Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Then those damned kids quit getting polio and everything went to hell…
Sean Hackbarth points to an absolutely lovely piece about the way people were put out of work by the polio vaccine.
If you smell an analogy there, you’re right on track. Go take a look.
Happy Secretary’s Day
Is it just me, or should we not need a special day of gratitude to secretaries and administrative assistants? Wouldn’t it be far better to make sure they are paid adequately and treated with respect throughout the year? What do you think?
I have seen the secretaries make the world go round and be just completely dismissed as not important, paid poorly, the last to get computers that make them more efficient instead of - because they actually use them more intensively - the first, and all around not seemingly appreciated. Then on this day people fall all over themselves to be grateful in the form of cards, flowers, dinner on the company dime… so why not just treat ‘em well enough all the time?
How about a “we appreciate the computer support people” day, if we’re giving out special “we like you, we really really like you” days to job categories…
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
What A Day
I ended the day by heading to the new client to inventory computers so it would be clear what they had before proceeding. Seems it’s going to end up being a combination of me, the person developing their B to B web site in-house, and the programmer who wrote and maintains their order entry application all involved in bringing them into the future.
Anyway, this involved going around to each machine, getting the OS, user, machine name, CPU, and other info. After first detouring through figuring out how to create an export template in the timeclock software to be compatible with ADP payroll processing. All went well and it took about the duration I had expected. There were fun details like my learning that many of the machines had BIOS passwords set, and learning they do in fact all log onto Novell as the network controller. The Novell machine was intended to be gone months ago and supposedly was there only because it still contained relevant data not ported off it yet. Most of the machines were built by a previous computer guy they now despise, and it showed.
We saved the NT server for last. I had to reboot that to find out everything I needed to know. Not a problem; they periodically have to reboot it anyway.
Not this time.
It kept getting to the blue screen that displays the amount of memory and chugs for a minute before moving on, then rebooting itself.
VGA mode was no good. The additional instances of regular and VGA mode on the boot screen were artifacts in the boot.ini that had no connection with reality.
I ended up going into SCSI utilities and having it check the two drives. Nope. Disconnected from the network in case, as they thought, Novell was interfering. Nope.
We ended up leaving, with the server off, and in the morning they will try again. If it’s not sane then, they will try to get the evil computer guy who built the machine and knows it and, apparently, didn’t leave them with the NT disk that goes with it. Thus I couldn’t try recovery with that. I didn’t dare to use Last Known Good to take it back to original configuration.
What an awful end to the day! And in the middle of it, another new client called to report when his office would be ready and stuff would be moving in there, and to ask progress on the document management software he will beta for us if I can wrestle it into creating an installable distribution. Even though the beta is free, I would like to have it ready on time when he needs it.
I don’t remember ever leaving someone with things that completely down. In the morning they will be in “send people home because they can’t do anything” mode until the server is back. All I did was reboot it an have it by sheer coincidence fail at that time. When I came home and looked up the problem, I found one possibility involves doing a new install of NT to a new folder, using that to change settings in the original install, then going back to the original when fixed. Ugh.
I hope tomorrow is better. Today I heard from or dealt with most of my clients, and got called by a guy I help free as a favor who naturally is the most demanding “client” of all. Which is why I developed a habit of ignoring him for the most part. It must have been one of those crazy days for computers.
Sheesh.
I really wish I could go “zoop” and make my exhaustion disappear…
Actually, it’s a drug-induced stupor, but who’s counting, right? Eventually I’ll get around to talking about my recent medical adventures over at the baby’s page, I’m sure, but today I stuck to complaining about the sad state of maternity wear. The scariest part is that things are better today than they’ve ever been, or so I’ve been told.
In any case, I’m going to go lay down for a little while, so I can hopefully dig up the energy to clean the kitchen and cook supper for my husband when he wanders home.
Maternity Thongs?
You’re kidding me, right?
The other thing that has me confused at the moment is why everything is frickin’ sleeveless, or has just those itty-bitty sleeves that end right at the point where any given upper arm is most likely to look fat? That stuff didn’t look good on me *before* I was pregnant, and it certainly won’t now. Sigh.
This is why I’m so eager to put off shopping for as long as possible--I always have trouble buying clothes. I’m generally a 14 or a 16, depending on the cut, and so “normal” sizes fit me just fine--it’s just that it’s hard to find stuff that actually looks good, because the styling is done with a 6 or 8 in mind.
Ah, well...in a few weeks when it’s good and warm, I suppose all I’m going to want is something nice and cool to wear. But would it really hurt anyone if nice and cool included sleeves?
Just for the record…
I am really, really, really, really, REALLY, really sick of wanting a cigarette.
Just thought you should know.
*grin*
Busy Begets Busy
Or so it always seems.
I did resolve the previously mentioned Access problem, and feel rather silly now that I have. Most of the troubleshooting had been done by my partner, who wrote the program, but one of us ought have realized what was going on.
We created the billing app, delivered it, urged them to make regular backups, if only by copying the MDB across the network to their kid’s computer periodically. That got a “huh, I am clueless about computers, so yeah right, like that’ll ever happen” response. So we suggested having their son do it.
As it turned out, there was a problem with the subreport for materials repeating itself. After much stress and gnashing of teeth and such, my partner figured that out and told me what to do, as it was a minor fix.
I went over there and did it. Eventually their computer crashed. They had a friend set things back up for them, since I am too expensive, then had to have me fix what the friend did and finish things off. I retrieved the most recent copy of the MDB they had and went on my merry way. I thought that was the fixed version, but apparently the fixed version was never anywhere but on their ill-fated hard drive. We totally forgot this little detail.
Then when they had the problem of material description repeating, it appeared to be different from last time. When I finally took over troubleshooting in earnest this morning, I stripped it down to essentials and figured out it happened to more than just lime, and the number of repetitions matched the number of instances of that value in the field. That led me to find the old mail with the fix, try it, and find it worked. Which got my partner off the hook his last available day to work on it before he goes for surgery.
That done, I got ready to do stuff at the office and prepare to go to the new client later, and arrange to visit the above people to give them the fix. Then my father called with a problem on his work computer in Vermont.
Ultimately the problem is the software the franchiser provides having brain dead tendencies, but their support eventually gave up and referred him to me. The problem is that software that has absolutely nothing to do with the network and does not or should not be doing anything across the internet won’t run unless he dials and goes online. Then it works. At the same time, his machine is claiming a network cable is unplugged. Not true. And apparently whatever is making it think that is what is freaking out the software, which apparently does somehow check for a network connection in order to work.
The plan was to fetch my nephew tomorrow or Thursday, let him stay with us through Saturday, and on Saturday do a major project (or part of it) with his help. Now I find myself asking Deb what she thinks of joining me on a whirlwind visit to Vermont this weekend.
On that note, I need to go again. I should note before I do that I was amused to receive in the mail yesterday a solicitation for Google AdSense. My business site doesn’t get enough traffic for that, though part of it could if I breathed life back into it. Maybe the blog. I notice they disapprove of “personal” sites and you have to get special permission to have the Google ads there. Can’t be that hard though, since many blogs have them…
Sorry, folks.
It’s just that I still haven’t done the waking up thing today...I’m here at the computer but my brain is still off. I’d turn it on, if I could remember where the switch is…
Scarcity Today
Sorry guys. I am pretty busy. Over coffee I am working on one of the most whacked technical problems I have ever seen. We created a billing “program” in Access for a groundskeeping business, for ease of using reports as bills.
Now if the material description is “lime” the material lists over and over and over again. Nothing else; just lime.
If you add a space in front of lime, it works fine. If you programatically make it add a space in front of every material, it goes nuts.
Lime is not a reserved word or anything like that. Rebuilding into a fresh MDB by exporting the reports, etc. to it, copying the database structure, copying the data except the autonumber fields, and adjusting for changes resulting in autonumber sequence breaks that are no longer there doesn’t work at all.
I am about ready to tell them to type “ lime” instead of “lime” when that is the material.
Anyway, I will wrestle with this a wee bit longer, then go to the office, where I have more to do than I know what to do with, and then I have to leave there at 3:00 for the new client computer survey. Turns out most of them will be at a sales meeting (wonder if they play Buzzword Bingo...) so I can start early.
If I have a few moments in the middle of the day and something brief grabs me, perhaps I will post. Otherwise you may not hear from me again until tonight or tomorrow morning. Perhaps my wife will keep you entertained…
Monday, April 19, 2004
Meandering…
Yes, I *am* sort of quiet this afternoon, aren’t I?
Sigh.
It’s nothing short of a minor miracle that I ever post in the afternoons at all, since that’s when I get terribly unbearably sleepy and sit here trying like hell to make my brain work. You know, if I’d just go take a nap, I’d probably be fine for the time that I’m actually awake, but napping just isn’t my thing. It should be my thing, but it isn’t--yet.
My husband will read this post and instantly let go of any hope that I accomplished anything in the house today. It’s not that bad, honey--the kitchen is clean, more or less. I had a burst of energy after I got home this afternoon. Go figure!
I’m happier today ‘cause I’m warm, but I still know exactly what Susanna is talking about. I’m getting used to living ‘round here, but it just isn’t quite the same, and never will be. That’s ok...different doesn’t mean bad. It just makes me wistful to hear her say it.
Speaking of different...have you seen Ith’s pretty new design yet? We likes it, we does…
Grand Opening
[This was the first post on Sadie’s blog, when it existed.]
I think I’ve done all the fussing with the page I can bear, so I guess that means it’s time for the grand opening!
I spent a long time thinking about whether I actually wanted to do this, and I came to the conclusion that I needed *someplace* to talk about what’s going on with this crazy creating-a-whole-new-person-out-of-two-half-cells-thing. My friends who have been pregnant before expect me to take it all in stride and don’t want to hear about it (or worse, offer bad advice based on what *their* doctor told them), the ones who haven’t think I’m crazy and don’t want to hear about it, and the rest are men. Heh. But even though the human race has been doing this for a lot of years, each time still feels like the first time to the woman experiencing it--especially when it is the first time for her.
Er, not to mention that I’m a blogging addict.
So this is where you’ll find me (and hopefully my husband, from time to time) posting about the joys of impending parenthood, including the bits that you may or may not really want to know. We’re starting almost in the middle here, so there should be plenty of backtracking to keep this thing fresh even when there isn’t much new to report.
Thanks for stopping by. 
Oooh, I’m writing my life away…
For those of you who have been wondering when I’d finally start a pregnancy journal (hey, I’m only 16 weeks, there’s plenty of time, right? heh...), it’s here. There’s not really anything there yet, just a tapping the microphone post, but I’m really looking forward to adding to more to it. It’s also much more a journal than it is a blog, hand coded and without comments, though positive feedback is welcome. I just wanted this to be more my space and less a possible forum for the pregnancy police.
Er, anyway, that sort of ranting will be found at the new place from now on, which hopefully will delight those of you who are interested and allow those of you who aren’t to breathe a big sigh of relief that you won’t have to wade through the preggo posts to get to the normal snarkiness on the main site.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming…
I’ve thawed!!!
It’s currently 75 degrees outside, according to the lovely weather.com people, and all I can say is that it’s good to be warm again…
Woohoo!
Money is good. It’s nice to get more work!
My new client asked me to inventory and document exactly what they have for computers and so forth, so they know where they are starting from before moving ahead. They have an ambitious plan to host their web site and secure business to business ordering in the building. That will mean major improvement, as I discovered they have a two year old NT server, but are networked peer to peer and use the server only for data.
I’m starting to think this client could become a major fraction of the volume of work I get from the big client. Add to that another new, more modestly sized client, and I may be able to afford this whole wife and babies thing yet. And that’s without even getting our software on the market. The other new client will be beta testing it hard, if I ever make the time to wrestle an installable distribution into being. Guess I’d better get back to work…
Whither Kensho Godchaser?
Kensho Godchaser is scheduled to host the May 10 edition of Carnival of the Capitalists. His site seems to be down, and has for a while.
Anyone know what’s up with that? Obviously if he cannot host, I will need to have someone else fill in. I have an idea who I might ask first. Otherwise I will consider volunteers on a first come, first served basis.
The Cul-de-Sac is back!
I was just fixin’ to get all apologetic, seeing as how I’m about to sign off for the morning, seeing as how I have yet another medical appointment this morning, and I was thinking I’d do the ol’ referring y’all to the blogroll thing, but before that tragedy could befall us all I clicked over to Kelley’s place…
and discovered the biggest damned Cul-de-Sac the world has ever seen.
Seriously, I think I can just go ahead and take the week off...y’all’ll be busy over there that long. In any case, I can leave now without a bit of guilt, knowing that Miss Kelley has got y’all taken care of.
Wow.
4/19 Carnival of the Capitalists Is Up
Lynne Kiesling of Knowledge Problem has put together an excellent looking CotC this week.
There seem to be rather few entries. I’d like to see wider participation! Perhaps you could help out by reminding people of CotC when you see good biz and econ posts, or by suggesting other people’s posts yourself. The hosts and info page is at http://www.elhide.com/solo/cotc.htm for more details (though it could use some updating, which I expect I’ll get to eventually). Send entries to capitalists -at- elhide.com and they will forward to the current host.
In this case, that would be Gordon Smith of Venturpreneur, who hosts the April 26th edition.
Looking for previous editions of Carnival of the Capitalists? They are listed at http://elhide.com/solo/pastcotc.htm so you can find them easily.
I have yet to update the redirection to this week’s CotC, but generally the URL http://elhide.com/solo/cc.htm will take you to the most recent Carnival of the Capitalists.
Update:
I just counted the links in CotC and it only looked lighter than normal. There are actually close to thirty, which is typical. But don’t let that stop you from adding to the fun!
Catblogging Goodness
It’s that time again...the Carnival of the Cats is up over at ATS.
Oh, and good morning.
Happy Patriot’s Day
This is a Massachusetts holiday that most people don’t take off. However, government stuff is closed, much stuff in Boston and along the Marathon route is closed, and a few companies are closed. Schools too, of course. I have only ever worked for one company that took this as an official holiday, and that had a lot to do with the owner being a Marathon fan.
Not sure if banks are open, but I should find out. I have a deposit I didn’t have time to make Friday, and could use some cash. Oops.
Carnival of the Capitalists
This week’s Carnival of the Capitalists isn’t up yet, but feel free to keep an eye on Knowledge Problem for it. I’ll post, update the Carnival of the Capitalists page, and send e-mail to the list once I hear from Lynne. It’s early yet; just thought I would let you know, in case you’re looking for it.
Sunday, April 18, 2004
“…the heartbreak of radioactive isotopes…”
Are you reading this blog yet, and if so, why not? Here is another example of why you are remiss in failing to visit the doggies:
While other blogs obsess endlessly over topics like terrorism, string theory, and the heartbreak of radioactive isotopes, it falls to Two Nervous Dogs, as usual, to tackle various important subjects that are too often ignored. Of course, when we say “tackle,” we mean “write one or two sentences and put up some sort of slapdash graphic.”
Yes, we [i]are[/i] alive
...and relatively well, thankyouforasking. What good is the first beautiful weekend of the spring if you can’t be ridiculously lazy?
The feeling that I live in an entirely foreign land has been exacerbated by the National Weather Service:
THE WARMEST WEATHER OF THIS EARLY SPRING WILL ARRIVE MONDAY AFTERNOON ON GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS TO NEAR 40 MPH. TEMPERATURES WILL SOAR TO BETWEEN 83 AND 88 DEGREES ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND… INCLUDING SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MUCH OF MASSACHUSETTS. SOUTHWEST WINDS COMING ACROSS THE COOL OCEAN WATERS WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES IN THE 70S ALONG SOUTH COASTAL RHODE ISLAND AND MASSACHUSETTS… WITH TEMPERATURES ONLY IN THE 60S OVER THE CAPE AND ISLANDS.
THE STRONG WIND… NEAR RECORD WARM TEMPERATURES AND RELATIVELY LOW HUMIDITY MAY CAUSE DEHYDRATION AND HEAT RELATED DISORDERS. BE ALERT FOR NAUSEA… A SIGN OF HEAT EXHAUSTION WHICH WILL REQUIRE MEDICAL ATTENTION.
FOR THOSE PARTICIPATING IN LONG DURATION STRENUOUS ACTIVITY… HYDRATE APPROPRIATELY. IN ADDITION… THE USE OF A SUNSCREEN WILL BE USEFUL....
*snork*
The sad part is that in a couple of years I’ll be bitching about how damn hot it is when it hits 80 degrees…
Saturday, April 17, 2004
Right As Usual
Remember Right We Are!? Excellent blog, winner by a whisker and concession of the Great Rat Race we concocted to move up the Ecosystem? Home of Maripat, formerly Lori, and more recently, Linda?
Well, it up and disappeared, almost as if John Kerry went ”zoop“ in its general direction. Perhaps he was practicing in preparation for the Republicans.
It was a complete mystery until tonight. Linda e-mailed to let me know she is “venting steam” at Right As Usual. I am happy to spread the word.
Linda does not know what the problem is, and has not heard from Maripat, who just moved and is likely all discombobulated. I know that feeling! Perhaps the domain expired unnoticed at exactly the time she was least likely to notice, or it’s a hosting issue, or who knows.
If you liked Right We Are, especially if you liked Linda’s contributions to RWA after she joined the team, you may want to check out and make a note of Right As Usual.
Mayflower and Other Ramblings on a Sunny Saturday
What a great day!
We had breakfast with my father as planned, though I forgot both the asparagus I’d intended to give him, and the digital camera I need to return to him. That was nice. Then we turned in some accumulated soda cans for almost $20. Mmmm… money.
Since it was such a gorgeous day, we didn’t want to simply return home. After all, there’s enough time to do some cleaning this evening before the landlord stops by tomorrow.
The water department is changing out the meter in the cellar, which may also involve some pipe repair. When the landlord’s sister called to let me know the water would be out for an hour, she asked if anything needed attention. So when he’s here he’s going to check a couple plumbing issues and a possible shorting switch that controls the hall light. Plus they’ll be able to see what can be purged from the cellar to make more room for me to store things there.
They also are rather dismayed by Slacker Dude and the rest of the Company of Three upstairs. I wasn’t going to complain - yet - but she actually asked about the smell in the back stairwell, and whether he was doing the tasks for which he gets a break on the rent. He’s supposed to take the rubbish barrels to the curb each Wednesday. He last did that a month ago. I did it last week because they were too full for it not to get done. He’s supposed to clean the common areas. I laughed when she said that! When we got the washer and dryer hooked up in the cellar, I knocked down the cobwebs and swept thoroughly in the back hall to the foot of their stairs, down the stairs to the cellar entryway, the entryway, and into the cellar itself. Looked like it had been a year easy. He’s also supposed to change bulbs, but I think the bulb in the front hall keeps being out due to an electrical issue. Apparently they have been known to block the back (emergency/fire) exit with rubbish or whatever, and the landlord somehow is aware there is an almost unbearable stench back there at times.
This is their first apartment, and it feels like they’re testing their boundaries. Thus the appropriateness of Deb’s “the kids upstairs” expression. After a few rounds of them expressing concern they were too loud and us assuring them they were fine, they seem to have cut unabashedly loose from any recognition that there are other people in the building. Our living room, which is going to become our bedroom, has a thin wall against the entry hall, where Slacker Dude and friends (but not the girls who live up there) go in and out, or even hang out, talking loudly and pounding noisily up and down the stairs at all hours. Someone has taken to playing movies or whatnot so loud above that room that it would not be possible to sleep there. Up from barely being able to tell anyone lived up there, originally.
For all that, they aren’t that bad and we’d worry about getting someone worse. We just haven’t had a chance to let them know yet their volume level has finally exceeded maximum expectations.
But I digress.
I knew Deb would want to see water again, and before she even said it I started heading that way from Bridgewater. I showed her where I used to live in Plympton, and then we got to see that there was some serious progress on the new stretch of route 44 they are building. In the fifties or sixties a factory I once worked at was built near where the road is going through, in anticipation of the road. The company went through its entire heyday and life cycle through being obsoleted by competition from other companies, cheaper labor and more modern equipment elsewhere, was closed, was vacant, used, vacant, used by someone else, and appears to be vacant again. The road still isn’t there that will put it almost directly on a highway. But it’s getting there! I think it has been about seven years since all obstacles were out of the way. The plan was in place. The funding was there. The turtles were safe.
There will soon be an efficient east-west route linking to Plymouth. Perhaps someday it will even be a four lane, divided highway all the way from the Middleboro Rotary to the Plymouth border or so. That was the plan.
We proceeded to Water Street in Plymouth; the proverbial waterfront where the mythical-construct Plymouth Rock is, along with the Mayflower replica. It was a nice day, but not totally mobbed with tourists yet. I need the walking exercise. We walked along the waterfront, then down toward the Mayflower. We decided we could handle $8 each to go on it, which I last did when I was in 4th grade. Augh… that was 1971! *Sigh*
It was worth it. They have much improved the info displayed, though I could swear less of the ship is accessible now. Or maybe it felt bigger then. I enjoyed seeing Deb’s enjoyment of being onboard as much as I did the rest of the experience. One thing I learned is that the Whites, part of my ancestry, came from Nottinghamshire. I didn’t notice Howland on the location breakdown, but the internet says he came from Essex, so it must be true.
Anyway, we walked on down and giggled at Plymouth Rock, then crossed the street to the shops side and walked back. Went in Peaceful Meadows for ice cream. Mmmm… ice cream. It was really time for lunch, but we survived, and I had to introduce Deb to Peaceful Meadows eventually. She approved.
The primary urge to enjoy the amazing weather sated, I drove out via route 44 without detouring, to show her the twisty, windy country road part of it the highway construction needed to supercede decades ago. Stayed on 44 all the way to Wal-Mart Super Center in Raynham, detouring only to show her where the new client is. We decided to take the risk of crowds to check out the place and get a couple of “we don’t need no steenkin’ carriage” necessities. Oh. My. God. Now wonder she is so in love with super Wal-Marts! There is no question most of our shopping for groceries and sundries will happen there henceforth.
It was a wonderful day to drive around. What a shame tomorrow will only be 64. Heh. I think after we finish dealing with the landlord tomorrow I will go to the office and get all I can done so I can take Monday off, or largely off, but for monitoring things remotely. It’s supposed to be 82. Woohoo! Adequate warmth!
We ought to start taking a camera so when we go on these little jaunts to the waterfront or tourist attractions, we can post pictures. They couldn’t be as boring as my rambling descriptions…
Introversion As Business Challenge
Rob has posted excellent thoughts on being an introvert, yet an entrepreneur as well; two things that might not seem they would work together. As an introvert, a fellow INTP, coping with what can sometimes be near-debilitating is a subject of great interest to me.
I can see how immersion in the entrepreneurial flurry could actually help, as long as there is always a little down time. It tends to affect my business negatively, but more so if I am less busy, less so if I am more busy. Yet it is a barrier to becoming busier; a conundrum.
The funny thing is, I often remark to people about how shy I am, only to be told by the more casual observer “you’re not shy!” I am quite capable of putting on a more gregarious face, but it takes a toll and requires balance. I also act more gregarious with people I already know. Catch-22.
Here I am, needing to sell - not merely engage in some relatively standoffish marketing - and needing to increase my volume of billable work by 50% for starters, 100% to break through the “need two people and can now afford it” barrier. Yet between introversion and the residual terror of picking up the phone that doing high volume tech support tends to impart, I can hardly bear to answer the phone (and need the aforementioned greater volume before I can have someone answering for me). It wouldn’t hurt for me to do personal cold calling, but there is no way that’s going to happen. I can make myself physically sick anticipating such a task. Thus the approach of building enough volume, gradually if that’s how it has to be, then lighting things up to a new level by bringing on someone who can “do sales.”
Not that I can never manage to flare up into evangelical mode, but I don’t do it the way one of my former partners could. Yet he was more introverted - or at least far moodier - than I am. If you truly believe, brothers, then that can be far easier than other things introversion impacts. It’s all very challenging.
Friday, April 16, 2004
Breakfast Revisited
I know! Perhaps I’ll have waffles. Or maybe not.
Yawn
I managed to stay awake all day!
Well, mostly. I actually dozed for a moment then came to with a start a few times in front of the computer at the office. I had forgotten to put on any music and had not taken my shoes off. The latter keeps me more wakeful by making me comfortable and happy, rather than relaxing me as you might expect.
The time approaches to sleep, as we both have to be up and out of here in time for breakfast with my father at 10 AM at Good Days in West Bridgewater. Yum!
Speaking of yum, I made the best tasting cheeseburgers for us tonight. Deb was most impressed. We had that, barbecue chips, and I had asparagus. I got three bunches - about four pounds - for 99¢/lb at a special 2-day sale at a new local supermarket. Excellent price, so I figured I would give a bunch or two to my father, who especially love the stuff. No matter how bad it smells when the kidneys are done; a problem many of us share.
Anyway, I cooked one bunch and ended up eating the entire thing in one serving. It was arguably the best asparagus I have ever had. Yum. I was going to give my father the rest, but now I’m not so sure…
Speaking of unsure, I am not sure what has gotten into me. I never ate veggies and fruit so liberally when I was single. Maybe because it’s more justified to buy and/or prepare them for two? It’s not like the wife is the primary driver behind this either; more the other way around.
Not that eating mostly healthier has lost me weight. I look more pregnant than she does anymore. The doctor will have a field day with the weighing Thursday. Doh!
Speaking of the doctor, I stopped by his office today to asked about the whole sleep thing. The receptionist, who thinks Deb is just wonderful, said something about printing it out for me and I was all set, after I explained to her and the nurse the situation. That is, having gotten the CPAP machine, only needing calibration, mask and hose for it, only ever having learned my “results” from the company that wanted to sell me the hardware, and having them appear to lose their enthusiasm when I got the most expensive part of the hardware elsewhere for free. As far as I can see, I still will know nothing until next Thursday when I have my next scheduled appointment. As for the nurse, she managed to get in a couple how wonderfuls about Deb, congratulations to me, and how lucky I am as she went back and forth between patients. My wife leaves quite an impression! Then again, she tells me they say the same things about me. I really had no idea.
Unless something really tickles my fancy before I can get to bed, this ought to be it for the night. Don’t forget your CotC entries. Speaking of which, since there is more than one CotC now, I guess we need new shortcut/acronym names. Perhaps Capitalists can be CotCap, Cats can be CotCat, and Consumers (did that ever fly?) can be CotCon. Or whatever. Just idle mumblings of a sleepy yet twisted mind.
Official Schedule Released
Ith has the DNC 2004 convention schedule for your edification. It’s enough to make you want to propose a toast to Ith. Or at least be one of her followers.
Only 56%? I must be slipping!
| You are 56% geek | You are a geek. Good for you! Considering the endless complexity of the universe, as well as whatever discipline you happen to be most interested in, you’ll never be bored as long as you have a good book store, a net connection, and thousands of dollars worth of expensive equipment. Assuming you’re a technical geek, you’ll be able to afford it, too. If you’re not a technical geek, you’re geek enough to mate with a technical geek and thereby get the needed dough. Dating tip: Don’t date a geek of the same persuasion as you. You’ll constantly try to out-geek the other. |
Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com
Via Jay Manifold
But it’s Friday…
Friday is, of course, traditionally a cat-blogging day, but when dog-blogging is done this well, we can live with it intruding.
And since I’ve made my political post of the day already, I have to say I’m grateful for the material…