XDM Permissions in Ubuntu 9.10 (karmic koala)

Installing Oracle 11g using this how-to. Was getting 'Error: Can't open display: :0.0' when trying to run the Oracle installer as the oracle user. The problem was that the user didn't have proper permissions to use XDM. This command sets the correct permissions:

xhost local:

Banks vs. Consumers

The press has been hard on banks as they pre-emptively raise credit card rates in the face of coming legislation that will regulate the practice. And though they're under pressure to do payment workouts to mitigate foreclosures they rarely do. Sometimes it's too easy to write this off as other people's problems but yesterday I had an unusual conversation with my mortgage servicer Wells Fargo.

I received a tax bill from the town for about $4,000 so I contacted my closing attorney who said that the mortgage company had known about this at closing and had collected up front monies for it. He explained that it was the difference between the taxes for the unimproved property and the increase that would be demanded after the certificate of occupancy was issued. I explained this to the CSR at Wells Fargo and her response was, "Nope this must be paid out of your funds, not the escrow account."

So, again, back to my attorney who contacted the town and received what had been paid and what was due. After comparing that to the Escrow Account Disclosure I was given chapter and verse the exact accounting and exactly how to justify my claim that this should be paid out of escrow. The WF response was that It would leave the escrow short when they made the first payment in the new year. I suggested that they pay the $4K, do a new escrow analysis, and bill me for the shortage. They agreed.

So, I was left with these facts.

• The only reason there was any kind of shortage was because the bank's estimate at closing was wrong.
  
• Escrow was short only by half the amount that was due so they could have easily volunteered to pay half out of escrow.
  
• Throughout the conversation their only response was flat refusal and, if I had not had the experience of dealing with other mortgages, they would not have settled the matter through this standard procedure.

The ultimate question is, Why antagonize the customer for such a trivial amount of money? If they had held onto my money until the next escrow cycle it could have earned them what, $40?

IT Career Choices

I was talking to a friend yesterday who is a web administrator. He told me that the job has always been demanding but now, due to the recession, things had really gotten crazy. Apparently hiring more U.S. based support is strictly prohibited and there's a history of hiring junior off shore help that stay only for a short period before they gain enough experience to move on. So, why draw down your own resources to train someone who's just going to walk in 6 months?

Having spent time as a LAN administrator, and later, a Database administrator in the 90's this is a familiar refrain. Even in good economic times there's still a need to do maintenance during off hours and, of course, you have to be there during the work day to fix it when it breaks.

In IT today there are more administration jobs available just because they're harder to off shore. Sys Admins are the people that you turn to in times of crisis and many companies want to reach out and touch them.

But beware, as a network engineer, or desktop support tech, or any other job where you take responsibility for a critical moving, changing piece of the business you will not get to go home at 5 and your weekends are not your own.

If you want to be an IT professional with more regular hours consider systems analysis, data modeling, or even application development.

Boat Fixed

Back in July OnSite Marine tore down the starboard engine and said that the cylinder head would go to the machine shop for resurfacing. Had no communication from them until we got to the marina the weekend of Aug 29 and I made it a point to get an update. I was told then that they had the head back from the machine shop.

Got a call on 9/8 saying that the work was complete. I take responsibility for some of the delay because I didn't show any impatience until late in the game. Though I had fleeting thoughts about calling for an update we weren't at the marina for several weekends. Out of sight, out of mind. I know that the cylinder head rode around in their truck for a while before they got around to putting it back on. Then, once it was on, there were problems with the way the engine idled leading to a carburetor rebuild ($238).

The starboard head on the starboard engine was not fitting flat against the exhaust manifold and was sent to the machine shop to be resurfaced ($180). OnSite's labor to remove and re-install was $2,430 including their attempt to use their own tools to resurface the parts. Gaskets and coolant ran $293.

Federer's Shot

Recorded 60 Minutes yesterday and when I watched later saw that the first 20 mins were preempted by the US Open.  Of course I got sucked into the tennis match only to catch the INCREDIBLE between the legs return.  When i saw it the 1st time I thought he lost the point and then when they did the replay and made it clear that he returned it AND that it was in I just lost it.  Have never seen anything like it in my life.

Woke up this morning expecting them to show it over and over on the news but it got secondary treatment to Venus' explosion which doesn't strike me as half as interesting.

Has The Cash for Clunkers Deal Really Expired?

The "Service Engine Soon" light on my 2001 Suburban has come on several times in the last few months but became more persistent as we headed home from Boston on Saturday so... I took it to the dealer for service yesterday. Good news is that the remedy will only cost $320. The full story was

• "Service Engine Soon" light referred to misfires on several cylinders. Doesn't think it's electrical, like spark plug, so recommends cleaning the fuel injectors $320
• Driver's window motor, regulator, and the rubber channel that the window fits through is dry rotted $530
• Mechanic reports loud noise/rumbling coming from front and diagnosed worn hub bearings that should be replaced. Replacement includes ABS and wheel speed sensor $1167
• Lubricant in front differential "like molasses." Rebuild $830 + parts
• Transfer case is also bad. Doesn't know if he can get a used one but new one is $1900
  

Will do the window motor, injector/engine cleaning, and replace the front hub bearings. Never use the 4 wheel drive so will avoid the front differential and transfer case for now.

We're in it for the long haul so I have no complaints about doing this work on an 8 year old car that has almost 150,000 miles on it. A lot cheaper than buying a new car.

Underway

First day on the road we crossed into Canada at Niagara Falls on The Peace Bridge and stopped for the evening at The Holiday Inn in Burlington, Ontario.  Just nice to have a place to lay our heads after a long day on the road.

Chris and I were up early and managed some uncharacteristic exercise in the morning.  Chris went for a swim and I ran on the tread mill.  Later we played tennis and, when Kevie got up, she and I played ping pong.

Figured we had another 3.5 hours on the road to get to the cottage at The Bruce so we took time to check out the Huron lake front.  The picture is of Chris and I at the waterfront park in Burlington.

Stocked up on some goodies to share when we got to the cottage.  Got some bread from the bakery and an 8 pack mix/match beers (interesting concept) at the state run liquor store - LCBO.

The Network Problem

2.5 months ago Verizon FIOS was installed in my condo. While the tech was still on the premises I cranked up a browser and made sure that I could browse the web. Success!

I soon noticed that updates from Apple could not be installed on my Macbook. The message was that the downloaded files could not be verified. As the list of uninstalled updates grew larger I took the Macbook to the local independent Mac service place - Tekserve. The tech there successfully downloaded and installed an update then looked at me like I had a screw loose. He told me unequivocally that it was my network. Sure enough, I tried downloading other updates while I was still there connected to his wireless network and they all worked.

Other problems soon became apparent. The PlayStation couldn't download its latest software update. The Tivo couldn't download and install its update.

Did some research on the web and the problem is not ubiquitous. There are some reports of a similar ilk but few enough to make it obvious that this is not a generic FIOS problem. There was a lot of condemnation of the Actiontec M1424-WR router that comes as a part of new FIOS installs but I didn't pay much attention to the detail. Something about overflowing route tables.

A last resort call to Verizon support burned several hours of wait time and time with a tech but in the end there was no resolution and I was dumped off the call with him telling me that they do not filter any IP services. And how does that help me?

So I spoke with a fellow in the Accounting Dept and terminated my service. Ha, that'll show 'em! Then thoughts of it being a problem with the house cabling and/or having to fight Verizon r.e. early termination fees started to gnaw at me. An hour later I called them back and rescinded the cancel order.

Experienced a few afternoons at Starbucks downloading updates and then distributing them to different boxes once I got home. That gets old fast.

Next I tried replacing the Actiontec router ($50) via eBay. The replacement behaved exactly like the original.

BOAT = Break Out Another Thou

OnSite Marine replaced the exhaust manifold gasket on the starboard engine, outboard side, on Saturday. I had brought it to their attention because of a big increase in the volume of the engine's exhaust noise. Ken thought "it wasn't that big of a job" but after taking off the manifold and trying to grind both surfaces flat then re-assembling, it was still not a good seal.

Now the head comes off and goes to the machine shop to be milled. Estimated cost $2K.

In 100 Years

On an instinctual level I know this is true.

Trees

The builder planted 2 trees in the back yard yesterday and I agreed to faithfully water them. The forecast for today was originally wet so was thinking that mother nature would stand in for me. But nooooeeee! Now only puny rain in the early afternoon.

This fulfills the builder's landscaping obligation but now we have a yard of mulch with some interspersed weeds. When we bought the place we saw that landscaping was part of what we were paying for in the association dues. The owners will soon form a board and wrest control of the association from the builder. No grass 'til then.

Summer Music

Tonight we'll ride bikes to Hoboken for either the Elvis tribute at St. Ann's Festival or Gene Plumber in Sinatra Park.

Attended the Weehawken Summer Concert Series last night and heard "The Revelations." They were great! Incredible energy. And the Lincoln Harbor venue is only 10 minutes away on foot.

Last Thu we saw "The Fave" in Hoboken. Great fun.

And most of this is completely free of charge.

Can you tell we're loving the easy access we have at the new house?

Digital Cables

After receiving yet another game console I ventured into Radio Shack looking for HDMI cables. These cables have quickly become the standard to connect game consoles and computers to a/v devices like TVs and stereos. Have you noticed what the retail stores want for these things? It's a significant fraction of what you paid for the device itself. Radio Shack wanted $35 for a 3ft cable and $75 was the cheapest 6ft cable in the store. I've noticed similar pricing in the big box electronics stores.

Ended up buying a package of four 2 meter cables on the web for $49 including tax & shipping. I know there are purists that will lecture on comparative bandwidth ratings. Come on, the cheaper cables support 1080p. Good enough for me.

Fun

NYC Restaurant Week

Didn't Know (or forgot)

Interesting - 25 Things You Might Not Know About IBM

Paralells and Function Keys

Tech support at Quicken & Quicken Bill Pay had asked me to use control and function keys to invoke special functions in the program. Within the on-line pop up, holding down ctrl-F3 and clicking 'Contact Info' allows refresh of the contacts with the QBP server. Holding ctrl-Shift while clicking File->File Operations->Validate does a "Super Validate."

Neither of these worked so, after some investigation, this is the resolution. Hold the fn key and then strike the function key to get the effect of just the function key in Windows. That is, to get F3, hold down the fn key and press F3. To get ctrl-F3 hold down ctrl, fn, and press F3.

The solution for ctrl-Shift is different. By default it is mapped by Paralellels as the key combination that simulates the right mouse click. You can change that mapping by navigating the Parallels menu thus: Desktop -> Preferences -> Keyboard -> Mouse Right Click. From that screen you can either turn off the emulation or remap to another key combination. Once that's done Windows will recognize the ctr-shift combination.

Acid Reflux

After being on OTC Prilosec for a while my Gastroenterologist put me on Nexium and it has made a big difference. On the Prilosec I could lie down after a big meal and still have the bubbling and gurgling but there's less of it with the Nexium.

Eddie Skuller

Went to the Guitar Bar All Stars concert in Hoboken last night. Check out this guy.

Ready for Sublet

We became unwilling landlords of the apt in Jersey City this month. After painting the place we didn't have the energy to clean the layers of filth so paid one of the doormen who has a side cleaning business to take care of it. What a great job he did. If you live in Newport and you want somebody to clean who takes real pride in his job, Mr. Diego Velastegui is your man.

Boat in the Water

Chestnut Neck did a sea trial of Voracious C and gave her a clean bill of health. So, we got to the marina around 9:30 Saturday morning and were excited to see the boat in the water and ready to go.

Had some problems with the nav system at the dock but chalked it up to insufficient battery power and assumed that once the engines were going that the charge from the alternator would alleviate the GPS problem. That idea was a bust and we had problems all the way back to Brant Beach. We ended up using the iNavX program on the iPhone which worked admirably. When you're as green a navigator as I am never leave the dock without plenty of backup electronics.

I've run aground before in the channel that goes toward LBI from Little Egg Inlet. There are two marked channels there and you can't pass from one to the other without going over a sand bar that's much too shallow for Voracious C so I know to be careful. But we ended up stuck and waiting for high tide before Tow Boat could come and haul us off. Didn't get away unscathed this time. Based on the vibrations I'm thinking we bent a prop.

Stop with the Swine Flu Headlines!

Aren't we all tired of the H1N1 publicity?  It's important to think about the numbers when you read about disease risk.  Less than 1,500 have been sickened world wide with 140 of those being in the US and Canada.

How do the odds of getting this flu stack up to the odds of getting a really deadly disease like Coronary Artery Disease?  Well, 13 Million people in the US have CAD so that makes it about 100,000 times more likely that we'll get CAD than Swine Flu. There is so much more to gain by changing our diets and quitting smoking than by buying face masks and keeping our kids home from school.

Let's turn off CNN and have a salad for lunch.

Yea New Windows

Window Wizards came today and replaced the junky basement windows with glass blocks!  $1,425.  We think it really dresses up the place.  Of course the rest of the downstairs is an eye sore but this is a step in the right direction.

Next step, get rid of the moisture by grading the property so that the water runs away from the house!

So Long Wall Street

Last year, in the wake of The American Stock Exchange (AMEX) being bought by The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), I agreed to accept transitional employment and a severance package that would start in the summer of 2009. And today was my last day with NYSE.

My plan is to take much of the summer off and engage my 14 year old in doing other things than playing video games. He and I will get to spend time relaxing at the beach AND will be constructive in setting up the new house.

Put in a Quart

Yesterday got a warning message that the oil level was low in the car.  The dip stick confirmed that it was about a quart low so I added a quart.  I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the overheating last weekend.  No bluish smoke from the tail pipe.  Doesn't seem to be burning oil.

Car Overheats

I noticed the temperature gage in the car climb during our trip to Millville on Friday and when we got off the highway the idiot light came on.  We stopped at the convenience store and bought a gallon of coolant that allowed us to limp home.

Our intention on Saturday was to rent a car and leave ours at the garage.  So, we picked up the rental but didn't make it to Foschi.  Pulled over a couple times to let the engine cool off and once I loosened the cap on the overflow and let the coolant geyser out only to refill it with cool water.  We might have done that 10 more times to get to the garage but what a phenomenal waste of time it would have been.  Called JC Towing who showed up in less than 15 minutes and towed it in.

We stayed Monday to give them a chance to work on it and it turned out to be the thermostat.  Complete repair including pressure testing the system $239.23.

The rental car was a Mercury Milan that I fit into comfortably.  Have to remember this should we find ourselves in the market for a car.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Every time I go to the theater I'm hoping for something real that doesn't talk down to me or signal when to laugh.  But what I usually get is mild entertainment.

Admittedly Vicky Cristina Barcelona has some characters that are really out there but the way they bounce off the more ordinary personalities is believable and very natural.  This movie is funny and there is no laff track.

The trailer said it was about two Women who go to Spain and are seduced by a local.  It brought back memories of Summer Lovers, a movie that I thought was too hokey, but this was just an hour and a half of fun.

Contract Signed

After being in attorney review for more than 2 months we finally have a signed contract for the condo in Weehawken. The sticking points were:

• Getting a list of fixtures, appliances, and building materials called a spec
• Getting a legal description of the property
• Changing the condo bylaws to allow pets

I doubt that we still have the property description or that the bylaws were changed. The truth is that the seller just waited us out but now closing has been moved to the end of the month which is not to his benefit.

We'll have the place inspected as soon as the kitchen appliances are installed and the loan should be approved early next week.

Back to Chestnut Neck

We cut the plastic off the boat and put up the canvas on Saturday. It is such a pleasure to have Chris help. He has a positive cooperative attitude that makes these things go fast. He and I dragged the plastic cover to the dumpster and were stuffing it in when one of the staff told us to stop. If we go back next season we'll know to just pile it up and leave it for pick up next to the boat.

We looked around for water spigots to connect the hose and found them only at great distances from the boat so we talked to a man at the marina store who told us, "The water isn't set up yet but they're working on it. There are only two guys in the yard and they'll get to it eventually." Not very helpful.

I took all the old zincs off and we stopped at Boater's World who was having a "Going out of business" sale. We were able to stock up for a couple of seasons on most of the zincs and got a good deal on the large one that goes under the swim platform - $50.

It was so windy and cold on Saturday that we had second thoughts about going back on Sunday but past experience has convinced us to take what we can get. It's easy to look at the calendar and think that there's ample time only to have the schedule close in on you. It was the right choice to go because Sunday was a great day to be outside with calm winds and temps in the high 60's.

Brought 200' hose and had ample length to run water to the boat. We boat soaped the entire hull and I used Teka on the swim platform. Afterward we told the yard that they could paint the bottom any time after after 4/20. She told us that they'd be glad to launch and do a sea trial with a week's notice.