only three years old at the time, I didn't think she knew what that meant, so I asked her about it: Me: What do you mean, dead? Gabby: I mean, the bird died. Me: But what do you mean when you say that it died?
Read moreTHE PIANO'S BROKEN
We got a used piano a few months ago. After we cleaned it and put it where we wanted it, I played a few short songs (poorly). Throughout the rest of the day, we'd occasionally hear one of the kids hitting a few keys and laughing. Several hours later, Jake came up to me with some bad news: Jake: Daddy, I think the piano's broken. Me, alarmed: Why? What happened?
Read moreTHEY WERE HOW BIG?
Well, today was the big day — Jake and Ari had their tonsils removed. The doctor said Jake's were nearly as large as golf balls, so the poor little guy had to have been miserable. The operations went off without a hitch, and they're both recovering nicely (if irritably) at home.
FILTERING SPAM WITH POSTFIX
If you are responsible for maintaining an internet-connected mail-server, then you have, no doubt, come to hate spam and the waste of resources which comes with it. When I first decided to lock down my own mail-server, I found many resources that helped in dealing with these unwanted messages. Each of them contained a trick or two, however very few of them were presented in the context of running a real server, and none of them demonstrated an entire filtering framework.
Read more