Web Journal

Astrology Home Buoy
sun in Capricorn

1/19
I was pretty washed out by the time I got to the Morning Show on The Austin Music Network. Too bad, too. Should be a fun one, but alas, it is too early. Much later in the day, I got around to meeting with Mr. Wizard (Wizard of Austin), and while he didn't solve the problem, he did help with some other matters, and as confirmed Mac Guys, I enjoyed his take on the famous "1984" Macintosh commercial. "You know, when they ran this in 1984, it was obvious that the regimented hierarchy was IBM. But when they showed it in 1994, everyone thought it was Microsoft. When they show it in 2004, who will it be? I'll bet it's AOL/Warner...." Maybe I should get out the prognostication business as that sounded a little too close to be true. At least, it sounded true. I spent a portion of last night working around the directories on the new server — the switch from one box to another isn't nearly as easy as it seems, and I've one heck of time immersed knee–deep in code. Computers are so finicky, one little slash or dot in the wrong place, and nothing works. But secure ordering is up and running, as is the E–mail link, and the recommendation form.

1/18
Dave Barry should not be allowed to write crime fiction. He has excellent comedy timing, can be as funny as can be in the newspapers, but a crime novel? Set in Florida? Other than working for a newspaper, what does he really know about crime? Imagine some of the running gags from his column showing up in a novel, too. And dogs. Now there, that's one place where he has obviously done his homework. The dog's character is very well drawn. Accurate. I got motivated to write about the Dave Barry book because I was engaging in a little escape, something to get away from it all. And I finally sorted through the reams of jargon so I could get the secure server to work. It's been, literally, years sense I've done root work on web page — getting a little rusty, losing my technical status, I guess. It's like working a puzzle, and computers can be so exacting, misspell one thing, one lousy punctuation mark in the wrong place, and boom, doesn't work. Now I've got to start the migration process in earnest.

1/17
Rented videos and watched movies last night. Not like, a really swinging time, but I did finally get around to seeing "Ten things I hate about you...." or whatever the title of that one was. Teen angst. I was looking at the weather thing on my page, shows what the Austin weather is supposed to be: "Mist." Should read, "Moist." It's a coolish, dripping day, with a lot of water hanging in the air. Darn, my hair will be extra curly today. With deadlines looming in the immediate future, I'm wondering whether or not I'll get everything turned in on time. I will love it when the new server entry is updated, too, so I can get the traffic flowing through the site in a more orderly direction. And real security for the ordering mechanism, not some hack I pulled together years ago — which has worked rather well, thus far. And I'm going to finish reading the new Dave Barry book, uproariously funny, and nice diversion from web site work. I had a late dinner at Artz Ribs last night, something to celebrate it being Sunday. There was Bluegrass inside, and a some other music outdoors as well. Al;ways makes for an interesting time, and proof that the music scene is still alive here.

1/16
Dinner party Saturday night: a guy from Persia, and a guy from Paris were discussing.... no wait, this isn't a joke. This was real. This one friend of mine gives the best parties — perhaps it's due to the eclectic mix in Austin, or maybe it's the Geek factor. It was the strangest thing, in any case, lounging around with the weirdest of the weird. I missed some music last night, Broken Spoke and the Back Room both had bands I would've liked to see, but sometimes, there just isn't enough time for everything, and the folks at the party made for superior entertainment. It's going to be a beautiful day in the nieghborhood, I just hope I can manage to get out some — I'm laden with one too many looming deadlines.

1/15
It's going to be a long tiring few weeks. Although requested, the paper didn't run the scopes yesterday, and I'm beginning to wonder a bit about working for traditional print media — in this case, it's just not working out. I even had some funny ones. I've thought about posting them myself, but it's too much trouble. I did get a notice from the new server that the new web location was open. I had to knock together a new look, and I've been rather frantic with trying to download/upload the new stuff. Takes about forever. The weather looks like it will be perfect this afternoon for a long walk — but I don't have any time for such fun. Bummer. I've just got to get the new site straightened out, and I've got to learn about secure online ordering. In the past, I used a pretty good trick, but it wasn't really secure, not by industry standards. But with the new server, I will have that capability. Joy. However, a new "bulletin board" with room for public postings will be up and operational on the new site — that's good.

1/14
The aborted reading from the other afternoon came together yesterday. And there was some strange wind blowing up from the coast, or down from the north country. I wasn't sure which it was. I did discover that chocolate really doesn't work, at least M&M's, just doesn't seem to be the right substance to soothe a fevered brow. But a nice plate of veggies at Threadgill's does do the trick Or maybe a basket of chips and hot sauce at Guero's while my friends were slurping on Margaritas. ["No honey, you weren't really slurping — it's a figure of speech."] Time to change servers as the impeccable Io.com, host to my various web sites for five years now has run its course. The bandwidth has gotten too expensive, so it's time to move on. Just waiting on the net machines to catch up with their book work, and get me going again. And I hope I've got the new page straightened out some. Time to get the web crew wrestling with real secure sockets layers now. I'm not looking forward to cracking that whip.

1/13
I distinctly remember making some standard guy jokes Tuesday morning at the studio. "You must be, what do they call it when you hate men?" asked the hostess. Hardly. But let me see, it's a largely female staff, matter of fact, except for one guy, it looked all female to me, and then it was all pretty straightforward. Besides, before coffee, I'm certainly on full automatic pilot. Somehow, though the jokes held over for a day, especially the one about the easiest way to a guy's heart — through his chest with a chainsaw. I got crossed up with friend, and one misread message became a whole series of problems. Just like accessing my heart cavity with a chainsaw. Oh, I'm better now. Nothing that good cry can't fix. Wait, guys like me don't do that. Women have it so easy.

1/12
I'm sure there's a comedy of errors type of scenario which would fit what happened yesterday, but I had the most remarkable experience as a result of it all. It's not like this was any big thing — quite the opposite. I was on the Austin Music Network yesterday morning. Between takes, I shot around the corner for a cup of coffee, and the last take was really cool because I was blessedly awake, finally. Then later in the afternoon, attired in a more usual shorts and Hawaiian print shirt, my second reading for the afternoon — Gemini — failed to materialize on time, so I was off to the Post Office [78704] to get a package which had been sent my way from Sister. I was betting it was a CD. There was this long line at the Post Office, and I took a number, and casually checked everyone out. Two Bubba characters were cracking up and putting stamps on a mass mailing — all hand addressed. One of the guys was wearing boots and cowboy hat. Another woman there was also wearing boots, but she had a Reggae hat on, and shorts. A third person was looking at a book, Zen and Feminism, another couple of friends were talking about a drumming circle and shamanism. This is normal, too. Mental note for the day: do not answer the phone until AFTER drinking coffee.

1/11
I'm not sure how this is going to work out. I'm getting up at a very unreasonable hour to pack myself off to the Austin Music Network (cable TV) studio to do a few, quick astrological spots. It's all due to the left over karma from that quote about me, "Rockstars, astrologers, they're all the same." As Robert Earl Keen suggests, "This isn't working out. I like to stay up late, sleep late...." And I guess it's hard to claim jet lag when I only flew in from El Paso, which may be in another time zone, but it's still within the State boundary. I grabbed a cab at the airport, and hit the ground running as soon as I got home, "hello," to the neighbor as our Scottish buddy is now cooking at Romeo's. Then land the computer long enough to start on the follow up e-mail. My Gemini friend beeped, called, and finally came to rest at the front door of the trailer, too, he's facing a change in his Gemini environment, and he needed to check with his astrologer buddy. We grabbed some ice cream at Amy's, something to soothe the El Paso fire in my tummy, and then I stopped by Waterloo for some more karma: Ray Wylie Hubbard's latest CD (independent label, independent store). It's my reward for a long weekend. But I'm not sure about getting up before the sun comes up — not in the winter time.

1/10
El Paso: I still rather enjoy my time around this town although I don't get see as much as I would like to, at least, not typical tourist attractions. But I do get a chance to see a lot of people, look at a vast array of astrology charts, and that gives me a better sense, sort of like astrological snap shots, of what a town is like. And I did get to eat breakfast at the truck stop Sunday morning. There's just something reassuring about a place serving food — a place located right in front of a refinery, a tank farm on the other side, all that petroleum product in one place. "Mijo, I'm here with the astrologer, I'll call you later....." Had the best time at dinner last night with Grace, Bubba, and the hole crowd — 20 hot psychics and assorted sordid hanger ons, all terrorizing the staff at Forti's Mexican Elder, down in El Paso. Most excellent food, that's for sure.

1/9
Grace the Psychic Lady, or Grace the Radio Psychic here in El Paso, married Bubba. Grace is a good buddy, and a Leo ("The Leo!" — she always forcefully suggests) and she recently married another Leo, the aforementioned Bubba. Nice guy, but he ain't from around here. He's from the green hills back East. Kind of a country boy. Knows a decent chicken fried steak, but the Mexican cuisine seems to challenge him some. Unlike some of us who heap the hot El Paso salsa onto our chips and plates, he takes it a little easier. "Salsa Oh Juice," [salsa au jus] was Grace's comment. Never heard that before. I've seen it before — once — when I was escorting Yankees around Austin. Grace's Bubba was intrigued by my bolo tie, a large Longhorn Beef Master cow face, done up in silver. "Looks like road kill around yore neck..." The parting shots from the crowd after dinner last night was, "See you at the truckstop in the morning!"

1/8
Airplane, hotel, restaurant, hotel. Work. "Hi. Sure I can do a reading now, please sign in. What's your birthday?" It's the same thing, over and over. But it also has some differences, too. Like, I can never figure out why there is a preponderance of single, attractive females in El Paso. "No decent guys," seems to be a common thread. Not that it's any different, only it is. I did get around to finishing the advance reading copy of Carl Hiasson's latest book, "Sick Puppy." Suggestions? Buy it. Read it. Laugh out loud. And litter no more. I would only hope that the right developer in Austin would read this book, be forewarned, and maybe not build another strip mall – shopping center – office building – cookie cutter sub division. My sentiments are probably fueled by the novel, though, as much as anything. A literary hangover, of sorts, which might suggest that it's another fine book from the author. I generally consider his stuff "airport reading" because it's great, fast, has a transparent message, and the narrative thread is easy to follow. But it's good to know that Texas isn't the only place with such weird people. And speaking of weird people, I did get out to Kiki's in El Paso last night for some of the best food.

1/7
What a weird day. Started when I looked down as I pulled on socks — socks usually come before the boots — and I noticed I was still wearing Xmas socks, black socks with Xmas tree lights on them. Then I worked my way down to the office to tend to some business, then popped on downtown to drop a check off at the bank, and with the money I just picked up from a reading, I made a last minute decision and turned towards "Adventures in Crime and Space" bookstore. Bad move after a cup of coffee from Ruta Maya. All that money I just earned, gone. But I did score some airport reading material, something to while away the hours in a motel room out west, as this morning, I'm hopping a flight to El Paso. Working weekend for me. The strange feelings from yesterday did not abate with just shopping at the bookstore, either. The owner, a Virgo, answered my questions about some reading material, made a few suggestions, then offered to find one of his suggestion in used form, at a much discounted price, as opposed to selling me a new book with the same title. That's service. He cited the law of Karma, but I think he's just a nice guy. And that's why I would rather shop there, too. So far, just about everything they have suggested has suited my taste for the bizarre, intriguing, and/or entertaining.

1/6
New look is tweaked, but it doesn't seem to support browsers earlier than 3.0 — one too many tags and the java script seems to compound conflicts. But at this point, I'm too tired and harried to care. One: it looks great in Netscape 3.0 and up. Two: Internet Explorer 3.0 and up loads it fast. I guess I could split the file based on the browser, but right now, that's too much friggin' trouble, and frankly, I don't feel like it's worth the effort. Besides, the index is tagged, and the scopes are all in the same place. A single file, a single update to check, a single thing to deal with each week, not multiples. Seeing as how I'm currently writing 3 weekly columns, one monthly which gets distributed to a half dozen publications, and a yearly over view as well as other stuff, that's it. I'm tired. Complaints? Until Pa Wetzel sorts out his digital camera and CD burner, the picture is the best one I've got. Deal with it. I got a number to call, came through the beeper, and I was looking at this number thinking to myself, "Self, if I only had that loaner cell phone right now, I could return the call...." Turns out it was the folks who gave me the loaner in the first place. Then, late last night Sister calls back for more technical support. She was sniffling, too, so I ate an orange to combat her cold. It's that family thing again. She seems to have forgotten the scientific background she once had — change the one software setting, test it, then change it back or make another change. She's been an artist way too long. "I sort of installed this stuff...." "Sort of?" "Well, see, it kept giving me a dialog box asking me, so I did, and now it won't work right...."

1/5
Monday, the temperature topped 78, according to one source. I was out in shorts, doing my thing. This morning? It's, according to the weather link, below freezing. Texas weather. I've been spending far too much time trouble shooting computers as of late. Calls from Sister, about installing, or reinstalling, print drivers. And other stuff. Fixed a Virgo computer, too. I like reading my own scope for myself, the transit report, and I found out that this is a good time for tweaking web sites. I'm going to get this front image trimmed down to size, get it to load faster. The adverts are still causing some problems, and my web guy is next to useless. Of course, my cat is offering her help — it's the cold weather. I did suffer a Y2K bite, though. A real one. I've been using an outdated mail program — it let's me access AOL mail — a feature sadly lacking in every other program — and this e–mail program was sending out stuff dated, "1/1/44" as a default. A bug fix was up by Monday, though. It's time to start migrating the mail over to other servers, looks like....

1/4
Talk about getting weird stuff in the mail. With a sobriquet like "fishing guide to the stars," I thought I had seen all the strange stuff I was ever going to see. Bait, lures, hats with fishes. What crossed my desk yesterday has to be the most bizarre — duct tape. Not just a roll, but several rolls, all done up with ribbons and stuff. I wonder what the message might be with that. Surely there's a catch in there — and I'm not sure I'm really flattered — or interested. Then there was the customer complaint file which was another one of those requests for a personal reading at a discount price. "You get what you pay for." The last e-mail ended up calling me "Freak!"

1/3
This extra long weekend thing is getting to me because I've got a web guy who thinks it's still party time in his bunker, and e refuses to surface, not even long enough to look at a scripting problem with the main web page. What to do? Breakfast Tacos might be the best bait to lure this guy out of his bunker, maybe something which would get him up long enough to look, and see that the web stuff needs a little attention right now. I know it's the advertising, but they've been good to us in the past....

1/2
Big exciting day here. Intermittent computer problems, which, after the big day/night, I was too tired to fool around with. I suppose that it was big night to party, last night, but I just couldn't gather myself up from the couch. I did manage to deal with a recurring problem, a massive amount of laundry which needed to be done. My exciting welcome to the new year, 6 loads, that's six different machines, full of dirty clothes at the Laundromat. But I'm ready, I guess, to spring into the new season. Looks like I've got a busy schedule for the rest of the month.

1/1/00
I wonder if I should start the date like that. I was paying bills last month, and I loved filling two zeros after the 19 on the blank checks. The new look is getting more positive responses than anything else. If I can get some of the pictures from the party last night developed in time, I might use one of them. "How can you be nice to so many people in a row?" It's easy, it's what I do, I sit down and start reading... everyone has some nice stuff in their chart. Well, except Scorpio's, but that's not what I say about them. I did get a chance to rework the artwork a little, and try to tweak the page some so it loads faster. The web guy is gone right now, something about a bunker and dire predictions, but I figure it will all work out.