I was just moved over to the DBA team at work. It’s work I’m somewhat familiar with, and I’m being given a lot of time to absorb the new playbook before I’m thrown into the game. Or I guess they won’t be using me on clutch third downs until we’re closer to the playoffs. This metaphor isn’t really going anywhere.

LazyDBA is a mailing list, one I’ve found answers on in the past. Their web archive is terrible, but I thought I’d give it a shot. I signed up with my work address. It took about a day to realize that I’d rather be using Gmail, with its conversation view and organized replies.

So I unsubscribed, and signed up with my Gmail address, but I never got a confirmation email. I tried again, and then again the next day, and let it sit a week before I gave it another shot. No dice. I came to find out that they might be blocking hotmail and yahoo accounts. I signed up with my nordquist.com address, and boom - got a confirmation right away.

Rude. First, their site doesn’t say anything about blacklisting the largest email providers. Second, isn’t it just common sense to validate the form? Don’t tell me that you’re actually sending a confirmation when you aren’t.

I suppose this policy helps them weed out abusive people, but to simply deny service to EVERY Gmail, Yahoo! and Hotmail user is just crazy.

So I finally saw The Shining. Here’s what I knew about it going in:

• Jack Nicholson goes crazy, breaking an axe through a door, chasing someone
• Something about “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”

Gosh, that’s really about it. I like seeing movies - classics, particularly - with no preconceptions. If I go in thinking, for example, “this won an Oscar for music, and people say it’s Paul Reiser’s best work”, then I’m paying attention in an unnatural way to the music and Paul Reiser, and not letting the story be told.

I don’t want to spoil anything for those of you who haven’t seen The Shining, but Jack Nicholson doesn’t attack a door with an axe until there’s about five minutes left in the film. It’s a deep, deep third act spoiler. If there’s supposed to be tension about “how will the isolation and pressure affect these characters?” (and there is - that’s basically the dramatic arc of the whole film), it’s really unfortunate that Jack’s descent into insanity became such a pop culture reference point.

Now I’m not upset about this - I waited 27 years to see the movie, and I can’t expect the world to keep every secret from me. And a lot of people watch movies twice or three times, knowing what’s coming ahead of time, and if you know you’re watching a horror movie, the question of “are there going to be axe murders?” is pretty much answered when the first character accepts a job in a hotel where there have been axe murders.

Jack Nicholson busting through a door with an axe is the frickin’ movie poster. Weak.