Archive for July 22nd, 2013

Cause.

Monday, July 22nd, 2013

I haven’t gone crazy since I got the new job. I did purchase a few things: I bought a couple of DVDs during the Criterion 50% off sale. And I bought myself a snazzy new lunchbox, because I really needed one to take my lunch to work in. (I can’t use one of those plastic grocery bags, after all.)

I haven’t bought any guns, yet. (One of our local gunshops had a really nice US property marked Mossberg 44, at a reasonable price. But first I had to leave town, and then I dithered some when I got back, and when I went back Saturday they’d already sold it.)

There are a few other things I have on my agenda, but those may wait either until I get paid or until I empty the change bank. (I don’t really need the money in the change bank that badly, but it has actually gotten so full that the coins in it are interfering with the mechanism and keeping me from adding more coins.)

There’s one thing that I was glad to be able to do before time ran out: donate to the Evict Lyme FUNdraiser.

I don’t know Bonnie of Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease. I’ve never met her in person, and if I did, I suspect she’d want to punch me in the nose. But she has a problem of the kind that requires expensive and extensive surgery, and she needs help paying for it.

I don’t know Jennifer, of In Jennifer’s Head, either. I’ve never met her in person, and if I did, I suspect she’d want to punch me in the nose. (If you think you’ve detected a theme here, you’re right. I pretty much assume everyone wants to punch me in the nose until proven otherwise.) But I feel pretty confident in saying that Jennifer is a good and decent person. Why? Because she’s running a raffle to help Bonnie out.

Not a charity, a raffle. With some pretty nice prizes. I like that leather range bag from Brownell’s (and I like the fact that Brownell’s donated it; it makes me feel all squishy inside when I think about them. Or that may be the enchilada burger making me feel that way. I can’t tell.) And that’s a swell looking holster from Dragon Leatherworks. (If I don’t win that one in the raffle, I’m planning to order a holster from Dragon soon-ish.)

There’s other nifty prizes as well. Would you like a shot at a pen and a bottle opener made from spent 50 BMG brass? A nice rifle sling? Wind chimes?

Go over and check out Jennifer’s post for rules, instructions, and a full list of prizes.

As I’ve said before, I don’t like using this blog to beg folks for money, so I try to keep the number of charitable solicitations down. I also don’t like asking you to give to a cause I haven’t given to myself, which is why I waited until I had a job and could chip in before posting here. In a way, I kind of feel that being employed now is sort of like being touched by grace, and giving money for Bonnie is kind of a thank-you prayer, or a way of paying that grace forward.

(Yeah, my theology is probably a little messed up. But this is the theology I have, and which is mine.)

Personal and administrative notes.

Monday, July 22nd, 2013

Those of you who have been following this blog know that I have been unemployed since late last November.

I am pleased to announce that things have changed. I started working today (on a contract to hire basis) for the IronPort division of Cisco here in Austin. I will be doing support for their email security products.

I’m pretty happy about this. So far, the environment seems better, and this puts me closer to where I would like to be in terms of personal and professional goals.

What this means to the blog:

  1. There’s going to be a period of adjustment while I figure out my blogging schedule. I think I can blog in the morning before work, but we will have to see how things go.
  2. I won’t be discussing Cisco on this blog, per my policy of not discussing non-public matters involving my employers.
  3. This does mean that I will not be attending DEFCON 21. Sorry, Borepatch. (For some reason, I can’t post on his blog: neither Google nor OpenID work for me.) I am hoping to attend both next year’s DEFCON and the S&WCA convention, though.

My thanks to everyone for their support during this difficult time.