What the @#$% Over?

Nothing is inherently and invincibly young except spirit. And spirit can enter a human being perhaps better in the quiet of old age and dwell there more undisturbed than in the turmoil of adventure. – Philosopher and writer George Santayana

This morning I tweeted a quote by Henry Thoreau, "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." It piqued my interest, so I set out to determine what the renowned author believed to be the root of all evil. I found a good description of his quote on the quora website. After reading that analysis I found myself searching for information related to his political leanings, which led me to this Wall Street Journal article . Perhaps you'll find those items as interesting as I have.

Due to the fact that RHEL/CentOS server software lags so far behind, today I converted one of my servers to an Ubuntu server. I almost regret installing from their live server image as opposed to their live workstation image. The basic install went well I thought all text based. But upon first boot I couldn't login. Thankfully google showed me how to boot into init 2, mode and after several tries to the key sequence right to get the grub menu I booted and discovered the admin user i specified was never created. After fixing that, rebooting and logging in as new user with admin, i discovered networking was not configured. After googling manual ubuntu network configure, I discover that bionic uses a new network configuring system called netplan. Anyway, the server is now networked and currently updating all the packages. Hopefully I will have it all up and running before my new ASUS Tinkerboard arrives today.

Two little old ladies in the South were sitting on the porch sipping mint juleps one day. Betty Lou had come to visit Mary Jean for lunch at her beautiful country estate. Mary Jean said to Betty Lou, "Oh Betty Lou, I'm just so pleased with mah adorin husbind - he went and bought us this beaaauuutiful big house with such a wonderful big garden out in the front. Isn't it nice?" Betty Lou said, "Mmmm, that's nice." Mary Jean continued, "And did you see that beauuuuutiful new Cadillac out there in the driveway on your way up to the house? Mah husbind done bought that big shiny car just for me - isn't that nice?" Betty Lou said, "Mmmm, that's nice." "And, and - did you see this beauuuutiful diamond necklace and these matchin goldin earrings mah husbind bought me? Aren't they nice?" Betty Lou said, "Mmmm, that's nice." Then Mary Jean pressed, "Now, all that's enough about me - how...

I have been teasing my wife the past 24 hours, calling her a "hurricane magnet". As I ponder my past though, I seem to be the "her-i-cane" magnet, while she is really a "him-i-cane" magnet. Although I barely remember it, I do remember my family evacuating Lumbertin, TX, to avoid the worst of hurricane Carla in 1961. The eye of hurricane Alicia passed right over my home in the Houston, TX suburbs in 1983. Before leaving the Houston metropolitan area I also experienced a Harvey like storm in 1995 named Allison , by the time it arrived in the Houston area it was more of a tropical storm that lingered and caused significant flooding. With the exception of several significant typhoons, whose names I either never knew, or more probably have forgotten, while on a U.S. Navy destroyer in the South Pacific during the early 1970's, the storms I mentioned were all before moving to the Phoenix metropolitan area, where aside from 120 degree summers and a few Ha...

Okay Irma, we are as ready as we will ever be.

I discovered today that I won't be able to convert to firewalld on my openvz virtual servers. Boo-Hoo!!

When first migrating to version 7 of CentOS I failed to understand the working of the new default firewalld product and kept with iptables/ufw. I am finally embracing the new methodology, and found an exellent article Understanding Firewalld in Multi-Zone Configurations . I hope this note helps you if you seek knowledge.

I cannot recall a more awesome beginning to a new year. The weather here is simply beautiful. My mind is filled with positive thoughts. My heart if filled with love. Can it get any better than this? I think so, which for those that know me, realize is a miracle in itself. As I stand at the edge of the rest of my life, I feel stronger mentally and physically than I have in some time. I look forward to the challenges with a renewed energy. I look forward to the upcoming adventures with a renewed enthusiasm. The music has truly returned. Let's dance.

Victoria's Secret fashion show. Enough said.

I will readily admit that I have not and do not give thanks often enough for the good things in my life. While I never want to be thankful in the manner of those countless rote blessings I heard at the table before each meal as a child, I believe I should give thanks more often than on this annual holiday. Oh well, perhaps that will be a good resolution for the forthcoming new year. I am thankful for: Reasonably good health Respectful friends, especially one budding new friend Knowing that within me the embers of affection and passion continue to glow, patiently awaiting the chance to burn brightly again A caring family Life's lessons that have been bestowed upon me throughout the years A job that allows me to prepare for a secure retirement

First star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish, I wish tonight.

I rarely take the opportunity to ponder things anymore, I suppose I feel too busy or too tired to think about them. It is a shortcoming I hope to overcome. Tonight I had such an opportunity while waiting to meet a new friend. Sitting in my truck as I listened to A Prarie Home Companion on NPR I noticed a bright star in the western sky. Immediately l scanned the sky to see if it was indeed the first visible star and found no other star save it. I tried yet failed to remember when last I had wished upon this star. I only briefly wondered what I might wish for before I began to try and remember what this star was called. I believe it was actually not a star at all but the planet Venus and called the Evening Star, which I confirmed later at The Evening and Morning star . I continued to watch this star as I moved to the front of the restaurant to meet my friend to who I asked, “What do they call that star?”. She replied, “The Wishing Star” and recited that old faithful nursery rhyme, Starl...

I have read some of her works, and truly loved the movie "Henry & June". I read this quote by Anais today and felt compelled to share it. I do not want to be the leader. I refuse to be the leader. I want to live darkly and richly in my femaleness. I want a man lying over me, always over me. His will, his pleasure, his desire, his life, his work, his sexuality the touchstone, the command, my pivot. I don’t mind working, holding my ground intellectually, artistically; but as a woman, oh, God, as a woman I want to be dominated. I don’t mind being told to stand on my own feet, not to cling, be all that I am capable of doing, but I am going to be pursued, fucked, possessed by the will of a male at his time, his bidding. - Anais Nin Are there any women like this still available?

I should be ashamed at myself. For years I have felt fearful of publicly commenting negatively about this administrations lies, corruption and general abandonment of basic civil liberties out of fear of reprisal. The follow excerpt from the failed $700 billion bailout proposed by the Bush administration, "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency" is the straw that broke this camel's back. Any elected congressional member who voted for this bill should be arrested and tried as a traitor. I personally believe that "tarring and feathering" is not a cruel and unusual punishment for such perpetrators of greed, deceit and dishonesty. If only they would import their snake oil from China, we would have a chance of helping our cumulative gene pool, as I am sure that whatever comes from China will eventually poison or poll...

If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were. -- Kahlil Gibran --

Most of us are seeking something. I believe that what we seek, is not necessarily what we need, or perhaps even want. While chasing the pot at the end of the rainbow fate is apt to trip you up in the middle of the field with joy instead of riches. So run free my friends and look closely should you trip, there may be a treasure there for the taking.

You Are Black Tea You have a bold personality. You're not afraid of simply being yourself. You have the courage to speak the truth. You are fearless in your actions. You come off as a bit intimidating and unapproachable. Only confident people are attracted to you. You don't try to scare off anyone. You're just an intense person! What Kind of Tea Are You?

Your result for The Color Code Test... Color Code: BLUE: The Social Butterfly Here is the basics: For a more in depth analysis, I suggest you look up the Color Code, and take a more intensive test. BLUE MOTIVE: Intimacy BLUE NEEDS: To be good (morally), To be understood, To be appreciated, Acceptance. BLUE WANTS: To reveal insecurities, Quality, Autonomy, Secuirity. SUMMARY: Blues are motivated by altruism. They love to do nice things for others. they look for opportunites to give up something in order to bring another person happiness. selflessness rather than selfishness is their guiding philosophy. Blues seek intimacy. They want to be loved and to love. A true blue will sacrifice a successful career to improve an important relationship. Blues crave being understood. They are gratified when they are listened to, when they feel understood and appreciated. Blues may have thier hearts broken more than most people, but they also spend much more time in love. Blues are direct...

My week is starting well. I received an inspirational card this morning. It is alway nice to know that friends can be supportive. They say you can never have too many friends, and I suppose that is true, but selfish reasons I suppose I have always kept my list of friends short. Hopefully that is an aspect of my life I can change before it is too late. Monsoon season has finally arrived here in the Valley of the Sun. The northern skies have been brightly illuminated the past several nights with beautiful lightening. If it would make it farther South with a few drops of rain left all would be well.