Past Diatribes

"Thank you, sir," I said, putting a pound coin from my pocket into his right hand.

"Tank you," he said. Rumanian, turned out. "Merr Christma!

"Wait, mister!" he said, knocking on my window as I rolled it up. "This isn’t worth---" The kid held up an old ten pence, in his right hand.

"Cute," I just laughed. Too clever by half: the old 10p’s are the size of a pound coin, but they haven’t been in circulation for at least a decade. No one would have them floating around in their pockets, still.

The hustler just laughed back, "Happ New Year!" He moved on to the next car and the lights changed green.

Well, for street hustlers, international financiers, and software developers alike, the pound coins are soon to be going the way of the old 10p’s. From the 1^st of January, the old currencies are going out of circulation throughout Europe. Pounds will still be legal tender, but any change that you are due will be handed back in Euros.

There’s not much of an impact in Ireland, as of yet. This Christmas was apparently one of the healthiest shopping seasons in recent years. Economically, I guess that people are making good use of all their "mattress money," all the pound notes they have squirreled away over the years. Fair enough.

Me, I’m looking forward to the Euro changeover. One less barrier to travel throughout the EU, less impediment for trade and migration. Will make like easier for more people. When I’m headed to Germany in January, for instance, there won’t be any hassle converting money or paying commission. Won’t have to do any math to figure out how the price of a pint compares, there to here.

It’ll be just my luck, though: the day after the Irish punt is no longer legal, in February, I bet I’ll be digging in my back yard and come across one of those hidden troves that the General reputedly buried all over the Dublin area, back in the bank robbin’ 80’s.

Computerwise, the job has kept me busy. Have been doing a lot of work with products of a company called Rational Software. (Believe me, there are times that I believe that to be such a misnomer!!!) We use Rational ClearCase to keep track of different versions of the libraries and files that comprise our software, and Rational ClearQuest to keep track of all the bugs in it. Necessity is making me the Rational administrator, in addition to all of my other duties…. Fun fun fun. But, as long as I’m learning something new every day, it all keeps me happy.

Computer info of a more general nature: here’s two cool, free programs that I have discovered in the last month or two….

Want to know exactly what is inside your PC? Belarc Advisor lets you know. This is an area in which Windows has always disappointed me: to find out what kind of processor and at what speed, for instance, you’d have to reboot the machine and hope to find some info in the BIOS. With advisor, you get the make, model and sometimes version of each hardware component, plus a list of all the different software programs that are installed. Dead handy, I say.

Well, from work to dosing: if you loved the board game Risk have several hundred hours to waste away, download Fracas. Fracas is just like Risk, except you can customize the rules and it’s a different world map every single time. Fracas can be played by up to six (networked) players, with the computer taking the place of any or all of your opponents. Unlike Risk, there’s no element of chance to it: Fracas is a strategy (ie thinking) game. One word of warning: once you do get the hang of it, conquering the world is addictive.

No, seriously, I actually have set off to conquer the world.... The literary world. Actually got off my butt and submitted a story to the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize contest. Synopsis: a stuttering, fat tub of lard named Jingo sees a watch lying in the gutter along Henry Street, one morning. He bends to pick the watch up, and it starts talking to him. You can read a draft here, to see what happens….

Thank you, thank you: I’ll take that Nobel prize, now, oh thank you....