The Left Side of Normal Airplanes, The Internet, and Everything Else

Maybe it's the new mouse.  Maybe it's because it's Monday.  In any case, I'm feeling like I got a lot done today.  Domain renewals.  SSL renewals.  Moved the last remaining sites from an old (ancient) Windows 2000 web server with ColdFusion 5 out to a new home on a virtualized Windows 2008 web server with ColdFusion 8.  Once all of the DNS changes propagate around and we have a snapshot of the old server, that will be one less piece of hardware to manage (not to mention an outdated non-supported OS and ColdFusion version to support).  Hopefully I can shut it down by the end of the week.  I also closed a bunch of support tickets that had been hanging around.  I even brought lunch to save a few dollars and shave off a few calories from my usual intake (have to make up for buying this awesome new mouse).  Now it's time to go home and take some proficiency profile exam for school.  It's not part of the degree program directly, nor does it impact my GPA, but it's mandated by the school that we take it when we're getting close to graduation.  They ask you to block off just over two hours.  I really hope it doesn't take that long.  I have more code to write and projects to get caught up on.  Here's to hoping the productivity carries on at home and I can get everything done that I'd like to get done.

May seems to have been a relatively slow month all the way around.  No herculean efforts required on any of my work projects or contract jobs; school was tough but no major project due for the course; nothing major going on with life in general.  My course this month is Air Cargo.  We've been assigned a lot of reading, have two exams, and a short paper due at the end of the month.  This is a course I could knock out in a weekend if the school would let me.  The ducks are now fully grown and have made several supervised trips out into the lake.  One of these days we'll leave their pen open so they can go down to the lake on their own if they like.  As for this weekend, I don't really have anything planned aside from relaxing and responding to any emergencies.  I might check in on ServerFault.com to see if there are any questions I can answer, and I'll be checking e-mail here and there, but no major deadlines or projects in the works.  Perhaps the rest of June will be a little busier.

It's been about a year since we moved into the house we're renting, and we recently renewed for another two years.  When we moved in, we spent some money to improve the condition of the house to address some minor issues we had.  First, we had to buy a refrigerator ($400 for a new one with some minor scratches from a used appliance store).  Next, we painted nearly every flat surface in the place (~$200 in paint).  I also replaced all of the light switches and electrical outlets and their respective wall plates because the old ones were dingy, painted over multiple times, and just detracted from the "fresh" feel of the newly painted rooms (~$80 in parts).  Lastly, we replaced the faucets in the two bathrooms with new ones.  The existing ones were very old and splattered water all over the place ($150 in new hardware).

I was recently discussing all of this with someone who remarked that we were "crazy" for investing in improvements to a house we don't own.  They're looking at it the wrong way.  I don't see it as an "investment" in the house.  I don't own it and have no illusions about improving the property resale value or anything like that.  The way I see it, I'm living in the house, and I want to be happy in my environment.  Spending around $400 in minor improvements went a long way toward reducing our frustration with the little things we interact with every day.  When my fiancee does her hair, it's a little easier because I went with a taller fixture in the main bathroom.  When we turn lights on and off I'm not seeing 12 layers of multicolored paint on the switches and wall plates.  When I plug things in, they don't fall out of the wall because the sockets aren't 20 years old.  It's the little things and minor frustrations in life that mean the difference between being content and being constantly frustrated.  Sure, we won't get that $400 back when we move out, and I'm not taking the faucets with me, but in the mean time I'm a happier person, so the cost was worth an improved quality of life.