Cities and Knights of Catan
Tara - 1
John - 0
Mom - 0
The game took longer than expected because Tara and Mom were picking on me, and I was forced to retaliate in kind... Or it was the way the board set up. Or it was the fact that they didn't let me put my cities on the sqaures I wanted to win.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
New Buffalo to (Old) Buffalo
We stayed in New Buffalo last night. By the time we found a hotel with an appropriately priced room, and got everyone up there, no eating places were open in town. We ate gas station fast food. It wasn't really that bad.
I think there was some mild confusion when we ended up in New Buffalo, but not at Grandma's house.
We actually made it into town while it was still daylight, which may be a record for us. Dave got kicked out of his room so that we could use it. It's pretty nice. It's the highest I have ever slept in the house. (Bedroom in the basement before moving out, since then have been visiting, but sleeping on the main floor.) I don't know if it's an indication that I'm moving up on the pecking order, but I am mostly sure it just means that there's too many of us to deal with anywhere else. Plus it mutes any crying supposedly sleeping children may make.
I think there was some mild confusion when we ended up in New Buffalo, but not at Grandma's house.
We actually made it into town while it was still daylight, which may be a record for us. Dave got kicked out of his room so that we could use it. It's pretty nice. It's the highest I have ever slept in the house. (Bedroom in the basement before moving out, since then have been visiting, but sleeping on the main floor.) I don't know if it's an indication that I'm moving up on the pecking order, but I am mostly sure it just means that there's too many of us to deal with anywhere else. Plus it mutes any crying supposedly sleeping children may make.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Fast food.
It only took something like 2 days to get sick of fast food. We stopped at a mcdonalds today, I couldn't bring myself to order anything. I was just sick of the stuff. Good thing we will be in Buffalo tomorrow.
Today we drove into Indiana. (Michigan, really)
We decided to pass Chicago while the traffic wasn't too bad. It only took 45 minutes to get out of the conjestion. By the time we found a hotel with an appropriately priced suite, it was 11:30 local time. By the time we got around to looking for food, all the restaurants anywhere close were closed. We went to the 24 hour gas station to shop.
The 2nd hotel told me they had 1 suite left, normally it was $89, he would let me have it for $149. Naturally, I walked out.
The 3rd hotel had a very nice lady who wanted to give me the AARP rate for a family suite. (Something like 5 beds.) I asked if I needed to look old and wore out to get the rate, she said no. I asked if I needed to snoore really loud to get the rate, again no. Then she went to book the room, and couldn't get it. The remaining kid's suite they had was also not available. People must have been still trying to get through the Chicago traffic. (Or she didn't like my jokes.) She ended up pointing me 2 towns over to the next place, where we finally got a room.
The 2nd hotel told me they had 1 suite left, normally it was $89, he would let me have it for $149. Naturally, I walked out.
The 3rd hotel had a very nice lady who wanted to give me the AARP rate for a family suite. (Something like 5 beds.) I asked if I needed to look old and wore out to get the rate, she said no. I asked if I needed to snoore really loud to get the rate, again no. Then she went to book the room, and couldn't get it. The remaining kid's suite they had was also not available. People must have been still trying to get through the Chicago traffic. (Or she didn't like my jokes.) She ended up pointing me 2 towns over to the next place, where we finally got a room.
Visiting the Cohns
Sunday night we stayed at Jonathan's parents house. It was nice to see them again. (I am not just saying that because they might visit here and see this post...) They built a new house, right next door to the old house. We got a late start Monday morning so that we could stay a little longer and visit some. Jonathan and I picked Sept 21-24 in Phoenix to get together again.
Mary had a cough she started right about the same time we left our house. It got worse in the 2 days we traveled, Tylenol Cough didn't help all that much. We went and got her some Children's Claritin Monday morning, that seems to have helped.
Before we left Cheyenne Sunday morning, we went to the nearest church for Sacrament meeting. We were a little late, and sat down in the hall. A couple of minutes later, Dolan and Anath Hall and their family walked in. They were moving to Illinois, but we separately picked the same church building to visit at the same time. (They used to live on the next block over.) When she walked in, she said: "What they say is true, the church really does look the same the whole world over.") They made a break for the door right after the closing prayer, and got a 15 minute jump on us. We never saw them again. I imagine the Primary president was happy to see both families leave, we would have doubled their Primary. Emma was not pleased that her nursery was not there.
Mary had a cough she started right about the same time we left our house. It got worse in the 2 days we traveled, Tylenol Cough didn't help all that much. We went and got her some Children's Claritin Monday morning, that seems to have helped.
Before we left Cheyenne Sunday morning, we went to the nearest church for Sacrament meeting. We were a little late, and sat down in the hall. A couple of minutes later, Dolan and Anath Hall and their family walked in. They were moving to Illinois, but we separately picked the same church building to visit at the same time. (They used to live on the next block over.) When she walked in, she said: "What they say is true, the church really does look the same the whole world over.") They made a break for the door right after the closing prayer, and got a 15 minute jump on us. We never saw them again. I imagine the Primary president was happy to see both families leave, we would have doubled their Primary. Emma was not pleased that her nursery was not there.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Driving in Wyoming
Every time I drive through Wyoming, I think about how nice it would be to have a dome over the roadway. No wind, no snow, just clear road. Or they could dig a tunnel system. Anything but what they have now...
Vacation Report - Day 1
We got out a little late today. Our first top involved a rest stop with a whole bunch of rodents.
The trip through Wyoming can be summed up in one word: wind. It was windy, even by Wyoming's standards. We made it through it ok, even if we didn't get as far as we wanted to. It looks like we may have a 4 day drive here.
We are planning on getting to sleep a little early tonight to get an early start tomorrow.
(What else do you want me to say? I was in the car all day. I did see a 3 legged dog, and our iPod transmitter works great, if that helps.)
Friday, May 26, 2006
Website is down.
I was playing with my website tonight. (What I should be doing: Finishing the packing for the trip in the morning...) I moved the files around, and ended up destroying the thing. This is hosted on a free junky site we give to the students, we don't offer anything bells and whistles because we have no manpower to support the bells and whistles. One of the bells we do not have is a backup of the system.
My files are there again (self backup), but the page is not loading. I don't have time to look at it, I'm driving out in the morning. I was thinking about taking the thing down, I hadn't updated it in about 18 months. Well, it's down. Nothing like cutting the horse off at the knees. I did that at work this week, I was going to eventually delete a administrative user sometime next month, and ended up doing it on Tuesday by mistake.
My files are there again (self backup), but the page is not loading. I don't have time to look at it, I'm driving out in the morning. I was thinking about taking the thing down, I hadn't updated it in about 18 months. Well, it's down. Nothing like cutting the horse off at the knees. I did that at work this week, I was going to eventually delete a administrative user sometime next month, and ended up doing it on Tuesday by mistake.
Dance Festival
Kate's school does a dance festival on the last day of school every year, the kindergardners do the "Jello Dance". Kate was a green L. I was far back, and had the camera zoomed all the way in, but she was looking for us and getting a little upset she couldn't find us. She saw Tara just as the dance started and cheered up.
I left the thing once Kate was done, they took nearly an hour to get started and I had work to do. I went over to see Kate on my way out to say high, but the Green L shirt was gone already.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Thursday Travel Log
Today I went back to work. I had to go, there were things to get done. I worked on some problems, caused one, and started to arraign things to leave for a while. Karl talked me into going with a vendor for lunch. We went to Bajio Grill. The vendor had just read a book on the Erie Canal, we talked about the Erie Canal the entire time, our upcoming trip triggered the conversation. After lunch, Dave, Ledge and I went to taste Mashed Potatoes. We were supposed to pick out the one that was different. Ledge and I got it wrong. Dave got it right. Dave said one had a very strong taste. A lady came out and said one was very salty. I figure it was one of those old "Taster vs. Non-Taster" things they do in genetics classes. The lady at the front desk told us that they changed one ingredient. The potatoes were 4-cheese potatos, I really didn't like them all that much, but happily took my $3 and went back to the office.
At 1, I had to go to Election judge training. We are switching to the new Diebold touch screen voting machines. I am worried that some of those old people will really mess it up, (not that there is anything wrong with old people, just that the old people in my training class were having a REALLY hard time.) but every year I think that some of the older election workers will mess things up. The training went well past the scheduled ending time. I will be the Poll Manager for my voting place, which at this point I am kind of glad of. During the middle of training, the problem I previously created was discovered. I was in a basement with not good signal, after some confusion, they were able to fix it. (But Karl wasn't really happy it had happened. Hopefully he's over it...)
After the training, it was way too late to go back to work, I walked down the comic book store to pick up the latest "Scooby Doo Adventures" and "Donald Duck Adventures".
I had forgotten that I had volunteered to help someone move, he wanted everyone over at 6pm, and called to remind me to come. (What a concept! Someone was moving, took the responsibilty all on himself to get people to help, and remind them when the time came...) I was there first, about 6 people came over from the Quorum. The brother already had the truck well loaded, we were the heavy lifters and cleanup crew. We were done in an hour.
Tara's Dad had surgery to remove a lump on his face today. Her Mom called this evening to ask that I come over and help administer a blessing. Tara and I went over. We stayed long enough to visit with his surgeon. I really liked him, it sounds like he really knows what he was doing. I really hope Tara's Dad is able to make a full recovery in time. (The results are not yet confirmed.)
We went and delivered a blanket and some hats to 2 couples with new babies. We also dumped a pile of Stake stuff into the lap of the new Assistant Stake Executive Secretary. (Lucky him).
I created 2 lists:
Long story short, I wasn't the one who origionally said it. "Do I ever actually work?" I figure I got a good 4 hours in today.
At 1, I had to go to Election judge training. We are switching to the new Diebold touch screen voting machines. I am worried that some of those old people will really mess it up, (not that there is anything wrong with old people, just that the old people in my training class were having a REALLY hard time.) but every year I think that some of the older election workers will mess things up. The training went well past the scheduled ending time. I will be the Poll Manager for my voting place, which at this point I am kind of glad of. During the middle of training, the problem I previously created was discovered. I was in a basement with not good signal, after some confusion, they were able to fix it. (But Karl wasn't really happy it had happened. Hopefully he's over it...)
After the training, it was way too late to go back to work, I walked down the comic book store to pick up the latest "Scooby Doo Adventures" and "Donald Duck Adventures".
I had forgotten that I had volunteered to help someone move, he wanted everyone over at 6pm, and called to remind me to come. (What a concept! Someone was moving, took the responsibilty all on himself to get people to help, and remind them when the time came...) I was there first, about 6 people came over from the Quorum. The brother already had the truck well loaded, we were the heavy lifters and cleanup crew. We were done in an hour.
Tara's Dad had surgery to remove a lump on his face today. Her Mom called this evening to ask that I come over and help administer a blessing. Tara and I went over. We stayed long enough to visit with his surgeon. I really liked him, it sounds like he really knows what he was doing. I really hope Tara's Dad is able to make a full recovery in time. (The results are not yet confirmed.)
We went and delivered a blanket and some hats to 2 couples with new babies. We also dumped a pile of Stake stuff into the lap of the new Assistant Stake Executive Secretary. (Lucky him).
I created 2 lists:
- Things to do before leaving
- Things to pack
Long story short, I wasn't the one who origionally said it. "Do I ever actually work?" I figure I got a good 4 hours in today.
Book Review
The Bourne Identity
by Robert Ludlam
I read this book on a tip from someone else. Let me just say one thing. If you have seen the movie, read this book. If you have not seen this movie, but plan to do that and read the book, I say watch the movie first, then read the book.
The book is far, far, far superior to the movie. They don't even travel in the same circles. A Venn diagram comparing the commonalities of the book and the movie would look very much like a figure 8.
I really enjoyed this book. While reading the book, Tara talked about how she didn't like the movie, it was too confusing, you really didn't know anything about what was going on. I don't remember the movie being all that bad, but the book was far better.
When I first saw "Sphere", the movie ended and I thought "That can't be the way the book ended, that ending was just stupid." I read the book, and sure enough, that's the way it ended. Like the author gave up.
This book is big, but reads fast, allowing you to enjoy it. Not like the HPUX CSE book I have been reading...
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
New invention
Someone should invent something. I want a tool that works like a geiger counter, but for allergies. All you would have to do is when you are having airborne allergies, swab the inside of you nose, place the collection in the machine, and it detects what was bothering you. You could then locate the offending histamine, and remove it. (In my case, some sort of plant outside my bedroom window.) I wouldn't even care if the thing required a blood sample.
If you invent it, no need to credit me in any way, just point me to the thing so I can use it...
If you invent it, no need to credit me in any way, just point me to the thing so I can use it...
Another sick day
Today was another sick day for me, I spent most of the day in the chair. The itchy eyes are gone, replaced by a headache and slightly congested chest. I spent a good deal of the day reading a book. Hopefully I will get to work tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Allergies
I have had really bad allergies all day today. (Really since last night.) I take singulair every night, I think it's helping me breath, but I still feel like crap. I pretty much just stayed on the couch all day.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Word Verification
I got some comment spam last night, so I have had to turn on word verification. I don't like it, but that's how it is.
Now if you post a comment, you will need to enter the random string of letters presented to you. Sorry about the hassle.
Now if you post a comment, you will need to enter the random string of letters presented to you. Sorry about the hassle.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Memory Card
I bought a new memory card for the digital camera last night. We hada 16MB card, I bought a 256MB card for $20. I can now do 270 pictures at a time with the largest resolution, and 1440 pictures with the smallest. I only wish I had it before the hike...
Ceiling Fans
Drew came over yesterday afternoon, we put in our 2 remaining ceiling fams in the back room. This picture shows them, it was taken while they were spinning, but you get the "quick shutter stationary fan" image.
How small is my valley (From way up there)
My Apologies to anyone using a dialup connection to look at these.
I took some shots at different points of the hike, taking 5 or 6 to get in everything. I used the Canon Photo Stitch software to put them together into 1 panned shot. The 2nd one, I messed up my vertical aim and the picture had to be cropped to get it looking ok. I really like the 3rd one, I took it from nearly the top of the hike. The blue just before the mountains in the backgroud is the lake. I will have to try something like this again.
2 Temples
I don't know if you can see them both, but you have 2 temples in the picture, even if the 2nd one is WAY far back there.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Kate at the top
I should have used the "Snow" setting on my camera to offset the white paint. It turned the picture blue. All that reading of the features in the manual, then i don't even use it...Hiking the Y
Today marked the 100th anniversary of the "Y". We took the girls. Tara carried Ruth on her back, I carried Emma on my back.
It got kind of hot, Mary decided she had enough about 3/4 of the way up the mountain. It took a lot of convincing to get her all the way to the top. When we got up there, Kate wanted to go to the very top. All in all, I think they all really enjoyed it. Tara and I are still a little sore. (My shoulder was cramped up for most of the rest of the day.)
Ruth screamed half the way down, she had enough of that business. I figured she was saying "This is the worst birthday ever!"
We all got pins for hiking the Y after we got up there.
Plane tickets
I just bought plane tickets for the return flight back to Buffalo. I fly Delta again (Suprisingly, actually, the way Delta's prices have been.) July1st. I get into Buffalo at 10pm at night, which really is ok, I think. There's a 2 hour layover in Atlanta.
I think everything's set up for our trip now.
I think everything's set up for our trip now.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Thursday visits
Why do I get more page hits on Thursdays? (Maybe I should be asking this question on a Wednesday night, not a Friday night.) Is there something special that happens on Thursdays? Is it a down day for more people, they have more time to visit the blog then? Do I get into the sugar bowl every Wednesday night and start the "Comedy hour on the blog"?
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
Old Website
I'm considering taking down our old web site. It has a lot of pages on it, none of which have been updated in the past 18 months or so. I could use the space to store documents, which I could link to here. What do you think? I don't think I will take the time to update the page anytime soon, and it nearly completely ignores one of our children...
Ice Cream
Ice Cream intake for the day:
5 scoops in a large cup for breakfast - vanilla cherry, strawberry, and blue lake raspberry.
Smallish root beer float - 11am
Ice Cream cone - Baskin Robbins - Baseball nut flavor
Hires Big H root beer float.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
5 scoops in a large cup for breakfast - vanilla cherry, strawberry, and blue lake raspberry.
Smallish root beer float - 11am
Ice Cream cone - Baskin Robbins - Baseball nut flavor
Hires Big H root beer float.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Baseball
Tara and I went with Kirk and Midge to a baseball game tonight. I thought the team up there was a Single A ballclub, but it turns out that they are Triple A. On the way up it looked really stromy and blustery, but it ended up being a very nice evening. The local team lost 2-0, but there were opportunities for them to catch up in the last few innings.
It was a very nice evening, and it was made even nicer because the girls were at Aunt Michelle's house.
It was a very nice evening, and it was made even nicer because the girls were at Aunt Michelle's house.
Interleague Play
Interleague play started today. I like interleague play, but I think it should always be restricted to Rivals/Crosstown or CrossState or whatever teams. Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox. NY Mets vs. NY Yankees. Florida Marlins vs. Tampa Bay Devils Rays. That kind of thing. It makes it more fun that way.
I got an email about a free ice cream cone for my birthday from Baskin Robbins. Since the store is just around the corner from my office, I went there today, and in honor of Interleague play, I had a scoop of Baseball Nut. (Vanilla ice cream, Raspberry swirl, and Cashews.)
I got an email about a free ice cream cone for my birthday from Baskin Robbins. Since the store is just around the corner from my office, I went there today, and in honor of Interleague play, I had a scoop of Baseball Nut. (Vanilla ice cream, Raspberry swirl, and Cashews.)
Thursday, May 18, 2006
New Car
We bought a new car today. Before and after pictures are provided. As you can see, our old car was a Mazda MPV. Our new car is a Mazda MPV. It turns out that only one minivan on our list had a greater than 48 inch back seat, and that seat was shaped strange. We have really liked the MPV, it had a 4 year warrenty, compared to all the others that had a 3 year. There was a great deal on the machine, so we got it. We need to tint the windows, but other than that, it had everything we wanted.
It had 34 miles on it when we bought it, and will have over 2000 in 2 weeks...
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
I'm in trouble when these girls get older
The Stake President talked about how a number of the people he has recently interviewed for marriages met on the internet. I'm not a proponent of internet dating, chat rooms, and the like. For one thing, there are just too many really, really strange people out there.
So, Ruth was awake tonight, I told her that when she grows up, I don't want her looking for people to meet on the internet, this town will have plenty of boys see can go out and meet normally. I told her I didn't care if she went and hung out, crowd surfed in parties, and even played boys off each other, but she should meet them normally.
I'm glad we had that little talk.
So, Ruth was awake tonight, I told her that when she grows up, I don't want her looking for people to meet on the internet, this town will have plenty of boys see can go out and meet normally. I told her I didn't care if she went and hung out, crowd surfed in parties, and even played boys off each other, but she should meet them normally.
I'm glad we had that little talk.
Gazelle
I fixed the Gazelle tonight. I even gave it it's grand re-opening 1/4 mile race. Now Tara can use it.
Credit Score
I got preapproved for a new car today. It looks like we will sell the one we have tomorrow. The lady was entering in the stuff, ended up with my credit report, and my score was 810.
I sat wondering how this happened. It's not like I have done anything special. No wonder I get so much junk mail for credit cards. When we bought this car, my credit score was 716. I thought this was pretty good. 3 years later, it's gone way up.
Now, I know we don't miss any payments on anything, mess with anyone, or anything like that, but it still seems like a high number to me. I guess that's how it goes. Experian currently says the national average score is 677, which I'm suprised is not lower. Maybe I'm a credit pessimist.
Anyhow, unless the guy that is buying our car has his stuff fall apart, (He is approved at his bank for a 7.6% or something like that, and is trying for the credit union's 6.1% that I got) we will be picking up a new car tomorrow. We have looked at a number of them.
Stay Tuned.
I sat wondering how this happened. It's not like I have done anything special. No wonder I get so much junk mail for credit cards. When we bought this car, my credit score was 716. I thought this was pretty good. 3 years later, it's gone way up.
Now, I know we don't miss any payments on anything, mess with anyone, or anything like that, but it still seems like a high number to me. I guess that's how it goes. Experian currently says the national average score is 677, which I'm suprised is not lower. Maybe I'm a credit pessimist.
Anyhow, unless the guy that is buying our car has his stuff fall apart, (He is approved at his bank for a 7.6% or something like that, and is trying for the credit union's 6.1% that I got) we will be picking up a new car tomorrow. We have looked at a number of them.
Stay Tuned.
Election Poll Worker
I have been a Poll Worker here for our elections for a number of years. (Missing only a couple.) I figure it's the least I can do to help out, and it's usually good for getting a good portion of a book read. The county has moved me from precinct to precinct, depending on where they need me most. Generally it's older ladies and couples who run the polls, and the results vary.
This year they stuck me back in my own precinct, which is nice, because then I know most of the people who show up. (As opposed to knowing that they are in the Stake, but not much else.) I told them I could be a Poll Worker in June, but couldn't pick up the supplies, and in November I could pick up the supplies. (We'll ignore the fact that I now am at the Stake Center every Tuesday night for interviews for a minute.)
It turns out that they ignored my little note, and they plan on me picking up supplies in June. I will not have a car then, but I'm supposed to pick up the supplies. (I'm banking on the fact that Tom is getting his car picked and will be available to help.)
This year, they are introducing electronic voting. I have to go to 2 three hour sessions on how to setup, use, maintain, etc these things. I'm not sure it's worth the hassle, but I would rather have myself do it and take care of it than worry about one of these older people trying and getting it wrong.
It should be interesting, voting electronically, look here in about 6 weeks for how it went. I just hope no one is planning an EMP blast.
This year they stuck me back in my own precinct, which is nice, because then I know most of the people who show up. (As opposed to knowing that they are in the Stake, but not much else.) I told them I could be a Poll Worker in June, but couldn't pick up the supplies, and in November I could pick up the supplies. (We'll ignore the fact that I now am at the Stake Center every Tuesday night for interviews for a minute.)
It turns out that they ignored my little note, and they plan on me picking up supplies in June. I will not have a car then, but I'm supposed to pick up the supplies. (I'm banking on the fact that Tom is getting his car picked and will be available to help.)
This year, they are introducing electronic voting. I have to go to 2 three hour sessions on how to setup, use, maintain, etc these things. I'm not sure it's worth the hassle, but I would rather have myself do it and take care of it than worry about one of these older people trying and getting it wrong.
It should be interesting, voting electronically, look here in about 6 weeks for how it went. I just hope no one is planning an EMP blast.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Book Review
The Death and Life of Superman
Roger Stern
This is a novelization of the Comic Book Event (Back before everything became "events"...) in the early 90's when they killed off Superman, then eventually brought him back. This was a very good telling of the story. The author did a very good job writing the story.
If you remember the stories, you will like the book. If you don't remember the stories, but you like Superman/comics/whatever you will like this book. Remember or not, there was a change to the end of the story. I leave it to the reader to figure out the change. (It involves a Green Lantern, if you need a hint.) I think both endings work, I don't have a problem with the change.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Travel log - 15 May
This morning at 8am, I went to train the new student operations staff. About 30 minutes into the thing, I looked around, saw nothing but blank stares, and realized that they knew nothing about what I was talking about, and were half lost/half bored. (It was Unix training.) I wrapped up by saying "When you are logged in as root, be careful" and "The number one thing we want it for you to be honest with us. If you break something, tell us, so we don't have to waste time trying to figure out what's wrong and just fix the thing." Then I left. I figure I can come back in a month or two, and they will be more interested, have a frame of reference, and have questions for me.
I went from there to a meeting, it's a meeting where they tend to agree with what I present. Today is no different. They agreed to everything I had for them.
I changed internet providers today. No more Comcast. It was suprisingly easy to do.
This afternoon I had someone at work say he might want to buy our van. It's not finalized, but if he does, we plan to be ready to purchase a new van. Either way, we are still driving to Buffalo in 2 weeks.
My Dad went in for a job interview today. It sounds like it went pretty well, but one of the guys he would be working with talked to him at the end. This guy was kind of negative, and made it sound like nothing they had would really work, or something like that. Sounds familiar.
It hit 90 degrees today. I didn't know we lived in Arizona.
I went from there to a meeting, it's a meeting where they tend to agree with what I present. Today is no different. They agreed to everything I had for them.
I changed internet providers today. No more Comcast. It was suprisingly easy to do.
This afternoon I had someone at work say he might want to buy our van. It's not finalized, but if he does, we plan to be ready to purchase a new van. Either way, we are still driving to Buffalo in 2 weeks.
My Dad went in for a job interview today. It sounds like it went pretty well, but one of the guys he would be working with talked to him at the end. This guy was kind of negative, and made it sound like nothing they had would really work, or something like that. Sounds familiar.
It hit 90 degrees today. I didn't know we lived in Arizona.
Goggle Girl
Emma wore a pair of googles I have today. Tara says she put them on, and went through the house pretending to swim and saying "glug, glug, glug." She must get it from her mother. (Or something, eitherway, I think she gets it honestly.)
"True" rose bush
Tara's rose bush blossomed today. She has missed like half the blooms since we have lived here. This year it's out in style. Her and her old roommate say that the current traditional roses are abominations, and that the true roses are the original ones, before things got out of control. I know nothing about it, but here is ours.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Training
I have to train the newly hired Operations staff tomorrow morning. It's supposed to be BYU specific Unix stuff, they got generic Unix stuff on Friday morning from someone who is just a professional trainer, doesn't really get his feet muddy in anything... I only have a sketchy idea about what I will talk about, they only told me about this on Friday. I only have an hour, so I should be able to fill the time appropriately.
Every Wednesday morning, I do an hour of training for the other engineers in my department. I usually just pick a topic and go for it, the last month or so, I have been picking a topic and finding someone else to do the training. Nearly everyone else in my office will be gone this week, I may end up really busy fixing things, so I'm not sure what the training topic will be. Maybe I'll pull the old: "These are the (Major) things changing in the next couple of months. Who has questions?" It needs to happen sometime soon anyway.
The deadline for the Call for Papers is this coming Friday. So far, I still haven't gotten a topic that really reaches out and grabs me. As a fallback plan, I might pull a "A survey of HPUX security tools", but that sounds kind of boring to me. (It wouldn't be a challenge to put together, anyhow.) I don't know. It's too bad really, because I have a trip to Ft. Collins (Where a lot of the HPUX software engineers work) in August, any topic I pick and presentation I put together could be reviewed by an expert to make it even better. Maybe I'll get some inspiration during the week. I really don't want to do something I have already done before.
Every Wednesday morning, I do an hour of training for the other engineers in my department. I usually just pick a topic and go for it, the last month or so, I have been picking a topic and finding someone else to do the training. Nearly everyone else in my office will be gone this week, I may end up really busy fixing things, so I'm not sure what the training topic will be. Maybe I'll pull the old: "These are the (Major) things changing in the next couple of months. Who has questions?" It needs to happen sometime soon anyway.
The deadline for the Call for Papers is this coming Friday. So far, I still haven't gotten a topic that really reaches out and grabs me. As a fallback plan, I might pull a "A survey of HPUX security tools", but that sounds kind of boring to me. (It wouldn't be a challenge to put together, anyhow.) I don't know. It's too bad really, because I have a trip to Ft. Collins (Where a lot of the HPUX software engineers work) in August, any topic I pick and presentation I put together could be reviewed by an expert to make it even better. Maybe I'll get some inspiration during the week. I really don't want to do something I have already done before.
2006 Goal update - 14 May
1: Move up on ITRC forums. 3618 points this week, same as last week, and the week before that, and the week before that.
2: Mission Journal - Nothing new done this week.
3: Garden Retaining Wall - Nothing done this week.
4: 6 Wooden Chairs - Nothing done this week. I have purchased putty, sandpaper, and paint to complete the job.
5: Weight - 213+ this week.
6: Gazelle - The part still did not arrive.
7: Vacation - "Purchased" (didn't cost me a dime) a one way ticket back from Buffalo this week. Need to get the other leg sometime in the next month.
8: CPAP usage - I got mine back this week, it's been nice to have the humidifier back.
Wasting time update - 413 badges at MSN games. (None this week)
2: Mission Journal - Nothing new done this week.
3: Garden Retaining Wall - Nothing done this week.
4: 6 Wooden Chairs - Nothing done this week. I have purchased putty, sandpaper, and paint to complete the job.
5: Weight - 213+ this week.
6: Gazelle - The part still did not arrive.
7: Vacation - "Purchased" (didn't cost me a dime) a one way ticket back from Buffalo this week. Need to get the other leg sometime in the next month.
8: CPAP usage - I got mine back this week, it's been nice to have the humidifier back.
Wasting time update - 413 badges at MSN games. (None this week)
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Friday, May 12, 2006
"Fun" Walk
The wellness program sponsored a 3K fun walk today. These always have themes, you go around campus walking and answering their questions. Today's theme was Allergies. They give out prizes after the thing, but I never win any of those. (I do get bananas and snickerdoodles, though.)
A bunch of us from our building went over there today. None of us won a prize, which was statistically anomilous, based on the number of us there. Just before we left to go over, I ran back to my desk to grab my book. When I came back, they said "You brought a book? This is supposed to be a Fun Walk." I told them "I know. That's why I grabbed my book." and we went.
It was avery nice day out, it got up to 85 degrees, and now at 9:30pm, it's only down to 71 degrees.
A bunch of us from our building went over there today. None of us won a prize, which was statistically anomilous, based on the number of us there. Just before we left to go over, I ran back to my desk to grab my book. When I came back, they said "You brought a book? This is supposed to be a Fun Walk." I told them "I know. That's why I grabbed my book." and we went.
It was avery nice day out, it got up to 85 degrees, and now at 9:30pm, it's only down to 71 degrees.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Books
I went to the library here at the school this morning looking for a couple of books to read. The last 2 books I have started I ended up not finishing in the 3 weeks checkout + 3 weeks renewal they give you at the public library. The university library gives you 6 months to check out a book, then you can renew the thing, so maybe a year will be long enough to read these things. It should be a little shorter, I decided that it gets boring walking to work everyday without something to do or somthing to read.
The University has this service where you can request a book for delivery to your office via the web. (For employees anyway.) One of my co-workers got 3 books from this service today, I was walking by when they came. I asked the guy (A student employee) if he hated it when people were too lazy to walk up to the library themselves and he had to deliver the books to them. He say no, because that job pays his tuition, rent, etc. I guess I will have to do the faculty delivery now so I'm not taking money out of those student's pockets. Plus the University library is gigantic, the selection is much larger than the Public library, and I get more time. Looks like I can start reading more than comic books now...
The University has this service where you can request a book for delivery to your office via the web. (For employees anyway.) One of my co-workers got 3 books from this service today, I was walking by when they came. I asked the guy (A student employee) if he hated it when people were too lazy to walk up to the library themselves and he had to deliver the books to them. He say no, because that job pays his tuition, rent, etc. I guess I will have to do the faculty delivery now so I'm not taking money out of those student's pockets. Plus the University library is gigantic, the selection is much larger than the Public library, and I get more time. Looks like I can start reading more than comic books now...
Potato Tasting
I when 2 more times to the potato tasting. Our guess at this point is that they were doing a texture survey, not a taste survey, because all the samples looked about the same and tasted mostly the same...
I got $12 out of my efforts anyhow, I'm ahead $2 for the day.
I got $12 out of my efforts anyhow, I'm ahead $2 for the day.
9 restaurants in 90 minutes
Tara and I went to little "Pay 5 dollars and visit 11 places for food" thing today. It was kind of nice. You eat a little, then walk down to the next place. We could have gotten all of them, but one was a coffee shop we had no interest in, and the other was a place we couldn't find. The address for the place seemed to be wrong or something.
It was well worth the $5, next year when they do it, we will have to plan to go half the first day, and come back the second half the next, that way we get 2 meals for $5. One place had chips and salsa and a chicken fajita, an Indian place gave you a plate to fill up at their buffett, etc. It really was a good deal, and the food was really good.
By the end, I was just going in and getting a cookie, instead of a cookie, sandwich, etc.
We also walked up and down Center street, so we got some excersize in.
It was well worth the $5, next year when they do it, we will have to plan to go half the first day, and come back the second half the next, that way we get 2 meals for $5. One place had chips and salsa and a chicken fajita, an Indian place gave you a plate to fill up at their buffett, etc. It really was a good deal, and the food was really good.
By the end, I was just going in and getting a cookie, instead of a cookie, sandwich, etc.
We also walked up and down Center street, so we got some excersize in.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Nearly free food.
The Downtown Business Alliance is sponsoring a 2 day free food event. The entry is $5, and you can visit 16 different restaurants downtown and get food. They are doing it from 11 to 1 today and tomorrow. I didn't hear about this until this evening, that's too bad, I was starving during the thing today...
Maybe tomorrow some of us will decend on the event.
Today I went to the food survey lab to sample mashed potatoes. I liked all 5 samples. This was at 3:30pm, when I finished the sampling, I looked down, and thought, these weren't half bad, so I ate all of the remaining sample. I guess I was hungry, I normally don't bother with it.
Anyway, I have 2 more sessions of samples tomorrow, then they give me something like $12. (I think) That should cover the lunch downtown.
Maybe tomorrow some of us will decend on the event.
Today I went to the food survey lab to sample mashed potatoes. I liked all 5 samples. This was at 3:30pm, when I finished the sampling, I looked down, and thought, these weren't half bad, so I ate all of the remaining sample. I guess I was hungry, I normally don't bother with it.
Anyway, I have 2 more sessions of samples tomorrow, then they give me something like $12. (I think) That should cover the lunch downtown.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
A birthday party memory
Today is the birthday of Russ, one of my old roommates, and Steve, my old neighbor.
I called Russ this afternoon to wish him a happy birthday. Russ asked me about how things were around, I talked about how the town was a little quieter now that school is out, and the louder parties really haven't started yet.
This reminded me of a party Russ and I threw for our birthdays one year. Our birthdays being 2 weeks apart, we had the party on May 16th. (1997 or 1998, but I think it was 1997..) We had a BIG party. This was out on condo row, if you have any idea where that is. Anyhow, Russ and I had gone around for several nights making personal invitations to people we really wanted to come. (And by people, I mean girls.) Anyhow, needless to say, many came.
Tara was invited, but she did not come. During this time, Tara and her roommates were convinced that I liked one of her other roommates. This was far from the truth. Very far. The girl just had a high opinion of herself (that's my take on it.), and ended up being in the wrong places at the wrong times. (Once Russ, Rob, and I went over, I was going to ask Tara out, but this roommate was sitting on the stairs, she stopped us and talked to us for a while, when suddenly Tara and a couple of other roommates can running down the stairs and took off. Just bad luck like that. Or not the right timing.) Anyway, they missed the festivites.
To make a long story short, eventually the cops came, someone across the street had called. To give you an indication on how things went, I am attaching this picture take at the party. Enjoy.
The shorts are a normal length, I'm not sure what happened here...
I called Russ this afternoon to wish him a happy birthday. Russ asked me about how things were around, I talked about how the town was a little quieter now that school is out, and the louder parties really haven't started yet.
This reminded me of a party Russ and I threw for our birthdays one year. Our birthdays being 2 weeks apart, we had the party on May 16th. (1997 or 1998, but I think it was 1997..) We had a BIG party. This was out on condo row, if you have any idea where that is. Anyhow, Russ and I had gone around for several nights making personal invitations to people we really wanted to come. (And by people, I mean girls.) Anyhow, needless to say, many came.
Tara was invited, but she did not come. During this time, Tara and her roommates were convinced that I liked one of her other roommates. This was far from the truth. Very far. The girl just had a high opinion of herself (that's my take on it.), and ended up being in the wrong places at the wrong times. (Once Russ, Rob, and I went over, I was going to ask Tara out, but this roommate was sitting on the stairs, she stopped us and talked to us for a while, when suddenly Tara and a couple of other roommates can running down the stairs and took off. Just bad luck like that. Or not the right timing.) Anyway, they missed the festivites.
To make a long story short, eventually the cops came, someone across the street had called. To give you an indication on how things went, I am attaching this picture take at the party. Enjoy.
The shorts are a normal length, I'm not sure what happened here...
Monday, May 08, 2006
HP Tech Forum 2006
The HP Tech forum people have released their call for papers. This conference is now in it's 2nd year, I'm not sure how good it will be this year, last year I call "ok", it was effected by Hurricane Katrina (was supposed to be in New Orleans...), hopefully it will be good.
Normally by this time of year, I have selected a topic for a presentation and am fully on my way to preparing it. Every year when I go to a conference (I only go to one a year...), I do a presentation. My reasons for doing this are:
Anyway, last week they issued the Call For Papers for this years conference, and the thing closes on May 19th. I only have 11 days to pick a topic and prepare a well written abstract. So far, I'm drawing a blank. I just have not gotten excited enough about any topic I have thought of, and any ones I have thought of don't sound good enough for me to do. I also can't think of a topic that I want to learn a lot more about that would be an interesting presentation.
In the past I have done the following:
Last year I did Software Package Builder, and the guy who wrote the product came and helped answer questions. That was kind of nice.
I am sure if I do not do a presentation, it would be fine, but it might be kind of weird to not present. It's not like I haven't been super busy before when I have done presentations...
Normally by this time of year, I have selected a topic for a presentation and am fully on my way to preparing it. Every year when I go to a conference (I only go to one a year...), I do a presentation. My reasons for doing this are:
- It's good for me
- The conference fee gets waived (work really likes this)
- I occasionally pick a topic that I want to learn more about so that I am forced to
- I get to interact with my peers
- If people like me don't to the presentations, the technical value of the conference goes down. (Leaving more slots for marketing or less than technical presentations.)
Anyway, last week they issued the Call For Papers for this years conference, and the thing closes on May 19th. I only have 11 days to pick a topic and prepare a well written abstract. So far, I'm drawing a blank. I just have not gotten excited enough about any topic I have thought of, and any ones I have thought of don't sound good enough for me to do. I also can't think of a topic that I want to learn a lot more about that would be an interesting presentation.
In the past I have done the following:
- HPUX Security
- lsof, tcpdump, and tusc
- Software Package Builder
- Patching
- One other one that I really can't remember
Last year I did Software Package Builder, and the guy who wrote the product came and helped answer questions. That was kind of nice.
I am sure if I do not do a presentation, it would be fine, but it might be kind of weird to not present. It's not like I haven't been super busy before when I have done presentations...
2006 Jamestown reunion
Jonathan called me tonight. We want to get together this fall. Rob, Russ, Scott, and Paul, pay attention.
We can have everyone come to Utah or Arizona, get in a football game, or basketball game. If you are out there, what do you think? We are thinking even if it's for a weekend, it would be nice to see everyone...
We can have everyone come to Utah or Arizona, get in a football game, or basketball game. If you are out there, what do you think? We are thinking even if it's for a weekend, it would be nice to see everyone...
Plane tickets
I picked up a one way flight out of Buffalo tonight for $167.10. I fly back the 13th of June, so I will miss 3 weeks of interviews, I will have to definitely take up the Stake President on the Assistant Executive Secretary.
I saw the fare as a web fare on Delta.com, it was $100 cheaper than any other day's one way fare, and even more than that cheaper than all the others. Having the voucher, I couldn't just use it to pay for the thing, I called in on the phone to make the reservation. The first person I talked to had a bad accent, and I could barely hear her, but when I gave the cities and date, she quoted $340. I told her that I had a web fare I was looking at, and she said "You have to talk to out online support team, I can transfer you." That was fine by me, I really didn't understand all of what she said anyway. The second lady was very nice. I gave the cities and date, and my Skymiles number, she couldn't at first find the fare, she eventually looked it up online to find it, then when she had it, put me on hold. She came back a couple of times to tell me she was working on it, the second time she said it would be a couple of more minutes, but she was sure she could get it. Tara's brother will take the voucher over to the Delta counter to pay for the thing. (I had to change the voucher to his name when we bought the plane tickets for his family to come at Christmas.) The voucher has $169 remaining on it, which is perfect. All in all, I was very impressed with the service I recieved.
Work doesn't care that I work remotely for an extra week, so everything should work out. I have to still buy the return one way fare, but I should be able to get the entire round trip for $200 or less, which is better than any recent deal out there, and I have been looking for a couple of weeks.
I saw the fare as a web fare on Delta.com, it was $100 cheaper than any other day's one way fare, and even more than that cheaper than all the others. Having the voucher, I couldn't just use it to pay for the thing, I called in on the phone to make the reservation. The first person I talked to had a bad accent, and I could barely hear her, but when I gave the cities and date, she quoted $340. I told her that I had a web fare I was looking at, and she said "You have to talk to out online support team, I can transfer you." That was fine by me, I really didn't understand all of what she said anyway. The second lady was very nice. I gave the cities and date, and my Skymiles number, she couldn't at first find the fare, she eventually looked it up online to find it, then when she had it, put me on hold. She came back a couple of times to tell me she was working on it, the second time she said it would be a couple of more minutes, but she was sure she could get it. Tara's brother will take the voucher over to the Delta counter to pay for the thing. (I had to change the voucher to his name when we bought the plane tickets for his family to come at Christmas.) The voucher has $169 remaining on it, which is perfect. All in all, I was very impressed with the service I recieved.
Work doesn't care that I work remotely for an extra week, so everything should work out. I have to still buy the return one way fare, but I should be able to get the entire round trip for $200 or less, which is better than any recent deal out there, and I have been looking for a couple of weeks.
Bipap
I got my BiPap back today. The loaner was ok, but it didn't have the coupler for the humidifier attachment so I was not able to use the humidifier with the loaner. My nose would be viey dried out after using the thing, it will be nice to have a little moisture in the air again.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Post # 300
I just talked to the Dad of a friend for college. (I didn't know if he had another number.) Turns out Jonathan appears to be as good at answering his cell phone as he is about replying to email. (Not sure if he visits here or not, either.)
In the meantime, Jonathan's Dad asked about the family. I told him I had 4 children, all girls, and his response was "That's good, I always knew you were a ladies man."
In the meantime, Jonathan's Dad asked about the family. I told him I had 4 children, all girls, and his response was "That's good, I always knew you were a ladies man."
- I like that line.
- That explains a few things
- Your past can sometimes explain your present in ways you didn't expect
2006 Goal Update - 7 May
1: Move up on ITRC forums. 3618 points this week, same as last week.
2: Mission Journal - Nothing new done this week.
3: Garden Retaining Wall - Nothing done this week, but I will definitely do them a dozen blocks at a time...
4: 6 Wooden Chairs - Nothing done this week. I may not get around to putty, sanding, and painting on the 1 I made until after Tara and the girls are in Buffalo.
5: Weight - 212 this week - A new (recent) low.
6: Gazelle - The part still did not arrive. I need to call taht place tomorrow.
7: Vacation - Tara had a good idea today. It's not any more (And maybe a little cheaper) to get 2 one way tickets than the round trip. This means I can go Delta one way, using the voucher we have, and go with someone else the other direction. It's not like if they flag me there's much more hassle they can give me, since my name is already on the Watch list. Now I just have to decide for sure what day I fly out of Buffalo. I hear Adam will not be there until Monday night...
8: CPAP usage - Been using it...
Wasting time update - 413 badges at MSN games. (None this week)
2: Mission Journal - Nothing new done this week.
3: Garden Retaining Wall - Nothing done this week, but I will definitely do them a dozen blocks at a time...
4: 6 Wooden Chairs - Nothing done this week. I may not get around to putty, sanding, and painting on the 1 I made until after Tara and the girls are in Buffalo.
5: Weight - 212 this week - A new (recent) low.
6: Gazelle - The part still did not arrive. I need to call taht place tomorrow.
7: Vacation - Tara had a good idea today. It's not any more (And maybe a little cheaper) to get 2 one way tickets than the round trip. This means I can go Delta one way, using the voucher we have, and go with someone else the other direction. It's not like if they flag me there's much more hassle they can give me, since my name is already on the Watch list. Now I just have to decide for sure what day I fly out of Buffalo. I hear Adam will not be there until Monday night...
8: CPAP usage - Been using it...
Wasting time update - 413 badges at MSN games. (None this week)
Fun party game
If you have not small fingers, take a 20 ounce plastic bottle and start jamming fingers into it, smallest to littlest until you get to a point where you hear a popping sound and your finger is stuck inthe bottle. Then have people try to pull the bottle off your finger. It's even more fun if the plastic is not so hard, so people have a hard time gripping it to the point where they can pull hard.
Warning: you may end up walking around with a bottle stuck to your hand for a while.
Warning: you may end up walking around with a bottle stuck to your hand for a while.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Internet access
I am changing our ISP. There is one main reason I am doing this, and it's Web Filtering. Not that anyone here has a problem with the internet, it's just nice to have your ISP offer that. The speed of the service is also higher, but that's really a side benefit, I don't think we will really notice any. Neither for our email addresses will change, I will just change Tara's alias to point to the new email address.
I plan to call Comcast on Monday to cancel the service, we'll see if we end up without internet service, with double coverage, or if it works out just right.
I plan to call Comcast on Monday to cancel the service, we'll see if we end up without internet service, with double coverage, or if it works out just right.
Irises
The first of Tara's irises bloomed today. When we first bought our house, we planted tomato plants out front thinking there was not a whole lot of stuff planted there. (I accidently started digging up the tulips that were there, then moved them to other places in the yard.)
There ended up being an iris plant smack dab in the middle of of the 'bed' in front of the house. We didn't see see it at all the first year or two. (I won't rule out an untimely demise from a weed whip...) One year it popped out, to Tara's suprise. The last couple of years, we saw 3 blossoms out of the thing. Today, as you can see, there are three blossoms poking out, but there are 5 other blossoms coming right behind it. I'm not sure what we have done to encourage the thing, but it's growing like gangbusters.
Up next: The rose bush out back. (But first it has to bloom.)
Friday, May 05, 2006
Restaurant Review
Ricardo's
I was looking for a place that had 2 things: frre chips and salsa and reasonably prices kids meals. We had to go to several different places and landed here. (We were even seated at one place, but hadn't been there in 6 or 7 years, they have really jacked their prices up since that time, we ended up walking back out...)
Ricardo's was good, even of it was a little heavy on the beans. It rates a return visit sometime.
I was looking for a place that had 2 things: frre chips and salsa and reasonably prices kids meals. We had to go to several different places and landed here. (We were even seated at one place, but hadn't been there in 6 or 7 years, they have really jacked their prices up since that time, we ended up walking back out...)
Ricardo's was good, even of it was a little heavy on the beans. It rates a return visit sometime.
Museum of Art
We went to the Museum of Art tonight. We only got through 2 of the 5 exhibits. The first one was about called "American Dreams". It will be at the museum for the next 5 years, in case you are interested, but don't have the time right now. I walked Emma through the thing, she really liked looking at them all. The second exhibit was a called 'Nostalgia and Technology". It was kind of interesting.
The girls were impressed enough to want to go back to see the other exhibits. Emma called the girl in the war bonds picture Wonder Woman. She must get that from her mother or something...
Ring Tones
My new laptop has bluetooth, and that means I can upload any mp3 into my phone to use as a ringer. If you are in my phone, and nearly everyone who reads this thing is, and you would like to suggest a song (or other mp3) to play when you call me, let me know what it is.
Of course, I realize if the shoe was on the other foot, I would suggest the most annoying song I could think of, then start calling all the time, so I am announcing a veto power right off the bat. Pick a song that might make sense for you. Tara suggests "Somebody Save Me" by Remy Zero for her ring tone. (Smallville theme song.)
Anyone who doesn't comment gets "Who can it be now?" by Men at Work.
Of course, I realize if the shoe was on the other foot, I would suggest the most annoying song I could think of, then start calling all the time, so I am announcing a veto power right off the bat. Pick a song that might make sense for you. Tara suggests "Somebody Save Me" by Remy Zero for her ring tone. (Smallville theme song.)
Anyone who doesn't comment gets "Who can it be now?" by Men at Work.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
The new laptop is allergic to Windows.
I got my new laptop today. It is very nice. (dual core processors, 2GB memory, 100GB disk, 17 inch screen, 512MB Nvidia graphics card) I decided that I needed a small Windows installation for things like Age of Empires. (Not much else, really.) Since it's easier to get Linux to partition around an existing install, I went to install Windows first, and you can see the results in the attached picture.
I ended up keeping the Windows install that was shipped by Dell, and shrinking the partition down to 12GB. (Why does Dell assume that everyone wants a Windows partition taking up their entire disk? Couldn't they provide some one-time partitioner for those who care about those type of things? Or better yet, have Linux as an OS option when ordering a machine.) I have yet to look at the Windows install they shipped, there will be plenty of time for that some other day.
Being a larger machine than the one I already had, I needed a new backpack. This was ordered with the machine. The backpack is very nice. I had a lot of work to do today, I only got far enough to install Linux and get the video working. Everything else will need to wait for a little while.
I have 2 weeks to move stuff and migrate over. In the meantime, I have 2 laptops sitting here.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
New laptop
The arrival of my new laptop is emminate. It will be in my greedy little paws tomorrow morning.
Just kidding, I don't really have paws. And I'm not all that greedy, really.
But I will have a new laptop. I'm not so sure I will have the time to do much it it, but I guess an OS installation can happen in the background while I am doing things on the machine I have. They say that I can have up to 2 weeks to turn the old one in... Tom, Drew, are you out there?
Just kidding, I don't really have paws. And I'm not all that greedy, really.
But I will have a new laptop. I'm not so sure I will have the time to do much it it, but I guess an OS installation can happen in the background while I am doing things on the machine I have. They say that I can have up to 2 weeks to turn the old one in... Tom, Drew, are you out there?
Vacation
I put 'vacation' down as an agenda item for Presidency meeting today. I wanted to see when everyone would be gone so that we could coordinate if we needed to. Turns out I am the only one who is taking any significant vacations. (The clerk is leaving for a week for a work trip.) It was pretty funny, none of the presidency had any real plans, I listed mine first, then there was silence. Not that they mind me going, just that they weren't.
I guess that's what I get for not using any last year.
I guess that's what I get for not using any last year.
The lost workdays
Monday morning I worked from midnight until 7. I came home to sleep, Kate rang the doorbell on her way in the house from kindergarden. This woke me up, I found I had missed 3 calls. From 12 to 1, or something like that, my phone rang off the hook. (Ringing in while I was talking to someone else, then I check the message they left, the phone rings again, etc.) On Tuesday, I spent the entire day working on a server hardware problem. Looking back on it now, it feels like I have lost a couple of days in there somewhere. That's ok, I guess, because I kind of feel like I lost the better part of last year, really. (With all the sleep issues I had...)
Anyway, I got everything fixed, people are happy, whether they know it or not. (They aren't complaining...) Today, someone called who was having problems, I refused to help, having already spend the better part of the week working on incidents, and not being on-call. The buck was passed, and I went back to doing the work I should have done yesterday. (It's not done yet, I will have to pick it back up tomorrow. I'm not even going to comment on the stuff I planned to do today...)
At least these kinds of things only happen a couple of times a year anymore. That leaves long periods of time for me to work on everything else.
Anyway, I got everything fixed, people are happy, whether they know it or not. (They aren't complaining...) Today, someone called who was having problems, I refused to help, having already spend the better part of the week working on incidents, and not being on-call. The buck was passed, and I went back to doing the work I should have done yesterday. (It's not done yet, I will have to pick it back up tomorrow. I'm not even going to comment on the stuff I planned to do today...)
At least these kinds of things only happen a couple of times a year anymore. That leaves long periods of time for me to work on everything else.
Sometimes nothing really happens
Last Thursday, someone at work came up to me and told me about how his wife works at a high school here, and she was told by a student that heard from some friends in the next high school over the latino club of that other school was planning on bringing guns on the 1st and shooting any white kid who didn't support their little walkout.
Well, this guy's wife went and told the principal about it, he basically laughed it off and didn't sound like he would do anything about it. (This is the story as I heard it, being 3rd hand by this time.) I called Drew, because even if this is just a rumor, the police need to know about it. Drew got the report filed.
Later that night, I get a call from this guy saying that he was in big trouble with his wife, the prinicpal came storming in, demanding to know who called the cops. He said he "had the situation under control." Friday morning, I get this nasty email from the wife saying how "embarrassed and disappointed she was, etc, etc." This is no skin off my nose, her huband still agrees that the right thing to do was to file the report, and people have been mad at me before, and I am pretty sure I will have people mad at me in the future...
Anyway, Drew said that they had plainclothes officers and unmarked cars monitoring the local 'walkout', and that both school officers for each high school we ticked off that the principal did not report the thing in the first place. Nothing ended up happening, but if it had, I would have been the first person in the Mayor's office looking for action against the principal.
Anyhow, nothing happened, thank goodness, and peace reigns in the land again. (At least until you go to the gas station...) If I hear about something like this again, I will still report it, it's the right thing to do. (Even if someone becomes embarrassed and disappointed at me because of it.)
Well, this guy's wife went and told the principal about it, he basically laughed it off and didn't sound like he would do anything about it. (This is the story as I heard it, being 3rd hand by this time.) I called Drew, because even if this is just a rumor, the police need to know about it. Drew got the report filed.
Later that night, I get a call from this guy saying that he was in big trouble with his wife, the prinicpal came storming in, demanding to know who called the cops. He said he "had the situation under control." Friday morning, I get this nasty email from the wife saying how "embarrassed and disappointed she was, etc, etc." This is no skin off my nose, her huband still agrees that the right thing to do was to file the report, and people have been mad at me before, and I am pretty sure I will have people mad at me in the future...
Anyway, Drew said that they had plainclothes officers and unmarked cars monitoring the local 'walkout', and that both school officers for each high school we ticked off that the principal did not report the thing in the first place. Nothing ended up happening, but if it had, I would have been the first person in the Mayor's office looking for action against the principal.
Anyhow, nothing happened, thank goodness, and peace reigns in the land again. (At least until you go to the gas station...) If I hear about something like this again, I will still report it, it's the right thing to do. (Even if someone becomes embarrassed and disappointed at me because of it.)
Blogger was not responding
I apologize to all those who missed yesterday's posts, blogger was not responding. I have now forgotten what I was going to talk about...
Monday, May 01, 2006
Restaurant Review
Fuddrucker's
We went here with Drew, Kaylyn, and Anson went with us, it was 99 cent kids meal night. All in all, it was a good time. Drew and I are planning to go back sometime to do the "pounder challenge". This was the first time Tara has been to Fuddrucker's since High School, and the first time I had ever been there. I rate it "high return trip worthy".
The reason I had never been to this place before I that they had one out in Buffalo I we would drive by all the time, and that place had a rack of beef hanging in the window. The problem was that the thing never seemed to change. I never wanted to walk in and get 3 year old mystery meat out of the place. That may be how they do it in Buffalo, but I didn't see any meat hanging around the place when we went it, and it turned out ok.
We went here with Drew, Kaylyn, and Anson went with us, it was 99 cent kids meal night. All in all, it was a good time. Drew and I are planning to go back sometime to do the "pounder challenge". This was the first time Tara has been to Fuddrucker's since High School, and the first time I had ever been there. I rate it "high return trip worthy".
The reason I had never been to this place before I that they had one out in Buffalo I we would drive by all the time, and that place had a rack of beef hanging in the window. The problem was that the thing never seemed to change. I never wanted to walk in and get 3 year old mystery meat out of the place. That may be how they do it in Buffalo, but I didn't see any meat hanging around the place when we went it, and it turned out ok.
Free Comic Book day
This Saturday, May 6, is Free Comic Book day. This means you can go to your local participating comic book store and pick up a free comic. We try to take the girls to this each year.
You can see your local comic book store that's participating at the Free Comic Book Day weebsite. We plan to be there, picking up the free ones and the ones we subscribe to. (We get Donald Duck Adventures, Justice League Unlimited, and Scooby Doo Adventures...)
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