Advogato blog for casper

24 Sep 2002

Tue, 24 Sep 2002 16:10:41 GMT

another long gap between postings - mmm, not sure why that is - I think I just forget about things that don't remind me everyday - does that make sense? probably not!

gnome is looking pretty good atm, well I think it is. It's a funny one, I prefere it to MS anyday but there is much less to play with in Sun's gnome. Maybe that's a better way to have it - makes for a more productive environment - I remember the last job (windows house) where about 70% of time was spend writing docs, test specs, test plans, methodologies etc - how bloody boring was that. Get rid of that damn MS Word and get on with the job!!! No wonder the blody company went under - imagine having a revolutionary new technology with a large guaranteed market including lengthy maintenance contracts yet the company goes under!!! How's that for crappy management - yes Mr. Declan Kavanagh, I think you suck ass!!!!!

Oh yea, looks very like yours truly will be one of a number representing ireland at the World Alpine Ski Champs in St. Moritz in Switzerland - jaysus I need to get bigger faster..............!

8 Jul 2002

Mon, 8 Jul 2002 14:59:33 GMT

I haven't been very productive today - dunno why but i'm not very focused today. spent most of the day playing around with installing gnome - I should be concentrating on one build and getting stuck in. Well maybe I will now.

I started doing asp last week - yea, yea its microsoft - so what, I don't care cause it's interesting and pretty easy so far. I suppose it'll get more complex when we're doing db work with asp. Also started learning javascript - ok, ok so I should probably have done this ages ago - well I didn't.... but I am now - all part of my grand scheme to become a jack of all trades but master of none and thus hopefully become a more rounded test analyst - sound warped - well maybe it is but I wanna know something about everything - just enough to allow me to learn more if necessary.

finally, got some picture sent over from scotland of the scottish ski champs - oh sick do I feel right now.... VERY!!!!! Lovely sunny skys and white snowy mountains - great pics - wish I was back there now!

I hate the summer - roll on winter!

4 Jul 2002

Thu, 4 Jul 2002 10:06:55 GMT

Boo! It's been a couple of weeks - pure laziness I tell ya. Gnome got a bit hectic there for a wihile with the varying different releases - a bit quieter now which is cool - gives me some time to learn some javascript. As well as that I'm doing some asp stuff too.... sssshhhh, can't talk about micro....... sssshhhhh.

So not much on 'part from that but i really, really, really miss getting up in the morning and going skiing..... boohoo - i'm even dreaming of powder days.......

14 Jun 2002

Fri, 14 Jun 2002 17:05:49 GMT

crappy day today - rain mixed with sun - i hate that. one or the other then at least you know what to expect. physio as well today who told me i have a possible ruptured PCL - fantastic. and to top it all off i'm gonna be a loner on gnome test next week cuz the others are on holiers.......! well - time to get off me ass and head for the hills - cccccccccccccccccc'ya

13 Jun 2002

Thu, 13 Jun 2002 17:04:10 GMT

Dear diary... hehe - it's been while now. More thanks to my dumbass memory than anything else. Been quite busy over the last few months - lots happening on gnome, and some smaller spin-offs for me to do - abi & terminal performance - so its been busy, busy, busy. And solaris intel - poxy, poxy solaris intel..... i actually spent a whole saturday installing different build of gnome on intel and none of them really worked. Of course can I reporduce on later builds - f**k no!! But then lots more problems appear that will probably disappear in more later builds...... heh - suppose this is what makes it all interesting............

2 May 2002

Thu, 2 May 2002 14:51:55 GMT

wow - long time no post. testament to the backbreaking regime here at sun - no time, no time... hehe, yea right - I just plain forgot. Well, what to say - settled in to work after being away in the states - back into gnome, testing, logging and investigating and starting enjoy. In addition to this I managed a 4 day stint in scotland - did 3 ski races, made the qualification for the World Champs in Switzerland in 2003 and skied some seriously crazy stuff with some of the locals..... excellent.

Heading into summer now - more gnome with an early access planned, more skiing - dry slope in the UK. What a life....... later all

12 Mar 2002

Tue, 12 Mar 2002 15:18:05 GMT

back a week and it feels like i never left - ah well t'was nice while it lasted. and on to gnome - I was suprised at the poor quality of the gnome2.0 desktop (on solaris that is) - but then it looks to me like a fairly heafty re-write was undertaken for a lot of the apps.

on a brighter note - the weather seems to have picked up here - probably start raining now that i have said that - donkeys nuts to that!!! suns out so lets enjoy it while we can - maybe I'll go surfing in donegal this weekend.........!

4 Mar 2002

Mon, 4 Mar 2002 14:11:51 GMT

Dublin, Ireland (arrccggghhh)

I'm now posting from back home - arrived home from the US this morning and because I was so caught up in maximising the last of the snow before coming home I haven't posted since feb 18! It was the bomb, totally awesome - how else can it be described - the whole 2 months went by way too quick. Looking back I got some good training, some good races (and some bad ones) and had a totally amazing experience - you just can't beat skiing for fun - especially when travelling at 60mph+ on 2 200cm planks of wood and fiberglass - how cool is that - scary but cool! Well now its back to work, skiing on the dry slope (dendix) and trying to squeeze some races/time skiing in scotland before the snow melts.

Please, someone help - all I need is someone to pay for me to ski all year every year (a small thing to ask??) as I follow the snow from Europe/US to New Zealand........ anyone????

18 Feb 2002

Mon, 18 Feb 2002 22:45:07 GMT

soc's log, stardate 18/02/02, 17:45 local time!!!

Slip, slide, glide - right down to a poxed knee. Haven't posted for a while now thanks to the hectic schedule of training and racing!! ouch, cuz now me knee is in a pickle - took a tumble a couple of days back and the knee is kinda swollen and damn sore... missed a couple of races so that sucks. so now i'm churning out some lessons to the beginners at the local ski school (gotta keep active) while trying to stay off me skis as much as possible - sounds impossible but i'm having a good go at doing it anyway. up until then it was going good with some good results and some bad results (hey ya cant have it all) so now it looks like i'll be forced to head to the great hills of scotland to catch some final races before the summer - still chasing the dream (the worlds in 2003) before the body crumbles.

so thats the sceal - and what of it - mmmmmm, not much hey but i just thought i'd post cause i was bored shitting at home waiting for the swelling to drop. so tomorrow i head out to do another days teaching at the local ski school and then hopefully its back to training with a half day on wednesday and then back into it for a week before heading to boston for a day or two on the way back to the green, green fields of home!!!! ouch - reality check ahead - so thats gonna hurt - damn!!!!!

shout out to Gman in Oz - hope its going well!! keep it real amigo's -

28 Jan 2002

Mon, 28 Jan 2002 22:59:21 GMT

Today was a good day - Today the snow was good, the training was good and I was rippin' it all afternoon - jesus am I KNACKERED!!!!!.

Things going good - snow is holding up well despite high temps so the training is going well - races coming up in a week which are gonna be pretty important so its time to get real - lets rip it up and burn the white stuff -

shit gotta go cause me hours up - later and more to come.....