Below are the most recent 19 friends' journal entries.

Thursday, January 7th, 2010
bigbearok	1:50p	Buche de Noel Chocolate genoise cake with chocolate mousse filling and chocolate ganache icing. Mushrooms are meringue, all other decorations are marzipan. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
tfbretz	8:58p	Clear The Decks! That's what I said to myself when I found out a new Vlad Taltos novel was out from Steven Brust.  And it's exactly what I did, picking up a copy of Iorich Monday afternoon and moving it to the top of my reading pile (analog and digital).  It was, to my mind, definitely worth the promotion.  Brust remains one of my two or three favorite authors for a reason.  Seeing Vlad kicking butt in His City again is, to my mind, a return to the strengths of the series.  Vlad is great when he's doing the fish out of water thing, but it was nice to see him in back in his element.  Even if he's still on the lam. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
tfbretz	9:40a	Last night was the first post-holiday game session.  We were playtesting some of the D&D stuff for OwlCon and it went well.  But between my usual post-game adrenaline and a copy of Brust's newest (Iorich), I was up too late and I'm really feeling it this morning. I kind of hope we get the snow and sleet that's a (slim) possibility for tomorrow, just so I can try and catch up on my rest a bit. Current Mood: groggy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, January 4th, 2010
tfbretz	7:37p	Well, That Went Quite Well This morning, the new site opened under our management.  From an IT perspective, I give us an A.  Maybe an A+.  Very few issues, and those that did crop up were minor.  Probably the biggest one was underestimating how long it would take for our network management software to run updates on all 38 machines.  As a result, some of the computers were still periodically shutting down in order to reboot after an update.  Frustrating, but not insurmountable. By the time I left at 4 (having been there since 7 AM), things seemed to be running smoothly. Current Mood: pleased (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
tfbretz	3:00p	Day Two Today was about as low-key as expected.  Apart from finishing the install on one problem machine, we pretty much just went around and made sure all the profiles are set up like they should be.  Things start bright and early tomorrow. Current Mood: optimistic (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
tfbretz	7:50p	Day One We came. We saw. We kicked its ass. Seriously, I can't believe how well things went today.  Yes, there were hiccups and yes, there were some things that took longer than they should have, but overall, I'm just blown away by how well our team handled the transition.  We're 90% done.  We could open on Monday right now with what we've accomplished, so much of what we'll be doing tomorrow amounts to tightening the belts and polishing up the paint job. In short, I'm part of a kick-ass team. Current Mood: accomplished (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 1st, 2010
tfbretz	8:04p	Crunch in T-Minus Thirteen Hours My holiday weekend is coming to a close.  Tomorrow at 9 AM, we begin the IT transition at Legacy Southwest Clinic (as it's going to be known). As far as I can tell, we're ready for it.  This afternoon I finalized the jump drives I'll be handing out to our staff with installers and drivers aplenty.  The checklists have been printed out.  I suspect it's going to be a very busy couple of days.  The one big negative is that we have to be on-site Monday at 7 AM.  That's two hours earlier than I usually go in to work.  I think I'm looking forward to that less than I am working all weekend. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
tfbretz	11:54a	My Only Retrospective Post In Regards To 2009 Last year, I decided to actually keep a list of the books I'd read.  I know I read a lot more than the average American, but I realized I really didn't know what that meant.  When I decided to do this, I elected to omit gaming books and comics/graphic novels; the former because I don't read them the same way I read novels/non-fiction, and the latter because I devour those at a rate that doesn't feel like "reading" to me. Anyway, here's the complete list: January Gravett and Turner, Towton 1461: England's Bloodiest Battle James Ellroy, American Tabloid February Larry Niven, The Magic Goes Away Larry Niven, Ringworld Richard K. Morgan, The Steel Remains March James Ellroy, The Cold Six Thousand April Elliot S! Maggin, Kingdom Come Tom DeHaven, It's Superman! G. Xavier Robillard, Captain Freedom: A Superhero's Quest For Truth, Justice, And The Celebrity He So Richly Deserves Simon Green, Something From the Nightside Simon Green, Agents of Light and Darkness Ian C. Esslemont, Night of Knives May Jim Butcher, Small Favors Various Authors, Busted Flush Various Authors, Mean Streets Charlaine Harris, Dead and Gone Jim Butcher, Turn Coat  (I failed to get through his Furies of Calderon right after this) Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies June Charles DeLint, Moonheart MLN Hanover, Unclean Spirits Martin Millar, Lonely Werewolf Girl July Carrie Vaughan, Kitty and the Midnight Hour Carrie Vaughan, Kitty Goes to Washington Terry Jones, The Knight and the Squire Carrie Vaughan, Kitty Takes a Holiday Carrie Vaughan, Kitty and the Silver Bullet William Gibson, Neuromancer Rick Riordan, The Last Olympian James Palmer, The Bloody White Baron Carrie Vaughan, Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand Carrie Vaughan, Kitty Raises Hell August Robert B. Parker, Appaloosa James Ellroy, Destination Morgue: LA Stories (I count this even though I didn't finish it because it is so truly terrible I think I suffered through more than one book's worth of anguish getting that far.) Christopher Moore, You Suck, A Love Story September Martin Millar, The Good Fairies of New York J.R.R. Tolkien, The Children of Hurin Stephen Boyette, Ariel Ian C. Esslemont, The Return of the Crimson Guard October Patrick C. Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind Steven Erikson, Bauchelain and Korbal Broach Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge, Black and White Caitlin Kittredge, Night Life Monte Cook, The Skeptic's Guide to Conspiracies November Caitlin Kittredge, Street Magic December Steven Erikson, Dust of Dreams By my count, that's 44 books in twelve months, with two or three unfinished on the Kindle and in the reading pile to give me a jump on 2010. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
tfbretz	11:13a	Just Under The Wire Steven Erikson's Dust of Dreams I'm surprised this one took me so long to finish.  I was anticipating it greatly, having come off a run of reading multiple Malazan Empire books in short succession.  I wanted this one so badly I asked drelmo to pick up the hardback for me when he was in England this past fall, months ahead of the US release. And last night, with about two hours to spare in 2009, I finally finished it.  I think part of the reason it took me so long to really  jump in (apart from NaNoWriMo completely killing reading for me for a month) was that, going in, I knew it would be incomplete.  Erikson has been very up-front in saying the final two volumes of the series comprise a single massive novel.  Given that Dust of Dreams is nearly 900 pages, that's a pretty hefty build up to a cliff-hanger.  Erikson cares very much about the structure of a work as a novel and actually apologizes in an author's note at the beginning that this is not, structurally speaking, a novel. It is, however, one hell of a part one.  I've probably got another year's wait ahead of me to see how this thing turns out. (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
gunnora	6:54p	One Last Weird VAL Letter for 2009 Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:40:28 -0500 From: xxx@usit.net Subject: Question Viking Lady, I am sending this request to this e-mail address because I didn't see another address on your website. I hope that this is the correct address for questions. If you can give me some insight on this issue I would grateful. In my dream - I saw a hill overlooking a large valley. On the top of the hill a woman was standing(with her back to me) beside a large boulder(the boulder came up to her midsection - between her waist and shoulder). This boulder was covered with a heavy and highly decorated animal-skin quilt. It looked much like a large sheepskin quilt but it was decorated like a ceremonial blanket of some kind. I watched her for a time - then she quickly jerked the quilt off the boulder and bright rays of light came out of the boulder. Throughout the entire time she kept her back turned toward me. I had this dream at a time when I was looking into what generational influences may be having an effect on me and my family. I have reviewed your website and have seen some information about women as spiritual practitioners and some on the significance of hills or mounds but nothing more specific to this dream. If possible can you give me any additional insight? Or perhaps recommend other resources. Thank you for your assistance. XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
tfbretz	1:40p	This morning, I resolved the problem with the Windows install on the very new PC.  Pro Tip:  If you have a Dell computer and you need to perform a clean Windows installation and you don't want to have to go through the trouble of registering with Microsoft, etc., then perform said clean install with any (and I do mean ANY) Dell-provided recovery disk.  Seriously, if it detects a Dell motherboard, then it'll install like butter and bypasses the registration entirely.  Won't work for any other manufacturer, but it's a damned handy thing to know if you're working with Dells. Anyway, that was pretty much my day.  We had our final team meeting ahead of Saturday and went over the plans.  I've got to sort drivers onto jump drives between now and Sat AM and print out some checklists.  All in all, things are looking pretty positive. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
tfbretz	9:32p	In years past, this has traditionally been the time when I reflect on the previous twelve months. Not so this year.  I don't need it.  I've got too much ahead of me.  It's an interesting change of perspective. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
tfbretz	5:53p	The Crunch Beginneth This afternoon, I got a preview of the weekend and the prognosis is a little worrisome.  The IT department from the departing parent organization began cleaning their machines this afternoon, which allowed me to go in behind them and see what sort of effort it's going to take to get the computers back up and running on our system. The good news is that I got Windows and Office installed on 50% of the machines they wiped.  The bad news is, that was only two machines.  Right now, the complicating factors on the other two machines are both age-related, the first being old computers that completely lack CD drives.  I shit ye not.  The guys wiping the disks had to go find one at their office and plug it into the motherboard of the one they wiped to get their program to run. The other age-related factor is that a few of the PCs are so new their hard drives don't want to talk to the my XP install disk.  I'm hoping I can get a newer install disk (a Dell recovery disk) to load on it, otherwise...well, it's complicated and something I've never actually done, so it'll be interesting seeing if I can make it happen. Of course, there's still a ton of things that can go wrong.  We can't turn up our network until they're out, so I couldn't put the computers on our Domain or check internet connectivity or any of a host of things I'd normally be doing at this point, but it's a jump-start on Saturday. And I am feeling better.  Not 100%, but well enough to put in a full day today and go out for pizza with the family as soon as I post this. Then I get to come home and type up an extensive checklist for Saturday. Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
tfbretz	3:11p	After lunch, I decided to go home at 2.  Roughly 100% of the prep work I have to do ahead of Saturday I can do from home and we have enough hands on deck to handle emergencies.  I'm breathing a bit easier (literally, not a metaphor), so maybe I'm getting over this crap. (Comment on this)
tfbretz	10:10a	Back To The Grind I'm at work today.  I feel like I'm held together with spit and duct tape, but I'm here. Which is more than I can say for the desktop computer I keep in my office to run my printer and handle some other minor tasks, which seems to have died when I powered it down for the long weekend. The building is deathly quiet.  I'd say we're about about 50% of our usual occupancy and apparently all the noisy people are off this week. Time for more Dayquil. Current Mood: crappy (Comment on this)
Monday, December 28th, 2009
tfbretz	12:50p	On One Hand... Fighting my cold with pho was an excellent notion. On the other hand, going out in the cold to get it (and I know it's not cold by otherplacean standards, but it's cold and wintery by Houston standards and I froze my ass off) was not such a good idea, as every lungful of cold air set off a coughing fit. Back at home now, trying to warm up. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
tfbretz	10:57a	Yuck I'm spending the one extra day my boss gave me for being so well prepared for the merger fighting this gods-forsaken cold.  As of this moment, it's winning.  Jane's knee is hurting badly enough that she's going to the doctor to have it looked at.  Thankfully, C-Monster has enough new games and toys to keep him busy and neither one of us is particularly suited for hands-on parenting at the moment. My original plan for today was to settle in and finish the last 200 pages or so of Dust of Dreams, but I can't concentrate enough to read it.  Not how I wanted to finish up my holiday time. Current Mood: sick (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, December 25th, 2009
tfbretz	8:38p	'Tis The Season (1 Comment |Comment on this)
tfbretz	11:05a	For The Record, I Would Just Like To Say: Eggnog French Toast is delicious. You are now free to go back to your holiday celebrations. (Comment on this)