Tea from the Celestial Teapot

Anyone can see the procedures are onerous with one glance at the TSA Passenger Identity Verification Form. But I was in a position where my name, Robert Adams, was sufficiently similar to some other name on the list that I was unable to use any electronic or expedited check-in procedures and was instead forced to wait in line at the baggage check counter each time. When I did so, the ticket agent would make a call to some sort of higher authority who would, after a few minutes, decide I’m apparently not a threat and finally issue a boarding pass.

I eyed the procedure warily, but this process is a major inconvenience for me so I decided to plow on. I proceeded to obtain a certified copy of my birth certificate, a notarized copy of my passport, and a notarized copy of my drivers license, and provide the TSA with a great deal of other information including my home address, place of birth, social security number, and vital statistics.

It occurred to me, of course, that this letter was an ID theft wet dream before I dropped it into the mailbox. This contains so much identifying information that anyone in possession of it would be able to prove they’re me better than even I can. Now, as I hadn’t heard from the TSA regarding the form, I finally called to ask them what was going on.

They never received it, they claim.

Now I’m left wondering: if the TSA never received it, who did?

This book meme is apparently making a second pass. I missed it the first time, so, here we go

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

“This flea is a magnificent piece of –”

“It is not art but a higher form of bungling,” Hooke demurred. “When I viewed that flea under the microscope, I could see, in its eye, a complete and perfect reflection of John Comstock’s gardens and manor-house — the blossoms on his flowers, the curtains billowing in his windows.”

Since my blog has been sparse for quite some time, here are some updates on my current state of affairs.

I’ve left my previous employer, On-Site Manager, as a result of a dispute over an illegal non-compete agreement they asked me to sign. Rather than negotiating over some minor changes to the agreement, they fired both Kevin and me over it.

As it turns out, this sort of thing isn’t actually legal and the words wrongful termination were quickly put forth. My hope is that this will finally be filed within the next couple of days.

As far as the work situation goes for me: I’m currently unemployed. Efforts to remedy this situation have so far proved futile, though I’m also working on the side to perhaps put together a business providing electronic medical records software. The business, currently called Lucetia, will hopefully have available a product before the end of the year. At this stage though, it’s all just an idea, and some code I’ve hacked together.

Lucetia EMR is a XUL application based on the Mozilla application development platform. This is the same technology that makes Firefox, that most successful of free software applications, possible. Lucetia is not, however, an open source company (At least not yet).

I am currently seeking assistance from qualified programmers who might want to get in on the ground floor. The job would involve no pay except for a substantial ownership stake in the eventual corporation. This is not a zero-cash startup though; I do have significant savings that I’m investing in this, and as needed will seek outside funding. If my lawsuit goes well, outside funding may be unnecessary.

Email or IM me for more information about the idea and the current status if this interests you in any way. I’m currently working on this full time, so interested parties would have to be willing to provide a substantial development investment for it to be worthwhile.

I’ve moved my blog from pybloxsom hosted in my master.gnome.org account to the new blogs.gnome.org system, which will make it a lot easier to both post new entries and to edit old ones. Plus I don’t have to worry about keeping the blog software up to date.

Perhaps I’ll even post more frequently…