Getting any information is like pulling teeth (a long, difficult and sometimes painful process). The whole week I made the mistake of repeating my temporary password back to him using "Bang" instead of "exclamation point" to describe "!". Each time I got the stink eye and a lecture. He finally cornered me and demanded that I explain why I keep saying that. I had to tell him: "I have no idea. I have been using Bang since High School and I know other people that say it as well. Maybe it's a HAM radio thing, Morse Code, maybe it's in the wikipedia." Well to make a short story shorter, it is in the wiki, and I picked up in my High School computer classes.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Bang!
I got the VPN to work from home today. I am very happy about this, as it has taken a week of going to the CTO and asking for help. Why is it that so many IT people make me feel like a dentist?
Getting any information is like pulling teeth (a long, difficult and sometimes painful process). The whole week I made the mistake of repeating my temporary password back to him using "Bang" instead of "exclamation point" to describe "!". Each time I got the stink eye and a lecture. He finally cornered me and demanded that I explain why I keep saying that. I had to tell him: "I have no idea. I have been using Bang since High School and I know other people that say it as well. Maybe it's a HAM radio thing, Morse Code, maybe it's in the wikipedia." Well to make a short story shorter, it is in the wiki, and I picked up in my High School computer classes.
Getting any information is like pulling teeth (a long, difficult and sometimes painful process). The whole week I made the mistake of repeating my temporary password back to him using "Bang" instead of "exclamation point" to describe "!". Each time I got the stink eye and a lecture. He finally cornered me and demanded that I explain why I keep saying that. I had to tell him: "I have no idea. I have been using Bang since High School and I know other people that say it as well. Maybe it's a HAM radio thing, Morse Code, maybe it's in the wikipedia." Well to make a short story shorter, it is in the wiki, and I picked up in my High School computer classes.
Tired and More Tired
I'm so tired. This will have to be quick. I heard the far away noise of the blinds being dropped, which means that Punkinpie is going to bed. I should do that too.
I made progress on learning and figuring out how the code base works today for work.
We had a birthday dinner for a friend at a mediocre italian restaurant. We walked to get our hippy food box.
My sister sent an email talking about how much she loves this bus that she finally bought. I guess it's always been a dream of hers to own one. And now she does.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
What's with all the Meetings?
I still am completely in love with where I work.Today I got into the code more. It's the cleanest, most well organized code base I think I've ever worked on. It's so nice.
Today we had an engineering meeting that lasted for several hours. It was really productive and I was never bored, but why are meetings so long? I guess it's all about communication.
Cool Links for My Day:
Customized Radio Stations
Free Music Customized for You
Monday, January 29, 2007
Elephant Bones
I was swinging a hammer at Bill Hewlett's old house today. I could not help to think that it no longer mattered whose house it once was, as the new owner has removed and changed so much that only the skeleton of the old place remained. Knowing that the Hewlett's came here after attending the many gala and opening night events that helped put bread on my table (in addition to many other bay area artists) gave me a faint and fleeting feeling of connectedness.
Day One of my New Life
As some of you may know, I started my new job today. I have to say that it's a really amazing place to work. The people are great, the company is great, and well, it's pretty great. I found out I have free health insurance. That was mind blowing.They're doing a lot of hiring right now, and they're doing the right thing by making a point of persisting the company culture with the new hires. I'm really excited to be working here. To be part of this team that will make this company great. It's a cool project, and there's some really amazing features coming through the pipeline.
I'll be happy when I don't have that mild headache from having to process so much data persistently for hours. What I mean is this: Between learning new architecture and environments (every company is different when it comes to Software Engineering setups), and constantly meeting new people (and trying really hard to learn their names), and not knowing the "culture" of hanging out and interacting with people, it's a long energy expending day. It only gets easier.
The picture's from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival of 2003.
Cool Links for Today:
Disposable Phone Number
A Case of the Monday's
It's a stressful week at work for me, so I'll skip the complaints and get to the fun stuff:
The Maker Faire is coming back to town May 19 & 20th, so you know I'll be there.
If you haven't seen it, and even if you have, check out one of my favorite websites: Hack-A-Day. I realize it might be almost meaningless if you don't have any interest in hardware hacking, but at least you'll catch a glimpse of what I'm into.
Our wedding rings are starting to be made (picture nearby).
I was moving the gas grill tonight and the grease catching can fell off and splashed fermented grime on my pants and shoes. This happened because I stopped eating meat 2 months after buying the BBQ and now it hates me.
Un-busy Monday
I probably should be getting a bunch of things done today, but it's not really happening. I got into work a little after 9AM. Checked my email. There were a couple of messages that almost looked like they might need to be responded to, but it turned out that they were just informational.
We're reviewing the hardware specifications for our laptops and desktops, so I decided to read up on the differences between the core duo processor and the core 2 duo processor. Turns out that they are significantly different, but the performance gains are pretty minimal. Browsing www.tomshardware.com and another website, I was able to figure out that we should probably be using the 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo with 4MB of L2 cache. It really only took about 15 minutes to get this info, but our group has been trying to decide what to do for the last couple of weeks. I kind of wonder how the others were trying to make this decision I think they were just looking at the processor specs and the prices and just trying to choose something in the middle more or less randomly. The thing that I think is funny is that when we have the meeting next week, I'm going to make my suggestion, and they are going to accept it, pretty much because I'll be the only one with a strong opinion on the issue. I looked up some information about Vista, since I've been caught off-guard with questions about it in the past few weeks. I can cover it up by just acting dismissive when anyone asks. Usually a safe bet with any Microsoft product. Turns out that in tests, it's not much faster or slower than XP. It will appear to be faster because due to some new pre-fetch, pre-cache tricks commonly used apps will open much faster. They won't run faster once loaded, but most people are still much slower than the application, so for most people it will seem peppy-er.
I spent about 10 minutes at the photocopier trying to figure out the best way to photocopy a receipt that measured longer than 11". It was pretty early, so I was having some pretty serious spatial issues with it. I kept swapping the pieces of the receipt from right to left. Then the photocopier wanted to photocopy on legal size paper. Then the photocopier wanted to combine two originals on one photocopy for no perceivable reason. It was pretty frustrating. I think I made 10-15 copies before I got it the way I wanted.
I don't have meetings on Monday, so nobody would really notice if I was here or not. So I spent some time on the web. I've been trying to find a warm, breathable, water-proof (or at least resistant) jacket for riding. I like the Castelli jackets, they're really high-tech, but they're also super expensive. I looked on ebay, but the only affordable ones are being sold by some guy in the UK who is running an obvious scam. I don't buy from anybody that doesn't accept paypal. Right now I'm leaning towards the Pearl Izumi Barrier jacket. I need to get to a bike shop to size the thing before I buy online though. I'm also looking at a pcmcia sound card. I'm kind of sick of the static caused by having an integrated sound controller.
I was going to get Pho with a friend from work at 11:30, but he had a surprise meeting, so I had to wait until noon. It's always better to go to lunch early, if possible. People notice if you come back late from lunch, but they rarely pay attention to when you leave.
I've been listening to random music. I was browsing open network shares a few months ago, and I found one with somebody's music collection. I grabbed it all and promptly forgot about it. Today I've been listening to Hall and Oates, Culture Club, and other 80's stuff. It's kind of weird listening to those songs now, because at the time I could barely comprehend the lyrics, much less what they were trying to say. Fortunately, I'm kind of in a dead area as far as foot traffic is concerned. There's a conference room outside my cube, and the cubes next to mine are usually vacant. So I can do my little chair dance to "Kiss on my List" without having to worry much about somebody seeing me. And my keyboard is making a very productive-sounding clicky-clack, so if anybody does come by, I'll sound very busy.
Just got off the phone with our Symantec Technical Account Manager. He was telling me that a month ago his first great-grandchild was born. How old do you have to be to have grandchildren? 120 years old?
How's everyone else's day going?
We're reviewing the hardware specifications for our laptops and desktops, so I decided to read up on the differences between the core duo processor and the core 2 duo processor. Turns out that they are significantly different, but the performance gains are pretty minimal. Browsing www.tomshardware.com and another website, I was able to figure out that we should probably be using the 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo with 4MB of L2 cache. It really only took about 15 minutes to get this info, but our group has been trying to decide what to do for the last couple of weeks. I kind of wonder how the others were trying to make this decision I think they were just looking at the processor specs and the prices and just trying to choose something in the middle more or less randomly. The thing that I think is funny is that when we have the meeting next week, I'm going to make my suggestion, and they are going to accept it, pretty much because I'll be the only one with a strong opinion on the issue. I looked up some information about Vista, since I've been caught off-guard with questions about it in the past few weeks. I can cover it up by just acting dismissive when anyone asks. Usually a safe bet with any Microsoft product. Turns out that in tests, it's not much faster or slower than XP. It will appear to be faster because due to some new pre-fetch, pre-cache tricks commonly used apps will open much faster. They won't run faster once loaded, but most people are still much slower than the application, so for most people it will seem peppy-er.
I spent about 10 minutes at the photocopier trying to figure out the best way to photocopy a receipt that measured longer than 11". It was pretty early, so I was having some pretty serious spatial issues with it. I kept swapping the pieces of the receipt from right to left. Then the photocopier wanted to photocopy on legal size paper. Then the photocopier wanted to combine two originals on one photocopy for no perceivable reason. It was pretty frustrating. I think I made 10-15 copies before I got it the way I wanted.
I don't have meetings on Monday, so nobody would really notice if I was here or not. So I spent some time on the web. I've been trying to find a warm, breathable, water-proof (or at least resistant) jacket for riding. I like the Castelli jackets, they're really high-tech, but they're also super expensive. I looked on ebay, but the only affordable ones are being sold by some guy in the UK who is running an obvious scam. I don't buy from anybody that doesn't accept paypal. Right now I'm leaning towards the Pearl Izumi Barrier jacket. I need to get to a bike shop to size the thing before I buy online though. I'm also looking at a pcmcia sound card. I'm kind of sick of the static caused by having an integrated sound controller.
I was going to get Pho with a friend from work at 11:30, but he had a surprise meeting, so I had to wait until noon. It's always better to go to lunch early, if possible. People notice if you come back late from lunch, but they rarely pay attention to when you leave.
I've been listening to random music. I was browsing open network shares a few months ago, and I found one with somebody's music collection. I grabbed it all and promptly forgot about it. Today I've been listening to Hall and Oates, Culture Club, and other 80's stuff. It's kind of weird listening to those songs now, because at the time I could barely comprehend the lyrics, much less what they were trying to say. Fortunately, I'm kind of in a dead area as far as foot traffic is concerned. There's a conference room outside my cube, and the cubes next to mine are usually vacant. So I can do my little chair dance to "Kiss on my List" without having to worry much about somebody seeing me. And my keyboard is making a very productive-sounding clicky-clack, so if anybody does come by, I'll sound very busy.
Just got off the phone with our Symantec Technical Account Manager. He was telling me that a month ago his first great-grandchild was born. How old do you have to be to have grandchildren? 120 years old?
How's everyone else's day going?
Sunday, January 28, 2007
I've been listening to music from Pandora all day I love it. You can name a few artists or songs and it basically feeds similar music. Then you can give a thumbs up or thumbs down for any song that it plays and it continuously refines the sound. You can even share your "radio station." There's no commercials; it's free with some screen ads or you can pay $3/mo. to get rid of the ads. They're hiring software/sys admin people in oakland in case any of you computer types need a change of scenery.
I planted a bunch of new plants today, including my first tree (thanks to Ultrafancy):
oak tree
hebe x hybrida "blue gem"
anigozanthos "bush blaze"
helleborus argutifolius
argyranthemum frutescens
pacific giant delphinium "bluebird"
I planted a bunch of new plants today, including my first tree (thanks to Ultrafancy):
oak tree
hebe x hybrida "blue gem"
anigozanthos "bush blaze"
helleborus argutifolius
argyranthemum frutescens
pacific giant delphinium "bluebird"
Sunday Evening Post
As many of have already noticed, I have invited a new member to post on PTOLAF. Stucco Homes is known and loved by all of us, whether you know it or not. He's a proud member of the extended Happy House crew and was the first among us to have a child (as far as I can remember). Hopefully those are enough hints to figure out who he is. As for the picture in his profile, I did have a little conversation with him about the difference between anonymity and identity theft.
Glad to see so many posts on the page... I wasn't really sure whether I planned on posting on the weekends or not. We'll see how that goes.
So my weekend so far... My weekends are harder to remember than my work days, but that may be due to recreational activities and such. Today I went to China Camp and had a pretty good ride. I did the loop twice, and then I rode N. San Pedro just to wear down my energy a little. I didn't realize that San Pedro isn't a continuous circle, so I had to consult the GPS when I hit San Raphael. Then it started raining a little. Not too bad, but I was concerned about being cold, damp, and lost. I was able to find my way back to my car though, so it all worked out.
While I was changing to drive home, I got the weird feeling that I was being watched. I thought I could see something move in the woods (maybe 100ft away), but I lost it. One of my big fears going out in the woods around here is that I might run into a mountain lion. It's just one of those things that I'm not sure I have a way of dealing with. I stared out into the trees for a few more minutes, and then resumed packing up. About 10 minutes later, there was a big ruckus in the woods. Turned out that is was a pack of wild turkeys. Apparantly, there had been a dust-up between them, but after a couple of minutes there were silent and invisable again.
On the way home I had Quiznos and stopped at a few shops looking for some kind of windstopper, waterproof jacket that I could use for riding. Came home, took a shower.
Saturday, I took a drive to Berkeley to buy some flights for my darts (my drunk ass roommate had destroyed one of them the weekend before) and to take a look at the Bone Room for some new horns to mold. I found some ok Springbok horns. Not exactly what I was looking for, but they should be fun to play with. I gave Stucco Homes a call, and hung out at their place for the evening. I was fed a cheese called Le Tur, which was really good. After I got home, I went to Pittsburgh's to play some darts among the sad, drunk people.
Friday I went to a bar with Kevlar, and watched any team that I might be inclined to support lose. I think I watched Dazed and Confused for the first time before that.
So that was my weekend...
Glad to see so many posts on the page... I wasn't really sure whether I planned on posting on the weekends or not. We'll see how that goes.
So my weekend so far... My weekends are harder to remember than my work days, but that may be due to recreational activities and such. Today I went to China Camp and had a pretty good ride. I did the loop twice, and then I rode N. San Pedro just to wear down my energy a little. I didn't realize that San Pedro isn't a continuous circle, so I had to consult the GPS when I hit San Raphael. Then it started raining a little. Not too bad, but I was concerned about being cold, damp, and lost. I was able to find my way back to my car though, so it all worked out.
While I was changing to drive home, I got the weird feeling that I was being watched. I thought I could see something move in the woods (maybe 100ft away), but I lost it. One of my big fears going out in the woods around here is that I might run into a mountain lion. It's just one of those things that I'm not sure I have a way of dealing with. I stared out into the trees for a few more minutes, and then resumed packing up. About 10 minutes later, there was a big ruckus in the woods. Turned out that is was a pack of wild turkeys. Apparantly, there had been a dust-up between them, but after a couple of minutes there were silent and invisable again.
On the way home I had Quiznos and stopped at a few shops looking for some kind of windstopper, waterproof jacket that I could use for riding. Came home, took a shower.
Saturday, I took a drive to Berkeley to buy some flights for my darts (my drunk ass roommate had destroyed one of them the weekend before) and to take a look at the Bone Room for some new horns to mold. I found some ok Springbok horns. Not exactly what I was looking for, but they should be fun to play with. I gave Stucco Homes a call, and hung out at their place for the evening. I was fed a cheese called Le Tur, which was really good. After I got home, I went to Pittsburgh's to play some darts among the sad, drunk people.
Friday I went to a bar with Kevlar, and watched any team that I might be inclined to support lose. I think I watched Dazed and Confused for the first time before that.
So that was my weekend...
The Day Before the Four Year Plan Begins
Today we woke up pretty late. I thought that since our blinds were angled to allow the sunshine in, we would wake up early. It didn't work out like that. I suppose it had something to do with going to bed at 2 or so in the morning.
I was working this late because there's a bunch of contracting work I wanted to get wrapped up all nice and tidy before I started the Four Year Plan, which officially begins tomorrow. Part one of the Four Year Plan is starting this new full-time, permanent job.
It's actually almost the perfect job for me. (I say almost because nothing is truly perfect, is it?) It's the first job description that I've ever seen where I had exactly all the skill sets listed. It's working for a company doing something that I've already spent large amounts of my hobby time doing - namely writing software related to the real estate industry. Or more specifically helping buyers like me, get all the information they want. I interviewed them really carefully and they interviewed me just as carefully. And it ended up being a good match. I'm going to really miss contracting and the flexibility it provides. But I'm really looking forward to working in a team, in the city, on a project that I think is super cool. I have high hopes for it all.
After we got up late we headed by bike to this new breakfast place we rode by yesterday. It hadn't opened for business yet, and so we settled with breakfast at Cafe Colucci, which was a big mistake.
Well, I'm pretty sure that I suffer from hypoglycemia because I have a lot of weird things that happen when I don't eat soon after waking up. Like a really bad headache, for one. The restaurant we ended up at is usually really great for Ethiopian food, but apparently not breakfast. But you have to go there knowing you won't get quick service. It's just not how it works.
Also, I'm a breakfast person. I like breakfast and encourage our family to go out to get breakfast often. So, I really do care what my breakfast was like, and my breakfast wasn't so good. Actually, it was awful.
When I got home, I worked a bunch. That was pretty much the rest of my day.
Punkinpie did some gardening. Which is really cool, because I really feel like we're starting to make some progress with our home. There was a point, several months ago, when I really started to invest in this place as our long term home. And part of that was gardening. It's looking good.
Also, there's this weird plant phenomenon that's happening in my houseplants. Well, there's two, actually. The newest one are these mushrooms that are growing in one of our houseplants. Could somebody please identify these? There getting bigger, and I'm really enjoying them being here. It reminds me of the Pacific Northwest.
The second weird plant thing is the ants. They invaded yet another plant, except this time instead of re potting the plant and washing away all the soil, I just put poison nearby. They seem to be gone now. I guess that means there's a lot of dead ant bodies in that one plant now. What exactly happens to ant colonies when you poison them? I'm curious.
I woke up a little sore today. Probably from the yoga on Friday and then the bike riding the past two days. I feel really good.
I forgot about explaining the Four Year Plan. Basically it goes like this. I don't want to raise kids here. Actually, that's not entirely true. I wouldn't mind raising kids here, but we need a lot more money to do it. I want both of us to have time to spend with our kids. And I don't mean after working full-time. I think it's ridiculous that we can't both own a home and have both of us work only part time. Where I used to live, this wouldn't be a problem. How are we supposed to be attentive parents if we can't be around for our kids in their formative years? Well, as I've mentioned, I have high hopes for this startup company that I'm going to start working for tomorrow. I took a little less money for more stocks. And I vest in four years. So, in my perfect world, this company will do well, and I'll make money off of it - think Google. I will stay there for four years to get all that stock, and then Punkinpie and I will possibly move. We have an agreement to talk very seriously about moving. The fact is that we could probably live on half of one income in Olympia, WA if we lived frugally, or on two halves easily. I'd like to move somewhere cheaper and raise our kids in a more mellow, much cheaper area. In Olympia, you can still buy a house where the rent pays the mortgage. That's a ridiculous concept here in the Bay Area. I'm willing to give up the glitz and glory of this area for a chiller, mellower, and more down time filled life. We'll see what we decide in four years. But that's our plan and agreement right now: To talk seriously about moving somewhere cheaper where we could both work less than full-time. And that might not even be Olympia, but then, it might. Only time will tell.
Cool Links for Today:
Grafiti and Media linked together
Optimize Your Life
Scratch That Travel Itch
World Music Festival. If they ever play the states again, get here.
Investment Sense
The Mother Load of Mortgage Calculators
I was working this late because there's a bunch of contracting work I wanted to get wrapped up all nice and tidy before I started the Four Year Plan, which officially begins tomorrow. Part one of the Four Year Plan is starting this new full-time, permanent job.
It's actually almost the perfect job for me. (I say almost because nothing is truly perfect, is it?) It's the first job description that I've ever seen where I had exactly all the skill sets listed. It's working for a company doing something that I've already spent large amounts of my hobby time doing - namely writing software related to the real estate industry. Or more specifically helping buyers like me, get all the information they want. I interviewed them really carefully and they interviewed me just as carefully. And it ended up being a good match. I'm going to really miss contracting and the flexibility it provides. But I'm really looking forward to working in a team, in the city, on a project that I think is super cool. I have high hopes for it all.
After we got up late we headed by bike to this new breakfast place we rode by yesterday. It hadn't opened for business yet, and so we settled with breakfast at Cafe Colucci, which was a big mistake.
Well, I'm pretty sure that I suffer from hypoglycemia because I have a lot of weird things that happen when I don't eat soon after waking up. Like a really bad headache, for one. The restaurant we ended up at is usually really great for Ethiopian food, but apparently not breakfast. But you have to go there knowing you won't get quick service. It's just not how it works.
Also, I'm a breakfast person. I like breakfast and encourage our family to go out to get breakfast often. So, I really do care what my breakfast was like, and my breakfast wasn't so good. Actually, it was awful.
When I got home, I worked a bunch. That was pretty much the rest of my day.
Punkinpie did some gardening. Which is really cool, because I really feel like we're starting to make some progress with our home. There was a point, several months ago, when I really started to invest in this place as our long term home. And part of that was gardening. It's looking good.
Also, there's this weird plant phenomenon that's happening in my houseplants. Well, there's two, actually. The newest one are these mushrooms that are growing in one of our houseplants. Could somebody please identify these? There getting bigger, and I'm really enjoying them being here. It reminds me of the Pacific Northwest.
The second weird plant thing is the ants. They invaded yet another plant, except this time instead of re potting the plant and washing away all the soil, I just put poison nearby. They seem to be gone now. I guess that means there's a lot of dead ant bodies in that one plant now. What exactly happens to ant colonies when you poison them? I'm curious.I woke up a little sore today. Probably from the yoga on Friday and then the bike riding the past two days. I feel really good.
I forgot about explaining the Four Year Plan. Basically it goes like this. I don't want to raise kids here. Actually, that's not entirely true. I wouldn't mind raising kids here, but we need a lot more money to do it. I want both of us to have time to spend with our kids. And I don't mean after working full-time. I think it's ridiculous that we can't both own a home and have both of us work only part time. Where I used to live, this wouldn't be a problem. How are we supposed to be attentive parents if we can't be around for our kids in their formative years? Well, as I've mentioned, I have high hopes for this startup company that I'm going to start working for tomorrow. I took a little less money for more stocks. And I vest in four years. So, in my perfect world, this company will do well, and I'll make money off of it - think Google. I will stay there for four years to get all that stock, and then Punkinpie and I will possibly move. We have an agreement to talk very seriously about moving. The fact is that we could probably live on half of one income in Olympia, WA if we lived frugally, or on two halves easily. I'd like to move somewhere cheaper and raise our kids in a more mellow, much cheaper area. In Olympia, you can still buy a house where the rent pays the mortgage. That's a ridiculous concept here in the Bay Area. I'm willing to give up the glitz and glory of this area for a chiller, mellower, and more down time filled life. We'll see what we decide in four years. But that's our plan and agreement right now: To talk seriously about moving somewhere cheaper where we could both work less than full-time. And that might not even be Olympia, but then, it might. Only time will tell.
Cool Links for Today:
Grafiti and Media linked together
Optimize Your Life
Scratch That Travel Itch
World Music Festival. If they ever play the states again, get here.
Investment Sense
The Mother Load of Mortgage Calculators
Saturday, January 27, 2007
My day without my wife and child
Woke up early for a Saturday, I was excited to get my haircut . The appointment was at 10am and it was the first time going to recently opened salon Lucero. I got there with enough time to have tea. Happy with the loss of hair, I went to a costume shop a short drive away. Did not find anything that fit my expectations so I left with nothing. Got home and took a 3 hour nap (or maybe the 15min felt like 3 hours). Made chicken and boiled potatoes for dinner.
Weekend Bikes and Shoes
Punkinpie and I woke up and had a lazy morning in bed. It was pretty nice.
We also had a "date" night last night too.
It's a tradition that I really like for several reasons. First, it declares that you are both going to give your undivided attention to the other. It can be pretty frustration for either person if you're not on the same page about this. Second, it gives us the opportunity to try a new place to eat, because usually we go out to eat on a "date" night. Third, there's just something fun about still thinking about dating, when we've been living together for years now. We still date!
We walked up to Rockridge and had dinner at Pearl for our "date" night. The food actually was really good, except for what happened afterwards. I woke up in the middle of the night and was really glad that we had indoor plumbing. (I actually lived for many years with a composting toilet that was only accessible by walking outside. I was in a school bus for part of that, but here's one of the cabins on that land.) I think the problem was these greens that we couldn't identify. Though looked really cool, with their spiral stems, but I'm not so sure my body could deal with whatever they were.
I took a shower while Punkinpie went and got some milk at the corner store. He normally drinks rice milk, and so do I by default. Though I prefer soy milk. It's just easier to use what's in the fridge.
I went downstairs and made breakfast, which today was farina. When that was done and Punkinpie wasn't home yet, I occupied my time by taking the recycling out from the kitchen. And for some reason I decided to keep the bottles that have returns separate. I ended up putting them in a paper bag and putting them on the street. (I think I secretly hope that everybody starts doing that so we don't have to hear the homeless types digging through our recycling can at three in the morning on garbage night. They're really loud with their grocery carts, and all those bottles clanking at night.)
When I got back inside Punkinpie was back and he had bought me a decaf mocha from the neighborhood coffee shop! That's the sweetest thing ever. He also had a deliciously purple blueberry smoothy too.
We ate breakfast and I went back to my office and worked some on various contract projects.
Punkinpie popped in and asked if I wanted to join him on a bike ride up Telegraph Ave to look for shoes. So we were off doing that.
It's so nice to ride bikes. I really enjoy it. I probably should wear my helmet more because I basically never wear it. I used to have really strong opinions about folks who didn't wear helmets, but now I've become one of them. It's pretty stupid not to wear one, really. Maybe I'll start wearing one now.
We roamed telegraph and went through various stores and didn't really find much except for this one cool screen printed t-shirt that this one street vendor had. It was a picture of the city of oakland sign (like this), except at the bottom it had a bike locked to the sign. The best part was that the bike was stripped. Classic.
Finally we had lunch at Smart Alec, and it was good. I realized I was late for meeting a friend, and headed out on my bike to her house. We walked to this costume shop near her house and tried on some potential wedding costumes. I didn't really find much that amazed me. But she did give me a couple ideas of stores to look in next.
Then I came home and worked on the house. I sanded the spots I had spackled last night, and re-spackled them. I think they'll be ready to paint tomorrow.
Now, after finishing this blog entry, I'm going to work some more. I can't think of anything else that I really want to do right now. So I might as well bill some hours.
Cool Links for Today:
Reviews for just about anything
We also had a "date" night last night too.
It's a tradition that I really like for several reasons. First, it declares that you are both going to give your undivided attention to the other. It can be pretty frustration for either person if you're not on the same page about this. Second, it gives us the opportunity to try a new place to eat, because usually we go out to eat on a "date" night. Third, there's just something fun about still thinking about dating, when we've been living together for years now. We still date!
We walked up to Rockridge and had dinner at Pearl for our "date" night. The food actually was really good, except for what happened afterwards. I woke up in the middle of the night and was really glad that we had indoor plumbing. (I actually lived for many years with a composting toilet that was only accessible by walking outside. I was in a school bus for part of that, but here's one of the cabins on that land.) I think the problem was these greens that we couldn't identify. Though looked really cool, with their spiral stems, but I'm not so sure my body could deal with whatever they were.
I took a shower while Punkinpie went and got some milk at the corner store. He normally drinks rice milk, and so do I by default. Though I prefer soy milk. It's just easier to use what's in the fridge.
I went downstairs and made breakfast, which today was farina. When that was done and Punkinpie wasn't home yet, I occupied my time by taking the recycling out from the kitchen. And for some reason I decided to keep the bottles that have returns separate. I ended up putting them in a paper bag and putting them on the street. (I think I secretly hope that everybody starts doing that so we don't have to hear the homeless types digging through our recycling can at three in the morning on garbage night. They're really loud with their grocery carts, and all those bottles clanking at night.)
When I got back inside Punkinpie was back and he had bought me a decaf mocha from the neighborhood coffee shop! That's the sweetest thing ever. He also had a deliciously purple blueberry smoothy too.
We ate breakfast and I went back to my office and worked some on various contract projects.
Punkinpie popped in and asked if I wanted to join him on a bike ride up Telegraph Ave to look for shoes. So we were off doing that.
It's so nice to ride bikes. I really enjoy it. I probably should wear my helmet more because I basically never wear it. I used to have really strong opinions about folks who didn't wear helmets, but now I've become one of them. It's pretty stupid not to wear one, really. Maybe I'll start wearing one now.
We roamed telegraph and went through various stores and didn't really find much except for this one cool screen printed t-shirt that this one street vendor had. It was a picture of the city of oakland sign (like this), except at the bottom it had a bike locked to the sign. The best part was that the bike was stripped. Classic.
Finally we had lunch at Smart Alec, and it was good. I realized I was late for meeting a friend, and headed out on my bike to her house. We walked to this costume shop near her house and tried on some potential wedding costumes. I didn't really find much that amazed me. But she did give me a couple ideas of stores to look in next.
Then I came home and worked on the house. I sanded the spots I had spackled last night, and re-spackled them. I think they'll be ready to paint tomorrow.
Now, after finishing this blog entry, I'm going to work some more. I can't think of anything else that I really want to do right now. So I might as well bill some hours.
Cool Links for Today:
Reviews for just about anything
Saturday Morning
We slept in this morning, happily. When we finally got out of bed I went to Temescal Cafe while Rainbow showered. So I surprised her with her usual double decaf mocha. I had milk with my cereal since we're out of Rice Dream. It tastes good, but I'm convinced that drinking another animals baby formula is weird, even though so many people do it. As an adult, it's not even normal to drink human milk.
I started working on the coat for my wedding tuxedo. I finished the pants last week:
This is all thanks to Rainbow for getting a surger.
Friday, January 26, 2007
First Post
I kind of wanted just OLAF, but unfortunately some guy named Olaf Klien already took that one. Bummer. Well, I'm going to post under the pseudonym of "Yar," just on the off-chance that someone is reading this and I say something that I shouldn't. Let's see for how long we can keep up with the daily updates of our fascinating, fascinating lives.
Let me know what you guys think. I just chose the default template that I found the least annoying. I can change fonts and colors if you have suggestions.
Let me know what you guys think. I just chose the default template that I found the least annoying. I can change fonts and colors if you have suggestions.
People Think My Life is Fascinating, Vol 2
Unfortunately, I had a busy morning today, so I didn't have the chance to detail my morning ritual. On the upside, I have a whole evening and most of a workday to talk about today. I was going to start at the beginning of my day, or maybe last evening, and tell the events of my life in chronological order, but that would require me to remember what happened yesterday, and eventually time would catch up and we'd be back here with me typing at the computer. Instead, I'm going to go reverse, Memento-style with the most recent events back to the point where I sent the email yesterday, unless I get bored at some point and stop.
So a few minutes ago (4:00PM) I visited the Flavia machine. I figured I needed a little bit of energy if I was going to have to enumerate all the boring, annoying things that I had to deal with today. There are six bays in the Flavia dispenser. Each bay contains about 20 packets and four ofthe bays were empty. All that was left were French Roast, which is just too weak, and something called "Choco," I reloaded the dispenser with the Sumatra packet and made myself a black, iced coffee. A contractor came up to me and asked how the machine worked. I said you click the "coffee" button, which will cause the door to open. Insert the packet and close the door. Then coffee comes out.
Before that, I was on the phone with the project manager for the Global Antivirus Project that I'm supposed to be working on. I was trying to convince her to kick a particularly annoying person off the project, and arranging a bunch of requirements gathering discussions that I'm going to have to lead, but I'm actually not all that excited about.
Before that I was on the phone with Symantec to talk about their AV product that I'm working on upgrading for the company. The guy on thephone was trying to be helpful. We pay them a huge amount of money for what's called Platinum Support, so you can basically shit on them if you want to, and they have to be really polite anyway. I don't usually try to take advantage of that, but I did kind of give him a hard time because I wanted a real answer to my question.
Before that I found out that a particulary annoying person working on the Global AV project was taking a month off for back pain of some sort. My friends that have to deal with her all think that she's faking. She's super-super incompetent and never actually does anything. We think this is her way of saving her job, at least in the short term. This is a girl that has never, never completed anything. Ever. Seriously. For years. And they won't get rid of her. Everyone assumes she must have naked pictures of the CIO, because there is no reason why she should still be working here.
Before that I went to lunch. Got Sushi with my friend in the Security Ops group. We complained about the annoying person. I order the Chirashi and a couple rolls. It was ok.
Before that I was in a two hour All-Hands meeting for the department. The meeting is supposed to be about celebrating our accomplishments and communicating the new way forward. But really it feels like a meeting where the managers are trying to justify their existence. Totally boring and totally pointless. But we were all wearing green shirts!
Before that I got into work around 9:30AM. There weren't many people in the parking lot. It seems like a lot of people just don't show up onFridays. Went up to my desk and powered up my laptop. One of the guys on my team walks by and says "Nice, wearing the green shirt!" He was wearing the green shirt too. I just rolled my eyes.
Woke up at about 8AM. Set my alarm for about 6:30, and hit snooze every15 minutes. The alarm is set to just do the beep-beep-beep thing. If I have music or talk on, I'll just sleep through it, incorporating the audio into my dreams. Before I had it tuned in between stations, where I could get a ear-and-mind-piercing static. Unfortunately, it would wake my roommates before it would wake me, so I had to settle on the beeps. Finally got up and had a Mint Chocolate Clif bar and a glass of water for breakfast. Had an orange. Got dressed. Put on my green work shirt and felt like a sell-out. Had to dig for a while last night to find it. The director of the department wants everyone to wear these green polo shirts the first Friday of every month. She thinks it shows solidarity and teamwork, but it's really just the director saying, I control you, I can make you do whatever I want! Last month I was one of the few that "forgot" to wear the green shirt. Today I would wear the shirt. It would just be too noticible to not wear the shirt and the director holds personal grudges.
So if you made it through, that was my day at work today, for the most part. A little disappointed that I didn't see the daily update from anybody else though. What's going on with you guys? Considered setting up a blog this morning, but would it be worth it? Is this something you guys want to have? We could post whatever and have it all in a central place... I was thinking we could call it Olaf, short for "Our lives are fascinating." What do you think?
So a few minutes ago (4:00PM) I visited the Flavia machine. I figured I needed a little bit of energy if I was going to have to enumerate all the boring, annoying things that I had to deal with today. There are six bays in the Flavia dispenser. Each bay contains about 20 packets and four ofthe bays were empty. All that was left were French Roast, which is just too weak, and something called "Choco," I reloaded the dispenser with the Sumatra packet and made myself a black, iced coffee. A contractor came up to me and asked how the machine worked. I said you click the "coffee" button, which will cause the door to open. Insert the packet and close the door. Then coffee comes out.
Before that, I was on the phone with the project manager for the Global Antivirus Project that I'm supposed to be working on. I was trying to convince her to kick a particularly annoying person off the project, and arranging a bunch of requirements gathering discussions that I'm going to have to lead, but I'm actually not all that excited about.
Before that I was on the phone with Symantec to talk about their AV product that I'm working on upgrading for the company. The guy on thephone was trying to be helpful. We pay them a huge amount of money for what's called Platinum Support, so you can basically shit on them if you want to, and they have to be really polite anyway. I don't usually try to take advantage of that, but I did kind of give him a hard time because I wanted a real answer to my question.
Before that I found out that a particulary annoying person working on the Global AV project was taking a month off for back pain of some sort. My friends that have to deal with her all think that she's faking. She's super-super incompetent and never actually does anything. We think this is her way of saving her job, at least in the short term. This is a girl that has never, never completed anything. Ever. Seriously. For years. And they won't get rid of her. Everyone assumes she must have naked pictures of the CIO, because there is no reason why she should still be working here.
Before that I went to lunch. Got Sushi with my friend in the Security Ops group. We complained about the annoying person. I order the Chirashi and a couple rolls. It was ok.
Before that I was in a two hour All-Hands meeting for the department. The meeting is supposed to be about celebrating our accomplishments and communicating the new way forward. But really it feels like a meeting where the managers are trying to justify their existence. Totally boring and totally pointless. But we were all wearing green shirts!
Before that I got into work around 9:30AM. There weren't many people in the parking lot. It seems like a lot of people just don't show up onFridays. Went up to my desk and powered up my laptop. One of the guys on my team walks by and says "Nice, wearing the green shirt!" He was wearing the green shirt too. I just rolled my eyes.
Woke up at about 8AM. Set my alarm for about 6:30, and hit snooze every15 minutes. The alarm is set to just do the beep-beep-beep thing. If I have music or talk on, I'll just sleep through it, incorporating the audio into my dreams. Before I had it tuned in between stations, where I could get a ear-and-mind-piercing static. Unfortunately, it would wake my roommates before it would wake me, so I had to settle on the beeps. Finally got up and had a Mint Chocolate Clif bar and a glass of water for breakfast. Had an orange. Got dressed. Put on my green work shirt and felt like a sell-out. Had to dig for a while last night to find it. The director of the department wants everyone to wear these green polo shirts the first Friday of every month. She thinks it shows solidarity and teamwork, but it's really just the director saying, I control you, I can make you do whatever I want! Last month I was one of the few that "forgot" to wear the green shirt. Today I would wear the shirt. It would just be too noticible to not wear the shirt and the director holds personal grudges.
So if you made it through, that was my day at work today, for the most part. A little disappointed that I didn't see the daily update from anybody else though. What's going on with you guys? Considered setting up a blog this morning, but would it be worth it? Is this something you guys want to have? We could post whatever and have it all in a central place... I was thinking we could call it Olaf, short for "Our lives are fascinating." What do you think?
Early Unix Morning, Yoga, Cool Shoes
Well, this morning I got up at 5:30 to again work with that guy mentioned yesterday from VT. There was a lot of progress on the project and I'm really glad I hired him. (And I'm saying that after two days of getting up obnoxiously early.) I have to admit that I like changing things about my life once in a while. Like getting up early, or going to a new coffee shop. Shaking it up really has positive value for me.
This contractor had to take a couple hour break around 9 our time, so I went to yoga. It was perfect. Just enough time to get there and be back. I've been stretching a lot more lately and it feels really good. I'm amazed at how quickly I lose range and my body is negatively affected by lack of exercise and stretching. It really affects my moods, digestion, and choice of foods too. I'm also really amazed at how many times I had to rewrite the word exercise above before I spelled it right. And yes, I did finally look it up. (Because yahoo mail spell check wasn't even getting close, and neither was I).
After yoga and several more hours of work I went and ran some errands. I went to that great hardware store in Elmwood - to try and find a lid for this pyrex glass storage bowl. Recently (in the past several months) I've gotten on a kick to try and minimize our food storage in plastic because we eat so many things that are stored in plastic. It seems like it should be bad for us. They didn't have a lid, but I did see these cute canning jars, and we have soooo much food that we can't possibly eat from getting a weekly CSA box that I was inspired. There's so many turnips and squash that just accumulates. I finally canceled it because I like to actually choose some of the food I eat, as opposed to only eating what's in the box just so we have a chance at finishing it off. It doesn't end until mid Feb. I decided that I would make something out of all that food and can it.
While walking back to my car I saw these really cute mary jane shoes in the window and went in and tried 'em on. They fit great, and they're really cool. I don't buy shoes that often, so it's pretty cool that this worked out so easy.
Then I drove to home depot and got two paint chips matched and bought two gallons of paint. One is for our upstairs bathroom where one whole wall wasn't painted (because there used to be a claw foot tub there - this is before Punkinpie moved it so we could actually have a shower) And the other is for part of the living room wall that needs to be touched up from when Punkinpie put foam insulation in around the bay windows (over a year ago now). For some reason, in the past several weeks I've been noticing these places on the walls that need to be touched up more. I should mention that I had gotten a true paint chip several days ago and it was rejected for color matching. They told me to match it that it should be a 1" square chunk with drywall (or in our house - lat and plaster) behind it. So, I had cut out these pretty large "chunks" from these two walls. It was pretty fun, because even though it was for a purpose, it felt like it was pretty pointless destruction.
After getting paint from this employee at home depot who really seemed to be having fun, I came home and made a huge amount of soup/stew using up some of the too much food that we have. While it simmered I did my laundry and went around and spakled the holes I created and some other big holes I found. After the stew was done I canned it and now have lunch for 10 days. I put tons of turnips and other random stuff in there, and added lots of spice and lemon juice. I really thought that it would be so gross that I would have to throw it away, but it was pretty darn good. I'm glad that I'll have yummie lunches to bring to work that require no preparation at all. Just some bread, possibly some cheese and a microwave, which they're sure to have. Don't all offices have a microwave?
I put my laundry away and came in here to check my email after thinking about napping. And after seeing Yar's day email, I decided to write my own. I'm really tired. I've been super productive today, and I've been awake for 13 hours already. I think it would be wise to take a nap now because tonight is a date night for Punkinpie and I. It would be pretty lame to fall asleep. And I feel like I just might do that.
Cool Links for my Day:
Subversive Knitting
Discover New Music
This contractor had to take a couple hour break around 9 our time, so I went to yoga. It was perfect. Just enough time to get there and be back. I've been stretching a lot more lately and it feels really good. I'm amazed at how quickly I lose range and my body is negatively affected by lack of exercise and stretching. It really affects my moods, digestion, and choice of foods too. I'm also really amazed at how many times I had to rewrite the word exercise above before I spelled it right. And yes, I did finally look it up. (Because yahoo mail spell check wasn't even getting close, and neither was I).
After yoga and several more hours of work I went and ran some errands. I went to that great hardware store in Elmwood - to try and find a lid for this pyrex glass storage bowl. Recently (in the past several months) I've gotten on a kick to try and minimize our food storage in plastic because we eat so many things that are stored in plastic. It seems like it should be bad for us. They didn't have a lid, but I did see these cute canning jars, and we have soooo much food that we can't possibly eat from getting a weekly CSA box that I was inspired. There's so many turnips and squash that just accumulates. I finally canceled it because I like to actually choose some of the food I eat, as opposed to only eating what's in the box just so we have a chance at finishing it off. It doesn't end until mid Feb. I decided that I would make something out of all that food and can it.
While walking back to my car I saw these really cute mary jane shoes in the window and went in and tried 'em on. They fit great, and they're really cool. I don't buy shoes that often, so it's pretty cool that this worked out so easy.
Then I drove to home depot and got two paint chips matched and bought two gallons of paint. One is for our upstairs bathroom where one whole wall wasn't painted (because there used to be a claw foot tub there - this is before Punkinpie moved it so we could actually have a shower) And the other is for part of the living room wall that needs to be touched up from when Punkinpie put foam insulation in around the bay windows (over a year ago now). For some reason, in the past several weeks I've been noticing these places on the walls that need to be touched up more. I should mention that I had gotten a true paint chip several days ago and it was rejected for color matching. They told me to match it that it should be a 1" square chunk with drywall (or in our house - lat and plaster) behind it. So, I had cut out these pretty large "chunks" from these two walls. It was pretty fun, because even though it was for a purpose, it felt like it was pretty pointless destruction.
After getting paint from this employee at home depot who really seemed to be having fun, I came home and made a huge amount of soup/stew using up some of the too much food that we have. While it simmered I did my laundry and went around and spakled the holes I created and some other big holes I found. After the stew was done I canned it and now have lunch for 10 days. I put tons of turnips and other random stuff in there, and added lots of spice and lemon juice. I really thought that it would be so gross that I would have to throw it away, but it was pretty darn good. I'm glad that I'll have yummie lunches to bring to work that require no preparation at all. Just some bread, possibly some cheese and a microwave, which they're sure to have. Don't all offices have a microwave?
I put my laundry away and came in here to check my email after thinking about napping. And after seeing Yar's day email, I decided to write my own. I'm really tired. I've been super productive today, and I've been awake for 13 hours already. I think it would be wise to take a nap now because tonight is a date night for Punkinpie and I. It would be pretty lame to fall asleep. And I feel like I just might do that.
Cool Links for my Day:
Subversive Knitting
Discover New Music
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Early Unix Morning, Marriage License
Today I woke up way earlier than normal, a full two hours earlier actually and jumped into the shower while the world outside was dark. I was "conferencing" with somebody in Vermont at 7am my time and 10am their time. We did some work and then hit a roadblock that required me to email my boss on a contract and get more info. Because I got done so much earlier than expected, I woke up Punkinpie to go to Oakland and get our wedding license. All along we were going to go today, but then this conference call came up and we rescheduled. Since it ended early, we were back on to going to get that license.
I started the shower for him and we had a quick breakfast. We entered our info on the computer at the county clerk's office and then waited. There, a person told us in repeated detail how to fill out the final wedding license form, and mail it back to them. After we left, it made me question "Do people still mess up this process after all that instruction?". The instructions were markedly redundant.
Punkinpie left me in Oakland (He lacked the time to bring me back home) and I saw a Smart 'n Final where I researched wedding options. They had biodegradable (made out of corn or something) plates that would cost us less to use than renting plates. But all along with the wedding planning, I've been saying how I won't have paper plates. For me, that was an important expectation with our wedding. (Punkinpie didn't care) But here I was price shopping and considering them (because of the rental bill total). I called Punkinpie to ask his thoughts and because I was sure he was still driving, but he wasn't so we ended that call quickly.
I walked 10 or so blocks and caught the BART and walked home from MacArthur Station. While walking home I got a phone call about some documents that Punkinpie had to sign, and they needed to be quickly because other things were depending on them. All along I was under the impression that only I would have to sign those documents, but I found out My Punkinpie did too. Which presented some problems because they needed to be signed during business hours in Oakland, and Punkinpie works in Richmond mostly.
I called him and he was able to meet right then. So I jumped into my car which has been basically out of gas for a week now. (It runs biodiesel and the station has very limited hours in Berkeley). I drove to the meeting and wondered while looking at the needle in the lower part of the red zone for the gas gauge, how accurate I could expect that part of the gauge to be. Then I decided that it would be okay if I ran out of gas coming home, as long as I made it to the meeting.
I did make it home, and now I wonder if I'll have enough gas to make it to the station.
I got that extra info I needed from my boss and called up the guy in Vermont and for the past hour he's been driving my computer from Vermont as if he's sitting at it (using VNC - Yar; admittedly a weird setup).
He's doing some work on some unix servers of one of my clients. And having him come into my computer, and then tunnel into my client's computers allows me to login and logout from the client computers without my subcontractor knowing passwords and such.
And I have to say that subcontracting this part of the contract has been the best thing ever. He's so much faster than me and he really knows what he's doing.
And that's my day so far. I have to say that it's been pretty good.
Cool Links for My Day:
Mashup of Property Sold in the Bay Area and Google Maps
Real Estate Search Engine (I have high hopes for this company)
I started the shower for him and we had a quick breakfast. We entered our info on the computer at the county clerk's office and then waited. There, a person told us in repeated detail how to fill out the final wedding license form, and mail it back to them. After we left, it made me question "Do people still mess up this process after all that instruction?". The instructions were markedly redundant.
Punkinpie left me in Oakland (He lacked the time to bring me back home) and I saw a Smart 'n Final where I researched wedding options. They had biodegradable (made out of corn or something) plates that would cost us less to use than renting plates. But all along with the wedding planning, I've been saying how I won't have paper plates. For me, that was an important expectation with our wedding. (Punkinpie didn't care) But here I was price shopping and considering them (because of the rental bill total). I called Punkinpie to ask his thoughts and because I was sure he was still driving, but he wasn't so we ended that call quickly.
I walked 10 or so blocks and caught the BART and walked home from MacArthur Station. While walking home I got a phone call about some documents that Punkinpie had to sign, and they needed to be quickly because other things were depending on them. All along I was under the impression that only I would have to sign those documents, but I found out My Punkinpie did too. Which presented some problems because they needed to be signed during business hours in Oakland, and Punkinpie works in Richmond mostly.
I called him and he was able to meet right then. So I jumped into my car which has been basically out of gas for a week now. (It runs biodiesel and the station has very limited hours in Berkeley). I drove to the meeting and wondered while looking at the needle in the lower part of the red zone for the gas gauge, how accurate I could expect that part of the gauge to be. Then I decided that it would be okay if I ran out of gas coming home, as long as I made it to the meeting.
I did make it home, and now I wonder if I'll have enough gas to make it to the station.
I got that extra info I needed from my boss and called up the guy in Vermont and for the past hour he's been driving my computer from Vermont as if he's sitting at it (using VNC - Yar; admittedly a weird setup).
He's doing some work on some unix servers of one of my clients. And having him come into my computer, and then tunnel into my client's computers allows me to login and logout from the client computers without my subcontractor knowing passwords and such.
And I have to say that subcontracting this part of the contract has been the best thing ever. He's so much faster than me and he really knows what he's doing.
And that's my day so far. I have to say that it's been pretty good.
Cool Links for My Day:
Mashup of Property Sold in the Bay Area and Google Maps
Real Estate Search Engine (I have high hopes for this company)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Other people think my life fascinating...
I went back and checked the Juan's email thread, and in none of them did I find a question.
So my exciting day so far... I woke up at about 5:45 this morning to get Brian and Amanda to the airport by about 7:00AM. Got into work about 20 minutes after that. There were maybe three other cars in the parking lot, but I didn't see anybody on my floor. Powered up my laptop and logged in. Realized that I left my books I had delivered last night (Software Requirements and Writing Effective Use Cases) down at the my car, so I went and got them. Took a water break. Opened up some websites to see what's going on in the world. www.thismodernworld.com, and then www.atrios.blogspot.com. Bathroom break. Another water break. The guy in the cube next to me showed up at about 7:45. "morning, ray" "morning,matt." Sent an instant message to one of the people on my team that works on the East coast. She didn't have a great answer to the question I asked her. I asked her a follow-up question and she went silent. Onto the next website www.washingtonmontly.com. Read further explanation about how Bush's healthcare plan is actually a startlingly evil plan to try to moveeveryone into individual health plans, which is great for insurance companies, rich people, and young, healthy, greedy people. On to www.talkingpointsmemo.com. A somewhat interesting article about whetherfailed presidential candidates have a chance at running again, and why or why not. Onto talkleft.com, a blog by a defense attorney. Been following a case about a school teacher who is being prosecuted for having porn on her classroom computer and exposing children to it. It sounds like the defendent just had some spyware/adware on her computer, and it's the pop-ups she was convicted for. Also been following the Scooter Libbytrial through that site...
It's 8:45 and I still haven't really done anything yet. There are more people milling about, but it's still pretty quiet. Responded to an email.
So, any questions?
So my exciting day so far... I woke up at about 5:45 this morning to get Brian and Amanda to the airport by about 7:00AM. Got into work about 20 minutes after that. There were maybe three other cars in the parking lot, but I didn't see anybody on my floor. Powered up my laptop and logged in. Realized that I left my books I had delivered last night (Software Requirements and Writing Effective Use Cases) down at the my car, so I went and got them. Took a water break. Opened up some websites to see what's going on in the world. www.thismodernworld.com, and then www.atrios.blogspot.com. Bathroom break. Another water break. The guy in the cube next to me showed up at about 7:45. "morning, ray" "morning,matt." Sent an instant message to one of the people on my team that works on the East coast. She didn't have a great answer to the question I asked her. I asked her a follow-up question and she went silent. Onto the next website www.washingtonmontly.com. Read further explanation about how Bush's healthcare plan is actually a startlingly evil plan to try to moveeveryone into individual health plans, which is great for insurance companies, rich people, and young, healthy, greedy people. On to www.talkingpointsmemo.com. A somewhat interesting article about whetherfailed presidential candidates have a chance at running again, and why or why not. Onto talkleft.com, a blog by a defense attorney. Been following a case about a school teacher who is being prosecuted for having porn on her classroom computer and exposing children to it. It sounds like the defendent just had some spyware/adware on her computer, and it's the pop-ups she was convicted for. Also been following the Scooter Libbytrial through that site...
It's 8:45 and I still haven't really done anything yet. There are more people milling about, but it's still pretty quiet. Responded to an email.
So, any questions?
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