Stardate 59102.9
Today was a day. It started up well enough, but things went south fast. Today was the last soccer games for the fall. I got Thomas ready, and we arrived for his game ten minutes early. The only downside was the black mass in the sky to the west. It didn't stay west that long. By the time the game started, the rain was coming down. Not a sprinkle, but a hard, cold rain. I am proud to say none of the kids that played complained. A grandmother of one who refused to play most of the games told me I should call off the game. I almost lost my patience then. Her grandson was dry and warm in the car, the rest of the team was soaking wet but toughing it out. I managed to politely inform her games were played unless there was lightning. April was picking up soccer ball balloons for the kids, so I wanted to hang around. We got through the game, and handed out the goodies.
I headed home to change, and got a call from Rachel's coach that her game was cancelled, and Patrick's soon after that. I had guilty feelings during Thomas's game, but the rest of the teams were playing, so I hung on. I headed back out to get Rachel from a friends house, met April and the boys. They went home, I stopped to get something to eat. After I had ordered I realized I left my wallet in my other pants. Now head home, and back out to get the food. Head back home, only to find out it's the wrong food. Back to the fast food, who had figured out someone got the wrong order, but they had no idea who. I've taken a little nap, and things seem to be back in order now.
Patrick and Rachel had a piano recital Thursday. Patrick was very stressed about it, but he did fine, as did Rachel. It was a short version of Peter and the Wolf.
I was given a problem on Monday to find a good programming solution to. If you have an array of unique numbers from one to one hundred, and another array of unique numbers that have all the numbers from the first array, what's the fastest way to find the missing number? I didn't have the answer at that time, but I do now. I'll post the solution, and the code, but for now I need to jet.
End of Entry
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Friday, October 21, 2005
Armored Elephants
Stardate 59102.1
Playing with Rome: Total War for the last few days, I came to a number of conclusions:
1. Standing around waiting for the enemy to attack is not a sound strategy.
2. Don't concentrate on a single unit during battle.
3. Suddenly, without warning, you will lose the campaign mode. Save often.
4. Quick Combat is not random. Example combats I have done are Egyptians (me) vs. Seleucids (with armored elephants), Parthians (me) vs Seleucids (with armored elephants AND onagers, Greeks (me) vs Seleucids (with armored elephants). I sense a pattern here, and it is that I am a little tired of dealing with elephants.
5. Lost one battle because my archers apparently ran out of arrows and charged the last enemy phalanx. Archers do not good close combat make.
5. Campaign mode again, you start the pre-Imperial game about 15 years after the death of Alexander the Great. The phalanx is the premier formation. Learn to deal with it.
April picked up Age of Empires III for me. It's in a huge box, which contains a book of artwork, a music CD, and players handbook. I think this is a little overboard. The game is set in the early colonial times, and from the manual all the settings are in North America. I played the prerelease trial version for a while.
End Of Entry
Playing with Rome: Total War for the last few days, I came to a number of conclusions:
1. Standing around waiting for the enemy to attack is not a sound strategy.
2. Don't concentrate on a single unit during battle.
3. Suddenly, without warning, you will lose the campaign mode. Save often.
4. Quick Combat is not random. Example combats I have done are Egyptians (me) vs. Seleucids (with armored elephants), Parthians (me) vs Seleucids (with armored elephants AND onagers, Greeks (me) vs Seleucids (with armored elephants). I sense a pattern here, and it is that I am a little tired of dealing with elephants.
5. Lost one battle because my archers apparently ran out of arrows and charged the last enemy phalanx. Archers do not good close combat make.
5. Campaign mode again, you start the pre-Imperial game about 15 years after the death of Alexander the Great. The phalanx is the premier formation. Learn to deal with it.
April picked up Age of Empires III for me. It's in a huge box, which contains a book of artwork, a music CD, and players handbook. I think this is a little overboard. The game is set in the early colonial times, and from the manual all the settings are in North America. I played the prerelease trial version for a while.
End Of Entry
Friday, October 14, 2005
Stardate 59101.4 (10-14-2005)
It’s interesting what you come across on
the World Wide Web while searching for something else. I was looking for a
solution to creating an instance of an object based on the description in a
config file.
Tim, the right jobs for you would allow you to be
April says I am a little to analytical, though.
I find lots of stuff on management. One quip that caught my
attention was about adding more people to a project to get it done faster,
described as if one woman can have a child in nine months, nine women can have
the same child in one month. It captures the absurdity beautifully.
Rachel finished the mile run in P.E. in her goal of under 9
minutes. She is very pleased with it. I don’t think I can do better. I hate to
run. The pounding on the knees and the boring nature of it get to me. I love to
walk, though. I was getting on a treadmill and walking a mile and a half at
four miles an hour. I could have walked a lot farther, but if you do the math
that about twenty minutes, which all the time I could afford.
This minimal amount gets me a nice endorphin
rush, and I am not tired. I just need to
find some way of doing it on a regular basis.
I have tried setting my alarm for 5 AM, but I
end up thinking “ten more minutes” and hitting the snooze button.
After hitting the snooze twice I give up and
turn the alarm off. I also think how it
would be nice to combine this with walking the dog. That has the problem of
keeping a regular pace because he wants to stop and sniff something every five
steps. I need to think of something else.
I love to ride a bike. I’ve already mentioned that I find it
scary, though. One of the goals we did not get to this summer was getting
Thomas on a bike. I don’t mean a two-wheeler, just a bike with training wheels.
When that is accomplished, I have this idea we can pack up a bunch of bikes and
hit a trail. I have no idea what trails there are, and mountain biking is out,
so this is really a pipe dream.
End Of Entry
It’s interesting what you come across on
the World Wide Web while searching for something else. I was looking for a
solution to creating an instance of an object based on the description in a
config file.
Tim, the right jobs for you would allow you to be
Analytical and Creative
With your
skills, you could be earning up to $111,000
per year. (For the record, no, I don’t come close to this
cap.)
skills, you could be earning up to $111,000
per year. (For the record, no, I don’t come close to this
cap.)
As an Analytical type, you don't want to
be limited by established rules and regulations. Your inquisitive nature
demands that you sometimes question authority. Otherwise, you might not be
able to find fresh approaches, or come up with new solutions to a problem.
It's not that you act without weighing the pros and cons of a situation —
it's more that you're more willing than others to take justifiable risks if
they'll further your career success.
You're smart enough to know when you need help and are confident enough in
your abilities to ask for it. You understand that sometimes there are no
clear right and wrong answers, and that's just fine with you because you
tolerate gray areas better than most. In fact, pondering potential outcomes
can sometimes be more interesting than coming up with the definitive solution
for you.
Your right job doesn't have to be about self-expression, but it needs to be a
job you can be proud of.
<![if !supportLineBreakNewLine]>
<![endif]>
be limited by established rules and regulations. Your inquisitive nature
demands that you sometimes question authority. Otherwise, you might not be
able to find fresh approaches, or come up with new solutions to a problem.
It's not that you act without weighing the pros and cons of a situation —
it's more that you're more willing than others to take justifiable risks if
they'll further your career success.
You're smart enough to know when you need help and are confident enough in
your abilities to ask for it. You understand that sometimes there are no
clear right and wrong answers, and that's just fine with you because you
tolerate gray areas better than most. In fact, pondering potential outcomes
can sometimes be more interesting than coming up with the definitive solution
for you.
Your right job doesn't have to be about self-expression, but it needs to be a
job you can be proud of.
<![if !supportLineBreakNewLine]>
<![endif]>
April says I am a little to analytical, though.
I find lots of stuff on management. One quip that caught my
attention was about adding more people to a project to get it done faster,
described as if one woman can have a child in nine months, nine women can have
the same child in one month. It captures the absurdity beautifully.
Rachel finished the mile run in P.E. in her goal of under 9
minutes. She is very pleased with it. I don’t think I can do better. I hate to
run. The pounding on the knees and the boring nature of it get to me. I love to
walk, though. I was getting on a treadmill and walking a mile and a half at
four miles an hour. I could have walked a lot farther, but if you do the math
that about twenty minutes, which all the time I could afford.
This minimal amount gets me a nice endorphin
rush, and I am not tired. I just need to
find some way of doing it on a regular basis.
I have tried setting my alarm for 5 AM, but I
end up thinking “ten more minutes” and hitting the snooze button.
After hitting the snooze twice I give up and
turn the alarm off. I also think how it
would be nice to combine this with walking the dog. That has the problem of
keeping a regular pace because he wants to stop and sniff something every five
steps. I need to think of something else.
I love to ride a bike. I’ve already mentioned that I find it
scary, though. One of the goals we did not get to this summer was getting
Thomas on a bike. I don’t mean a two-wheeler, just a bike with training wheels.
When that is accomplished, I have this idea we can pack up a bunch of bikes and
hit a trail. I have no idea what trails there are, and mountain biking is out,
so this is really a pipe dream.
End Of Entry
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Mitnick
Stardate 59101.1
Hackers' poster boy, Kevin Mitnick, gave CNN an interview. I remember the story of the guy who caught him, although now his name escapes me.
I went out to dinner with my dad last night. It was one of those nights when he is feeling good. He walked without his walker, and told me he has been trying to walk around a bit. This is good, he needs to try and strengthen his legs. He asked about my kids and my mother-in-law, which he almost never does. Most of the time he tells me stories I have heard fifty times over, or he complains the President Bush is ruining the country. (His case on that is based in part on selling his house for $142,000, when he brought it for $44,000. The inflated value is because Bush printed too much money. The fact that he bought it in the 70's and sold it in the 90's, when Clinton was president, does not affect his stance.)
I finally got out the Halloween stuff. We have yet to get costumes for the kids. We also were notified of a trunk or treat, so I am wondering if there will be any trick or treaters this year. Times change.
End of Entry
Hackers' poster boy, Kevin Mitnick, gave CNN an interview. I remember the story of the guy who caught him, although now his name escapes me.
I went out to dinner with my dad last night. It was one of those nights when he is feeling good. He walked without his walker, and told me he has been trying to walk around a bit. This is good, he needs to try and strengthen his legs. He asked about my kids and my mother-in-law, which he almost never does. Most of the time he tells me stories I have heard fifty times over, or he complains the President Bush is ruining the country. (His case on that is based in part on selling his house for $142,000, when he brought it for $44,000. The inflated value is because Bush printed too much money. The fact that he bought it in the 70's and sold it in the 90's, when Clinton was president, does not affect his stance.)
I finally got out the Halloween stuff. We have yet to get costumes for the kids. We also were notified of a trunk or treat, so I am wondering if there will be any trick or treaters this year. Times change.
End of Entry
Monday, October 10, 2005
Star Wars: Battlegrounds
Stardate 59101.0 (10-10-2005)
Just a quick entry. The school play was good, but I thought the first one Rachel was in was more entertaining. Both Rachel and Patrick had a good time with it, although they were getting tired of rehearsals. Spending 12-13 hours a day at school gets old quick. It's impressive that two guys can get 30 odd kids to memorize lines and act in one week. Rachel was a little stilted, and she was initially disappointed she did not get to speak, but then found out she did get one line and a group song. This made her happy. Patrick was more relaxed, and maybe a little to much. He was an evil fly trap, and got to chase flies and knights around. He enjoyed being one of the bad guys, and did a little dance walking off the stage for the last act. Everyone thought it was funny, except for April.
I bought a cheap desk for the old computer, and got it set back up again. The bearings on the CPU fan are wearing out, because it screams when you power it up. The fan runs for a couple of seconds, stops, and starts running again. If I hold my finger on it just enough to let it turn, it runs fine. I'll have to see about getting a replacement.
I bought Star Wars: Battleground cheap at Walmart. It's basically Age Of Empires II with Star Wars units. Patrick and I had a good time teaming up against the computer in multiplayer mode with two computers. I could see him getting into MMOG's, but not yet.
End of Entry.
Just a quick entry. The school play was good, but I thought the first one Rachel was in was more entertaining. Both Rachel and Patrick had a good time with it, although they were getting tired of rehearsals. Spending 12-13 hours a day at school gets old quick. It's impressive that two guys can get 30 odd kids to memorize lines and act in one week. Rachel was a little stilted, and she was initially disappointed she did not get to speak, but then found out she did get one line and a group song. This made her happy. Patrick was more relaxed, and maybe a little to much. He was an evil fly trap, and got to chase flies and knights around. He enjoyed being one of the bad guys, and did a little dance walking off the stage for the last act. Everyone thought it was funny, except for April.
I bought a cheap desk for the old computer, and got it set back up again. The bearings on the CPU fan are wearing out, because it screams when you power it up. The fan runs for a couple of seconds, stops, and starts running again. If I hold my finger on it just enough to let it turn, it runs fine. I'll have to see about getting a replacement.
I bought Star Wars: Battleground cheap at Walmart. It's basically Age Of Empires II with Star Wars units. Patrick and I had a good time teaming up against the computer in multiplayer mode with two computers. I could see him getting into MMOG's, but not yet.
End of Entry.
Friday, September 30, 2005
TV Viewing
Stardate 59093.0 (9-30-2005)
Obviously, I am just not into the things normal people are. This comic borrowed from PVP illustrates the point:
I looked at a TV Guide preview of the returning fall shows about a week ago, and realized I don't know a few of them, and don't care to watch most of them. I fell asleep on the season premiere of CSI:, and never finished with the season premiere of The Simpsons. I tried Desperate Housewives because April watches it, and was bored. I did catch Lost, but I am getting impatient with it. The Amazing Race 8 looks to be fun, though. It's about the only show I will go out of my way to watch.
On the other hand, C# for LEGO Mindstorm looks fun. Patrick and I could waste a lot of time on that. We could build robots to do tomorrow what we do every day, TRY and TAKE OVER THE WORLD! (Paraphasing The Brain from Pinky and The Brain.)
Mood: Good
Music: 1985 (No idea who the artist is)
End of Entry
Obviously, I am just not into the things normal people are. This comic borrowed from PVP illustrates the point:
I looked at a TV Guide preview of the returning fall shows about a week ago, and realized I don't know a few of them, and don't care to watch most of them. I fell asleep on the season premiere of CSI:, and never finished with the season premiere of The Simpsons. I tried Desperate Housewives because April watches it, and was bored. I did catch Lost, but I am getting impatient with it. The Amazing Race 8 looks to be fun, though. It's about the only show I will go out of my way to watch.
On the other hand, C# for LEGO Mindstorm looks fun. Patrick and I could waste a lot of time on that. We could build robots to do tomorrow what we do every day, TRY and TAKE OVER THE WORLD! (Paraphasing The Brain from Pinky and The Brain.)
Mood: Good
Music: 1985 (No idea who the artist is)
End of Entry
Monday, September 26, 2005
MountainCon 1
Stardate 59092.6 (9-26-2005)
Random notes: Kibizt (or kibbitz) is indeed Yiddish in origin, but it is an English word. I used it at dinner Saturday, and Drama wanted to know if I was Jewish. No, I'm not. English is a polygot language. I remember back in the mists of time reading that English absorbs words from other languages at a phenomenal rate. 10,000 new words were introduced within 50 years after the Norman invasion in 1066 A.D. (or C.E.), mostly synonyms. The example given was that before, there was only one word meaning "Of the king", kingly. The French speaking Norman persons added Majestic and Royal. This is
a good thing, since 'What a kingly view!' and 'You are a kingly pain in the behind'
just don't have the same ring. Just be glad I didn't drop into Techspeak (The words are English, but I have not idea what you said.)
Vaughn Armstrong talked about his obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child. I think just about every child has some sort of OCD. Patrick will ask how many minutes it will take to go from one place to another, and will expect an exact number. (I do the same thing, I just learned not to do it out loud.) That's probably not OCD, but I do it anyway.
Thomas scored his first goal in soccer Saturday. April was stuck with ferrying the kids from one game to the next, along with a birthday party and Cub Scout function. I got to read my ebook at the con.
I got a new laptop at work last week. This week I found what I had failed to transfer off the old one, all of the training manuals I have been working on for the past month. Not a big deal to lose, but annoying.
Someone sent me this:
Weight: 192.5 lbs
Mood: Strange (which is normal for me)
Music of the Moment: None. One of the wires pulled loose from my headphones. It bugs me to listen to music in one ear only.
Random notes: Kibizt (or kibbitz) is indeed Yiddish in origin, but it is an English word. I used it at dinner Saturday, and Drama wanted to know if I was Jewish. No, I'm not. English is a polygot language. I remember back in the mists of time reading that English absorbs words from other languages at a phenomenal rate. 10,000 new words were introduced within 50 years after the Norman invasion in 1066 A.D. (or C.E.), mostly synonyms. The example given was that before, there was only one word meaning "Of the king", kingly. The French speaking Norman persons added Majestic and Royal. This is
a good thing, since 'What a kingly view!' and 'You are a kingly pain in the behind'
just don't have the same ring. Just be glad I didn't drop into Techspeak (The words are English, but I have not idea what you said.)
Vaughn Armstrong talked about his obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child. I think just about every child has some sort of OCD. Patrick will ask how many minutes it will take to go from one place to another, and will expect an exact number. (I do the same thing, I just learned not to do it out loud.) That's probably not OCD, but I do it anyway.
Thomas scored his first goal in soccer Saturday. April was stuck with ferrying the kids from one game to the next, along with a birthday party and Cub Scout function. I got to read my ebook at the con.
I got a new laptop at work last week. This week I found what I had failed to transfer off the old one, all of the training manuals I have been working on for the past month. Not a big deal to lose, but annoying.
Someone sent me this:
Stress Management 101
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water? "
Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."
"Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!"
And then he shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
--Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
I'd rather be neither.
--Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
But then many will not hear.
--Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
--Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.
--If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
--If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
Not if his friends show up.
--It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
I always thought my purpose was to insult everyone in the Universe in alphabetical order. Wait, that's Wowbagger.
--Never buy a car you can't push.
Then what's AAA for?
--Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
--Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
--Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
Depending on whether you are the worm or the bird. POV means a lot.
--The second mouse gets the cheese.
For the life of me, I can figure this one out.
--When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
A variation on: "The light at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of the oncoming train."
--Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
See below.
--You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
--Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
--We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
--A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
Major Premise: Man is mortal.
Minor Premise: I am a man.
Conclusion: I am mortal.
Loophole: If I act like a child, I'll live forever.
Acting like a child is good, but I'd love to EAT like a child again. The effects of a bad diet
show up this week:
Weight: 192.5 lbs
Mood: Strange (which is normal for me)
Music of the Moment: None. One of the wires pulled loose from my headphones. It bugs me to listen to music in one ear only.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
MountainCon 1
Stardate 59092.5 (9-25-2005)
Mountain-Con 1 went off, thanks to a huge effort from a dedicated group of fans lead by Carl Stark. It was a hit with every attendee I talked to. It was a little smaller than was hoped, but that did lead to a side benefit. Every convention I've been to over the years has always pushed you through a long line to get autographs. You were not allowed personalized autographs, and in some cases, you were not allowed to speak to the person signing. I didn't stand in a long line, and everyone got to talk to the guests.
Vaughn Armstrong gave a good show, and Bill Blair's after show "costume" was amusing.
After the Switchblade Kittens did their show, I got to play Roadie and help them load up the equipment. I enjoyed their show, especially the tribute to "Theasarus" Kitten, and watching 1 year old Kaylee getup on stage and dance. We went to dinner where I had fun listening to Tonya and Drama reminisce.
I think we should do this again.
End of Entry
Mountain-Con 1 went off, thanks to a huge effort from a dedicated group of fans lead by Carl Stark. It was a hit with every attendee I talked to. It was a little smaller than was hoped, but that did lead to a side benefit. Every convention I've been to over the years has always pushed you through a long line to get autographs. You were not allowed personalized autographs, and in some cases, you were not allowed to speak to the person signing. I didn't stand in a long line, and everyone got to talk to the guests.
Vaughn Armstrong gave a good show, and Bill Blair's after show "costume" was amusing.
After the Switchblade Kittens did their show, I got to play Roadie and help them load up the equipment. I enjoyed their show, especially the tribute to "Theasarus" Kitten, and watching 1 year old Kaylee getup on stage and dance. We went to dinner where I had fun listening to Tonya and Drama reminisce.
I think we should do this again.
End of Entry
Saturday, September 17, 2005
FEMA Respone
Stardate 59091.7 (9-17-2005)
A Shadow did a post about FEMA, and the flak they have been taking from the media. To put a comment on there, I'd need to create an account, which I don't want to do just to reply. And I have a blog as well. So here's my comments:
Could I have done a better job? No.
Did FEMA do the best it could with the resources it had? Yes.
Were the resources totally inadequate for the task? Yes.
Was the scope of the disaster unanticipated? Nope. The fact that a cat 4 or 5 hurricane would hit the Gulf Coast has been talked about since before warnings of a major earthquake on the Wasatch Front.
The damage Katrina did dwarfs Andrew and Camille. But the fact that FEMA and others were overwhelmed by the relief efforts is frightening. They had several days of warning. An earthquake or volcano generally does not give that.
I heard a commentator a couple of days after Katrina say the evacuation of New Orleans was the fastest, most efficient, and well done of any major city. So long as you had a car and money. That was an unanticipated problem. I heard and interview with the director of the SuperDome say the Sunday before the building could easily withstand a category 5 hurricane. Now I am hearing it will need to be torn down.
There are a lot of lessons here. The communications breakdown hampered relief efforts. Air efforts were overwhelmed with rescues, and unable to do anything about dropping food.
From the media coverage, no one was in charge. The President was in San Diego. Mike Brown admitted he did not know anyone was at the NO Convention Center until CNN reported it.
As I said, there are a lot of lessons. FEMA takes the heat over it, because this is thier responsibility. The media is slanted to the sensational, but it does drive the need to make reforms to handle future issues.
Weight this morning: 189 lbs
End of Entry
A Shadow did a post about FEMA, and the flak they have been taking from the media. To put a comment on there, I'd need to create an account, which I don't want to do just to reply. And I have a blog as well. So here's my comments:
Could I have done a better job? No.
Did FEMA do the best it could with the resources it had? Yes.
Were the resources totally inadequate for the task? Yes.
Was the scope of the disaster unanticipated? Nope. The fact that a cat 4 or 5 hurricane would hit the Gulf Coast has been talked about since before warnings of a major earthquake on the Wasatch Front.
The damage Katrina did dwarfs Andrew and Camille. But the fact that FEMA and others were overwhelmed by the relief efforts is frightening. They had several days of warning. An earthquake or volcano generally does not give that.
I heard a commentator a couple of days after Katrina say the evacuation of New Orleans was the fastest, most efficient, and well done of any major city. So long as you had a car and money. That was an unanticipated problem. I heard and interview with the director of the SuperDome say the Sunday before the building could easily withstand a category 5 hurricane. Now I am hearing it will need to be torn down.
There are a lot of lessons here. The communications breakdown hampered relief efforts. Air efforts were overwhelmed with rescues, and unable to do anything about dropping food.
From the media coverage, no one was in charge. The President was in San Diego. Mike Brown admitted he did not know anyone was at the NO Convention Center until CNN reported it.
As I said, there are a lot of lessons. FEMA takes the heat over it, because this is thier responsibility. The media is slanted to the sensational, but it does drive the need to make reforms to handle future issues.
Weight this morning: 189 lbs
End of Entry
Monday, September 12, 2005
Thomas first baby tooth lost
Stardate 59091.2 (9-12-2005)
Thomas lost his first baby tooth yesterday. It was the bottom, on the right (as you look in his mouth) of the two center teeth. Not much else to record, but I thought I'd better get this down before I forget.
End of Entry
Thomas lost his first baby tooth yesterday. It was the bottom, on the right (as you look in his mouth) of the two center teeth. Not much else to record, but I thought I'd better get this down before I forget.
End of Entry
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Venting over
Stardate 59091.0 (9-10-2005)
Venting is over. The issue with Qwest is not resolved, but I am at least online, and I have been able to address some web issues. So I am in a better mood.
School is now in it's second week. Thomas is doing great and seems to enjoy it. He's had some rough spots though. The first day, the teacher lined the kids up in the hall to go to lunch. Thomas lined up, but lost his shoe. He stopped to put it back on, and when he looked up, the class was gone. The poor kid had no idea where they went, so he went back into the classroom and sat down in his chair sobbing. April was at the school doing some volunteer work, and happened to glance in the room and find him. Last week the teacher lost him again at the end of school. This time he simply went out with the other class.
Patrick is doing well in school, although he is complaining of being bored. I think that will change, but I am not sure.
Rachel is hating school, at least that's what she tells me. I don't think she hates it, but she definately does not like some of the subjects, including math. Not sure what to tell her, except that she will learn it.
The first soccer games were today. I am coaching Thomas's team. Their first game went pretty much as expected, in that most of the kids didn't get it. One boy, whose brother plays, did very well. Thomas got upset when the other team scored, crying that his team was going to lose. He calmed back down in after a minute. Patrick's game was at the same time, so I didn't get to watch it. But when I went back to pick him up, the other parents told me he did a outstanding job as goalie the last half of the game, blocking all but one of the kicks. Rachel scored a goal, and again I was not there. She does play well, even though she wanted to quit during the summer.
Mood: Better
Weight: up a little
Song of the moment (the one that is going through my head): "Knights of the Round Table" from the Original Soundtrack to the Broadway play Spamalot!
"We're Knights of the Roundtable.
We dance when 're we're able.
We do routines, and chorus scenes,
and footwork impecc-able.
We dine well here in Camelot.
We eat ham and jam and spam a lot."
"We're Knights of the Roundtable.
Our shows are for-mid-able.
But many times, we're given rhymes,
that are quite unsing-able.
We're opera mad in Camelot,
we sing from the diaphragm a lot."
"We're Knights of the Roundtable.
Although we live in a fable,
We're not just bums, with royal mums,
We've brains that are quite able.
We've a busy life in Camelot...
I have to push the pram a lot."
End of Entry
Venting is over. The issue with Qwest is not resolved, but I am at least online, and I have been able to address some web issues. So I am in a better mood.
School is now in it's second week. Thomas is doing great and seems to enjoy it. He's had some rough spots though. The first day, the teacher lined the kids up in the hall to go to lunch. Thomas lined up, but lost his shoe. He stopped to put it back on, and when he looked up, the class was gone. The poor kid had no idea where they went, so he went back into the classroom and sat down in his chair sobbing. April was at the school doing some volunteer work, and happened to glance in the room and find him. Last week the teacher lost him again at the end of school. This time he simply went out with the other class.
Patrick is doing well in school, although he is complaining of being bored. I think that will change, but I am not sure.
Rachel is hating school, at least that's what she tells me. I don't think she hates it, but she definately does not like some of the subjects, including math. Not sure what to tell her, except that she will learn it.
The first soccer games were today. I am coaching Thomas's team. Their first game went pretty much as expected, in that most of the kids didn't get it. One boy, whose brother plays, did very well. Thomas got upset when the other team scored, crying that his team was going to lose. He calmed back down in after a minute. Patrick's game was at the same time, so I didn't get to watch it. But when I went back to pick him up, the other parents told me he did a outstanding job as goalie the last half of the game, blocking all but one of the kicks. Rachel scored a goal, and again I was not there. She does play well, even though she wanted to quit during the summer.
Mood: Better
Weight: up a little
Song of the moment (the one that is going through my head): "Knights of the Round Table" from the Original Soundtrack to the Broadway play Spamalot!
"We're Knights of the Roundtable.
We dance when 're we're able.
We do routines, and chorus scenes,
and footwork impecc-able.
We dine well here in Camelot.
We eat ham and jam and spam a lot."
"We're Knights of the Roundtable.
Our shows are for-mid-able.
But many times, we're given rhymes,
that are quite unsing-able.
We're opera mad in Camelot,
we sing from the diaphragm a lot."
"We're Knights of the Roundtable.
Although we live in a fable,
We're not just bums, with royal mums,
We've brains that are quite able.
We've a busy life in Camelot...
I have to push the pram a lot."
End of Entry
Friday, September 09, 2005
Qwest
Stardate 59090.9 (9-9-2005)
Qwest is full of idiots. Saturday email stopped, and I could only sporatically get web pages. It was Labor Day weekend, so I decided to wait until after the holiday to call tech support. I did ping the router, and the modem. The router responded fine, the modem kept getting 50 to 100% packet loss. I took the router out of the setup, and pinged the modem again. Same thing. Tuesday, out of curiousity, I pinged the DSL modem from work. It responds fine. My conclusion: the Ethernet board on the modem is damaged. I call Xmission Tuesday night (I learned the first time, Qwest techs will not talk to me unless I call the ISP first). After 20 minutes, the Xmission tech reaches the same conclusion (another lesson learned even farther back, don't give the call center techs a clue, at least initially, that you have any idea how this stuff works. Apologies to the tech call center readers, but it seems to put them in a defensive mood. Besides, a good tech will go through the steps again just to be sure.) I call Qwest. After holding in the queue for 30 minutes, the guy on the phone notes I do not have QWEST.NET as my ISP. He tells me to call my ISP. I told him I have already done that. He grumbles, then asked if they had me look at anything. I said yes, the standard cycle the power on the modem, cycle the power on the computer, check settings, etc. Grumble again. He's going to get them on the line. HANGS UP ON ME! They asked for my phone number at the beginning of the call in case they needed to call back because of a disconnect. I needed to get the kids to bed anyway, so I waited a while. No callback. Called again, 30 minutes in the queue again. A lady with an Indian accent answers. She at least walks through the diagnostic steps. The annoying thing is she insisted on being very clear, like 'P as in Pirate, I as in India, N as in Nancy, G as in George, now press the space bar, then 1, and 9, and 2, DOT, 1 and 6, and 8, DOT, 0 , that's a zero and not an Oh, DOT, 1.' Long pause, and I already typed it out or up-arrowed while she went through the litany. 'Now type Enter.' One and a half hours of this. She finally concludes the ISP's server is down. WTF? Time to let her know I am not stupid. I tell I can ping the ISP's server, although I get the same loss since it has to go through the DSL to get there. I tell her I can hook a router up, and it responses perfectly. I can put other computers on the modem, and they all have the same issue. I calmly tell her I don't agree. Every piece of equipement has been swapped except the modem, and the problem persists. I already talked to the ISP, they are up and running. The modem is faulty, and it's probably the Ethernet board. No, she can ping it, it's fine. Qwest must have some magical version of PING out of Star Trek that reports all sorts of diagnostic info.
Anyway, Xmission loaned me a modem, and lo!, it works. Nothing else on the system has changed. They are going to find someone at Qwest with brains who will RMA the modem.
Normally, I wouldn't care that much, but this month I need access to the internet.
Weight this week: 188 lbs.
Mood: Fucking Pissed Off (No cute icon for this)
End of entry
Qwest is full of idiots. Saturday email stopped, and I could only sporatically get web pages. It was Labor Day weekend, so I decided to wait until after the holiday to call tech support. I did ping the router, and the modem. The router responded fine, the modem kept getting 50 to 100% packet loss. I took the router out of the setup, and pinged the modem again. Same thing. Tuesday, out of curiousity, I pinged the DSL modem from work. It responds fine. My conclusion: the Ethernet board on the modem is damaged. I call Xmission Tuesday night (I learned the first time, Qwest techs will not talk to me unless I call the ISP first). After 20 minutes, the Xmission tech reaches the same conclusion (another lesson learned even farther back, don't give the call center techs a clue, at least initially, that you have any idea how this stuff works. Apologies to the tech call center readers, but it seems to put them in a defensive mood. Besides, a good tech will go through the steps again just to be sure.) I call Qwest. After holding in the queue for 30 minutes, the guy on the phone notes I do not have QWEST.NET as my ISP. He tells me to call my ISP. I told him I have already done that. He grumbles, then asked if they had me look at anything. I said yes, the standard cycle the power on the modem, cycle the power on the computer, check settings, etc. Grumble again. He's going to get them on the line. HANGS UP ON ME! They asked for my phone number at the beginning of the call in case they needed to call back because of a disconnect. I needed to get the kids to bed anyway, so I waited a while. No callback. Called again, 30 minutes in the queue again. A lady with an Indian accent answers. She at least walks through the diagnostic steps. The annoying thing is she insisted on being very clear, like 'P as in Pirate, I as in India, N as in Nancy, G as in George, now press the space bar, then 1, and 9, and 2, DOT, 1 and 6, and 8, DOT, 0 , that's a zero and not an Oh, DOT, 1.' Long pause, and I already typed it out or up-arrowed while she went through the litany. 'Now type Enter.' One and a half hours of this. She finally concludes the ISP's server is down. WTF? Time to let her know I am not stupid. I tell I can ping the ISP's server, although I get the same loss since it has to go through the DSL to get there. I tell her I can hook a router up, and it responses perfectly. I can put other computers on the modem, and they all have the same issue. I calmly tell her I don't agree. Every piece of equipement has been swapped except the modem, and the problem persists. I already talked to the ISP, they are up and running. The modem is faulty, and it's probably the Ethernet board. No, she can ping it, it's fine. Qwest must have some magical version of PING out of Star Trek that reports all sorts of diagnostic info.
Anyway, Xmission loaned me a modem, and lo!, it works. Nothing else on the system has changed. They are going to find someone at Qwest with brains who will RMA the modem.
Normally, I wouldn't care that much, but this month I need access to the internet.
Weight this week: 188 lbs.
Mood: Fucking Pissed Off (No cute icon for this)
End of entry
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Confessions
Stardate 59082.7 (8-27-2005)
Confession, it has been said, is good for the soul. Elden Nelson, the Fat Cyclist blogged his confessions this week. Some of them were very funny, such as spending Saturday watching the hit statistics on his site, and There is no single entry in this blog that is entirely honest. I found the blog through Eric Gunnerson, and I have been reading it regularly. I just have not added it to my blogs page. It seems pretty popular. There are even references to him from the UK. Why a guy who publicly posts his weight each day to shame himself into losing it is so popular, I don’t know. He is funny, though.
So, in that vein, some things I confess:
* I have been on a Weight Watchers diet for the last four months.
* I am not sure this is a confession, though. I think I mentioned I was dieting. I don’t think I mentioned the method. I have tried a few others, such as eDiets. I like Weight Watchers because of the Flex Plan. You log everything you eat, and the exercise you do. There are suggested menus, but you don’t need to follow them. eDiets had menus you needed to follow. I like that, because there are foods I don’t like, and I have to prepare these things in advance. Some things I did not recognize, so how would I buy them at the store? Not to mention that I would not be someplace convenient to eat them.I have tried this before.
* In 2000, I got all the way down to 175, and hit a plateau. I got sick and made it to 168 one day, but that was it. I was not exercising, though, and if I had been I might have lost a little more. The problem was that I could not keep it up. I was too hungry.I don’t ride a bicycle.
* At least, not on a regular basis. The one I have is covered in dust. When I was young, I used to ride a few miles to the mall every Saturday in the summer. By high school that was uncool. I miss it now. I have tried to ride again, but I find it very scary now. There are a lot more cars now. And some of the drivers are oblivious to bikes. I do like to exercise.
The company I work for has a fitness room. There are weights, a universal, bike machines, and treadmills. I confess I like walking on a treadmill. It makes me feel good. I like to lift weights.
As of last Friday, I weighed 191 lbs.
End of Entry
Confession, it has been said, is good for the soul. Elden Nelson, the Fat Cyclist blogged his confessions this week. Some of them were very funny, such as spending Saturday watching the hit statistics on his site, and There is no single entry in this blog that is entirely honest. I found the blog through Eric Gunnerson, and I have been reading it regularly. I just have not added it to my blogs page. It seems pretty popular. There are even references to him from the UK. Why a guy who publicly posts his weight each day to shame himself into losing it is so popular, I don’t know. He is funny, though.
So, in that vein, some things I confess:
* I have been on a Weight Watchers diet for the last four months.
* I am not sure this is a confession, though. I think I mentioned I was dieting. I don’t think I mentioned the method. I have tried a few others, such as eDiets. I like Weight Watchers because of the Flex Plan. You log everything you eat, and the exercise you do. There are suggested menus, but you don’t need to follow them. eDiets had menus you needed to follow. I like that, because there are foods I don’t like, and I have to prepare these things in advance. Some things I did not recognize, so how would I buy them at the store? Not to mention that I would not be someplace convenient to eat them.I have tried this before.
* In 2000, I got all the way down to 175, and hit a plateau. I got sick and made it to 168 one day, but that was it. I was not exercising, though, and if I had been I might have lost a little more. The problem was that I could not keep it up. I was too hungry.I don’t ride a bicycle.
* At least, not on a regular basis. The one I have is covered in dust. When I was young, I used to ride a few miles to the mall every Saturday in the summer. By high school that was uncool. I miss it now. I have tried to ride again, but I find it very scary now. There are a lot more cars now. And some of the drivers are oblivious to bikes. I do like to exercise.
The company I work for has a fitness room. There are weights, a universal, bike machines, and treadmills. I confess I like walking on a treadmill. It makes me feel good. I like to lift weights.
As of last Friday, I weighed 191 lbs.
End of Entry
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Work, PHP, and Paypal
Stardate 59081.3 (8-13-2005)
Okay, it's been a while. I've been very busy, mostly with work, but some time has been spent with Mountain Con. Work is mainly busy because my boss quit, and I've been taking up some of the work. Someone in another group told me walking in one morning that they were told I was the new supervisor. Flattering, but not path I want to take. The problem is I would be doing what I have been doing for the last ten years. I want something new, something different. I feel a little stagnate mentally, and I'd like a different view of software development. I am doing some training next week, and I will be pushing an agenda for the group I have suggested before, only to be dismissed. There is no one to dismiss it now, so I might as well go ahead.
The Paypal stuff for Mountain-Con was interesting. It took a while because they have two methods of doing online payments. The documentation does not do a good job of delineating the differences between them. It took a lot of searching to find the right information. But it works now. The PHP language is pretty fun to work with, and the site, PHP.net, is well organized. They have version 5, and the stuff on Xmission is version 4. I'd like to see if they have 5 or not.
April has been busy with getting ready for school. She's into in more this year because she is president of the Parent-Teacher Group. So there is a lot of organizing, meetings, and other work for her to do. And there is still Girl Scouts and a full time job. We have given up all the soccer jobs. I will coach Thomas, but that's it. This year will be interesting for that, too. Three kids playing soccer, which means three practices, and three games. Rachel also has tennis lessons, and Patrick needs to start religious education classes. I don't anticipate a night off for a while.
Thomas and Patrick are doing swimming lessons. I think this will be Patrick's last set of lessons. He dog-paddles around the pool now, and can dive under objects. Thomas can duck his head underwater, and is working on floating.
End of Entry
Okay, it's been a while. I've been very busy, mostly with work, but some time has been spent with Mountain Con. Work is mainly busy because my boss quit, and I've been taking up some of the work. Someone in another group told me walking in one morning that they were told I was the new supervisor. Flattering, but not path I want to take. The problem is I would be doing what I have been doing for the last ten years. I want something new, something different. I feel a little stagnate mentally, and I'd like a different view of software development. I am doing some training next week, and I will be pushing an agenda for the group I have suggested before, only to be dismissed. There is no one to dismiss it now, so I might as well go ahead.
The Paypal stuff for Mountain-Con was interesting. It took a while because they have two methods of doing online payments. The documentation does not do a good job of delineating the differences between them. It took a lot of searching to find the right information. But it works now. The PHP language is pretty fun to work with, and the site, PHP.net, is well organized. They have version 5, and the stuff on Xmission is version 4. I'd like to see if they have 5 or not.
April has been busy with getting ready for school. She's into in more this year because she is president of the Parent-Teacher Group. So there is a lot of organizing, meetings, and other work for her to do. And there is still Girl Scouts and a full time job. We have given up all the soccer jobs. I will coach Thomas, but that's it. This year will be interesting for that, too. Three kids playing soccer, which means three practices, and three games. Rachel also has tennis lessons, and Patrick needs to start religious education classes. I don't anticipate a night off for a while.
Thomas and Patrick are doing swimming lessons. I think this will be Patrick's last set of lessons. He dog-paddles around the pool now, and can dive under objects. Thomas can duck his head underwater, and is working on floating.
End of Entry
Monday, July 25, 2005
Camp Kesiel
Stardate 59072.5 (7-25-2006)
Patrick went to Scout camp at Camp Kiesel last weekend. The theme was pirates, and they did a small skit from Treasure Island. Patrick got to make a sailboat (from a fry box, drinking straw, and paper), learned to tie some knots, row a boat, shoot some arrows, and shoot a BB gun. We were there all day Saturday.
Friday was the school pool party at the Roy Aquatic center. Thomas had a number of friends show up, and so did Rachel. Patrick had one, which is unusual. They had a good time. We talked with another parent about getting Thomas and some of his friends in Cub Scouts as Tigers.
Sunday we finished the new floor in the room downstairs. The dog, in a fit of pique, had defecated all over the room about a month ago. We ripped up the carpet, and installed a ‘floating’ Pergo hardwood floor. Basically you put down the planks without glue. It looks pretty good for an amateur job. We still need to get the baseboards down, and then Rachel is moving down there. Her room will be the new playroom for a while. Patrick wants to move into that room, although Thomas does not want a room to himself.
After that, we went to see “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”. It was good, but I thought the first was better. I think because Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow is known, and not an off the wall thing as the first show. Depp got back into the character, though. It did answer the nagging question I had about Will Turner’s father. The ending was a little surprising. I won’t give it away, but it’s the movies and no one stays dead. It’s worth seeing.
Monday’s dinner with Dad fell in the same pattern. I ordered a Sizzler steak medium, and when I got it, it was red all the way through (almost raw in the middle). They did get it right the second time.
I saw an article on MSN about wireless washing machines. The idea is that it calls your cell phone when it’s done. I agree with one lady’s assessment that it’s an answer in search of a problem. I did get a laugh out of the idea of excusing yourself from a staff meeting because your appliance needs you, or having to instruct the machine to hand the load to the dryer and telling it you expect it done and folded by the time you get home.
End of Entry
Patrick went to Scout camp at Camp Kiesel last weekend. The theme was pirates, and they did a small skit from Treasure Island. Patrick got to make a sailboat (from a fry box, drinking straw, and paper), learned to tie some knots, row a boat, shoot some arrows, and shoot a BB gun. We were there all day Saturday.
Friday was the school pool party at the Roy Aquatic center. Thomas had a number of friends show up, and so did Rachel. Patrick had one, which is unusual. They had a good time. We talked with another parent about getting Thomas and some of his friends in Cub Scouts as Tigers.
Sunday we finished the new floor in the room downstairs. The dog, in a fit of pique, had defecated all over the room about a month ago. We ripped up the carpet, and installed a ‘floating’ Pergo hardwood floor. Basically you put down the planks without glue. It looks pretty good for an amateur job. We still need to get the baseboards down, and then Rachel is moving down there. Her room will be the new playroom for a while. Patrick wants to move into that room, although Thomas does not want a room to himself.
After that, we went to see “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”. It was good, but I thought the first was better. I think because Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow is known, and not an off the wall thing as the first show. Depp got back into the character, though. It did answer the nagging question I had about Will Turner’s father. The ending was a little surprising. I won’t give it away, but it’s the movies and no one stays dead. It’s worth seeing.
Monday’s dinner with Dad fell in the same pattern. I ordered a Sizzler steak medium, and when I got it, it was red all the way through (almost raw in the middle). They did get it right the second time.
I saw an article on MSN about wireless washing machines. The idea is that it calls your cell phone when it’s done. I agree with one lady’s assessment that it’s an answer in search of a problem. I did get a laugh out of the idea of excusing yourself from a staff meeting because your appliance needs you, or having to instruct the machine to hand the load to the dryer and telling it you expect it done and folded by the time you get home.
End of Entry
Monday, July 18, 2005
Blocking
Stardate 59071.8 (7-18-2006)
Hot weather is now here. It’s been in the triple digits the last few days. April and Rachel did a yard sale on Saturday, and netted $50. That’s not bad for a bunch of used books and videos. April shut down early because of the heat.
We took in a friends son for a week while she went out of town. Hans is a good kid, but his main source of entertainment is video games, and he took every chance he could to jump on Runescape.com. I had the firewall block it out from 10 PM to 10 AM just so he would not spend 24 hours a day on it. April had me take the PS 2 away as well, although I took pity on the sitter Monday and put it back.
Patrick had been staying over at a friend’s house before Hans came, and he came home pretty tired and moody. Thomas enjoys Hans, so he kept him going.
Wednesdays Ticonderoga meeting was a little disturbing. There was quite a bit of shouting and demanding information. If a little restraint and listening is shown, the meeting could get through faster and more efficiently, and the post-meeting gathering can commence sooner. Carl is borrowing from the scouts to deal with it (the hand in the air when silence is called for). I think stronger measures may be needed. April took the boys to a Raptors game, so Rachel was home alone and I didn’t go to the after meeting gathering.
Sunday April had a baby shower for a coworker, and I convinced the boys into seeing Superman Returns. I thought it was a good movie. Brandon Roush did a wonderful channel of Christopher Reeves. I would have liked a different villain from Lex Luthor, but oh, well. After that we went fishing at Bountiful Pond. I like the place, but it was too hot to stay long.
Monday’s I go out to dinner with my dad. He is not doing well this week. He did get his scooter fixed after a few go arounds with the manufacturer. The guy that came out to do the repair did a thorough job. He replaced the charger, and tightened the seats.
One small quandary: it seems like every week something goes wrong with the food service. One week my order is forgotten, the next week my dad’s steak is almost raw. Last week service took forever; a bottle of A1 required three requests and fifteen minutes. to get, and that was the fastest service. This week was almost right; Denny’s just didn’t get the requested side order right. It’s a bizarre pattern.
End of Entry
Hot weather is now here. It’s been in the triple digits the last few days. April and Rachel did a yard sale on Saturday, and netted $50. That’s not bad for a bunch of used books and videos. April shut down early because of the heat.
We took in a friends son for a week while she went out of town. Hans is a good kid, but his main source of entertainment is video games, and he took every chance he could to jump on Runescape.com. I had the firewall block it out from 10 PM to 10 AM just so he would not spend 24 hours a day on it. April had me take the PS 2 away as well, although I took pity on the sitter Monday and put it back.
Patrick had been staying over at a friend’s house before Hans came, and he came home pretty tired and moody. Thomas enjoys Hans, so he kept him going.
Wednesdays Ticonderoga meeting was a little disturbing. There was quite a bit of shouting and demanding information. If a little restraint and listening is shown, the meeting could get through faster and more efficiently, and the post-meeting gathering can commence sooner. Carl is borrowing from the scouts to deal with it (the hand in the air when silence is called for). I think stronger measures may be needed. April took the boys to a Raptors game, so Rachel was home alone and I didn’t go to the after meeting gathering.
Sunday April had a baby shower for a coworker, and I convinced the boys into seeing Superman Returns. I thought it was a good movie. Brandon Roush did a wonderful channel of Christopher Reeves. I would have liked a different villain from Lex Luthor, but oh, well. After that we went fishing at Bountiful Pond. I like the place, but it was too hot to stay long.
Monday’s I go out to dinner with my dad. He is not doing well this week. He did get his scooter fixed after a few go arounds with the manufacturer. The guy that came out to do the repair did a thorough job. He replaced the charger, and tightened the seats.
One small quandary: it seems like every week something goes wrong with the food service. One week my order is forgotten, the next week my dad’s steak is almost raw. Last week service took forever; a bottle of A1 required three requests and fifteen minutes. to get, and that was the fastest service. This week was almost right; Denny’s just didn’t get the requested side order right. It’s a bizarre pattern.
End of Entry
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Assume the identity
Stardate 58063.0 (6-30-2005)
things in. I got a warning today from Visual Studio .NET after added a module to
a project:
Basically, I am replacing the old module with a newer one.
The wording that caught my eye was “assume the identity”. My first reaction
to it was "What, the credit card numbers and everything?" What if a
similar message was in Windows Explorer? "The file foo.txt already exists
in C:\TEMP. Clicking Yes will allow the new file
to assume the identity of foo.txt in C:\TEMP." That would have a few users
panic. Better yet, transfer the developer to the Office software division. Then
Mr. PaperClip can have options like
"You are about to save bar.doc. This already exists in
the same location. Do you want to?
Continue. The item will automatically assume the identity of the existing item.
Move the item to a new location. You will need to visit your local Post Office
to fill out the appropriate change of address forms.
Allow the new item to create several false identities.
Inform the proper authorities of the identity theft. A Witness Relocation form
will be filled out for you."
The beauty of these is that they are not mutually
exclusive. One or all can be selected.
Humor in the workplace is important, I think. Too many
people get wrapped up in the pressure, and crack. I use sci-fi phases in
response to common questions to help.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing." This is
in response to someone asking me if I will have something ready by a deadline,
usually because a exec is worried. I have an MP3 of it because the doing the
raspy breathing with the deep James Earl Jones voice is really hard.
"You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."
Standard response to a reorg and acquisition notice.
"H'jol! nadev valyinbe'" This is reserved for when I find something I did and I should know better. The fact that it is Klingon always gets someones attention. (The translation is: "Beam me up! There is no intelligent life here.")
"These are not the driods you are looking for."
Accompanied by a slight wave of a hand. When someone comes looking for someone else who is obviously not at their desk.
"In-CON-ceivable!" For the blatantly obvious comment.
"When 900 years old you reach, look this good, you will not." When someone realizes how long I have been with the company.
"Humor. It is a difficult concept. It is not logical." For those worn out office jokes.
Feel free to use them. A word of caution, you may be perceived
as not caring about your work. I've been there long enough that most people know this is not true.
End of Entry
Years ago, I worked for a company that developed games for
various personal computers and consoles, as well as arcade games. They
contracted with the major distributors like Atari and EA. Some of the
distributors wrote language into the contract that the payments to the developer
would be suspended if any extra functionality were added to a game such as
Easter Eggs. I was told several times by a Vice President of IT that I was to
remove the “Arming the photon torpedoes” message from the boot sequence of
one of the UNIX servers, because that was “unprofessional”. The guy was full
of himself for being technology savvy. However, it was all with MS-DOS. He had
no idea how I added the message, and I think it frustrated him. I noticed it was
still there a couple of years after I had moved out of the system administration
job. I still have a script that gets run on a daily basis that has a slightly
updated wording "Arming the quantum torpedoes".
The point of this is that I think developers still sneakvarious personal computers and consoles, as well as arcade games. They
contracted with the major distributors like Atari and EA. Some of the
distributors wrote language into the contract that the payments to the developer
would be suspended if any extra functionality were added to a game such as
Easter Eggs. I was told several times by a Vice President of IT that I was to
remove the “Arming the photon torpedoes” message from the boot sequence of
one of the UNIX servers, because that was “unprofessional”. The guy was full
of himself for being technology savvy. However, it was all with MS-DOS. He had
no idea how I added the message, and I think it frustrated him. I noticed it was
still there a couple of years after I had moved out of the system administration
job. I still have a script that gets run on a daily basis that has a slightly
updated wording "Arming the quantum torpedoes".
things in. I got a warning today from Visual Studio .NET after added a module to
a project:
Basically, I am replacing the old module with a newer one.
The wording that caught my eye was “assume the identity”. My first reaction
to it was "What, the credit card numbers and everything?" What if a
similar message was in Windows Explorer? "The file foo.txt already exists
in C:\TEMP. Clicking Yes will allow the new file
to assume the identity of foo.txt in C:\TEMP." That would have a few users
panic. Better yet, transfer the developer to the Office software division. Then
Mr. PaperClip can have options like
"You are about to save bar.doc. This already exists in
the same location. Do you want to?
Continue. The item will automatically assume the identity of the existing item.
Move the item to a new location. You will need to visit your local Post Office
to fill out the appropriate change of address forms.
Allow the new item to create several false identities.
Inform the proper authorities of the identity theft. A Witness Relocation form
will be filled out for you."
The beauty of these is that they are not mutually
exclusive. One or all can be selected.
Humor in the workplace is important, I think. Too many
people get wrapped up in the pressure, and crack. I use sci-fi phases in
response to common questions to help.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing." This is
in response to someone asking me if I will have something ready by a deadline,
usually because a exec is worried. I have an MP3 of it because the doing the
raspy breathing with the deep James Earl Jones voice is really hard.
"You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."
Standard response to a reorg and acquisition notice.
"H'jol! nadev valyinbe'" This is reserved for when I find something I did and I should know better. The fact that it is Klingon always gets someones attention. (The translation is: "Beam me up! There is no intelligent life here.")
"These are not the driods you are looking for."
Accompanied by a slight wave of a hand. When someone comes looking for someone else who is obviously not at their desk.
"In-CON-ceivable!" For the blatantly obvious comment.
"When 900 years old you reach, look this good, you will not." When someone realizes how long I have been with the company.
"Humor. It is a difficult concept. It is not logical." For those worn out office jokes.
Feel free to use them. A word of caution, you may be perceived
as not caring about your work. I've been there long enough that most people know this is not true.
End of Entry
Monday, June 27, 2005
Moab
Stardate 58062.7 (6-27-2005)
Moab was a nice break. It was not too hot, and we had a good time. I thought that it was funny that the dog was the one most anxious to get home. He kept heading to the car the day we got back to camp from Goblin Valley. It is fun to go camping with friends. Kevin started calling me Tennesee Tim after I bought a new hat.
We tried out the KOA kabin as an experiment. It worked out. We are planning to drive to Indiana and Ohio to visit my brother and brother-in-law. The kabins are much cheaper than a hotel room, and we can sleep five a lot easier. Dayton, though, was a problem. Seems to be popular.
There were 168 emails at work when I got in Monday. A lot of questions, issues, and other stuff that seems like only I can solve. I was only gone the weekend.
MySQL crashed on my computer. I finally figured out why. For some reason, it does not like spaces in the path. So the default install to "Program Files" is bad. It did run for a few days, though, so it can't be as simple as that. I thought problems like that were long gone. I did get it back up and running.
End of Entry
We tried out the KOA kabin as an experiment. It worked out. We are planning to drive to Indiana and Ohio to visit my brother and brother-in-law. The kabins are much cheaper than a hotel room, and we can sleep five a lot easier. Dayton, though, was a problem. Seems to be popular.
There were 168 emails at work when I got in Monday. A lot of questions, issues, and other stuff that seems like only I can solve. I was only gone the weekend.
MySQL crashed on my computer. I finally figured out why. For some reason, it does not like spaces in the path. So the default install to "Program Files" is bad. It did run for a few days, though, so it can't be as simple as that. I thought problems like that were long gone. I did get it back up and running.
End of Entry
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Bad Day
Stardate 58062.2 (6-22-2005)
Today was one of those days. I wake up about a quarter to eight, push Rachel out of bed to get to tennis. I can't find the car keys. After searching for 5 minutes, I do find them. I drop her off, and run back home to fix a web problem. The laptop won't boot. Fix that problem, fix the web problem, and can't find the car keys AGAIN. After an hour of searching, I call triple-A, and they send a locksmith. He can't do anything, the dealer needs to make a new key. He calls for a towtruck. The lawnmower repair guy shows up, and then the towtruck. The repair guy is in the way, the towtruck can't get to the car. The mail carrier can't get to our mailbox. The repair guy finishes, but the mower is on its last legs. The towtruck guys get the cable stuck under the tire dragging the car onto the bed of the truck. They leave tire marks on my driveway. I find the car keys after the towtruck leaves, of course. The car dealer tells me I can't use them, they have already reprogrammed the car. I thought I'd fix the day by doing some And to top it off, I didn't outscore Carl. I got 894 out of 1000.
Well, I was going to get another set of keys, and I am not surprised about the mower. It's years old, and we have beat it up.
April's job is becoming like mine. Even when she has the day off, they are still calling all day.
I have not gotten back to Rome: Total War yet. No time. I did think about some of my victories. A lot were with 40-50% losses. I'm not sure if that's normal, but I might check it out. I do know that was not the case with Alexander at Issus. (I can dream, can't I?) I did get the ability to build seige units. That will help. The Gauls are out of the game, which also helps.
The week is almost over, just a little more...
End of Entry
Well, I was going to get another set of keys, and I am not surprised about the mower. It's years old, and we have beat it up.
April's job is becoming like mine. Even when she has the day off, they are still calling all day.
I have not gotten back to Rome: Total War yet. No time. I did think about some of my victories. A lot were with 40-50% losses. I'm not sure if that's normal, but I might check it out. I do know that was not the case with Alexander at Issus. (I can dream, can't I?) I did get the ability to build seige units. That will help. The Gauls are out of the game, which also helps.
The week is almost over, just a little more...
End of Entry
Monday, June 20, 2005
Rome: Total War
Stardate 58062.0 (6-20-2005)
Kudos to Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale for an outstanding Batman Begins. They went a long way to make you care about the man in the costume, and why he dons it. This is even better than the Tim Burton feature. You don't get to see Batman until about an hour into it. Bale put the same voice change that Kevin Conroy did for the animated series. The movie ends with the promise of a sequel with the Joker. Rumor is that the Clown Prince of Crime might be played by Mark Hamill. It would not be a big leap for him since he did an excellent job as the voice of the same character in the animated series. I would recommend you see this.
I finally loaded Rome:Total War, and I am already addicted. You start out in 329 B.C. (or B.C.E., in the new nomenclature). Rome is just the city and the area that immediately surrounds it. You are one of the ruling families, and you expand your power by conquering cities and building resources. I defeated the Greek hoplites pretty easily, but the Gauls gave me trouble. There are also options to fight a historical battle, or just a random battle.
The weekend went ok. I got the south fence painted. The kids (mine and two extras, plus the neighborhood kids, somewhere between 5 and 10 most of the time) were ok, but the boys could not seem to find anything to do except play video games. I don't mind that they do, but when they can't think of anything else to do, I get concerned.
End of Entry
I finally loaded Rome:Total War, and I am already addicted. You start out in 329 B.C. (or B.C.E., in the new nomenclature). Rome is just the city and the area that immediately surrounds it. You are one of the ruling families, and you expand your power by conquering cities and building resources. I defeated the Greek hoplites pretty easily, but the Gauls gave me trouble. There are also options to fight a historical battle, or just a random battle.
The weekend went ok. I got the south fence painted. The kids (mine and two extras, plus the neighborhood kids, somewhere between 5 and 10 most of the time) were ok, but the boys could not seem to find anything to do except play video games. I don't mind that they do, but when they can't think of anything else to do, I get concerned.
End of Entry
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