On-Line Hermit (Reprise)

To my surprise, the downtown gym is undergoing some kind of renovation. The entire first floor has been completely routed except for the front desk. Needless to say, the hottie gym trainer had to spend all of her time downstairs in the main gym area to facilitate her training sessions. Baby was looking mighty fine as usual. That hottie gym trainer is something else, isn't she?

As you can imagine, I followed a hectic itinerary before returning to Slob Manor (read: rental housing). You can follow me on Twitter®. Really? No, not really. No Twitter® crap here. In fact, I have been successfully terminating many useless on-line accounts. Why risk a security breach? In fact, I am really trying to wind-down everything, although I have mixed feelings about the "blog." If there any changes to the latter, there will be advance notice.

Ubuntu Linux "Karmic Koala" (v9.10) is running fine on my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. I have placed a moratorium on system updates. Currently, there are quite a few updates in the queue. I will be switching to "Lucid Lynx" (v10.04 LTS) in three months, so there's no need to bother.

Civilization

The ridiculous routine that I call the "urban nomad kind-of-a-day" continues unabated. I have too much time to engage in retrospection. I've been looking back at my pathetic life and wondering why I wasted so much time engaged in foolery. Why wasn't I able to commit to the monk life-style from early on? Instead, I performed my own personal version of the Hegelian Dialectic for decades. In fact, all of humanity has been engaged in the Hegelian Dialectic since the beginning of "civilization."

From what I can tell, the construct of civilization is flawed. Hence, the perpetual battle between "Thesis" and "Antithesis." The designers of civilization expected the final result to be a stable "Synthesis," a kind of "New World Order." In the Modified Hegelian Dialectic, the final result is a chaotic "Synthesis," which attempts to approach "Gestalt." I began to understand the concept when I commenced reading Chris Hedges' book, "War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning," at the library. However, the book was too psychologically painful to continue reading, so I set it aside. Mind you, the book unintentionally supplements the controversial "Report from Iron Mountain."

War is not the only anomaly of civilization. There are languages, cultures, traditions, beliefs, social classes, religions, polity, and so forth which contribute to the grand societal diaspora. Where and when did humans go wrong? I simply do not know. Societies continue to remake themselves, only to be torn down again and again. Within the framework of civilization itself, there are intricacies that make no sense except to create division. Why bother with constructing vast societies if their internal components are too volatile to compress?

So, I switched to reading Wendy Kaminer's book, "Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and Perils of Piety." Seems to be an interesting commentary. Perhaps it will contribute to discussion of the Modified Hegelian Dialectic, eh?

Triage

I neglected to mention that I had a few minor social interactions yesterday. One of the few senior citizens who works out at the gym managed to introduce himself. Alex is the only person who takes to time to chat, probably because he is retired and in no hurry to be anywhere. I'm not sure of his ethnicity, but he visits France every six months. He has a son who lives there. He also has a son who lives here in Hawai'i. His accent is clearly not French, though. I also had a brief chat with Justin, one of the trainer (and a former student of mine at the Diploma Mill). He just turned 26 years old. From what he was telling me, he seems to be going through "Quarter-life Crisis." Finally, Mark was on the same bus in the afternoon. We had an interesting chat, although nothing new was discussed.

My visit to Hawai'i Kai was routine. Moms and I ate another greasy lunch at Zippy's. Later moms served, chocolate cake with Foremost® coffee ice cream.

In the last couple of days, I may have seemed to contradict myself in the "blog." On the one hand, I claim that there is currently an attempt to re-inflate the "serial bubble" economy. On the other hand, I stated that the rank-and-file have been robbed and abandoned. There is no contradiction. Consider the vast pyramidal financial structure of "American" society. The lowest levels of the pyramid are the rabble that are being abandoned. As the economy continues to collapse, victims from successively higher levels are subsumed by the "system."

There is concurrently an effort to save the upper levels of the pyramid by re-inflating the "serial bubble" economy. The first "bubble" in the stock market will happen only if the Dow approaches 20,000 or more. A stock market "bubble" is insufficient to sustain another fake boom, so the subsequent "bubble" must again occur in real estate. If the latter effort fails, then even more levels of the pyramid will be subsumed by the "system."

History tends to repeat itself because of the stupidity of the masses. The purpose of the "serial bubble" economy is to make people (those who are still solvent) feel "rich." Then, they will begin consuming and incurring debt to consume even more, whether it be useless crap or houses. Mind you, the next burst of the "bubble" will be even deeper and more protracted than the last one.

What is happening right now is normally called "triage." When either the empire's economy collapses or the symptoms are abated to stop the bloodletting, then the recovery will proceed without those who were decimated in the lower levels. The corporate sector of the empire is invoking contingencies that will reinstate a new status quo of infinite growth regardless of the casualties. That's why we keep hearing about "emerging markets." That kind of mumbo-jumbo is only meaningful for people with tremendous amounts of money and resources. The rest of us would do well to get out while we can.

Gestalt

The quality of the urban nomad routine is not improving. Rather, it is degenerating. Essentially, I have fulfilled what little purpose that I had for myself. Now, I am locked in a quagmire essentially created by the beasts of empire. Who knew that it would come to this?

What is really happening is a modification of the so-called "Hegelian Dialectic":

Thesis + Antithesis = Synthesis ==> Gestalt

The ol' lavahead, the urban nomad routine ... simply a microcosm of the aggregate dynamic processes at play in the grand theater (i.e, macrocosm). I really have no idea about what is going on anymore. I continue to read as many non-"mainstream" sources daily. Yet, there is a major incongruence between what is reported and what I actually observe. I have often touched on this matter in the "blog."

There is something strange going on in the empire, that's for sure. With a record number of its citizens incarcerated (2.3 million) or unemployed (30 million-plus), there is an alleged economic recovery in progress. The recovery is being facilitated even though the crash of the real estate "bubble" has yet to be curtailed. From what I can tell, there is something much larger and more nefarious than the "shadow economy" emerging. The moneychangers and powers-that-be have succeeded in removing the rank-and-file peons completely from the equation. The latter no longer exists, at least on paper. Or, maybe we've been buried alive under the tons of useless fiat currency produced by Ben "Handjob" Bernanke and the Fed.

What it amounts to is simply this: a good dosage of economic "shock therapy" à la Naomi Klein has been forced upon the masses. The rank-and-file peons were robbed blind and are now being left out to rot. The empire is moving on without them. There's just a matter of time before the soon-to-be scavengers will be pruned from the population using "compassionate" eugenics. One need only ponder the Modified Hegelian Dialectic to understand.

Angst

Last night, I succeeded in burning a one-hour audio CD with a selected Deep House Cat mix using GnomeBaker. I was able to play the CD using the CD player in my Nissan® Frontier truck while I drove to Kahala Mall this morning. Although GnomeBaker has received some bad reviews for being so antiquated, it completed the task at hand as opposed to the extremely troublesome Brasero. Doesn't functionality matter the most?

Well, I definitely enjoyed my two-hour visit at Barnes & Noble®. There's nothing comparable to sipping coffee and perusing the same old Linux magazines in the café. That's the kind of fun we have on library "furlough days."

After I returned from town on the bus, I drove all the way to Safeway® in Kuapa Kai, only to discover that the few items on my grocery list were out of stock. So, I had to drive to Foodland in Koko Marina and subject myself to the usual customer abuse. In a couple of weeks, the newly remodeled Foodland in the Aina Haina Shopping Center is supposed to reopen. Wheee!

Well, now that Ben "Handjob" Bernanke has been assured of his reappointment to chair the Fed, the stock market ticked upward. As long as "Handjob" is chairman, there will be free money (i.e., zero percent interest rate) available indefinitely. I still stand by my prognosis that the Fed intends to re-inflate the serial "bubble" economy. First, another equity "bubble" to restore the rank-and-file 401(k) and pension fund accounts in order to boost consumer confidence. Then, with the accompanying asset price inflation, the housing "bubble" should re-inflate. If the plan doesn't work, we'll all be in deep shit.

In the meantime, Obama gave his little "State of the Onion" speech in which he stated, "I won't quit." Quit what? His job? When did he start? Is he feeling some pressure? Perhaps he should use "Tricky Dick" Nixon's quote, "I'm not a crook," instead. Sheesh!

Power

When I departed Slob Manor (read: rental housing) this morning, I noticed that everything except the dilapidated rice cooker was gone from the stack of crap that I had put out yesterday for the bulk trash pick-up. The scavengers were at it again. I may put more stuff out tomorrow.

At the library, I completed the reading of Jim Marrs' book, "Rule By Secrecy." The final and most anticipated chapter concerning the "Ancient Mysteries" was somewhat disappointing. Marrs places heavy reliance upon the Sumerian tablets that were deciphered by Zechariah Sitchin. The main point is that the human race was allegedly created by the extraterrestrials through genetic manipulation. Human were bio-engineered to be slaves. To make a long story short, the extraterrestrials ended up establishing human civilization and specifically placed certain bloodlines in power. The latter bloodlines continue through modern times.

Compare the preceding concept to David Icke's thesis concerning the shape-shifting reptilian extraterrestrials (SSREs) as discussed in the "blog" of December 2nd of last year. Icke had also placed some loose reliance on the Sumerian tablets. However, the bloodlines in Icke's case are the SSREs themselves.

I am really at a loss to commit to either schools of thought. However, there is no question that ultimate power is consolidated within a small handful of families. I have tried to imagine myself as one of those privileged elite. Obviously, being a pauper severely limits my imagination. I can, however, envision what efforts must be taken to safeguard that power ... secrecy, nepotism, inbreeding. No option can be too secure, I suppose.

I am also not at all certain whether I can place much credence in the Sumarian tablets. There are no other alternatives, though, since humans have managed to destroy much of their legacy through wars and crusades. Vast libraries, books, parchments, scrolls ... all gone. And lost with them are the oral traditions and the "Ancient Mysteries." That is, of course, if we do not believe what both Marrs and Icke contend. Both authors seem to believe that the "Ancient Mysteries" have been protected and passed along through the upper echelons of secret societies. And, who comprises the upper echelon? The power elite (i.e., moneychangers and powers-that-be)!

Creation

Before I departed for Hawai'i Kai this morning, I discovered that half of the junk that I put outside for the bulk trash pick-up was gone. Apparently, scavengers made off with the loot. Well, I suppose that's much better than putting the crap in a landfill. Moms and I ate lunch at Panda Express®, by the way. Later, moms served Foremost® coffee and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Sometimes I wish that moms would get out of that religious cult that is her church. Fortunately, it's a passive cult at best. What I don't understand is how the entire cult spends so much time reading and studying the Scriptures, but yet none of them can identify any of the problems and anachronisms that I found in one simple reading. Then, there is the matter of the history of the cult, which has been tainted by its often eccentric leaders and its much publicized failures to predict the end times. I no longer read the religious literature that moms gives me. I peruse them quickly, just to note the repetitive nature of the subjects. The "society," as it calls itself, has been printing the same old thing over and over again for decades.

I am still a follower of the Creation paradigm. However, as I stated in the "blog" of August 15th and September 3rd of last year, the Creator is not the same entity as God (of Judaism, Christianity, Paulinity, and Islam). The trouble with discussing Creation is that everyone associates the term with the usual religious mumbo-jumbo. I am not at all certain whether the Creator is all-seeing, and all-knowing. I do not even know whether the Creator is able to transcend time. Empirically speaking, we can see the entire Creation as part of a learning curve. There is perfection in the life cycles on the planet, although there is no permanence. The entire physical universe was designed to exist for a finite period of time. Hence, physical lifeforms will follow suit. Such a limitation does not suggest imperfection. It's merely the intent of design.

I have many more thoughts on the subject, but I will elucidate them. No one reads the "blog" anyway, so I would simply be wasting my time. I must briefly mention that I have also been re-evaluating my conception of the "good versus evil" paradigm. I am attempting to conceptualize a new framework based upon:

Thesis + Antithesis = Synthesis

Yes, I know that the model is known as the so-called "Hegelian Dialectic" (although Hegel is most likely not the original source). The fact of the matter is that humans were created with the ability to perform both "good" and "evil" acts, the basis of "free will." Had the Creator insisted upon perfection, then only "good" acts would have been chosen as the default. We are, of course, assuming that we have been given a moral compass to determine what is "good" and what is "evil." For truly, there exists morally reprehensible acts.

What exactly was the Creator's motive for allowing us to guide our own behavior? Is that part of the Creator's own learning curve? Or, does the composite of "good" and "evil" create "synthesis"? There are no apparent answers. The Creator has neither chosen to communicate with us or intervene in our affairs. Instead, we have been given only a finite amount of time to accomplish whatever we wish, and then we simply vanish. The fact that there is no immortal soul should give us a hint about what is our purpose for being.

When I returned to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) late this afternoon, I noticed that the bulk trash pick-up never happened. In fact, the entire adjoining neighborhood had trash lining the streets in anticipation. So, I found more crap to stack up on the existing pile.

For dinner, I purchased a bottle of Won Bok Kim Chee from Foodland. I ate almost half of the bottle. I can't say that it was much of a dinner, but it was delicious none-the-less.

Evolution

The highlight of the day was the extended perusal of the hottie gym trainer at the gym. Baby had two clients back-to-back, so she spent a lot of time in the weight room. Baby was looking hot, but we knew that already.

Which brings me to the topic of evolution, the theory of evolution to be exact. Take the hottie gym trainer, for example. There is no possible way that baby could have "evolved" from the ape world. One would think that, after my extensive religious research, I would be more eager to accept the "scientific" explanation. Let me just give a brief example to explain why I am not a believer in the theory. The reason that many life forms have eyes is because the latter "evolved" is what we are told. In other words, a sightless creature somehow found its internal organism desiring to see what it had never seen before. Neither the creature or its individual cells knew what it was missing, although it probably bumped into many different inanimate objects, which caused much pain. Therefore, over time, the organism somehow developed eyes. Mind you, it had never seen anything before, but it developed eyes to see. The scientific explanation is always the same ... it "evolved." Doesn't the phrase, "it evolved," sound almost like, "shit happens"? That's exactly why the theory of evolution requires as much or more faith than religion. End of story.

Incidentally, I reluctantly made the decision to clean the second-floor fridge and the sink in the kitchen downstairs at Slob Manor (read: rental housing). Both were so filthy that I was extremely afraid of contracting some kind of fatal disease by mere proximity. I also moved a lot of useless junk and decrepit small electric appliances outside for the bulk trash pick-up next week.

Finally, I have removed Brasero again from my Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" installation. I also uninstalled Rythmbox and replaced it with Exaile. Rhythmbox has a Brasero dependency. In place of Brasero, I now have antiquated GnomeBaker in its place.

Brevity Redux

I have made another milestone decision ... if the Route 1 bus to town is unbearably crowded, I will alight at the Foodland on Beretania Street and purchase a cup of coffee there. Then, I will wait for the next bus.

I am now vacillating about the decision to offer my Palm® TX a reprieve from divestiture. I have really developed a disdain for techno-gadgetry. I am not particularly fond of all of the cables, accessories, and battery chargers that must be kept to maintain gadgets. And, I am really annoyed by the continual need to charge a gadget's battery. For the latter reason alone, I may divest the Palm® TX as early as next week.

With the new policy of brevity (see "blog" of January 17th), I find that there is nothing else to discuss.

Goosestep to a Fascist Beat (Reprise)

Last night, I attempted to copy the new Deep House Cat mix to the SD® Card for my Palm® TX. The simple operation froze my entire Gnome® desktop including the mouse cursor. After hard rebooting Ubuntu, and attempting the operation again, I discovered that the freeze actually only lasted about 30 seconds. I was able to copy the file, or so I thought. Curiously, the SD® Card unmounted itself during the process. Upon playback, I discovered that only a fraction of the file had transferred.

I was quite perturbed because my Palm® TX was rendered useless at that point. I can no longer access the Slob Manor (read: rental housing) wireless network because the Palm® TX does not even recognize the signal. And, without the capability to copy files to the SD® Card, my Palm® TX will no longer be able to serve as a music player.

So, while moms and I was making the rounds in Hawai'i Kai this morning in my Nissan® Frontier truck, I found a box to pack the Palm® TX and all of its associated components. Yes, I was ready to divest it. Moms and I ate lunch at Zippy's, by the way. Later, moms served Foremost® coffee and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

This evening, I attempted to copy the file again three times, although the SD® Card did not unmount itself. On the final attempt, the file successfully copied over. I then noticed that all activity on the desktop became jerky in motion. Even after unmounting the SD® Card, there was no change. I had to restart my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. Well, at least my Palm® TX has earned a reprieve from divestiture.

Well, another day in the Fascist empire, another goosestep toward repression. The Supremos have really outdid themselves this time, haven't they? Corporations are now entitled to the same rights of speech and political advocacy as individuals. Can you say, "Fascism"? Of course, there is a slight chance that Ben Bernanke will be removed from his post at the Fed, although the token act is merely a farce. More "good cop, bad cop" stuff, I'm afraid. We, the rank-and-file, are privy to that kind of cheesy theater when the moneychangers and powers-that-be decide that they must bamboozle us. In other words, if Big Ben goes down, then he will be the "sacrificial lamb." Oh, I am already beginning to yawn from the same old histrionics. Can't these fools come up with some new programming? Heck, they have enough money. Or, perhaps they just believe that we are too stupid to know the difference. On second thought, maybe they are correct in the latter assumption.

Iron Mountain

At the library, I have been reading Jim Marrs' book, "Rule by Secrecy." It's really a revisionist view of world history more than anything else. And, that's what makes it so interesting. I am not "reality shopping." I am searching for the truth. So far, no one has offered anything truthful. Rather, there's been a lot of doublespeak and a lot of contradictions. Nothing made sense until I began reading Marrs' book. I am sure that a lot of people would just assume that I am falling for "conspiracy theories." The fact of the matter is that there is a conspiracy. However, the conspiracy is so institutionalized that no one notices it.

Take the "Report from Iron Mountain," for example. Widely accepted as a hoax perpetrated by one Leonard Lewin, the document has essentially been written off. However, a serious read of the so-called "study" reveals that there is nothing satirical about the piece. In fact, the "study" tends to explain the incursions into Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen quite well. There are more answers in that document than what's coming from the lips of the empire's politicians or the so-called "mainstream news" pundits (term used loosely). And, to be honest, the answer to the question concerning the reason why the empire is amassing upward of 16,000 military personnel in Haiti could be in its pages as well.

I have found no new applications to install on my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. Frankly, all I need is a Web browser and a spreadsheet application. I have removed pretty much everything else as chronicled in the "blog." Perhaps I am weaning myself of the computer and, in effect, weaning myself of technology.

Simple Haircut

After another hard day of urban nomad-ness, I rode the bus back to Slob Manor (read: rental housing). The rains commenced a few minutes after I boarded. By the time the bus cruised through Aina Haina, a downpour was ensuing. Between the time that I alighted the bus and crossed Kalani'ana'ole Highway, I was almost completely drenched. As I meandered along on the sidewalk, the rain kept beating down upon me. Then, I noticed one car in the swarm ahead swerve about three feet into the shoulder where a large puddle of water was sitting. All I could see was the huge wave of mud and crap before it hit. The riders in the vehicle were laughing their asses off. Within a few seconds, another car did the same thing. Again, I was able to observe the passengers in hysterics. Had the morons stopped, I would have committed mass genocide.

Assholes and asswipes ... that's what "Americans" are good at being. In fact, I must say that "Americans" excel at the art. And, why not? Every facet of "American" culture aims to bring out the inner asshole. Actually, that's an insult to the rectum, which serves a useful function.

The empire's citizens are arrogant and haughty, a psychotic byproduct of the military-industrial complex. Bringing suffering and pain to the helpless is one of the empire's noteworthy traits. The diseased mentality is so rampant that even the empire's individual citizens are prone to the same kind of sadistic behavior.

Aside from that, I managed to restore my monk haircut at the Institute of Hair Design. The Asian guy did a really good job. The instructors always check the students work, and also "clean up" any problems. I listened as Leo, one of the instructors, gave the Asian guy a few tips. A simple haircut is not really that simple.

I was not able to remove Samba from my Ubuntu installation because of the tight integration with Gnome®, although I was able to remove the other useless applications safely including Assistive Technologies (i.e., AT SPI). Removing all of the applications and utilities that I have mentioned did not reclaim much hard drive space. However, the added bloat has been trimmed back. I am also considering the removal of Compiz-Fusion. And, finally, I discovered that there is something called the Preload daemon that enables larger applications to load faster by using a RAM cache. It can be installed via Synaptic Package Manager. However, since I am trimming the bloat, I do not need the latter.

On-line Hermit

My visit to Hawai'i Kai was deferred yesterday because of the holiday. Of particluar note, moms served ahi sashimi, tofu, futomaki sushi, kim chee, sea salad, fresh vegetables, and rice for lunch. For dessert, moms served apple pie with Foremost® coffee ice cream. That's a feast to remember.

Last night, I uninstalled Computer Janitor, remote desktop viewer (i.e., Vino and Vinagre), and terminal server client from my Ubuntu-based system. Later, I will also remove Transmission and, hopefully, Samba. I do not want anything on the computer that I do not use, especially "connectivity" applications. Once again, I am going through a dress rehearsal for the future upgrade to Ubuntu "Lucid Lynx" (v10.04 LTS).

I am also sending out e-mail to terminate the remaining useless on-line accounts that I had foolishly acquired over time. I will still spend a lot of time on the Net. However, I will be an extremely passive user.

In the next day or so, I will be perusing the catalog of thousands of Linux applications to find something useful to install on my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. Any kind of "social networking" crap is out. My on-line presence will be similar to that of a hermit.

Reading Between the Lines

There must be more to life than just Ubuntu Linux, I muttered to myself as I sipped coffee and perused the same old Linux magazines in the Barnes & Noble® Café in Kahala Mall this morning. However, for the ol' lavahead, there isn't anything else. He is an urban nomad. Nothing more, nothing less.

Ubtuntu "Karmic Koala" (V9.10) continues to give me grief, albeit a minor variety. The Network Manager applet icon continues to disappear. Gwget often initiates in a semi-frozen state, although the wget backend is functioning. Aside from that, everything is operational including headphones audio. This is the first time that my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer has been fully feature-operational under Linux.

Later, I happened to find a fix for the Network Manager applet. I must run the command:

nm-applet --sm-disable

from the command line. However, the command is only active with the terminal window open. As for Gwget, there apparently is a new version available, but it's not in the Ubuntu repositories.

On a side note, about a week after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the empire dispatched about 10,000 military troops to allegedly help maintain order. The civilian population has been in desperate need of food, water, and medical aid for the whole week. An estimated 200,000 lives may have been lost. Yet, the empire is sending troops. Why? One has to understand the rationale of the empire's choices. Haiti has always been a "guinea pig" for the empire's nefarious experiments, first with "shock doctrine" economics and later sponsoring evil dictatorships. A few pundits have asserted that the empire is currently attempting a military takeover of Haiti. I would rather suggest that the empire is staging another experiment. this time a dress rehearsal for the upcoming civil unrest within the empire itself. Obviously, if the Haitians had ample food, water, medical assistance, and more help in saving survivors, then they would not be prone to anarchy. When all aid is rationed, there is a propensity for chaos. The situation on the ground in Haiti is far worse than the New Orleans theater during Hurricane Katrina, which makes the disaster perfect for military exercises. Scary, isn't it?

Brevity

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-Sunday was eclipsed by a microsecond glimpse of the hottie gym trainer. Unfortunately, not much can be discerned in a microsecond. The routine was the same as always, with the exception that I did not stop off at Kahala Mall this afternoon. No details are necessary.

This evening I took a break from the computer nerd crap and watched the movie, "The Rock," starring Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage on the tiny tube that I had set up in the Slob Manor (read: rental housing) living room. By the way, that's the first mainstream movie that I have viewed in a long time. Sadly, the movie appeared on one of the cable channels, so I had to tolerate the myriad advertisements. I must admit, though, that it was a nice break.

Later, I removed Ubuntu One from my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. The synchronization was a mess, so I mummified it. I'm better off using a USB flash drive. I also reinstalled Brasero for future testing.

According to the Feedjit® Live Feed, there have no legitimate visitors to the "blog" in months. Can you believe it? I'm not even sure why I update it anymore. Well, what I will probably do, then, is to make my postings even more terse. From this point forward, let us assume that I am following:

• the usual urban nomad routine and itinerary, or
• the usual Hawai'i Kai itinerary when I visit moms, or
• the usual Sunday itinerary complete with spottings of the hottie gym trainer, or
• the alternate itinerary on days that the library is closed, and
• the ritualistic urban nomad kind-of-an-evening.

If not, I may or may not provide minor details. We already know the drill. I will still continue to post something daily, even if the latter only consists of one word or one sentence.

"Karmic Koala" Chaos

Last night, I decided to compromise and remove Evolution, Empathy, and Brasero from Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (v9.10) using the Ubuntu Software Center (future replacement of Synaptic Package Manager). I was able to remove the applications, although some files still remain because of dependency issues. I also uninstalled gimp, Mono and iBus. I also noticed that there are some major font issues that need to be resolved.

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day started off with a cup of Seattle's Best® coffee from Safeway®. The carafe of Colombian coffee was empty, so I had to ask one of the employees at the deli counter if more could be made. The employee was not to happy to be disturbed. I might as well have been trying to pull out the bitch's teeth. What is with these losers? Aren't they even happy that they have a wage slave job?

I rode the Route 4 bus (with my cup of coffee) to the library. When I alighted at the us stop, I happened to notice Kawaiaha'o Church across the street. With so much time on my hands, I toured the church and the surrounding grounds.

At the library, I have been reading the book, "Rule by Secrecy: Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids," by Jim Marrs. The book miraculously reappeared a couple of days ago. I may or may not be commenting about the book.

After an unexciting workout at the gym, I was able to board a Route 1 bus heading to Hawai'i Kai. I have no idea why the buses heading to Hawai'i Kai are always full. I usually ride the Route 1 bus that ends at Kahala Mall and transfer to the Hawai'i Kai bus somewhere along the way. The Kahala Mall bus is never full. Yet, almost all of the passengers on the Hawai'i Kai bus alight before or at Kahala Mall. Does that even make sense? Really, that's just another example of the kinds of morons who make up the rank-and-file.

When I powered up my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer this evening, I noticed that the Network Manager applet was missing from the upper Gnome® panel. I was connected to the Net via Ethernet, but there was nothing to verify the latter. I restarted the computer, and the applet was restored. Strange things.

I can also understand why the Ubuntu developers have decided to go with the Plymouth GDM. The Xsplash GDM does not meet their goals. When the bootloader finishes, there is one flicker dues to a mode change. After that, Xsplash displays the first of two splash screen. There is a microsecond black screen and a system cursor flashing in the upper left corner. A second splash screen, which is animated, appears subsequently. The log-in screen comes next. After logging in, the screen goes black with a couple of verbose commands displayed in the upper left corner until it all fades into the Gnome® desktop. The process also takes much longer than the anticipated ten-second boot for "Lucid Lynx."

Speaking of "Lucid Lynx," the second Alpha version was released a few days ago. I have confined myself to read other people's opinions rather than download and burn the ISO file to CD-ROM. I have used "Karmic Koala" as a test case for configuration purposes, so I am now ready for the installation of the new version.

Well, another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening was dedicated to computer nerd crap again. What can I say? I just hope that I am now done with the troubleshooting so that I can go back to the old routine. Sheesh!

Mission Accomplished

Another visit to Hawai'i Kai went well. On my way there this morning in my Nissan® Frontier truck, I stopped off at the only petrol station with an air pump that has a pressure guage built in. That's the Koko's Island Chevron® in Koko Marina. I checked the pressure in all four tires. All were slightly above 30 psi. The required tire pressure is 35 psi. So, I'm not exactly sure why the warning light popped up.

Moms and I ate lunch at Zippy's, then shopped at Foodland. Later, moms served Foremost® coffee and vanilla ice cream for dessert. I kept moms company until 1:30pm. The rest of the day? You know the drill.

When I finally arrived at Slob Manor (read: rental housing), I was eager to finish up the last few tweaks of Ubuntu Linux "Karmic Koala" (v9.10). Everything is operational, as I mentioned in a late update last night. There were a few quirks. I had to insert the USB flash drive twice before Ubuntu mounted it. The sound was also incredibly loud for any setting of the software volume control. I had to turn down the volume using the knob on the front panel of my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. I did not test to see whether the headphone jack was functional. Video playback using the xVideo extension no longer causes any Xorg and Gnome® freezing.

I spent most of the evening tweaking Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" on and off while I performed my usual on-line tasks. I uninstalled as many of the unneeded applications as possible. However, I did not uninstall Evolution, Empathy, and Brasero because of a dependency problem. Mind you, those applications are the ones that I desperately want to be rid. I can partially remove them, but that's not satisfactory to me.

As for the crazy volume control problem, I searched the Ubuntu Forums and found a few threads with proposed solutions. I tried the simplest one first, which was to access the Alsa mixer from the command line. I attempted to set the sliders, but it was a useless process. I ended up lowering the sound output to the point of inaudibility. So, rather than follow idiotic advice, I intuitively installed the Pulse Audio volume control. I was able to properly adjust the sound levels after that.

Heck, that was a lot of work for an operating system that I will be replacing in four months. Well, that's the kind of fun we have around here in my squalid room. In any case, we'll be returning to normal programming until the the next Ubuntu release. Sheesh!

More Ubuntu Fun

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day sans coffee was lethargic and leisurely. Absolutely nothing new to report about the urban nomad itinerary, so what's left? No, don't expect anything new insofar as the urban nomad kind-of-an-evening is concerned. Same ol' shit.

Well, I was quite impressed by the Mandriva One 2010 "distro," so much so that I played around with the "Live CD" version for about 30 minutes last night. I did happen to observe that the "right click" option on the trackpad of my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer was not enabled. So far, only Ubuntu has the option enabled, most likely because the X.org configuration is done automatically (i.e., xorg.conf file is not used).

Mandriva already utilizes the Plymouth GDM. Every facet of the operating system worked flawlessly except for the trackpad issue that I described. The Gnome® desktop was familiar, although I was not too keen on the available blue-only themes. Isn't almost every other operating system using blue for a theme color? Then, again, I am not too fond of the Ubuntu brown theme color.

The Ubuntu "Lucid Lynx" Alpha2 was released today. I have decided to not download the ISO because there are to be three Alpha releases in total, then two Beta releases before the release candidate (RC). I will now wait for one of the Beta releases in March. So, what will I do in the meantime?

I logged off briefly and booted the "Live CD" of Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (v9.10) to review it more fully. From what I can tell, there are no problems. So, I will be installing it later this evening. Obviously, the process will take a while because I will have to store any residual files onto a USB flash drive. Then, after the initial install, I will have uninstall of the useless applications. Then, I will have install useful ones. There are over 140 updates in the queue as well. If any problems occur ... well, let's just say that I will be using Mandriva tomorrow. Sheesh!

Update:I began the Ubuntu installation at 8:30pm and was still at it at 10:30pm. So far, everything is working fine. There's still lots of uninstalling, installing, tweaking, and updating to do.

Bringing Out the Inner Nerd

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day was thwarted by yet another library "furlough day." Since "furlough day" will be a recurring event, the alternative plan is to spend the morning at Barnes & Nobles® in Kahala Mall. And, that's exactly what I did. I perused the usual bunch of Linux magazines in the café with a cup of coffee in hand.

At 11am, I rode the bus to town, specifically to perform my usual workout at the gym. Afterward, I rode the bus back to Kahala Mall, where I loitered until 4pm. Well, at least my Nissan® Frontier truck benefited from a whole day in shaded parking. Returning to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) was obviously unexciting. All that's left is another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening.

Speaking of my Nissan® Frontier truck, it has another slow leak in one of the tires. No doubt, there is another nail lodged in the tire. Obviously, vandals are at play. I attempted to locate the tire, but the air compressors at most petrol stations do not have built-in air pressure gauges. I have a cheap air pressure gauge, but it is essentially useless. Every reading is random garbage.

Well, after reading some good reviews about Mandriva Linux One 2010, I decided to download the ISO of the Gnome® version. I will burn it to CD-ROM later. I have been waffling on whether I should attempt the install of Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (v9.10). I am very apprehensive about doing so because there have been a lot of problems reported in the Ubuntu Forums. Although I ran the "Live CD" with no apparent problems, I cannot guarantee that the installation will go smoothly. Thus, I need a viable back-up solution. As I mentioned yesterday, reinstalling Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" (v8.04 LTS) is out of the question.

I am still looking forward to Ubuntu "Lucid Lynx" (v10.04 LTS). There's a lot of innovation in that release including the use of the Plymouth GDM, the extensive use of Upstart in place of the SysV init service, and the total removal of HAL (hardware abstraction layer) daemon. The Ubuntu developers are attempting to achieve a ten-second boot time. That's enough to bring out the inner nerd in anyone, eh?

Distractions (Reprise)

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day ... no coffee time. Aside from that, the rest of the day was genuine urban nomad. No details are forthcoming. As for the evening, can you say, "Another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening"?

So, what shall we discuss tonight? The failing economy? The corrupt Fascist empire? The moneychangers and powers-that-be? How about none of the above? Well, that only leaves the subject of computers. I have discovered that Fedora will be releasing a new version of its Linux-based operating system just two days before Ubuntu releases its final version of "Lucid Lynx." Aside from fairly short release cycles, Fedora also has a few quirks that are not in line with my own needs. Thus, I have decided to stay on with Ubuntu. So, where do I file the Fedora CD-ROM that I burned? In the trash can, of course.

In addition, I will be avoiding the more complicated "distros" that require command line installations until I acquire another computer. To see what I mean, visit the Arch or FreeBSD sites and read the installation instructions. A bit much, isn't it?

The game plan for my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer is to defer a new operating system installation as long as possible. Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" (v8.04 LTS) has 15 more months of support. However, I do not want to find myself in the situation where I will have reinstall "Hardy Heron" again after some kind of failed new installation. There have been hundreds of updates since its release, and I absolutely refuse to install those updates again.

Anyway, to understand the scope of the problem in choosing a Linux distribution, take a quick look at the DistroWatch site. There are new "distros" being added all the time. For exciting distractions, peruse the DistroWatch Weekly that is also on the site.

Oh Well

Another visit to Hawai'i Kai found moms and and I making the rounds in my faithful Nissan® Frontier truck. For lunch, moms served hot dogs and fresh vegetables. For dessert, Foremost® coffee ice cream, of course. I kept moms company until 1:30pm. The rest of the afternoon followed the usual urban nomad routine. No details are necessary.

For dinner, I purchased an overpriced ($3 on sale) bottle of Odwalla® Strawberry & Banana Smoothie and a quarter-pound of bulk nutty carob energy squares (at $9.25 per pound) from Foodland. A delicious, but non-filling meal. Expensive, too. Next time, I may just settle for a bottle of Kim Chee.

When I returned to Slob Manor (read: rental housing), I did not have much to do since I ate my so-called "dinner" before I even left Hawai'i Kai. So, I cleaned up the big-ass Fisher® boom box that has been laying around and collecting dust in the second floor common area. Then, I put it downstairs on the rarely-used dining table to supplement the "entertainment center" that I set up yesterday on a side table. Surprisingly, the decrepit boom box is still functional. Thus, it will not be slated for the bulk trash pick-up at the end of the month. Does anyone remember that Fisher® was once a respectable name in the high-end of audio equipment?

Every night, I spend a few hours reading hella on-line articles from the alternative media. I cannot believe how fatigued I become after such sessions. In fact, I have already stated explicitly that I will rarely comment on many currents issues. Only one thought really stands out, that is, I just cannot believe what a pathetic joke our lives have become. That's why I really enjoy the writings of Chris Hedges. He, like the ol' lavahead, is a socialist. Of course, my resonance with his thinking goes beyond socialism. Hedges' latest column for the Truthdig site titled, "Wall Street Will Be Back for More," really spells out exactly my own feelings and thoughts. Believe me, it's a worthy read.

Frankly, though, I am tired of all of that crap. Life has simply been reduced to meaninglessness by humans, and there's no way to turn it around anymore. That's why I have shut down, or at least my mind has shut down. I am unable to reconcile the idea of returning to wage slavery. I would rather use up all of my savings and end up in destitution. All I want is my freedom. I want to find value in something other than money and useless possessions. No, I don't need a babe because I have nothing in common with babes. Think about it. What babe would hook up with a guy who thinks like the author of the "blog"? Thus, I must derive my own version of "meaning."

And, that's exactly why I am attempting to make the most of my time when I visit with moms. That's all I have. My family, my ancestry, my roots. For now, this is kind of a touchy subject with me. I will have more to say in the near future, as time is really short.

The only hobby or interest that I seem to endlessly enjoy, in good times or bad, is computer nerd-ism. I have, in fact, seriously contemplated the purchase of a netbook to augment my computer fun. However, I just cannot justify the $300-plus investment in hardware that is marginal. Yet, maybe that is all I really need. I would only use it to experiment with Linux and other non-commercial operating systems. Obviously, we are looking at increasing my passive activities. I do have more active interests, but I am now curtailed by the lack of health insurance. That's the reason why I do nothing exciting. I only sit in my squalid room or follow the nauseatingly mundane urban nomad routine. Oh well.

Sunday for Nerds

Late last night, I attempted to run the "Live CD" of Haiku. The LCD screen of my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer began mildly flickering after Haiku booted. Obviously, the refresh rate was set at an odd frequency. There was a lot of lag in the system, so I finally mummified the experience after three minutes. I certainly did not want to damage my LCD screen. The Haiku CD-ROM? It's now in the trash can where it belongs. Looks as though I will have to wait until at least the first Beta release.

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-Sunday followed the formulaic Sunday routine (including coffee time in the Makai Market at Ala Moana Center) except that I did not stop off at Kahala Mall this afternoon. There was some kind of "Sidewalk Sale" going on all weekend. Obviously, that not a good time to be there.

At the gym, the hottie gym trainer was on duty for an additional hour because of a second appointment. And, baby spent a considerable amount of time in the weight room. Baby was looking mighty fine.

Dinner was courtesy Foodland in Ala Moana, which consisted of Spicy Chicken Wings with rice. I brought the meal back to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) and ate it there. Actually, dinner was fairly early at 3pm this afternoon. The reason? I was famished after a rigorous workout at the gym as well espying the hottie gym trainer.

I performed my usual chores (e.g., laundry and so forth). I also finally removed the crappy little tube that was sitting on one of the pathetic pieces of furniture in my squalid room. I placed it downstairs along with a couple of useless computer speakers. I cleaned everything and set it up like an "entertainment center," although the speakers are non-functional. When I hooked up the tube to the cable outlet, I discovered that the piece of crap actually works. That's good. I had originally slated the aforementioned junk to be put outside for the monthly bulk trash pick-up. I placed a note next to my creation which implied that the landlord provided the "entertainment center" for our use. Baha! Ha! Ha! Haaaa!

I am still looking for more Linux "distros" to test run in "Live CD" mode. However, I am not too keen about downloading the ISO files and wearing out my CD/DVD burner. So, I opted to spend a good portion of the urban nomad kind-of-an-evening reading various articles on the Dedoimedo site. Very interesting stuff.

Incidentally, there really are only about five or six true Linux base "distros." All other "distros" are derived from the base. Ubuntu actually has roots in Debian. However, Ubuntu has attracted such a large following that it is often considered a base "distro." With that said, I was going to download the Alpha ISO of "Lucid Lynx" (v10.04 LTS). However, the second Alpha is coming out in just 4 days. I may download that one or wait for the first Beta release in March.

In anticipation of networking problems, I have found that wicd may be the answer. Of course, the ridiculous part of the solution is that I need to be able to add the wicd repository to the package manager and download it. How would that be possible without an active connection in the first place?

Alas, I have gotten carried away with all of the computer nerd stuff. Too much distraction. I need to return to the mundane roots of the "blog," where I detail the same ol' shit every day. Really? No, not really. There are other pressing issues that I have been putting off, most of which deal with the exodus. Perhaps I should just dump my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer along with Linux and just purchase a cheap netbook with the horrid Windows® XP on it. That would put an end to the computer nerd crap, eh?

Distractions

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day commenced with the good intention of being devoid of caffeine. However, I arrived in town at 9:25am this morning, over 30 minutes before the library opened. I did not ride through Waikiki and Ala Moana. Delicious Seattle's Best® coffee was courtesy Safeway®.

I spent my time reading computer nerd books because the book that I commenced reading yesterday was gone. There are now five books on my incomplete list. Jake Shimabukuro made an appearance at 11:30am for a short 30-minute performance. A lot of people showed up. The performance, albeit short, was excellent. There is no way to describe Shimabukuro's skill in playing the ukulele.

The rest of the day was pure urban nomad. No details are necessary. Another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening began with a test run of Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (v9.10). I was quite impressed with the "Live CD" session. This particular version will be the only one running Xsplash, which was a replacement for Usplash. The experience was flicker free. However, the point is moot since Xpslash will now be replaced by Plymouth. Overall, there appeared to be no big differences from Fedora "Constantine" (v12.0) aside from the use of SELinux and YUM package manager.

Networking (both Ethernet and wireless) appeared to be functioning fine in both Fedora and Ubuntu, at least in "Live CD" mode. The Network Manager applet was identical in both "distros." Curiously, when I disabled wireless, I could no longer enable it again. In Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" (v8.04 LTS), I can switch wireless on and off repeatedly. Thus, I am wondering whether networking will continue to function after an install, or will it immediately stop working as what happened with Ubuntu "Intrepid Ibex" (v8.10)?

Well, so much for the computer nerd fun, eh? I have not tried the "Live CD" of Haiku because it is an Alpha release. From what I am to understand, many years may be required for development before a true release candidate (RC) appears. In the meantime, I will have to settle for the crazy world of Linux. As you may have already guessed, a newer version of a "distro" does not guarantee stability. And, unlike many of the computer nerds, I only have one computer. If the potential operating system disables the computer, then I will be in deep shit.

Of course, wasting time on downloading and running "Live CD" versions of Linux is a good distraction from the day-to-day crisis of survival. I am now using over $1,500 per month from savings that earn basically nothing in interest or dividends. I should be seriously looking at a return to wage slavery, but what could I possibly do?

And, I already have the strange feeling that another stock market "bubble" is in the works. The game plan is to inflate the "bubble" to ignite the "serial bubble" economy again. In other words, the next target is another "bubble" in the devastated housing market. Asset price inflation is the key to restoring a false sense of wealth and confidence in the economy. That's about all that will bring back the insane days of rabid consumer spending. My friends, consumerism is whole crux of the empire's economy. Nothing more, nothing less. The Fed and the Treasury have no other alternatives. The old stable Post-WWII economy is long gone. It's never coming back. That all went out the door with "globalization."

The latter is what we start the year 2010 with. There really are no prospects for new jobs unless the empire's Fascist government creates useless work programs. Then, there's all the talk about rebuilding the nation's infrastructure. Why rebuild all of the roads and bridges in the wake of Peak Oil? Yes, petrol prices are rising again for only two possible reasons: casino speculation on commodities or Peak Oil oscillations (or both). As I've stated in the "blog" previously, I only hope that the moneychangers and powers-that-be can squeeze out one more big "bubble," just long enough for me to liquidate everything and "get out of Babylon."

Even if the fools could squeeze out several more "bubbles," each subsequent bursting will be even more worse than the previous one. In the end, the situation will become extremely volatile ... and deadly. Eventually, even the comatose consumer automatons will break away from the rank-and-file in total social upheaval. I don't want to be around when that happens. In the meantime, which Linux "distro" should I choose?

Fanfare of Noise

Another visit to Hawai'i Kai found moms, me, and my Nissan® Frontier truck in Koko Marina for more of the same. Lunch was courtesy Yummy's Korean BBQ. Later, moms served pumpkin pie with Foremost® coffee ice cream. I kept moms company until 2pm.

The rest of the day was formulaic urban nomad. I was really fatigued because of sleep deprivation. The Indian guy apparently has a new daily nocturnal routine. He arrives back at Slob Manor (read: rental housing) at 7pm or so. Then, he takes a nap until 11:30pm. He wakes up, makes a lot of noise, and then departs for destinations unknown. He returns at about 1:30am with another fanfare of noise. I try to get to sleep by 11pm. Once I am disturbed, I cannot fall back asleep again.

Another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening found the ol' lavahead busily downloading ... not more hurdy-gurdy "torrents"? No, he has downloaded the Fedora "distro" ISO which will be burned to CD later this evening. A couple of days ago, I claimed that pretty much all Linux "distros" are the same. Upon further research, though, the latter appears to be untrue. From what I can tell, the main difference lies in the way the Linux kernel is compiled, specifically the patches and additional code provided by the developers of a specific "distro." For example, both Fedora and Ubuntu use Pulse Audio, but apparently the Fedora implementation is much more stable.

General Noriega Redux

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day was seen to completion without a drop of coffee. The routine was the same as always. No details are necessary. Heck, is the "blog" even necessary?

At the library, I completed reading Richard Posner's book, "A Failure of Capitalism." I have commenced reading the book, "Ad Nauseam: A Survival Guide to American Consumer Culture." As long as no one checks out the book, I should be able to complete reading it in a day or so.

The day passed quickly, and now I find that another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening awaits at Slob Manor (read: rental housing). What is on the agenda, pray tell? Obviously, nothing important. I burned the Haiku and Ubuntu ISO images to CD-ROM, although I have not run either in "Live CD" mode yet. What am I waiting for? I have no idea.

By the way, the boil that was situated along my spine has somehow disappeared. There appears to be two small pimples remaining. Very odd. I should also mention that I have been using a Japanese nylon scrub towel when I take a shower at the gym. Moms had given me the scrub towel a long time ago. I used it off and on, then stored it away for no particular reason. I discovered it again when I was on one of my routine divestiture hunts. To make a long story short, I scrub everywhere including my face with the coarse towel. What I have been observing is quite phenomenal. A lot of the ugly facial growths on the face of stone are disappearing. Perhaps I will be able to dispense with the General Noriega look once and for all. The hideous black "old man" spots on my shoulders have also been clearing up, albeit slowly. Even skin tags have been clearing up. I am assuming that a lot of the poisonous substances in my system (due to poisonous food and toxic life-style choices) have been brewing to the skin's surface. Without proper cleaning, the toxins fester into ugly growths. I believe that moms purchased the nylon scrub towel at Longs®. I will provide more information in the "blog" later.

An astute observer may have noticed that I am once again curbing my coffee consumption. Yes, I am doing so for economic and health considerations. Mind you, I really enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning. However, I was taken aback by a thread in the David Icke Forums about the proper pH in our bodies. What is really strange is that I have not been able to locate the thread again. Apparently, our bodies should be more alkaline than acidic in order to sustain a high level of immunity to various diseases (with overall pH being determined by what we eat or drink). Of course, more research is necessary. However, better safe than sorry, eh?

Computer Mumbo-Jumbo

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day began with an early morning dash to town on the bus. I arrived at 9:20am. The library, however, was not open. So, I walked to Safeway® and purchased a cup of Seattle's Best® coffee for old times' sake. I arrived at the library shortly after it opened.

I have been reading Richard Posner's book, "A Failure of Capitalism: The Crisis of '08 and the Descent into Depression." Posner actually takes a pragmatic view of the current financial crisis. Pretty much everyone, according to Posner, is at fault. And, he is quick to point out that all motivation, including greed, can be considered "rational." However, there is quite a bit of information to be gleaned from the treatise, some of which is not readily apparent. I will be analyzing the information in order to modify the urban nomad survival strategy.

The rest of the day was classic urban nomad. No details are necessary. I was back at Slob Manor (read: rental housing) at the usual time of 5pm. Another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening awaits.

By the way, I have had an increasing number of run-ins with morons daily. I am dealing with the "me first" mentality, which really is rooted in both ignorance and narcissism. Add myriads of those fools into an overcrowded environment and the result is a powderkeg ready to explode. I need not detail any of the incidents. Just know that I have resurrected Lou's School of Etiquette.

My search for a new computer operating system continues. I am downloading Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (v9.10) as we speak. I am not going to install it, but I will run it as a "Live CD" to get an idea of what the upcoming "Lucid Lynx" (v10.04 LTS) will be like. Out of all of the other Linux "distros," I decided that Fedora might be a good alternative. However, upon closer scrutiny, I realized that Linux "distros" are pretty much the same. There may be a different package manager, but the packages themselves are essentially identical.

I am not sure why I am obsessed with all of the computer mumbo-jumbo. I use only a handful of applications. The rest, I simply uninstall. I have even disabled all desktop effects except for window animations. Heck, maybe all I need is a netbook after all. Sheesh!

An Hour Gained

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day bites the dust. Absolutely nothing new to report. I will mention that I skipped out on coffee time at Ala Moana Center and headed straight to town this morning. I also made my appearance at the gym an hour earlier than usual. I then departed for Slob Manor (read: rental housing) an hour earlier. Ann happened to be riding on the same bus, so I chatted with her briefly.

Arriving a little after 4pm at the Manor of Slobs gave me additional time to perform my benign chores at a leisurely pace. I also enjoyed a leisurely panini dinner. Another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening awaits.

Last night, I downloaded the Haiku Alpha ISO file. I have yet to burn the ISO to a CD. Since it is an Alpha version, I have no plans to install it. However, I am planning to download and burn the ISO files of various flavors of Linux as well as non-Linux flavors (e.g., FreeBSD, OpenSolaris). I am just not certain whether I want to stick with Ubuntu for much longer. The only ISO files that I will download must contain a "Live CD" option. I don't want to go through the heartbreak of non-functional installations.

Upon further investigation, I discovered that the non-Linux flavors may present a major problem in the form of non-existent hardware drivers. Application software availability could also be a problem. Thus, I will nix any plans to download those "distros."

Fall of Babylon

Another visit to Hawai'i Kai found moms and I making the usual rounds in my Nissan® Frontier truck. You know the drill. Lunch was courtesy Panda Express®. Later, moms served Foremost® coffee ice cream for dessert. I kept moms company until 2pm.

Subsequently, I followed the usual urban nomad Hawai'i Kai itinerary. I am sure that most of us know quite well what the latter entails. The only deviation was a quick jaunt to Radio Shack® to purchase a Gigaware® CD-R 50-pack for $7 on sale.

Yes, I realize that I gave away quite a few blank CD-R disks within the past year. Stupidly, I thought that I had no use for them since I had switched to the DVD format for my vast hurdy-gurdy library. I did not foresee a time when Ubuntu would refuse to send me free CD upgrades. So, rather than purchase individual CD-R disks (at the ridiculous price of $1 each), I went "hog wild" and purchased the big-ass 50-pack.

Speaking of the vast hurdy-gurdy library, I have been wondering why I managed to amass such a huge DVD library made up of downloaded "torrents." The homemade DVDs simply sit in the cheap $5 Universal Voyager® case (made in China) that I purchased at Ross®. Each homemade DVD can hold about twelve 30-minute scenes. With 27 such DVDs currently in the library, the word "overkill" would be an understatement. Is the hurdy-gurdy library slated for a second round of divestitures? Only time will tell.

Incidentally, I have been using the word "torrent" improperly just to keep things simple. A "torrent" is, in actuality, a small file used by the tracker's host site to manage connections for a particular file that is being downloaded and shared.

There are more important issues aside from the vast hurdy-gurdy library and chokin' da chicken. There's something not quite right about what's going on these days. To make a long story short, I believe that the secular Apocalypse is at our doorstep, most likely in the form of major wars exploding in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. The moneychangers and powers-that-be are doing everything in their power to fuel the fire. One has to ask, "Why?"

On a strange note, I discovered that I have another big boil growing atop my central spine. That is almost the exact location of a previous boil of a few years ago. There must be a lot of poisonous substances building up in my body, most likely the result of my transient and debased life-style. Could that crappy Spam® Musubi from Foodland that I ate for dinner be implicated? I am, of course, lodged in a densely populated island society. The crowding and congestion is very similar to a tumorous growth. In such unnatural living conditions, all inhabitants will face a brutal social and physiological malignancy. I am now exhibiting one of the symptoms, that is, the poison within my body is oozing outward. That's simply a warning sign of bigger problems ahead. The message is quite clear: "Get out of Babylon!"

Muffins & Tidbits

An astute observer may have noticed that, in the "blog" of late, I have failed to comment about anything of relevance. Instead, I have reverted to the mundane synopsis of my daily itinerary. Boring as that may be, the content remains essentially tepid and harmless. The turning point for the "blog" was when I concluded the massive religious and cosmological research last year. Now, everything is simply pointless. Or, should I say, meaningless.

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-Sunday ... back to normal again. There was only one deviation from my usual routine. I did not stop off at Kahala Mall this afternoon. Neither did I ride the bus through Ala Moana and Waikiki. Instead, I returned to Slob Manor (read: rental housing), arriving at 3pm. I thought that I could rest for a bit. However, I had my chores to perform. Before I knew it, another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening had commenced. Alas, no rest for the weary.

Was the hottie gym trainer at the gym? Yes, and baby was looking mighty fine. I caught a microsecond glimpse of baby when I arrived at the gym. Later, baby walked through the weight room just after going off-duty. Yikes!

On a side note, I happened to stop by Longs® in town after my workout at the gym. For some reason, I was able to find the "Peaches 'n Creme" flavor of Granny's® Gourmet Muffins. My favorite! At a $1.29 each, the price is 40 cents less than at the ABC Store.

Yesterday, I neglected to mention that the "condotel" owner's association has decided to lower the maintenance fee by five percent. Whoa! Does that even begin to make up for the 37 percent increase over the last two years? I think not. Well, anyway, the reduction amounts to about $13 per month. Wheee!

Lessons in Redundancy (Reprise)

I was sitting in the Barnes & Noble® Café in Kahala Mall, sipping coffee and perusing a few Linux magazines at 9am this morning. My Nissan® Frontier truck was in a secluded and shaded parking stall. Sounds almost like yesterday's "blog," doesn't it?

I departed for town on the bus at 11am. When I arrived there, I checked my mailbox at the Post Office. Lots of mail. The "condotel" unit was $550 short of breaking even. The proxy for the Board of Directors elections for "condotel" owners' association also included a curious form to vote on a new "rent collection" policy from units that are not in the hotel rental pool and are in arrears with the condo maintenance fee. I am beginning to suspect that several units are in foreclosure. What else would merit such a policy? I also received a short letter from Capital Pacific Group. My claim has been submitted (see the "blog" of July 31st of last year for details), and I should know within six months if the settlement comes through.

I checked in at the gym and locked up my gym bag. Then, I sat outside and ate my brunch (i.e., Quaker® Granola). Afterwards, I performed my usual workout in a leisurely fashion.

I was back at Kahala Mall by 3pm. With nothing else better to do, I sat outside the Apple® Store and watched the myriad consumers walking to and fro. As usual, I looked like a homeless guy. In fact, I happened to notice that I was the only one who looked like a homeless guy. At 4:20pm, I decided that I had enough of that crap. So, I drove back to Slob Manor (read: rental housing).

Oh, the Manor of Slobs was so depressing (and filthy). Within minutes, I was outta there. I drove my Nissan® Frontier truck to Koko Marina. My sole purpose was to find something edible for dinner at Foodland of all places. I ended up with a banana and a hot meal (local-style bento) consisting of Kalua Pig and rice. The meal was both greasy and delicious.

No other relevent details about the rest of the day and evening are necessary. Just know that the common cold has now breached the 21-day mark. I am still gagging and choking on phlegm and spittle randomly. Sheesh!

New Year's Day 2010

My Nissan® Frontier truck and I arrived at Kahala Mall at 9am this morning. I spent six hours at the mall. Yes, that's six damned hours! I did absolutely nothing except wander around aimlessly. Or, I sat down on a variety of benches at different sections of the mall. I drank two cups of coffee, one from Starbucks® and another from the Barnes & Noble® Café. The were quite a few people there given that only a few stores were open. I personally visited Radio Shack®, Longs®, Macy's®, and Whole Foods®. I even walked to Times Market to look around. I had contemplated a ride to town on the bus to check my mailbox. However, I was too fatigued to follow through with the plan.

When I finally became disillusioned with the banality of my benign activity, I decided to drive back to Slob Manor (read: rental housing). However, I stopped off at the Aina Haina Shopping Center for no particular reason. None of the stores were open. So, I drove to Safeway® in Kuapa Kai. Did the thought dawn upon me that I was wasting precious petrol? Yes, but I didn't seem too flustered at the time.

Once at Safeway®, I purchased a banana, a bagel, and a slice of apple pie. When I arrived back at Slob Manor, I consumed all of the aforementioned items. Then, I ate the last of the Hormel® Compleats® microwavable meals for the New Year's Day extravaganza. The Roast Beef meal was extremely marginal when compared to the Roast Turkey meal that I ate for the Saturnalia extravaganza. Another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening awaits.

Earlier, I was tempted to purchase a blank CD-ROM in order to burn the ISO of Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" onto it. My plan was to run it as a "Live CD" and peruse the new features. However, I came to realize that my benign life-style is the cause of such foolish temptations. I just need to wait five more months for the release of "Lucid Lynx."

Last night, I was up past midnight because of the noise of the New Year's Eve celebration. Even amidst a so-called "recession," there were record sales of fireworks. I have no idea where people are getting the money for fireworks, cigarettes, cheap booze, as well as expensive Saturnalia gifts. Anyway, the smoke was so thick at midnight that visibility was only about a hundred feet or so. I was already choking and gagging from the residual of the common cold. The smoke only exacerbated the situation.

I attempted to compile the final net worth report for last year, but I was locked out of the Bank of Hawai'i mortgage site. So, I will have to wait until the mortgage statement arrives at the end of the month. I used an approximate amount to obtain a "ballpark" figure. I am also going to remove the depreciation of my Nissan® Frontier truck. Depreciation should not be included until the sale of asset in question.