I don't have anything mind-blowing to share, but I have been busy with a lot of random things.

At work we're still working on this phat rails project. It's a support application for an even bigger project. Most recently we cobbled together an image server that serves images via Tomcat (which is what the primary application is server through) using an HTTP request. Why did we do this? Because Apache mod_rewrite is not our idea of fun. The rails app takes the images and thumbifies them in real time using RMagick (rails ImageMagick). I'll then use a lightbox plugin to show the full image. Yay.

I also have a handful of websites for clients for my "side gig." Most of them are PHP, which I decided that I am done with. That's probably part of the reason that I am also done with Perl. PHP just leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you know. It's like that rancid grease they use to cook your fries. The fries may taste good at first, but in the end they are really really really bad for you. That's PHP.

So I'm working on moving these sites to Dreamhost where I can happily serve them in Rails. It's slow-going, but you pick up some good tips with these sorts of things. These sites don't have a lot of complicated stuff going on in them, so it's been a good opportunity to get back to the basics with the MVC stuff.

I also just discovered last night that Network Solutions (the host) makes it really difficult to transfer a domain away from them. You cannot unlock the domain in the control panel if you are "just" the admin or tech contact for the domain. F that. Games like that may move Network Solutions into the realm of CI Host as the Most Bastard Host Company Ever. Probably not, though. CI Host were actually thieves. I got out of that deal thanks to Citibank stopping payment on some old charges. Seriously - they are crooks.

I'm also trying to find some freelance graphic artists in my area that won't cost a lot of dollars for some site design.

I did an MS 150 ride last weekend -- I rode my bicycle 150 miles in 2 days.

We're about to redo our backyard.

Good times all around....

I recently upgraded from Tiger to Leopard (the newest Mac OS). The upgrade went VERY smoothly. I chose the basic "upgrade" path rather than the "archive and install" bloat or "scorched earth" start over again. I did this because I do web development on my Mac, and I didn't want to reinstall all that stuff. Yes - I know, most (all?) of it is in /usr/local, but still.

Leopard ships with Apache2 rather than the Apache 1.x version that was in Tiger. This is great, except that Apache hates me.

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I posted a few weeks ago about the troubles I had with capistrano and CVS. I got the project converted from CVS to Subversion, but the versioning was all jacked up. No worries - I'll start with version 1 in svn.

Then we got busy working on the app.

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I have to thank someone very special for the reference: Haf-Haf. Those are long a's, btw -- not to be suggestive of a diminutive person.

So I took a departure from reality to discuss reality TV the other day. I have another departure to make. This balances things out, too, methinks.

I stumbled across this show on Discovery channel a few years ago. It was a Lazy Sunday, and like any good person who pretends to be smart roll through Discovery, National Geographic, TLC, CNN.

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I am training for another MS 150 Bike Tour. This is a fundraiser for the Multiple Sclerosis society. I ride in honor of my father-in-law who was diagnosed several years ago.

This will be my 4th ride. I have to admit that my training is not as fervent as it has been in years past. Life gets busy, and you have to make choices. I really love riding my bike. A lot. I LOVE my bike. I feel guilty missing so much time with the kids, though. My yard also suffers greatly.

I have done well with my fundraising in the past, which suprised me at first. The very first time I did it I made the Top 100 list -- I was the #53 fundraiser of the whole lot). I had never done any fundraising to speak of, so I didn't really know what I was doing.

I picked a different MS 150 to ride in, which was in a different time of the year. Last year I made the Top 100 for that one! Whoa.

This year I will get to ride with a special number, which is pretty cool.

I'm not sure if I will ride again next year. I may take a break. We'll see. For now it's time to get gerared up. That pun was intended.

Here is my fundraising link if you feel inclined to make a donation. Any amount is appreciated. http://www.ms150.org/edon.cfm?id=218793