Things might be a little quiet here for a while. Sorry about that, but I have a good excuse for a change.
I’m focusing my after-hours energies into getting articles printed in my quest to build up a writing portfolio. Rambling on the internet doesn’t count as writing, unless it’s rambling on a reputable website, in which case it isn’t rambling because someone will have edited it.
This page is seldom edited at all.
This month’s update is overdue, but at least it will be succinct.
The projects:
The results:
The excuses:
I developed some expectations regarding permanent employment opportunities as a technical writer. Legden has warned me against having any expectations whatsoever, but it’s awfully difficult to implement.
The expectations were not met, and I lapsed into a week-long sadness.
Leading up to the disappointment, I couldn’t really focus on very much either because of the anticipation of success. Thus nothing much has been accomplished this month.
The good news is that I have transformed the disappointment into motivation and am putting my focus into developing a portfolio of published writing. This is considered important for some inexplicable reason. Honestly, can’t they just see my writing genius radiating outward? Perhaps the radiation is too powerful for them to cope with, and they deployed lead shields.
I already have a couple of promising opportunities.
I propose adding another item to the projects list: Get 5 articles published in reputable magazines.
Write about solving the problems Microsoft Word imposes on you.
To my dismay, the post relating the way in which to solve the portrait/landscape printing mix-up conundrum generates the most page views on this blog.
Closely following that are the meandering and slightly obfuscated GPRS on linux and migrate from thunderbird to evolution howtos.
Then, I think people are searching for Kelty the place, and finding pictures of my dog. An entirely unsatisfying result for them and me.
It would seem people on the internet want help. I suppose that when I next write a technical howto post, I’ll make an effort to keep it clear and concise. Easy to understand. I might even summarise the key points. I should put in the extra effort there because that’s what the random people are actually bothering to read. I should try to make it a rewarding experience for them.
At the end, I’ll add some links to more entertaining posts that I actually want people to read.
I have been toying with the idea of reviving Satan’s Poodle. This is obviously a ploy on my part to avoid writing my novel. It seems a little self-encouragement is in order:
I will finish the next chapter of my novel.
A month has elapsed since the last full update. I’ll try to keep this one more to the point.
As usual, a summary of the projects:
And then the success, or lack thereof:
In summary I can say that I’ve had a generally good month, although the complete lack of progress on CMan is worrying. It is offset my the success on the 100 word gifts, so I’m not too disappointed with myself. Now that that batch is completed, any recreational writing I do (that isn’t blogging) will be commitment man. Perhaps I should rephrase the affirmations to reflect that. Make the affirmation smaller scale. “I will write the next 1000 words of a full-length novel” perhaps?
The success is in no small part due to my previous affirmation regarding following only useful links. Admittedly, some useless links have been followed, but considerably fewer than before. All techie and news sites have been relegated to the abyss. I hardly even feel tempted to investigate them any longer.
Stopping now before I have to add a Rambling Waffle tag.
Actually, that’s also something I did, since it was technically “blogging.” I gave the tags I use some thought, rejiggered them into broad categories, and tagged all of my posts appropriately (mostly). Which is why the rambling waffle tag now exists.
Really stopping now.
On Friday the 25th Angie and I travelled through to Welkom to visit my parents for the weekend. We left in the morning because I also had some business matters to deal with in Welkom (such matters that will be dealt with in a future post, as they are quite interesting too).
The good thing about the journey to Welkom is that they have recently retarred the road which runs between Kroonstad and Welkom. The road was considered to be fairly crappy previously. Although dual-carriage way, it was poorly maintained and heavily potholed. The Department of roadworks had, however, provided useful signs indicating the presence of such potholes. For a long time it seemed that they would permanently be satisfied with this corrective measure — after all, it prevented vehicle owners from suing the department when the vehicles in question had their rims mangled by potholes. “Well we did warn you,” they’d say.
The bad thing about the journey was that the road had been retarred so recently that there was still some loose gravel lying around on it. Loose gravel that truck wheels tend to throw into windscreens.
Ah well, I got the chip repaired today, and I also got to practise patience. Little did I know how much patience was in store for me that day — but that is another story.
I first dropped Angie and The Bean off at my parents place, where my dear mother drew Angie’s attention to the local Welkom newspaper, the Vista. They don’t appear to have much on-line content, but rest assured that the hard copy exists, and is filled with words and pictures and advertisements and the like.
In the Vista was an article about the Claws animal shelter, and how a great number of furry canine and feline beasts require good homes. Cunningly, they inserted two photographs with the article — 1 x Maltese and 1 x Maltese-cross-Yorkie (or so they claimed).
The photos were cute. Angie wanted to rescue one. “We need a friend for The Bean, and these dogs need Good Homes!”
I hemmed and hawed, but to no avail. And anyway, I needed to head off for my work appointment. I left the rescuing of one small dog in the capable hands of my wife and mother (who needed to go along to show Angie where Claws was based). “Which one should we get?” Whichever.
Apparently Angie chose the least lovable looking one.
Least lovable? But those photos of Kelty are sooooo cute. Are you mad man?
I’m not mad. We’d have a before the three baths, one haircut, and de-ticking photograph if I’d not been otherwise detained by work related matters. We don’t because Angie doesn’t have the eye (or inclination to develop the eye) for blog-worthy material that I do. Instead, she just gets things done. I generally stand around watching them get done, and documenting how they get done.
Her function is more admirable. Mine, more self-indulgent.
What follows is the story I’ve pieced together from the evidence given to me.
Angie chose the least lovable, most-matted, most smelly, tick-infested, small “The Bean Dog”-like dog at Claws. In consultation with the rest of the family, we eventually named him Kelty.
Following an intensive trimming, washing, rewashing, trimming, and tick-removing session, Kelty was transformed into the “illegally” cute little dog you see today.
It wasn’t always good times for Kelty Dog. Abandoned for two weeks in a house with no food, and only a little water, he and two or three other little Maltese-like dogs were eventually discovered by concerned neighbours.
Kelty has spent the last two months at claws, without an owner or a home, becoming increasingly matted and smelly.
When Angie chose him, lifted him up and embracing him in all his malodorous glory, Neil’s mother recommended that Angie rather choose one of the other little dogs — but Angie was not to be dissuaded.
Once he got home (after vomiting up fur-balls in the car), he was met by Neil’s father, who asked whether or not Angie would be able to return the dog and get a refund. Such was the poor condition that Kelty was originally discovered in.
After being cleaned up, he was initially quite timid, but is growing in confidence with each passing day.–Waffle Master Press
The Bean wasn’t too pleased about the new addition. She sulked. She moped.
She is getting used to him now, so we’re not too stressed that they’ll hate each other any longer. Or at least, I’m not too stressed. I’m not sure Angie was worried about it to start with.
I will write a full-length novel
I will write a full-length novel
I suppose I should own up to inadvertently following useless links. There is an excuse, but it’s slightly feeble.
I decided to streamline my assertion to not follow random links from google reader by creating an Approved Reading list. In doing this, it was necessary to click on my technology in order to purge it of evil. No really…
The link at the top of the list was this: Free Software Movement Dead — Microsoft
How the hell was I supposed to ignore that?
Following that lead me to more vexation, with Microsoft claiming a whole bunch of patent infringements (that, by the way, is a good article for the non-geeks amongst my readers to have a look at), but it seems they’re just making a lot of noise with little to back it.
But, now that reader has been streamlined to provide me with my government approved reading, this sort of thing shouldn’t happen again.
The Waffle Group 