Another time of writing, editing and then canceling. My shore time is coming to an end in less than two weeks and back to sea or at least back to Hawaii. I took time off for medical and dental as well as rest of mind. Spare time spent watching movies on DVD, reading books and listening to music.
Time at the office has been consumed by the move to Newport and the pitiful charade displayed by Port of Newport commissioners and the Oregon politicians. Groundbreaking and “Welcome to Newport” ceremonies occurred two weekends ago with minimal interest from Marine Center employees. If you look at photos and videos of the travesty, you will notice there was no “official” participation by NOAA. Lacking were formal representatives from NOAA or the Marine Center. Two NOAA ships were there but could only participate as private citizens. They had to be there because it was a port call. Unofficial word was that NOAA employees were discouraged from attending ceremonies. If I were a local Newport citizen I would be a bit suspicious.
The gloating by the Oregon media overshadowed the missing aspect (NOAA representation) of the ceremony. With the debacle in the Gulf of Mexico and uprising by New England fishermen, it was very easy for NOAA to sneak the Newport relocation under the carpet. Despite of Inspector General's recommendation that NOAA withhold the final determination until the investigation findings were complete, NOAA gave the IG and everyone else the middle finger with the exception of the Port of Newport and the Oregon politicians. It seems NOAA has been smooching quite a bit with them and press releases were all through Senator Wyden's office in Grants Pass. Of course, if you are a welfare recipient as NOAA is in this case, you kiss the arse of the person who feeds you.
My divorce from Windows is increasing as the main computer I am using at work is operating Ubuntu Linux. I sat up e-mail accounts yesterday using Evolution as well as Mozilla's Thunderbird. So when I have a choice between Windows and Linux after BIOS post, it's no contest to where I go. Much like Mac the operating system is more stable. I use Open Office suite for word processing. As for the Mac at home, yes, it is GREAT with the exception of Entourage. I had an SMTP problem that I need to scrutinize more. It will receive e-mails but not send. After several tries and reading forums, the problem was corrected. I had the same problem with Ubuntu's “Evolution” e-mail browser. After a few clicks here and there, it finally sent out test e-mails. I really want to learn the mechanics of Linux. Due to it's reputation and stability, I see more scientific software programs that scientists bring to the ships running on Linux. The evolution of technology will override static policies set forth reactive bureaucrats.
Of course, we (NOAA) are still in the XP world and do not expect migrating to Windows 7 anytime soon. There is much talk, nevertheless, instead of being leading edge, it seems we are always on the “trailing edge.” I do not rate high enough to be involved with any determination but results seems that we migrate long after everyone else has or they have migrated to a new revision. Either way, I am no longer a user of Windows personally except at work, so whatever decision my employer come up with, I have to live with. But waiting for XP to load, crashed programs, and overall antiquated graphics and system, I feel as if I were demoted when going from Mac to Windows or even from Ubuntu Linux to Windows for that matter. You could equate it to using modern game consoles and all of a sudden you had to switch back to an early Atari set. Not only in graphics, types of software available but in performance as well. I did some work with Windows 7 earlier this year and Microsoft attempted to make it look like a Mac. Yes, Windows is fast at first but after several years of updates, add ons and security issues, you are back to square one when it comes to speed and performance.
That should do for now. It is going to be short work week with doctor's appointments and using use or lose leave.
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