DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

I was falling for it — the name-calling, the feigned indignation, the party line. Politics. What a pain.

In an effort to make this space a little more salty, a little more sweet, a bit less sour, and a lot less bitter, I have decided not to write about politics for a while. Maybe a long while.

But what about umami, I hear you asking. Yes, I’m going for more umami too. Someone pass me the Accent. Better a little MSG than more of the he-said, she-said crap. Jon Carroll’s plea for a return to the issues played a part in my decision. The war of personalities is an irritating distraction; it belittles the entire process. I’m done with it.

I’ll still write about environmental issues, even if they nearly always have a political edge. The environment is the thing I really care about. If not for that, I’d be utterly apolitical, and happier for it.

I got an email from Robert Redford. It’s actually a solicitation from the Kerry campaign, but the introduction is a strong statement that ties up my beliefs in a few clear sentences:

Today is Earth Day and I am afraid. For three decades, we have been fighting to protect the environment and have been proud of the great strides our country has taken. If George Bush is reelected we can count on the continuation of his agenda to undo all the advances we have struggled to achieve.

To put it simply, George Bush’s environmental policies endanger our health, loot our natural resources, and destroy the possibility of a secure energy future. George Bush may claim his environmental policies promote “healthy forests” and “clear skies” but those labels are both disingenuous and false. Most of his initiatives are nothing more than payoffs for wealthy campaign contributors.

Oh, yeah: happy Earth Day. Celebrate it now, while we’ve still got one.

My attempt to get a software RAID-based test bench set up are going about as well as expected…
- /usr is too small?! Back up and try again.
- inadvertently click the wrong arrow; wait 1 hour for badblock scan to complete (again).
- Can’t back up far enough to change partitions; start over.
- Attempt “upgrade” option, which fails; start over.
- Bad blocks detected on resized sda7; start over.

It finally worked. Elapsed time: about 6 hours. Networking fails, though, which is par for the course. Hmph.

task: replace failing disk drive in RedHat 9 server (software RAID)

risk: site downtime, data loss, sleep loss, hair loss

step 1: test RAID disk swap procedure on spare hardware
- oops, spare hardware runs RH7. Begin upgrade.
- oops, RH9 CD won’t boot. Try bootdisk image.
- oops, networking dies during image download?
- restart networking. download. repeat.
- finally, make bootdisk.
- make a driver diskette too.
- scan CD during install. Scan fails. Need new RH9 CD.
- Download CD image to laptop.
- oops, browser puked. Force-quit; retry.
- oops, browser puked. Reboot.
- oops, browser puked. Force-quit. Try a different browser.
- Burn CD-ROM from image.
- Repeat for CD#2.
- finally, begin installation from floppy and CD-ROM.
- can’t select RAID options with keyboard. Find mouse.
- oops, mouse not recognised. back up; try again.
- mouse still not recognized. Reboot; try again.
- finally, installation (graphical mode) is working.

step 2: to be continued?
- unfortunately, yes.

The LA Times’ automotive critic Dan Neil has a smart review of the new Chevy SSR.

Here’s my favorite line:

The weaknesses of the SSR — weight, limp acceleration, expense, a curb appeal more gimmicky than gob-smacking — are part of a larger flaw: Corporations can’t build hot rods.

Sure is pretty though. (Not that I’d ever drive one. 15 mpg?! Sheesh, there oughta be a law.)