Darkly Colored Felines of Fury » lifelines

One Third

Patrick Audley — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:56:18 +0000

One third of my life is behind me. Looking back on my life I’m forced to admit that it has not been the smooth, brightly lit street I expected as a child. Instead it was a meandering cobble lined path, filled with adventures and ravines I would never have foreseen, with highs and lows that dwarfed my early guesses. I am both humbled and amazed at some of the experiences on the journey; at some of the truly amazing and profound people that have joined me for parts of it. This is a good time for contemplation; a wistful look back and a climb to the nearest hill to see what might be ahead.

The Road Behind

The journey started with the solid foundation my family gave me – it was a childhood that was unlike any other I have seen. My mother taught me to program at the tender age of 6; my father gave me the eternal gift of curiosity shortly after; my grandparents inculcated a deep sense of values and duty. From these beginnings, I have spanned the globe and taken flight in ways that none of us could have imagined. I have been graced with three women in my life that have reshaped and grown my view of the world by turns; I treasure them all deeply still. Danielle the stalwart companion and mirror; Elizabeth the muse and inspiration; Kathy the maiden and teacher. From all of these people I’ve learnt so much, done so many things, changed so much.

I have scaled urban mountains aligning lasers, experienced hidden religions, built super computers, engineered new lifeforms, walked paths thousands of years old, plumbed the depths of the mind and come back mostly sane. I have loved and lost many times, felt pain and joy I could not have imagined.

The Woods Ahead

Turning forward, where does the road lead? I have returned to my home to find out. I have given up predicting the future and am endeavouring to walk blindly forward. I know that I have had my best growth and learning where I least expected it. To sit in lonely contemplation and await the future is hard. So, I am looking for the next change, the next turn in the road. If I had my sparkly druthers I would ask for a loving, stable relationship, a full time job that keeps my interest, and a change of pace in life from the hectic start-up laden gallop to a slower more contemplative cantor.

So, without much ado, this next month of Summer shall be devoted to seeking a full time venture to captivate my mind and talents as well as a the occasional moment of peaceful rest. If you are reading this and remember time we have spent together on the path, drop me a note and we’ll have a beer/coffee/virtual drink. If you think you might want to join me for a few turns, I am always glad for the company.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

Robert Heinlein

Comments

July 29, 2010, Vincent Byfield writes: Pretty amazing part one, my friend. I am looking forward to the next installments.
July 30, 2010, Bruce Audley writes: Life's greatest reward is the jouney itself.
July 30, 2010, Zephyr writes: Nice Heinlein quote. I've always liked that one.
July 30, 2010, Don Parker writes: Patrick We spent a short time colaborating when our path crossed, I recognised your strengths, now you need to continue to apply them to pursue your next stage of growth, leverage the past. Happy Birthday

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A White Christmas and Teeth

Patrick Audley — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:13:41 +0000

I flew to Vancouver to visit family for the holidays and this time I carted my cat Lana with me. Christmas itself went off without a hitch and was joined with the usual huge turkey dinner, assorted gifts, a few rounds of good wine and general merriment. Though I love getting together with family, travel during the holidays continues to worsen and given my lack of religious lock-down to specific dates has become something I think I shall avoid in the future. A story of teeth, gypsies, blizzards and cheer follows. Well… perhaps not gypsies.

A White ChristmasTravel Nightmare

I normally eschew traveling on Air Canada and I have never been more thankful of that choice. I had a very surreal moment when I was in the Calgary airport and overheard an Air Canada minion telling a traveler that no planes were taking off because the runways were closed. I could see this was a tough sell because behind the man, perfectly framed in the huge window facing the tarmac were several Westjet planes taxiing out and in the far distance a plane just lifting off. I can almost imagine the scene in the Air Canada employee lounge hours before where disgruntled workers probably drew straws to see who was going to go out and tell bald-faced lies to weary travelers whose flights have been canceled while all the other airlines somehow managed. I understand why, in most cases, Air Canada just didn’t show up to say anything. My own Westjet flight was half an hour late but Lana (who can travel in the cabin with me) and I made it to snowy Vancouver eventually.

Family Christmas

My mother has been collecting ornaments and bits for the family Christmas tree since before I was born and it’s always formed a comforting part of the season for us. That and turkey dinner. Lots of turkey. Heaps even. This year was no exception and we had a great dinner with family on Christmas Eve. The next day was followed by gift opening and generally lazing about in post turkey lethargy. We also went to see Bugs Bunny on Broadway at the Vancouver Orpheum – a wonderful fusion of symphony orchestra and Merry Melodies. All together it was a nice and fairly standard Christmas though the addition of huge amounts of snow in Vancouver made it mildly bizarre (as well as adding that little edge to driving as you are surrounded by others with summer tires trying to pretend they can drive normally on ice). I managed to get together with my best-friend, Danielle, too which is always a great time. We’re planning a party trip to Vegas in the Spring – it will be a hoot!

Cat Tooth Fairies

Lana spent this holiday at the vets being boarded and generally checked out. The checkup revealed very badly inflamed gums and required surgery to extract a few teeth. I’m a little ashamed that I hadn’t peered into her mouth more regularly because I certainly would have seen the very sore gums. *sigh* She had contracted a mycoplasma infection in her gums which thankfully is treatable with antibiotics. We also have a fun new fish-tasting toothbrush game to play that I’m sure will bring hours of … joy… to both of us when she heals up. I picked her up today and she’s perfectly happy and seems in much better spirits now that her mouth isn’t sore. If you’re looking for an excellent cat veterinarian/kennel in Vancouver, I’ve included Cat Care’s information at the bottom of the post.

A Night at the Movies: Gran Torino

Gran Torino Excellent movie, a clash of cultures and generations. I got a chance to see this with my family last week and it’s on my must see recommmendations list now. The trailers were a little misleading with their portrayal of a typical Eastwood Dirty Harry persona. Eastwood’s character, Walt, is amazing and deep – filled with racism and a product the American Dream (with all that entails, including war) he finds peace at the end of his life by reaching out to a young Hmong boy. Stunning acting and classic cinematography make Eastwoods last film incredible. Go see it. You’ll have tears in your eyes at the end – we all did. My rating: 4.5 stars

Vet’s Info

Dr. Karen ZutrauenCat Care Veterinary Clinic49.148745-123.136654#100 8980 No.3 Road#100 8980 No.3 RoadRichmondBCCA-BCCanada+1 (604) 277-8511vet cats clinicCommentsJanuary 12, 2009, Brenda May (Audley) writes: For the first several years of Patrick's life, I made Christmas decorations for our yearly tree. Ceramic, crocheted, stained glass, sewn - all reflected Christmas from a child's perspective. When Patrick has children, all of these decorations will be given to them, and hopefully, passed on again. Every year I wear my Christmas apron and oven mitts from Patrick's first Christmas too. We always celebrate Christmas morning with a champagne brunch. This year, we had a huge snowfall - what a surprise! Christmas is peaceful, and we try never to rush:)Lana is a real trooper! She seems to overcome evey obstacle put in her path. What a sweet kitty. MomRelated posts:Reviews Work: GT – 840 Howe Street ECS G551 Linux Laptop ReviewCopyright © 2008
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Fall is the Season of Change

Patrick Audley — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:29:04 +0000

As I was walking to work last week I was astounded to see the ground littered with oranges and yellows — fall had pounced upon me like a stealthy cat. Back in my old Vancouver haunting grounds I knew that all was green and verdant but Calgary had already succumbed and the crisp air hinted of the snow and ice to come. This revelation both foreshadowed and provided background to the rest of the week. All changes bring mixed emotions; rarely in my life do they provide me with the absolutes; this week was no exception. Some good and some not good but overall, I think I’m ahead of the game.

Crowdsourced Joy

My new job at Cambrian House has been unreal with it’s stock of amazing people, it’s bubbly excitement and cool technology that brings back slightly surreal memories of the startup days at GroupTelecom. I’ve deeply enjoyed work lately — work has always been a large component in my life which, if the magical resonance of doing good and making money can be hit, brings huge personal satisfaction. We have very challenging problems to chew away at, crazily smart people to work beside, an endless supply of coffee and a fridge crammed full of food and beer. We’re even making money (shocking for a startup I know, we actually sell things!). All of that has been great and I’m thankful that my life has yet again steered into a cool venture.

The Fairer Sex

As often seems to be the case in our great human struggle, there is a counterpoint to such things. Kathy, my intrepid former girlfriend, and I have muddled through much of this year searching for our relationship and I think we’ve finally arrived at the conclusion that it not only took a vacation but indeed moved to a foreign country, set up a small noodle business and has no intention of coming home. It’s been a very sad week as the we realized this — emotions for me went the whole gambit and I’m left now with just sad and a little disappointed. Our stunningly different lives and personalities which were so fascinating and attractive in our early days had become burdens without the stability that commonality brings.

Realizations of Connectedness

My love woes (how’s that for a loaded set of words!) served to highlight a rather shocking amount of support in my life from friends, acquaintances and colleagues. It was a thankful and uplifting experience to see just how intermingled humanity becomes in times of difficulty; the speed of this has certainly grown faster with newer technology and I’m happy to say I’ll actually be working on making such things better in the future! I’ve often seen myself as a lone cat, a view I now consider a little mistaken, cats are colony creatures after all. Thanks go out to all my friends, new and old, for all your support and kind words.

The Coming Cold

Quite a few of my friends (and a no small chunk of my family) have asked if I’m moving back to Vancouver. The short answer is: no. I dove into Calgary with an open mind and have had my usual luck (whose magic touch never seems to extend it’s sublime ease to relationships *sigh*) in finding the makings to a great life. I’ve made commitments here and most importantly, at least to me, I’m having a good time in general! My father expresses constant surprise over how easily I move around and this is just another chance to grow my flexibility muscles. Now I just need a few things to prepare for this new season (are you listening Universe?!?): some local friends to hang out with occasionally and explore new restaurants, a chance to dust off my snow board sometimes this winter and a dash of personal growth.

Comments

October 1, 2008, Pam writes: In Alberta, fall is the season of you-blink-and-you-miss-it! Looks like you're sharing Edmonton's little patch of warmth this autumn. Be well.
October 5, 2008, Brenda May (Audley) writes: Change is often a good thing. New beginnings, new doors to open as others close. Just another stepping stone to a new experience. If you are not looking for happiness, it often jumps out at you.... Take care.

Calgary’s version of seagulls

Patrick Audley — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:02:07 +0000

The little differences between cities fascinate me. Calgary has ravenous magpies to replace the seagulls of Vancouver. Instead of syringe wrappers strewn all over the sidewalks I find meat-stick wrappers (which look eerily similar). It’s amazing what the minutiae of a city reveals…

Posted from my shiny new iPhone.

Comments

February 25, 2009, Recent Faves Tagged With "seagulls" : MyNetFaves writes: [...] public links >> seagulls Charms First saved by freehat704 | 6 days ago Calgary’s version of seagulls First saved by veselosky | 11 days ago Seagulls Flying High First saved by gaaraunit1 | 17 [...]

Moving to Calgary I

Patrick Audley — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:24:49 +0000

The Big Move to Calgary has begun! Kathy and I just couldn’t take being in different cities anymore so I’m mashing (no really, see the pictures of the storeroom!) all my possessions into storage and moving in with the family until the 15th of July when the moving truck, the [LANA001, cat] and I are abandoning Vancouver.

This move was very cathartic — I donated all my un-wearable clothes, old books, and unneeded household things. I converted all my paper items into scanned PDF’s (huge job, thanks go out to PrintPlus in Vancouver for their Herculean effort). And finally, much was just thrown out or recycled.

The Digital Conversion(tm) along was worth all the effort of the move!

Stay tuned for the actual move into Calgary.

Comments

August 23, 2008, Brenda May (Audley) writes: You never know how much stuff you really have until you move! I could not believe the amount of boxes we packed for Patrick's move to Calgary. He has moved before, but this time, almost everything was kept because Patrick bought everything new and of excellent quality. It was a very nice apartment with a great location, but moving on..............I must say that I won't miss the hour commute from Richmond to Vancouver!

Contributed art: Sara’s Interpretation of Dresden at Night

Patrick Audley — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:16:14 +0000

This oil paining is a rendition of a picture from my “[COGNETO002, Dresden Trip]” was contributed by Sarah Davis.

Cool, eh?!

I’ve sold a few pictures for publication over the years but this makes me much happier than any of the sales. *big grin*

Whirlwind Europe trip with Ralph

Job Search in the New Year

Patrick Audley — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 02:14:32 +0000

After taking a few months off and spending some time with my family and fiancee, it’s now time to jump back into the fray. I’m primarily looking for jobs in the Vancouver and Calgary areas but I’m also considering making a serious go at telecommuting. Most of my recent experience has been in the identity 2.0 space but I’m very interested in exploring new industries and problems.

So, if you have a good problem or need a deep thinker for your team, keep me in mind.

Leaving Cogneto

Patrick Audley — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 05:28:13 +0000

So, without much ado, I’m no longer with Cogneto and am joining my two friends Andy Dale and John Bradley to bring solid, usable, user-centric identity and authentication to the world under the mighty rubric of Wingaa.

As is often the case, transitioning from one job to another was rockier than it first looked. It was full of bitter-sweet moments mixed liberally with some sad moments and a huge swelling of excitement and hope for the future. I’ve gained a pile of insight and a good set of lessons to take to my next venture. I try when I leave a job to figure out what the best lesson was and I think that, in retrospect, we didn’t have enough transparency and that should have been a warning sign. We had a very smart group of people who were kept from seeing or helping with problems because they didn’t know about them. That’s my key lesson from this job – transparency is a hallmark of a good company.

Kathy Chernipeski

Patrick Audley — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 22:53:58 +0000

I met Kathy on Orkut where Kathy found me in September of 2005. We kept lightly in touch for a while, trading the odd email about favourite authours or random things, and then chance (or design) conspired for us meet in person in Calgary and it was love immediately.

Kathy is a profoundly new experience to me, someone who challenges me and herself constantly to grow and learn, someone that I love spending time with.

I think Kathy:

is a hardcore rockhound
a prairie girl
cares deeply about the people around her and humanity in general
is very smart
has the coolest bird
is a serious adventure taker and well traveled
is into social entrepreneurship as well
is universally loved by all my friends
loves chocolate
will eventually learn to love coffee *duck*

My time with Kathy has been a wonderful interlude in my life and I love her for the time we had together and the friendship that grew out of it.

TSM Daily Reporting Script

Patrick Audley — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 05:33:27 +0000

for Tivoli Storage Manager
Documentation: http://blackcat.ca/svn/trunk/tsmdailyrep/docs/index.html

See the sample report for an idea of that this program does.

TSM is a data management solution that is offered by IBM. It’s a huge, sprawling, flexible monstrosity that work perfectly… if you watch it and keep it fed and watered. TSM is also very scriptable and extensible.

This program attempts to give a TSM administrator a daily report that contains all the things that need to be periodically looked at. Wherever possible it will offer advice on how to fix problems found or attempt to resolve them itself. It will generate a nice email with the report and will modify the subject to flag and problems found so that you know when it’s really important to have a peek inside the report.

If you know of anything that you’d like added, you find a bug, or just can’t get it to run for you, please email me at paudley@blackcat.ca and I’ll see what I can do to help. Please Note: I no longer have regular access to a TSM system for testing, if you’d like troubleshooting I can probably work something remotely.

Thanks to the many people that have passed along code or suggestions and to the Wellcome Trust for funding my time at the University of Dundee.

Code Samples

Darkly Colored Felines of Fury » lifelines

One Third

The Road Behind

The Woods Ahead

Comments

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A White Christmas and Teeth

A White ChristmasTravel Nightmare

Family Christmas

Cat Tooth Fairies

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The Coming Cold

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