Stardate 57070.2 (07-2-2004)
Patrick learned to ride two wheels tonight. After about a couple of weeks of my teaching him, April had him doing it in about ten minutes. After that, he would not get off the bike.
We are in a quandary over the cats. Patrick is allergic, and the doctor suggested we get rid of them. The dog is tolerable. The problem is one of the cats, Smokey, is almost 15 years old. She does not get around much anymore. The other, Frisky, could go back to the people that gave him to us. At the time, they were living in an apartment, but they have since moved into a house. Smokey is also very attached to Frisky, and would probably go bananas without him.
I took a little time to wander the web this week, and found this site. I study history for fun, and Pre-Imperial and Imperial Rome are a favorite time period. Anyway, what struck me was the SPQR. A line from one of my favorite books, "Lest Darkness Fall" by L. Spague De Camp, came to mind. The book is about an archeologist who falls from the 1930's Rome to the 5th century. He spends his time making a new life, and becomes involved in preventing the Dark Ages, and gets embroiled in the politics of the time. He is observing the invading Byzantine army, and notices the banner, SPQR. The line is "An army of Huns, Goths, and Greeks, commanded by a Macedonian who works for a Thracian Slav who doesn't even rule the city of Rome, calls itself the army of the Senate and People of Rome, and sees nothing funny about it". Good book, if you can find a copy, I recommend it.
Cassini is in orbit around Saturn. The images are blowing the minds at NASA. It's good to see a successful mission. NASA has been taking a lot of heat for failures.
End of Entry
Friday, July 02, 2004
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Mt Con
Stardate 57062.2 (06-22-2004)
Another while between blogs, but at least it wasn't a month. I think of all sorts of things to write about during the day, but when I get to the blog, it all goes away. And it doesn’t help that I have been very busy at work and home, and don’t feel like getting in front of a computer at night, not even to play games after sitting in front of one at work all day.
The MountainCon meeting last month was tense, to say the least. The mailing list exploded Much of it was irrelevant to the goal of getting a regular Sci-Fi convention in Utah, and it caused at least one person to drop out. On the brighter side, I added a new blog to the list of ones I check up on.
Last Tuesday was a Primary Election day. I got a call about a week before asking if I intended to vote. I told them no. I had thought that it was a Republican primary, and only those registered with the party could vote. I wondered after the call if I misunderstood. It turns out that no, I did not, but if I wanted to affiliate with them, I could vote. No thanks. I also noted on my new registration card that my party affiliation changed from independent to “UNAFFILIATED”. Personally, I liked independent better.
I am now a registered developer with Microsoft Developer Network (aka MSDN). I refer to it as I am now a minion of Microsoft (to borrow a phrase from the recently deceased ex-Pres, "the evil empire"). I'm not an MS basher, but they do some annoying things. For example, they take a known programming concept (iterators) and give it a new name. Bad, but common for market-driods. But then they use a name close to another existing concept (enumerators, where the existing concept is enumerated constants). It's kind of like Ford or GM making a new mini-van, and insisting on calling it an SUV.
Rachel has expressed a desire to see Hillary Duff in concert. Blink, and everything changes. Not really, but it seems that way. I noticed in the last six months she is no longer interested in cartoons, and instead watches “Lizzy Mcquire” and “Even Stevens”. She is spending a lot of time in her room listening to her boom box. Pre-teen, here we come.
I took the kids fishing Sunday. We didn’t catch anything, not that I expected to. I can’t get the kids out early enough. Patrick did pick up casting after about one half hour of practice, and he could send the lures just about anywhere he wanted. Rachel got bored after about an hour and a half. She didn’t throw a tantrum, though, but just expressed a desire to go home.
We have also learned that Patrick is allergic to dog and cat hair, as well as grass. All of which we have in abundance. I am not sure what we are going to do at this point. Patrick has suggested we get rid of the older female cat, Smoky. I explained that it wouldn’t help. He may just have to live with it.
Another while between blogs, but at least it wasn't a month. I think of all sorts of things to write about during the day, but when I get to the blog, it all goes away. And it doesn’t help that I have been very busy at work and home, and don’t feel like getting in front of a computer at night, not even to play games after sitting in front of one at work all day.
The MountainCon meeting last month was tense, to say the least. The mailing list exploded Much of it was irrelevant to the goal of getting a regular Sci-Fi convention in Utah, and it caused at least one person to drop out. On the brighter side, I added a new blog to the list of ones I check up on.
Last Tuesday was a Primary Election day. I got a call about a week before asking if I intended to vote. I told them no. I had thought that it was a Republican primary, and only those registered with the party could vote. I wondered after the call if I misunderstood. It turns out that no, I did not, but if I wanted to affiliate with them, I could vote. No thanks. I also noted on my new registration card that my party affiliation changed from independent to “UNAFFILIATED”. Personally, I liked independent better.
I am now a registered developer with Microsoft Developer Network (aka MSDN). I refer to it as I am now a minion of Microsoft (to borrow a phrase from the recently deceased ex-Pres, "the evil empire"). I'm not an MS basher, but they do some annoying things. For example, they take a known programming concept (iterators) and give it a new name. Bad, but common for market-driods. But then they use a name close to another existing concept (enumerators, where the existing concept is enumerated constants). It's kind of like Ford or GM making a new mini-van, and insisting on calling it an SUV.
Rachel has expressed a desire to see Hillary Duff in concert. Blink, and everything changes. Not really, but it seems that way. I noticed in the last six months she is no longer interested in cartoons, and instead watches “Lizzy Mcquire” and “Even Stevens”. She is spending a lot of time in her room listening to her boom box. Pre-teen, here we come.
I took the kids fishing Sunday. We didn’t catch anything, not that I expected to. I can’t get the kids out early enough. Patrick did pick up casting after about one half hour of practice, and he could send the lures just about anywhere he wanted. Rachel got bored after about an hour and a half. She didn’t throw a tantrum, though, but just expressed a desire to go home.
We have also learned that Patrick is allergic to dog and cat hair, as well as grass. All of which we have in abundance. I am not sure what we are going to do at this point. Patrick has suggested we get rid of the older female cat, Smoky. I explained that it wouldn’t help. He may just have to live with it.
Rachel in Mexico, Air Show
Stardate 57062.2 (06-22-2004)
Rachel is back from Mexico, several shades darker. She had a great time. I was a little disappointed she did not practice her Spanish.
Almost finished the deck out front. It has a few flaws, but not a bad effort. I am annoyed because I have been using composite materials for the deck. Home Depot has now pulled the stuff in favor of vinyl decking. I can see where this stuff would be even less maintenance, but it looks plastic, and it comes in brown, and I like the gray color of the composite. So the railing materials will need to be special ordered, which leaves no room for experimenting. Aside from that, it's been fun.
250,000 people showed up for the air show on that Saturday, and another 200,000 on Sunday, according to the papers. The weather was about perfect, 75 degrees and a light breeze. The Thunderbirds were impressive as usual. We watched them again from the house on Sunday. That was a closer view, but you couldn't see what maneuvers they were doing. I didn't get around to touring the planes because of the long lines, but the only one I was really interesting in seeing inside was the AWACS plane. The WWII planes interested me, but you don't get to see inside of one, so I was not unhappy to miss them. Years ago, the Confederate Air Force did a small show at Layton Hills Mall. There was not many people there, so one of the guys let me sit in the cockpit of an ME-109 (primary fighter for the Germans in WWII). I was amazed at how small it was (and I was much thinner then), and that you could not see over the engine.
I finally got Visual Studio .NET at work. The thing took five days and reading of hundreds of messages in Google groups to install. I had to clean things out of the temp directory, shut down the virus and personal firewall software (which is tricky and of course, AGAINST corporate policy), and uninstall and reinstall several OS components. Definitely the most touchy install I have ever done (including a Linux 6.2 install).
We took my dad out for dinner on Father's Day. I spent some time talking to him while the kids played with my sister. I don't get a chance to do that very often.
This morning I got a short adrenaline boost. There was an accident near the I-215 interchange. I saw some smoke and everyone was suddenly shifting over to the right. I was far back and to the right enough to easily avoid running into anyone. Not sure what happened.
I just caught up with the FanConCom messages. A strange realization came to me as I read them. I am thinking a lot more in business terms than I used to. Terms like ROI and IOI kept popping into my mind. Eek, I am falling into the dark side.
End of Entry
Rachel is back from Mexico, several shades darker. She had a great time. I was a little disappointed she did not practice her Spanish.
Almost finished the deck out front. It has a few flaws, but not a bad effort. I am annoyed because I have been using composite materials for the deck. Home Depot has now pulled the stuff in favor of vinyl decking. I can see where this stuff would be even less maintenance, but it looks plastic, and it comes in brown, and I like the gray color of the composite. So the railing materials will need to be special ordered, which leaves no room for experimenting. Aside from that, it's been fun.
250,000 people showed up for the air show on that Saturday, and another 200,000 on Sunday, according to the papers. The weather was about perfect, 75 degrees and a light breeze. The Thunderbirds were impressive as usual. We watched them again from the house on Sunday. That was a closer view, but you couldn't see what maneuvers they were doing. I didn't get around to touring the planes because of the long lines, but the only one I was really interesting in seeing inside was the AWACS plane. The WWII planes interested me, but you don't get to see inside of one, so I was not unhappy to miss them. Years ago, the Confederate Air Force did a small show at Layton Hills Mall. There was not many people there, so one of the guys let me sit in the cockpit of an ME-109 (primary fighter for the Germans in WWII). I was amazed at how small it was (and I was much thinner then), and that you could not see over the engine.
I finally got Visual Studio .NET at work. The thing took five days and reading of hundreds of messages in Google groups to install. I had to clean things out of the temp directory, shut down the virus and personal firewall software (which is tricky and of course, AGAINST corporate policy), and uninstall and reinstall several OS components. Definitely the most touchy install I have ever done (including a Linux 6.2 install).
We took my dad out for dinner on Father's Day. I spent some time talking to him while the kids played with my sister. I don't get a chance to do that very often.
This morning I got a short adrenaline boost. There was an accident near the I-215 interchange. I saw some smoke and everyone was suddenly shifting over to the right. I was far back and to the right enough to easily avoid running into anyone. Not sure what happened.
I just caught up with the FanConCom messages. A strange realization came to me as I read them. I am thinking a lot more in business terms than I used to. Terms like ROI and IOI kept popping into my mind. Eek, I am falling into the dark side.
End of Entry
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Disease, First Communion
Stardate 57060.9 (06-09-2004)
Almost a month since the last entry. Not good.
Disease ran through the family. Wednesday the 19th May I felt terrible, so I took a few days to recover. Rachel came down with strep next. I missed the campout because of it. It was a cold weekend, however, so I am not too disappointed.
The problem with taking days off is that work piles up when I am gone. And lately there has been more work than normal, which compounds the problem. A meeting was held to discuss one particular issue, but it turned into a frustration venting session for the management team. Everyone is not happy with the amount of time I spend on client issues (myself included). Some of them suspect the product specialists are falling back into the 'hand it to Tim to solve' mode again. The VP is going to look at getting another FTE to help, but I doubt that will happen. There is also a pretty heavy learning curve on the system.
This was interesting. I agree that consultants never bothered with much research, but I disagree that they produced code that internal programmers could not understand. I would say could not maintain.
Continuing on with the endless languages discussion, there is this.
I got into an argument with the department manager a while ago about software tools. I have been asking about getting an upgrade to Visual Studio (I am on version 6, which is not supported anymore). I was told it was on order for all the developers in the department, but it was held up with red tape. The rest of the developers had moved to the third floor, and they told me they got it at the start of the year. I email the manager about this, and got a response back that no, they did not have it. After a couple of exchanges, I called her over to one of the developers desk. He was not very happy about that. I realized after I called that I had invited the bosses' boss over, and she was not in a good mood. I get somewhat single minded when I know I am right, and someone tells me I am not. I also realized that most of the other people in the department are a little afraid of the manager. I am not sure why. She is a nice person, and not unreasonable to deal with.
Rachel's first communion went well. My mother in law and brother in law came up for it. There were only a couple of arguments between my wife and mother in law. I had a bad time with the digital camera. For some reason I could not take any clear pictures. I took my brother in law to a Stingers game, and we all went to Lagoon on Saturday. Ultimately, though, Rachel had a great time, and it was very important to here that Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ric, and Aunt Susan were there.
One of the premises I thought would be good about Enterprise is that we would get to see how and more importantly WHY the Federation was formed. What makes a group of different species work together? Season three has wrapped up, and they are nowhere close to this. We get to see that Archer is a key figure in the formation of the Federation, but again, WHY? The original series did some development on Vulcan culture, and the next generation did the same for Klingon culture. They are doing a little with the Andorians, but we have seen Tellarites only once. I think the show would to better if it could comment on how the differences in cultures were overcome to form the Federation. I disagree with those who think the show should reflect the times. Instead, it should come up with what ifs, as in what if the nations and peoples of the world worked around the differences that divide us. That would be interesting. TOS was about hope, Enterprise should be as well.
Ronald Reagan passed away last Saturday, so the week has been filled with stories about his life. He was the first president I voted for. His were the only State of the Union addresses I liked to listen to. Thinking back on his administration, I remembered the Bloom County comic because they used to make fun of him. I will have to see if I can dig up some of the comics.
The other reason for the long time between log entries is I have started on some yard projects. I am building a deck in front, and this is turning out to be fun. It's a little stop and start, and a lot of experiments.
End of Entry
Almost a month since the last entry. Not good.
Disease ran through the family. Wednesday the 19th May I felt terrible, so I took a few days to recover. Rachel came down with strep next. I missed the campout because of it. It was a cold weekend, however, so I am not too disappointed.
The problem with taking days off is that work piles up when I am gone. And lately there has been more work than normal, which compounds the problem. A meeting was held to discuss one particular issue, but it turned into a frustration venting session for the management team. Everyone is not happy with the amount of time I spend on client issues (myself included). Some of them suspect the product specialists are falling back into the 'hand it to Tim to solve' mode again. The VP is going to look at getting another FTE to help, but I doubt that will happen. There is also a pretty heavy learning curve on the system.
This was interesting. I agree that consultants never bothered with much research, but I disagree that they produced code that internal programmers could not understand. I would say could not maintain.
Continuing on with the endless languages discussion, there is this.
I got into an argument with the department manager a while ago about software tools. I have been asking about getting an upgrade to Visual Studio (I am on version 6, which is not supported anymore). I was told it was on order for all the developers in the department, but it was held up with red tape. The rest of the developers had moved to the third floor, and they told me they got it at the start of the year. I email the manager about this, and got a response back that no, they did not have it. After a couple of exchanges, I called her over to one of the developers desk. He was not very happy about that. I realized after I called that I had invited the bosses' boss over, and she was not in a good mood. I get somewhat single minded when I know I am right, and someone tells me I am not. I also realized that most of the other people in the department are a little afraid of the manager. I am not sure why. She is a nice person, and not unreasonable to deal with.
Rachel's first communion went well. My mother in law and brother in law came up for it. There were only a couple of arguments between my wife and mother in law. I had a bad time with the digital camera. For some reason I could not take any clear pictures. I took my brother in law to a Stingers game, and we all went to Lagoon on Saturday. Ultimately, though, Rachel had a great time, and it was very important to here that Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ric, and Aunt Susan were there.
One of the premises I thought would be good about Enterprise is that we would get to see how and more importantly WHY the Federation was formed. What makes a group of different species work together? Season three has wrapped up, and they are nowhere close to this. We get to see that Archer is a key figure in the formation of the Federation, but again, WHY? The original series did some development on Vulcan culture, and the next generation did the same for Klingon culture. They are doing a little with the Andorians, but we have seen Tellarites only once. I think the show would to better if it could comment on how the differences in cultures were overcome to form the Federation. I disagree with those who think the show should reflect the times. Instead, it should come up with what ifs, as in what if the nations and peoples of the world worked around the differences that divide us. That would be interesting. TOS was about hope, Enterprise should be as well.
Ronald Reagan passed away last Saturday, so the week has been filled with stories about his life. He was the first president I voted for. His were the only State of the Union addresses I liked to listen to. Thinking back on his administration, I remembered the Bloom County comic because they used to make fun of him. I will have to see if I can dig up some of the comics.
The other reason for the long time between log entries is I have started on some yard projects. I am building a deck in front, and this is turning out to be fun. It's a little stop and start, and a lot of experiments.
End of Entry
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Sprinklers, Soccer
Stardate 57051.1 (05-11-2004)
Thomas ran crying into the arms of the day care teacher Monday. He still doesn’t want to go. I don’t think it is because he doesn’t like the place, he just doesn’t like to be made to go. He hasn’t had much regimentation in his life so far, so what little he gets he resents.
I went to turn on the sprinkler valve Sunday. It’s a biannual event I dread. I finally got the valve turned, or so I thought. Testing the system, I noticed a small lake forming. I shut off all the water, and dug out the valve, which is about 4 feet underground. I didn’t turn it all the way on, and the little overpressure hole was leaking. I turned on the water, and turned the valve all the way on. So far, the pool of water remains constant. I did break the pipe that gives access to the valve, so that will have to be replaced. By the time I was done, I was covered head to foot in mud.
The main reason for dreading the sprinklers is I can never get the valve turned on or off. It’s deep in the ground, and the device to turn it does not fit very well. So, I was thinking today about how I could put a similar device leading from the valve to the surface. Then I could see if I am turning it. I am going to have to look into it.
Rachel’s first communion is next Sunday, so we have been busy getting the house ready for relatives.
Working ten-hour days consumes a lot of each day, so I was looking forward to Friday and getting some things done around the house. It didn’t happen because I ended up working the Friday and a good share of the free time I did have that weekend.
Soccer is almost over. I am still deciding if I want to coach again next year. I had trouble reaching one of the fall players. I left a message on her voice mail. She called a few weeks later wondering if I was going to contact her. I called back, and left another message. She went to the commissioner, and he asked me to call again. I did, and again left a message. She is mad at me now. I feel bad for her daughter. She didn’t have much natural skill, but she tried hard, did everything I said, and wanted to do well. I did hear the commissioner also left message she said she never got. I find it strange, though. I handed out two phone numbers (home and cell), two email addresses (home and work), and she can’t get a hold of me?
One other mother was screaming at her daughter during one of the games. After a minute or so, I asked her to calm down. She told me that her daughter was missing some easy goals, and she needed to get them. I replied that no, she needed to enjoy playing first, and the rest would come much easier. I couldn’t decipher the look she gave me, but she stopped yelling.
On the flip side, a few of the mothers of the kids I coached this year have asked I am going to continue. They said their kids really liked me. We played a team with one of the boys I coached last year. After the game he ran up and gave me a hug, and told me he missed playing on my team. It’s incredible that a four and half year old remembers me from only a couple of hours a week a year ago. These are some of the intangible benefits that make me want to continue.
The new commissioner is going to redo the construction of teams. He wants to go back to teams with kids from the same school and grade. This might get Patrick more enthusiastic about going to practice. He doesn’t look forward to it, and I don’t like to fight with him about it.
The coach of my kids school wants Rachel to try out for the competitive soccer team. She enjoys the game, so we probably will let her. She also wants to try volleyball. There is a clinic over the summer, but she already has something planned for that time.
The scandal with the prisoners in Iraq is all over the news. The situation is bad enough over there, and now this makes it worse. I was not a big supporter of going there in the first place, although Colin Powell had me convinced. Not sure how this will all end, or if it ever will.
On a brighter note, The Amazing Race is coming back this summer. This is less a reality show than a game show. There is not a lot of backstabbing. When a team gets eliminated, it is usually because they made a mistake, or ran into some bad luck, or took a risk that didn't pan out. I still need to wait another couple of months for it to start.
End of Entry
Thomas ran crying into the arms of the day care teacher Monday. He still doesn’t want to go. I don’t think it is because he doesn’t like the place, he just doesn’t like to be made to go. He hasn’t had much regimentation in his life so far, so what little he gets he resents.
I went to turn on the sprinkler valve Sunday. It’s a biannual event I dread. I finally got the valve turned, or so I thought. Testing the system, I noticed a small lake forming. I shut off all the water, and dug out the valve, which is about 4 feet underground. I didn’t turn it all the way on, and the little overpressure hole was leaking. I turned on the water, and turned the valve all the way on. So far, the pool of water remains constant. I did break the pipe that gives access to the valve, so that will have to be replaced. By the time I was done, I was covered head to foot in mud.
The main reason for dreading the sprinklers is I can never get the valve turned on or off. It’s deep in the ground, and the device to turn it does not fit very well. So, I was thinking today about how I could put a similar device leading from the valve to the surface. Then I could see if I am turning it. I am going to have to look into it.
Rachel’s first communion is next Sunday, so we have been busy getting the house ready for relatives.
Working ten-hour days consumes a lot of each day, so I was looking forward to Friday and getting some things done around the house. It didn’t happen because I ended up working the Friday and a good share of the free time I did have that weekend.
Soccer is almost over. I am still deciding if I want to coach again next year. I had trouble reaching one of the fall players. I left a message on her voice mail. She called a few weeks later wondering if I was going to contact her. I called back, and left another message. She went to the commissioner, and he asked me to call again. I did, and again left a message. She is mad at me now. I feel bad for her daughter. She didn’t have much natural skill, but she tried hard, did everything I said, and wanted to do well. I did hear the commissioner also left message she said she never got. I find it strange, though. I handed out two phone numbers (home and cell), two email addresses (home and work), and she can’t get a hold of me?
One other mother was screaming at her daughter during one of the games. After a minute or so, I asked her to calm down. She told me that her daughter was missing some easy goals, and she needed to get them. I replied that no, she needed to enjoy playing first, and the rest would come much easier. I couldn’t decipher the look she gave me, but she stopped yelling.
On the flip side, a few of the mothers of the kids I coached this year have asked I am going to continue. They said their kids really liked me. We played a team with one of the boys I coached last year. After the game he ran up and gave me a hug, and told me he missed playing on my team. It’s incredible that a four and half year old remembers me from only a couple of hours a week a year ago. These are some of the intangible benefits that make me want to continue.
The new commissioner is going to redo the construction of teams. He wants to go back to teams with kids from the same school and grade. This might get Patrick more enthusiastic about going to practice. He doesn’t look forward to it, and I don’t like to fight with him about it.
The coach of my kids school wants Rachel to try out for the competitive soccer team. She enjoys the game, so we probably will let her. She also wants to try volleyball. There is a clinic over the summer, but she already has something planned for that time.
The scandal with the prisoners in Iraq is all over the news. The situation is bad enough over there, and now this makes it worse. I was not a big supporter of going there in the first place, although Colin Powell had me convinced. Not sure how this will all end, or if it ever will.
On a brighter note, The Amazing Race is coming back this summer. This is less a reality show than a game show. There is not a lot of backstabbing. When a team gets eliminated, it is usually because they made a mistake, or ran into some bad luck, or took a risk that didn't pan out. I still need to wait another couple of months for it to start.
End of Entry
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
I can't remember
Stardate 57050.4 (05-04-2004)
Been busy the last week or so, but I really can't remember with what. There are just a lot of things all jumbled together. Things have changed, as they always do. I moved to the third floor at work last Thursday. All I had to do was pack things in a box, and someone came to move it. I worked from home that day, and when I came in the next day, the guy who had my cube before what frantically packing. No one had told him he was moving, although it was posted on the wall in the breakroom. The new space is claustrophobic and noisy compared to the old place. In talking with a couple of guys tonight, most people have moved 4 to 6 times since they have been there. I moved into the building in 2000, and this is the first move so far.
I have spent far more time than I would like trying to convince some clients that not all problems they have are the server engines' fault. They want to believe the problem is there, despite my presenting a chain of logic that points somewhere else. I have the same problem with developers. The symptoms say there is a bug in a set of routines, but some refuse to believe it unless I walk them though the lines one at a time.
April has started day shifts now, and I started with 4 ten hour days. It's been nice to have the extra time to complete tasks, instead of hurrying with them. Thomas has been going to daycare for the last week. Most of that time, he has been crying his eyes out. Today, April told me the people there told her that he had been laughing and playing all day, and he didn't want to go. I hope this is a turnaround for him.
Saturday was a killer. Out of the house by nine, we had a soccer game, soccer pictures, another soccer game, more pictures, and more games. The kids and I never even had time to stop for food. They did great, especially Rachel, who subbed for some missing kids and played games the whole day. We got home again around six.
The power went out last week, and the router refused to respond. After a few days dinking around with it, it started working again. The wireless network card still refused to connect to the Internet, but I can see the desktop shared folders. I am going to try and reinstall the drivers on the laptop. The best part is I can connect my work laptop to the router, and go through the VPN to work. Much faster than dialup.
The Simpsons:Hit and Run is popular with the family. I reached level 2. There is a race with Comic Book Guy, where he says "We don't have deflector shields, you know" when you hit something, and "Full impulse!".
As I said, the impression is that I did a lot this week, but I can't remember right now.
End of Entry
Been busy the last week or so, but I really can't remember with what. There are just a lot of things all jumbled together. Things have changed, as they always do. I moved to the third floor at work last Thursday. All I had to do was pack things in a box, and someone came to move it. I worked from home that day, and when I came in the next day, the guy who had my cube before what frantically packing. No one had told him he was moving, although it was posted on the wall in the breakroom. The new space is claustrophobic and noisy compared to the old place. In talking with a couple of guys tonight, most people have moved 4 to 6 times since they have been there. I moved into the building in 2000, and this is the first move so far.
I have spent far more time than I would like trying to convince some clients that not all problems they have are the server engines' fault. They want to believe the problem is there, despite my presenting a chain of logic that points somewhere else. I have the same problem with developers. The symptoms say there is a bug in a set of routines, but some refuse to believe it unless I walk them though the lines one at a time.
April has started day shifts now, and I started with 4 ten hour days. It's been nice to have the extra time to complete tasks, instead of hurrying with them. Thomas has been going to daycare for the last week. Most of that time, he has been crying his eyes out. Today, April told me the people there told her that he had been laughing and playing all day, and he didn't want to go. I hope this is a turnaround for him.
Saturday was a killer. Out of the house by nine, we had a soccer game, soccer pictures, another soccer game, more pictures, and more games. The kids and I never even had time to stop for food. They did great, especially Rachel, who subbed for some missing kids and played games the whole day. We got home again around six.
The power went out last week, and the router refused to respond. After a few days dinking around with it, it started working again. The wireless network card still refused to connect to the Internet, but I can see the desktop shared folders. I am going to try and reinstall the drivers on the laptop. The best part is I can connect my work laptop to the router, and go through the VPN to work. Much faster than dialup.
The Simpsons:Hit and Run is popular with the family. I reached level 2. There is a race with Comic Book Guy, where he says "We don't have deflector shields, you know" when you hit something, and "Full impulse!".
As I said, the impression is that I did a lot this week, but I can't remember right now.
End of Entry
Monday, April 26, 2004
Stardate 57042.6 (04-26-2004)
I bought a wireless router Saturday, along with a DVD recorder and a new video card. I had intended to buy only the card because Patrick has a new game that requires a better video card than what was in the computer. I also had "The Simpsons: Hit and run" that required it. That game is pretty fun, even April enjoyed it. Basically, you run around town trying to fulfill tasks. I have not seen all the animations that the commercials had, but I intend to. The router took a few days to get up and running. The manual says there is a reset switch, but I had to call tech support to have them tell me I needed to hold it in for fifteen seconds. The tech guy spoke with an accent, which makes me suspect the service center is in India.
I've been watching Steven while Carl and Erica go to a class on house buying. Patrick asked me last week if Steven could still come over after they were done. I take it from this he likes having Steven over. I am not sure how Steven feels about it. He's been good, as he quickly tells his dad. It would be better if the weather were nice, and everyone could play outside.
Rachel has been keeping her own journal. She writes in it from time to time. I found out because April was cleaning her room, and it was open. On a day where she had several meltdowns, she wrote that it was one of her best days because she got to stay over at a friends house, and she scored two goals. She reads this one every once in a while. I hope it encourages her to keep her own up.
Thomas has been to daycare a couple of times. The last time the person said he cried the six hours he was there. I guess the older they are, the harder it is to get used to being away from home. Patrick and Rachel didn't seem to have as much of a problem as Thomas does.
Saturdays are very busy lately. There is AYSO soccer in the morning, Jayhawk soccer in the afternoon, and April goes to work. One more week until she goes to days, and I go to 4 ten hour days. I am looking forward to having Friday off. It'll be a big change, but I think it will be for the best.
End of Entry
I bought a wireless router Saturday, along with a DVD recorder and a new video card. I had intended to buy only the card because Patrick has a new game that requires a better video card than what was in the computer. I also had "The Simpsons: Hit and run" that required it. That game is pretty fun, even April enjoyed it. Basically, you run around town trying to fulfill tasks. I have not seen all the animations that the commercials had, but I intend to. The router took a few days to get up and running. The manual says there is a reset switch, but I had to call tech support to have them tell me I needed to hold it in for fifteen seconds. The tech guy spoke with an accent, which makes me suspect the service center is in India.
I've been watching Steven while Carl and Erica go to a class on house buying. Patrick asked me last week if Steven could still come over after they were done. I take it from this he likes having Steven over. I am not sure how Steven feels about it. He's been good, as he quickly tells his dad. It would be better if the weather were nice, and everyone could play outside.
Rachel has been keeping her own journal. She writes in it from time to time. I found out because April was cleaning her room, and it was open. On a day where she had several meltdowns, she wrote that it was one of her best days because she got to stay over at a friends house, and she scored two goals. She reads this one every once in a while. I hope it encourages her to keep her own up.
Thomas has been to daycare a couple of times. The last time the person said he cried the six hours he was there. I guess the older they are, the harder it is to get used to being away from home. Patrick and Rachel didn't seem to have as much of a problem as Thomas does.
Saturdays are very busy lately. There is AYSO soccer in the morning, Jayhawk soccer in the afternoon, and April goes to work. One more week until she goes to days, and I go to 4 ten hour days. I am looking forward to having Friday off. It'll be a big change, but I think it will be for the best.
End of Entry
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Starfest and Lightsabers
Stardate 57042.0 (04-20-2004)
I had a fun time at Starfest over the weekend. There was so much to do; I barely had time to catch my breath. This was different from conventions I have attended in the past. I knew far more people, and there were a number of friends there. The hotel that hosted it was nice. There was some controversy over the autographs. Starland, which puts on the convention, was charging for the autograph, and then you needed to buy the picture on top of that. There was objections to spending $40-$50 on it. In response, some of the guests were signing pictures without the ticket, so on Saturday every guest was watched over by a convention employee.
Another task I had set for myself was to observe what they were doing as far as activities, what sort of problems they encountered, and generally, how everything was laid out. I attended all four Star Fleet Academy courses. The person that gave this did an excellent job of combining an impressive amount of knowledge on the subjects with a good sense of humor. Each one included audience participation. When approached, he was interested in coming to Salt Lake City, but if not, I think we could provide an alternate. The courses were well attended, so I think they would be well received here. I was told some of the guests were very interested in doing an appearance in Salt Lake.
The panel by the ENTERPRISE project was enlightening. I kind of knew that UPN was not reaching as many cities as other networks, but I didn't realize the rating were not taking into account fans tend to tape the show or watch in groups. We tape shows to watch later all the time, and I am sure many others do. I now wonder how many shows were canceled because people were not 'watching' them. I suppose they assume if you tape it you fast-forward through the commercials. I read an article in the newspaper that said networks have little patience for shows to take off. If it is not an instant hit, it gets canceled. They author speculated that famous shows such as 'M*A*S*H*' and 'All in the Family' would not have made the cut if they were to premiere now.
They did show the TOS episode "The Doomsday Machine" with the 60's special effects redone with CGI. I missed the first part of it, so I did a search on the web to see if I could watch it there, but the web site is gone. I'll have to see if anyone has a copy of the MPG. And because I stayed to watch it, I missed getting into the family feud style trivia contest.
Friday I rode up the elevator with Richard Hatch of "Battlestar Galactica" fame. He seemed like a nice guy. I missed seeing Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee of "Lord of the Rings"). Dominic Keating was funny. The costumes were great. Some of the people were trying to voice lines, but unless you were in the first three rows, you couldn't hear what was said. I was also pleasantly surprised to find kid oriented things had been added to the schedule. I think this is important for Utah, where large families are not unusual. .
It was good to see Ray Meyer again. He is struggling with getting the Hudson up and going, but I am sure he can do it. He was great for new, interesting ideas here.
I bought a couple of Darth Maul double lightsabres for the boys, and a poster of Captain Jack Sparrow. Rachel was much harder. She is not interested a lot in this stuff. I finally settled on a bookmark with the "One ring rule them all" on it, and a gold ring attached. I told her that it was the One Ring, and asked if she remembered what happened when someone put it on. She immediately replied that they turn invisible, paused to think about it, and said "Wow! Thanks, Dad". The only problem was that Patrick heard it as well, and pestered her the rest of the day to see it.
It was 75 degrees and sunny in Denver, and cold and raining in Salt Lake. I was expecting it to be much colder in Denver. Due to a lack of players on the Jayhawk team last Saturday, Rachel ended up playing three soccer games. Patrick has decided after playing that day he likes soccer again.
End of Entry
I had a fun time at Starfest over the weekend. There was so much to do; I barely had time to catch my breath. This was different from conventions I have attended in the past. I knew far more people, and there were a number of friends there. The hotel that hosted it was nice. There was some controversy over the autographs. Starland, which puts on the convention, was charging for the autograph, and then you needed to buy the picture on top of that. There was objections to spending $40-$50 on it. In response, some of the guests were signing pictures without the ticket, so on Saturday every guest was watched over by a convention employee.
Another task I had set for myself was to observe what they were doing as far as activities, what sort of problems they encountered, and generally, how everything was laid out. I attended all four Star Fleet Academy courses. The person that gave this did an excellent job of combining an impressive amount of knowledge on the subjects with a good sense of humor. Each one included audience participation. When approached, he was interested in coming to Salt Lake City, but if not, I think we could provide an alternate. The courses were well attended, so I think they would be well received here. I was told some of the guests were very interested in doing an appearance in Salt Lake.
The panel by the ENTERPRISE project was enlightening. I kind of knew that UPN was not reaching as many cities as other networks, but I didn't realize the rating were not taking into account fans tend to tape the show or watch in groups. We tape shows to watch later all the time, and I am sure many others do. I now wonder how many shows were canceled because people were not 'watching' them. I suppose they assume if you tape it you fast-forward through the commercials. I read an article in the newspaper that said networks have little patience for shows to take off. If it is not an instant hit, it gets canceled. They author speculated that famous shows such as 'M*A*S*H*' and 'All in the Family' would not have made the cut if they were to premiere now.
They did show the TOS episode "The Doomsday Machine" with the 60's special effects redone with CGI. I missed the first part of it, so I did a search on the web to see if I could watch it there, but the web site is gone. I'll have to see if anyone has a copy of the MPG. And because I stayed to watch it, I missed getting into the family feud style trivia contest.
Friday I rode up the elevator with Richard Hatch of "Battlestar Galactica" fame. He seemed like a nice guy. I missed seeing Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee of "Lord of the Rings"). Dominic Keating was funny. The costumes were great. Some of the people were trying to voice lines, but unless you were in the first three rows, you couldn't hear what was said. I was also pleasantly surprised to find kid oriented things had been added to the schedule. I think this is important for Utah, where large families are not unusual. .
It was good to see Ray Meyer again. He is struggling with getting the Hudson up and going, but I am sure he can do it. He was great for new, interesting ideas here.
I bought a couple of Darth Maul double lightsabres for the boys, and a poster of Captain Jack Sparrow. Rachel was much harder. She is not interested a lot in this stuff. I finally settled on a bookmark with the "One ring rule them all" on it, and a gold ring attached. I told her that it was the One Ring, and asked if she remembered what happened when someone put it on. She immediately replied that they turn invisible, paused to think about it, and said "Wow! Thanks, Dad". The only problem was that Patrick heard it as well, and pestered her the rest of the day to see it.
It was 75 degrees and sunny in Denver, and cold and raining in Salt Lake. I was expecting it to be much colder in Denver. Due to a lack of players on the Jayhawk team last Saturday, Rachel ended up playing three soccer games. Patrick has decided after playing that day he likes soccer again.
End of Entry
Sunday, April 11, 2004
Easter
Stardate 57041.1 (04-11-2004)
I've been getting a few questions lately about programming language choices. Some of them come from the new team. Others come from blogs by Bruce Eckel and others. It's another religious issue for some. This one is better than that one because of stricter typing, better speed, easier to learn, and on and on. My typical response is I use the language best suited to the job. C++ is good because there are many versions for every operating system in existence. Java can almost say the same thing, as can Perl and Python. C# is limited to Windows. I do them all for various things. Perl is the original Common Gateway Interface language. On my ISP, it and Python are the only choices. Java and C# are fun to play in, but they are often referred as platforms instead of languages. What this means to me is that I will spend a lot of time trying to find the class I want to open a file. There are ten to fifteen to choose from. So I fall back on C++ quite a bit.
This brings the inevitable response from one or more people, "But you have to manage memory yourself!" I've hashed that argument in another blog, so I won't do it again here. Some interesting additions were from a co-worker, who stated that automatic memory management was a bad crutch to lean on. The team lead told me he had a lot of trouble following some of my code in various projects, especially the pointer stuff. This attitude bothers me. Because some do not understand the technology, it should not be used. He's not the only one. I've been lectured a few times about writing code few others understood. No one wants to learn, therefore everyone does the same stuff over and over. That's why programs I did ten years ago are still used as a model for new applications. Everyone understands how it works. Never mind that it may have flaws, or there might be a better way.
An email was sent out by the new boss, saying that we need to remove all unauthorized software or, "jobs will be lost". The threatening tone of the message made me angry, although I think it was supposed to instill fear. My dad tells me the story every once in a while about how a directive came down from a new VP that each branch manager was to fire on employee at random. That would put fear into the others, making them work harder. My dad told him that would cause his best people to leave, and he would not do it. The other branch went along, and closed within a year. We are not to do anything unauthorized, either. If we see new tools that might help us work more efficiently, then we file a request to be reviewed by five committees. I figure that will take six months or more. This seems to fly in the face of what the CEO message to find better and faster ways of doing things, and not get caught in the trap of "that's the way we've always done it". The CEO is not happy that new products take years to develop, but it seems that if there is a faster way, we can't use it.
Daylight savings time has started, and with it one of the more difficult times of the year. The sun is setting later and later, and the kids want to stay out to play longer. But they still need to get up for school, which leaves them exhausted by Thursday. They don't finish until June. It's going to be a long couple of months.
April got a new position of chemistry lab supervisor. It's a daytime shift. with a nice pay raise. We had planned for her to move to a daytime position after all the kids were in school, but this is available now, so she jumped on it. Thomas will be going to preschool in the fall, so it doesn't mess things up too much. She hasn't yet started working days because she is covering for other people who have changed jobs. By May we should be on the daytime schedule. This week was all graveyard shifts, so she is very tired. I will be going to four ten hour days to limit the amount of daycare we have to pay for.
The last part of March and the first part of April were very warm, in the 70's. This apparently caused some of the snow pack to evaporate, so they are worried about the water situation again. The USGS says if the cycle continues, Lake Powell will be completely gone by 2007.
Easter is here, and the kids are happy with all of the candy and toys. We also planted some seeds in indoor pots. There are carrots, cucumbers, watermelons, basil, peppers, and lots more. We did this a couple of years ago, and it went really well, although the pumpkins were a little small for carving. I'm looking forward to some fresh homegrown vegetables. My dad had a large garden every year (including corn), and I miss that. The garden area is ready to plant, but it needs to be warmer. I'd still like to get some pre-grown tomatoes.
Happy Easter!
End of Entry
I've been getting a few questions lately about programming language choices. Some of them come from the new team. Others come from blogs by Bruce Eckel and others. It's another religious issue for some. This one is better than that one because of stricter typing, better speed, easier to learn, and on and on. My typical response is I use the language best suited to the job. C++ is good because there are many versions for every operating system in existence. Java can almost say the same thing, as can Perl and Python. C# is limited to Windows. I do them all for various things. Perl is the original Common Gateway Interface language. On my ISP, it and Python are the only choices. Java and C# are fun to play in, but they are often referred as platforms instead of languages. What this means to me is that I will spend a lot of time trying to find the class I want to open a file. There are ten to fifteen to choose from. So I fall back on C++ quite a bit.
This brings the inevitable response from one or more people, "But you have to manage memory yourself!" I've hashed that argument in another blog, so I won't do it again here. Some interesting additions were from a co-worker, who stated that automatic memory management was a bad crutch to lean on. The team lead told me he had a lot of trouble following some of my code in various projects, especially the pointer stuff. This attitude bothers me. Because some do not understand the technology, it should not be used. He's not the only one. I've been lectured a few times about writing code few others understood. No one wants to learn, therefore everyone does the same stuff over and over. That's why programs I did ten years ago are still used as a model for new applications. Everyone understands how it works. Never mind that it may have flaws, or there might be a better way.
An email was sent out by the new boss, saying that we need to remove all unauthorized software or, "jobs will be lost". The threatening tone of the message made me angry, although I think it was supposed to instill fear. My dad tells me the story every once in a while about how a directive came down from a new VP that each branch manager was to fire on employee at random. That would put fear into the others, making them work harder. My dad told him that would cause his best people to leave, and he would not do it. The other branch went along, and closed within a year. We are not to do anything unauthorized, either. If we see new tools that might help us work more efficiently, then we file a request to be reviewed by five committees. I figure that will take six months or more. This seems to fly in the face of what the CEO message to find better and faster ways of doing things, and not get caught in the trap of "that's the way we've always done it". The CEO is not happy that new products take years to develop, but it seems that if there is a faster way, we can't use it.
Daylight savings time has started, and with it one of the more difficult times of the year. The sun is setting later and later, and the kids want to stay out to play longer. But they still need to get up for school, which leaves them exhausted by Thursday. They don't finish until June. It's going to be a long couple of months.
April got a new position of chemistry lab supervisor. It's a daytime shift. with a nice pay raise. We had planned for her to move to a daytime position after all the kids were in school, but this is available now, so she jumped on it. Thomas will be going to preschool in the fall, so it doesn't mess things up too much. She hasn't yet started working days because she is covering for other people who have changed jobs. By May we should be on the daytime schedule. This week was all graveyard shifts, so she is very tired. I will be going to four ten hour days to limit the amount of daycare we have to pay for.
The last part of March and the first part of April were very warm, in the 70's. This apparently caused some of the snow pack to evaporate, so they are worried about the water situation again. The USGS says if the cycle continues, Lake Powell will be completely gone by 2007.
Easter is here, and the kids are happy with all of the candy and toys. We also planted some seeds in indoor pots. There are carrots, cucumbers, watermelons, basil, peppers, and lots more. We did this a couple of years ago, and it went really well, although the pumpkins were a little small for carving. I'm looking forward to some fresh homegrown vegetables. My dad had a large garden every year (including corn), and I miss that. The garden area is ready to plant, but it needs to be warmer. I'd still like to get some pre-grown tomatoes.
Happy Easter!
End of Entry
Thursday, April 01, 2004
One Year
Stardate 57040.1 (04-01-2004)
It is officially one year since I started this blog. I've wondered off and on during that time if anyone will go back over them years later. I have not commented on much of the happening of the world at large, so they would not make good memoirs. I am somewhat surprised it has lasted this long. In school, I could never write essays or stories very well. Actually, I probably could, I just didn't want to do so. I would either not get started or not figure a way to finish a story. It's weird, because I love to read, and I do enjoy doing this.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or at least hang around a long time. I got another call this week about paying the hospital bill when I had the problem with my foot. I explained that it had been taken care of, and I will fax the letter to them. For good or bad, I am getting to be an expert at providing documentation. A few years ago, AT&T kept shutting off the cell service, citing nonpayment. We would fax a copy of the canceled check to them, and it would be restored. The next month, the pattern would be repeated. The bank we use tracked it down to a missing zero in the AT&T account number on the checks after four months. Since they could not identify the account, they simply credited it to another guy with my name. That in itself was stupid, since the account was in my wife's name. What really made me mad was when she talked to a service person, they traced it to the other guys account. Then they told my wife I must be leading a double life. Far be it to admit they might have made a MISTAKE.
People at work have been in a panic the last few days. A message went around about a software audit, and the newest head of the division is intent on being absolutely clean. A shareware text editor that is used a lot is now forbidden. What is strange is that it had been submitted for approval, but no one every heard anything again. Some of the developers are in a bad mood as a result.
I've been watching the Indian consultants with amusement. I am getting the impression these guys are strictly Win32 programmers. They finally got access to one of the internal Unix servers. They then transferred the files for the applications they are maintaining to the system, included the Windows project files. These are not at all useful. I know they have not gotten anything to compile, since the directory structure is missing pieces and there is a mix of 32 and 64 bit libraries in the project build files. With all the stories of how great, smart, and wonderful these guys are, it's a relief to see they are not supermen. This was another interesting article on the subject.
I got caught up in reading some of this guys anti-Windows rhetoric. He flooded a few blogs with how Windows sucks compared to Linux, blah, blah, blah. It was fun, because he obviously based most of his stuff on hearsay. Zealots are comical in their persistent view that they are right, everyone else is wrong, and nothing you say will make any difference. He has mellowed out, and installed Windows. I'm not a Windows supporter, but it gets things done. Unix is much better at creating automated tasks, which is what I wish computers did more of. It seems that Windows went the other direction by demanding you spend time with it. It reminds of a book call Virus by Graham Watkins I read.
Here's to more years of blogging.
End of Entry
It is officially one year since I started this blog. I've wondered off and on during that time if anyone will go back over them years later. I have not commented on much of the happening of the world at large, so they would not make good memoirs. I am somewhat surprised it has lasted this long. In school, I could never write essays or stories very well. Actually, I probably could, I just didn't want to do so. I would either not get started or not figure a way to finish a story. It's weird, because I love to read, and I do enjoy doing this.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or at least hang around a long time. I got another call this week about paying the hospital bill when I had the problem with my foot. I explained that it had been taken care of, and I will fax the letter to them. For good or bad, I am getting to be an expert at providing documentation. A few years ago, AT&T kept shutting off the cell service, citing nonpayment. We would fax a copy of the canceled check to them, and it would be restored. The next month, the pattern would be repeated. The bank we use tracked it down to a missing zero in the AT&T account number on the checks after four months. Since they could not identify the account, they simply credited it to another guy with my name. That in itself was stupid, since the account was in my wife's name. What really made me mad was when she talked to a service person, they traced it to the other guys account. Then they told my wife I must be leading a double life. Far be it to admit they might have made a MISTAKE.
People at work have been in a panic the last few days. A message went around about a software audit, and the newest head of the division is intent on being absolutely clean. A shareware text editor that is used a lot is now forbidden. What is strange is that it had been submitted for approval, but no one every heard anything again. Some of the developers are in a bad mood as a result.
I've been watching the Indian consultants with amusement. I am getting the impression these guys are strictly Win32 programmers. They finally got access to one of the internal Unix servers. They then transferred the files for the applications they are maintaining to the system, included the Windows project files. These are not at all useful. I know they have not gotten anything to compile, since the directory structure is missing pieces and there is a mix of 32 and 64 bit libraries in the project build files. With all the stories of how great, smart, and wonderful these guys are, it's a relief to see they are not supermen. This was another interesting article on the subject.
I got caught up in reading some of this guys anti-Windows rhetoric. He flooded a few blogs with how Windows sucks compared to Linux, blah, blah, blah. It was fun, because he obviously based most of his stuff on hearsay. Zealots are comical in their persistent view that they are right, everyone else is wrong, and nothing you say will make any difference. He has mellowed out, and installed Windows. I'm not a Windows supporter, but it gets things done. Unix is much better at creating automated tasks, which is what I wish computers did more of. It seems that Windows went the other direction by demanding you spend time with it. It reminds of a book call Virus by Graham Watkins I read.
Here's to more years of blogging.
End of Entry
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Supervisor
Stardate 57032.7 (03-27-2004)
April got the supervisor job. So at the end of April (the month) she starts working days. I will start working 4 ten hour days. That way we can cut out one more day of daycare. We had planned to do something like this when Thomas went to school, but the opportunity came up now, so she grabbed it. Thomas goes into pre-kindergarten next fall anyway.
It looks like Patrick has the chicken pox. Little red blisters are slowly spreading over his body. He was vaccinated against it, but that only works in 80% of the kids. So he gets to sit in our bed and play video games and watch TV. My thumbs are aching from playing Jedi Power Battles so much.
The warm weather seems to have clued people in that spring is on its way, therefore I have quite a few more soccer registrations. The games start next Saturday.
End of Entry
April got the supervisor job. So at the end of April (the month) she starts working days. I will start working 4 ten hour days. That way we can cut out one more day of daycare. We had planned to do something like this when Thomas went to school, but the opportunity came up now, so she grabbed it. Thomas goes into pre-kindergarten next fall anyway.
It looks like Patrick has the chicken pox. Little red blisters are slowly spreading over his body. He was vaccinated against it, but that only works in 80% of the kids. So he gets to sit in our bed and play video games and watch TV. My thumbs are aching from playing Jedi Power Battles so much.
The warm weather seems to have clued people in that spring is on its way, therefore I have quite a few more soccer registrations. The games start next Saturday.
End of Entry
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
The right tool
Stardate 57032.3 (03-23-2004)
Finding the right tool is important to productivity. I know this already, but it is good to remind myself of it from time to time. I wrote a program in C# about five months ago to replace an existing one that runs monthly testing. The old one was taking about ten hours to run. I wrote the new one to divide up the tasks into threads. It ran, but the threads all died one by one after a short time due to Oracle throwing an exception. The transaction object would get lost. I don't have Visual Studio .NET yet, so I have been using SharpDevelop. It's a nice IDE, but there is no debugger. I found one distributed as part of the .NET SDK. It works similar to the VS IDE, so it was easy to use. What I discovered is that Oracle does not like the isolation level on the transaction object to be anything other than unspecified. It doesn't make sense, but it works. With this, I was able to cut the testing time to one hour. Since the tasks can be divided into threads, it scales very easily. One hour should make everyone involved very happy.
I found out Monday I am part of a new team. The team was formed to upgrade the utility programs we and our clients use to move data in and out of the system. I should not have been surprised. I wrote a lot of the originals and the library code in 1995, and I have been vocal that they need some serious overhaul. These are the same ones I mentioned had been turned over to the Indians about a month ago. The model I came up with was used by subsequent developers, and was never modified much. As I look at it now, it was ok, but there were holes. Of course, there are also new technologies that were not available then.
The executives have shifted again. I find it interesting that most of them do not stay in one position more than six months or so. Another note I need to make. I have done some complaining about my supervisor, but there are good things to say about him. April applied for a supervisor job at the hospital. If she gets it, it will be a daytime position. This means daycare for Thomas, and about a hours worth of daycare for the other two. To cut down on this, I asked if I could work four ten hour days, which would limit the daycare and the costs to two days a week. Without hesitation he said yes. Other times I have asked to work from home, or for some time off, and he has agreed. He stays away unless there is something I need from him, trusting that I can do what is needed without micromanagement (I have been doing it long before he came along, which he is well aware of).
Today there were a couple of interesting driving incidents. On the way to work, near the north I-15 to I-215 interchange, I watched as two cars tried to move into the same lane at the same time. They did see each other, and both backed off. This happens quite a bit, but a few hundred feet down the road they did the same thing. On the way home, I saw a tow truck dragging a car out of the large pond at Bangeter and highway 201. The car had to have driven off the road and down a bank about 50 feet or so. I hope no one was hurt, but it was unusual.
End of Entry
Finding the right tool is important to productivity. I know this already, but it is good to remind myself of it from time to time. I wrote a program in C# about five months ago to replace an existing one that runs monthly testing. The old one was taking about ten hours to run. I wrote the new one to divide up the tasks into threads. It ran, but the threads all died one by one after a short time due to Oracle throwing an exception. The transaction object would get lost. I don't have Visual Studio .NET yet, so I have been using SharpDevelop. It's a nice IDE, but there is no debugger. I found one distributed as part of the .NET SDK. It works similar to the VS IDE, so it was easy to use. What I discovered is that Oracle does not like the isolation level on the transaction object to be anything other than unspecified. It doesn't make sense, but it works. With this, I was able to cut the testing time to one hour. Since the tasks can be divided into threads, it scales very easily. One hour should make everyone involved very happy.
I found out Monday I am part of a new team. The team was formed to upgrade the utility programs we and our clients use to move data in and out of the system. I should not have been surprised. I wrote a lot of the originals and the library code in 1995, and I have been vocal that they need some serious overhaul. These are the same ones I mentioned had been turned over to the Indians about a month ago. The model I came up with was used by subsequent developers, and was never modified much. As I look at it now, it was ok, but there were holes. Of course, there are also new technologies that were not available then.
The executives have shifted again. I find it interesting that most of them do not stay in one position more than six months or so. Another note I need to make. I have done some complaining about my supervisor, but there are good things to say about him. April applied for a supervisor job at the hospital. If she gets it, it will be a daytime position. This means daycare for Thomas, and about a hours worth of daycare for the other two. To cut down on this, I asked if I could work four ten hour days, which would limit the daycare and the costs to two days a week. Without hesitation he said yes. Other times I have asked to work from home, or for some time off, and he has agreed. He stays away unless there is something I need from him, trusting that I can do what is needed without micromanagement (I have been doing it long before he came along, which he is well aware of).
Today there were a couple of interesting driving incidents. On the way to work, near the north I-15 to I-215 interchange, I watched as two cars tried to move into the same lane at the same time. They did see each other, and both backed off. This happens quite a bit, but a few hundred feet down the road they did the same thing. On the way home, I saw a tow truck dragging a car out of the large pond at Bangeter and highway 201. The car had to have driven off the road and down a bank about 50 feet or so. I hope no one was hurt, but it was unusual.
End of Entry
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Hokey
Stardate 57031.8 (03-18-2004)
Reading through the last entry, I realized I didn’t finish some of it. I stopped at one point to check on what I was talking about, and never came back to it. Too many other things came up, and I just posted it as is. Well, it wasn’t that important
Bruce Eckel posted a long diatribe about generics in Java. Most of which I would have to agree with. Sun’s approach does not make things much easier. Of course, I view this from a C++ background, and I found generics and the Standard Template Library very useful.
Tuesday was the division quarterly meeting. The new head has changed the format to look less at the financial details. The rest took on the same arrangement. Moving to new technology, yada, yada, yada. Not that I mind change, but I’d like to participate in the change. Something the new head mentioned did strike me. She told everyone that communication was fine; the problem is understanding what is communicated. Thinking about it, I concur. I don’t understand my place in all the changes, and I hate not understanding. One thing missing was the recognition awards. I have a bad attitude about them anyway, so I don’t care.
So Wednesday I played hokey from work, and did more in the yard. I’ve almost got the entire garden area cleared of grass. I talked to the next-door neighbor about her delivery of a new washer and dryer. I mentioned that ours was getting noisy and taking 3 hours to dry a load of clothes. She offered to switch her old one with us. It works much better. I contacted all the U-6 soccer coaches, and started updating the roster. Last weekend I was working on a Windows program, and I found buttons and labels kept disappearing from the design. I updated SharpDevelop from version .95 to .99b, and this fixed that problem. Patrick came home from school excited that he had received an award for 1-20 numbers (I was not sure what that was, but it was still great). All in all it was a productive day.
Today I noticed Mike Gibby put a link to this site. His blog entry “Most Illogical” was fun to read. I remember practicing the same Vulcan attitude throughout high school. I was never harassed much, mostly ignored. A large part of the time I felt as though I did not exist. I did go to my 10-year reunion, and was surprised that people remembered me. I skipped my 20 because I had already planned on being out of town.
End Of Entry
Reading through the last entry, I realized I didn’t finish some of it. I stopped at one point to check on what I was talking about, and never came back to it. Too many other things came up, and I just posted it as is. Well, it wasn’t that important
Bruce Eckel posted a long diatribe about generics in Java. Most of which I would have to agree with. Sun’s approach does not make things much easier. Of course, I view this from a C++ background, and I found generics and the Standard Template Library very useful.
Tuesday was the division quarterly meeting. The new head has changed the format to look less at the financial details. The rest took on the same arrangement. Moving to new technology, yada, yada, yada. Not that I mind change, but I’d like to participate in the change. Something the new head mentioned did strike me. She told everyone that communication was fine; the problem is understanding what is communicated. Thinking about it, I concur. I don’t understand my place in all the changes, and I hate not understanding. One thing missing was the recognition awards. I have a bad attitude about them anyway, so I don’t care.
So Wednesday I played hokey from work, and did more in the yard. I’ve almost got the entire garden area cleared of grass. I talked to the next-door neighbor about her delivery of a new washer and dryer. I mentioned that ours was getting noisy and taking 3 hours to dry a load of clothes. She offered to switch her old one with us. It works much better. I contacted all the U-6 soccer coaches, and started updating the roster. Last weekend I was working on a Windows program, and I found buttons and labels kept disappearing from the design. I updated SharpDevelop from version .95 to .99b, and this fixed that problem. Patrick came home from school excited that he had received an award for 1-20 numbers (I was not sure what that was, but it was still great). All in all it was a productive day.
Today I noticed Mike Gibby put a link to this site. His blog entry “Most Illogical” was fun to read. I remember practicing the same Vulcan attitude throughout high school. I was never harassed much, mostly ignored. A large part of the time I felt as though I did not exist. I did go to my 10-year reunion, and was surprised that people remembered me. I skipped my 20 because I had already planned on being out of town.
End Of Entry
Monday, March 15, 2004
Off shore
Stardate 57031.5 (03-15-2004)
Thursday the developers were called to a meeting. The gist of it was that we were required to off shore at least some work to keep up with everyone else. The manager did a financial analysis that showed it cost more to off shore than to keep stuff here. She was told that she did not add in the saving for cubicles, computers, phones, and space. Since we are supposedly not getting rid of the current staff, how do they figure we are saving that? I guess that they are counting new FTE’s. She was also told it didn’t matter what it cost they were doing it. Anyway, I was told once again that the engine would not be off shored. I was kind of hoping it would.
April was sick Friday, so I worked from home. It’s interesting having a conference call from the grocery store where I was picking up her prescriptions.
Rory Blythe posted an entry in his blog about how a large percentage of aliens look like humans. The examples given were Romulans, . The comments included some of the exceptions, such as Species 8472 and the Shadows of Babylon 5. No one mentioned the most common non-humanoid alien in TOS, the cloud of sparkles. I was surprised by the number of Trekkers that read his blogs. They responded, and my final response was that we love to argue with mundanes.
It was nice Saturday to not have to worry about getting to basketball. Soccer is on its way, though. There was a letter asking for volunteers to help run the organization. April thought it was to wishy-washy, and that it should have stated outright that if we don’t get help, the league will cease to exist.
Yay! I’m Lt. (j.g.) now. It took longer than I thought. I have to work harder on Lt.
Sunday was a chance to clean up the backyard. Rachel helped, but it was hard work. It was nice to get out and exercise, though, even though I’m a little stiff today. I’m not done yet, not by a long shot. I meant to do some computer work as well, but I was just too tired.
Almost done reading “The Da Vinci Code”. It’s a good book, and I recommend reading it. One little snort of amusement was that Nicholas Flamel was listed as a former head of a secret order. The name also shows up in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, where I thought it was the authors invention. I’ve only read one other Dan Brown book, “Digital Fortress”. It was even better, probably because it was more technology oriented. Those are hard to find.
Thomas told me tonight that he was holding "Star Trek meetings" with his friends because they want to build a spaceship.
End of Entry
Thursday the developers were called to a meeting. The gist of it was that we were required to off shore at least some work to keep up with everyone else. The manager did a financial analysis that showed it cost more to off shore than to keep stuff here. She was told that she did not add in the saving for cubicles, computers, phones, and space. Since we are supposedly not getting rid of the current staff, how do they figure we are saving that? I guess that they are counting new FTE’s. She was also told it didn’t matter what it cost they were doing it. Anyway, I was told once again that the engine would not be off shored. I was kind of hoping it would.
April was sick Friday, so I worked from home. It’s interesting having a conference call from the grocery store where I was picking up her prescriptions.
Rory Blythe posted an entry in his blog about how a large percentage of aliens look like humans. The examples given were Romulans, . The comments included some of the exceptions, such as Species 8472 and the Shadows of Babylon 5. No one mentioned the most common non-humanoid alien in TOS, the cloud of sparkles. I was surprised by the number of Trekkers that read his blogs. They responded, and my final response was that we love to argue with mundanes.
It was nice Saturday to not have to worry about getting to basketball. Soccer is on its way, though. There was a letter asking for volunteers to help run the organization. April thought it was to wishy-washy, and that it should have stated outright that if we don’t get help, the league will cease to exist.
Yay! I’m Lt. (j.g.) now. It took longer than I thought. I have to work harder on Lt.
Sunday was a chance to clean up the backyard. Rachel helped, but it was hard work. It was nice to get out and exercise, though, even though I’m a little stiff today. I’m not done yet, not by a long shot. I meant to do some computer work as well, but I was just too tired.
Almost done reading “The Da Vinci Code”. It’s a good book, and I recommend reading it. One little snort of amusement was that Nicholas Flamel was listed as a former head of a secret order. The name also shows up in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, where I thought it was the authors invention. I’ve only read one other Dan Brown book, “Digital Fortress”. It was even better, probably because it was more technology oriented. Those are hard to find.
Thomas told me tonight that he was holding "Star Trek meetings" with his friends because they want to build a spaceship.
End of Entry
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Spring
tardate 57031.0 (03-10-2004)
We’ve had some discipline problems with Patrick, so Monday he was confined to his room. It was one of the first nice days, and every kid in the neighborhood was out playing. He screamed in frustration the whole afternoon. I think he got the point that we were serious.
Spring is coming. I took some pictures Tuesday.
Thomas came down to me about 9:30 that night, complaining his ear hurt. Having been through this one before, I took him to Wee Care (April had come home early because she was not feeling well). When nurse put the thermometer in his ear, he told her that it was the other ear that hurt. It was an infection, so I asked that the antibiotics be done with an injection. He screamed when the needle went in, of course, but after he told me, “Dad, that REALLY hurt”. On the way out he gave the doctor his meanest look and said, “I HATE doctors”. He was feeling much better this morning.
Someone at MS had an interesting idea: an FAQ as a blog. I need to get a technical blog going. I had a couple of odd crashes to diagnose. New knowledge this week includes:
64 bit applications are a little more sensitive to exceptions and setjmp/longjmp. I need to be careful about static local variables.
Pay closer attention to compiler flags. The engine was using optimized libraries, but the main routines were not being passed the same flags. The library utility ar does not support ELF format files needed for 64 bit, so the library code was linked directly with the main code. The mix of flags caused things to be slow. Changing the flags to be consistent solved this. Level 3 optimization pegs a couple of the server processors at %100 utilization, so compiling a couple of versions for release should be fun.
A couple of clients ran some large amounts of claim data through the engine. I found that the UNIX kernel parameter maxdsiz that constrains the amount of dynamic memory each process can have was too low to handle it (it defaults to 64 MB).
I been mucking around with Flash. I have some nice new interfaces to use, but I can’t seem to get the page to load the animation. Weird. I might have to break down and read the documentation.
Lots o’ plans for the spring. I’d like to build a small deck in front between the door and the corner window. It has always worried me that someone might fall off the small cement stairway, and it would give more room. In the summer, it would be in the shade of the house during the afternoon and evening. I have a general idea about how to do it. The main need is tools. I have to find a power saw somewhere, and replace the rechargeable batteries for the cordless drill/screwdriver. After the deck, there is a need to build a new swing set and play area out back. I also need to get into shape for it. Obesity is fast becoming the number one preventable killer in the U.S., and my pants are getting tight.
We get email every once in a while that someone in the department will be late, or is not coming in. Wednesday morning the manager sent one stating one of the senior developers was on his way. I thought that was an odd way to word it. By noon it was bugging me so much I put this reply together:
RE: Developer is on his way
How long is he able to stay?
And when he is here,
will we have any reason to fear?
At end of day, can he know
how much further there is to go?
Browsing through DevTrack for information to extract,
will this email cause a great distract?
When all manner of data is chipped in Onyx,
could buy a lot of gin and tonics?
Can much use be made of Jabber,
without resorting to mindless blabber?
(bizarre need to emulate Dr. Seuss has faded, returning to work...)
DevTrack is the defect and enhancement management software, Onyx is the customer information tracking software, and Jabber is the approved instant messaging software. It took a few minutes to come up with something that rhymes with onyx. The response evoked much laughter, and I hope some stress relief.
End of Entry
We’ve had some discipline problems with Patrick, so Monday he was confined to his room. It was one of the first nice days, and every kid in the neighborhood was out playing. He screamed in frustration the whole afternoon. I think he got the point that we were serious.
Spring is coming. I took some pictures Tuesday.
Thomas came down to me about 9:30 that night, complaining his ear hurt. Having been through this one before, I took him to Wee Care (April had come home early because she was not feeling well). When nurse put the thermometer in his ear, he told her that it was the other ear that hurt. It was an infection, so I asked that the antibiotics be done with an injection. He screamed when the needle went in, of course, but after he told me, “Dad, that REALLY hurt”. On the way out he gave the doctor his meanest look and said, “I HATE doctors”. He was feeling much better this morning.
Someone at MS had an interesting idea: an FAQ as a blog. I need to get a technical blog going. I had a couple of odd crashes to diagnose. New knowledge this week includes:
64 bit applications are a little more sensitive to exceptions and setjmp/longjmp. I need to be careful about static local variables.
Pay closer attention to compiler flags. The engine was using optimized libraries, but the main routines were not being passed the same flags. The library utility ar does not support ELF format files needed for 64 bit, so the library code was linked directly with the main code. The mix of flags caused things to be slow. Changing the flags to be consistent solved this. Level 3 optimization pegs a couple of the server processors at %100 utilization, so compiling a couple of versions for release should be fun.
A couple of clients ran some large amounts of claim data through the engine. I found that the UNIX kernel parameter maxdsiz that constrains the amount of dynamic memory each process can have was too low to handle it (it defaults to 64 MB).
I been mucking around with Flash. I have some nice new interfaces to use, but I can’t seem to get the page to load the animation. Weird. I might have to break down and read the documentation.
Lots o’ plans for the spring. I’d like to build a small deck in front between the door and the corner window. It has always worried me that someone might fall off the small cement stairway, and it would give more room. In the summer, it would be in the shade of the house during the afternoon and evening. I have a general idea about how to do it. The main need is tools. I have to find a power saw somewhere, and replace the rechargeable batteries for the cordless drill/screwdriver. After the deck, there is a need to build a new swing set and play area out back. I also need to get into shape for it. Obesity is fast becoming the number one preventable killer in the U.S., and my pants are getting tight.
We get email every once in a while that someone in the department will be late, or is not coming in. Wednesday morning the manager sent one stating one of the senior developers was on his way. I thought that was an odd way to word it. By noon it was bugging me so much I put this reply together:
RE: Developer is on his way
How long is he able to stay?
And when he is here,
will we have any reason to fear?
At end of day, can he know
how much further there is to go?
Browsing through DevTrack for information to extract,
will this email cause a great distract?
When all manner of data is chipped in Onyx,
could buy a lot of gin and tonics?
Can much use be made of Jabber,
without resorting to mindless blabber?
(bizarre need to emulate Dr. Seuss has faded, returning to work...)
DevTrack is the defect and enhancement management software, Onyx is the customer information tracking software, and Jabber is the approved instant messaging software. It took a few minutes to come up with something that rhymes with onyx. The response evoked much laughter, and I hope some stress relief.
End of Entry
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Driving in Utah
Stardate 57030.4 (03-04-2004)
Driving in Utah is such fun. Wednesday while heading back from lunch, waiting in the left turn lane of 35th and Bangater, a guy pulls into the left lane (the one for traffic headed the other way), and drove down to the corner to turn into the restaurant there. I guess he was brain dead from starvation, and could not wait 15 seconds for the green arrow. He made three cars coming the other way maneuver around him. Wednesday, for the second time this week, an accident slowed traffic to a crawl. Monday, there was a serious accident that shutdown most of the freeway. Fortunately, no one was badly hurt according to the newspaper. The carpool went from one on ramp to the next off ramp, about 3 miles, in an hour. We got off the freeway, turned around, and went home. I worked from home, and my carpool friend took the day off. He liked it so much he asked if he could work 4 ten hours days. He is also worried because a rumor is going around that anyone not working 50 hours a week need to look for another job. I am not close to that. I did work out the math for it. If I worked 50 hours a week, it would add up to 13 extra workweeks a year, based on a 52-week year. This is 6 paychecks I won’t get, but I might get a $1000 bonus. Doesn’t sound fair to me, but it does save the company a lot of money. Again, a Dilbert story, where the ‘extra’ money goes to those who are bad at math.
So Tuesday there was no more carpool. It’s nice to be independent again, but I miss having someone to talk to, and I hate piling up mileage on the car. The discussion ensued at home about whether I could also do the 4/ten deal. Then I could resume the carpool. I’m not sure if I want to do that. It would mean a long time at work, and about 12 hours total time a day away from home and family with the driving commute. I wish sometimes that I worked at the offices down the street. Then I could walk to work, and not be concerned with the weather.
Some of the other issues with driving are the information signs. It’s a great idea, but traffic backs up when people slow down to read them. What really scares me is the intersection of Gordon and Hill Field Road. There have been several accidents there this year already. I avoid it on Saturdays and during the week at the holidays. All the people turning left block the intersection because there is not much room to the next light. I’m not sure what the solution would be there. I have noticed police stationed there during the evenings.
The Girl Scout Cookies are here. Distribution of the orders is a challenge, and it has occupied April for the last few days. The goal is to have everything done by Sunday. We are well on the way.
Basketball is winding down. The last games are this Saturday. Rachel will miss hers due to having first Confession at the same time. I get the impression the kids are over it. I am getting tired of not being able to sleep more in the morning. Soccer is next. We received a notice from the acting commissioner that a meeting was scheduled with all the parents regarding the lack of volunteers. The options if there are not more volunteers is to merge the region into the South Ogden region, hand it over to the city, or dissolve it altogether. I still think whatever happens I would like the kids to go to the Layton region instead. Maybe Rachel can meet some local friends.
Lord of the Rings won big at the Oscars. I was amused by the opening where a Michael Moore hobbit was shouting that this was a fictitious battle, only to be stepped on by one of the mumakil. A little disappointing but not surprising is that Johnny Depp did not win best actor. April asked me if his Captain Jack Sparrow was an Oscar performance. I replied that I was not the one to ask. I thought many performances over the years deserved at least a nomination, but didn’t get one. This is another of those places where I forget I am not knowledgeable. On the other hand, I know what I like.
End of Entry
Driving in Utah is such fun. Wednesday while heading back from lunch, waiting in the left turn lane of 35th and Bangater, a guy pulls into the left lane (the one for traffic headed the other way), and drove down to the corner to turn into the restaurant there. I guess he was brain dead from starvation, and could not wait 15 seconds for the green arrow. He made three cars coming the other way maneuver around him. Wednesday, for the second time this week, an accident slowed traffic to a crawl. Monday, there was a serious accident that shutdown most of the freeway. Fortunately, no one was badly hurt according to the newspaper. The carpool went from one on ramp to the next off ramp, about 3 miles, in an hour. We got off the freeway, turned around, and went home. I worked from home, and my carpool friend took the day off. He liked it so much he asked if he could work 4 ten hours days. He is also worried because a rumor is going around that anyone not working 50 hours a week need to look for another job. I am not close to that. I did work out the math for it. If I worked 50 hours a week, it would add up to 13 extra workweeks a year, based on a 52-week year. This is 6 paychecks I won’t get, but I might get a $1000 bonus. Doesn’t sound fair to me, but it does save the company a lot of money. Again, a Dilbert story, where the ‘extra’ money goes to those who are bad at math.
So Tuesday there was no more carpool. It’s nice to be independent again, but I miss having someone to talk to, and I hate piling up mileage on the car. The discussion ensued at home about whether I could also do the 4/ten deal. Then I could resume the carpool. I’m not sure if I want to do that. It would mean a long time at work, and about 12 hours total time a day away from home and family with the driving commute. I wish sometimes that I worked at the offices down the street. Then I could walk to work, and not be concerned with the weather.
Some of the other issues with driving are the information signs. It’s a great idea, but traffic backs up when people slow down to read them. What really scares me is the intersection of Gordon and Hill Field Road. There have been several accidents there this year already. I avoid it on Saturdays and during the week at the holidays. All the people turning left block the intersection because there is not much room to the next light. I’m not sure what the solution would be there. I have noticed police stationed there during the evenings.
The Girl Scout Cookies are here. Distribution of the orders is a challenge, and it has occupied April for the last few days. The goal is to have everything done by Sunday. We are well on the way.
Basketball is winding down. The last games are this Saturday. Rachel will miss hers due to having first Confession at the same time. I get the impression the kids are over it. I am getting tired of not being able to sleep more in the morning. Soccer is next. We received a notice from the acting commissioner that a meeting was scheduled with all the parents regarding the lack of volunteers. The options if there are not more volunteers is to merge the region into the South Ogden region, hand it over to the city, or dissolve it altogether. I still think whatever happens I would like the kids to go to the Layton region instead. Maybe Rachel can meet some local friends.
Lord of the Rings won big at the Oscars. I was amused by the opening where a Michael Moore hobbit was shouting that this was a fictitious battle, only to be stepped on by one of the mumakil. A little disappointing but not surprising is that Johnny Depp did not win best actor. April asked me if his Captain Jack Sparrow was an Oscar performance. I replied that I was not the one to ask. I thought many performances over the years deserved at least a nomination, but didn’t get one. This is another of those places where I forget I am not knowledgeable. On the other hand, I know what I like.
End of Entry
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Thomas's Birthday
Stardate 57022.9 (02-29-2004)
Thomas's birthday went well. He slept in a little, probably because he had a busy night before. It was snowing hard Saturday, so we skipped out on basketball since everyone got up late. He was happy with the presents (Aragorn, Legolas, & Gimli action figures in a set; a phase pistol, a Spiderman car, and a Jumping Monkey game).
He was telling a few people he was getting a gameboy, but that didn't happen. We went outside later to clean the driveway and play in the snow. It was a wet snow, perfect for making snowmen.
Rachel finished the Three Investigators and the Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot book. I think she liked it. She is still talking about it. She had to get a biography out of the school library and read it, so she choose Susan B. Anthony.
Lent is here. Rachel and Patrick are giving up sweets and TV, April is giving up soda, and I am giving up coffee. I was drinking way to much. Not much different, but I miss the warm cup in the mornings. The last few days I have been freezing at work. Not sure if they turned down the thermostat, or if I am just sick. Probably both.
I did manage to recreate the navigation padd to the ship's web site, and add a crew lounge. At the SOM Friday the suggestion went around to call it two forward instead, but I still like crew lounge. As yet, no one has done much with it, but I hope that will change. The staff mailing list seems to be up and running now.
Last week I helped to set up 30 new computers at the lab. They still need to get all the software for the kids on. They are much better machines than what I have at home. 2.5 GHz, 512 Meg RAM, really nice. A guy at work showed some of the others how to get both the monitor and the LCD screen on the Thinkpad T30s to function as a single screen. I still have a T23, and it won't work. The rumor going around now is that the new VP wants 50 hours or more a week from everyone. This has my carpool buddy nervous. We put in about 35 hours because of my wife's work schedule. I just can't see the point in doing 50 each and every week. Sometimes it's necessary, but not all the time.
The guy who does a lot of the work there asked me if I knew of anyone that would want a position. I sent a email around to a few people, and Mike Gibby went up to interview. They were impressed with his technical knowledge, but unfortunately they are looking more for a sales person, so he won't get the job.
Still lots of stuff to do. The new camera is full of pictures, so I need to get going on new scrapbooks.
End of Entry
Thomas's birthday went well. He slept in a little, probably because he had a busy night before. It was snowing hard Saturday, so we skipped out on basketball since everyone got up late. He was happy with the presents (Aragorn, Legolas, & Gimli action figures in a set; a phase pistol, a Spiderman car, and a Jumping Monkey game).
He was telling a few people he was getting a gameboy, but that didn't happen. We went outside later to clean the driveway and play in the snow. It was a wet snow, perfect for making snowmen.
Rachel finished the Three Investigators and the Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot book. I think she liked it. She is still talking about it. She had to get a biography out of the school library and read it, so she choose Susan B. Anthony.
Lent is here. Rachel and Patrick are giving up sweets and TV, April is giving up soda, and I am giving up coffee. I was drinking way to much. Not much different, but I miss the warm cup in the mornings. The last few days I have been freezing at work. Not sure if they turned down the thermostat, or if I am just sick. Probably both.
I did manage to recreate the navigation padd to the ship's web site, and add a crew lounge. At the SOM Friday the suggestion went around to call it two forward instead, but I still like crew lounge. As yet, no one has done much with it, but I hope that will change. The staff mailing list seems to be up and running now.
Last week I helped to set up 30 new computers at the lab. They still need to get all the software for the kids on. They are much better machines than what I have at home. 2.5 GHz, 512 Meg RAM, really nice. A guy at work showed some of the others how to get both the monitor and the LCD screen on the Thinkpad T30s to function as a single screen. I still have a T23, and it won't work. The rumor going around now is that the new VP wants 50 hours or more a week from everyone. This has my carpool buddy nervous. We put in about 35 hours because of my wife's work schedule. I just can't see the point in doing 50 each and every week. Sometimes it's necessary, but not all the time.
The guy who does a lot of the work there asked me if I knew of anyone that would want a position. I sent a email around to a few people, and Mike Gibby went up to interview. They were impressed with his technical knowledge, but unfortunately they are looking more for a sales person, so he won't get the job.
Still lots of stuff to do. The new camera is full of pictures, so I need to get going on new scrapbooks.
End of Entry
Saturday, February 28, 2004
Playing in the snow
We got a lot of snow and the snowplow dumped in a heap next to the driveway.
Patrick building a snowman.
Leo loved it.
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