Ben Benner’s Blog

The colocation company that houses the server hosting this blog and a few others, was attacked via CYBER GREMLINS!!!

I was in the middle of futzing with something from a Sys Admin perspective, something minor like a 5 minute tweak and BAM, my connection froze up. I thought I broke the server.

After a few minutes of this, I thought it might be a network problem here in the office. Nope, my connection to other places was acting just fine. Leading me to think it might be a network problem with the colo. Try as I might I couldn’t get to the colo’s website, definitely a sure sign of something BAD going down with the provider.

I used that nifty little “cached” link that Google gives you and I was able to get the phone number and speak to one of the tech support reps. He informed me that about 5-10 minutes ago their network came under a DoS attack, which coincided with the issues I experienced while trying to do that quick 5 minute tweak.

About 10 minutes after talking with the tech support rep everything looks like it is under control.

Yippie!!!

For a few minutes there I thought about what it would be like to have a virtual server with Amazon or some other “Cloud Computing” company.

Maybe when Jules is another year older I will look at doing a “virtual” cloud based server, because I am never going back to a traditional VPS.

Back to the grind.

Laterz

bdbenner Uncategorized colo, DoS, hosting, Internet

For those of you that haven’t heard about the wild and crazy weekends that the Benners [of Cedar Park] have had lately, then you are missing out on the fact that I have recently been stricken with a terrible affliction, such a rare and horrible malody that it doesn’t even have a name yet. So let’s make one up, how about…

Artisan Bread Craving Disorder, ABCD

or

Small Loaf of Expensive Bread-itis, SLEB

or maybe,

Farmers Market Bread Blues, FMBB

Whatever it is called, I have recently become addicted to artisan bread from a guy who’s name I believe is Neil. Below is a picture of the man I believe is named Neil, who I sometimes refer to as “The Bread Guy”.

[Note: I asked him if it was OK to take a picture before doing so. He said "Yes".]

Now, Neil’s bread is good, I mean honestly the few times I have had it, the bread has had a similar consistency each time. I have found myself running out of Neil’s bread before the next trip to the farmers market. This has led me to think more and mroe about baking my own bread. When I have mentioned this before in the past, Gina has told me that bread baking is TOO much work to do on a whim.

I completely agree with her. But due to the beautiful randomness of the Internets, I found a great book that makes bread making painless enough that you can do it every day.

So we hit a local restaurant supply company and bought some much needed essentials.

1 Large plastic tub (with lid), able to easily hold at least 5qts (this one does 6qts)

1 Pizza Peel

We had to hit up Williams Sonoma for the baking stone as the supply company did not have any.

So I mixed up my first batch of dough, in the hopes of being able to bake it for dinner that Saturday night, but as luck would have it, we ran out of time to bake it on Saturday night. (The dough is supposed to refrigerate for a minimum of three hours before use.)

Then the plan was to bake a loaf to have for breakfast, but then well I did something very boneheaded. I mean, I thought about never admitting what I did to ANYONE. But I am a firm believer that honesty is best, because well it will come out eventually.

The instruction for the recipe called for a broiler pan, to hold water that in turn will create steam while the bread bakes. They recommend putting the pan in the oven when you are preheating, then adding the water after 20 minutes of heating.

Some of you might possibly see where this is going.

I asked Gina where our broiler pan was, as I couldn’t find it. I mean I am fairly certain we owned one, but maybe we didn’t. So, my thought was to use a pyrex pan.

Yup, Glass.

Glass heated to probably around 400 degrees, then doused with water that was no where near 400 degrees.

MORON!

It shattered, made a huge mess, which was fun to clean up. NOT.

The worst part was, I thought about the fact that pouring water into a hot glass pan was likely not a good idea, right before I poured it in there.

Luckily, I had not put the bread on the baking stone yet, so the dough was not filled with glass.

The destruction of the pyrex meant two things.

1. I owed Gina a new 13×9 pyrex dish.

2. I had to buy a broiler pan.

After a quick trip to Target, it was time to get back to bread baking.

I cleaned off the baking stone and started heating the oven again.

My first two loaves turned out, ok. Not fantastic though.

A couple of things might have been to blame. It could have been that the dough had been rising for too long, or it could have been that I didn’t adjust the baking time for me baking two loaves at once, or it could be that initially i used just a little bit more water than the recipe called for.

However, my second attempt was this evening before dinner. The recipe book had instructions for creating a baguette. The only real differences between the baguette instructions and the artisan recipe are:

1. It is elongated and cylindrical vs round and flat.

2. Instead of dusting the top with flour, you brush it with water.

Gina said that the baguette was GREAT!!!

She really, really loved it.

I can’t wait to try making some herb bread, but more importantly I need to get my hands on some Rye flour!

laterz

bdbenner baking, food baking, bread baking

My 360 has been home for a couple of days now.

When I originally shipped it off for repair, I did not think to list my shipping address as the office. Which is unusual, I normally have packages sent to the office, since more often than not they require a signature, which does not happen when I am not home, obviously.

Microsoft replaced my busted 360 with a completely different one. Gina asked me why they did this, I can only surmise that it is because it is easier for the “repair facility” to put all the busted ones in a crate to ship back to China for “repair” and just pick a “refurbed” one from the pile and ship back to me.

They gave me a nice letter stating that they apologize for causing me any inconvenience, which was nice of them.

Even nicer was the Xbox:LIVE Gold card they sent me, good for one extra month of service. Because a day after having my 360 home and getting my daily fix of Fallout3, my LIVE Gold membership expired.

So, I guess I want to say two things.

1. Microsoft you suck! I mean there was probably some executive out there that weighed the costs of repair vs the time and cost for delaying the launch. So they shipped a buggy product. Which, when you ship softwar can be forgiven, just a little bit more so. You know, because a software patch is not as much of a problem as sending in a physical unit.

2. Thank You for acknowledging that you suck. You guys have endoured the “slings and arrows” of many rabid users, competitors and pundits and in my opinion have provided what has to be deemed GREAT customer service. You extended the warranty on all 360 units by 2 additional years for the RRD issue, you have taken to replacing the units with refurbs, speeding up the return time, and most of all you give the consumer something for their troubles.

Those are all things that you did NOT have to do. Those are things that I believe help make up for the fact that you guys shipped buggy hardware.

So definitely keep up the good customer service, but possibly, please possibly try to not ship hardware with such a fatal design flaw in the future.

Laterz

bdbenner Technology, XBox360, video games 360, microsoft, repair, xbox

These were the sounds heard the other day as my wife made the purchase of her Kindle2.

Gina has had her current Kindle since October of 2008, during this time period she has raved about the marvels of this ingenious little electronic device. I don’t know this for a complete fact, but I am pretty sure she has convinced a few people to buy one of those buggers.

Did I mention that she is a bit of a Kindle fanatic?

At lunch we listen to the Kindle Chronicles, a weekly podcast debuting every Friday. The man’s voice that narrates the Chronicles has got this weird soothing aspect to it. Maybe that is what got Gina to make the purchase of the Kindle2.

Gina was not originally planning to buy the new model. She had, like many Kindle fanatics been reading all of the gossip possibly available. Reading about how it would no longer have a SD card slot or how the battery would no longer be replaceable.

But after reading all the hype and the transcriptions of the Amazon press conference, she decided that she had to have it!

Hence…

“Ohhhh, Shiny. [Click]“

The new Kindle is due to arrive  on the 26th. That is unless she changes her mind and pops for the overnight shipping. She is sitting here next to me, waffling on whether or not to spend the extra $20.

I won’t even get into the planning she has been doing on what to do for a new Kindle cover, given that her old cover (which is not really even that old) does not fit the Kindle2.

Of course, I have yet to mention the most important fact of all this hub-bub.

Gina gets a new Kindle on the 26th. This means that I should have my very own Kindle on the 27th. I figure it will take her about 24 hours to settle into the new unit.

I have had the opportunity read probably 30 pages worth of various books on it. I am honestly looking forward to having this cool piece of technology for myself, the ability to carry hundreds of books in something that is small and relatively light.

Gina is looking forward to us being able to read the same books, namely the books that she reads, as she finds my books boring. I am looking forward to reading some of the fiction that she loves.

I do need to note that this is one of the few, if not possibly first time that I have been gifted technology. In the past I have normally been the one to pass along technology.

Laterz

bdbenner Technology, newTechnology amazon, gina, kindle, kindle 2

“Hear my voice
Where you are
Take a train
Steal a car
Hop a freight
Grab a star
Come back to me

Catch a plane
Catch a breeze
On your hands
On your knees
Swim or fly only please
Come back to me…”

(Cherry Poppin’ Daddies - Come Back to Me)

I got the email notice from Microsoft that my Xbox360 will soon be coming back to me. They have done, whatever it is that they do to fix it. I mean from what I have ready, they have to replace some chips (i.e. the ones that burned out) and I have seen that they put in some “heat pipes” as to try to ensure that the replaced chips don’t burn out again.

I was very surprised when I checked my repair order the other day and saw that my beloved 360 had been shipped to a repair facility in Mesquite, TX.

This means that Microsoft’s Xbox Division/Group has worked out a system to handle the logistical nightmare of repairing what could eventually be 10 million Xbox 360s. I am not saying that they have gotten it all worked out.

I did a quick search and found that many folks have been without their 360s for weeks and months. And the fact that the repair center is in Texas, appears to be a lucky coincidence for me. As, it would appear that folks from Alabama, Ohio and who knows where. It would appear the the Mesquite, TX repair facility might be the only one around. I remember reading about how UPS had a specialized center setup for DELL, to handle some basic returns (like bad batteries, etc), if I can find the article I will post a link.

I also found another guy who had a similar experience, back in November.

Below is his timeline:

Here is the timeline of the repair process, I will keep updating as it progresses:

Oct 29 – Three Red Lights
Nov 4 6 PM– Entered request for repair on http://support.xbox.com/
Nov 5 12 AM – Got tracking number for return box
Nov 7 3 PM – Return box arrived at house
Nov 10 10 AM – Box picked up by UPS
Nov 13 11 AM – Box delivered to Microsoft repair facility in Mesquite, TX
Nov 14 6 AM – Microsoft acknowledges receipt of my 360
Nov 15 11 AM – Microsoft says 360 is repaired
Nov 17 4 PM – Box leaves Microsoft to return to me
Nov 20 7 PM – I picked up package from UPS

Almost exactly 16 days for the turnaround, which isn’t great but isn’t too bad either.  Most of the time was waiting for shipping back and forth.

Here is my timeline thus far…

Jan 29 - 4AM - Red Ring of Death aka Three Red Lights

Jan 29 - 5AM - Registered 360 online and requested repair on http://support.xbox.com/

Jan 29 - 6AM - Received automated confirmation from Microsoft

Feb 3 - 2PM - UPS dropped off the box I requested be sent.

Feb 3 - 4PM - Dropped off box (containing 360) at the UPS store on 1431.

Feb 5 - 2PM - Received email stating repair facility has received 360.

Feb 7 - 6PM - Received email stating repairs have been completed and box will be shipped.

Feb ? -  ???   - I receive my repaired 360.

That means that from the day it broke until the day it was repaired, was 10 days. From the day that I actually shipped it off to them, it means it was only 4 days. From the day that they received it until it was repaired, that is only 2 days. I will likely receive my 360 back on Tuesday at the latest Wednesday.

So, one thing that I will say after reading several folks stories had much longer wait times do the fact that they lived so far away from the Mesquite, TX repair facility. This in part is likely do to the “UPS Ground” shipping, it takes a long time. Unless you live in TX, because UPS Ground within the state of Texas, is like OVERNIGHT service.

I am looking forward to playing Fallout 3 again. I have been playing Fallout 2 here and there, but it just isn’t the same. I really miss the FPS view of Fallout 3.

Well, Gina is asking me what we are doing for lunch so I better get going.

Laterz

bdbenner XBox360, video games 360 repair, RRD, three red rings, xbox

Gina and I will be heading out to the farmers market here soon. I would really like to encourage everyone out there to visit their local farmers market at least once a month. I mean around here there are several different markets, thus far Gina and I have decided that the Sunset Valley Farmers Market is the best one in town.

We have visited a couple of others around town, the one that is in downtown austin, the historic one that is on Burnet, but the Sunset Valley is the one we visit, almost every Saturday. The market is 24 miles from our house, as per Google Maps. We usually grab a coffee on the way down and make a morning of the trip.

I have recently fallen in love with the bread that this one vendor makes. He has been there the last 3 or 4 weeks, though I don’t remember him being there last year. He makes fantastic artisan breads, I favor his Rye breads. He said that he has made pumpernickel on occasion, but that demand for it isn’t really high enough for him to bring it to the market.

From looking at his setup, he bakes probably about 50-60 loaves of bread. I might ask him today, to see if my judgment of how many loaves his setup holds is anywhere near correct. His bread ranges from $7 - $9 (I need to check and see if he has anything more expensive than $9).

Now, we are talking about a circle of small artisan bread. My last loaf of bread could not have had a diameter of more than 7 inches and was no taller than 2 inches. It cost me $7.

Seven dollars of mustard rye goodness. I have to say that while, it is the most expensive bread I have ever purchased (even surpassing the bread obtained at Central Market), the mustard rye is worth every penny.

Today, though I am going to go out of my comfort zone. I am going get something other than a rye from this vendor, I am also going to try and get a name, his or his businesses’, so I can quit referring him to as ‘vendor’.

I have a feeling we will also pick up another cauliflower. We are still good on cabbage, got 2/3 of a cabbage left that I need to turn into slaw. I might try to smoke some chicken and turkey tomorrow, those don’t take too long.

Gina might find some various organs from the meat vendors to feed the dogs. The time before last, she found a lady selling chicken hearts and gizzards. MMMMM, bleh.

But the dogs loved them.

I will have to ask her about the lamb hearts she bought, I don’t remember if she fed those already or not.

If you do plan to get meat from a farmers market, I would definitely advise going early. The meat vendors always seem to sell out. There is this one stand there that sells some sort of goat cheese, milk, and various cuts of pork (not sure if I have seen beef there too), but I know they sell pork.

More often than not, their stand has a line. It seems to be a mix of folks waiting for cheese and meat. But I know the meat sells out.

There is this one stand that sells Basil (when it is in season) for a steal. Like $1 for a decent sized “bunch”. Even if they raised their prices to say $5, it would still be a steal over prices you pay at a regular grocery store for Basil.

Also, arugula is another great find you get at the farmers market. There are several vendors selling salad greens. Mixed spring style greens, arugula, spinach, and bibb lettuce.

I remember that when I was little my dad would take us to the farmers market in downtown Lansing. The experience of walking into a building with lots of hustle and bustle going on. I haven’t been in quite a long time, but I remember there being only one long row of vendors with little alleys at the various entrances on the sides of the long building.

It is kind of funny, all of the markets I have been to here in Texas are more like a traveling bazaar, whilst the Lansing market is in a big brick building. I mean, if the Lansing one wasn’t in a building it would only be able to be open at the end of spring through the beginning of fall.

Next time I am back in Lansing, I will need to swing through the city market and see if I can find myself an artisan rye.

I was poking around for artisan bread references while writing this and ran across the blog for the following book, “Artisan Bread In Five Minutes a Day…” I have to admit, that the man’s rye bread makes me want to bake. Not so much to avoid paying him that $7, but to hopefully be able to make something so tasty myself, at home anytime I want it, not just after a 30 minute drive on a saturday morning. I say this, because I am pretty sure my loaf of rye ran out on Wednesday. I mean, what am I supposed to do then?

Bake my own maybe.

I need to get ready to go to the market.

bdbenner food austin, farmers market, lansing, lansing city market, sunset valley, tx

It has been about an hour since Gina and I got home. I made the bed (Gina helped) and got Gina some juice. She is doing well, the doctor said that she can begin eating regular foods (not just jello), just have to keep them all low in fat over the next few weeks.

I am looking for a soup recipe that uses cabbage, as before this weekend’s adventure I bought a very nice looking cabbage.

The original plan was to turn it into my favorite kind of slaw and serve it along with some smoked pork and there was a request for ribs as well. Luckily, I had not purchased any of the meat for the weekend, else I might be wondering what to do with all that raw pork shoulder. (Nope, the dogs can’t eat that much pork, not good for them.)

I am going to finish finding a recipe and make sure I have all the needed stuff. Then, then I am going to take a nap. (or run to the store, get the missing items, then a nap)

Laterz

bdbenner Uncategorized, food home

I am sitting here in Gina’s hospital room at Seton Northwest Hospital. We came here yesterday because Gina was having some “upper right quadrant” abdominal pain. The pain looked excruciating, luckily the ER was able to fix her up with some meds that eased the pain rather quickly.

They took some blood and ran various tests, all of which confirmed what Gina and I suspected, that her gallbladder was “acting up”. However, the prognosis was not what either of us were expecting. They want to remove that pesky little bladder of gall.

They admitted her at about 10:30 last night to a room in Hospital and got her all settled in. By that point we had been here for just about 6 hours. I waited until we had all of the paperwork taken care of and she fell asleep before heading home to take care of the dogs, shower and pick up some things. (You know, like laptops and iPods, the essentials of any hospital stay in this digital day-and-age.)

We are waiting to speak with the doctor to determine if her surgery will be today or tomorrow. Either way, they will be looking to keep her in the hospital overnight afterward for observation and she is expected to be sore for several days following.

I do not recall ever spending the night in a hospital room. I remember visiting Gina’s Grandpa Parker at Ingham, I remember visiting my Mom when she was taken to Sparrow hospital when Rachel was born (I remember buying a plastic dinosaur and playing cards in the gift shop) and I remember visiting my Great-Grandpa Benner.

While we were in the Emergency Room, I recounted all of the times that I had been to an Emergency Room, all of which I believe were here at Seton Northwest. I think the total was 4, but I kinda feel like it was 5. Notably, none of the visits were for me directly.

Gina is playing on her Mac, listening to music. I am sitting here in the guest chair, which because of the reclining action on this bad-boy doesn’t make it entirely horrible to sleep on.

The hospital has free wifi, which is a necessity in this digital day-and-age.

Well, I need to take care of a couple of work things as to ensure that my absence on Monday (and possibly) Tuesday will not throw off our schedules.

I am pretty sure that most people that read this, I have already call by phone. Needless to say, I will likely call you with an update before posting one here.

Laterz

bdbenner Uncategorized