On my way back to DC. Wheeee! I think this may be the shortest update for me ever!"

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Frustration!! I ordered 50 micron fiber jumpers, instead of the 62.5 micron jumpers, so I have spent the last two freaking hours troubleshooting a ghost.

Screwy problem. It was an 802.11Q trunk, and I was expecting all the vlans to propagate, but only half of them did… very strange.

Oh well, at least I figured it out.

So, I have to wait until the morning for the cabling guy to make me up some of the proper ones.

It’s ok, I’m fried anyway. I need to take a break before I go back in at midnight to do some more scheduled changes.

Sitting in the hotel lobby by the fire, for a few minutes. It’s one of those nice gas log fires that looks real, down to the flickering coals. Pretty cool really.

I saw a military funeral procession today when I was driving from one data center to the other. There were quite a few cars on it. I wonder if it was on it’s way to Arlington.

I really need to go see Arlington.

War is, without a doubt, a part of the human experience.

We honor, as we should, those who fought for their country, tribe, ideology, whatever you want to call it. We ennoble these people who sacrificed all, as we are honor bound to do.

I wonder, though, why we denigrate those people who give THEIR lives for ideologies not our own.

Another aspect of the human condition, I think, is our need to feel we are the “good guys”, and righteously liberating-chastising-punishing the “bad guys”.

Granted, there are definitely evils in this world, but can we really truly look at ourselves as a nation and say we are “good”?

You can’t dance with the devil, without learning some of his moves……

Arlington is full of the bodies of the noble dead, and more are being added daily. They died for their country, performing their duty to their homeland.

Just like so very many Germans did in WWII. Just like so many Japanese. Just like so many Southerners. (pick your conflict)

Is their sacrifice any less impactful than the sacrifice of those who serve us?

There is evil in the world. Yes, it was noble to go to war to stop the holocaust. (which is, of course, NOT the reason we went to war, but it was a wonderful example to show that we were RIGHT, by God!) Funny thing,though… one must remember that the numbers who tragically dead in the holocaust did not add up to a FRACTION of the number killed during Stalin’s consolidation of power before WWII…. You know, Stalin’s Russia? Our Noble ally?

How neat and tidy that THAT didn’t get any publicity UNTIL it was expedient…. Until we needed yet another threat to our way of life to fight against…

There is no innocence in this whole wide world. To be born human is to inherit dark things.

But one also inherits the potential for noble and great things.

Sometimes evil men do evil things. Sometimes the definition of evil is relative to the flag they drape the corpse with.

I have read the proposition that our technology has out-evolved our humanity, giving us tools that we are not responsible enough to have.

That’s one way of looking at it.

Another is that perhaps this is the end result of our developmental traits. Perhaps we are destined and designed to limit our own expansion by our genetic proclivity for destruction. Perhaps the evolutionary conclusion to this particular species of tool users is to engineer our own demise.

Perhaps we are our own apex predator.

Or perhaps we, as a species, simply do not excel at peace. We grow lethargic and soft. We become Rome.

Perhaps war, that oh-so-human trait, is the very thing necessary for us to evolve. Can there be nobility without crisis? Can there be catharsis without pain? Maybe not for the Homo-Sapiens

And with that little bit of hyperbolic vitriol, I am going back to work. (sigh)  

I have found in my life, that I am weak. I loathe it. I have allowed circumstance lately to push me ever so gently off the path I have set my feet to. It may not be that there are easily identifiable signs to this, but it is the case.

I have let work and expediency give me excuse for not practicing and cultivating my spirit. Too many fast food meals have coated my soul.

There have been too many times these past couple months that I found excuse to not practice, to not go to the gym, to not make every day an opportunity for training my body and spirit.

There are no excuses, only action.

Though physical training is important, and has been lacking in intensity lately, the more insidious has been the lax way I have been training my spirit.

It is not acceptable.

And sitting here in a Hotel by myself in DC does not allow me to turn from the mirror. I must do better.

Mediocrity is a poor epitaph.

Life has been extremely full as of late. This is evidenced by the fact that I have not written on here in some time.

I haven’t posted in a bit. Frankly, it is mostly because I have not had many brain clock-cycles to do much of anything extraneous.

First day of WMAW is in the books. It was a half day, and I still started frying at the end of it. So much to learn…..

Just a quick entry. Toc rocked the Hausa. I have a lot more to say, but wanted to get this up as a reminder. It was very challenging. Quite rewarding. And Conrad is now a peer! Beat of all, I got to smoke a very good cigar as it was happening. Now I am having difficulty walking, but it was worth it. More later.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Practice was last night. For me, it was all about perseverance. I was mentally shot, and physically down. I donned armor, and fought folks. Fought everybody. Dolph was fighting me, and I was doing well at first, then I completely lost focus, and was stumbling around. At one point, I almost flung my sword into his face.

Our largest customer went live on my network this weekend. I was monitoring progress al lweekend. There were some hiccups, as there is want to be when Software people get involved, (wink) but all in all very successful.

Unto all Princes, Knights, and men of coat armor who be not enemies of the King our Lord do I, Baron Robert Downey, send joyful greeting.

Life is a strange thing. Right now there are a great number of things in my life that is taking energy I would rather be giving to other pursuits. The Hammer hits hard sometimes, but that is why one chooses to place themselves on the Anvil.

Hmm life is crazy. I wanted to post about all the cool things thar happened AT pennsic but instead I have to call in an insurance claimfor the house. the spare bedroom is completely toast. Walls ceiling floors all have significant water damage. It's a total mess. Claims adjuster is contacting me tomorrow or tonight but it's pretty damn bad. Wheeee!
">

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Life has been crazy crazy crazy.

Border Skirmish…. Lots of fun. Enjoyed being with my friends. I was quite proud of the Illitonites. We fielded enough folks to be a mini unit. (smile)

“who the fuck really cares when your  so far left that even death looks right.”

“I’m so sick, infected”

Work’s been crazy. Life has been hectic, but I’m still alive.

And blessed.

But there are things that make you stop and think.

Last night, I got a call from Brad, one of our “newer” fighters. His father passed away yesterday morning at 1 am. He wanted me to know why he would not be at practice, so we would not worry about him.

We also talked some about his father, and how much the group means to him right now.

You never know how you affect people, or how meaningful simple gestures are to folks, or, quite frankly, how much you mean to others.

As a side note, he was sorry he would not make it to practice, as he finds solace in it. AND because he did not want to miss training……

Think about that when the hangnail keeps you from going to practice… I sure as hell won’t be making any excuses for some time.

Apparently, his father was a very colorful guy, as is his son. I wish I would have met him. Among other things, I guess he played for 7 or so years in the major leagues in new York. Like I said, sounds like an interesting fellow.

There will be no invitation, but we will be driving up to Crown, and will visit then.

In terms of motivation as well, I took last Thursday to go to a baseball game in St. Louis with Dolph and Mike.  Mike shared a writing that was done by a friend of his. I found it very moving. Hard to describe, but it affected me deeply. Someday he may share it with others. Not sure.

The march to get ready for the summer continues.

We are running some melees at practice now, and folks seem to enjoy it. Eric and Jamie came over this weekend to help us get stuff ready. I now have a new leg harness, four new swords, a bunch of new straps, and the crown shield is halfway done. It’s coming along.

This weekend, I need to finally print the Ermine on the tournament shade fly, and Constance is busy sewing away on her new dress. This strategy of  a new dress every six months is paying off. Her “nice garb” closet is growing.

Also helped her with her garden on Sunday. Got a lot of stuff done there.

Looking forward to Chaos Caravan. It’s always a fun event. One that Constance really enjoys. It should be fun!

We got to practice outside last night. It was very well attended. We had 14 in armor, and two in Rapier gear.

I had an EXTREMELY good weekend. Very relaxing, got some great stuff done, got to spend some very quality time. It was awesome.