computer, training, work

Well, I got the speakers working on the home computer. After running through the diagnostics and opening up the box, I finally gave up and tried plugging in the headphones. Those worked fine. I unplugged them and suddenly, the speakers were working. Good, but also annoying.

Day two of the in-house training. Went pretty well, though it was a little too simplistic and at the same time, a little beyond the scope of what it was supposed to cover. I learned some new things and was also a little "pre-daunted" at what is facing the team as far as work-load goes.

Finally, I've been putting out fires for the past two days with work issues. I thought I had them all put out - and then I checked my email this evening. Mistake. There was another fire and I can almost smell the gasoline. Makes me cranky. I've got a couple of solutions - neither of them good - but at least I'm trying. We'll see how it goes.

Time for dinner... later...

training, computer, shopping

I'm in training all day today - and I had a pile of work this morning to rush through. Fun, in a non-fun sense of the term.

I picked up the computer yesterday and it booted up normally last evening. Only thing not working is the soundcard - so, gotta dig it in tonight and fix it.

Did a lot of Christmas shopping last night made progress and didn't kill anyone - so, that was good.

Well, gotta run...

1 year, computer

Well, today marked my 1 year in the pool - I did a mile. Which is quite an improvement from my 1/8 of a mile last year. So, that was kinda cool.

I got the word that the home computer is fixed. The tech explained that the memory was in the wrong slots - although how it spontaneously failed is still a mystery. Sorting out the slots made it magically all better. I'm picking it up today after work, but I'm still thinking about getting a new machine.

Two days of training coming up - which would be fine if the web pixies did my work for me while I'm gone. Alas, I suspect they won't show and I'll have a pile waiting for me. At least I'll have a computer at home again so I can log in and try and get caught up.

That's it for now - later...

holidays, power, computer

I'm not a big fan of the holidays anymore. Christmas gets stressful with the present buying and travel and New Year's seems arbitrary and wildly anti-climatic. I dunno, maybe I'm just getting old and cynical. And Christmas music? Ugh. Most of what I've heard recently is either ancient and dated - or it's more modern but cloying.

I used to enjoy it. Used to be the "bees knees". Now, it just makes me tired. Or it could be that I've got some kind of SAD or something.

In other news... my room-mate was trying to hang up Christmas lights yesterday evening - in the dark and in the rain. Suddenly, all the outlets in the garage where he had these plugged in went out. Lights, radio, etc. We checked the breakers and didn't see any correctly marked or blown. I suggested it might be related to the fact that he was standing a puddle of water and the cords were wet -but my suggestions were dismissed.

Note to self - you should get current on your CPR training again.

Not sure why that comes to mind. Maybe seeing someone standing in a puddle of water trying to hang up very fragile lights - with an extension cord in the water as well. Eh, guess I'm just being silly.

I called about the broken computer yesterday. This is the 5th working day that they've had it - I'm hoping to get a real answer today. It also irks me just a wee little bit that I didn't get bumped up in the workflow. We are in the same division and I would have done the same for them.
Eh, not really fair I guess. Student computer issues should rightly come first over staff. Still, I'd really like to get moving toward some kind of solution.

Label this post as Cranky... guess that's all I've got for now...

visit, dog, list, water

I visited my parents over the Thanksgiving weekend. Had a pretty good time and ate a lot of food. I helped a little with the lights and the yard work. We tried to go to an Italian restaurant on saturday as a change of pace, but it was closed for a special event. We ended up going to Bob Evans where the food was okay, but the service was really bad.

While I was there, I hung out with the dog, Chloe. I spent a good long time rubbing her belly - which she loves - then sat up and lifted my shirt. "Okay," I told her, "My turn,"
She hopped up and came over, lifting her paw to my bare stomach. She was trying to rub my belly! I thanked her for the effort, but quickly lowered my shirt before her claws tore me up.

I gave my folks my Christmas list - seems a little silly, but we still do those. And since I had to do one, I insisted that I get one from them as well. Only seems fair. So, I've got a bit of shopping to do.

Looking back over my swimming log - I realized that my Year of Water actually began on November 29th. So, this week will mark a year that I've been hitting the pool. Kinda cool.

That's about it for now... back to work...

400, 45, cramp, sick

This is post 400 for me. I think the phrase I'm looking for is woop-dee-freaking-doo - not as exciting as I would have liked. Anyway, here it is.

Swam 45 laps today - that's 1.25 miles. And I paid for it - got a massive leg cramp at lap 42. Had to stop partway into lap 43 and struggle to get back to the edge. Spent the next few minutes trying to work out the cramp with grimace on my face. I was spared any potential embarrassment since the lifeguard was totally ignoring me so I was lucky there. Seriously, you have one job - watch the people swimming. A "hey, buddy, you okay?" would have been great - I got zilch. Anyway, I got past it and finished my laps.

Talked to my room-mate a few minutes ago. He was sick again this morning, called into work and slept the rest of the day. FYI - he recommends throwing up into garbage cans that have dryer sheets in them - a much more pleasant experience. He also coined the phrase - "puke and Bounce".

That's it for me... got a few things to wrap up before I head out.

later...

rilo, sick, light, lost things

I heard the Rilo Kiley song "silver lining" last night on the cable music and found it today on YouTube. Really sweet and sad song with a good beat. Listening to it today on repeat.

My room-mate woke me up last night around midnight - he was "horking" into the toilet. Actually both of them - he started downstairs, then thought he was done and went upstairs, where he was proved wrong. He said he's been this way for about 3 weeks - throwing up 1-2 times per day, but has been both keeping it from me and not doing anything about it.

Once he was as stable as can be, I went and cleaned up the downstairs bathroom (he had better "aim" upstairs) and since he didn't want to go to the hospital, I went back to bed. I could have been more compassionate, but I was really not at my best. I pretty much ordered him to go to the doctor since my Q&A session didn't yield any patterns. We'll see how that goes.

The light under my cabinet in the "cube" here at work had partly fallen down overnight. My attempts to fix it made things slightly worse. We had to have one of the maintenance dudes stop over and use some hammer-based "persuasion" to get it back into place. Weird that it would just fall like that.

Reading a new book called - "The Book of Lost Things". It's started out as a sad story, but with adventure right around the corner. Looking pretty cool. Plus, Saint Anthony is the patron saint of Lost Things - so, it should be right up my alley.


Guess that's it for now. This is entry 399 for this blog, I may write again after my swim today.

later...

queue, impaired, fuel, computer, route

In the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, there's a scene where the characters are confronted with a buruacratic line and the hero says, "Leave this to me. I'm British. I know how to queue,"

Well, yesterday I was confronted with an American that didn't know how to queue. A line was forming at the snack area and both the non-queue person and I were moving into position. I followed the previous pattern of people and the pathway approaching the checkout. He was ahead of me coming from the side and stood at a right angle to the rest of the line. Everyone else in the store formed up behind me - making it clear that he was doing it wrong. I left him enough room to step over in front of me into the line, but he simply stood there, oblivious. Holding his pack of gum.

Now, some would argue that he was looking at things from a different perspective and marching to the beat of his own drum. People that argue that are wrong, sorry.

Once I got nearer the front of the checkout line, I noticed that things were not moving as efficiently as they could be. There were two areas open, but both had issues. The guy at the far checkout was in a massive neck-brace - the kind of thing a Klingon would wear if they had an injured neck. He could barely move in that thing and was becoming dangerous with his quick turn-arounds to see things. The woman that ended up helping me had apparently forgotten her glasses that day since she could barely see and had to bring all the items up to her nose to see them. I noticed one customer use a coupon and then pay with cash and needed change. Might has well have tossed a wooden shoe into the machinery.

I finally escaped after making my purchase - but it was really a summary of how my day went. People in my way, actively opposed to letting me get on with my life. And me trying to stay out of everyone else's way.

In other news... I filled up my gas tank this morning - almost thirty bucks. And this was with a 1/4 tank left and after the price had "gone down" - whatever that means.

Also this morning, I took a different route to work. It went better and more smoothly than the way I usually go - so, that went well.


Finally, I took my room-mate's computer to the repair shop here at work. They created a work over for me and said they would take a look. Felt a little funny that I didn't get a receipt or something, but they did send me an email - so, we'll see how it goes.

Guess that's it for now... back to work...

weekend, computer, work

Had a good weekend - a visit from my sister and brother in law. They were in town to meet up with some friends from Cleveland for dinner and stayed with us for the weekend. Had a nice time and played a lot of UNO. They are OSU fans and my room-mate is a Michigan fan - so the game was fairly intense on Saturday. I played my PSP and just kinda hung out since I'm only marginally an Akron Zips fan if that.

It was good to see them and I'm glad they could stay with us.

My room-mate's computer bought the farm on Friday evening. We took it over to the Best Buy Geek squad and they couldn't even get it to stay turned on. So, based on previous issues, I suspect it's the motherboard that is toast. I'm going to see if the crew here can take a look - but I think a new computer is in the future.

Work this morning, on what could only be a Monday morning - has sucked. Glad we've got a short week - I suspect there will be at least two more Mondays this week.

snow & timing, sneeze, rss, game

This morning, as I was pulling out of my driveway, I realized it was snowing. Just a little snow in the air, but it was kinda pretty. I know that as the winter goes on I'll be dreading the snow - but today I kinda liked it. And though I was running late, the traffic wasn't too bad - must have had good timing today.

Went to Rudy Tuesday's recently and got my usual excellent tasting turkey burger. I also got fries with that, but to balance things out, I also got the salad bar. And then the problems began. I'm 6 foot tall - a reasonable height for a guy - and the "sneeze shield" on the salad bar was clearly designed for someone around 4 foot tall with unnaturally long arms. It hovered over the food items like an over-protective mother and to get to anything I had to bend at the knees and waist, move my arms below the shield, then up and over to reach the tongs. Getting the food to end up my plate was another matter and the impatient 4 foot tall woman behind me used her unnaturally long arms to try and reach in front of me - a clear breach of etiquette.

I got most of what I wanted for my salad, but totally gave up on the mushrooms - no way I would be able to reach those in the back row. The salad was good and I'm sure good for me, but I didn't go back for seconds since it didn't seem worth the hassle. While I appreciate the value of un-sneezed-upon food, it didn't seem like the barrier was well thought out.

In the news of the silly, I subscribed to my own blog with Google Reader. Now the RSS feed will show up along with all the other blogs I read. Pointless, yes, but not a bad exercise.

Played Final Fantasy 12 again last night - getting close to the end. In fact, I could just board the final ship and finish the game, but I'm working on some side quests before it ends.

One of those quests involves gathering a bunch of items from all over the planet in order to acquire three medallions - which in turn open three doors. The first of these doors - the Door Of Loathing - put me face to face with a gigantic monster with a huge freaking ax. I mentally braced myself and got ready when he suddenly fell over and died. His attacker revealed itself and hopped up to confront me. Literally hopped, it was a bunny. With feathers on its ears for some reason. The bunny cast a spell on itself and went totally berserk and started smacking my characters around. I rallied the troops and eventually took it down. The second door had another big monster that went down without too much trouble - no bunny this time. The third door had a monster that set up a field making it impossible to use the attack command. No swords this time - only magic. Well, I like games where you get to hit things - so, I may skip that battle.

Guess that's about it for now - time to get back to work...

donation and leak

I gave blood on Monday of this week - slightly notable experience. The process was mostly efficient, though there was a bit of a slow down in getting started with the actual donation. While I was waiting, I folded a crane one handed - to the amazement of the people around me. The women taking the donation was singing with the guy that was processing the blood donations - a diana ross / lional richie duet, My First Love - so, that was kinda weird. And she left the blood pressure cuff pumped up the entire time. I was uncomfortable at first and then I got used to it. I just figured it was a new procedure but it didn't really seem to have an impact on the speed. She was quite embarrassed when she realized, but I really didn't think it was a big deal.

I also got a sweatshirt out of the deal that I'm giving to my Mom.


Yesterday, I lost a bit of blood as well, though this was my own damn fault. Went to Chipotle for lunch and as I was hurrying to get in my car and close the door before the car next to met took off, my door swung shut on the side of my head and hit my ear. Hard. I rubbed it a bit, swore quietly, and went about my day. Last evening, I reached up to scratch my ear and I must have broken up a scab - blood started pouring out of the side of my ear. Once I got it cleaned up I realized it was a small cut, but it must have been deep. I kept pressure on it for a while and covered it with a band-aid when I went to sleep. Seems to be okay, but it was pretty intense for a bit.

Gotta stay late tonight for another training session.

Guess that's it for now... later

meeting, swim, blood, weekend

Had to give a presentation this morning on some work stuff for the division. It went okay, but it was not the most fun thing I've done today. I don't normally mind that sort of thing, but the topic was a little boring even to me, so I'm not sure how well I "sold it". A few people said I did well, so i guess that's something.

I swam again today - back down to 3o laps from last Friday's personal record of 45. Felt pretty good, just ran out of time.

I'm headed out to give blood in a few minutes. I was going to decline the sweatshirt since I've already got a red cross jacket - but Mom wants the sweatshirt, so, I guess I'll go ahead and get that.

I visited my folks over the weekend. We took the dog hiking and played a bunch of UNO when my sister and brother in law came over. Pretty nice time - quiet and peaceful.

Guess I should head out - I'll need to eat something before I donate.

later...

17.28 revisited, washer/dryer, sore

So, I finally got around to getting a picture of the 17.28 mb origami piece I did way back in May. I also got some shots of more recent projects.

http://gozips.uakron.edu/~aws/evenMoreOrigami.html

The washer and dryer got delivered yesterday - though it was a near thing. We set up the time for "after 5:00" - but they called my room-mate at 7:44 yesterday morning to confirm the delivery of the washer in the morning and the dryer in the evening. He got them corrected and both were delivered at around 5:30 in the evening. We got them hooked up, but since the crew tested them on-site, we didn't bother with any laundry last evening. I'll report on the first run when we get around to it.

I'm still a little sore from my walk around on campus - but it was worth it. I'm hoping the swim today will loosen me up.

Well, I'm hoping for a quiet day today, but I'd better get back to it.

later...

halloween 2007

The day off yesterday for my annual campus walk around has put me behind schedule - so, this will have to be quick.

http://gozips.uakron.edu/~aws/costume.html

This year I was Sobek, one of the gods of the dead from ancient Egypt. People really enjoyed it and I had a lot of fun with the building of the costume and getting to share it with people.

Gotta get back to work - enjoy the photos...