Still Running Kubuntu

Yep, still running it after all these years (20.10 now).  Well, I went over to Fedora for a while, ran straight up Debian for a bit, then back to Fedora, and now back to Kubuntu.  Mainly it depends on which one will run on my laptop.  I Think I've run just about every version they've put out since those early days.

I'm running Brave for a browser, BlueMail and Thunderbird as email clients, because that crappy kmail and associated apps are just too freaking buggy.  I had more trouble just trying to read email, or keep email with that thing than it was worth.

I use KeepassXC for my password DB, and I really like it.  Of course I still use BibleTime and BlueLetterBible for Bible Study along with the books I have online and in print.

I have switched a lot of things off Google, such as email.  Moving that to mailbox.org (which also means I moved my cloud disk storage to there).  I'll probably save off everything from this blogspot location, and move it somewhere else as well.

I've been studying up on Python to do some things at work, and its OK.  I find it deficient in at least one major area, no "switch - case" or "case" (as it's known in Korn shell) ability.  you have to pretty much write it all from scratch yourself.  I'm sure someone has written a module to do this somewhere, but I haven't found it.

I wrote an Errlog manager script for AIX that will check the 2nd line for the date field, and if it's older than 10 minutes (as I have it setup now) it'll build an email to the sys admin group of the last 10 entries, and then on a particular day of the month it'll clear off any entries older than 40 days.

Another one was a Zabbix LLD (Low Level Discovery) script which reports Logical Volume info (such as VG and LV names) which the default discovery rule is deficient in.  Not sure why they don't have that included by default.   This can be important if you name vgs and lvs differently based on their purpose, etc. and want to filter out specific names or just include specific names.  Of course I had to return that info in JSON format..   It's working rather well.

Well, 'nuff of that.  The next post will be about why I left the Southern Baptist Convention once and for all . . . . 

In Christ I stand, apart I fall

Many people live miserable Christian lives simply because they do not stand in Christ.  Jesus said, "Abide in me." and "apart from me ye can do nothing".  I found both to be true.  I was reading Tony Evan's book, "Kingdom Men" (I think it's called), and in it he describes the fact that we were meant to be great.  I remember attending a Bill Gothard seminar a long time back, and he talked about being a diamond.  How that every time we walked contrary to God and grieved the Spirit some part of that diamond got chipped off.  It was just a way to describe how we hinder God's work in us, and how we become less than we should be because of sin.
I wanted my kids to be great.  I didn't want to raise drones.  I want them to be CEOs not "nobody knows".  I know a good many people who have worked in factories, and assembly lines.  I have grown to love them all.  My son became a Power Sports technician, I guess it's in the genes to be a mechanic/carpenter/builder.  Many of them do so because God has called them to do something else and like me, they need to earn a living.  They are being great at something that pays nothing, and earning a living the best way they can.  But, you and I both know people who create the "Drone Worker" persona.  They have little to no initiative, are not self starters, and if they are not specifically told to do it, and don't think they have to, they won't.
The difference between CEO's and the stereotypical Drone worker is this:  CEOs look for opportunities, the others wait for instructions.  CEOs knock and look for open doors, the others have to be told where they are.  CEOs make life happen, the others wait for it to happen to them.
How does this relate to Scripture?  Jesus wanted His people to all be CEOs.  If you read the instructions in the Sermon on the mount you will find hidden gems for leadership, and life.  For example, The instructions to "go the extra mile".  What does it mean?  Don't do just the required minimum.  In other words, just because the Bible doesn't explicitly say that you have to, doesn't give you an excuse not to.

Christmas come Christmas go

Well, what did you find under the tree?  My kids got enough money from all the different folks who gave them money to buy a WII.  If I'd known these things were so much fun I would have had one a long time back.  Right now we just have the basic sports game that comes with it.  But I've found I'm pretty good at Boxing, but I stink at bowling.  Not surprising, 'cause I'm not that good at bowling.  My only complaint is that it seems the game doesn't quite keep up with the remote, and the golf game seems off a little.  But, it's just a game.


I decided to buy a window mount for my DROID, which I'll probably put on tomorrow afternoon.

Jingle Bells, to you too buddy!

Hehehehe.  I couldn't help it.  I'm not exactly a Jingle Bells kinda guy.

Well, Christmas time has rolled around on us once again.  You know, I'm not nearly as big a fan of Christmas since I've had to start paying for it.  However, I have been the Beneficiary of a wonderful surprise.

Seeking and Getting Help

Ok, I've talked about the Keys to Prayer, the Foundations to prayer and all that kind of thing.  Well, this isn't exactly in that line or series of thoughts, but kind of related.  I've had to both provide and seek help while building / remodeling houses, Concrete forming, plumbing, Dry walling, Working on Cars, and Working on Computers (both hardware and Software).  I'm not good at the dry wall part at all, I think it's the one area I'm pretty safe from ever having to provide too much help.  :-D  The process for figuring out a problem on Computers, Cars, and Construction is pretty much the same.  You start at the beginning and keep asking questions, checking the process and getting answers until you find the part not right.  Sometimes in this process, especially with Computers, you have to seek help elsewhere. 

Spiritual Endeavors Part 2b - Foundations of prayer

We've covered the keys to prayer, so now we're going to cover the foundations of prayer, and yea even later the attitudes of prayer. (You know like thankfulness, etc.) Foundations are that upon which all the other things are built. I used to be in construction, building and remodeling homes, and even spent some time, concrete forming. They all start the same, first you dig down to rock, preferably bedrock, then, you form up "footers". Footers are either pillars of concrete, or the base layer of cinder blocks filled with concrete. Either way, its the main part of the foundation upon which you build the whole house. These truths from God's Word are the principles upon which all of praying hangs. Now, the keys we covered first because the person who cares about getting it right will cover these practically without even thinking!  When your heart wants to be with God, you'll get these right.

Google - Chrome - Chromium OS or whatever its gonna be called

Well, Google has decided to get into the OS market.  I like Google well enough, I use their products, email, blogger, contacts, even Android now.  I don't use all their products, mainly because they're not nearly as "Open Source Friendly" as this OS might make them appear.  Granted most of what they're doing may be due to market, and their desire to penitrate and get visibility.

Anyway.  I have read the reviews, seen the screen shots, and I think I have a pretty good understanding of what their doing, I just don't think it's worth it.  What, you say?