September 2004 Surly Bastard Journal

20040903 [0030] Time spent at work today involved installing new! shiny! toys! in the serverroom, and removing some of the old stuff. We're trying to combine equipment replacement with neatening the cabinets while keeping everything humming - the hardest thing to do. Much easier to just shut it down, pull the lot and start over, but that unfortunately isn't an option.

Mainly for my own reference: Valeo "V4" wiper blades (400mm) for a 9/'96- Fiat Marea wagon, 9/'93- Tipo or 9/'94- Lancia Dedra wagon also work for a '68 (and similar) Volvo 140 series with the old style metal wiper blade holders for replacable blades.

20040901 [0110] Holidays are definitely over here in .nl. Today I had a traffic jam on the A12 going to work for the first time in over a month. Last week the company parking lot filled up before I got there for the first time in weeks (meaning I have to park in the auxiliary lot around back). Too bad, it's nice and relaxed when about a quarter of the population is abroad. Maybe the gov't should start encouraging emigration again.

The weather's also been lousy - lots of rain and low temperatures. August 2004 has the all-time record for being the wettest month in the Netherlands, ever. Not the wettest August, mind you, the wettest month period. It's what we call summer. I think we had two weeks of sunshine and proper temperatures. And yes, I'm dreaming of the deserts of the SouthWest US. 40 degrees centigrade at negligible humidity sounds pretty good right now.

Also on my way to work, I spotted a public transport bus in Woudenberg that had apparently blown an oil line or something. It was stopped at a stop, the rear engine access panel open with two people working on it, and about 200 meters of road behind it were covered in some kind of soapy foam by two fire trucks. You don't see that too often, usually that stuff's pretty well maintained.

While I can't imagine why someone would vote Republican come November, much less work to get the lying bastards reelected, the Log Cabin Republicans haven't yet given up hope of trying to steer the GOP towards a more inclusive course. To that end they have produced a commercial, which has promptly been rejected by CNN on the grounds that it contained "controversial images". If you don't feel like watching it, basically it contains a few seconds of a Reagan speech, and some stills of certain right-wing nutters (Falwell, Buchanan, Santorum, Phelps) while a voiceover puts the options as either uniting or dividing the GOP. I haven't seen any images that CNN wouldn't have shown themselves if it was their own footage. It's another clear sign on where CNN stands. Too bad, as a news channel they're actually worthwhile, unlike that other bastion of conservatism Fox which isn't worth the electrons it takes to keep them on the air.