Our building is shaped like a "U". A big ugly U. People only occupy the main section, the wings were basically left for storage recently. To the immediate North of our building there is a new building going up. (Not for us)
I have a window on the North side of the building, facing the new construction. Just under my window is a gas main for the building. The past 2 days, they have been pulling out all the old asphalt in the parking lot, and leveling and grading things for the new parking lot.
This afternoon, they started taking one of the wings of our building down. The thing is in sections, you can see the support pillars for the building from the outside. They started with the 2nd section in, after about 10 minutes of banging on it with a backhoe, that section and the 1st section caved in. They stopped as if they didn't really expect the roof of the 1st section to come down like it did.
This afternoon, right outside my window, they had a little backhoe, and a bobcat and were trying to get the asphalt out around the gas main. First they started banging on it with the backhoe. This made us all nervous, because they were just barely missing the gas main. Then they got a guy with a sledgehammer to start hitting the asphalt next to the pipe that went into the ground while the backhoe banged out the beat next to him. This was also the point where they made it to the halfway point in the back of the wing.
This is the point in time I decided it was time for me to go home. I didn't know if the demolition of the wing would cause a domino, knocking things down on top of me, or if the clowns digging out the asphalt would blow me to kingdom come, but I figured it was just a matter of time before one of the 2 things happened. I heard after I left that they had supposedly turned off the gas to the building, but I assume they mean there at the gas main, and those guys were not treating it with the respect it deserved.
I don't plan to work from my office tomorrow, Thursday I am in the Data Center for a load test, and Friday I am watching the girls for Tara. Hopefully the explosions and destruction are all over by Monday...
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Baby Kung Fu
Spending time with Lily can sometimes be a lesson in Baby Kung Fu.
The first thing you should notice is that when she talks, there is often a delay between when her lips start moving and when the sound comes out. I'm sure it's the fact that she has a lot to say, but she can only go so far with "Dada" and "MaMa". It feels like being in an old Bruce Lee movie.
The second thing to notice happens when she's lying down. (Always at the changing table, sometimes when she's on the floor) Get to close, and you get Lily's patented "bicycle kicks of death". I was on the floor next to her this evening, minding my own business, and suddenly I was pummeled by her feet of fury.
She also does this thing where she taps her chest, we aren't exactly sure what it means, but in combination with the other 2 things, it seems like some sort of challenge...
The first thing you should notice is that when she talks, there is often a delay between when her lips start moving and when the sound comes out. I'm sure it's the fact that she has a lot to say, but she can only go so far with "Dada" and "MaMa". It feels like being in an old Bruce Lee movie.
The second thing to notice happens when she's lying down. (Always at the changing table, sometimes when she's on the floor) Get to close, and you get Lily's patented "bicycle kicks of death". I was on the floor next to her this evening, minding my own business, and suddenly I was pummeled by her feet of fury.
She also does this thing where she taps her chest, we aren't exactly sure what it means, but in combination with the other 2 things, it seems like some sort of challenge...
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Out of cycle Game Time
This evening, we played an out of cycle and close to impromptu game of Age of Empires. Drew, Dad, DAve, and I played against 4 hard level computers. It took us a while, but we won, although there was a few minutes when Drew was freaking out at the large number of computer guys attacking his base... All 4 of us survived to the end.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Golf
9 of us from work went golfing this morning. (Our once yearly golf outing.) We played 3 man scramble.
I tried walking the thing, but after the first 2 holes, decided to get a cart. (The other 2 I was playing with had a cart.)
We played ok, at least for the first half of the 9 holes. Then we got hot and tired. Jess (he's on my team at work, doing most of the Linux stuff) at one point hit a ball about 100 feet. 50 feet straight up, and 50 feet back down. It was kind of funny.
It wasn't as hot today as it has been, but it's been very humid the last couple of days. The course we were at is one I played at years ago while framing houses. Back then, there was lots of water, a bunch of streams and 2 ponds. The smaller of the ponds was dry, only the biggest stream had water in it.
For some reason, 2/3 of the fairways were wet. Really wet, nearly boggy. I was glad I had a cart by the 4th hole, because I would have gotten my shoes completely wet walking through some of that.
I tried walking the thing, but after the first 2 holes, decided to get a cart. (The other 2 I was playing with had a cart.)
We played ok, at least for the first half of the 9 holes. Then we got hot and tired. Jess (he's on my team at work, doing most of the Linux stuff) at one point hit a ball about 100 feet. 50 feet straight up, and 50 feet back down. It was kind of funny.
It wasn't as hot today as it has been, but it's been very humid the last couple of days. The course we were at is one I played at years ago while framing houses. Back then, there was lots of water, a bunch of streams and 2 ponds. The smaller of the ponds was dry, only the biggest stream had water in it.
For some reason, 2/3 of the fairways were wet. Really wet, nearly boggy. I was glad I had a cart by the 4th hole, because I would have gotten my shoes completely wet walking through some of that.
Blood
Tara and I went to the church to give blood this evening. It didn't seem all that busy there really, but the people were slow so it took a long time. (Despite the fact that we both bled fairly fast.) The girl next to me on the little bed things nearly passed out.
Anyway, during our little Age of Empires tourney, I decided it was time to take the little wrap thing off. This was a mistake. Right after I took the thing off, blood came squirting out all over the place. I don't know if you've used that wrap material they use at the Red Cross, but once it's wadded up, it's kind of hard to use again.
I took off for the bathroom, and since the girls weren't asleep, I got Kate out of there. (Tara was gone.) I started rinsing the thing, just so I wouldn't get it all over, Kate went looking for a hand towel. I tried to call Tara a few times on her phone, but she didn't answer. (We need to work on that one a little, I guess.) Emma said "Dad, there's a lot of blood coming out. Why are you doing that? You're making the sink all messy." Thanks Emma.
Anyway, Kate eventually came back with a towel, and I stuffed cotton balls into the thing and got things stopped again. It was only a minor mess, I guess, but it was a mess.
After that, I was a little keyed up, and decided it was time to stop fooling around in the game. I called Dave to form a plan, then called Dad to ask for assistance by my base. (I wasn't able to type, I was trying to keep my arm above my head.) I think I woke my Mom up.
Long story short - When they say to wear the bandage for 4 to 5 hours, they mean it. (Not that this has ever happened to me before when I gave blood...)
Anyway, during our little Age of Empires tourney, I decided it was time to take the little wrap thing off. This was a mistake. Right after I took the thing off, blood came squirting out all over the place. I don't know if you've used that wrap material they use at the Red Cross, but once it's wadded up, it's kind of hard to use again.
I took off for the bathroom, and since the girls weren't asleep, I got Kate out of there. (Tara was gone.) I started rinsing the thing, just so I wouldn't get it all over, Kate went looking for a hand towel. I tried to call Tara a few times on her phone, but she didn't answer. (We need to work on that one a little, I guess.) Emma said "Dad, there's a lot of blood coming out. Why are you doing that? You're making the sink all messy." Thanks Emma.
Anyway, Kate eventually came back with a towel, and I stuffed cotton balls into the thing and got things stopped again. It was only a minor mess, I guess, but it was a mess.
After that, I was a little keyed up, and decided it was time to stop fooling around in the game. I called Dave to form a plan, then called Dad to ask for assistance by my base. (I wasn't able to type, I was trying to keep my arm above my head.) I think I woke my Mom up.
Long story short - When they say to wear the bandage for 4 to 5 hours, they mean it. (Not that this has ever happened to me before when I gave blood...)
Game Time
Age of Empires
There was a little friendly debate about if Dad, Dave, and I would have beaten Rob and his little computer friend last week in our lightning shortened game, so we lined it up again. (Drew's disks are still here at my house, we weren't able to get down there this afternoon to get them to him.)
Anyway, Rob didn't protect his factories like he did previously. Dad ended up busting through a bunch of his guys (flying wedge), I came behind to create havoc in his town center. (Tore down both his factories, mainly)
Much later, I pulled the bandage off my arm and caused a ruckus in my house. (More on that in a minute, unless you read this page top to bottom, then you already know.) This got me a little riled up, I called Dave to plot the downfall of the computer player. (This plan of ours worked.) While we were steamrolling over the computer player, Rob took a moderately sized army down to attack. Dad was right next to me, and had a bunch of guys there. I ended up calling the house to get him to help out, I think I woke my Mom up. (Sorry Mom.)
Anyway, Dave was attacking Rob from the right from the water, and Dave and I attacked from the land on the left. Dad kept Rob fairly busy at the bottom, and this appears to have been too much for him. Poor Rob. Everyone pity him. (And for that statement, I am sure there will be retribution next week.)
There was a little friendly debate about if Dad, Dave, and I would have beaten Rob and his little computer friend last week in our lightning shortened game, so we lined it up again. (Drew's disks are still here at my house, we weren't able to get down there this afternoon to get them to him.)
Anyway, Rob didn't protect his factories like he did previously. Dad ended up busting through a bunch of his guys (flying wedge), I came behind to create havoc in his town center. (Tore down both his factories, mainly)
Much later, I pulled the bandage off my arm and caused a ruckus in my house. (More on that in a minute, unless you read this page top to bottom, then you already know.) This got me a little riled up, I called Dave to plot the downfall of the computer player. (This plan of ours worked.) While we were steamrolling over the computer player, Rob took a moderately sized army down to attack. Dad was right next to me, and had a bunch of guys there. I ended up calling the house to get him to help out, I think I woke my Mom up. (Sorry Mom.)
Anyway, Dave was attacking Rob from the right from the water, and Dave and I attacked from the land on the left. Dad kept Rob fairly busy at the bottom, and this appears to have been too much for him. Poor Rob. Everyone pity him. (And for that statement, I am sure there will be retribution next week.)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
New suit fund
We have Stake Conference in about 6 weeks. We found out tonight that President Packer is coming. This means I have a large number of meetings with him for the 2 days.
I asked in presidency meeting if they thought President Packer would have something to say about my lack of a suit, they were sure he would. I guess that means I need to buy a new suit. (The one I have is much too small for me.) President Palmer said I could just borrow one from someone, but President Christiansen implied it would be good if I had some practice wearing a suit. I think I got his drift.
Anyway, now I have to start looking around for a new suit...
I asked in presidency meeting if they thought President Packer would have something to say about my lack of a suit, they were sure he would. I guess that means I need to buy a new suit. (The one I have is much too small for me.) President Palmer said I could just borrow one from someone, but President Christiansen implied it would be good if I had some practice wearing a suit. I think I got his drift.
Anyway, now I have to start looking around for a new suit...
I've heard Mel Blanc, you're no Mel Blanc.
We've been watching the "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" series, we've almost worked our way through all the episodes.
For some reason, about 8 of the episodes of the second season didn't have Mel Blanc doing the voice of Twiky. It was kind of annoying. They just slipped him back in after that, and the funny headache I was getting while watching the episodes went away...
For some reason, about 8 of the episodes of the second season didn't have Mel Blanc doing the voice of Twiky. It was kind of annoying. They just slipped him back in after that, and the funny headache I was getting while watching the episodes went away...
Aggressive Vendors
The vendors from the expo hall at the HP Tech Forum have been especially agressive this year. Normally I can count on a bunch of calls, and then they go away. This year, I got a couple of companies that don't seem to want to give up. I've tried to be civil to the vendors who call this year, but my patience with them is starting to wear thin.
There are 3 companies that keep calling, and it's more than one salesperson from each company calling. If they call again, I might stop being nice. I've explained to one of them that we may be ready to talk to them in October, but they keep calling. They may lose a potential customer if they call again this week...
There are 3 companies that keep calling, and it's more than one salesperson from each company calling. If they call again, I might stop being nice. I've explained to one of them that we may be ready to talk to them in October, but they keep calling. They may lose a potential customer if they call again this week...
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Book Review
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows
JK Rowling
I'm not a die hard Harry Potter fan. I skipped reading the first 4 books altogether, only listening to 80% of book 4 in the car, driving across the country. (It was a little confusing in book 5 trying to figure out what was happening...)
This book seems to do a pretty good job at helping you figure out what was going on. In the end, everyone moves to Canada, and they get jobs working for the Blue Jays organization, for some reason.
This book is most definitely in the "quick read" category, don't let the size fool you.
In the end, things ended. (Did you want me to give things away for you? Just for that, I'm leaving a spoiler in this post.)
***Spoiler***
On page 495 (my old bus number from back when we lived on Villa Avenue, by the way), the name "Harry" is mentioned 5 different times.
***End of Spoiler***
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Zucchini season
I pulled off our first zucchini of the season today. There are 2 plants out there, so we will start having tons of it soon. (Anything we don't eat ends up in the chest freezer outside, so if you want some, come over, look in the garden, if there aren't any there, go in the shed and help yourself.)
Also, today's entry in the "50 ways to cook zucchini" contest is Taco Stew. We have leftovers.
Reading Speed (not speed reading)
I read at different speeds depending on what type of reading it is.
For example:
For example:
- my normal, every day, regular reading speed is a page a minute
- This includes non-fiction that it's particularly engaging or complex
- my "This book is an easy read" speed it more than one page a minute
- my nonfiction and very interesting or complex is about a page every 2 minutes
- scriptures are about a page every 3 or 4 minutes, unless I'm not paying that much attention to it.
- Log messages usually just get skimmed for the error message I'm looking for and stuff related to it, those don't really count
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Mailmen across the country...
... will be seeing their doctors on Monday for hernias.
Tara got her copy of the new Harry Potter book today. I ordered it a month ago on Amazon.com with free super saver shipping. I had a $5 off coupon, and had to add a couple of filler barbie book to get to $25, but the total charge was $20. Amazon emailed me 2 days ago to say they dropped the price for the Harry Potter book by a dollar.
super saver shipping meant the book was supposed to arrive sometime between Wednesday and Saturday of next week. My theory is that Amazon had so many orders they just put all the book for a place together, and the Postal Service delivered because they had them. I'm sure there were planety of people who paid the $6 shipping charge to get their book today, I say they got ripped off...
Anyhow, Tara did exactly like she's done for the past couple of books. She opens the front cover, looks it over, then opens to the back of the book to see how it ends. (Then waits several months to read the book. We'll see what happens this time.) I tried to stop her this time, but it didn't work, she now knows how the thing ends. I'd tell you, but I haven't read the last couple of chapters. You will have to ask her.
Tara got her copy of the new Harry Potter book today. I ordered it a month ago on Amazon.com with free super saver shipping. I had a $5 off coupon, and had to add a couple of filler barbie book to get to $25, but the total charge was $20. Amazon emailed me 2 days ago to say they dropped the price for the Harry Potter book by a dollar.
super saver shipping meant the book was supposed to arrive sometime between Wednesday and Saturday of next week. My theory is that Amazon had so many orders they just put all the book for a place together, and the Postal Service delivered because they had them. I'm sure there were planety of people who paid the $6 shipping charge to get their book today, I say they got ripped off...
Anyhow, Tara did exactly like she's done for the past couple of books. She opens the front cover, looks it over, then opens to the back of the book to see how it ends. (Then waits several months to read the book. We'll see what happens this time.) I tried to stop her this time, but it didn't work, she now knows how the thing ends. I'd tell you, but I haven't read the last couple of chapters. You will have to ask her.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Wikipedia
I sort of did a little Wikipedia defacement today. They have an entry for each day of the year, listing things that have happened in history, births, deaths, etc. I added myself to my birthday in the appropriate slot.
I'm sure it will eventually go away, but for right now, you can go to my birthdate in the wikipedia and see me there...
Now I have to decide if I want to create a page about me...
I'm sure it will eventually go away, but for right now, you can go to my birthdate in the wikipedia and see me there...
Now I have to decide if I want to create a page about me...
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Hurt Ankle
I hurt my ankle somewhere along the way over the weekend. I'm not sure what along the way did it, (hiking in the mountains, tug of war at the park, walking to church on Sunday, or just living life (there's always my long used "wild living of my youth" excuse)) but on Monday night, after driving around all night, I got out of the car, and when I put my weight on it, it started feeling funny. (Long lasting tingling, very sore, that kind of thing) My ankle really hasn't felt all that good since then. It kind of feels like it's not bending properly.
In the past, I took plenty of Ibuprofen. For some reason, I haven't started using it this week. I'm not sure why. I figure it could be one of a number of things:
Of course, my acid reflex, my ankle, and maybe even my sleep apnea might all be less a problem if I was 25 pounds lighter. I keep offering to give it to Drew, but he seems reluctant to take it from me, for some reason.
Maybe I'm just whining, but that's why this place is here, right?
In the past, I took plenty of Ibuprofen. For some reason, I haven't started using it this week. I'm not sure why. I figure it could be one of a number of things:
- I'm too lazy to take Ibuprofen often enough to make it useful
- I take too many things already (Thyroid, Claritin, Prilosac)
- I like my pain and misery
- I keep hoping it will just go away
Of course, my acid reflex, my ankle, and maybe even my sleep apnea might all be less a problem if I was 25 pounds lighter. I keep offering to give it to Drew, but he seems reluctant to take it from me, for some reason.
Maybe I'm just whining, but that's why this place is here, right?
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Book Review
Spider-man: Down these mean streetsKeith R.A. DeCandido
It's too bad they don't write more novels based on comic books. (My guess is that those who can or would are always too busy writing the comic books themselves...)
This book was like a lazy stroll through Spider-man's world. I read a couple of Spiderman books a few years ago, that author did a much better job writing for the battle scenes, I thought, but this book was good too. There just wasn't as much fighting in it as the other book. (There were regular people who got infected by Gamma radiation (As in "The Hulk"'s gamma radiation), and started doing weird things, like turning big and green, and stuff like that.)
The book was really an anti-drug and anti-gang book, not that there is anything wrong with that at all.
I liked it, it really is too bad there aren't more comic novels. (That's what I'm going to call them, I guess.)
Monday, July 16, 2007
The Alpine Loop
Animal count:
2 Deer
1 chipmunk
and a report of a skunk, which may have only existed in the Emmaverse.
2 Deer
1 chipmunk
and a report of a skunk, which may have only existed in the Emmaverse.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
"Of course, I'm a very good driver..."
We went to a Stake Picnic at the park near us last night. Afterwards, I let Ruth drive home. She's very good at it.
I waited until Drew was off-shift...
A fine chilled beverage
After the hike, everyone was hot and tired, we stopped at 7Eleven for slurpees. Emma really enjoyed hers. (Banana flavored)
The big hike
We tried hiking up to Stewart Falls yesterday with the girls. We did pretty good for a while, but Emma eventually decided that she couldn't make it all the way, and Lily was ticked off, so we turned around and went back down to the car. As far as we can tell, we got somewhere between a 1/3 and 1/2 of the way to the falls.
We'll have to maybe just take Kate and Mary next time, or start building up the resistance of the smaller girls. (Ruth sat in the carrier for only about a tenth of the hike.)
Friday, July 13, 2007
Game Time
Last night we played Age of Empires again: Dad, Dave, Rob, and me.
The first game, we were in a rematch of the 3 vs 1 game from last week, except we gave Rob 1 hard comp for his team. We got to the point where it was just getting interesting, and lightning stuck near Dad's house. Something happened, the game got hung, when the other 3 of us got it so Dad was out of the game, the game said it was out of sync and ended.
We tried to play a second game, Free for all. As we got to the point where we could start attacking, Ruth woke up screaming. I didn't end up playing at all after that. (The girls were in their rooms, but being crazy, Lily and Ruth both needed diaper changes, that sort of thing.)
From what I could tell, Rob ended up winning the game.
I might have to stop playing Thursday nights...
The first game, we were in a rematch of the 3 vs 1 game from last week, except we gave Rob 1 hard comp for his team. We got to the point where it was just getting interesting, and lightning stuck near Dad's house. Something happened, the game got hung, when the other 3 of us got it so Dad was out of the game, the game said it was out of sync and ended.
We tried to play a second game, Free for all. As we got to the point where we could start attacking, Ruth woke up screaming. I didn't end up playing at all after that. (The girls were in their rooms, but being crazy, Lily and Ruth both needed diaper changes, that sort of thing.)
From what I could tell, Rob ended up winning the game.
I might have to stop playing Thursday nights...
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Book Report
Dark Mirrorby Diane Duane
This is a Star Trek: the next generation book. The premise is that the crew gets sucked into the same universe as the one from the original series episode "Mirror, Mirror". (Where the other Spock has a beard, Kirk gets that other uniform, that kind of stuff.)
There was the "good" Enterprise, and a "Bad" Enterprise. I kept reading the book thinking that at any moment, we would start "Die Hard on the Bad Enterprise", but it didn't go all that far.
It was an interesting book, the author expanded on that other Universe and it's history. One of the characters on the "good" Enterprise was a talking dolphin. I kept waiting for him to say "Good bye, and thanks for all the fish", but that didn't happen.
Anyway, it's a good book, and it's not all that heavy a book, it reads quick.
Campus Security
I ended up at work most of the night. (It's not light out yet, so it's not all night.) The details don't matter, it's related to semi-annual patching I do.
About an hour and a half ago, University Police were in the office, and ID'ed me. It's been a long time since I've been ID'ed by them. (They normally don't pay a whole lot of attention to our building...) Anyway, I checked out ok (especially since I was listed in the HR database as a full time "Systems Administrator".)
Back in the day, dispatch used to know who I was. I used to talk to them every Saturday closing up the old Datacenter. (And sometimes on Sunday, when I had to get back in.) For a few years, I ran their main server. Before our current data center was built, I had to go over to the library Data Center occasionally in the middle of the night. They have all kinds of sensors and stuff in there. I had a set path I was supposed to follow every time I went in their at night. Once when a server was down, I must have veered off the path a little, and tripped a silent alarm. An hour and a half later, after getting the server fixed, I wandered out of their data center. Going up the stairs, a cop and a janitor stopped me and asked who I was. They had been wandering around for about an hour looking for me.
It's just a good thing I wasn't wearing my new shirt. I'd tell you about it, but I don't want Drew to find out about it before he sees it. I will tell you about it later. Just know that I don't think I want to be pulled over while wearing it...
About an hour and a half ago, University Police were in the office, and ID'ed me. It's been a long time since I've been ID'ed by them. (They normally don't pay a whole lot of attention to our building...) Anyway, I checked out ok (especially since I was listed in the HR database as a full time "Systems Administrator".)
Back in the day, dispatch used to know who I was. I used to talk to them every Saturday closing up the old Datacenter. (And sometimes on Sunday, when I had to get back in.) For a few years, I ran their main server. Before our current data center was built, I had to go over to the library Data Center occasionally in the middle of the night. They have all kinds of sensors and stuff in there. I had a set path I was supposed to follow every time I went in their at night. Once when a server was down, I must have veered off the path a little, and tripped a silent alarm. An hour and a half later, after getting the server fixed, I wandered out of their data center. Going up the stairs, a cop and a janitor stopped me and asked who I was. They had been wandering around for about an hour looking for me.
It's just a good thing I wasn't wearing my new shirt. I'd tell you about it, but I don't want Drew to find out about it before he sees it. I will tell you about it later. Just know that I don't think I want to be pulled over while wearing it...
Monday, July 09, 2007
Moving to Gmail
At work, they upgraded the Microsoft Exchange webmail services over the weekend. This has broken my evolution-to-exchange connector on my linux installation. Word is that the evolution piece will not be ready to use the new webmail "features" for 6 months or so.
I don't really like the microsoft webmail client, I especially don't like it from Firefox. For one thing, the calendar features under Firefix don't work the way I want. Using my custom contacts in the webmail browser doesn't really work, either.
I switched over to my gmail account today. The only thing I have to do to get the thing fully functional is to get my gmail calendar visible to the Stake President, so he can see his appointments. (And ideally, get it synced to his PDA) Other than that, I have moved all my aliases, populated the contacts with the Stake contacts, at least, and started getting comfortable with the UI.
Congratulations Microsoft, one more of your products I am not using. If it weren't for mlb.com and Age of Empires...
I don't really like the microsoft webmail client, I especially don't like it from Firefox. For one thing, the calendar features under Firefix don't work the way I want. Using my custom contacts in the webmail browser doesn't really work, either.
I switched over to my gmail account today. The only thing I have to do to get the thing fully functional is to get my gmail calendar visible to the Stake President, so he can see his appointments. (And ideally, get it synced to his PDA) Other than that, I have moved all my aliases, populated the contacts with the Stake contacts, at least, and started getting comfortable with the UI.
Congratulations Microsoft, one more of your products I am not using. If it weren't for mlb.com and Age of Empires...
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Mailing to Netflix
For the past 2 months or so, we have been taking our Netflix to a post office about 3 miles away. This post office has been able to get our disks back to Netflix consistantly the next day every time.
This week, we got a couple of disks from Netflix, and the return address was here in town! (Instead of 40 miles away.) The PO box for the disks is at the same post office as the one that delivers our mail to the house.
I went over to the Post office yesterday to ask about their PO box delivery practices. They delivery to the PO box once a day, in the morning. It doesn't matter what time of day we drop the disks off. (I wanted to see, because if they did 2 a day, we could watch a disk at night, get it to the post office first thing in the morning, and have them send out the new disk that day, making it a 2 day turn around instead of 3 or 4 for each disk.) I left the disk there, but since our mail comes from that same building, my guess now is that we can just leave the disk for the mailman to pick up, and Netflix will get it the next day. I've got one in the mailbox waiting for the mail right now.
Now, I still suspect there is one Saturday a month that they don't actually deliver mail to us at all, so I will have to make sure I get something in the mailbox for the mailman to pick up every Saturday to see how that little theory pans out...
This week, we got a couple of disks from Netflix, and the return address was here in town! (Instead of 40 miles away.) The PO box for the disks is at the same post office as the one that delivers our mail to the house.
I went over to the Post office yesterday to ask about their PO box delivery practices. They delivery to the PO box once a day, in the morning. It doesn't matter what time of day we drop the disks off. (I wanted to see, because if they did 2 a day, we could watch a disk at night, get it to the post office first thing in the morning, and have them send out the new disk that day, making it a 2 day turn around instead of 3 or 4 for each disk.) I left the disk there, but since our mail comes from that same building, my guess now is that we can just leave the disk for the mailman to pick up, and Netflix will get it the next day. I've got one in the mailbox waiting for the mail right now.
Now, I still suspect there is one Saturday a month that they don't actually deliver mail to us at all, so I will have to make sure I get something in the mailbox for the mailman to pick up every Saturday to see how that little theory pans out...
Tara would say I'm obsessed
I set the "record game" setting for our first Age of Empires game yesterday. (The one where Dad and I played against Rob and Dave.)
I went back this afternoon and this evening to review the recording. I was hoping I could learn a thing or 2 from the way Dave and Rob played. (The recording lets you observe the game from the point of view of any of the players.)
What did I learn? Dave and Rob have very different game play styles. It's kind of the thing I could learn is to do what I want, just play better.
I figure what I need to do is to play against some expert level computers, and record the games. Then I can review the recordings to see what the computers do to beat (or not beat) me.
Or maybe I should read a book.
I went back this afternoon and this evening to review the recording. I was hoping I could learn a thing or 2 from the way Dave and Rob played. (The recording lets you observe the game from the point of view of any of the players.)
What did I learn? Dave and Rob have very different game play styles. It's kind of the thing I could learn is to do what I want, just play better.
I figure what I need to do is to play against some expert level computers, and record the games. Then I can review the recordings to see what the computers do to beat (or not beat) me.
Or maybe I should read a book.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Less effective sales pitches
There are 2 local ISPs that have been competing for elbow space here in town. One of them has been 3 different companies through time. It sounds like either they are now a new company again, so some of their employees left to go out on their own. We had a sales guy by the house today.
He explained the usual, after I told him we had only internet service and liked it that way, (I really don't want to be moving our phone to a new company, if that's what they are...) he started going into his little pitch about why they are better for Internet service.
They were offering to switch people to their service and wave their fee for setup. This is what he started to say: "Let me tell you why we are better. We have invested in a multi-million dollar blade server. This blade server..."
I stopped him there, and told him I had no intention to switch my ISP. Now, I know of no blade server that could possibly cost "multi-million". (They might have gotten ripped off.) If they paid that much for a blade server, it had better also serve breakfast for them, bathe their children, and take their laundry to the cleaners for that price.
Maybe they'll come back with something else to say in a month or so. I still won't switch.
Sales people that are dishonest and sales people that talk without knowing what in the world they are talking about really tick me off.
He explained the usual, after I told him we had only internet service and liked it that way, (I really don't want to be moving our phone to a new company, if that's what they are...) he started going into his little pitch about why they are better for Internet service.
They were offering to switch people to their service and wave their fee for setup. This is what he started to say: "Let me tell you why we are better. We have invested in a multi-million dollar blade server. This blade server..."
I stopped him there, and told him I had no intention to switch my ISP. Now, I know of no blade server that could possibly cost "multi-million". (They might have gotten ripped off.) If they paid that much for a blade server, it had better also serve breakfast for them, bathe their children, and take their laundry to the cleaners for that price.
Maybe they'll come back with something else to say in a month or so. I still won't switch.
Sales people that are dishonest and sales people that talk without knowing what in the world they are talking about really tick me off.
Game Time
Age of Empires
Dad and I played against Rob and Dave to start. While I don't think Rob had a chip on his shoulder, I don't think he had any desire to be beat by me 2 weeks in a row. He made good and sure to beat the tar out of me. We didn't put up too much of a fight.
For the 2nd game, I talked Rob into playing 3 vs 1 against him. This didn't work out too terribly well for Rob, although he did his best to be annoying...
For the 3rd game, Rob, Dad, and I played against 3 expert computers, on the Amazon map. We won, maybe we should have done 3 vs 5...
Dad and I played against Rob and Dave to start. While I don't think Rob had a chip on his shoulder, I don't think he had any desire to be beat by me 2 weeks in a row. He made good and sure to beat the tar out of me. We didn't put up too much of a fight.
For the 2nd game, I talked Rob into playing 3 vs 1 against him. This didn't work out too terribly well for Rob, although he did his best to be annoying...
For the 3rd game, Rob, Dad, and I played against 3 expert computers, on the Amazon map. We won, maybe we should have done 3 vs 5...
Book Report
Star Trek: The Lost Years
JM Dillard
I was wandering through the library 3 weeks ago looking for something to read. It was 10 minutes to closing time, the library staff started to flash the lights on and off. I was in the Science Fiction section, and decided that I had to act quickly. I saw this book and grabbed it. It's been a long time since I've read a star trek book.
The book is set in the time of the original series, and deals with those characters. It tries to tell the story of how everyone got to where they were at the beginning of the first Star Trek movie. It primarily deals with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.
Maybe I'll have to read more. Or go back to the comics.
Guard Rails
I have heard enough comments about the lack of guard rails on the bunk bed since I put the thing up that I went out in the heat of the day and got them created. (Actually, Ruth took a nap up in the top bunk, so it was time for them already.)
Everyone stop worrying, the preplanned but not immediately implemented guard rails are in place. (Not that the guard rails make a difference when you are sitting up there and pushes you off, not to say that has ever happened before...)
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Bunkbed - finished
I finished the bunkbeds. At least until I get tired of having them not painted, at which time I will revisit the issue.
It's timely, too, because Missy and my Dad just got here, and Drew didn't know they were getting in today, there is no one at his house, so we put up the bunkbed in the middle bedroom (where it was headed anyway), freeing the back bedroom for Dad to stay in.
Creative navigating for the 4th of July
Back in the day, on the 4th of July, we would always have the bright idea to go get doughnuts from the store. We would all pile into Russ's car, and proceed to immediately get stuck in traffic.
On the 4th here, there is a 6:30am balloon festival. There is a 7am foot race. There is a 9am parade. (The parade is on a fairly large scale for this city. 2 off the main streets in town become unusable until about 1pm. This makes it very difficult to get from this side of the city to the doughnuts.)
Anyway, it takes some creative driving to get anywhere. I seem to nearly always get caught in it. Last year I avoided it by staying home. This year, I wanted to go to the new alumni building on campus for the balloons, but couldn't get onto campus. The end of our street was partially blocked off. I turned right, and saw that it was totally blocked off ahead for the race, which hadn't yet started. I drove up and around Kate's school, thinking I could get through onto campus that way. By the time I got there, the race was going, and the only choice the officer gave me was to turn right. (Going straight was the preferred method.) This is the way it goes on the morning of the 4th. I saw plenty of people walking over to the parade route. The mile or mile and a half walk is preferable to trying to get a car down there and parked.
Anyway, the urge to drive out on the 4th to get doughnuts is mostly, but not totally, watered down these days. It's just not worth the hassle. (Maybe I should call Drew.)
On the 4th here, there is a 6:30am balloon festival. There is a 7am foot race. There is a 9am parade. (The parade is on a fairly large scale for this city. 2 off the main streets in town become unusable until about 1pm. This makes it very difficult to get from this side of the city to the doughnuts.)
Anyway, it takes some creative driving to get anywhere. I seem to nearly always get caught in it. Last year I avoided it by staying home. This year, I wanted to go to the new alumni building on campus for the balloons, but couldn't get onto campus. The end of our street was partially blocked off. I turned right, and saw that it was totally blocked off ahead for the race, which hadn't yet started. I drove up and around Kate's school, thinking I could get through onto campus that way. By the time I got there, the race was going, and the only choice the officer gave me was to turn right. (Going straight was the preferred method.) This is the way it goes on the morning of the 4th. I saw plenty of people walking over to the parade route. The mile or mile and a half walk is preferable to trying to get a car down there and parked.
Anyway, the urge to drive out on the 4th to get doughnuts is mostly, but not totally, watered down these days. It's just not worth the hassle. (Maybe I should call Drew.)
Balloon Festival
Every year for the 4th of July, they have a balloon festival. I think I've only actually gotten over to it once, although you can see it from just about anywhere. When I was framing houses, one year we were building a place 10 miles south of here. We had a perfect view of the balloon festival. Usually we don't get up in time to go over there, or forget, or something.
Kate and Mary were up this morning, we went looking for a spot to watch the balloons. This year we ended up driving up to President Palmers house and parking in his driveway. They were either not awake, or gone.
Anyway, right now the girls are out on their playset watching the balloons they can still see. The balloons are driving every neighborhood dog nuts.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
It's back!
A year ago, I cut out a bush from our back yard. I blamed it on allergy problems, I'm not sure if it was justified or not.
There wasn't any sign of it this year, I thought I had gotten to it. I went out to mow this evening, and wouldn't you know it, but the bush was back. Not just a little bit, but three feet tall. I'm not sure when that happened, but I blamed Missy. We went for a little trip and she let the thing grow back.
I guess I will leave it until next Spring, so I can stick my face in it's blossoms and see if it makes me sneeze.
There wasn't any sign of it this year, I thought I had gotten to it. I went out to mow this evening, and wouldn't you know it, but the bush was back. Not just a little bit, but three feet tall. I'm not sure when that happened, but I blamed Missy. We went for a little trip and she let the thing grow back.I guess I will leave it until next Spring, so I can stick my face in it's blossoms and see if it makes me sneeze.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Dining Services money
This year, the fun walk had a thing where if you did all 6 of them, you got a case of water and $30 on your signature card to use at Dining Services places on campus.
At lunchtime, I went to the vending machine to get an ice cream sandwich. The machine told me I had an expected amount of money in my account. (I have a payroll account, they bring my balance up to a certain level every month.)
We went to the Cougar Eat for dinner, when I paid for 6 donuts, the register said my balance was $27.50, which was $20 too low. It turns out that I have the $30 from the Fun Walk applied to my account. I guess it just comes off when I use it at a Dining Services place. I went online to look again. but I can only look at the Payroll side of the account, not the "Dining Services" side. I'm not sure when they stuck it on, but it's there now.
Tara did all the fun walks, they added $30 to her card also. I know this, because I used her card at Taco Bell in the CougarEat to see if it worked. She now has only $20 left on her card.
Anyway, if you stop me soon at lunchtime on campus, and we are anywhere near a place to eat, there's an outside chance lunch is on me...
At lunchtime, I went to the vending machine to get an ice cream sandwich. The machine told me I had an expected amount of money in my account. (I have a payroll account, they bring my balance up to a certain level every month.)
We went to the Cougar Eat for dinner, when I paid for 6 donuts, the register said my balance was $27.50, which was $20 too low. It turns out that I have the $30 from the Fun Walk applied to my account. I guess it just comes off when I use it at a Dining Services place. I went online to look again. but I can only look at the Payroll side of the account, not the "Dining Services" side. I'm not sure when they stuck it on, but it's there now.
Tara did all the fun walks, they added $30 to her card also. I know this, because I used her card at Taco Bell in the CougarEat to see if it worked. She now has only $20 left on her card.
Anyway, if you stop me soon at lunchtime on campus, and we are anywhere near a place to eat, there's an outside chance lunch is on me...
Meeting people
On Saturday, I took the girls to a Children's Parade. They do this in town every year before the big parade on the 4th, where they let the kids walk about 3/4 of a mile down the street, and a local dairy company donates thousands of Popsicles for everyone to eat after.
Lots of people get all decked out for the thing, we don't, we just go down there to try to get them to burn off some energy. (It's a mile and a half round trip...) The girls seem to like it, I hope it's not just because they get to walk down the middle of the street. (Emma enjoys waving at people, we should have gone and gotten some candy to throw at the spectators.)
This year, the girls were intent on finding Drew. He was working, I figured it gave them something to do while they walked. We got down to the end of the thing, and didn't see Drew, so I called him. Turns out he was stationed at the very beginning of the parade, we missed him somehow. He was gone by then.
On our way back to the car, I saw Jose Enriquez. He hasn't changed a bit in 10 years. He's got 2 girls, and lives 15 miles North of us. It sounds like he's doing well. (Although he seemed a little taken back by the fact that I had 5 girls...)
I don't see many people I knew my freshman year in college very often any more. I suppose they have scattered to the 4 winds...
Lots of people get all decked out for the thing, we don't, we just go down there to try to get them to burn off some energy. (It's a mile and a half round trip...) The girls seem to like it, I hope it's not just because they get to walk down the middle of the street. (Emma enjoys waving at people, we should have gone and gotten some candy to throw at the spectators.)
This year, the girls were intent on finding Drew. He was working, I figured it gave them something to do while they walked. We got down to the end of the thing, and didn't see Drew, so I called him. Turns out he was stationed at the very beginning of the parade, we missed him somehow. He was gone by then.
On our way back to the car, I saw Jose Enriquez. He hasn't changed a bit in 10 years. He's got 2 girls, and lives 15 miles North of us. It sounds like he's doing well. (Although he seemed a little taken back by the fact that I had 5 girls...)
I don't see many people I knew my freshman year in college very often any more. I suppose they have scattered to the 4 winds...
Sunday, July 01, 2007
No blowing my hand off for me
We live close enough to the mountain that lighting fireworks off in our area has been banned for a number of years now. (Several years ago there was a fire started on the mountain that spread like crazy and took a long time to put out. It gave us something to look at night, though.)
This year it's very dry. We've had a number of grass fires spring up from random stuff already. (Last week, a tractor started a grass fire in the canyon that went for a number of days.)
The city has banned all fireworks in the city boundaries except for a few parks over by the lake. (At least any place that is within 20 feet of weeds, grass, trees, or structures. I think that pretty much covers it.) I don't blame them. I have only watered my grass once in the last 2 1/2 weeks, I think one little spark on the front lawn would start a fire. I kind of expect some sort of fire to start over by the mountain this year. We've had a couple of years of good growth up there, but it's brown enough right now that I can tell, and I have heard a few fireworks going off somewhere nearby tonight. I can just see some uninformed (or uncaring) person thinking that going over near the mountain would be a good place to light off fireworks, and starting an inferno.
Back in the day, Rob's sister would have us over for Pioneer Day, we would light off a whole bunch of illegal fireworks from Missouri. 2 years ago, we went down to Drew's place to light off fireworks, but he's got a swimming pool he's building back there right now. Last year we went to Tara's parents house, but they don't run their swamp cooler, I gets awfully hot up there, and it's going to push over 100 degrees every day this week. I would much rather have Tara's parents come down here, and we can enjoy the holiday without lighting off any fireworks.
This year it's very dry. We've had a number of grass fires spring up from random stuff already. (Last week, a tractor started a grass fire in the canyon that went for a number of days.)
The city has banned all fireworks in the city boundaries except for a few parks over by the lake. (At least any place that is within 20 feet of weeds, grass, trees, or structures. I think that pretty much covers it.) I don't blame them. I have only watered my grass once in the last 2 1/2 weeks, I think one little spark on the front lawn would start a fire. I kind of expect some sort of fire to start over by the mountain this year. We've had a couple of years of good growth up there, but it's brown enough right now that I can tell, and I have heard a few fireworks going off somewhere nearby tonight. I can just see some uninformed (or uncaring) person thinking that going over near the mountain would be a good place to light off fireworks, and starting an inferno.
Back in the day, Rob's sister would have us over for Pioneer Day, we would light off a whole bunch of illegal fireworks from Missouri. 2 years ago, we went down to Drew's place to light off fireworks, but he's got a swimming pool he's building back there right now. Last year we went to Tara's parents house, but they don't run their swamp cooler, I gets awfully hot up there, and it's going to push over 100 degrees every day this week. I would much rather have Tara's parents come down here, and we can enjoy the holiday without lighting off any fireworks.
Classes
I've been thinking about taking a Spanish class. We have a Hispanic ward in our Stake, some of the people that need to set an appointment end up not being able to communicate with me. (And there doesn't seem to be any sign at this point of my being released until the Stake President is released, which I'm ok with.) Right now, I have 2 people I need to get in for an appointment, I haven't found out how their English is yet, so I haven't called to set them up.
A few months ago, I was trying to get someone to come in for an appointment. I spent a number of telephone calls trying to communicate, and thought I finally had, when the time for the appointment came, the guy didn't show up. It turned out that I had been speaking with his roommate all along, but the roommate didn't really understand.
I rely heavily on one of the High Councilmen in the Stake to help with these things, but it would be nice to just be able to speak for myself, especially since there are often times on Tuesdays that people walk in for appointments.
For Fall semester, there are a number of Spanish classes offered by the Evening program. There are a number of different levels of class offered by the Evening program at 7am. I think just about all the Spanish I learned in High School is gone now, so I wonder if I should try to start at the beginning. They have a foundational Spanish set of classes for the uninitiated. Those 2 classes are pass/fail, which is more to my style, but I wonder how far they would get me. It's not like I need to learn how to buy bread, I just need to have Church related conversations. Maybe I need to go over to the department and talk to them about the Foundational vs University level classes.
Then there is the other side of the coin. I never really had a strong driving motivation to attend class, I was always 3 weeks behind by the 2nd class of a semester. I've got a lot of other things to worry about besides the workload a class will give, and work itself will most definitely get in the way of class. (I wouldn't be able to attend the first 2 days of the semester, that's our biggest load, and spend those 2 days in the data center...)
Now that I've written this last paragraph, I wonder if it's a good idea at all. That class is 7-8am Monday-Friday. I have a 4 day trip scheduled in the end of September, and I still have to take 6 days of vacation this year or I lose them. (I could take up to 28 days of vacation for the year total at this point. I don't have to work on Mondays for the rest of the year if I don't want to.) By October, I could be to the point of not working Mondays or Fridays the rest of the year, not that I would do that, but if we get to October and I haven't used any vacation time yet, I might seriously pick Monday or Friday to take off for the rest of the year, and have 3 day weekends for the rest of the year. 7am is also kind of early for me. I'm not sure all the cylinders would be firing that early, even if I got up. Maybe that's exactly what you need to learn a new language.
There is a "Weight Management" class in the PE department that's Monday and Wednesdays, it's only a 1 block class, so it wouldn't last too terribly long.
A few months ago, I was trying to get someone to come in for an appointment. I spent a number of telephone calls trying to communicate, and thought I finally had, when the time for the appointment came, the guy didn't show up. It turned out that I had been speaking with his roommate all along, but the roommate didn't really understand.
I rely heavily on one of the High Councilmen in the Stake to help with these things, but it would be nice to just be able to speak for myself, especially since there are often times on Tuesdays that people walk in for appointments.
For Fall semester, there are a number of Spanish classes offered by the Evening program. There are a number of different levels of class offered by the Evening program at 7am. I think just about all the Spanish I learned in High School is gone now, so I wonder if I should try to start at the beginning. They have a foundational Spanish set of classes for the uninitiated. Those 2 classes are pass/fail, which is more to my style, but I wonder how far they would get me. It's not like I need to learn how to buy bread, I just need to have Church related conversations. Maybe I need to go over to the department and talk to them about the Foundational vs University level classes.
Then there is the other side of the coin. I never really had a strong driving motivation to attend class, I was always 3 weeks behind by the 2nd class of a semester. I've got a lot of other things to worry about besides the workload a class will give, and work itself will most definitely get in the way of class. (I wouldn't be able to attend the first 2 days of the semester, that's our biggest load, and spend those 2 days in the data center...)
Now that I've written this last paragraph, I wonder if it's a good idea at all. That class is 7-8am Monday-Friday. I have a 4 day trip scheduled in the end of September, and I still have to take 6 days of vacation this year or I lose them. (I could take up to 28 days of vacation for the year total at this point. I don't have to work on Mondays for the rest of the year if I don't want to.) By October, I could be to the point of not working Mondays or Fridays the rest of the year, not that I would do that, but if we get to October and I haven't used any vacation time yet, I might seriously pick Monday or Friday to take off for the rest of the year, and have 3 day weekends for the rest of the year. 7am is also kind of early for me. I'm not sure all the cylinders would be firing that early, even if I got up. Maybe that's exactly what you need to learn a new language.
There is a "Weight Management" class in the PE department that's Monday and Wednesdays, it's only a 1 block class, so it wouldn't last too terribly long.
Game Time
Catan the card game
Me - 1
Tara - 0
I also broke the "curse of the blue card set", winning with those cards.
At some point in the game (about 10pm), we had all our children out of their rooms watching us play. Several were trying to be a little too helpful. They are all back in bed now, I think I gave the 3 oldest sufficient motivation to stay in the room...
Me - 1
Tara - 0
I also broke the "curse of the blue card set", winning with those cards.
At some point in the game (about 10pm), we had all our children out of their rooms watching us play. Several were trying to be a little too helpful. They are all back in bed now, I think I gave the 3 oldest sufficient motivation to stay in the room...
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