I’m not the biggest fan of Microsoft. I like them more than I like Hillary Clinton, but, honestly, that’s not saying much. That said, we migrated to Microsoft Exchange a while back, and I actually like the platform.  It integrates well with Active Directory, and it’s fairly easy to manage (once you get over the learning curve of figuring out the Microsoft way of naming things).

So, yeah, Microsoft got one right on the corporate email solution.

The problem I’ve had is that for months (6, maybe) all of the Microsoft documentation on Exchange references Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1.  The problem is that Service Pack 1 has not been available.  It’s a massive service pack (800MB) with major GUI changes (meaning they put a GUI where previously there wasn’t one).

So what do you do when you want to know about how to create/manage a public folder?  or grant “Send as” rights for one user on a separate mailbox?  You do the rational thing - you Google it.  And when Google takes you to the proper page, the Microsoft KB article tells you the GUI implementation of Service Pack 1.  What it doesn’t tell you is that you really have to run some ambiguous “cmdlet” (commandlet) in the Exchange Management Console.

Well, no more.  This week Microsoft got around to releasing Service Pack 1.  Let there be much rejoicing in the land.  I downloaded it - all 800MB of it - and I’m all ready to install it, now that I’ve actually got the file.

Now I’ll wait the standard 2-3 weeks after a Microsoft release before actually installing it.  If any of you fine folks find yourself in a situation where you are installing Microsoft Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1, let me know how it goes.

[For the record, this question has absolutely nothing to do with my wife.]

We (the guys at work) are looking for the definition of the phenomenon that occurs when the temperature inside your house stays the same, but the temperature outside your house decreases causing your wife to suddenly become cold (even though she’s still inside).

Example:  It’s 80 degrees outside, and your inside temperature is 68 degrees.  Your wife is fine.  You don’t change the thermostat, yet when it’s 45 degrees outside, your wife is cold.

Can anybody shed some light on this for us?  We’d hate to lose (even more) sleep over this issue.

I had this really weird dizzy/nausea thing going on yesterday, so I spent the majority of my day in bed with my head propped up just enough to see the TV.  Fortunately, Sundays are the best days for watching movies on TV.  I was thrilled to not be doomed to daytime TV talk shows.  I saw 4 movies yesterday, and for feeling so ‘blah,’ I’d say that’s quite the accomplishment.

First up was Mystic River with Sean Penn and Tim Robbins.  I’ve never been a huge Penn fan (for no real reason), and I’ve also been a pretty big anti-Robbins fan (for mostly political reasons), but the TV’s description of the film sounded good enough to watch, so I tried it.  Suffice it to say that while I still detest Tim Robbins, I may be the world’s newest Sean Penn fan.  Both actors did a great job in that movie.  Good acting, good story, good directing (Clint Eastwood).  It’s well worth your time.

Then I turned the channel to find Kingpin.  Yes, I know it’s a stupid movie, but it’s at least a little bit funny.  And it’s fun seeing Randy Quaid try to pass as being Amish.

Next up was a giant leap (in quality) forward to the 1985 comedy Spies Like Us, with Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd.  I slept a little during this movie (which is odd, because you’d think it’d be easier to sleep through Kingpin).

Note: The cast for both Kingpin and Spies Like Us included Vanessa Angel, who played Lisa on Weird Science.  Score 10 bonus points for you if you watched these movies and noticed that without consulting imdb.com.  And, yes, I collected those 10 points.

Finally, I completed my sick day with National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, quite possibly the best Christmas movie ever made.  This movie also stars Chevy Chase, who I saw in Spies Like Us, and Randy Quaid, who was in Kingpin, but you don’t get bonus points for knowing stuff that is common knowledge.

Dear lady at McDonald’s,

I am terribly sorry that I had to reprimand your child right in front of you.  I realize that I exposed your inability to train your child, but if you would teach the little brat how to behave in public, somebody else wouldn’t have to.

Sincerely,

The most recent person to reprimand your kid

————————-

Dear obnoxious bimbo at Aspen’s in The Avenue,

I’m sorry for assuming that you didn’t have the mental capacity to understand what I was saying to you.  I shouldn’t make assumptions about your intelligence simply because you are one of three pieces of eye candy paid to fill space and look pretty.

Sincerely,

The guy whose hat size matches your IQ.

Thanksgiving day was an adventure.  We did the usual go-stuff-your-face-with-as-much-food-as-you-can thing.  My uncle fried a turkey.  It was awesome.  My grandma made real banana pudding (like my great-grandma was famous for).  It was awesome.  We had a good time and lots of laughs.

I left around 3:30 to come back.  I drove to (almost) Augusta before I stopped for gas.  A lady comes over to me and says “Sir, your engine is smoking.”  There were 2 questions that hit my mind when she said that.  First, am I really old enough that a 20-something girl would call me “sir”?  Second, obviously, is why is my engine smoking?

I checked it out, and nothing was leaking, and  it didn’t appear to actually be overheating, so I drove about 10 miles and then stopped again.  All gages on the dash were reporting normal conditions, but I stopped anyway.  It was smoking again.  The reservoir for the radiator was low, but the radiator was fine.  I topped off the reservoir and double checked my oil level.  Another 30 miles down the road was the same story.  And about 45 miles down the road after that.

So I decided to stop in Conyers (barely into metro Atlanta on the east side) to check the levels again.  It wasn’t smoking.  No problems at all.  That’s odd.  So I drove home.  Still no smoking.  Ron’s confused.

If any of you have any idea what this problem might be, I’d love to hear it.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Here in Georgia, we don’t exactly have an abundant water supply.

What can be done to preserve water?  There’s the obvious…not watering the lawn, not washing the car, shorter showers, and following the “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” rule.  But what else?  What do you do to conserve water?

About a month ago, Chris pointed me to a cool Wordpress plugin that formats your site for the iPhone.  I didn’t immediately jump on this because I don’t have an iPhone (so it doesn’t directly impact my life) and because the iPhone has the best (by far) mobile browser available.

Today I finally got around to installing the plugin and setting it all up.  Very impressive.  You need the plugin file as well as a theme.  (You don’t actually activate the theme; you just put it in the Wordpress themes directory.)  So yeah, if you’ve got an iPhone, now you can read my rants much more easily.

You can get this (pretty awesome plugin) here from ContentRobot.com

We’ve got a cat.  She’s a good cat.  She’s a little high maintenance (diabetes), but she’s (usually) worth the effort.  Dinner time is her favorite time of day.

Usually we eat about 10-15 minutes after I get home from work, and she comes out from her royal hiding place to greet me when I get there.  Really, she’s just sucking up to make sure I know she still loves (to get food from) me.  It usually works.

She knows I’m the only one who will give her food, so she typically comes to visit me while we eat.  Usually I’ll give her a little meat from what I’m eating.  Last night was Chick-fil-a on the couch in front of the TV.  She was a little obnoxious about getting a bite of my chicken sandwich, so I didn’t give her any.  Plus, I was hungry.

After I finished my sandwich, I let her get up on the arm of the couch to see the plate.  Basically, I was doing it in a “see…you didn’t get anything because you were so annoying while I was eating” manner.  You’ve got to keep cats in their proper place.

She sniffed for a second and started tasting the leftover ketchup on the plate.  I asked my wife “are cats allowed to eat ketchup?” and she looked over just in time to see the cat tearing into that ketchup.  We laughed, and then I took the plate away from the cat.

She jumped down, and started doing that weird thing that cats do where they actually force up a hairball that was almost all the way through the digestive system.  Not good.

So I got up to grab her and put her in the kitchen (away from carpet), but she ran to the bedroom.  I caught up with her (a little too late) and we got her some water, and then I cleaned up the slimy ruddy mess.

Take my advice on this one.  It’s fun to watch a cat eat ketchup, but only if it’s not your cat.

Thanks to Arthur Alligood for the slap in the face I needed this week.

tomorrow makes so many promises
are they empty just like a politician’s
or will tomorrow keep its word
and we’ll realize in the morning
that this is the better life - we’re living it
and nothing do we lack, no nothing at all
a bigger house, more money in the bank
couldn’t add a thing to all we’ve got.

(That’s from the song “Far From Today” on Arthur’s CD “Under the Gray.”)

And if you’d like to sign up to slap Ron in the face, send me an email and we’ll see what we can work out.

I’ve wanted to post again, but this past week or so has been rather hectic. I thought this would be a good opportunity to spotlight some blogs that I’ve been keeping current with in my Google Reader list.

Fake Steve Jobs - Fake Steve Jobs is my new fake hero. If you enjoy technology, sarcasm, or absolute hilarity, you should check this one out.

Prayers For Blowouts - My (internet) friend Bryan started this one. It’s an interesting read crossing athletes and religion. Bryan’s a Red Sox fan (which should throw up red flags in your mind), but I promise you, he’s a good guy, and he’s got some good content worth reading.

Dear Mr. Wildmon - I found this one a couple weeks back. It’s open letters to Don Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association. It’s extremely sarcastic, and maybe a bit off-color at times, but it’s a fun read.

You Had Me at EHLO - Extremely geeky, but don’t try to be a Microsoft Exchange administrator without it. It’s the MS Exchange Team’s blog, and it’s very helpful. I would probably be the victim of a tragic suicide if it weren’t for this blog.

The Amazing Adventures of Overshare - My (internet) friend Brandy told me about this one. I’m not sure where she found it, but it’s a great blog about a coworker in an anonymous office. It’s good writing, and you probably work with somebody like Overshare.