Apparently, Washington state is different in that the order of progression neither requires all parties to be at the same table, nor is it a “fait accompli” until the deed is registered with the county. This cannot happen until the loan documents are received by the funding lender AND that funds transfer to the mortgage holder is complete.

What do it mean, you ask? Well, technically, it means that while we closed today, I won’t actually get the keys until either tomorrow or Monday.

On the up side, it also means that all things I needed to do are done, we’re closed but for the paperwork routing the last two steps (which is nothing more than a matter of a day or two), and the ridiculous weight of stress and strain is set down, never again to be hefted. And believe me, it will not again be hefted; not for refinancing nor for any other reason if I can at all help it. This place I intend to remain within until I shuffle off this mortal coil and, while I know I cannot guarantee that will be the case, I can guarantee that nothing short of outright disaster will change my intent and mind on the matter.

The move is slated for June 17th and I am currently coordinating for pre-move installations (i.e., blinds/drapes, security system, and washer and dryer, and oh, a mailbox… ). The rest is little more than cardboard and shipping tape, the movers are booked (heh, yes, we budgeted for this), and the hardest part of the coming move will be transporting Daka, Dakini, and Dana; this, something for which I am quite grateful, indeed.

If you were ever inclined to toss a little help my way, this would be a grand time to do more than think about it. We’re not hurting, but it’s going to be pretty damned tight through August and, well, I’m not ashamed to say so. Either way, we’ll manage, but figured as long as I’m rambling ’bout it, I’d just put it “out there”.

I’m not real sure if we’re going to “do a house-warming” and, if we do, it’s mostly going to be more about sharing the delight of finally accomplishing this with my friends than anything; maybe a BBQ or something, I’d love to whip up a southern-style meal for those here in the PNW who may not have ever had the enjoyment of one. Hmm.

Not much more, really, except to say that I finally understand the meaning of the phrase “palpable relief”; most of the stress in my life has been heavy weight over time, the kind that you never knew as such until it was gone and even the departure was over time, so the ultimate sensation was neither that you carried weight nor that it was relieved. This, on the other hand, has been near four months of suddenly descending, steadily increasing stress that has damn near crushed the figurative spine (mostly an ocean of unbelievable redundancy and re-issuance of paper that, frankly, has boggled me beyond all conveyance; I swear, I do not understand how THIS qualifies as efficient, helpful, or ‘a productive way to go about things’), relieved as suddenly and fully by closing as it was rendered at the point of engagement.

I figure it’s probably “a good thing” in that it reminds me of what once was “the norm”, even as the perspective has so greatly shifted “since then” that the thought I ever bore such stresses (and then some) frankly astonishes me.

Yeah, blah, blah, blah, of course. Still, a bit of an eye-opener; I think you don’t always realize how much you’ve really managed until something that feels similar sneaks up on you and surprises you into remembering it and thinking of it from “safe distance”.

Anyway… done, done, and happily so. Looking forward to the move.

(ref link: http://omgcheesecake.net/index.php?/topic/2432-whos-this-asshole-in-businessweek/)

Correction, Sean, I “had a meltdown” because the founders (and, apparently, you) think it’s perfectly ok to lie about your security (non-existent), lie about the degree to which you actually support user-requested features (you don’t unless it’s something you want yourselves), and oh, yeah, lie about the degree to which a user actually owns their data (no edit, requires manual intervention to actually close/remove your account, and of course, no method of actually managing that removal across pods).

But, y’see, I got over it.

Apparently, you didn’t.

What’s the matter, sweetie, you’re not getting the attention you need? Not enough people lining up to shake your hand? Annoyed because it’s paid placement and not organic? Maybe you should consider a little more attention to the end users and a little less brown-nosing of the over-inflated, self-interested “Founders-with-a-capital-F-thankyouverymuch” or at least think a bit about how something like the above tells a far more beautiful tale about how “interested” you or pretty much anyone with their hands on the reins of Diaspora actually are (aren’t) about the folk you fool into trying your spaghetti bowl of code.

Let’s be accurate, shall we? The issue was that your craptastic architecture and code was never designed to support “owning your data” or actually removing it when you delete your account. Yeah, I know, those “little things” tend to sting when you should have really given them focused attention but you just couldn’t be bothered because OMG UR SO KOOL 4 UR FOSS SUPPORT, D00D!!! ~yawn~

How fascinating it is that here, months later, not a one of you has managed to figure out how to do this. I believe the stock line is that it’s impossible, except for that pesky reality that it isn’t… it just requires more attention and work than you care to give. Too bad you’re not actually true open source or that problem would have been resolved months ago; after all, it’s not like there aren’t a good number of folks with solutions that you just keep ignoring.

To think, were you as avid about maintaining that vision as you are at bragging about getting attention, there wouldn’t have been any “melt downs”, and almost everyone now complaining would still be happy users/members. Gee, I guess some things just aren’t as important as getting your picture in Businessweek… good to know, Sean, thanks.

Oh, while I’m at it, congratulations on that great job of throwing one of the few people who actually tried to support you under the bus. Poor ol’ Pistos… if you had any idea the crap he took trying to defend you self-aggrandizing idiots, you’d manage better than trying to use him as an excuse for your own failure to respond to your users (Oh, wait… are you trying to say you implemented those features everyone wanted? No? Yeahhhh, didn’t think so).

Suffice to say, Diaspora is anything BUT “the future of social media” and it certainly isn’t something that anyone can rely upon to be a solid offering that protects their privacy or actually offers anything even close to what was promised.

Newsflash, tootz – there’s this thing called “competition” and it basically proves to you that if/when you’re not listening to your users, someone else will come along and do it so you don’t have to worry about it anymore.

That’s pretty much where Diaspora is today and I doubt very seriously it will manage more or better unless someone with more sense that any of you seem to have gets involved and puts a nice, thick barrier between all of you and those who could have made you more than yet another wannabe lost in their own delusions of grandeur… you know, the users.

Oh, wait… that’s right… you don’t know. Kind of the problem in a nutshell; though, admittedly, paid placement in Businessweek is pretty darn funny, too. Though, not nearly as funny as this pointed and very salient comment about the Y Combinator help:

“With Diaspora joining Y Combinator this summer to receive intensive mentoring and the possibility of investment, it’s hoped that the project is once again on track and may launch sometime in the months following the programme’s completion.“

Let’s just hope “your peeps” are better able to submit to mentoring than they were in those dozen or so rounds of failed venture meetings in 2011, hmm?

For that matter, let’s hope that someone has informed Max that no, actually, asking multi-millions for a half-baked system with serious security issue and numerous “beginner flaws” in the code (mebbe you should revisit Patrick’s analysis from 2010 and cross-check against the github source to remind yourself just how many of these remain in place after two years, dear) probably isn’t the way to go.

(Oh, sorry, was no one supposed to notice or understand how paid placement and publicity works? Or have an actual memory? Or know what has gone on behind the scenes? Oops.)

p.s.: I will but mention that the reality that a “community manager” is posting something such as the item that begins this piece really does speak quite eloquently for itself. Maybe you should go back to community management school or ask Y Combinator for some mentoring, dear; suffice to say you’re doing it wrong.

“If you talk too much with little meaning you will make mistakes, therefore speak in moderation, only when necessary.”

This return to the series is somewhat heavy because I choose a moment to return to this in which I am nursing an ache for old moments, passed. This is, I suppose, as it should be; all things do pass. The problem is that I wish this one had not. Naturally, this makes it a pretty good example of the whole “clinging” motif and underscores the reality (to me, anyway) that this is the root of any/all suffering.

Does that mean I have an easier time of letting it go? I wish.

But it does return me to the above quote and my acceptance over time that “speaking only when necessary” is a foundational and critical element in managing relations in life. It is difficult to explain without dredging up details and memories I’d rather not wade in at the moment; so, instead, I will say only that, had I been as attentive to the above “then” as I am “now”, perhaps I wouldn’t be sitting here cradling this ridiculous ache like it can be anything other than a ghost.

The sense of this bit of advice, to me, is that reactionary or thoughtless words cannot help but create situations where unfortunate things are set into being and, once loosed, they cannot be called back or changed.

I suppose I could conjure up any number of excuses for that time of mindlessness, thoughtlessness, and anything but moderation; some of them might even be reasonable to some who read here; humans being what they are, trails and travails being heavy on us all, who hasn’t had times where trying to find what is needed ignores the affect or impact on others? It’s kind of like reaching for a life-saver on stormy sea; you know that the very act of reaching is only going to push it further away, but when all you have are hands, all you know is that it’s moving past you, and, in that moment, you’re drowning and struggling for the next breath, how easy is it to do otherwise? (For me, in that moment, impossible.)

Hardly an excuse, though. I suppose the only “good” thing that can be said for it is that I can look back at it and say with utter sincerity that, had I been able to manage better, I would have. No better an excuse, of course, but it’s all I’ve got, so it’ll have to do.

Actually, on these ever-rarer occasions when I think back on it all, I mostly just feel sad for all the amazing things I knew were there and that I pushed out of range because I couldn’t manage more than panicked struggle for purchase upon something that seemed beautiful to me. That’s really the core of it. Even now. In fact, it’s likely the reason I remember it at all; the reason I still return to it here and there, the reason I still cradle it and indulge in the pretense of possibility in the face of all this time and silence.

You see, it WAS beautiful, and I know beyond all doubt that at least that much of it has not changed, not in all this time; each of those involved are precisely as beautiful as ever they were, if not more so. I know this because that is how it began, back before things got mucked up by all the meaninglessness. This certainty is where the ache lives and from where it tugs so persistently; that this is still so, and that I’m not mindless as I was and that I think back on it and wish it were possible to wash away the memory of such a mess and just begin again… clean slate.

But all I’m doing is demonstrating the truth and wisdom of that quote, aren’t I? Even now, I make the mistake of talking too much with too little meaning and compound the mistake of continuing to operate under the delusion that it is possible to rebirth something that has already been born, lived, and died. Not to mention, of course, that, generally speaking, this is not a pattern that humans tend to engage, let alone succeed in engaging.

So, while this may well qualify as not being “necessary” overall, I suppose it qualifies as an object lesson, me to myself, of how and why this piece of advice from the heart is particularly helpful and why I work so hard these days to keep it at the front of my mind.

After all, the next best thing to cleaning the slate behind you is ensuring the length of it before you remains as free of such things as humanly possible. I may not be able to raise dead things, but I can ensure that I do not conscience such thoughtless slaughter in future.

To be able to say that comfortably is its own balm.

Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum

I’ll start by saying that as is likely common, a parent always wants the best of the best for their children. It is no surprise that a parent will say all the usual phrases that stand for hoping that their children will exceed and surpass them in every way; that they will have better and more opportunity, that they will suffer less bruises and hurts and pains, that they will know only contentment and happiness, and that, to the degree possible, they’re able, ready, and willing to do what they can to support these outcomes.

I feel and think and say all of this, of course, and no less vehemently than any other parent. I have spent considerable amounts of time wondering if my life and its history had somehow caused me to be less capable or competent at nourishing the above in my daughter; I have fretted and wondered if I did it all “best” or “right”. And I have worried here and there along the way that maybe I didn’t quite “do enough” or “do the right things well enough”. (In truth, I suspect this is not entirely unheard of in most parents.)

But above and beyond this, the circumstances of life since my daughter’s birth to present have not always been optimal (hence the above fears), nor have I always had the ability to be the one to shoulder it all myself. Essentially, my daughter is pretty much all the family I have and what blood relatives still live (but a few) I have been largely estranged from for reasons I will not splash across this post.

I guess the critical flaw in all this fear and fretting has been thinking that any of this would be an impediment to someone as competent, diligent, integrity-driven, intelligent, and strong as my daughter. But you don’t really know that it isn’t until you know it isn’t, do you?

And, on May 5th, I sat in the reserved section for the invitees and families of honors graduates and struggled not to cry my eyes out like a damn baby from the combination of pride and relief. I watched the entire graduating class right down to the last of the six disciplines file in, be called up, walk that stage, and receive the due recognition and reward of their collective efforts.

In fact, when someone with us wanted to step out after my daughter had walked, I shrugged and simply said, “Everyone here has at least one person down there that they are busting with pride for… and I bet every one of them wants this full house to see their child walk that stage. I know there have been those who have left as soon as they got their recognition, and I know there have been those who left as soon as their graduating person(s) walked, but, as far as I’m concerned, I’m proud of every damn one of them and I’ll be sitting until it’s done.”

And I did, too.

It’s been a few days now, and I have eagerly awaited receipt of any pictures from the official photography staff. Today, my daughter sent me one that they apparently snapped as she was standing just after entry. (Alas, all of mine were long-shots with a poor camera struggling to zoom, so not worth posting. Well, except the video; but I’ll save that until after I’ve sent her a copy and gotten her permission to put it here as well.)

Summa Cum Laude, Class of 2012

I cannot begin to tell you how much I adore this shot; I look at her and she has that dreamy look of “I can’t believe it’s over” combined with “I did it!” combined with an expression of genuine contentment that just washes away all the nattering I spent prior to this paragraph.

She has accomplished something I could not and, in fact, something that no one in our family has managed in over eight generations. I really need to tell her that… so she understands that well over my own pride as mentioned above, there is a familial pride that I simply never thought to experience or know in my life.

“Proud” cannot begin to convey how I feel of and for her. In fact, for all that I’ve spent this many words trying, I strongly suspect this is just something that words cannot really convey. Nor the tears running down my face as I type. Happy tears, involuntary tears, tears of a somewhat tempestuous combination of all the above… things that cannot be truly said, spilling out the only way they can.

I spent the evening last night and most of today contemplating the matter and trying to decide what to do about it. Part of me is so angry that I want to just shred something and the other part? Well, it acknowledges that this pitiful state of affairs wherein citizens are routinely being intimidated, humiliated, harassed, and manhandled is only possible because the airlines permit it, the “leaders” push it, and frankly, “the people” allow it.

Yes, I now include myself in that number, but only because it was made very apparent to me that it has come rather directly and badly to “take it or take off” (I suppose I should say “don’t take off”, shouldn’t I?).

Under the gun to get home in time for work today, faced with a pack of uniformed personnel all too happy to oblige should it come to force, and without any recourse other than be stuck without transport or let them stick it to me, I too, endured the humiliation, experienced the invasion, and felt the powerlessness, and have alternated between frustrated anger and a very real sense of betrayal that this manner of intrusive, invasive, and intentional domineering of citizens occurs.

It has settled one thing, however, I simply will not be using air transport so long as the TSA is allowed to browbeat and intimidate and harass innocent citizens. For the “high crime” of having a metal hook and eye and a few rhinestones on my slacks, I was publicly humiliated, groped in ways and in places that any other stranger undertaking them would now be sitting in a jail cell under assault charges for engaging, and, at no time did my explanations (as mentioned above) nor the actual evidence of the human eye (or common sense) have sway.

I won’t bother laying out the full details; there are plenty of them in the news and I do not care to be any further intruded upon (particularly not in the manner in which what passes for “news” today tends to do so).

Nor shall I bother laying out “the case” against the TSA (though I will link to those that have been set forth by others); primarily because it becomes obvious in what discussions I’ve had the last day and a half that the average person is of that “if you have nothing to hide, why does it matter” mentality, but also because it long ago became patently obvious that the American populace, at large, is far too preferentially biased for convenience to actively pursue anything that upsets access to it.

Suffice to say that, as an American citizen, an innocent and utterly harmless consumer of transportation services, and as a female, the experience has so greatly upset me that not only will I no longer subject myself to it in any way, I am actually still having difficulty with the aftermath of it. (And if you know me, then you know that this is saying something, indeed.)

I can say with no hesitation that I have never endured so frightful and deliberate an invasion of my person, my privacy, nor such abrogation of my civil liberties by an agency purportedly in place to “protect me”; it is absolutely unconscionable, excessive to the point of the ludicrous, and I refuse to as much as present myself at any location at which this manner of harassment is not only permitted, but actively supported.

What I WILL be doing, however, is getting in touch with EPIC, apprising them of my experience, and seeking to either be added to their suit or to discover ways to assist them in any way possible.

(it’s a recurrent lesson and that’s a good thing.)

Consider me heaving a pretty big sigh of relief; after almost three weeks of “negotiation”, we’ve finally settled terms around house inspection fixes and are at a resting point with the seller pending close on the house (tentatively scheduled for 05-15-2012). However, there is one hurdle remaining…

All that’s left is the appraisal by the lender (which we deliberately held off on until the last moment due to the above; why spend the money to order/pay for it if things fall through, right?) and ensuring there’s no further issue over the sales price. The way this works is that, obviously, the lender will not lend more than the house appraises for… so if the appraisal comes in UNDER current sales price, there will be a round of requesting seller to meet that price or the deal, regrettably, is off (since we’re not flush enough to pay the different out of pocket). This, the ultimate hurdle, happens this week and, thankfully, has no need of my involvement as the mortgage company pretty much dictates this and there’s not a lot of room for negotiation (on either side).

As I research and understand it, the chances are quite high that the appraisal will come in higher than the current sales price; this, however, does not pose a problem as the seller has agreed via our contract to “no recourse” to re-open negotiations. It would be quite nice to enter the situation with equity, but I cannot imagine it will be more than a few thousand dollars at this time, given the area is gentrifying and I don’t expect big appreciation in the area for about 5 – 10 years at minimum.

All this said, the second half of escrow money goes to the closing agency on Monday, leaving me pinching pennies and looking for ways to shave costs between now and closing. There’s a LOT to be done in the month’s grace left on our apartment lease; while I’m thankful of the time to move things leisurely over several weekends (odds and ends, stored items, etc), I also have to:

• get a security system installed
• get window treatments purchased and installed
• get a washer and dryer purchased and delivered
• possibly re-open an area I had requested enclosed just to get the washer/dryer into the place (oy! hindsight tells me that request was not the wisest one).
• get mover’s scheduled and pre-paid

Beyond this, it’s just the usual organizing of transfer of utilities, picking a weekend for the major portion of the move and actually executing the move.

Oh, and moving the cats. (This is more a trauma event than you might think; dogs generally attach to people and then to territory, but cats attach quite strongly to territory and location and moving is really quite stressful for them. Daka, in particular, just does not do well in a move; the trip from the east coast out to here in 2008 was… hard.)

All the above said, I am looking forward to the notion of having a place where annual re-negotiations for rent are non-existent and I can finally take advantage of the benefits of home ownership once more.

Gee, it only took, what… 12 years to pull it off again? (wry grin) Still, better than never, I say. Perspective remains key; I am not making the mistake I did in the ’90s of thinking this is my ‘forever home’ because, let’s face it, nothing is certain in life and, frankly, there’s no such thing as security. I’m sure that sounds negative, but I mean it quite positively… change (impermanence) reigns supreme as the only unchanging reality in life.

But I do intend to enjoy this one for as long as I possibly can.

If you want Google to be able to use, re-use, and plagiarize your work. http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2012/04/26/google-drive-sparks-privacy-concerns-among-businesses/

If you are ok with Google claiming rights to use your work and content in its ads or potentially make it public to the world (if you forget to flick a certain setting). http://www.wired.com/cloudline/2012/04/google-drive-privacy/

If you are ok with Google scanning and analyzing the information you store with them for anything from ad targeting to building a profile on you for selling/sharing with advertisers and marketeers. http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2012/0426/Google-Drive-says-it-may-publicly-perform-your-files.-What-s-that-mean

In short, use Google Drive if you really don’t give a damn about your privacy, your intellectual property rights, or pretty much anything else you might naturally and reasonably assume a company ought not be able to do with YOUR stuff.

As for me? Er… thanks, but no thanks.

Infinity curled

Once upon a time, I was a real Merlot snob, but I’ve been out of that “game” since 2009 and the diabetes diagnosis. Tonight, thanks to being “well managed” and (generally) good to my pancreas, I was able to enjoy precisely 1.5 glasses of a luscious merlot of the aforementioned name.

Now either I’ve completely lost my nose/taste (which, I admit, is possible) or this was an exceptional merlot. Truly, exceptional. Oak, cherry, clove, and a hint of cinnamon, sturdy legs, and a smooth, rich presence on the tongue; I savored it in the way only someone who but rarely gets to experience such things can do.

A brief search when back home reveals it is ridiculously under-priced and possibly being discontinued (?).  A pity if true, that. If you’re a fan of the reds, you’d have to travel a long road to find a merlot as sultry suave as this.

The effective image/symbol approximating “infinity” on the label made me chuckle for Jungian thoughts. (This, but a brief and probably entirely irrelevant aside except to me, apophenia being what it is.)

For a time, I felt liberated of old age and its concerns. It was a nice feeling, albeit that it only lasted until I got home and the “spike” set it.

I regret nothing.

It seems most sites are oceans of noise with increasingly difficult to find signal, but even the sites with strong signal show signs of the usual dynamics that precede the arrival of “cult of personality” behaviors and herald the eventual and all too usual slide into the pattern by which any “noble goal” is foundered.

“And then, there was one…” and who knows how long it will last. In less than five years, I’ve gone from being one of the most active people online to all but a neo-luddite. Primarily because my tolerance for the dynamics in question are abysmal, but also because I firmly believe in letting my presence, my wallet, and my actions “do the talking”.

No, the irony of “talking” by silence does not escape me. Nor, frankly, does the reality that, increasingly, “social media” is more useful to companies than to individuals… irony, indeed.

Briefly, I ponder whether or not it has occurred more than intermittently to these varied outlets that they are actually setting themselves up for their own, eventual downfall; be it to the inevitable ennui that occurs when only voices of agreement remain or the equally eventual abandonment that happens as newer offerings present themselves. Of course, I chuckle because I already know the answer, “No, you silly goose of a woman, it hasn’t occurred; how could it when the longest business plan any of them have these days is 1 – 3 years?”

Somberly, I consider additional ramifications on matters ranging from diversity in discourse to long-term effects of its lack (hardly just “me” I’m thinking about here, mind). The axiom still holds true, you know… history repeats itself because rarely do folk pay attention long enough to really learn from it.

Ah well, more time to devote to hobby research, writing, and whatnot!

a rumination
historical ruination
pitiful beggar

You ever have something that keeps returning to your mind, no matter how hard, how often, or how desperately you try to keep it from doing so? Isn’t it frustrating? Annoying? I have only two such recurring aches and, try as I might, they simply will not dissipate and waft away into nothingness as they should.

I look at the calendar and try to figure out if there is some odd connection of date that might trigger this one, but I find no correlation. The archives, stores of what once were cherished reminders, were long ago sent to the incinerator and to ash and smoke. No images or remainders here and yet, like some strangely persistent ghost, still, here I sit, again, with this plaintive mewling along corridors of memory and the mind.

I think it fair at this point to say that I just do not get it (why it still happens). There simply is nothing left or present in my “here and now” that even remotely associates; there is nothing I can point to and call “the reason” or “the trigger” that calls this forth.

Still, here it is; like some derelict, shuffling around in natty robes and patting dusty corners as if I’ve left anything it might grasp for purchase. I greet it with an exasperated sigh along the lines of “What? You again? Really?!?” and it doesn’t even flinch; it does not falter, just keeps pawing at my mind as if I have anything left to give to it.

But I gave it all away years back; sorry, there’s nothing left.

I shut away the canyon, collected and shredded the papers, bundled up memory and imagery and scrunched it down into pebbles that I dropped hopefully off the most terrifying cliffs I could find. I burned every inch of the film; watching it smoke and curl and disappear to the music of my relieved sighs. I carefully cleaned every corner, every sill, ever rafter and window. I sterilized everything it ever came into contact with and then, returned on a schedule to do the entire antiseptic routine again… scrubbing with fierce insistence until no presence or hint there ever was presence remained.

I look at it now, this vagrant with gnarled hands and hooded face and the exasperation flows away on the clean, smooth tide of acknowledgement, “Yes, yes, I know, you wish it were different. It isn’t. It will not be. It is as it is.”

Oddly enough, this seems to satisfy; I watch bony hands clasp themselves together and the slow and somewhat clumsy bow and then, it shuffles off as quietly as it arrived, leaving only the empty ache and the echo of that acknowledgement to ricochet through my mind.

“As it is… as it is… as it is… as it is.”

http://thenextweb.com/google/2012/04/16/brin-we-would-not-have-been-able-to-develop-google-if-the-internet-had-been-dominated-by-facebook/

What’s that you say? Facebook is a walled garden? Say it ain’t so! Oh, lawdy, ‘jes don’ put me in the Facebook patch! (Google WISHES it had Facebook’s troubles, press, and market.)

Seriously, this has got to be the most ludicrous “pot calling the kettle black” bit of blather I have recently witnessed.

Point: Google only cares about Facebook’s walled garden because they think it is keeping them from creating their own. (When, in reality Brin, it is merely and quite effectively demonstrating that “Google just doesn’t get social” by repeatedly giving you the chance to drive every new social effort you come up with directly into the hardest piece of ground you can find).

Ah, Brin, how arrogant you have grown. You think Facebook is your biggest worry; this is amusing considering how well it underscores the dissonance about the real issue already consuming your company from the inside out. (Oh, no, I don’t think I’ll be baldly stating it here; you no longer deserve to hear it. Figure it out or fall to it. Personally, I’m hoping the latter these days.)

Yes, Brin, the web was open when you got to it; it will remain open so long as you don’t get your way. Sorry, how much does this have to do with Facebook again? (Brer Rabbit hand-waving isn’t quite working for you.)

Yes, yes, I know that we are not supposed to know about the close work with NSTIC.

Yes, I know we’re not supposed to notice that you’re scanning our “free” data stores to feed your algorithms for advertising and marketing… that all this “free” stuff is costing us our privacy (Why, how bout ‘dat? Ain’t this the same privacy you sayin’ Facebook is invading?)

Yes, I know that we’re not supposed to understand that Google has traded their “don’t be evil” motto for “don’t like it, don’t use it” because, Brin, you have actually convinced yourselves that you’re “big enough” and “safe enough” to do it with impunity…. you’ve become a predatory network.

But I’ll tell you something, Brin, you have forgotten something; you have forgotten something very important and all this arrogance is only going to make what comes of that oversight the more surprising to you when it arrives.

And yes, Brin, I know you have no idea what I’m talking about; that’s kind of the point, you see. You’ll dismiss the very idea that there could be anything. This is what Google does best these days, arrogance and dissonance being what they are and all.

Don’t worry, Brin, you’ll know it when it’s in your grille and, thankfully, by the time it is, it will be far too late for you to do anything about it and the rest of us will move on to the next and newest thing… the one that’s going to replace you. Oh, I’m sorry…  do you truly think that Google is invincible? (I admit, I kind of hope you do; it will make the poetic justice of it all just that much sweeter.)

Fortunately, some of us learned a thing or two from ol’ Uncle Remus; enough to know that whenever someone’s hollering about how awful something is and how much they would give anything to avoid it, chances are usually pretty darn good that they’ve got an ulterior motive. (And in most cases, it’s the same one.)

But I reckon Google don’ know nuttin’ bout dat, eh Brin?

Meanwhile, Gary Reback, arguably the fellow with the best insight upon what constitutes actionable monopoly, put it quite eloquently in a recent AFP article published at Yahoo! (ref link: http://news.yahoo.com/google-likely-next-antitrust-push-tech-giants-163230027.html),

There are people still entering the market in social networking. You don’t see that in search. Search is the real problem right now…

Google’s response? The all too usual party line, a refrain almost as usual from them today as it is clueless:

“We design our search results to serve users, not websites, and the great thing about the openness of the Internet is that if users don’t like the answers we’re providing, they can switch to another website with just one click.”

In case you don’t recognize it (is that still possible?), it’s the same ol’ “Don’t like it, don’t use it” schtick. (Gotta love that dissonance; all the more so for the effective probability of it being natural rather than contrived is effectively nil at this point, in my personal opinion.)

Let’s see… At present, the count of complainants in the EU alone have risen to thirteen ; meanwhile, here, at home, the heat is coming up as well.

There are now several suits underway, the FTC has expanded their inquiries to include activities with Android as well as with Apple  as they contemplate just what Google has been up to of late. Indeed, the most recent one between Skyhook Wireless and Google seems to involve (among other things), Google’s complaint that Skyhook interfered with Google’s “contractual rights to collect end-user data.” (Golly, how dare they! Privacy? Be damned!)

Oh, oh, and let me not forget this little gem… apparently Google has decided to try and get into polling; reckon owning identity isn’t working out so well and now they’re hoping to dredge up better from ripping off and mimicking a company called “Civic Science” (ref link and interesting little response from this company here: http://about.civicscience.com/blog/2012/4/17/top-10-reasons-were-excited-about-googles-survey-product.html). Let’s just say that any “Google Survey” I encounter will either be ignored or deliberately populated with false data. Fortunately, if Google’s m.o. is as usual, I’ll never see them because I no longer have a GMail account (points back to previously mentioned litigation over that issue and chuckles).

(Let’s see, is the pattern of Google’s intent and motivation not yet clear? In my opinion it is crystalline: Google sees you have a good thing, they either wait for access to your alpha or your public beta… or maybe they contact you and ask for an agreement; either way, as soon as they learn everything they can, they break ties with you and introduce a competitor, one that looks or acts or performs remarkably like what you have. This activity, according to the FBI and Plagiarism.org is called plagiarism or intellectual property theft, but doesn’t it just seem that, these days, it’s “business as usual” for Google?)

Meanwhile, on the anti-trust side of things, I found this letter by Senator Kohl outlining concerns on the matter to be particularly well done. And, of course, meanwhile, it seems Google (that would be you, Brin, amongst the trio of would-be dominators now “leading” Google) has decided to play the “la la la, we can’t hear you” game and, rather than take the increasingly loud and consistent feedback seriously (Yes, yes, I know, apparently ‘don’t be evil’ has become quite passe’ these days), try to build up public sentiment about “meanie Facebook” not letting you play your way on their playground.

Isn’t it just so odd how easily and quickly you can make the “unfair” claim when the shoe is on the other foot?

How easy for you to swear that it isn’t doing anyone any harm to bias search results, create derivative products that blatantly rip off the model and method and presentation of others (i.e., Diaspora being the most recent in a long, long list), and play word games in anti-trust hearings as if we’re all just going to have your preferred brand (!!) of selective amnesia… but only until someone does the same thing you’re doing, right, Brin?

It amuses me no end that you want to complain about Facebook. Tell you what, Brin, here’s a phrase you might have heard somewhere before… “Don’t like it, don’t use it.” (And yes, I hope that stings the way it bloody well should.)

But hey… I’m not one to bitch about problems without offering a solution. So here, a freebie you don’t have to mimic or steal; in fact, a solid compromise that removes the biggest issue of anti-trust and, since you’re obviously no longer interested in REAL search, it shouldn’t be a problem for you:

Donate the Google search engine to the public domain and simply remove your connection and ownership.

You may as well, since you obviously can’t help but abuse it otherwise.

Of course, I do realize this means you’d have to return to doing something I’m sure you’re tired of…. competing. But the good news is, it might be just the thing to break that deadlock of arrogant presumption that has been hamstringing pretty much everything you’ve done these last ten years in social media.

It might even keep you from going on the rack for your ridiculous, rampant, and reckless disregard for personal choice and privacy.

Not that I expect you to care about that until you’re made to, of course.

Needless to say, I never gave a thought to anyone but Paul doing the inspection, but I wasn’t sure if he ranged east. A quick email happily resolved that question and today, we met for yet another house inspection.

As you might guess, a 1910 Craftsman that has been renovated holds a lot of potential for issue, particularly in that folk who “flip” houses (as this one has been) sometimes try to cut corners (to say the least). Fortunately for me, Paul demonstrated the usual attentiveness and thoroughness that I experienced at the previous house and he even made note of a few things that I wouldn’t have considered, like:

• Caulking exposed cracks between wood siding and trim, but ONLY if they are in a position to receive incoming water (i.e., not if they’re open to the bottom, since you WANT water to drain out, but you prefer that it never have the chance to get IN in the first place).
• Making sure that the ENDS of trim and pieces that have been cut or mitered to fit the house exterior are painted/sealed so that weather over time has no way to intrude and rot that lovely trim or siding from the inside, out.
• Closely inspecting ALL openings on every side of the house and pointing out those larger than a pencil. (As Paul put it, “If it’s big enough to slide a pencil into, then it’s big enough for mice and other things you’d likely prefer not to have getting closer to your woodwork, foundation, insulation, etc.”)
• Not only inspecting every dang outlet in the place (there were 70!), but also inspecting them for secure attachment to the wall (he found one that wasn’t… we added it to the punch list).
• Not only inspecting the tubs and sinks, but actually filling them to the “brim point” (where the overflow in a sink or tub is supposed to catch water rather than send it over the sides and onto your floors!) to ensure they do what they’re supposed to do and that brim drain works as intended.
• Not only suiting up and crawling through the attic and crawlspace, but actually checking for missing insulation, wrapping on ALL pipes and heating ducts, as well as making note of the condition of joists and joist hangers (or their lack) under staircases there, where you as a homeowner would never see or notice them).
• Not only checking the furnace, water heater, and pump, but filling every tub and sink in the place, then draining them and flushing all the toilets to make that pump (in particular) come ON and making that water heater come ON and making that furnace come ON and verifying that each do what they’re supposed to do in the range of time at which they’re supposed to be effectively doing it.
• Not only verifying that all external faucets work, but that they are also within the range they’re supposed to be for pressure (between 40 and 80 PSI in King County; these two were dead middle at 60).
• Not only walking the roof and inspecting it, but also checking for sheathing and loose shingles as well as pointing out too much overhang of the back (dropped) roof shingling.
• Not only turning on and triple checking all appliances (does the ice maker and water in the fridge work? do the ovens and burners work correctly? does the vent hood fan actually vent and is it vented to the outdoors properly?), but pointing out the necessity of the stove being attached or secured to the back wall AND that the plumbing has the appropriate angles and traps and feeds where they’re supposed to be (and not where they aren’t!).

I really could go on (we were there for about five hours…!!) but suffice to say the upshot is that Paul came to this inspection with a serious and focused perspective; that was what impressed me so much last time out with him… this is a guy who wants to make sure that I, as a homebuyer, am informed, understand WHY some of the things he was mentioning matter, what those things can or may mean if not addressed, and which were things that warrant conversation with the house seller. In short, he doesn’t just show up and collect your money – he educates you, too.

(Now, I’ll admit, I’ve become quite the fan of HGTV’s “Mike Holmes” since the house in Edmonds, and there were a few things I had noted before Paul ever arrived (brought my list!) and, as usual, Paul carefully listened to my concerns and laid out both the situation, the causes, and (in his professional opinion as a person who spent several decades in construction prior to becoming an inspector), whether or not they were things about which to be worried. Simply put (and as I’ve come to expect from Paul), he did the thorough and careful job that I knew he would.)

So… I have said it before and I will happily say it again: If you’re looking for a home inspector who has the knowledge, experience, and attitude of stewardship in relation to looking out for your best interests, I sincerely think you would have to go a very long way indeed to do better than to choose Harbor Home Inspections and Paul Neis.

Actually, I’ll go further — if you’re thinking of selling your home, you should probably consider having an inspection so you know what a buyer is likely to find concerning. Mind you, there were not a lot of concerns at this house, but you just never know which ones a buyer will find off-putting.

I think you will find (as I have) that the best thing Paul Neis brings to his work is an approach that gives you a certain hard-to-find thing called ‘peace of mind’. Thanks to Paul and Harbor Home Inspections, I have it and, I must say, not only does it feel damn nice, it’s damn reasonably priced to boot. (And you just can’t beat that with a stick.)

Part 1:

Part 2:

daka-catpianojr

They are. So, upon return (and in possession of many photos, copies of all renovation receipts, and permits), I notified the seller’s agent of this being the case and we officially cross the line from “pre-sales contract” to “sales contract”.

Next up, the house inspection. The truly amazing fellow that did our last inspection on the last “house I hope to buy” (that fell through due to an unexpected lay off) has graciously agreed to go outside his usual area of operations to repeat the process. I cannot tell you how pleased I am for this, and happily do I link here to my previous review with no doubt whatever that Paul Neis will once more provide the very epitome of thorough, detail-focused inspection.

BUT! Until this is done and the results are positive (thus allowing me to cross the final boundary to closing on the sale), I refrain from more than one picture… so, here, the 1910 Craftsman that I soon hope to call “home”:

ObHaiku:

Dukkha, sharply sweet,
Recovery? Or relapse?
For now, I care not.

However, I find a new candidate has entered the field and I believe I can say without hesitation that THIS is someone I believe would be a trustworthy and ethical choice for leadership in a time when it seems that most of our government are too concerned with fighting amongst themselves, supporting continued dichotomous fighting amongst the people, and, of course, caring largely and more for their own political futures and prestige than whether or not they are actually managing to effectively or efficiently govern the country.

Who is this mystery candidate? The man who could change my mind?

What more needs be said?

Those brief syllables
skipping across the ocean
to land on my shore

Pebbles on window
seeking for my attention
wanting full focus

So small, a pebble,
faint noise requires listening
I almost missed it

Studying its form,
I tried to decide meaning,
purpose, and intent

Once upon a time,
I could see mountains in them;
but time, it passes

Regardless stacking,
no mountain is a pebble;
no pebble, mountain.

Still, a pretty one;
blue like a rare, English sky,
tiny like an egg

I thought to keep it,
instead, put it on the sill;
whispered a thank you

For the memories,
dreams of a pebbled mountain,
across the ocean

Findings? Well, I think the github entry speaks for itself. But, since they have a tendency to delete entries once they become “of interest” on this matter (like the long missing security post, for salient example), I’ll screenshot it as well as link to it.

The link: https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/issues/1823

The screen shot of the salient comment(s):

Suffice to say, I don’t see this thing ever being much more than this… which, obviously, isn’t much at all considering they cannot manage even the most basic tenets of their biggest differentiator (you own your data).

Did they fix it? No.

Did they admit it needs to be fixed? Yes.

Apparently, they’ll only care about this when they either get paid to care or when they run out of chasing VC capital via puff and fluff features that other social offerings still do better.

Not that I’m surprised, mind you.