Monday, July 31, 2006
Death By Stubborn
Speaking of the heat, my grandmother examplifies why a surprising amount of the elderly dropping like flies in heat waves might be, in a manner of speaking, voluntary.
She’s had many air conditioners over the years, using them seldom, usually ostensibly because the unit in question had died. Her most recent one came from me a couple years ago.
At the big “we only get to see my brother’s kids once or twice a year so it’s a fine time to forget the camera” cookout at my grandmother’s Sunday, she stayed in the house per normal, with three or four fans going. Compared to some days, it was pretty comfortable, but still, it was brutal in there.
I almost piped up and asked her why she wasn’t running the air conditioner. I wish I had, because I’d probably have given her heck if the reason was anything other than “it’s dead.”
It’s not. Come to find out later she is flatly refusing to run the AC. Absolutely Will. Not. Do. It. My mother, I am told, is furious. She lives there too, and is also old enough that she should be extra careful. She ought to be furious. It’s moronic to have the AC and refuse to use it!
I’m not sure how much of this is wailing and gnashing over the potential electric bill, like running four fans is going to be any better, and how much of this is imagining she’s still young, healthy, and didn’t need no damn AC back in her day. Someone who shows and describes for me the same picture three times in under two minutes is starting to be in no shape to decide that something like AC is icky modern voodoo she shouldn’t use. Then again, I could see her refusing just to irritate my mother.
Sheesh. I wonder how many homes of the elderly this plays itself out in these conditions around the country.
So if my grandmother dies this week, I’ll be sad - extremely sad, end of an era sad - but it will probably have been a self-inflicted death by stubborn.
Heavy, Man
The near-twin servers I will be setting up in the next few weeks arrived today.
151 Pounds each.
Fully crated, anyway. Boxes were probably 20 of that.
Which still means I can barely lift the servers. They come surprisingly close to the heaviest known weight I’ve ever lifted, which was 142 lbs when I was in excellent shape.
Anyway, this is the start of my being very busy for the next month. One will be Exchange Server 2003 and Windows 2003 Server, replacing the NT PDC, BDC, proxy server, and the Exchange 5.5 functionality currently handled on a slightly overloaded Windows 2000 server that never played well with NT. The other will be Windows 2003 Server with SQL Server 2005, and will replace a Windows 2000 Pro machine hosting accounting software, and a SQL Server 6.5 NT machine.
This should be interesting…
Weirdness?
If you notice anything not-quite-right with the site, could you drop me a comment? I updated to the newest release of EE last night, and as far as I can tell, it all works...but you never really know.
Thanks.
Egads.
You know, I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t mention the weather again. But yuck:
Dewpoints are expected to be in the mid-seventies on that hundred degree day. We’re expecting to get up early, retreat to somewhere air conditioned, and stay there as late as possible. Tomorrow and Thursday, too.
Yikes.
(BTW, those temps that we’re cooling down to (yay!) at the end of the week? At and barely below average for this point. We’ve already passed our average hottest day of summer, which is something like a whopping 83 degrees and a week ago. This is why there’s not so much air conditioning as there might be in these parts. I’ll be shocked if there aren’t deaths on Wednesday.)
Happy Birthday
To blogger Chuck Simmons.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Civilized
That’s what Deb would call this. Heh.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Apparently My Briefcase Was Perfect For It
Valerie just pulled herself up into a standing position for the first time! Then let herself down and pulled herself up a couple times. Then scooted a couple steps to the left, which led to her downfall, because she didn’t move her upper body.
Well, that’s for the first time entirely on her own, leaning on/holding something other than one of our hands.
She apparently has no idea that she’s only five months and eight days old.
Friday, July 28, 2006
MSDN Library Now Free
Microsoft is now making MSDN Library available as a download.
Large or not, that’s an extremely cool thing. I like searching the local MSDN content better than searching online.
Via M-Dollar at Ars Technica.
Blogging on the Brain
Randall Parker has some fascinating news on Alzheimer’s. Sounds extremely promising. As does the potential of a drug to treat brain aging.
Happy Birthday
To blogger Tammi, who found herself tagged with a birthday meme right on schedule.
Happy Birthday
To blogger Trader Mike.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Pardon me while I go find my temper.
This kind of stuff just makes me want to beat my head against a wall:
These readers weren’t complaining about a sexually explicit cover, but rather one of a baby nursing, on a wholesome parenting magazine yet another sign that Americans are squeamish over the sight of a nursing breast, even as breast-feeding itself gains greater support from the government and medical community.
Because we all know you’re a crap mom if you don’t nurse, but it’s also essential that nobody sees you, you know, actually nursing.
Gaaaaaaaaah!
People suck.
(Yes, I nurse in public, yes, I’m reasonably discreet, and yes, I don’t give a good goddamn if it bothers anyone. I really do think that if we saw it more often, it wouldn’t seem so weird.)
(And you all know that I don’t think you’re a crap mom if you don’t nurse. But people do, and then they want you to hide it. Gawd, the competing pressures on women! I feel like the rope in a game of societal tug-of-war a sometimes.)
(I love parentheses. Very much.)
Dr. Taylor does it again.
Sums something up beautifully, that is. This sort of thing is what makes me love his blog so much:
The bottom line is twofold: 1) the motivation behind a policy isn’t the test of whether that policy is a good idea, and 2) the people who run the government, like the rest of us, are far from perfect.
Talk about getting to the heart of the matter!
(These are excellent arguments for less government in general, as well.)
Comin’ To Ya… It’s A Soul Quiz…
|
What Your Soul Really Looks Like |
 You are a warm hearted and open minded person. It’s easy for you to forgive and forget. You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. You feet may be on the ground, but you’re head is in the clouds. You believe that people see you for how you are, not how you look. But deep down, you know that’s not exactly true. Your near future is a lot like the present, and as far as you’re concerned, that’s a very good thing. For you, falling in love is all about flirting and feeling playful. You couldn’t fall in love with someone who took life too seriously. |
Via Frankensoul
Yep Indeed-y.
|
You Are 52% Brutally Honest |
 Honesty is important to you, but generally, you try not to be brutal about it. You’ll sugar coat the truth when you need to… and tell a white lie when necessary. |
P.S. Isn’t it Friday yet?
Happy Birthday
To blogger Director Mitch, who is a mere 38 today.
Happy Birthday
To blogger John Beck.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
So I finally got around to reading The Da Vinci Code
One word review:
Meh.
Here comes trouble…
So yesterday Valerie discovered that she can cross thresholds. I wondered where she wandered and it turns out that she was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor looking something between proud and confuzzled.
That’s not the exciting bit.
The exciting bit is this: when she saw me in the doorway, the girl got up on her hands and knees and crawled halfway across the kitchen floor to come see me. She’s spent the last day crawling and scooting and rolling from room to room to room. This morning she was already visibly stronger and steadier at it than she was yesterday.
I have a five month old baby who crawls. I am in so very much trouble. Fortunately, it’s the best kind of trouble!
(Honestly, if I wasn’t seeing this with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it.)
Happy Birthday
To my youngest brother, Michael, who is 35 today.
Happy Birthday
To former blogger Jim Schwab.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
How Old Am I Again?
|
You Are 30 Years Old |
 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what’s to come… love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You’ve had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You’ve been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax. |
Via Shadowscope.
Hell’s Kitchen: Anger Management And The Ex-Con
If someone showed me a pile of ingredients and said “make me something great in 20 minutes” my reaction would be “20 minutes? You have to be kidding!”
And so it was a great job they all did on the challenge in last night’s episode of Hell’s Kitchen. The compliment for Garrett’s veal sounded like a death knell to me, though, even before it became clear where the episode was going.
For what it’s worth, I have never used saffron, but I know enough not to overuse it.
Keith just keeps pulling ahead, further out of the same league as everyone else. He showed himself to be the obvious winner last night because he remembers “it’s about the food.” I can remember a challenge last year where Elsie was second place and deserved to be picked by the winner, Michael as I recall, to join him in the reward. She wasn’t; a game-playing choice was made.
Keith went right ahead and picked Virginia, the second best, because she desrved it. Michael was a slimeball. Keith is a nice guy, but appears to have some requisite backbone.
Sara continues to impress, for “damn you Garrett for being the unquestionable elimination this week and keeping Sara safe” values of “impress.” I was sure the two choices would be Garrett and Sara, but Virginia was not out of line. The thing is, Virginia had difficulty with a more challenging station than Sara’s.
I was concerned, when they put Keith’s veal chop on the menu, that it would sabotage him. That worked out great. It really was complementary, rather than “let’s mess you up.”
Heather was right. Garrett is scary. The editing, itself an entertaining part of the show to watch, surely doesn’t help. He almost needed to go before he could land himself back in jail.
The editing is also an entertaining part of the previews. Really? We won’t believe who’s going home? Ohmygod!
The only one I would have trouble believing going home next week would be Keith! I’d be kind of surprised at Heather, though she really is inconsistent. The breathless assertion of the preview might be aimed at the people who have voted Heather favorite chef each week in that goofy text messaging contest. If all those people keep voting for her, they’d no doubt be surprised.
Sara? No problem believing she could go any time. She’s not only a total bitch, but also she’s getting over her head.
Virginia? No problem believing she could go. She’s actually not that bad, but keeps winding up on the chopping block with someone else who just happens to be worse or a clearer choice that week.
I’m rooting for a Keith versus Heather finale. I could live with either of them winning, though I’d rather see Keith take the prize. Keith leaving before the finale would be a surprise. Nobody else. Unless they’re talking pleasant surprise, or the “it’s about time!” factor and Sara is out next week.
Because, as you all know by now, Sara must go!
Monday, July 24, 2006
Techno-Dork
Yeah.
Er, I killed a bunch of my e-mail, including a batch of stuff that didn’t get read. I switched computers and failed to tame the wild e-mail client. I tried to update and it got ugly. So if you’re thinking I’m being an even bigger asshole than usual because you didn’t hear from me...well, you’re right, just not in the way you were probably thinking. *sheepish grin*
I don’t have things squared away just yet but soon, soon, because I was smart enough to marry Mr. Computer Genius Guy. I impress myself like that sometimes.
I’m stepping away now before I make anything else disappear.
Smelly Trains
One of the odd downfalls of where we live is, sometimes, the trains. Mostly it’s cool, having a big trainyard right here. Then there are times like last night…
You know those trucks you get behind on the road that have particularly foul exhaust; the “how did that pass inspection” kind of exhaust that requires you either drop far behind, pass immediately, or be airtight enough for LEO, lacking only a launch vehicle?
There are train engines just like them, and they will sit in the trainyard idling for an hour or four periodically. Filling our apartment with toxic fumes. Especially my office and Sadie and Val’s room, courtesy of position plus window fans.
Sadie got to stay up for an extra hour past the already late time she was going to bed, else she’d have been shut in an exhaust-filled room. At least with everything open, it can dissipate better. I ended up in the bedroom reading, rather than working on billing. The fumes were making me sick to my stomach in the office.
Eventually we heard the train power up and rumble off, and within a half hour the fumes were entirely gone. The bad thing is that another train briefly did the same thing around 4 AM. Enough for me to wake and notice, anyway. Sheesh.
Happy Birthday
To my mother’s cool sister, my aunt Bea. She was the youngest, and my mother 2nd oldest, making the age difference small enough for me to remember Bea babysitting us when she was still a teenager, and I can remember her wedding reception, held around the corner from where we live now.
Here she is last summer, followed by a bonus picture of her son, my cousin Andy, and her first grandchild, Andy’s daughter Casey, taken on June 25th.
Happy Birthday
To my cousin Brad’s (Teddy’s) son, Brad the 3rd (Buddha), who seemed like a great kid when I met him for only the second time ever a couple or so years back when he was about ten.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
A Body In Motion…
Happy Birthday
To fellow blogging geek Chan Eddy, celebrating the big five-OH, but without the fun Hawaii part. Or is that the big five-OW?
Isn’t it remarkable how much some people already look like themselves, decades ahead of time? This is almost caption-worthy…
“Mom, could a face this innocent really have done that?”
“Not me, Dad. It was the summah people!”
“Whaddaya mean my room isn’t a ‘no wake’ zone?”
“Missing tubes from your radio? Haven’t seen ‘em.”
“Pay no attention to the device behind the curtain...”
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Happy Birthday
To my grandniece Julia, who is 2 years old today.
