Tales of an Aspergian Bus Driver

1200 miles in 3 days

Saturday morning: To Peoria.
Saturday afternoon: From Peoria.
Sunday afternoon: To Peoria.
Monday morning: From Peoria.

1200 miles, give or take.

The reason? Bringing a friend from Peoria to Ames for E-Ball & general visiting. We stopped in Iowa City on the way back, raided RagStock and Dick Blick (really nice art store). I have more bright shirts to wear and blind people with, and Jessica has a massive amount of new art supplies.

I've also learned that if I'm going to be selling my '7, I need to stop driving it. I enjoy taking it out on the highway far too much, even if going the speed limit (or somewhere close to it) really isn't any fun. I run in perpetual fear of vehicles closing on me from behind, because at my normal speed, there's only one type of vehicle that will be coming up quickly on me, and it usually has flashing lights that go on at some point.

Fuel economy in my car is largely dependent on windows & AC settings. With the AC on and windows shut, I get 25-27mpg. With the windows & sunroof open, I get 20-22mpg. Slight difference there...

Coming soon will be various thoughts of mine on a variety of topics (a series of sorts).

-=Russ=-

It's dead. :-(

The TV computer has died (again?). Time to swap hardware around, AGAIN, to try and get it working with a different mainboard.

I'm beginning to think it would be worth the $200 or so it would take to get a GOOD mainboard/CPU/RAM for it, and a decent sized hard drive instead of the array of old drives I have. Unfortunately, that requires $200 that I really don't think I should spend.

Is it really that difficult to find an x86 system that can take being pounded hardcore for months on end? I don't know if I just ask too much of systems, or if I just have really bad luck, but I can't for the life of me seem to keep an x86 box running under load unless it's *brand new* hardware (and even then, I haven't fully stressed out wombat - just light load and the riot photos slashdotting).

-=Russ=-

My brother has a blog now.

For those interested in reading the tales of my brother, 4 years younger than me, in Missouri, a swimmer:

http://larry.sevarg.net

-=Russ=-

When in doubt... delay!

Lawyer talked to people today, and convinced them to give a month or two delay.

This way he'll be able to talk to people he hasn't been able to get in touch with yet (like the trooper & DOT), and hopefully people will cool down some (right now there's a "Fry him!" attitude from the County Attorney, apparently).

Translation for me: I have another month or two of license. And another month or two of not knowing what my license status when I graduate will be. *sigh*

-=Russ=-

Career Fair

Career fair isn't my idea of a good time usually, but I talked to a number of companies today, some of which seemed somewhat interested in me. So, then the question becomes, how far from Ames do i want to be? Or, it might not be an issue at all.

-=Russ=-

Trying this out...

I'm giving Frequency a shot at posting to my blog. This way I can compose things while not online, and post when I get online.More content for y'all to read (or ignore). It has version for both Mac & Windows, so if it works out, other people could use it too! Wheee!

-=Russ=-

Nifty! TextEdit & printing

*blinks*

Windows people, this won't help you, but you can read to see the kind of neat stuff us Mac folk get.

I have some long text tables that I'm printing for homework. TextEdit is open wide, 120+ columns. I have all the stuff formatted and looking sharp, but I'm scared about printing it - if it drops it to 80 columns, stuff won't fit. So, I zip out a page.

And, the text is *tiny* - readable, but... hey, the same amount of stuff on a line as the window!

Resize the window to just fit the longest formatted tables. Print. And, the tables come out just the right size to fit on the paper!

TextEdit, instead of just printing generic 80 column stuff, scales the printed text so the functional width is the same as the TextEdit window!

Neato!

-=Russ=-

Remote systems & hardware

I've discovered an issue with my understanding of computers (or, with practical implementation of knowledge).

If I ask a local system (I'm working on it directly) to do 15 intensive things at once, and it slows down a bit, that's perfectly fine with me.

If I'm working on a remote system (usually over SSH) and doing a lot of stuff, I expect it to handle it flawlessly. I get annoyed when disk IO slows down if I'm tarring up a directory onto the same volume, running torrents, FTPing files to/from the drive, and compiling. I treat remote systems as "infinite hardware" - except they're not.

-=Russ=-

Yay for broken busses on Moonlight...

We pretty much ran out of Moonlight busses last night.

On Friday night, I got 971 red-tagged (doesn't go anywhere until the mechanics look at it) because a wheel bearing was grinding. The bearing looked low on oil, there was metal on metal noise (faint, but over the road noise, it was decently loud), and there was a mess around the bearing that looked like an oil leak. Ok, swapped into a low floor (YAY!).

Saturday night, I go to start up 972 (because 971 isn't fixed yet). Power on, press start button, "CHUNK*click*" as the power goes out to the bus. It figures itsself out, powers back on... but every time I press the starter, it chunks, cuts off power, and resets itsself. Not managing to start in the process.

Ok, so I get a low floor again. Wheee! People try to open the window, and pull the emergency window handle. I told them to push the handle up, they did, but apparently it had come slightly open, so that bus was swapped out for another low floor (after I had been taken out for a break).

Slightly later, "Uh... 955 to base. I heard a clicking from the tire, so I checked it at the endpoint, and I have a bolt stuck in the tire."
Base: "Is it just in the treads, or did it go all the way in?"
955: "Oh, it's all the way in. I just see the head."
Base: "*sigh* 10-4, we'll switch you out as soon as possible. Don't try to take it out."

I then proceeded to drive C shuttle. It goes from campus, past towers, down Duff to the airport area, and back. I carried 5 people in 2.5 hours. C shuttle is boring... though in the snow it would be an absolute blast to drive. No passengers, running in a rear wheel drive minibus, on roads with no cars, and a lot of turns. Sounds fun to me!

Homework is not fun. Procrastination isn't good, m'kay?

I find out Wednesday what the courts say about my license. Then I get to beg DOT to not take my license. Then I get to go job hunting and car selling.

After a good look at the 'Ricer (currently minus an exhaust system - it's VERY loud right now), for $200 or so, I could fix it up to the point that it was usable for the next few years. Some form of exhaust system, replace the thermostat, and possibly replace the radiator (if the thermostat doesn't fix the overheating problem). The lack of a heater really doesn't bother me after surviving last winter without it. Not a good car if I ever have to commute to work, since I suspect most companies won't let me leave it in their parking lot, but I can deal with that as it comes (if anyone ever hires me after showing up for an interview in a car like that). *shrug* It made it to Chicago multiple times, the frame is in decent shape, and the engine is a more or less indestructible 4-cylinder attached to a more or less indestructible 3-speed automatic. It should last a few more years. I don't think I'll be autocrossing in it, though.

-=Russ=-

Cars, beaters, & fiscal responsibility

Ok, before I start this: I HATE BUGS DROPPING DOWN ONTO MY HEAD.

Now, onto my actual thoughts for the evening. Other than severe amounts of general human stupidity, driving the bus tonight was quite boring. So, I thought. Not always a good thing. I ran numbers.

Give or take a few hundred, my summer cost $6500. $5000 of car stuff, $1500 of rent/food/gas/entertainment. I made just over $2000, and am trying to pay for the rest of it this year, on top of rent & such. Not good at all. Freeze your credit cards in a block of ice, it really helps.

Anyway, the bulk of the cost was in car stuff. The cost of purchasing a car, and then the cost of the engine rebuild & upgrades & such (mostly stuff that was easy to do while the engine was out, like clutch & pressure plate). I have, at least by my standards, a "nice" car out of the deal. It still has issues, but it's reasonably nice, and moves from point A to point B.

I also have another car (someone buy one of my cars, please!) that is not very nice. However, other than a minor problem with the thermostat right now preventing highway usage, it gets from point A to point B. It gets better fuel economy around town, is a bit louder, lacks a heater or decent stereo, and is somewhat gutted on the inside... but it gets from point A to point B.

This lead to an interesting question. For me, is owning a "nice" car being fiscally responsible? At this point in my life, I think I have to go with a resounding "No." I don't make enough to afford a nice car, and don't use a car enough to really even make it worth owning one (much less two). However, I was told that I needed something nicer than my existing car for the summer internship. Instead of something practical, like a $500 Civic or something, I have a $5000 car that is... really not very practical. Two seats doesn't move very many people. The upshot is that it's "fun" to drive. Given the current speeding ticket I'm dealing with, I don't think I should own a car that's fun to drive, especially when it's not a practical vehicle.

*sigh* Live, learn, and realize that someone told you before hand that a rotary powered sports car probably wasn't the best idea on the planet.

Also, on the topic of fiscal responsibility, is it bad when one feels guilty for spending $30 on music in 6 months when there's outstanding debt that should be dealt with instead?

So, for the scattered few people who read this, what are your feelings on nice cars vs "just something that runs", and "dump all available funds to credit cards/loans"?

-=Russ=-

Conversation with my brother

Summary: Firefox rules, Windows needs help.

(20:14:06) Larry: i need some Anti-Ad software...something won't leave my system alone
(20:14:13) Russ: AdAware?
(20:14:18) Russ: Linux?
(20:14:32) Larry: i might have adaware....dunno
(20:14:37) Russ: You should.
(20:14:42) Russ: I probably installed it.
(20:14:48) Russ: Otherwise http://www.lavasoft.de
(20:15:09) Larry: alrighty then...will do
(20:15:13) Larry: I want the popups to stop...
(20:15:18) Russ: Stop using IE?
(20:15:21) Larry: if the internet isn't plugged in, they come up blank
(20:15:25) Larry: and use...?
(20:15:25) Russ: Oh dear.
(20:15:27) Russ: Yea, spyware.
(20:15:30) Russ: Firefox is really nice
(20:15:35) Larry: where to get?
(20:15:40) Russ: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
(20:15:51) Russ: But if you're getting popups while not even browsing, you have spyware problems.
(20:16:19) Larry: yeah...i'm getting irritated
(20:16:26) Larry: i even have a firewall up
(20:16:32) Russ: It's spyware.
(20:16:41) Larry: argh to it.
(20:16:55) Russ: Why do you think I don't run Windows much?
(20:17:00) Russ: I spend a LOT less time fighting with computers.
(20:17:34) Larry: yeah...i'm going to end up on linux or mac...
(20:17:38) Russ: <3
(20:17:42) Russ: Let me know
(20:17:44) Russ: I can help.
(20:18:04) Larry: lavasoft isn't working....
(20:18:08) Russ: Your system would absolutely fly running Linux
(20:18:12) Russ: oh. Nice.
(20:18:15) Russ: Spyware blocking stuff
(20:18:20) Russ: Let me get an installer floating around for you
(20:18:21) Russ: just a sec
(20:18:48) Larry: alrighty
(20:19:12) Larry: actually...let me see if Seek has it
(20:20:39) Russ: http://wombat.sevarg.net/aawsepersonal.exe
(20:20:40) Russ: Try that
(20:20:59) Larry: that worked nicely
(20:21:31) Russ: See if that finds anything
(20:21:31) Larry: yay
(20:21:35) Larry: i have many now
(20:22:52) Larry: i'm going to end up with a horrid number of hits...
(20:22:56) Russ: Yup.
(20:23:34) Larry: 82 in one second.
(20:25:14) Larry: alrighty...firefox is my new browser
(20:25:15) Larry: happy times
(20:25:17) Russ: Good.
(20:25:21) Russ: It also supports tabs.
(20:25:24) Russ: Ctrl-T
(20:25:27) Russ: or middle click on a link
(20:25:33) Russ: You'll wonder how you ever got around without them
(20:25:42) Larry: tabs?
(20:25:51) Russ: Try ctrl-T
(20:25:51) Larry: holy shit
(20:25:53) Larry: that's incredibly
(20:25:55) Larry: awesome
(20:26:01) Russ: IE is the only browser that doesn't support it.
(20:26:04) Russ: And middle click on a link
(20:26:08) Russ: it'll open in a new tab
(20:26:33) Larry: that's incredible
(20:27:38) Russ: :-)
(20:27:58) Russ: So, want me to look into a nice Mac for you? :D
(20:28:47) Larry: christmas is coming
(20:28:53) Russ: Heh.
(20:29:21) Larry: mom and dad were looking at getting me a new laptop...
(20:29:25) Larry: make it a mac, eh?
(20:29:31) Russ: *nods*
(20:29:39) Russ: Ask me how much time I spend fighting with my Powerbook.
(20:29:44) Russ: I measure it in hours per month.
(20:29:52) Russ: And half of that is trying to make it do nifty things
(20:30:03) Russ: I *very* seldom have to fix things that randomly broke...
(20:30:11) Russ: *tries to think* I can't think of anything recently that has broken.
(20:30:44) Larry: i can think of many things that have broken here...for example, my CD drive
(20:30:49) Russ: Really?
(20:30:50) Larry: it thinks frozen throne is in there permanently
(20:30:53) Russ: That was a new drive. :-/
(20:30:55) Russ: Oh.
(20:31:00) Russ: Windows doesn't understand eject. :-)
(20:31:04) Russ: or such
(20:31:16) Russ: Seriously though, I've been using Macs for 2+ years, and I love 'em.
(20:31:19) Russ: They JUST BLOODY WORK
(20:31:33) Russ: Not as good at gaming, but for everything else, they rule.
(20:31:55) Larry: yeah...gaming is a bit of an issue
(20:31:59) Larry: but it might not be in a month
(20:32:06) Russ: Keep the PC for gaming.
(20:32:17) Larry: fair enough

-=Russ=-

I have an online calendar now!

http://www.sevarg.net/phpicalendar/

-=Russ=-

The new tactics to "Kill Christianity"

In my online travels, I've noticed a new trend in the "Anti-Christianity" movement. I've only seen it in the past month or two, but I have no doubt it's been around for ages. Here's a heads up on it.

The general idea seems to be the following:
"Due to the fact that [children are impressionable/I had bad experiences with having religion forced on me], it is a bad idea to expose children to any religion before the age of 13 or 14. Before this time, they are unable to make objective decisions, and may be swayed by their upbringing. Once children reach the age where they can make their own decisions, they should be exposed to religion by having a balanced approach, where all religions are presented, and children can make their own decision."

Since defeating Christians doesn't seem to be working very well, the next best thing is to cut off future Christians, all the while saying "it's for their own good." Hopefully, by the time children reach their teenage years, they will have been told that there is no God enough times that they will just laugh off religion as "that silly stuff old people believe in." Just in case that doesn't work, if they're exposed to all religions as equally valid, they should be too confused to make any decisions, and just go back to their existing lifestyle (knowledgeable about all things as taught in school, including gay sexual practices, which should be taught along with normal sex-ed stuff, according to some people).

I expect to see this argument appear more and more frequently in the near future. Having thought about it before running across it wouldn't be a bad idea.

The argument obviously requires the assumption that all religions are false, and just "tools to control weakminded people." It would also seem to have the convenient side effect of eliminating all religious schools in favor of the "superior" public education system.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Note, train. Not just teach head knowledge.

I've also seen a few other interesting points brought up lately regarding Christianity and "proving" it's false. One that I found particularly interesting was a statement that "The Bible says Pi = 3. This is false, therefore the Bible is false." A few links discussing this (and the fact that the Bible can be looked at in the Hebrew to show Pi was only 0.00026% away from today's value, or the fact that when other passages regarding the vessel are looked at, the measurements make perfect sense, or the fact that when giving general dimensions of a vessel round numbers work well) are following.

A nice look at the math in the original Hebrew
A look at the actual likely profile of the vessel
Or, just ask Google what it knows

I really try not to get involved in online arguments on religion, but every now and then I find a fascinating bit of data, or a finger on emerging trends worth sharing.

-=Russ=-

*laughs* H2 vs stump at a Jeep rally

22 year old Jeep pulls H2 off a 12 inch stump

-=Russ=-

Amusing image

-=Russ=-

Found the couch!

It's over in Old RCA, due to a misunderstanding on couch descriptions. So, I'll get it delivered over here soon (they offered to drop it off once they found a truck). YAY!

Does anyone still even read this?

-=Russ=-

I'd like my couch back!

I'm sure this is just an honest misunderstanding, but it doesn't change the fact that my couch is missing.

It's a very heavy couch with a fold-a-bed, 3 cushions, white with some various pastel stripes on it. It was in the back of Tim's garage for the summer, and was there as of about 2-3 weeks ago. I went to pick it up tonight, and it's not there. Several other couches are, but mine isn't, and there's stuff piled where it was.

So, if you know where it is, please let me know, either via email, or by phone (515.460.0436). I'd like it back as soon as possible, because our living room needs seating, and I'd like that couch back.

-=Russ=-

9/11, Bus #911, and Moonlight

CyRide no longer has a bus #911. "September 11th" as the major historical event was 3 years ago. Someone from *somewhere* (nobody actually seems to know who or from where) decided a week or so ago that having a bus 911 was offensive, or something. So, as of Thursday, CyRide no longer has a bus 911. We do, however, have a new bus 900. Nobody was told of this change - drivers & dispatchers all found out about this change when they saw a bus that CyRide doesn't have (#900). Yes, scary as it is, most drivers know all the bus numbers (or at least know when a number doesn't exist).

My problem with this is not that the bus number was changed (though that does really bother me). My problem is with the Orwelian method it was changed. I saw a memo on the maintenance whiteboard (the only written evidence of a change occurring I've seen) that belonged in the department of History from 1984. In a nutshell, "Effective immediately, bus 911 is bus 900. Change all references, everywhere, to reflect the change." Nobody was told in the "main operations staff (dispatchers/drivers)", it was just changed, and all references to the old bus are deleted.

Now, onto my issues with Moonlight. The new arrangement of mostly shuttle routes seems to be working moderately well for moving people. The "behind the scenes" changes are frustrating almost all the old Moonlight drivers to the point that none of us really feel like driving it anymore. A meeting was called to discuss this... but most of the old Moonlight drivers weren't invited. Among other things that are particularly annoying, in no particular order:

Over a noisy communications channel (radio on a loud bus), "A", "B", "C" don't work. "B" and "C" sound very similar (to the identical point). So, one particular Friday, it was suggested that using "Alpha", "Bravo", "Charlie" would work. It was tried, and worked perfectly even over the noisy channels. This was apparently suggested at the meeting as a solution that worked well, and was firmly vetoed by one particular dispatcher who had initially had his own pet names for the shuttles. These were rejected, so he wasn't going to allow anyone else's idea to be used.

Many drivers don't like being switched between busses. You get used to a bus, get the seat & mirrors set properly, and... then get swapped out, and put back into another bus, where you have to start the process all over again. This has been pointed out multiple times by a wide variety of drivers, and hasn't changed.

There's also a much more "official" training program. This is probably a positive change, though it removes some of the informality of it. It also means I can't train, due to the complaints from last year (YAY - I really hate training and would rather be driving). But, it's very rigid and structured now. The whole arrangement is just getting very "corporate" feeling. It's no longer anything special, just more fixed routes that are annoying schedule-wise and involve dealing with lots of drunks. There are also obscenely long endpoints at silly locations on one of the routes that involves picking up people from downtown, driving for 5 minutes, and then sitting for 10 minutes before leaving again to get them to Welch area. Bad idea!

The general atmosphere of Moonlight is changing. It's losing what makes it special (and worth driving), and is just migrating into a particularly annoying fixed route shift. There aren't going to be any Moonlight drivers in the near future!

There are also other changes. Full time positions are on a freeze, and won't be replaced. The ultimate goal is to have an entirely part time workforce... it's cheaper that way. It also removes any real incentive to stick around... if there's no full time positions available, why stick around for a number of years?

I'm just getting unhappy with the whole arrangement. I really enjoy driving a bus... but I'm not enjoying working for CyRide as much. I've been a bus driver for 2.5+ years... maybe it's time for a change again?

-=Russ=-

Google bomb time!

For some fun & excitement, the following link will be posted in my blog. Feel free to duplicate and propagate.

Iowa State University

-=Russ=-

/me happily settles back in

*Aaaaaaah*

*Grins*

Wabash is back! Proper Unix again!

For the confused...

Wabash is my SGI Indigo 2 (R10k). It's a pure Unix machine running IRIX, and is generally the machine that converted me into a proper Unix geek. It's also the most stable machine I've ever owned (beating the *pants* off Powerbooks and other Macs). It's been in storage all summer, and for the first part of this year, because I didn't have a monitor to use it with (well, I did, but I didn't have things hooked up for noise & heat reasons). Now, I have my big Sony tube back, and my Powerbook hooked to one input, the SGI on the other, and I'm generally happy to have it back. Stable, reasonably powerful, reliable... it's great.

So, it's back, and I'm enjoying it again. *dances happily*

-=Russ=-

ARRRRGGGGHHHHHH

10:30 AM: Wake up
11:00 AM: Stonebrook
12:30 PM: End of church, head to CBS to meet with a friend who's in town for the weekend and some other people.
1:00 PM: Frederiksen Ct, spending time with people, playing paper-based RPG.
3:00 PM: Leave Frederiksen to do homework because I drive a bus tonight.
3:15 PM: Start doing homework, dishes, etc.
6:10 PM: Leave for work.
6:15 PM: Leave Kwik Stop after purchasing Mt. Dew for the evening
6:20 PM: Arrive CyRide. DIscover that A. I forgot my Mt. Dew on the counter. B. I requested off for tonight a few days ago, completely forgot about it, someone picked up my shift, and I'm not working tonight.
6:30 PM: Arrive home after picking up Mt. Dew from gas station. Proceed to find out that the people I was trying to spend time with today are somewhere, probably a movie, unreachable.

So, yea. Even with my Palm Pilot having useful information like "Requested today off" (for an Autocross event I didn't go to), I still can't keep things straight. I really don't think this is a good thing.

-=Russ=-

Does your wetware ever get corrupted?

Sorry for the geekisms... it's the only way I know how to explain this.

As of late (past few weeks) it feels like my internal storage arrays are dying. I don't notice the data loss (hard to tell if anything's missing, since I don't have an external reference to check), but I can tell that code is getting corrupted. It feels like primary routines are either missing small segments, have corrupt segments, or just take forever to load properly. I also notice code loss from older knowledge elements. The index entries are there, I know the code used to work properly, but it no longer exists. The codebase that is Russ seems to be degrading at a noticeable rate. Possibly the refresh routines are not working? Old code that has been regularly used unmodified is having problems, but fresh code is still working properly. Unfortunately, some of the failures are in the sorted list routines used when driving busses to store next stop, detour, other information. Especially when drained (late at night), the lists just drop elements. Alternately, a LOT of passengers aren't alerting me to things like needing detours, needing stops, etc. This is part of it, but not all of it. It's very disturbing. Maybe I should try to store checksums somehow?

-=Russ=-

If Google doesn't know something, does it exist?

I have a copy of a CD, "Let it Ride" by "Double Down". A friend has the physical CD, purchased from a band that played at a bar he went to ages ago (traditional Irish tunes).

Google doesn't know that it exists. Period. I can't find a diskography, reference, ANYTHING!

I'm scared!

-=Russ=-

Boxelders

I'm so sick of killing bugs. I've just given up. They're everywhere, wandering all over my computer stuff, and I only bother them anymore when they walk across my screen or keyboard.

I don't know where they're coming from, but a good guess would be the hive of them outside my window that, despite many blasts of bug killer stuff, still exists.

Hot water was offline ALL yesterday, we still don't have screens on most of the windows (only one screen actually fits, and we have some goofy temporary screens that are absolutely useless), and despite repeated calls, our bathroom sink still drains in... oh, a few minutes.

I'm now off to go drive. Then do homework. Then drive. Then do homework. Then drive. Etc.

-=Russ=-