Alas, it is the final day of my vacation, and running close to the end of the day at that...

I've not had a real vacation. Ever. Well, at least since I've been working. The couple of times that I've left the state since I started working were just weekend journeys, and both had to do with other people: a wedding, and a going-away party. I don't even know what I'd do if I really had a vacation.

Yes, the past 10 days were spent here, in our house. I went out a few days, I got a lot of crap done that has been plaguing me, and I've gotten a lot of sleep. I'm in a good mood, I feel great, and I'm actually looking forward to going back to work.

I almost imagine that I'll have this Peter-like look (Peter - from Office Space) on my face when I head back... Like nothing bothers me anymore. We'll just have to see how long that lasts.

And maybe... just maybe... I'll start thinking about what I'd do with a planned vacation.

Not only was the 25th the last day I posted anything in my blog about my vacation, it's also the day that Turtle & Jackie brought Cadence Chloe Roling into the world...

Day 4 of my un-planned vacation.

Yesterday was jam packed with stuff I've been meaning to get around to doing: sleeping. Okay, it wasn't just sleeping. I did a lot of chore-like things (trash, dishes, cleaning, walking the cat, emptying the litterbox, etc.) and two things I really have been putting off... I'm getting my car stereo fixed, and DSL.

I take my car to Magnolia HiFi, where I got the stereo, to ask if they can do repairs or outsource them (basically, can I get the deck removed here and reinstalled here when it's all good?). They have their own in-store repair center, and I guess I just assumed that it wouldn't take long. They take the deck, give me the invoice, and say it'll be ready in about two weeks. Two weeks. Well, okay then. I guess listening to silence for two weeks is better than classical music... at a reasonable volume

I've been trying to get DSL since October. First, Earthlink couldn't do it because Qwest said I couldn't do it. Yet. Then, Earthlink couldn't do it because they hadn't been released the lines from Qwest, even though Qwest said that the lines were now ready for DSL. Months go by, and one day, Earthlink's site says I can get DSL. This is like, March.

So, I try to sign up, and the orderform... right after the form that checked for service availability... says I can't get it. WTF?? I call their sales department, and speak to some twit who says I can get the service, but it's going to cost $50 to send me a DSL modem and filters and welcome package - even though I already have a DSL modem and filters from the last time I had DSL. Apparently this charge cannot be waived (even by a supervisor), so I thank them, and hang up.

A couple weeks ago, I noticed the online form was more receptive. There were even lots of specials being run. Half price for 6 months. No equipment, setup/transfer, or activation fees. Sweet. I sign up. Then on the last page, the confirmation, they've sprung a $150 professional installation fee. I click back a few times... FREE (self-installation)**. My brow furrows. I blink several times. I look for whatever pearls of wisdom could be behind footnote number two.

There is no footnote number two. Again with the furrow and blinking.

So, yesterday I tried again, to the same result, and then called their sales dept again. With all the offers, I could care less if they're going to send me a new modem and filters, since it's free. I just wasn't going to pay for it. I really just wanted to know why the form wanted to charge me $150. Amanda didn't know. Amanda didn't charge me $150. In fact, the whole thing was free... but I have to wait 5-10 days for Qwest to fuck with my phonelines.

So, in the meantime... here I am. On dialup.

Today is the 2nd day of my vacation.

I didn't really plan on taking a vacation, but since I've not taken much time off of work in the past year and a half, I had acrued more vacation time than is really good to have laying around...

That and I've started getting really pissy and short at work. Nothing quite like some time off to cool you down.

Well, I better get back to doing nothing.

I don't remember what I was going to post, but wow do I fucking hate the new site-design of blogger.

It's way too... dumbed down.

Today is Mothers' Day. Which means we get to re-enact last week's fiasco all over again.

I imagine there will be just as much embarassment. First I forget my Mom's birthday, then I'm a week early for Mothers' Day... Kill me.

Yesterday was not Mothers' Day.

I won't even go into detail.

Social Networking...

Okay, so why do we find social networking interesting? I mean, after all, I've been part of a few and all of them have left a kind of blah feeling in my mouth. This got me thinking: why do we do it?

First of all, I'm not an outgoing social creature. I enjoy time with friends and all, but I don't place myself in social situations all willy-nilly. I like my alone time as I'm sure quite a few other people do, and I, for one, seem to need quite a bit of it since work, in and of itself, is a fairly social experience.

After time pondering it, I decided rather than to try to answer the question (the only answer I could think of off hand was sex), I would go over the social networks I've been part of, and their pros and cons.

ICQ. Some of you might be thinking that ICQ, or MSN Messenger, or AIM, chatrooms, MUDs, etc., don't count. Well, I think they do. Anything that lets people get together and share information that is somewhat searchable... that's a social network. Pros: It's pretty extensive as most people are on ICQ, that I know anyway. Cons: Most people don't provide many details, so searching is okay, but fairly worthless. You have to get ICQ software or some hoaky third party app just to really get into the network.

Classmates. I almost can't believe I'm mentioning this one. Pros: Keep up with those jackasses from H.S. At least the ones savvy enough to enter stuff after being sucker enough to join in the first place. Browsing is nice, for those suckers who come back and update their stuff. (OHS '93, I'm talking to you.) Cons: FUCKING STOP IT WITH THE SPAM ALREADY!!!

Sixdegrees. The premise here was that everyone in the network would be connected within 6 people. Pros: The premise, the interface, the entire site fuckin rocked. It was colorful. It was interesting. The searches were excellent. Notice everything I've said is in the past tense? Cons: 6D couldn't stay afloat when the dotcoms got flushed... but they're going to try a relaunch. If they keep the old data then 6D might not really have a con by itself. The one problem with this network was that people started folding degrees. One person would search for people 5 or 6 degrees from them, and then make them friends. This instantly doubled the smaller degrees and seemed to cause a lot of inbreeding. If you only keep people who are really truly connected to you in your first degree, that would be fine. Dammit, play by the rules, even if they're not written...

Orkut. There was a lot of hype here. I think the fact that it is in affiliation with Google makes it fairly high profile. Pros: Seems exclusive that to get in, you must be invited. You have 2-degree separation (friends, and friends-of-friends), which is nice, and you can browse thru your friends friends friends... Cons: Searching is crap. One would think that affiliated with Google, you could search for "the" in someone's "ideal match" entry, or any other tiny detail, and it wouldn't be a problem. Also, what's the point? There really doesn't seem to be any interactivity after the first couple days of use.

Breedster. Remember when I said I was excited about being a bug? Yep. Pros: It's a game. It takes virtually no time to do anything - move, eat, poop, scrog - and gives you purposeful times away from it for you to regain energy and digest stuff, and for your offspring to join up. Novel premise. Also, adding diseases, mutations, and other features to keep people - er, bugs - on their toes. Cons: The social networking isn't really a strong feature. It's hard to find any information on anyone, without possibly asking. No pictures, no required information (except first name, which most people consider username). Actually, some people might find those all to be perks too. Very, very limited searching.

Friends, sex, and a sense of belonging. Those are my answers. Email me at my brand-spanking new GMail account to let me know what you think about social networks. (Okay, web-bots, sniff this one and start spamming the fuck outta me!)