But today I feel like I’m learning new things that are really easily a part of my everyday life. It’s amazing how much my WordPress ‘free’ work has helped me in class, or my old MUSHing ‘free’ work with switches has helped me. Or … well, basically, all that fun stuff I do in my spare time? Really has made me smarter.

Playing games made me want to learn new things. Like ‘Well it’s great that I can use this command to shoot someone, but what I really want is…’ And with everything I’ve played (save my Wii), they’ve been Open Source code, so I was able to crack it open, study it, learn it, and run with it.

Not everyone can, but I did, and now, the college dropout no longer feels like she’s an idiot for not taking more computer classes, or finishing school. I feel like I just found a new way of learning which works for me. I feel very smart and very accomplished, even if a lot of this class is below my learned skills level. Mostly I’m using the class to learn how to use Visual Basic and Visual Studio. The latter is more important, as I’m supposed to be using it!

I’ve been ignored/dismissed/disregarded by peolpe (primarily consultant employees of Microsoft) for the following reasons:

• I’m female
• I have no degree
• I use Mac
• I like linux
• I’m outspoken
• I wear pants
• I don’t wear makeup
• I don’t drive (no longer true)
• I’m a lesbian (rare that I TELL a consultant this)
• I read comic books
• I play role playing games (which I’m told means I’m slutty apparently)

And yes. I have been told, to my face, every single one of those things.

I spend most of my life in happy ignorance that being any of those things matters to my competence. My office celebrates me as the ‘new kind of programer.’ The kind who gets dirty and solves problems with common sense, learning needed code as he or she goes. Basically, they like me because I’m smart and quick. So when I run into the person who says ‘You don’t need to be in this meeting because it’s technical’ …. I feel like I’m slapped.

My job is technical. My job is code deployment automation over 20 different code architectures and thousands of servers, from SunOS to Solaris, to Windows. I handle programs from Java JRE and MQ to .NET and even old DOS shell scripts. No one in my department is better with DOS than I am. In fact, I’d be willing to bet I can do more with a command line than most people at my office, and I’m comfortable with it. What I don’t know, I know how to look up, quickly, and I love learning new ways to do things better.

Making it worse for me is that I was raised by a dad who never once told me I was limited by gender. Once I read an Archie comic where Betty said ‘Name one thing a male baseball player can do that a female one can’t.’ and Reggie replied ‘A shaving commercial.’ I remember looking at that and saying ‘Gee, haven’t they heard of shaving legs?’ My dad laughed. I can think of a hundred times my dad said I was smart enough to do something, clever enough, skilled enough, talented enough (or in one memorable case, NOT talented enough). He was always honest and cared about me and taught me to be a gentleman.

Even in my youth, I knew he meant that a gentleman was polite to everyone. You hold doors open for everyone, you compliment everyone, you respect everyone. And yeah, he did teach me how to treat a lady, but he taught me how to treat a man similarly. Guess which lessons stuck? In my family, your gender was only a limiting factor in … You know, I can’t think of a damn thing where my gender limited me. Maybe in bathing suits or clothes that are specifically female (bras, unless you need a manziere). But that wasn’t limiting. After all, I didn’t need a jock strap.

So when I have these days, like today, where I bounce off that wall of ‘Oh, wow, my boobs make people treat me differently’ I have the urge to wear a low-cut shirt and then blind them with my innate brilliance. And no, humility is not one of my flaws. Yet another mark against me. Like a fish, I don’t think of the water around me. I’m used to being respected for my skills and not my looks. When someone treats me like a ‘woman’ and that’s different, suddenly my water’s gone and I’m gasping for breath at the insanity of it all.

Treat me like a human. With respect for my skills (either displayed or cited). Don’t judge the super made up woman as a non-technical idiot, and don’t judge the tomboy/fella girly pants wearing nerd as just a woman. We are, all of us, male and female and everything in-between, far more complex than you think we are. Be a damn humanist. Treat me, treat us, like people.

It’s summer, so I see a lot of people on their bikes getting around. Generally you can tell the students from the professionals, but I’ve noticed a disturbing trend of not so young professionals on bikes wearing ‘bicycle’ gear. I keep telling people, you don’t need special bicycle gear to commute to work. And unless you’re actually racing or doing those long distance treks without stopping, dressing up like Lance Armstrong makes you look hilarious to the rest of us.

I own three items of clothing that are bicycle only: my helmet, my gloves and my pants strap. I only use the helmet regularly. The gloves I use when I’m doing things like Bike the Drive, or other such long-distance bike runs. The pants strap… I don’t like. I get grease on my pant leg anyway, so I just roll my pants up and wear thick ski socks when it’s cold. And boots. It’s a great look.

But today I saw the following:

• A guy (Chris, who also has a Dahon) dressed like me, pants rolled up.
• A guy in tight jeans, rolled up (i.e. hipster)
• A woman in shorts and Teva sandles
• A woman in a skirt-suit (I cheered and she smiled)
• A woman in a regular summerish clothes (I think she works at my library)
• An overweight, out of shape, beer-belly man in tight lycra shorts and a technical jersey

That last guy gave me whiplash, turning my head around so fast to go ‘What the hell?’

People. Don’t bother with the lycra/Lance Armstrong stuff. It doesn’t make you cool and it makes you look like an idiot. Nuff said.

I don’t actually watch basketball, though I was JV Captain my freshman year. I have some crap basketball memories. But for me, Dan Gilbert (the owner of the Cavs) has possibly the best response to this whole fiasco. He cursed LeBron.

I will say this. It was really arrogant of LeBron to suck up an hour of our time, to say ‘I only made this decision this morning’ and to carry about like he was the center of the universe. Did I watch? Yes. Because I’m from Cleveland and I wanted to know what was going to happen to my poor city. I hope this isn’t the start of more ego-inflated asshattery from sports figures.

Oh, here’s what Dan Gilbert said. I quote it in Comic Sans MS because … he wrote it in this font!

Dear Cleveland, All Of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland Cavaliers Supporters Wherever You May Be Tonight;

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.

This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his “decision” unlike anything ever “witnessed” in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.

Clearly, this is bitterly disappointing to all of us.

The good news is that the ownership team and the rest of the hard-working, loyal, and driven staff over here at your hometown Cavaliers have not betrayed you nor NEVER will betray you.

There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.

You simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:

“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE”

You can take it to the bank.

If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our “motivation” to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.

Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.

Sorry, but that’s simply not how it works.

This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown “chosen one” sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And “who” we would want them to grow-up to become.

But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called “curse” on Cleveland, Ohio.

The self-declared former “King” will be taking the “curse” with him down south. And until he does “right” by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.

Just watch.

Sleep well, Cleveland.

Tomorrow is a new and much brighter day….

I PROMISE you that our energy, focus, capital, knowledge and experience will be directed at one thing and one thing only:

DELIVERING YOU the championship you have long deserved and is long overdue….

Dan Gilbert
Majority Owner
Cleveland Cavaliers

Source: Open Letter to Fans from Cavaliers Majority Owner Dan Gilbert

Taffy (my grandmother) is 90 years old today. 90. Nine – zero. Blind as a bat, deaf as a post, drinks like a fish, rarely eats unless we harass her, used to smoke like a chimney. She’s doing fantastic for someone in as bad shape as she is. And yes, I call her Taffy.

Love you, Taf!

The Wii has really been a lovely addition to my exercise routines. It has a handful of silly/fun games to play (rhythm marching band and the obstacle course to name our favorites) that actually do get you going for 3 to 5 minutes at a stretch. And you know how they tell you ‘You only need 5 good minutes, then a break, times three or four, a day’? Well, I’m thinking they’re right. My routine is a 15 minute, easy, yoga, followed by some cardio doofy games (even step class), and then a favorite useless game (like ski jumping or the tightrope) that purports to help your balance.

I still haven’t bought any add-ons or extra games, mostly because I’m house hunting right now. This is the same reason I’m not getting a new phone, or computers, or anything else that I can help.

People said I was nuts. I replied ‘I’m probably going to regret this.’ But I had a train to catch and I wanted to get home. So I went for it.

I don’t know if you heard, but it was 70mph winds that blew out windows on the Sears Tower that night. I got pushed backwards on my bike and ended up running with it a couple blocks until I got behind a wind-blocker and was able to ride. And I wasn’t the only one who had a hell of a commute home.

First to Rapid Transit Cycles, for being cool and smart and polite. I chatted with one of the owners today, and I highly recommend them for … well anything. They helped me attach non-regulation baskets to the bike (phone support!) and were my source for new helmets. Now that they have an outpost near my office, I’ll be hitting up that instead of Kozys. Nothing against Kozys, mind you! But RTC is that down-home feeling.

Second is to a good web-resource, BikeCommuters.com. The reason I pimp them is that when you’re new to this whole Bike to Work thing, it’s hard to sort out what you need and what you don’t. Finding people who are doing it, same as you, and face the same issues (showers, smelling good, weather, etc) is a gold mine.

By the way, the official Chicago site is at the ActiveTrans website, which has a remarkable ability to crash or just be unavailable on many occasions. They need a better host/server.

Frankly, if I felt like going small and low-key, this Bicycle Field Bag would be perfect. But it only has a small zipper pocket and then the main pouch (by the way, it took me 12 hours to find a picture of the inside). I kind of want more compartments. That said, I kind of dig the high volume of Etsy people who have appliquéd and embroidered and screenprinted the hell out of this boring bag. It would be a great school bag for my kid brother, who may get one of these for his birthday.

The classic Army Map case is 8.5″ x 12″ x 4.5″ which is perfect, if a little boring. Thankfully, there’s Gizmodo to find a wide variety of cases that might just work. Even a quick search on some Army Surplus Stores gets you the basic idea: plain and boring.

I work in corporate America. I will die if I have to have a plain, boring ‘this is a laptop bag’ kind of bag. I have a screaming red bicycle. I have a blue messenger bag (or a smaller pink and black one). I want something more like this herringbone bag. The Unisex iPad / netbook messenger bag looks corp, but it’s very much not. It’s retro chic, something Taffy would use if she had a laptop. And it’s exactly as big as I’d ever want to go with a ‘purse’ type thing.

Of course I saw it and thought ‘It’s not very girly.’ And now some of my friends are laughing at me. Hey, I don’t do skirts, but I am a girl! It’s not my fault most of the non-gag worthy ‘bags’ are murses. Janine King Designs has a whole section on mini-laptop/netbook bags, most of which would work. So does Bewbew designs, though theirs drift back into a bit dull.

Oddly, the CTA has a Retro CTA logo Artist Bag. I think the MTA (New York) does too, but their site won’t work on Firefox or Chrome. They also sell this ‘field bag’ that is all over Etsy and everywhere else. I guess it’s the new ‘bog standard shoulder bag’ for hipsters. The field bag comes in all sorts of colors, which is nice, but they have no compartments, so everything bangs around. On the other hand, there’s the M-51 Engineer’s Field Bag which, except for the side pockets, looks pretty good. But dull.

So do I want massive huge prints? No. Nor do I want a plain, nothing bag. I want something with some pockets, at least a place to shove a cell phone and some pens. It has to hold a magazine, and it cannot be one, boring, dull color. It has to have SOME individuality. If it doesn’t, I’ll be adding on something. It can’t be a briefcase, it can’t look like the normal laptop case.

Finally, after days of poking around, I decided that the M-51 Engineer’s Field Bag was the way to go. But. Instead of getting the plain boring one, I found the CTA’s retro one. It should be here in a week or so. Oh and since the CTA’s full of idiots, you can’t link to their pages correctly. A follow-up is sure to happen.