Back at it Again…
Well... it's Monday morning again... I can't say as I'm too happy with this series of events, but that's really not a surprise. I'm sure there are entire civilizations that didn't like going to work. I just wish I liked it a little more.
Part of the reason I'm not really in a great mood this morning is that I just finished reading Nelson DeMille's The Gold Coast and I have to say that while I was never a great fan of his other books, this one was particularly horrible. While I have to admit that the humor of the main character is quite funny at times, the book itself is filled with the most dislikeable characters imaginable. The main character is married into old money and his wife is totally unlikeable - even by the main character. The cast of supporting characters is weak, and I simply found myself wishing that this book would end. I finished it only because I'm a completion-oriented person, and I won't be worried about picking up another of his books for a very long time.
So when I'm reading a 626 page epic to stupidity, it's hard to be happy when you have to go to work on an early Monday morning. Now if I'd been reading a new Michael Crighton - or even a Tom Clancey then maybe... but it's Monday, it's early, and it's a terrible book. Thankfully, I finished the book and on this evening's train ride I'll be reading The Legend of Baggar Vance which promises to be a much more enjoyable read than The Gold Coast.
Well... it's just like a Monday for bad news...
This morning I checked the SpindleTop page where the guys at MIT are making the Blackbird machines. Basically, wonderful machines that are black cubes with dual Pentium III or Athlon motherboards and all-around wixkedly great boxes starting below $2400. I was planning on getting one of these as soon as I could afford it. Now it seems as though it won't matter when I get the money because they aren't accepting any more orders.
This is so depressing it's almost too hard to deal with...
I realize that I may still be months away from a machine like this, but I always felt better looking at the pictures and thinking about that special someday when I'd get a chance to order one. Now that hope is all gone.
It's so depressing to think about this... I just can't. Maybe it'll hit me tomorrow or the day after, but right now I'm just numb.
Patience is a virtue is what I remember hearing when I was a kid. Heck, I still hear it now. Yet there seems to be a lot of folks that either don't hear it, or if they do, they don't listen. Now I'm not someone who has a wealth of patience, but even I have a hard time dealing with folks that believe they should wait for no one.
I work with people that would rather fix a problem by spending $1000 today and another $500 next week, and every week in lost time until the right thing is done, than spend $400 and get the parts needed to make it work right in a few days. It's the "If I'm doing something now then that's all that counts" philosophy. And I just can't stand it. There's a time for action and there's a time for considered thought. I just don't see the second ever being done by some folks. It's just hard to be in the middle of this. But hey, that's what I get paid to do, right? Doesn't mean I have to like it.