twothirds

Why are passwords so friggin tough.  Everyone has a different standard.  Some want a special character while others will punt if you give them a “$”.  Some want more than eight characters while others want no more than eight.  Over the years, I have failed to come up with that one universal password that works for all sites and systems.  These days, all I can hope for is an easy to use password reset form.  The latest site I struggled with:

Passwords must:

• be at least 6 and no more than 20 characters long.
• contain at least one upper-case character.
• contain at least one lower-case character.
• contain at least one number.
• contain at least one of these special symbols: ^$+*?.|(){}[]\`~!@#%&-_=;:’<>,?/.
• not repeat any of your previous 6 passwords.

I was told I would hate Campari the first time I drank it. That is the advice I pass on when others inquire about my cocktail.

I have finally realized my mission in life. If I do one thing before I die, it is to popularize the “Negroni”. There is nothing better than this bitter goodness from Italy with Campari, Sweet Vermouth and Gin. It is my favorite drink before a meal. Hell, I have even snuck a few after meals. The only problem is, I get too many blank stares when I order it. Recently, I have gotten a “Sorry we are out of it!”, and a “How do you spell that?” Maybe I need to spend more time in North Beach, ’cause the Peninsula just doesn’t get it.

For those establishments that do make it on a semi-regular basis for the 82-year old WWII vet or the 20-something that read about it in Pop Magazine, for some odd reason the trend is to serve it “Up” in a martini glass. While I have no problem drinking a dirty martini in this fashion, a “rose” colored drink in this stemware makes it look like some fruity elixir on a happy-hour menu. As I have a manhood issue, I prefer to take mine on the rocks. Officially, it gets a orange peel twist, but I like mine with a lime. For the record, the drink is:

In an “old fashioned” glass full of ice…

• one part Campari
• one part gin
• one part sweet vermouth
• twist of orange peel

Some of the recent comments at bars include:

• Astaria — “I generally make this ‘up’. Let me know if it is OK”
• Astaria (a few weeks later with a different bar tender) — “I have no idea how to make that.” Thankfully, the “up” bartender was there to make it.
• Fanny and Alexander — “Sorry, we are out” (waiter, via bartender) — Eventually I got a Negroni with dry vermouth.
• Kingfish — “How do you spell that?” (waitress) — Eventually, I did get a good drink on the rocks. (The waitress was soft on the eyes, but lacking in other categories.)
• Town — The 20-something bartender had to consult the “experienced” bartender. The drink was a bit gin-heavy.

Dealing with software vendors can be entertaining at times…

Jed: Hi, I need to file a ticket
Support: OK–what customer
Jed: Sun Microsystems–Sun.com
Support: Are you running Windows or Solaris
Jed: Uhh–Can you check that customer name again….

I was on friars.com today, the athletic website for Providence College, and I saw the following oddity for auction:

#3 Game-Worn Soccer Jersey (Listing # PROV-080707-73)

Hu? Who in their right mind would bid on something like this–especially for a 2nd tier sport?!?! (Note: Stalkers do not count, they are not in their “right mind”.) I could understand wanting a basketball jersey of a pro-bound player, but a soccer jersey? Hmmm. I wonder if I could auction off one of my old speedos. I’ll even through a set of cap and goggles for free! Any takers?

I am making a trip out to NYC for a wedding in November. With Virgin America launching SFO -> JFK service, airfares are dirt cheap. Woohoo!

Hotels, on the other hand, are ass expensive. Anything with a brand-name is in the $400-500 range. WTF!
Thankfully, I work for a big corporation and I found a list of hotels with a preferred corporate rate which includes personal travel. Hmmm. But how do I book? I am not supposed to use the corporate travel site since that costs the company money. I guess I could call the hotel, but then I would have to talk to someone.

Hmm….How about I enter the company name as the promo code when booking.

Hotel 1–no dice

Hotel 2–no dice

Hotel 3–Bingo! $340/night. I’ll take it! (reduced from $460)

Glad I work for “the man”. It just saved me a bit of cash.  Still, it is scary to think $340/night is cheap.

I was also able to subsidize the trip with a free night in a Hilton.. ~3 years ago I spent a month in a hotel in Sweden during a consulting gig. Frighteningly, it was not enough points to cover one-night in a NYC Hilton. I actually had to buy an extra 2,000 points for $25! Eh–still great a savings.

Project number three with the new power tools is crown molding (or is it moulding?). I started with the bathroom which is tiny, easy (in theory) and cheap since I only needed ~30 feet of molding. I was able to set all of the molding up in an evening and finish the detail work (paint/caulk/etc) the next day. The entire project cost me ~$30! Unfortunately, it only gets more difficult and more expensive as bedrooms are next on the list.

This is the before. I was smart enough to find the studs and mark them with tape before I starting cutting things.

This is the “in process”. No, I did not cope the inside corners since I am painting everything white.

And the after

Holy crap!  I just realized Dara Torres is still swimming–and at a high level!  Not bad for a 40-year old.

I have finally “manned” up. In the past few weeks, I have purchased power tools that can kill. Purchases include:

• Dewalt 12″ Compound Miter Saw (on sale at Home Depot!)
• Dewalt Compressor w/ Brad and Finish Nail Gun

While I have owned a drill and orbital sander for awhile, they don’t really demand the same respect as the saw and pneumatic nail gun. After all, I can drink and drill at the same time. Worst case scenario, I have to break out the spackle for a little rework. When playing with the saw or nail gun, sobriety is a good thing since accidents can lead to a loss of life or limb.

My projects have not been too advanced yet.  I have cut (and stained) a new handrail to replace the original one with ten-different coats of paint.  I have also finished out some chair railing from the hallway into the dining area.  Up next?  Crown Molding?  Base boards?  Who cares as long as I get to cut and nail things.

Looks like many people have issues with comcast and blacklists.

Reason number 482 to hate comcast–they are spam zealots.

I forward mail from one of my domains to family members so they can have an easy to remember, but hard to spell, email address like <firstname>@michnowicz.org. For better or worse, they use comcast for final mail delivery. Comcast decided my webhost was a spammer and blacklisted the entire mailhost IP. Bastards! Ever hear of Bayesian spam filters? Or, how about you check the “source” of the email instead of just the “forwarding” host.
<jo___z@comcast.net> (expanded from <j__@michnowicz.org>): host
gateway-s.comcast.net[63.240.76.26] said: 550 208.97.132.75 blocked by
ldap:ou=rblmx,dc=comcast,dc=net -> BL004 Blocked for spam. Please see
http://www.comcast.net/help/faq/index.jsp?faq=SecurityMail_Policy18628 (in
reply to MAIL FROM command)

So, it looks like I can:

1. Change hosting providers
2. Get my parents off of comcast
3. Use a middle man

I think option three is the easiest at this point. Something like this should work:

foo@michnowicz.org --> foo@google.com --> foo@comcast.com