The Slamlander

Related to last week’s stroke. He whacked me all over with a rubber mallet and pronounced me fit. It was a transient incident. However, it was a warning shot across the bows. I have to keep fit and get back into some semblance of shape. It’s also the only way I’ll lose an additional 10 kilos (20 lbs).

That is all -- relieved.

After about two weeks of

1. Mutual lockout
2. Deadly embrace
3. They’re supposed to do it … No, the other guys are … Not us, see the registrant. … Uh uh, Account Manager can’t see it.
4. Expensive phone call to Herndon, VA

My professional domain is back online and successfully pointed at my own servers. I still have to verify the email but I think it’ll work.

I got good and fed up with Network Solutions and their regular email FUBARs.That and not being able to create sub-domains under my professional name, plus their brain-dead web content creation client. Since renewal was coming up at the end of this month, I transfered the entire domain to 815417267f76f6f460a4a61f9db75fdb%3Ca%20href%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dyndns.org%2F%22%3EDynDNS.Org%3C%2Fa%3E%20where%20I%20can%20point%20it%20at%20my%20own%20servers%20or%20anywhere%20else%20I%20want%20to%20point%20it.%20Their%20%3Ca%20href%3D%20%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dyndns.com%2Fservices%2Fdns%2Fcustom%2F%22%3ECustomDNS%3C%2Fa%3E%20product%20is%20more%20than%20most%20excellent%20and%20it%27s%20been%20running%20reliably%20for%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fhome.caselle-vpn.net%2F%22%3ECaselle-Net%3C%2Fa%3E%20for%20over%20four%20years.%20In%20fact%2C%20the%20only%20outages%20I%27ve%20had%20with%20%3Ca%20href%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Fhome.caselle-vpn.net%2F%22%3ECaselle-Net%3C%2Fa%3E%20is%20when%20%3Ca%20href%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluwin.ch%2F%22%3EBlueWin%3C%2Fa%3E%20FUBARs%20the%20last336d5ebc5436534e61d16e63ddfca327mile.%0A%0ANow%20I%20can%20relax%20for%20a%20while%20and%20start%20looking%20for%20an%20off336d5ebc5436534e61d16e63ddfca327site%20email%20provider%20at%20my%20leisure.%20%3A%29%20In%20the%20meanwhile%2C%20on%20to%20the%20next%20thing%21%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3C%2Fpre%3E0fbd1776e1ad22c59a7080d35c7fd4db

This young ass (40-something) just doesn’t get it. Like anything else, it’s the venue. I know that most of my friends list is above the 20-something category but that doesn’t stop those that are from being there. Granted, there are not too many on that list older than me (Hi ) but we are all mostly pretty active in our LJs. Why hasn’t this dweeb found Livejournal? As far as I can tell, he hit all the kiddie sites.

After last Monday, I’m still tired. I was a little rough on salegamine last night. After sleeping most of the day, I wanted a night-cap … at 2300h. Poor thing, I didn’t think of the side-effects and she woke up exhausted today. The good news is that we met a Thai lady that was able to tell us where, in Nyon, we could get spices. But seeing my sweet so tired this morning was not worth it, I think. I promised that I wouldn’t do it to her again, tonight. She had to go into work very tired.

I woke up tired too but, after last Monday, I'm almost normalizing on that.At least, I can take a nap this afternoon.
I got the place cooled down to 24C @ 45% relative humidity.
I got the headphones working on 815417267f76f6f460a4a61f9db75fdb%3Ca%20href%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Fslamlander.livejournal.com%2F236737.html%22%3Ethe%20new%20shiny%20%28Motorola%20K1%20KAZR%29%3C%2Fa%3E%20and%20tried%20to%20get%20the%20bluetooth%20audio%20headphones%20to%20work%20with%20the%20workstation.%20I%27m%20getting%20memory%20errors.%20This%20makes%20it%20a%20pain%20to%20get%20it%20to%20work%20with%20Gizmo%27s%20LJ336d5ebc5436534e61d16e63ddfca327Talk.%20It%20works%20with%20Trill%20though.%20So%20far%2C%20I%27m%20really%20happy%20with%20the%20KAZR%2C%20regardless%20of%20what%20the%20reviews%20say.%0A%0AAll%20the%20KAZR%20reviewers%20missed%20one%20serious%20point%20...%20it%27s%20a%20phone%21%20That%20it%20also%20plays%20MP3%27s%2C%20takes%20pictures%2C%20etc%20is%20incidental%20to%20the%20fact%20that%20it%27s%20a%20phone%20and%20as%20a%20phone%20with%20integrated%20address%20book%2C%20it%27s%20great.%20Okay%2C%20I%27d%20like%20better%20PIM%20features%20but%20that%20gets%20away%20from%20the%20primary%20function%20of%20it%20being%20a%20phone.%20If%20I%20want%20a%20really%20good%20PIM%2C%20I%20should%20upgrade%20my%20Palm%20Pilot.%20If%20I%20want%20a%20really%20good%20digital%20camera%2C%20with%20flash%2C%20then%20I%20should%20bring%20my%20digital%20camera%2C%20if%20I%20want%20killer%20MP3%20sound%20then%20I%20should%20have%20an%20MP3%20player.%20However%2C%20that%20shouldn%27t%20detract%20from%20the%20fact%20that%20it%27s%20damned%20fine%20phone%20and%20everything%20else%20that%20it%20does%20is%20nice%20but%20not%20required.%20The%20phone%20even%20has%20built336d5ebc5436534e61d16e63ddfca327in%20provision%20for%20a%20dual%20channel%20SIM%20which%20makes%20it%20a%20two336d5ebc5436534e61d16e63ddfca327line%20capable%20phone%2C%20one%20of%20the%20few%20that%20can%20do%20it%20without%20Firmware%20mods.%20%28Yes%2C%20dual336d5ebc5436534e61d16e63ddfca327SIM%20operations%20are%20definitely%20desirable%20when%20consistently%20hopping%20between%20countries%2C%20something%20missed%20on%20all%20the%20reviews%29.%0A%0AYes%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22ljuser%22%20style%3D%22FONT336d5ebc5436534e61d16e63ddfca327WEIGHT%3A%20800%22%20atomicselection%3D%20%22true%22%3E%3Ca%20class%3D%22ljuser%22%20href%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livejournal.com%2Fuserinfo.bml%3Fuser%3Diptv_tech%22%3E%3Cimg%20class%3D%22ljuser%22%20height%3D%2217%22%20alt%3D%22iptv_tech%22%20src%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livejournal.com%2Fimg%2Fuserinfo.gif%22%20width%3D%2217%22%20align%3D%20%22absmiddle%22%20border%3D%220%22%20%2F%3E%3C%2Fa%3E%3Ca%20class%3D%22ljuser%22%20href%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livejournal.com%2Fusers%2Fiptv_tech%2F%22%3Eiptv_tech%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fspan%3E%2C%20it%27s%20silver.%0A%3C%2Fpre%3E0fbd1776e1ad22c59a7080d35c7fd4db

Last Monday morning, 21May07, at about 11:00 CET, I suffered a stroke. My entire left side became partially paralyzed. I stumbled into some moving boxes a few times. There was no pain associated with this and I was alone in the flat, being at work. There was neither any loss of consciousness. There was only that dratted weakness on my left side. I tried to get some sleep, hoping that it would go away and at 1700h I heated a pair of burritos in the oven. It took a great deal of mental focus to get that to happen. I am not used to any part of my body ignoring me.

815417267f76f6f460a4a61f9db75fdb%3Ca%20class%3D%22ljuser%22%20href%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livejournal.com%2Fuserinfo.bml%3Fuser%3Dsalegamine%22%3E%3Cimg%20class%3D%22ljuser%22%20height%3D%2217%22%20alt%3D%22salegamine%22%20src%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livejournal.com%2Fimg%2Fuserinfo.gif%22%20width%3D%2217%22%20align%3D%20%22absmiddle%22%20border%3D%220%22%20%2F%3E%3C%2Fa%3E%3Ca%20class%3D%22ljuser%22%20href%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livejournal.com%2Fusers%2Fsalegamine%2F%22%3Esalegamine%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fspan%3E%20came%20home%20from%20work%20around%201800h%20and%20when%20she%20saw%20me%20she%20became%20frightened.%20According%20to%20her%2C%20the%20left%20side%20of%20my%20face%20was%20drooping%20and%20I%20was%20severely%20listing%20to%20the%20left.%20In%20the%20end%2C%20she%20called%20for%20the%20ambulance%20that%20took%20me%20to%20Nyon%20hospital.%20It%20was%20probably%20a%20wise%20decision.%20two%20liters%20of%20saline%20drip%20and%20lord%20knows%20how%20much%20oxygen%20later%20I%20began%20to%20come%20around.%20The%20doctor%20said%20that%20this%20was%20the%20normal%20evolution%20of%20a%20stroke%20event%2C%20that%20there%20was%20no%20doubt%20that%20I%20had%20a%20stroke%2C%20and%20that%20I%20was%20at336d5ebc5436534e61d16e63ddfca327risk%20for%20another%20one.%20Fortunately%2C%20it%20appears%20to%20be%20one%20of%20the%20thirty336d5ebc5436534e61d16e63ddfca327three%20percent%20that%20recovers%20completely.%20At%20the%20moment%2C%20other%20than%20being%20scared%20shitless%2C%20I%20appear%20to%20be%20okay%20and%20with%20all%20cognitive%20abilities%20intact.%0A%0AWe%20talked%20about%20my%20lack%20of%20health%20coverage%20in%20light%20of%20problems%20that%20I%20really%20need%20to%20attend%20to%2C%20type%20II%20diabetes%2C%20moderately%20high%20serum%20cholesterol%20readings%2C%20slightly%20on%20the%20high%20side%20blood%20pressure%20readings%2C%20and%20other%20health%20issues.%20I%20have%20to%20stop%20smoking%2C%20reduce%20caffeine%2C%20and%20a%20number%20of%20other%20things%20that%20put%20me%20into%20this%20risk%20corner.%20Somewhere%20in%20there%20is%20an%20excersize%20requirement%2C%20which%20might%20actually%20be%20possible%20here%20in%20Nyon.%0A%0AI%20also%20need%20to%20get%20a%20health%20plan%20where%20I%20can%20get%20regular%20doctor%20care.%20Hah%21%20If%20the%20American%20health%20and%20life%20insurance%20community%20was%20willing%20to%20completely%20eject%20me%20just%20because%20I%20was%20diagnosed%20with%20Type%20II%20Diabetes%2C%20can%20you%20imagine%20their%20response%20when%20hey%20find%20out%20that%20I%27ve%20actually%20had%20a%20stroke%20because%20of%20it%3F%20Nah%2C%20people%20like%20me%20reduce%20their%20margins%20too%20much.%20Had%20I%20been%20under%20regular%20doctor%27s%20care%20the%20chances%20of%20the%20stroke%20happening%20would%20have%20been%20substantially%20reduced.%3C%2Flj%3E%0A%3C%2Fpre%3E0fbd1776e1ad22c59a7080d35c7fd4db

Do you really think that Toyota, Nissan, or Mitsubishi will allow something like this to happen? Not a chance! We just found out one reason why Ford is losing sales! The thing is, GM is just as bad.

I thought that we had consumer protection laws that required ten years worth of parts? I guess that I was wrong.

Some one died in the hospital. This is a scandalous tragedy!

I know King/Harbor and it serves the seedier side of Los Angeles.

They might be better off by closing it, firing everyone, then remodel, re-equip, and re-staff it from scratch, not even keeping the management, which is undoubtedly at fault.

That’s Network Solutions, for those that don’t yet know. They are my primary RL ID email provider. It’s via POP3 access and it’s just been down AGAIN for over 10 hours! I really want to go with another email provider. The domain name can easily be transfered to DynDNS but I’m having trouble finding an email provider, preferably one in Europe.

BlueWin is already out since they have worse downtime than NetSol, as do most of the others. My renewal date is coming up fast (02Jun07) and unless I can find a better solution, I'll probably have to re-up with NetSol.  

Yes, I self-host more than one mail account on our own servers here, using hMailserver. This one is my main Real Life Mail ID. I need it to be up even if my servers are off-line (like when BlueWin FUBARs a dynamic IP address change). Otherwise, I would just host it here.

I'm looking for recommendations of rock-solid email providers.

1. 24×7 operation
2. 24×7 NOC
3. 99.99% uptime.
4. STABLE

Yeah, I know that you used to able to get this from almost any large ISP. Apparently, no more. Is the Internet devolving or am I just expecting too much these days. Competence would be nice. When I know more than the tier III (or tier I, depending on how you count these things, the dude that’s supposed to “know all”) tech support dude, I know that I’m in trouble.

It’s a Motorola K1, KAZR We’ll see how well it syncs when I finally get it. It has a bunch of features that I don’t need, like a camera, mp3 player, and the lot. Mostly, I just need a phone that syncs with a PIM. The rest is horse shit.This one does that using either Bluetooth or a USB cable. I can also get a bluetooth headset for it later.

One surprise, it runs Linux and Java. This means that it will be hackable in the future, by your friendly neighborhood Slamlander.