Tag Archives: dankaye

I don't know much about funeral protocol. It was so weird going to 's. I did, however, get to meet a bunch of people as a result. Dan's dad is amazingly cool.
I didn't think I would get up and say anything, but Becky went up there, and she (perhaps knowingly, perhaps unknowingly) ended with a story that gave me an opening to continue partially. I went up there. I only remember bits and pieces of what I said up there, but evidently, it was incredibly well recieved. I talked to almost every member of the americorps crew afterwards, and they all told me how great it was, and the leader guy gave me an americorps shirt. I thought that was incredibly awesome of them. I guess I'm a better public speaker than I thought.

Anyway, I don't know where to begin, and today was such a rush. I took a picture or two with my cameraphone but I don't want to post them at the moment, partially due to what I percieve to be the emotional impact of the photos, partially due to not having the time or energy to do it.

I do have to say, that it was probably the most fitting funeral I've ever attended. Dan couldn't have designed it better if he planned it himself, methinks.

On a semi-ironic note, Dan wanted to be an EMT. I think I actually missed my midterm practical for first responder training today. There's irony in there, I'm just too tired to articulate it.

Oh, and my work totally rocks. I have said it before, but I'm saying it again. (I only wish Dan were around to talk to about it, because I know he'd get a kick out of what I'm doing.)

This one goes out to my homies in the 348 LATA. You all know who you are.

The new job has been totally awesome. New job + 7 accelerated credit hours has been totally kicking my ass though. Thank God the semester ends in a month or so. Then I'm just down to my lame movie watching class.

Today, as I was walking around $customer_redacted, a K-3ish school, I remembered when I was in school, and there were technicians with toolbags walking around doing things, going neat places in the school I was not allowed into, doing seemingly neat stuff. I always wanted to do that sort of thing. I always thought the phone guy (and later, the computer guy) were awesome. Now I realized I -AM- that guy. And I saw a few kids look at my gear with curiosity. If schools didn't get all freaky when you talk to the students if you aren't an employee or parent, I would loved to have shown the curious ones my tools and explain what they're for, but alas, these days they're totally afraid you're a bad person or whatever.

I just hope the kids who asked me who I was, and I replied "I'm the phone guy" (technically, I was there to dink with the internet T1 at the time, but the tools were mostly my phone tools, and people think if I say I'm there to monkey with the internet that I can help them fix their computer – if you say you're there to monkey with the phones, they don't ask that.), anyway, I hope that of the kids who asked me that, one of them said "damn, that's awesome. I want to do that when I grow up.".

Also: Mad props to the late for having parents that schedule your funeral for 6/6/6, because they knew you'd want it that way. I'm sure you're somewhere laughing your ass off about that. 🙂

By now, my comments in this situation are likely noticeably absent. I've spent most of the day questioning if it were real, if it actually happened. I actually stared at my CDR logs indicating the call. I hunted until I found proof that the data I was getting was legit. And ultimately I didn't feel any better about it.

Yesterday, I lost a good friend. The first guy I called when I got home from the FBI, the guy who would stop by and hang out, just to shoot the shit. It all started at RubiCon 4. I needed a room, and Dan posted to pen about having space to spare. I didn't know him, but I showed up with a DS3 test unit and a buttset, and he showed up with his own, much cooler buttset, as well as a punchdown block and several other things. I learned a lot about phone wiring that day. I knew the basics, sure, but when Dan teaches it, it's something entirely different. I had never seen someone use a punchdown tool to punch down a jack against their knee before. I tried, and, of course, hurt myself. But from that point forward, Dan and I were in contact. I remember a night when we were out on the town, making trouble. I think it was actually the night this userpic was taken:

He lost his phone where that photo was taken. The one in the photograph on the podium at his tribute site. We were almost done for the night when we realized he didn't have it. I think we met up with that night at a IHOP. This is where the pancake thing with and the fries thing with me started. We retraced our steps through berkley, and couldn't find his cell phone. Until we look under the car. There it was, crushed. Dan turned it on, and it worked. I was mighty impressed.

I remember buying his truck of doom from him (I was desperate for a car, and he needed the cash, so we worked it out), and nearly killing us both with the failure of the new brake calipers I put on because I didn't tighten the brake line tight enough after bleeding the lines. oops.
I remember when he came back.
I remember the debacle with ,
the debacle with ,
and all of that.

I remember the last time I saw him. I remember the last time I talked to him. I remember the last email I got from him.

I sit tonight, feeling crushed on the inside. This guy was a great person, doing great things for people. He was happy, truly happy. We talked about his desire to be an EMT. I thought he'd be great at it. He would.

Dan was a great person, and was one of my inspirations for knowing as much about phones as I do today. The thought that we'll never talk again is deeply disturbing.

I leave this post with a memory I got today. Some may not think it's appropriate, but if they don't, they don't really know Dan. He'll laugh his ass off as soon as he figures out how to get internet access in heaven.

One of the things Dan exposed me to was futurama. In fact, he left his discs here because we'd inevitably watch them when he was here. I found them today. One of his favorite quotes was from an epsode called "A head in the polls", where bender pawns his body, and it's bought by the head of richard nixon.

Today, he proved to me that bodies are truly, as bender put it so succinctly, "for hookers and fat people", of which he is neither.

I still was honestly surprised that when dan was pulled from the water, he didn't get up, look around, and just say "haha, gotcha, fuckers.". He's a survivor.

No matter what I say here, I can't even begin to describe the loss the world has experienced today.

Rest in peace, my friend.

PS: Stop haunting my UPS. I'm sure you think it's funny, but it's fucking up my tivo.

PPS: I may not post much or be around much this week. It's not due to all of this (well, at least not mostly due to this), but instead my new job, which is likely to take quite a bit of my time as I get used to it and get everything together. Try not to worry about me. I'm taking this pretty hard, but I'll be okay.

Daniel Kivel
July 5, 1971 – May 28, 2006