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Christopher 'Vulpine' Kalley,
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Copyright © 1998-2006

"Better Vulpines through Technology."


"God bless this lady rooster. All the people said? A-HEN!"


Rodan :) Wed Oct 23 21:44:22 CDT 2002
Mood: Confuzzled Music of the Day: The Sound of Big Wings
It seems that Alaska is full of Rocs...
    Southwest Alaskans see bird they say is Super Cub-sized

    A giant winged creature, like something out of Jurassic Park, has reportedly been sighted several times in Southwest Alaska in recent weeks.

    Villagers in Togiak and Manokotak say they have seen a huge bird that's much bigger than anything they have seen before.
Check out the full story here.

From The Halls of Dell Wed Oct 23 17:40:15 CDT 2002
Mood: Working Music of the Day: The echos of Dell
Hey all, this is Vulpine posting from the swinging halls of i Dell. Yes, I am that bored at work. Actually, things ain't so bad. I'm back in the swing of sales, and actually enjoying it. I'd enjoy it more with dual monitors and linux, and doing a admin job...but I can live with this ;)

Let me describe my home away from home, it's your basic half cube...you know, with the half height walls between cubes, and fullsized walls between rows. I've got a Dell Optiplex GX1 for a desktop. Need to get speakers in here. Got my phone, and the walls are plastered in notes and hints and numbers. Got a C.H.I.M.P. like object on the outside edge of the cube, so I can see people coming up behind me. On my monitor (17") is Skippy, the Plush Cthulhu. A dragon gargoyle is staring at me from a bookshelf...the shelf has some manuals and sales stuff, along with copies of the Illuminatus and Schrodinger's Cat trilogies. Hey, some people have bibles...I have Robert Anton Wilson ;) I need to find and bring in some posters and junk for entertainment. Not enough toys here. Need more pics, especially of certain cute redheads and other babes :)

Yes, I am this bored at work...scary ain't it.

BTW Tue Oct 22 23:03:50 CDT 2002
Mood: Slightly better Music of the Day: Celtic Frost - Mexican Radio
Btw, speaking of eyecandy...make sure to check out Asia Carrera's page. (But only if your 18 and up) She is the original geek of pr0n, a MENSA member, a computer geek who has used Linux, and sexy as hell. And I'm not the only one who thinks so, Tom Smith (aka the world's fastest filker) posted her link on his page...and I couldn't let a tunesmith top me ;) So there :P *laugh* So check her out. :) Hey, she's geeky enough that I have her under 'Ubergeeks' rather than 'Eyecandy' in Opera. Now that's a compliment :)

No Clue Tue Oct 22 22:52:42 CDT 2002
Mood: Down, working it up Music of the Day: Ronnie James Dio - Heaven and Hell (live)
Well, I was going to post about tonight being the anniversary of my father's death 10 years ago. But when I thought about it, I didn't think it was the best thing to talk about. I should remember his life, not his death. But I did want to say, I miss you dad. So much. So very much.

Ok...sad bit out of the way. I've been keeping busy at work, getting good at being a sales weasel. Yesterday I was #2 sales weasel on my team, which isn't bad for being on the floor for 5 days. I went camping for the weekend after my bday, the annual CMA Samhain gathering. It was WET but fun. Rhiannon wasn't too happy about the rain, but she enjoyed the rest. She got to play a firefaerie at a firetwirling show. It was very cool IMHO, but I am biased.

Other than that, not a whole lot. Enjoying my 30's. Been flirting alot, and eying the gals alot. Lucky Rhiannon doesn't mind, even points them out to me. Boy am I a lucky fox. :) :) :)

That's all for now...I'll post more when I have a clue ;)

Happy Birthday to Me Fri Oct 17 23:54:45 CDT 2002
Mood: :) Music of the Day: The Pogues - The Sick Bed of Cuchuliann
Well, I turned 30 today. Not much different than when I was 29. Came home after work, and me and Rhiannon went to dinner. Had a fairly pissy waitress, we couldn't figure out if it was at us or life in general. Rhiannon gave me a lovely Celtic/Scandenavian/Finnish dragon pendant, which looks kinda like a fox to me. Got a whole lot of happy bday wishes via email. Thanks to everyone who said happy spawning day.

Now to comment on something that came to me earlier today. As you may have noticed I've been on a Robert Anton Wilson kick the last few weeks. Well, currently I'm finishing up the Schrodinger's Cat trilogy. A big thing in this book, besides alot of sex, is the theory of multiverse. That their are multiple universes based around the possibilities of action. Like in this universe I'm a linux geek, but in another one due to a different decision I'd be a mac geek. For some reason today this became a very comforting thought. The idea that every branching decision in my life could spawn a new universe for each option. WHy is this comforting ? Well, I tend to 2nd/3rd guess myself about things I've decided. And I wonder 'What if?' Well, somewhere in the multiverse, I'm doing the what if. Yes this is a weird thought, but it makes me happy. Funny, there was a Red Dwarf episode about this, but I guess it took Mr Wilson and a Cat with 18 half lives to give me the realization. :) So if your not happy with your life, be happy at least for the you in another universe who's as rich as Bill Gates, and has the harem of wanton redheaded wenches and psychic powers... ;)

Day one on the phones Wed Oct 16 23:02:37 CDT 2002
Mood: Frazzled Music of the Day: The singing of the Fnords...
Ye gods...I've worked at Dell for 3 weeks. I've now...

  • Worked in two departments
  • Had 3 managers.
  • Been thought two incredibly shorted training classes.
  • Figured out I'm the smartest person on the floor.
  • Had 2 people ask me what the hell I'm doing in sales.
  • Become a defacto mentor.
  • And one person call me names.

    It's been a busy fortnight and a half...

    As you can guess by the subject, today was my first full day on the phones. I got there later than I planned, and hopped on the phones. An hour later I came up for air, freaking out. Major high call volume, lots of feeling like an idiot for not knowing everything. I did make some ok sales, including a nice clutch of 19" monitors. 11 monitors, what I could do with 11 monitors :) Nothing too bad happened, besides having someone get upset that I couldn't give her company special prices. The hard part is part of me really dreads going back there tomorrow. It's hard, having to dust off skills I haven't really used since 1998. 4 years people, in which I stopped thinking sales person and started thinking technobabble. That and my damn honesty. Had to send two sales away because I just couldn't say "I'm sure it will work." Damn my honest streak. Damn my integrity. ;) Damn my handsome good looks. (No, I haven't seen Ms Hottie Techgeek lately *pout*). Oh well. Tomorrow is another day, and hopefully it will go better.

  • Rant from Earlier Today Tue Oct 15 19:33:14 CDT 2002
    Mood: Better than you think. Music of the Day: Judas Priest - Out in the Cold
    The following rant was sent to the DFWUfies list today. It sums up my feeling about the trend in learning today, especially with adults. Yes, training at Dell has gotten to me.

      Of course not, most people are handheld from Day 1, and never get past it. Sorry, I'm a big beliver in experimenting, tinkering, and general fscking up. Don't show them how, give them the tools, the documentation, the help they need to get it going, but don't hold their hands though each step. It's insulting to the human brain, and a PITA. Ever try to show a kid step by step something ? They tend to get annoyed until they get used to it, then it's impossible to get them to learn by themselves.

      Sorry, I'm getting off my soapbox now...work is getting to me. Too many trainees who are scared to work without a net.

    T-minus 2 days... Tue Oct 15 19:14:05 CDT 2002
    Mood: Full of P&V Music of the Day: the blarney brothers - paddy murphy
    til I'm the big 3-0. And still I'm not worried about it at all. I slowly get to make the transition from horny 20-something to lecherous 30-something (and from there to dirty old man). I'm still a longhaired weirdo, and enjoying every minute of it. And I don't see me 'growing up' anytime soon.

    So bring on the 30's, I'm ready for them :)

    Texas Renaissance Festival Sun Oct 13 21:56:57 CDT 2002
    Mood: Pooped Music of the Day: The Sounds of Silence...
    Well, I went to the Texas Renaissance Festival this weekend with Rhiannon. Was very much fun, got to show off her in her amazon outfit. Lots of ego boosts for her :) Saw some neat things and cool stuffs. Due to bank issues, I didn't spend too much...which is a good thing I guess. Met a friend of mine from the main Ufies list. That was very cool. All in all had a great time, except for being really tired and zonked. And tomorrow....work.

    Oh yeah, speaking of work...I'm now in a different department. Instead of system sales, I'm in software and perpherial sales. No idea what this means in reality. Oh well...Dell seems to be a company where change is the norm, and I can live with that in a job.

    Geek Wedding Bells. Thu Oct 10 22:29:50 CDT 2002
    Mood: Silly. Music of the Day: Wedding Bells
    No, it's not me...stop having heart attacks. I wanted to announce that several geeks I know are getting hitched.

  • Gabriel and Liss
  • Tom and Sue

    May they have happy lives together, and lots of geeky things :)

  • Page Changes Thu Oct 10 22:01:37 CDT 2002
    Mood: Tired Geek Music of the Day: Dio - I Could Have Been A Dreamer
    Well, I said I was going to make some changes, step 1 is accomplished. As you can probably see, I've updated the frame on the left hand side of the page. Turning Cyberfox.org into a personal page, not a geek page. Cabal23.net will be the geek page. So if your looking for screenshots or config tips or scripts, they'll be moved there. Eventually. ;) Give me a break, I have a full time job again ;) I also pulled off the Google search form...I never used it, and I have plans to do something similar for Cabal23.net.

    On to the new stuff, you'll notice a few name changes, some add ons. Yes, someday I'll finish doing the humor, books, movies, music, etc, pages. A new page is the Colophon page. This is something I stole happily from Chris DiBona. A colophon is a catalog of tools used in creating any work. So, something I else I need to do. ;) I also listed out some of my buddies on the front page, those special loons who keep me sane (and have websites). Everything else is pretty much the same, for now ;)

    Sick Vulpines, changes and stuff Wed Oct 9 16:31:28 CDT 2002
    Mood: *green* Music of the Day: Weird Al Yankovic - The Saga Begins
    Well boys and girls, I'm a sick fox today. No, not mentally, not ill either. Today at Dell we had a meeting/ lunch provided by Intel. Box sandwiches, nice and safe. WEll, except for me. Made it though the training fine, won a few knicknacks for answering questions. Came back to training, then took a timed order test...aced it and was the fastest. Then in came a TSR (Technical Sales Rep) to give us training on servers, and how to use her dept. Very informative...and it didn't hurt that she was very VERY attractive. So while staring at her, I noticed my stomach was a tad upset. Then very upset, then UPSET. I had to excuse myself and visit the little geek's room. Came back, and tried to avoid whimpering in pain. Stomach cramps suck majorly. Finally the lecture ended, got the TSR's phone # and email address (for work only, I assure you *wink*) and ended up leaving work 2 hours early. Came home, took some tagament and sprite and worked on well, this page ;)

    Speaking of pages, I'm going to be making some moderate revisions to the cyberfox page, and a major revision to the Cabal23.net page. Basically, cyberfox.org will be all about me, just me. Cabal23.net will be my geek portal, info on geeking, hosted websites, non-personal stuff. I also want to setup a website for the cats and for the ferrets. I've been getting ideas, we'll see how well they pan out. I've been in a more geeky mood than I have been in months, it's nice to feel vaguely creative. Now to make all that energy do stuff. Wish me luck, I'll need it :)

    Day 7 of Salesweaseldom Tue Oct 8 19:53:06 CDT 2002
    Mood: Tired Music of the Day: Yngwie Malmsteen - Black Star
    Well, I survived a week and some of sales training. Took my first sales call today, didn't sell anything, but generated a very good long term lead/ customer for the salesguy I was listening with. Just a pair o laptops, but with servers and workstations and network stuff in the next year. Now to just do the same for myself next week when I'm on the phones for myself. I also need to gather my cube toys, make sure to have plenty of cool things and fun stuff. Need to bring Skippy (aka my stuffed cthulhu), a copy of Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus trilogy, some shiney things, maybe a Cabal23.net mousepad. The sky's the limit. ;) I'll have a cube. *happy fox*

    Not much else going on...tinkering with desktop, wanting several million dollars for expenses. Having a geekranch sounds pretty cool. Room for an office, a telco shed, big house T-1. I have notes stolen from Mandrake about a geekhaus, I need to dig them out and revamp them. Look for posts later. :)

    Cafepress.com Sun Oct 6 20:19:35 CDT 2002
    Mood: Creative Music of the Day: Goblin - Blind Concert
    One more quick post...you've probably heard of CafePress, the company that prints up shirts and stuff for pretty reasonable rates. Well, a long time ago I set one up, and finally I started developing things. So now I have stores for both Cyberfox and Cabal 23. Check them out. :)

    Texas Ren Faire Sun Oct 6 19:55:37 CDT 2002
    Mood: I'm here. Music of the Day: The Sounds of Charmed
    Well, yesterday me and Rhiannon and her bosses and another friend went to The Texas Renaissance Festival. Had a nice time, too much heat but it got Rhiannon out in a skimpy outfit. Saw alot of things I'd like to own, not as much as I'd think though. Went and got a skean dubh (a small scottish blade), and alot of food. Afterwards, once we got back to Austin, we went and saw Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever, which was pretty good. Hard to understand some of the plot, but for the most part it was good. Lots of amusing lines said by the bad guys as things went bad for them. Funny how seeing a hand grenade at your feet gets you to say the most amusing things ;) Lucy Liu looked dangerous, yet cute ;) Antonio Banderas looked to have the same stubble all the time ;) Not the greatest, but not bad. Worth the 7.50 each :)

    Not much else, watched Charmed tonight. *whistles at Paige* Sorry, I like cute gals. And Rose Mcgowan is yummy. :) Reading more Robert Anton Wilson. Hoping things go well with Dell, being a sales weasel is a big change. But I can so use the money, and the lack of tech support, and hopefully generally good things. *crosses fingers* So many things went south over the last few years, I need good things. *crosses fingers*

    Ooooh....desktop Fri Oct 4 17:40:55 CDT 2002
    Mood: Delirious Music of the Day: Metal Church - Badlands
    Oooh, I found what I want for my birthday, either this or this. I so could use some new monitor space, too bad they don't do 1600x1200...but 4 monitors may just be worth it... ;) Yes, I was surfing the Dell website today, and found these things by accident. Actually, sillyness aside, I am thinking of upgrading to flatpanel monitors one of these days...well, when i have a spare couple of grand. :) So, just remember 13 more shopping days til my bday :)

    Day two at Dell Tue Oct 1 18:47:40 CDT 2002
    Mood: Tired Music of the Day: None.
    Well, day two of work at Dell. Learning pretty fast, trying to keep my mind flexable and open. My half of the training class won these weird things today for answering hardware questions. They are weird silver cubes with what looks like roach clips on the top. Labeled with Microsoft stuff. Feels odd to get MS stuff. Then learned alot on laptops, faound a few I want. ;) Had lunch, went and listened in on calls. Boy did the sales guy I was listening with do some business. *boggle* I think I'll be doing good, once I get everything known and get used to thinking as a sales person. I'm really tired. Not over whelemed...but very whelemed. And tomorrow is another day. Hopefully tomorrow will be alot of the same learning...with less whelmedness. :)

    On to other news, I started rereading The Earth Will Shake (Volume One of the Historical Illuminatus Chronicles) by Robert Anton Wilson. I read it a long time ago, it was easier than the Illuminatus Trilogy but still confusing as heck. I've been having fun designing my dream network. What I could do with an unlimited budget... ;) Lots and lots of weird ass host names... basically designing an ISP from scratch. :) Mostly I'm using it as a bank of host name ideas for new systems, and a fantasy for if I win the lotto. Geek ? Me ? Well yeah, but if I win the lotto...I'll be the proud owner of a geekranch ;)