I Was Just Going to Check One Thing

There is a phrase I have apparently been lying to myself with for years:

“I’m just going to check one thing.”

Normal people say this, check one thing, and move on with their day.

I am not one of those people.

For me, “I’m just going to check one thing” is a launch sequence.

Maybe I notice something weird on the network. Maybe I wonder whether an old computer can still be useful. Maybe there’s a Raspberry Pi sitting on my desk making the dangerous mistake of not currently having a job.

Three hours later, I have twelve terminal windows open, VMware is running, I’ve SSH’d into two machines, and there’s somehow a Git repository involved.

The original question?

No idea.

Nothing Retires Around Here

Some people replace old computers.

I reassign them.

Old Dell? You’re a server now.

Mini PC? You’re displaying a calendar.

Raspberry Pi? DNS server.

Another Raspberry Pi? Redundant DNS server.

Old laptop? I once took one apart and stuffed its components into a picture frame.

There is no retirement here. Only reassignment.

Cybersecurity Has Not Helped

Cybersecurity actually rewards this behavior.

You run Nmap.

Port 8080 is open.

Interesting.

Now you’re looking at a web application. Burp Suite gets opened. Another terminal appears. Twenty minutes later, you’re investigating a machine whose entire purpose is to be intentionally broken.

In almost any other profession, this would raise questions.

In cybersecurity, we call it enumeration.

Finally, a respectable name for refusing to leave anything alone.

Then There Are the Rabbit Holes

The technical rabbit holes at least make sense.

The others are harder to explain.

I once opened Google Maps, virtually wandered around India, looked at hotels, beaches, ancient petroglyphs, a fort, and some restaurants.

Somehow, this journey ended with me buying my wife cow ghee.

Nobody asked for ghee.

I wasn’t cooking anything.

I was just looking at a map.

And that is exactly why /dev/random exists.

It’s a place for everything that happens between:

“I wonder…”

and

“How did we get here?”

Anyway, I just noticed an old computer sitting across the room.

I’m pretty sure it still works.

I’m just going to check one thing.