Other: Dear Job Posters

Dear job posters,

Do NOT put "Linux Engineer" in the listing title if you require as much Windows administration experience as you do Linux. Most of the Linux/UNIX engineers I know, myself included, do not, in fact, have much if any Windows admin experience. It is not some "default" for systems engineers to know Windows before they know how to manage a real operating system. If you want people who know both, call it a Linux/Windows Engineer position and be prepared to get applications from schizoids.

kthxnbai,
me

Spoonerisms: Junior

Bandit, top, puts the kitten Coco II in his place, circa March 2005

My father's beloved cat Bandit died over the weekend after what was apparently a rapid series of strokes. Bandit showed up over 15 years ago when friends of my parents found a kitten when they were out walking, and being allergic, brought him straight over to their house. He was the first cat they had gotten since I left home, and the first couple of times I visited, he wanted nothing to do with me. Then one Christmas he had sustained one of his many injuries fighting with some creature real or imagined, and my soft, warm lap was too much for him to ignore.

My father called Bandit "Junior," the son he never had, and their affection was clearly mutual. Always riddled with health problems, mostly from his overactive lifestyle, Bandit's health became more precarious at the same time as my father's. He clearly missed my father when he was away at the hospital. After my father died, Bandit perked up some. I realize it's anecdotal evidence, but I really do think that Bandit felt the stress of my father's absences and the clear distress he was in when he was at home, and it took its toll on him. His health did actually improve somewhat over the past year, but he was still clearly showing his age.

Rest in peace, big guy. You made my father very happy.

Spoonerisms: Spoon vs. Dipity

Now that Dipity has settled in and seems comfortable enough just to be herself, I decided it was time to do a side-by-side comparison of her and Spoon. It turns out that in many ways they are very similar in personality, much more so than Pandora and Spoon were.

	Spoon	Dipity
Size	Still around 16 lb.	A little over 11 lb. when she was at the vet in September. She still has that long, lanky Siamese body, but she has a slight bulge around the middle.
Intelligence	Still not very	Ditto. And I thought Siamese were supposed to be smart.
Bossiness (scale of 1 to 10)	3	When she's hungry and out of food, 9
Relationship with electric lap
Camera Hogginess	Still the king...	...but she's a contender
Reaction to vacuum cleaner	Still is halfway under the bed as soon as I take it out of the closet	Also tries to hide under the bed, which leaves Spoon between a rock and a sharp place
Reaction to strangers	Afraid to snuggly in 5 minutes or less	Must... sniff...
Leadership rank	The Omega Cat	Beta, which means she's the de facto alpha cat

Spoonerisms: My Latest Lolcat

moar funny pictures

Knittin' Crap: Handmade Holidays

As I have far more time (and stashed yarn) than money these days, it's going to be a handmade holiday. And because my stash doth floweth over, everything is being made from yarn and other notions I already have. I already have all the gifts planned out and most are done. The only item I had to buy was a zipper for a pillow cover. Price: $2.49 + tax.

I'll post the gift run-down after the holidays.