at least until the next time. I just completed the hairiest server migration of my life and I hope I never have to do that again. I had a drive failure, two switch failures (one on the old DC and one at the new), 1 NIC replacement and a slew of OS errors (I run CentOS 4.1).

In all, I moved all of the accounts on this server back and forth 5 times in 30 hours. 21.97 GB, five times, lol. On a good note though, most of my customers never knew any of this was going on. With some DNS trickery and some slick rsync usage, only one hostee, Michael Hanscom of Eclecticism
experienced any problems and we quickly cleared that up over AIM this morning.

If you do notice any oddities, please e-mail me.

I got to go to my first Seattle Seahawks game tonight courtesy of our database vendor, Oracle. We had awesome seats (4th row on the 40), perfect weather (low fog and rain), but the guy next to me was the most obnoxious asshole I’ve ever met. He was a drunk, substantially overweight 30 something that screamed on the cell phone with his wife and daughter the entire game. Not only did he scream at the players while on the phone but he was arguing so much with his wife that the players kept looking back at my row laughing at him. I almost dreaded a score or great play by the ‘Hawks because we would just go nuts and try to high five me. I felt so bad for his wife and daughter on the other line. The poor bastard paid $185 for his seat from a scalper. And from what I could clean from his conversation, he didn’t have that $185.

Other than him, the game was great (’Hawks beat the St. Louis Rams 31-16) and it was actually fun to be in the cold rain. It’s hard to believe that was my first Seahawks game since moving to Seattle and unfortunately, I forgot (gasp!) my digital camera :(

Initiative 901, which expands the state’s Clean Indoor Air Act, was approved with comfortable margins in all 39 counties. 62% to 38%.

The measure bans smoking in buildings and vehicles open to the public and in places of employment, including within 25 feet of doorways, windows and ventilation openings. Violators can be fined $100 for each infraction. This ban will be the most restrictive smoking ban in the nation and is long overdue.

“Personally, I have advocated concentration camps and public executions of smokers but this is a step in the right direction,” stated RCS author and cyclist extraordinaire Michael Buckingham.

It’s about time. I’m all for personal freedoms but when those freedoms affect my health, then I have a problem. Shoot up heroin, take pills and all the cocaine you want but don’t pollute my air asshole. There have been many occasions where I’ve been incredibly close to seriously kicking someone’s ass because they were smoking somewhere near me.

For all the business owners that say this ruling will put them out of business within 30 days, I say that I might now consider visiting their establishment. One of the main reasons I quit going out on the weekends (besides not having friends anymore) has been because I can’t stand the second hand smoke and having my clothes reek for weeks later, even after washing.

Seven states require all restaurants to be smoke-free, but exempt bars: Florida, Georgia, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont, Utah and Idaho. Many cities and municipalities have imposed their own smoke-free regulations.

In California, the ban on smoking in bars simply moved many smoking sections outside. But I-901’s 25-foot rule would effectively ban smoking on many outdoor patios and sidewalks.

Supporters of the initiative raised more than $1.5 million—much of it from the American Cancer Society, with contributions from individuals and groups like the National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids and the American Lung Association of Washington. The small, but vocal, opposition raised less than $27,000.

The only other bill I cared about, I-912 which called for the repeal of the .08 per gallon tax on gasoline was defeated. This is a great thing because how else are we going to pay for these roads people?

I am alive and well but a lot of things have kept me from posting lately with the biggest offender being work. Although I have completed a number of successful projects, I own one particular project that is sinking faster than the Titanic. While the hardware failures are nobody’s fault, someone has to take responsibility for it and guess what? That person is me. It’s been rough and has pretty much laid waste to any remaining self confidence I possesed. No matter what the team did, we just couldn’t get a break. There were some very logical explanations but the Executive management team refuses to listen and on several occasions, have just left in the middle of my presentation for them. I’ve pushed my rather small team as hard as I can and now I dread coming into work everyday. More dreadful than when I worked at Bank One and that says a lot, my friends.

So I’ve been spending almost every waking hour trying to turn this beast around and ignoring almost everything else. Other projects, friends, e-mail, family, cycling, this blog, you name it and I’ll say that I’ve been neglecting it.

Don’t get me wrong, things aren’t all “doom and gloom” but I’m harder on myself than anyone else could be and I haven’t met my expectations.

In other news, I’ll be coming to Dayton on December 1st and be there until the 10th. I won’t have to work like I did last year so free time will be abound. Hopefully, I can get some rest!

In the past five weeks, I’ve ridden a grand total of 6.83 miles. No, the decimal point is not in the wrong place. I’ve ridden about a hundred miles on the indoor trainer but I’ve done nothing but lose fitness. I’m devastated that I’ve pissed away another great fall riding season.

Thanks for stickin’ around and stay tuned for more very soon!