ghotifish.net

Miles Biked: 30.97
Average Speed: 15.2 mph

Miles Biked: 30.44
Average Speed: 15.0 mph

Ah, the joy of my many-layered existance:

• Layer 1 (Physical Layer): Astoundingly cool weather all summer has stunted crop growth across Minnesota, but the succulents on our windowsill (including the beloved jade) don’t seem to mind. I think the cacti are a bit disappointed, though.

  The weather was nice enough to warrant a trip to the Minnesota State Fair last(?) weekend, which in turn provided an excellent opportunity to walk, talk, and eat fried foods with various married and unmarried Carleton friends.

• Layer 2 (Data Link Layer): This entry was posted via our new cable internet connection, which has already proven itself to be quite a bit speedier than the DSL offered by the apartment management.

  The (very friendly) technician who installed the cable modem was at first rather baffled by the fact that I don’t use windows on my computer and therefore had no intention — nor even the capability — of installing the software contained on the setup CD provided by the cable company. Once he was finished with the cable installation, I let him watch as I configured my laptop to get a DHCP lease from the cable modem and began surfing the internet. He was genuinely impressed and interested (especially by the 1337 tcpdumps), and we ruminated briefly on the fact that his expertise covers the connection from the cable box in the basement to the cable modem while mine covers that from the modem to the computer, with little or no overlap — and neither of us really understands how the modem actually works.

• Layer 3 (Network Layer): This coming weekend I will have the chance to reacquaint myself with both the city of Milwaukee and America’s railways, thanks to Eden’s discovery of the Harmon Hundred bike ride in southeastern Wisconsin. We’re still undecided regarding how far we want to go — the ride offers 25-, 50-, 75-, and 100-mile routes.

  Rumor has it that the empty apartment next to T&A will soon be occupied by Carleton grads, which I think will put the Carleton occupancy of the Emerson Court/Dupont Court buildings somewhere in the 10% range. Plans are already in place for illicit wireless network sharing.

• Layer 4 (Transport Layer): My bicycle is currently upside-down in the living room with the wheels off, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. On Friday, as I took the long (20 mile) way home from work, I pondered the fact that I should probably practice fixing a flat tire sometime before the previously mentioned Wisconsin ride. The next morning I awoke to find my rear tire flat — it seems that I made a very small and sharp new friend sometime during my commute. Hence, this afternoon will include a trip to Penn Cycle to pick up a patch kit, spare tubes, tire levers, etc.

• Layer 5 (Session Layer): OK, I admit that I have no idea what to do with the Session Layer entry. No one ever talks about this layer, anyway; the only example I could find that I’m familiar with is NetBIOS. I say, if you can’t do it with an IP protocol, it’s not worth doing — and good luck getting it to go through your firewall!

• Layer 6 (Presentation Layer): I seem to have recently become a connoisseur of vaguely hipsteresque short-sleeved polo shirts. However, based on recent trends the weather will not accommodate their wear for many more weeks.

• Layer 7 (Application Layer): Firewalls continue to break. Thus, I continue to fix them. The previous few weeks have been laden with VPN passthrough questions.

  I admit that I’m quite excited about the pending release of Gnome 2.8. In particular, I’m curious to see how the inclusion of Evolution 2.0 is handled, and just how well it is intergrated into the rest of the desktop.

“Hey man — is this, like, the deli?”

“I think this is the bakery.” I glance around quickly to confirm my suspicion — I see only bread.

“Oh.” A thoughful pause. “So, where do they keep the food and shit?”

Food and shit? Perhaps at the county feed store one could find both alfalfa and manure-based fertilizer, but I doubt either of these are on his list. Does he even have a list?

“What kind of food are you looking for?”

“You know, like chicken.”

Aha! Perhaps I can help him after all. “That’ll be a bit futher down.”

Several minutes later, as I heft my basket up onto the checkout conveyor, I see him amble out of the housewares aisle, empty-handed save for a half-eaten corn dog that he nibbles while cautiously eyeing a display of discounted paper towels.

Miles Biked: 31.36
Average Speed: 15.4 mph