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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 761 |
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Posted: 16 May 2008 04:11 pm |
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Ok, so, I was up waay to late last night - about 3 or 3:30. I had a big cup of Dunkins an the way home and took a nap 9:00 to 9:30 to boot. I tried to add a couple of features to my project, and was stopped on both counts. At least I didn't botch it up, which you are wont to do when you try something at that late of an hour.
Well, I'm working from home today. Unfortunately, there is a phone conference from 3-4 p.m. Wouldn't it be nicer it was 10-11???? Then I could get on with my day. I only owe about four hours worth of work, since I stayed late Monday. But I find it more difficult to relax when I've got the big meeting hanging over my head all day. Then, tonight I'm off to my niece's confirmation, so that another day gone by. I really can't skip it - they came to my daughter's - and it's always fun to vist my sister's anyway. So, what I'm going to do is try to do some project work before the meeting.
Food-wise, I skipped reporting the last couple of days - it's been busy. But I have scrupulously avoided snacking, and right now I am at 175. even with no excercise. I just have to be sure and stick with the habit of not snacking. It's starting to take root as a habit, so I just have to nurture that. That may be the key do delving into the unexplored regions of the 170 area.
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 16 May 2008 05:08 pm |
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haha! i found that i copied most of it and sent it to my e-mail last night. brilliant! and lol at keeping it "short and sweet"!
honestly, where do i begin without losing it all? man....
so, to go in chronological order ...
yes, i am a mid-night poster.... mid day, midnight... i don't sleep much.. 
on the doors- ok, you got me at ... well... you got me right quick. lol- of course they were drug inspired.. that doesn't make them any more/less valid... it's still a very real part of life!!!
my favorite Doors song is probably "yes, the river knows (it's the very last "free fall flow river flow...." that gets me at the core every time)"... BUT musiclly, i really think what had it (if you look on their basic albums) was LA Woman. i know what you're thinking (yes, i think i do ), but really listen to it and you will hear this awesome progression... a crecsendo in a way that encompasses sound and feeling in such of a way that you just roll with it.... lol- reminds me of rolling along the tracks (ah, but i bet we could talk train tracks and get on a whole universe of tangents!"train train 16 coaches long...." if you havn't heard it, i really recommend if you like morrison and robbie krieger sort of thing...)... speaking of trains...
you talked about the flute in "can't you see"... that is probably one of the greatest flute songs ever. and oh yes, i know jethro tull, but" can't you see" tops even jethro. hard to defend, but so help me, it's true. really... you don't even know how great that sone is to me. and i htought i was the only one out there that really digs that tune.
skynerd has a lot of nostalgic value for me (i just bought someone a skynard cd... the one with them all on the cover and thier name is spelled with bones... got what's your name and gimmie three steps on it....) my papa (grandpa) was from alabama.... is there really a necessary explination???? well, and that "Tuesday's Gone" was like an anthom of mine at one very niave and innocent point in my life (oh, and it was a good time!)
ac/dc- dirty deeds is one of my favorites. what pisses me off is that it sounds (to the untrained ear?) like TNT. i can't eve count the number of argumenets i've gotten in with people regarding dirty deeds and tnt. but, i will say, if you are going to listen to ac/dc i am soooooooooo very happy that it's real ac/dc. yeah, the replacement guy is good, but really, can he compare??? well, comparisons are otius, but really...
yeah, i know coltrain. oh yeah... and i thank you for all of the suggestions. funny you mentioned "favorite things" in your last post. i think that's about the only coltrain song i really know.
well, i think you would get vonnegut (if you are thinking about your age, well, he was way older than you-= first book was published in the 50s.... he sort of breaks life down, too...a commentator on life and the world). my favorite is the Sirens of Titans.. you might really like salughterhouse 5. oh and i think it's called "thank you dr. kavorkian". really really good stuff.
lol- i am eating oatmeal as i type! but, if breakfast isn't your thing and you can function just fine without it, guess you don't really need to force yourself.
ugh, bummer you have a meeting looming over the horizon. try to have a good day anyway!
ok, i think i got just about everything in there...
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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 761 |
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Posted: 17 May 2008 02:55 pm |
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So, at last - the weekend! My planned 4 hours of work yesterday balloned into about 6. The 3:00 to 4:30 telecon, something I was hoping to be a silent listener on, ended up being something I had to do a fair amount of talking in. It was one of those ones where Vageuly Important Sounding People from Diferrent Areas of Central Headqurthers and others from the Huge Contractor are presented with the joint-project we are working on to figure out its applicability to other ares. Then after it ended late Bob from work called get help answering an email about our capabilities Then the boss called to find out how the meeting went to and talk about his trip, because he was killing time at a train station.
So, I was getting ready to go to my niece's confirmation whille I was on the phone, and then it was out the door with my daughter - the wife was tired and opted out. So, the drive, the mass, the party (I didn't do as well as I could've on the food - had a turky salad roll, a bunch of veggies in dip, three deviled eggs, some popcorn toward the end, and 1/2 bite of cake that was almost pure frosting). Then the drive back - it was midnight by the time I got home.
I chatted with my daughter on the way back. At first we were joking around about Dane Cook, a comedian she turned me onto. Then we started talking about Harry Potter. I can't have conversations about Harry Potter with her. I just liked the books, liked the characters, enjoyed the whole thing. She is critical of Harry, finding him tempermental and not particularly hard-working, and likes Ron and especially Draco Malfoy. She thinks Draco works harder than Harry and enjoyed the moral ambiguity of his position, and how his family weren't such bad guys after all. Me, I like Draco best as the sneering bully who is constantly baiting Harry and Ron into near fisticuffs.
So, to avoid an argument, I kind of let that topic pass by, and she switched into one her now-familiar rant, which is how some people just don't seem to "get it" when it comes to certain things (I wonder if subconciously she might be referring to me. Hmmm...). Like she says one of her friends, when they are watching a comedian, will turn to her and say "my God, its' so funny because its so true!". And she says she thnks, gee really? Isn't that like the single most dominant charactaristic that all comedy is based upon, that it's reflects reality in a fresh perspective? What, is this something you just now figured out? And it strikes you like a new relevation every time you notice it? And I subconsiouly think, hmmm, come to think of it, her friend's reaction is kind of like my reaction when I see something funny, I've probably even said, it's so true! Haven't I? I'm sure I must've, everyone does. So I kind of hinted around that she should'be too critical, I mean, it's nice when you find someone you have a rapport with, for sure, but at the same time people come in all different shapes and sizes.
So then she starts talking about two of her friends who "get it", especially one. This one friend of hers she has the rapport with, she is a blonde from a divorced parents who doesn't get along with her stepfather, and whose extended family seems to have some alchohol issues. They aren't lowlifes or anything, her Mom's a nurse I think, and her father a - what does he do? Anyway, he works. But, they just click, even though this girl by all appearances is much cooler than my daughter; I think runs with a bit of a faster crowd. My daughter at school hangs with the "geeks" - she is a card-holding member - although her closest friends are kids she went to grade school with, kids who are more honors level than advanced level. The other friend who "gets it" is actually really funny and witty, and extremely bright - she got accepted into Harvard out of a public school.
So then the conversation rolled around to her favorite book, one called "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and another guy. I read a book called "Going Postal" by Terry Pratchett, and it was quite an entertaining read. There was one part that was so funny, near the beginning, that I couldn't stop laughing for a good 10 minutes. I'm chuckling about it now, even thinking about it. But I can't help thinking that it's *just a funny book*. To me, it's pure entertainment - no heavy themes involved. Of course, maybe I'm missing something, as my daugher would probably point out, but I don't think it will ever be considered as Great Literature. We're basically talking Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy genre here.
But, I will read the book she suggests - she does sometimes see things I don't, although I think it may be more because of this almost wierd connection she gets to the characters in the books - as if they are almost *real* - than her being all that much smarter than me. Which she might well be - let's face it she got an 800 on her reading SAT - but I'm not exactly a slouch, myself. I had a pretty good score back in the day (which was a Wednesday, according to Dane Cook), and the tests were harder then, I've heard. Anyway, we're not here to judge anyone - this is a support forum, right?
So, and I realize I've broken my short but sweet promise and I'm supposed to be doing my project right now. My daughter finally ended up with her telling me about her reaction to that show, "Supernatural" last night. Now, I don't watch the show anyway, but she coudn't stop talking about it - what happened - why it was so well-excecuted, so emotionally gripping, how it sets things up so well for the next season, how they did exactly what she had wanted them to do, but hadn't realized how difficult it would be to watch.
I was happy to listen away, grunting here and there. But she coudn't stop talking to me about it, even when we got home. I've seen her get this way before, many times, and the only way out of it is to kind of act like you're getting busy doing something, and she eventually gets the hint and goes off to do her own thing. Probably to chat with here net-friends about it, I don't exactly know - she's always on that laptop.
And I find the my TF responded in an email basically saying he agreed with my thought about turning the dropdown list into a select, so I've got that little extra piece to work on - two-three hours, I would say. But the validations done, and I uploaded the database yesterday and did some refactoring and cleaning up of the code. It's starting to get close to the deadline, now. But it looks like I can pull it off.
I'm burning out on the project, anyway. I have kind of a headache and feel bloated. I snacked on cheddar cheese yesterday, so, that broke a 3-day streak of not snacking. Plus no exercise recently. Maybe I can get some tennis in today, if the rain lets up. Ok, got to go!
Last edited on 17 May 2008 03:08 pm by jackbenimble
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 18 May 2008 12:32 pm |
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Hello, World!
Yesterday turned out to be pretty good. Got some tennis in w/ my bro., then hit it off the wall about 500 times. Resisted the post-dinner snacking that has been plauging me the last day or two, and am back to 175 this morning, in shorts in a t-shirt. Did some symbolic excercise on the Total Gym, just to try to get back in the saddle on that end.
Most of the day was focused on my final project, which is due tomorrow at 5:30, so today is effectively the last day. I was up till two working on it. I did some extra changes I hadn't planned but which make it way better. The main changes were:
1) Improved the Ajax lookup so it has its own scroll bar, instead of using the page's scroll bar to move down. this to me is more intuitive, although some people on the web seem to say that it's better to scroll the page.
2) The above got rid of a distracting error where the interface would jumped a little to one side when the scroll appeared for the dropdown, then back when the lookup narrowed to few enough entries to not extend beyond the bottom of the page.
3) Added a backround image to the banner page, and changed the color of the navigation bar and the page, and added a different, complementary background color to the main components withing the page. The overall effect is now more colorful, a slick, two-toned approach with a nice graphic. I like it a lot, and even my wife says it's much better.
4) Included supplementary records in the Ajax lookup which allow the user to view background data as well as the main data. This one's a little tricky because I haven't yet figured out how to display the corresponding images, I'll work on that today, but it's still better because the user can go to a main record to see how the background fits in. and I direct the user to do that in the interface.
5) Revised the database update script to include and additional field (may have to do one more today).
6) Added in a radio button which allows the user to view the data in a different way, so now I have a bi-directional capability which I have been meaning to add.
So, before I get back into adding the images for the supplementary records, which is tricky, I'm going to clean up the code, write the README, and submit the project. That way I'll be sure to have it submitted even if I don't get that part done.
I'll be happy when this is finished!
Jack
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jackbenimble
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| Posts: | 761 |
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Posted: 18 May 2008 04:16 pm |
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Zen! I just saw your post - I had been forgetting to go to the last page. I'm seriously glad you found it. Isn't it a great feeling when you think you've lost something on your computer, then you finally figure out how to retrieve it? To your post, thanks for the tips - I'll check them out, for sure. You are right about trains, too. I kind of get the warm fuzzies just thinking about them .. and LA Woman? I'm glad you like it as much as I do - and yes I am thinking what you thought I was thinking ;)
"Can't you see", it's one of those sad but makes you feel good songs and Three steps, I love it - funny!
Btw, - I've had breakfast for the last three days - it's easier to get in in there on weekends/stay at home days. Oatmeal and bananas, too, a couple of the days.
Ok, got to go - hasta la vista!
Jack
zenobia wrote: haha! i found that i copied most of it and sent it to my e-mail last night. brilliant! and lol at keeping it "short and sweet"!
honestly, where do i begin without losing it all? man....
so, to go in chronological order ...
yes, i am a mid-night poster.... mid day, midnight... i don't sleep much..
on the doors- ok, you got me at ... well... you got me right quick. lol- of course they were drug inspired.. that doesn't make them any more/less valid... it's still a very real part of life!!!
my favorite Doors song is probably "yes, the river knows (it's the very last "free fall flow river flow...." that gets me at the core every time)"... BUT musiclly, i really think what had it (if you look on their basic albums) was LA Woman. i know what you're thinking (yes, i think i do), but really listen to it and you will hear this awesome progression... a crecsendo in a way that encompasses sound and feeling in such of a way that you just roll with it.... lol- reminds me of rolling along the tracks (ah, but i bet we could talk train tracks and get on a whole universe of tangents!"train train 16 coaches long...." if you havn't heard it, i really recommend if you like morrison and robbie krieger sort of thing...)... speaking of trains...
you talked about the flute in "can't you see"... that is probably one of the greatest flute songs ever. and oh yes, i know jethro tull, but" can't you see" tops even jethro. hard to defend, but so help me, it's true. really... you don't even know how great that sone is to me. and i htought i was the only one out there that really digs that tune.
skynerd has a lot of nostalgic value for me (i just bought someone a skynard cd... the one with them all on the cover and thier name is spelled with bones... got what's your name and gimmie three steps on it....) my papa (grandpa) was from alabama.... is there really a necessary explination???? well, and that "Tuesday's Gone" was like an anthom of mine at one very niave and innocent point in my life (oh, and it was a good time!)
ac/dc- dirty deeds is one of my favorites. what pisses me off is that it sounds (to the untrained ear?) like TNT. i can't eve count the number of argumenets i've gotten in with people regarding dirty deeds and tnt. but, i will say, if you are going to listen to ac/dc i am soooooooooo very happy that it's real ac/dc. yeah, the replacement guy is good, but really, can he compare??? well, comparisons are otius, but really...
yeah, i know coltrain. oh yeah... and i thank you for all of the suggestions. funny you mentioned "favorite things" in your last post. i think that's about the only coltrain song i really know.
well, i think you would get vonnegut (if you are thinking about your age, well, he was way older than you-= first book was published in the 50s.... he sort of breaks life down, too...a commentator on life and the world). my favorite is the Sirens of Titans.. you might really like salughterhouse 5. oh and i think it's called "thank you dr. kavorkian". really really good stuff.
lol- i am eating oatmeal as i type! but, if breakfast isn't your thing and you can function just fine without it, guess you don't really need to force yourself.
ugh, bummer you have a meeting looming over the horizon. try to have a good day anyway!
ok, i think i got just about everything in there...
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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 761 |
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Posted: 20 May 2008 05:34 am |
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Wow - long day. First the good news. My class is done! We had a "Science Fair" tonight where everyone showed off their projects. Mine was pretty well received, in particular by the teaching fellow, and for a few minutes I had a crowd gathering round. The TF said my use of Ajax for the lookup was one of the best he'd seen,, and that I had really improved during the course, probably the most of any of the students he had been assigned. It's true my first project wasn't that good, especially visually.
The TF is actually an undergrad, but very bright and pleasant and mature. Next year he's going to produce his own album, he writes songs, and do the cover art and distribute it - the whole package.. And his school's going to pay for it, to boot. Nice. He invited me to jam with him this summer, but I begged off - first of all, I'm not skilled enough anyway to jam, and am way out of practice, and secondly, I mean, he's so young, and I'm like 50, it would be odd, But talking to him is really normal, you don't even notice his age. We do have a some of common interests, music and Japanese for startes. He's really easy to talk to for a guy his age.
Work is really starting to ramp up in preparation for the big demo. The problem is our control code isn't integrating well with the other company's platform, and there are only three weeks to go. Not to mention, I have to do a proposal due by the end of next week, in which I have to lay out an approach for something which is by no means trivial and which doesn't appear to have a real solution - an "n-hard" problem as they say in algorithm circles. And, I'm taking a four day trip this weekend, which I absolutely cannot get out of and don't want to, anyway.
The boss was flying off the handle today at the lead from the other company. They don't get along, which has been one of the problems throughout this project. He might get stuck going back down there on Wednesday to sort out the problems, which is something he definitely doesn't want to do. It's wierd, usually I'm the one he gets stuck for something like that. But he likes to take on work, and he took on the control code, so now in a way he's on the hook for it.
To the food: had breakfast today, again. The key to the whole breakfast thing, is, I figured out, not to overeat the night before. That way, you feel nice and hungry in the morning. For example, I didn't overeat last night, so, I was famished in the morning and had my breakfast of oatmeal and a banana. Nice.
Another trick I'm relying upon quite a bit is to drink calorie-free carbonated drinks. They fill your tummy right up and satisfy your sweet tooth at the same time. I drink AW Diet root beer, I like the flavor.
So, I was 175 this morning, not bad - I'm maintaining what was originally my target weight (now the target is 170). The nice thing was I was able to wear some black pants today which I bought about a year ago, which have always been too tight for me to wear once I got out of the store. There is something about stores, that when I try clothes, especially pants, that make me think they fit me - until I get home and they go through the wash once. But today, I could wear those pants more or less comfortably all day long, instead of the usual excruciating tightness that they usually gave me the few times I wore them. So I could look cool for the Science fair tonight, nice new black jeans.
I watched the 4th quarter of the Celtics game yesterday - they beat Cleveland and LeBron in the seventh game, the second consecutive series they've gone to seven games in. It was a heckova quarter. In fact, it was one of those games where if you just watched the fourth quarter, that was all you really needed to see.
I found I'm really into the Celtics playoff run this year, just because they have been down so long. Plus, since I went to that exciting game last Wednesday, I feel like I'm a part of things, more so than if I just had watched all the games on TV, as I normally would've.
My favorite Celtic right now is Kevin Garnett. This guy is the real deal. He's not a handsome guy, like Michael, but the brooding intelligence, the smouldering intensity, his individuality, his athleticism - a seven-footer who can rebound, run the floor and has a reliable 18-20 foot jumper - they make him a kind of magnetic athlete to watch, visually. It's hard to describe the controlled ferocity of his game. It makes you wonder if he can just *will* the Celtics to a championship by his sheer force of personality. I hope so - I really do.
So, seven courses down, 5 to go for the degree. Now I can think about it. 5 courses. Still a ways to go.
jack
Last edited on 20 May 2008 05:39 am by jackbenimble
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 21 May 2008 05:46 am |
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jackbenimble wrote:
My favorite Celtic right now is Kevin Garnett. This guy is the real deal. He's not a handsome guy, like Michael, but the brooding intelligence, the smouldering intensity, his individuality, his athleticism - a seven-footer who can rebound, run the floor and has a reliable 18-20 foot jumper - they make him a kind of magnetic athlete to watch, visually. It's hard to describe the controlled ferocity of his game. It makes you wonder if he can just *will* the Celtics to a championship by his sheer force of personality. I hope so - I really do.
So, seven courses down, 5 to go for the degree. Now I can think about it. 5 courses. Still a ways to go.
jack
first- you stole him from us!!!!! grrrrr... lol
second- w00t! on the 2 down 5 to go! that must be something wonderfully exciting! god, i so miss school.
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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 761 |
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Posted: 21 May 2008 05:56 am |
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Dear diary,
Another long day. Roger changed his mind about going to Central Headquarers, so the owner made Vasely go down instead. I volunteered, but I have a holiday Friday which I can't break. The good news is that video is working again, this time in the testing environment at Central Headquarters. So hopefully management will stop being such blankety-blank-blanks for a while. Talk about an example of poor leadership. Instead of "what's the problem? How can it be resolved? What are our options? How serious is it?", instead we get it's "your company isn't committed", "the bugs are all in your code", "everyingthing has to be done by Friday (and what if it isn't?) "why didn't you set up a test environment up there", the whole ***sing match kind of thing.
Why don't they save it until the demo's over, instead of distracting from the very people who are trying to get it working by demanding all sorts of status reports and meetings? Everyone's CYAing when the software is essentially functional, just a few last minute bugs to iron out due to the integration effort. I would never recommend this manager for a project. He refuses to delve into the technical detals because he doesn't want to look dumb, but he doesn't realize the the single most productive thing he can do is try to understand. Just by virtue of that effort, it improves things.
Anyway, I'm in a kind of a gripy mood.
The good news is, the celts won tongight. Bad news is I watched the Celtics game for the better part of 3 quarters, plus sports center. It's like I think I can wast time, now that I don't have a deadline hanging over me.
Actually, I do. The owner wants me to get the draft of a proposal done by the Friday after this, but I'm out Friday and Monday, and basically having to multi-task on the demo support, including getting an imitation of the test environment up and running tommorrow. As far as I can see, the only time I will have to work on this paper is personal time. So, I don't see how it will get done by then. Unless I work on vacation this weekend, which I decidedly do not want to do. So, but the real deadline is June 19, so I figure, I can get it done by the June 6th or so. So that gives me a weekend to work on out, if I have to.
I will really be glad when the demo is done and this paper is submitted. End of June. One more month of running to go.
So. Food. I weighed 173 this morning, not bad, basically because I didn't have time to eat last night. So, I ate my lunch for breakfast (in traffic, so it was easy) and bought a nice, big steak & cheese sub for lunch, and had last nights dinner for dinner (fish, baked pototato, apple for desert). I also napped an hour when I got home - it was just one of those kind of days, where you really need to take a nap when you got home. I think I slept for up to an hour.
Ok. What do I do now? Work? Research? Get ready for my next course? Study some Japanese? Strum some guitar? How about go to bed? Sounds like a good option, if I can get to sleep.
Good night, diary. Sleep well.
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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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Posted: 22 May 2008 10:26 am |
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Dear Diary,
So, I got up a little early today, went to bed at 11:30 last night, but I also took a 15-minute nap when I got home.
I haven't made time for excercise this week, since Sunday. I'm holding steady at 175, but I have to admit I cheezed out after dinner last night, and don't feel quite so slim today.
I feel kind of oppressed by this technical issue at work, which I managed to get involved with yesterday. It has to do with a way of forwarding messages on a router which I've never actually done before, so I spent a lot of last night researching it. It doesn't look so promising - a lot of people have had all sorts of problems with it, and only the occasional person has succeeded, and none as far as I can see using the recommended tool. And of course it was supposed to be done yesteday.
So today will undoubtedly be another long one, but, at least there is the four-day weekend tomorrow, starting tonight. I'm just in a kind of a grouchy mood. Well, I"m just going to forget about everything over the weekend. It would be nice to get the router working today, though....
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clarinetgurl
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 22 May 2008 04:17 pm |
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Hey,
I've been running through, catching up on your diary...you are one busy guy!! I'm glad you've started adding in breakfast,a nd it sounds like you are making great progress toward getting your masters. Man, I don't think I could ever be that dedicated.
Yes, I definitely plan on going to college!I will be attending Auburn University in Alabama. Unfortunately, that is NOT instate...so tuition is through the roof :(
CG
PS:I am on your side where HArry Potter is concerned 
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 23 May 2008 05:42 am |
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Clarine! Thanks for stopping by... University of Auburn, Alabama. Sounds cool, sounds far away - definitely a Southern place. Hope you have a great time there, Clarine!
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 28 May 2008 02:46 pm |
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hey jack- just checking up on ya! hope you are doing ok
edit:
oh, i see you have posted on other diaries today. guess you are still around!
Last edited on 28 May 2008 02:51 pm by zenobia
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 29 May 2008 06:09 am |
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Hi Zen!
Thanks for stopping in! I've been busy - we're running up against a deadline at work - and this one is a real deadline. We still have some serious debugging to do! I'm getting pretty concerned to be honest. I got home at 9 tonight.
On a pleasanter topic, I think I'll get a good mark in my class. The TF who graded my final project said some really nice things about it. It did come out better than I expected, particularly the look and feel.
The diet: I was 175 this morning. No breaking of the fast. Same ol lunch, salad & a banana. Nice dinner of veggie and chicken, but I blew it by eating another 500 cals worth of chedder cheese.
I admit I have been goofing off watching the Celts. Tonight was ok, it was a game worth watching, and I only watched the second half. But I shouldn't have watched Monday's, it was clear it was a lemon from the beginning.
Man, I'll be happy when this demo is (successfully) completed!
Jack
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jackbenimble
New Member
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Posted: 30 May 2008 02:23 am |
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Dear Diary,
Today wasn't too bad. Vasely got the video working on the "special" OS on our test-bed, and file xfer is also working. Unfortunately, video isn't working at Central Headquarters. It's some kind of really hard-to-trace memory leak, I guess. But, we have a day and a week to get it all fixed. Plus the weekend. We'll all be working this weekend.
At the meeting today, it turned out I was the only one who submtitted any really considered comments on the test plan. I think they were good, too, because it kind of clarified some generalized stuff.
I'm sleepy. I finally get home at a reasonable hour, and I'm just about ready to take a NAP. But if I do that, I'll wake up at say, 8:30 or 9:00 pm, then feel grumpy for another hour, then be up all night. I'm just going to try to hang in there.
Here's an out of the blue concept: if I take two extra courses, I can get two master's degrees, instead of one. And both are courses I can easily handle - one this summer, another discussion type course in the fall. I need to confirm it.
But, what am I going to do with two masters degrees, at my age? I don't need two. One works for me, really well. Two - it's just kind of wierd. I don't need two.
If I chose the Information Management one, I could graduate by the spring. It would be a lot of work, but absolutely doable. The problem is, I want the degree in software engineering. That means, i have to take a theoretical / math course. The prereq for that course is a course call Data Structures, which I really need to take. Also, I need to learn discrete math. So, it's really like adding two courses.
Here's how I map it out:
2008 Summer: Study discrete math on my own.
2008 Fall: J2EE
2009 Spring: Data Structures (doesn't count toward degree)
2009 Fall: Math course
2010 Spring: Security (easy one)
2010 Fall: Java or devices
2011 Spring Proj devlelpment
Nice and easy. Well, not easy, but done within 3 years.
Anway. The ipod Japanese lessons are going well. It's pretty entertaining stuff. Easy to listen to in the car, several levels to choose from. I just have to figure out how to get it into the podcast category instead of most recently loaded category, or in addition to it.
Food; Weighed 173 this morning. Shows what worry can do to your weight. Broke fast with oatmeal / banana. Salad w/ deli turkey, apple for lunch. Snacked on 4/5 leftover fortune coookies in the afternoon. Had an 89 cent pack of peanut butter crakers on the way home. Dinner was chicken with salad and baked potato and butter. Had about 10 o-senbei afteward. Yup, more o-senbei from Japan. Not good if you're tyring to lose weight!
Jack
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 30 May 2008 02:55 am |
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Heya Jack! Sorry I haven't been back sooner.
Sorry to hear you have to work all weekend. Sure will be glad when its all working smoothly. You seem to be juggling that plus all your other activities so well.
The japanese podcasts sound like a great idea. I've gotta look into getting language podcasts for my Ipod, I could listen and practice in the car. I think I will try German, I've been interfacing a bit at work with the folks at our Germany location and while they are all fluent in English, I at least want to master the basics.
Cheers!
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 31 May 2008 05:33 am |
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Hey MollyMoo!
Thanks for checking in. I actually skipped the Japanese, at least for today. Too stressed about work - I just listened to the radio, instead. There were some really good tunes on. I ended up singing for the last few miles - "I do everything for you - you do nothing for me!" Over and over. Heard little wing, and a tune by Melissa Ethridge, another tune by the Black Crowes, another by Pearl Jam, and Cashmere, and Dirty Deeds - I was screaming on that one - that was the last one before work. I might alternate between Japanese and listening to tunes. I like listening to tunes, because, it's interesting, and I end up singing, which is fun and something I should do more of.
Listened to Celtics on the way home - they are back in the finals, after a 20 year haitus. It's cool. My buddy keeps bragging about having tickets, but he's not going to take me. He has a girl-friend, and another buddy. But, he took me to the Cleveland playoff - I'm happy.
Food: About the same. Oatmeal / banana for breakfast. Salad for lunch. Pork / Baked potato for dinner. How about four bags of o-senbei, and a couple of squares of chocolate.
No excercise - I haven't done anything this week, since Sunday, when I played doubles. But, my weight is around 173 right now. Not too bad. Mabye I'll get some excersice tommorow.
Time for this bad boy to hit the sack!
Talk to you later,
Jack
mollymoo24 wrote: Heya Jack! Sorry I haven't been back sooner.
Sorry to hear you have to work all weekend. Sure will be glad when its all working smoothly. You seem to be juggling that plus all your other activities so well.
The japanese podcasts sound like a great idea. I've gotta look into getting language podcasts for my Ipod, I could listen and practice in the car. I think I will try German, I've been interfacing a bit at work with the folks at our Germany location and while they are all fluent in English, I at least want to master the basics.
Cheers!
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 31 May 2008 05:51 am |
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yay for 173!
try to get something fun in this weekend. you can't fill up your ENTIRE time with work. gotta get some rest and a bit of groovin'.
rock on, brother!
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 31 May 2008 01:05 pm |
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Zen! Man, am i happy to see you stopping by :) Do you want to hear something you'll think is really funny? For some reason, occasionally, I think to myself. hmmm, what would Zen think about this song, or what would Zen think about that song. It's strange because I mean we really just exchanged a couple of posts about music. But we seem to sort share the same taste, is probably why.
Anyway, you're right. I'm going to try to get some tennis in today. I'm going to goof around, and not do a whole lot. I might even pick up the guitar and strum it around a little bit. I have a guitar-playing buddy who likes to jam occasionally, but I haven't played for months and I don't want to embarass myself - I was never that good, to be honest. I love playing the dammn thing, though. I really want to get back into the habit.
Ok, well, I'm going to read the paper, about the Celtics victory. A day off. I love it! I swear to God, if work keeps on being this busy, I'm going to quit! Or at least find a job closer to home.
Bye for now!
Jack
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 3 June 2008 03:19 am |
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Hey, Diary.
So, work is the big deal these days. Went in and worked yesterday, then came home and worked some more. We are *really* close to the deadline (monday) . They finally got video running more or less stable. But, the file transfer using upper echelon components isn't working yet. It's like the last frontier. Management is demanding we send people to Central, and I finally got plucked. It's really stupid. I could be more effective up here. There is an outside chance I get out of it, not much. I'm booking the hotel and tickets.
Sad news. My aunt and godmother passed away on Sunday. I hadn't seen her in years, but she was a big part of my growing up.
I have to get the funeral in on Wednesday, even though it's a travel day, and a two hour ride each way. Funeral starts at 9, so I will travel a couple of hours, attend the funeral, and then come back and catch the train, in the afternoon. It's about a 4.5 hour ride, then I will take a cab the hotel and meet Vasely there. He will have rented a car, already.
Weight was 174 this morning. I bet it's 175 tomorrow. I've been slacking a little bit, with the O-senbei and all. Have started picking up a snack on the way home again, only this time I'm buying a smaller bag (those orange peanut butter crackers, or cheeze filled pretzels - less than a buck)
ciouo ciou
Jack
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 4 June 2008 02:39 am |
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Dear Diary,
Went to my daughter's graduation tonight. My wife asked me what we should give her for a present. Since she recently expressed interest in guitar, I said how about guitar lessons? So, she was happy to get them. Pretty good, huh?
My sister and brother-in-law came to the ceremony. It was nice they could come, the rest of the family is down at the wake. I saw my old football coach, first time in about a zillion years - he's retiring! I finally met my daughter's guidance counselor face-to-face, even thought I talked to her on the phone about a dozen times.
Big screw up on the project. My boss and the company doing the control logic on the upper network had been talking at cross purposes, and it finanlly came to light today - 4 days before the whole thing is supposed to be done. But it's simple enough, about 1/2 days worth of work. But then it hit's my code - I hope there aren't major bugs!
Tomorrow, I leave at 6 am for my aunt's funeral which is about two hours away. I will hang out from 8 to 9, then the funeral, then come back home around 10 or 11. I'll be home by 1. I'll catch a train at 3:30 to Central Headquarters. I'll get to the station by 8 pm then take a cab and get to the hotel by, say 9. Vasely has rented a car and is already down there, so we can come back to the station together. I'll be there Thursday, and hopefully leave by Friday afternooon. But I might have to stay another day.
Food: Hmm...no breakfast. Potato salad and lettuce and an apple for lunch. Two sandwidches for dinner.
Weight 174. I'm on a plateau. This project is sucking up all my free time. When this project is done, maybe I'll be able to find more time for excercise. I hope!
My motto - one day at a time. Original, no, but effective - yes :)
Jack
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clarinetgurl
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 4 June 2008 03:00 am |
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Aww, good for your daughter. My parents got me a camera for graduation...guitar lessons sound like a great idea!!
Sorry about your aunt :(
One day at a time is the best motto ever!! It was ours in the hospital..
Have a good evening!
CG
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 4 June 2008 06:27 pm |
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hey Jack! i can't believe i missed your last few posts!
first, yeah, i think about that, too. our tastes are very simimlar...great minds think alike, eh?!
sorry to hear about your aunt. i hope you are doing ok. sounds like you have soooo much going on right now. hopefully things calm down a bit soon and the project gets all sorted out. then back to tennis? (funny, that is the sport i played in high school- that and downhill skiing- i liked playing tennis better, though).
guitar lessons sound like an awesome gift! so you were in a band, huh? how cool! fuuny, a lot of my firends from college were musicians- they tried to teach me how to play guitar a few times... started out well, but i sort of tapered off... os what can you play? take any requests?
take care today.
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 7 June 2008 09:33 am |
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clarinetgurl wrote: Aww, good for your daughter. My parents got me a camera for graduation...guitar lessons sound like a great idea!!
Sorry about your aunt :(
One day at a time is the best motto ever!! It was ours in the hospital..
Have a good evening!
CG
Thanks, CG. I can't wait till she starts. I wonder if she will stick with it? To be honest, I would be (pleasantly) surprised. Learning guitar is a lot of work, and she's not the dedicated type. But, hey, give her a chance.
It was sad about my aunt. She and her family were a big part of my life growing up.
I find the "one-day-at-a-time" motto works when I'm worried about what's going to happen in the future. Then I think "one day at a time" - and it kinds of brings me back to the present. You can't solve the world's problems in one day!
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 7 June 2008 09:57 am |
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zenobia wrote: hey Jack! i can't believe i missed your last few posts!
first, yeah, i think about that, too. our tastes are very simimlar...great minds think alike, eh?!
sorry to hear about your aunt. i hope you are doing ok. sounds like you have soooo much going on right now. hopefully things calm down a bit soon and the project gets all sorted out. then back to tennis? (funny, that is the sport i played in high school- that and downhill skiing- i liked playing tennis better, though).
guitar lessons sound like an awesome gift! so you were in a band, huh? how cool! fuuny, a lot of my firends from college were musicians- they tried to teach me how to play guitar a few times... started out well, but i sort of tapered off... os what can you play? take any requests?
take care today.
Zen,
Thanks about my aunt. The funeral was sad, Her kids kept tearing up and, to be honest, I did myself, a little bit, although I was trying not to. We had a lot of fun with her family growing up and she was a big part of that. But in recent years she had been consubmed by rheumatiod arthritis. Nasty stuff. She finally just gave up the ghost I think.
Aren't guitar lessons a cool gift? Beats a car anyday.
I don't want to give the wrong impression - I've jammed a few times with buddies, but I've never been in a band. That would be cool, but, to be honest, I'm not that skilled with guitar. But, I can hack out a few tunes and I love playing the thing. If I were a millionaire, I'd for sure spend way more time on guitar and way less time on computers! For tunes, I like to play Fire and Rain - it sounds cool because it has a chord that is different than the standard C A G stuff and easy to play. I play this instrumental latin song that I learned a long time ago that sounds pretty good. I also love to play along with Pink Floyd and Stones, on the electric - they are really easy to jam along to. You just kind of throw a few notes in there that match it on the petatonic scale. But, I haven't picked up a guitar in months, what with everything going on. I really have to find a job closer to home.
Tennis and skiing are great sports!The few times I have skiied, it's been a lot of work just staying up. But in between wipeouts, I have had a few moments to take in the awesome beauty of a snow-covered mountain from the summit. I hear skiiing in Utah is the best.
--Jack
Last edited on 7 June 2008 10:28 am by jackbenimble
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 7 June 2008 10:23 am |
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So - the adventure to Central Headquarters is finally done - at least for now. I was only there two days, but it feels like two months. Yesterday was especially tough because a bug turned up in the morning, and the fix wasn't trivial. Not only that, but because of the bug we couldn't pass the last three tests, which yesterday was the drop-dead deadline for.
In the end, I had to end up staying for another night, just so I could be there for when all the tests passed. Stayed till about 7:30 or 8 o'clock, and now I'm in the hotel. This one actually has internet access in the room, unlike the cheapo hotel that we were in the previous two nights.But - the good news is all the tests are now passed, except one, and that's one my company isn't responsible for.
There is still a problem with video when it's getting fed from the type of camera that's going to be used in the field demo (it figures). Vasely is going to have to figure that one out. The field testing starts a week from tomorrow, and the VIP demo is three weeks from tomorrow. The problem only occurs with live streaming - from disk it's no problem - so it's probably a question of buffer managment.
So, Monday the boss goes down and the project manager for all three companies wants to see all the tests run. So next week, it's unlikely I have to go down, and the week after, Vasely is scheduled to go down to support the field testing, then I'm scheduled for the week after - Monday through Friday. And it's the week before the VIP demo, so I'm kind of the last line of defense at that point. It's going to be a looooong week. But, the end is in sight, at last.
We had a nice dinner at Appelby's tonight - I got the mozeralla sticks, and baked shrimp and fries, and Vasely got chips and an (excellent) spinach dip for an appetizer - and a salad. Vasely is a very taciturn guy, although very proficient technically. He really just needs to work on his conversation - just to make having a dinner something you can talk to someone during. I ended up having a couple of conversations on my cellphone. I know it's rude, but after two nights in a row of dinner, man, there was nothing we could talk about. But, the main thing is he's really pretty good at his job, and that's what we need.
So, I'll be back home by about 3 tomorrow. I'm going to review Japanese on the ride home - I'm proofreading some stuff that I did for my final project.
Ok, I have to get up at 6:30 to leave here at 7:30. I wanted to go out last night, but it was a good idea to stay in the hotel. I was pretty wiped out, and must have fallend asleep at like 10.
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 8 June 2008 05:07 am |
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Dear Diary,
So, I want to write something here before I forget it. I heard this really great blues singer on the radio tonight, and his name is Big Bill Broonzy. I heard a few tunes he sang in the late 30's, and man was that good. I love that old-time blues, straight from the delta, hard-core, the real deal stuff. He was singing, with a drum, piano and upright bass. Piano and that kind of blues, you just can't beat it. His voice actually reminded me of Robert Johnson, the great bluesman who was around in the 20s. The nice, clean voice, the tight delivery. Robert Johnson played acoustic, and amazingly well, but for that old-time blues, you just can't beat piano. There is nothing like blues chords on piano. One tune was called whiskey and something blues. That's what I'm talkin' about, right there.
I want to write more about today, but, I'm beat. I'm back to about 175/174. Plateuaing. Oh, hit the ball off the wall about 1000 times. It was hot.
later,
Jack
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 8 June 2008 01:07 pm |
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Dear Diary,
My duaghter's graduation party is today. She's sleeping over a friends house, I've got to pick her up by 11. It's a combined family party with her cousin's graduation and a couple of niece/nephews birthday. We're having it at a local park. It's going to be hot!
Tipped the scales at 173 this morning, due in part to the fact that I hit 1000 balls off the wall in the sweltering heat yesterday, then came home and mowed the lawn.
On the train ride back with Vasely, we were trying to figure out how to solve the problem of the video not being correctly rendered when it was transported in this enhanced format that will be used in the field demo. We were cracking our brains, and I came up with an idea of using a special, seperate process to filter the data that was throwing off the video renderer. Vasely loved the idea, thought it would work, and sent out sample code to the guy responsible for feeding us the data asking him to put it in. Also called him. What was nice was he gave me full credit for coming up with the idea. All I really want is for the #%@&! thing to work, but I'm planning to ask for a raise after the project. It's high time.
The best way to get something fixed, even if it's not in your area of expertise, is to ask questions about it. As long as the other person has a constructive attitude, you can very often isolate where the issue is. When everything is really broken down, you can usually come up with an idea to address the problem. I think good management is about asking good questions, and trying to understand the answers. I really do.
I actually connected with Vasely on a personal level yesterday. He is usually a pretty grim, taciturn type of guy. But, when you are traveling together, you can more easily talk than when sitting across the table in a noisy restaurant. I told him about my buddy, Bryce, who is a widower. I told him how I worked with him to lose weight, to learn to dance, to join things, so he could find a girl friend. He did everything I suggested, and #%@&!ed if he didn't come up with one, and a good one too. I think I need to start working with Vasely on the same stuff. I actually got a few chuckles out of him yesterday. He can be an attractive guy if he wants. Blue eyes, smart as a whip, a serious mountain climber, good shape, good job. Not overly friendly - he needs to work on that. We'll see.
Jack
Last edited on 8 June 2008 01:09 pm by jackbenimble
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 8 June 2008 03:20 pm |
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Hey Jack!
I don't post every time but I do enjoy keeping up with your journal. I thought the guitar lessons were a really great present for your daughter.
I sure hope you've got a good solution now to the video rendering issue.
I am interested in your remarks about Vasely because he seems to be a bit like me. Even though I tend to effuse in written form, in conversational and social situations I often find it difficult to come up with anything to say. I was into books and music during my formative years and for several years was a club and radio dj, I always said that the music was my voice. I am imagining that Vasely expresses himself through his programming. I always appreciate friends and others (like my friend S) who are really good conversationalists themselves but who like me for who I am anyway. I really do work at it, good luck helping him (assuming he wants to be helped), it is a skill that takes a lot of practice when you don't have it naturally.
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 9 June 2008 06:20 am |
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Hi Molly!
Thanks for the kind comments.
I love the guitar lessons, but I don't know when she's actually going to take them. She has about two months before she goes off to college, and she seems to be spending most of her free time staying over friends houses and going to movies and the like. I'll be the most surprised guy in the world if these guitar lessons go anywhere!
I sure hope the video fix works too. The only other option is to restructure the entire program to use a more reliable library, and that's not going to happen at this stage. I wasn't in the loop on the decision to use the cheesy library. That's the wierd thing about engineers. They can be smart, but then they will choose a cheesy library to work with, for no discernible reason. My idea, is just use the library that gets the most support, that everyone else is using. Vox populi really works when selectiing freeware.
How cool you were a DJ! What kind of music did you play? I know what you mean about not being a natural conversationalist. I'm actually not a very good conversationalist myself, especially in terms of dominating the conversation with a group of people.
I end up playing the listening card a lot. I try to listen to what the person is saying, and understand, without interupting and/or jumping to conclusions. I'm getting marginally better at it - it doesn't come naturally. Vasely is a challenge, because he comes from Russia where it was a good idea to keep your mouth shut, in the first place. He's not really going to change, and will always be a bit edgy and sarcastic when he does says stuff. But, it would be kind of fun to see him be a little less forboding, a bit more open.
Jack
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 10 June 2008 04:17 am |
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Dear Diary,
Had a pretty quiet day compared to the hectic last week. I wanted to get the owner to approve the purchase of a $1500 piece of equipment that could be really handy for us. She was thinking about it, but I should've laid out how important the timing was. She left while I was on the phone with the guy who created the device. It was a long, geeky conversation which I really didn't need to have - I knew we could use the thing already. And she left while I was on the phone with him, and I couldn't reach her on her cell, so we lost a day. It will be ok, but I might need to come in Friday instead of working from home, that kind of thing. I might have to come in, anyway.
Other than that, I think I really need to find a job closer to home, as much as I like this one. Or else move. With my daughter going off to college, we could up and move to say 1/2 hour from work. That would be quite the adventure, after all these years. The value of the house is off from its peak, but its still worth a pretty good amount according to zillow. Way up from when we bought it in 92. And that's not counting the new roof, windows and fence.
My wife will not want to move. She's a homebody, big time. She loves, really loves the garden. I'm not totally keen on moving, myself. It will be a lot of work. And I hate to disrupt her life. She sings at the local church, for example. We're close to my Mom, who's not getting any younger.
But, I mean, this commute is cutting down on my free time and with the price of gas, and all, it's someting to think about. I'm usually pretty beat when I get home. The drive takes it out of you. But I really like the company, and it's a pretty safe haven in the midst of this economy. One of my best buddies just lost his job, just this last Friday. He'll land on his feet, he always does. But, it's a grim reminder that the sword can strike at any time. In fact, that's one of the reasons for this Master's degree project. Push come to shove, you've got to earn the greenbacks. The Japanese, guitar, shareware, tennis, books, blogging, they all take a back seat to keeping my skills up-to-date and making myself marketable. That's the bottom line. I was out of work for almost a year in 2002, and it changed my outlook on employment. There is nothing that bites it more than not being able to pay your bills, probably except for health issues. I don't won't to go through that again.
For example, take the owner of my company, she up and moved when the company moved. Didn't even blink abut it. Of course, her comittment to the company is different than mine. And she's got bucks and her husband has a big job, so there's more financial security for them. Plus, I still dream about moving back to Japan or moving to Thailand. or something. But, I dunno. I'm not a kid anymore. I had my fling overseas in my late 20s and thirties. I lived in Spain for a few months, France for a couple of years, Copenhagen for a year, Tokyo for a couple of years. Visited Thailand, Hong Kong, the Phillipines, Korea, Yugoslavia, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, a bunch of countries. I even made it to Senegal in Africa for a week. Africa was cool. Being in Africa is a different kind of feeling. I would like to get back there, someday. I think I would appreciate it a little more, nowadays. The dark continent.
The problem is that I'm not single, anymore. Married, wife who is a singer (read doesn't make much money) and a daughter with a college tuition to pay off, and a mortgage on the house and all the rest. It's not really a bad life. I like my job, at least. That's a big deal. i get challenged and rewarded by it. I distract myself by my projects, and stuff. It's really all in my mind. I can emphasize the positive, or the negative. Why not go with the positive? I make a good salary; I have a job I like; I work with people I like. I'm on track to get a Master's from a prestigious college (o.k. it's the night school, but in the end I get the degree from the institution). My daughter is a very cool chick, smart and funny, quite pretty and emotionally well-balanced and happy. My wife is pretty and a heck of a singer. I have my health. I'm a reaonable tennis player, I love sports. There are a ton of positives going on around me. The commute is the major issue right now.
I might actually move. That would be a lot of work, but it's something to think about. When? And with the slow market? I'm going to have to bring it up with my wife again. She always freaks out a little bit, though, about moving. She's in a good mode right now, with the summer coming on and the daughter off to college. I don't know if want to rock her world right now.
Food: i was a good doobie at my daughter's graduation party - I didn't eat the cake. Still, I gained a couple. I hit the ball off the wall afterwards, and was 173/174 this morning. Everything else is pretty normal. I've started snacking on cheddar cheese, the last couple of nights. I need to bring that to a screeching halt.
Ok, sleepy. Time for this one to come home.
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 10 June 2008 05:49 am |
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hey jack. i really dig your rambling posts. this one made me think about... stuff. you made an unintentional metaphor for me. you said that there are a lot of positives going on right now, but it's the commute that's the issue. man, that so hit home. i mean, i get caught up in a lot of negative thinking sometimes. i'm not really sure when that started to happen, as i wasn't always like that... but anyway, what is really getting to me right now is the commute- the whole process of getting to where i need/want to be in life. maybe it's that i have sort of fallen asleep at the wheel- i am just cruising my way through, lucky enough to not have gone off the road quite yet, but my head isn't really where it's supposed to be. my attention has drifted and i have lost sight of home. it's like i took this detour and and now i don't know my way back. i didn't pay attention to the signs along the way. see, and the more i think about it, the more i realize that it is totally my fault, that i really have to wake up... this is life and i can get control of that wheel again. but it feels like i'm careening into oncoming traffic and all i can do at this point is close my eyes, say some sort of prayer, and brace for the impact.
but everything is gonna be ok. it's always ok in the end, yes? everything works out, eventually.
man, you really know how to make a person think.
i don't know where all of that came from. sorry for hijacking your journal (again)- i'm off to listen to some moody blues. and i plan on commenting on the rest of your journal later ( i so want to know about your travels and things. sounds fantastic!).
but for now, take care.
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 11 June 2008 02:32 am |
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zenobia wrote: hey jack. i really dig your rambling posts. this one made me think about... stuff. you made an unintentional metaphor for me. you said that there are a lot of positives going on right now, but it's the commute that's the issue. man, that so hit home. i mean, i get caught up in a lot of negative thinking sometimes. i'm not really sure when that started to happen, as i wasn't always like that... but anyway, what is really getting to me right now is the commute- the whole process of getting to where i need/want to be in life. maybe it's that i have sort of fallen asleep at the wheel- i am just cruising my way through, lucky enough to not have gone off the road quite yet, but my head isn't really where it's supposed to be. my attention has drifted and i have lost sight of home. it's like i took this detour and and now i don't know my way back. i didn't pay attention to the signs along the way. see, and the more i think about it, the more i realize that it is totally my fault, that i really have to wake up... this is life and i can get control of that wheel again. but it feels like i'm careening into oncoming traffic and all i can do at this point is close my eyes, say some sort of prayer, and brace for the impact.
but everything is gonna be ok. it's always ok in the end, yes? everything works out, eventually.
man, you really know how to make a person think.
i don't know where all of that came from. sorry for hijacking your journal (again)- i'm off to listen to some moody blues. and i plan on commenting on the rest of your journal later ( i so want to know about your travels and things. sounds fantastic!).
but for now, take care.
Zen! hey, I just made a post on your thread. How do you like that? We could've been hijacking each other's threads, simultaneously, without even knowing it.
I feel bad that you've got the blues. I wish I were better at sympathy. I'm really bad at sympathizing. I just don't have the emotional IQ. My daughter gave me a personality test once, and she said my low emotional IQ actually had her worried. For example, every time I try to sympathize with my wife, she just gets mad at me. And and then I think its *funny*, because I'm so bad at it, and that makes here even madder.
I do hope you find your way clear of whatever's ailing you. You've got me on that. You're smart, creative, pretty, young, college-edumacated, married and going for masters. But, the mind is a complicated thing.
I like your analogy, btw. The commute can be a bioch, I guess. Oh, good luck in the test!
Jack
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 11 June 2008 05:11 am |
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you know, you seem like you are a really good person, and sometimes, that's all there needs to be. you send good vibes. i guess i wasn't even really looking for sympathy, just thought it was neat how your post hit, despite it seeming so unrelated. i just wanted you to know that it really made me think about things. i don't have a whole lot of time tonight, but i hope you have come to some conclusion, or at least feel better about your thoughts on moving. it can be so hard, i know! i'm facing that myself right now!
so thanks for just listening!
oh, and when you wrote Food: i was a good doobie at my daughter's graduation party, i so read that the wrong way and had to look again. too funny!
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 11 June 2008 05:45 am |
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Ahh, Zen, I'm glad i checked in before hitting the sack! I really enjoy your posts. You're very kind. I wasn't actually looking for sympathy, either - but I like it when I get it. Sympathy is hard to come by. As George Costanza once said, pity is an underrated emotion.
The moving thing does have me thinking. I'm wondering about renting a place close to work. I tried it before, but it didn't work out. I rented a room in a house - it's tough getting involved in that kind of arrangment at my age! Generally, I'd rather a place of my own. But who has the money for that?
The doobie reference - I got that from a show I used to watch when I was a little kid, and if you were good, you got a good doobie award. The doobies looked just like cartoon bumble-bees, IIRC So, no, not the usual meaning
Jack
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 14 June 2008 08:18 am |
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hiay jack!
ok, so i am going to live vicariously through your stories, so tell about your travels! that's one thing i totally regret not doing before getting married- travel. man, if i ever had the means, i would see everything, go everywhere.... i would love to backpack through europe. i want to visit monks in asia.. maybe in my next life 
lol- yeah, affording 2 places is pretty much impossible now. but, i guess it might equal out with what you save in gas? could you get a job that you love equally as this one? would your wife be completely against moving? studios are generally inexpensive... i don't know.i'm sure something will work out, though. things usually do.
i hope you are going to finally have a relaxing weekend. you have so much going on right now! get some tennis in, too. man, you have totally made me want to get back into slamming the ball around!
oh, something else- i i have been sort o following the bball finals. you come to mind when i catch the game. (yeah, i am rooting for the celtics too  )
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 14 June 2008 09:46 am |
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Hi Zen!
Stories from my travels? Hmm, I might disappoint you - for all my moving about, a lot of it had to do with finding cheap appartments. There are some storeis, though - life happens no matter where you go. I will tell you one of my most embarrassing: I was in Japan, doing some testing in the computer room. The computer room was glassed off and quiet. I'd been out drinking the night before, and was frankly still pretty buzzed. So, I started singing to myself, the songs from the night before. You should understand, I was really in the habit of singing at that time from all the karaoke. So, I must have started singing louder and louder, thinking subconciosly that nobody could really hear me. I'm sure I was in full voice before too long. The computer room was so queit and inviting, and the acoustics were just great.
So, after a while, one of the members of the Japanese computer dept, which was in room nearby, knocked on the window. I stopped singing and came out see what was up. There were like four or five of the computer guys, and a young Japanese woman, who was also in the computer dept. And, she stood in front of the four guys, and started singing a very nice song in Japanese, acapello, just to me. This went on for a minute or two. I didn't speak much Japanese, and they didn't speak much English. But, the message was pretty clear. They were asking me to shut up. Obviously, the "soundproof" computer room was anything but.
When I think back on that, I have to laugh. They did it in such a humorous way, so thoughtful - and as group. This is what I love about the Japanese. They are so thoughtful about others - it's built in. They can be pretty mean, too. But culturally, they are so unique. Maa, natsukashii (the japanese for "I feel nostalgic").
Oh, yeaah. the Celtics. I watched the game last night - actually, it's already two nights ago. Awesome! What a comeback. Did you see it? I don't know what part I liked about it most. Ray Allens' sculpted athletic moves; Paul Pierce's coming of age as a bona-fide NBA star, playing the best basketball of his career and surprising even his greatest supporters (of which I freel admit I wasn't one); Kevin Garnett's cerebral, smokingly intense persona and game which fueled the Celtics to a championship season; Jame's Poseys money shots and defensive prowess; Rajon Rondo's stunning quickness and gritty play; Eddie House's chest-pounding knock-down shots just when the Celts need them most; Leon Powes ability to contribute off the bench on the biggest stage in basketball; Kendrick Perkins achievment of some level of offensive competence to go with his massive frame.
It's going to b a great thing to see the green bring the Trophy back home. I was lucky enough to get to see two playoff games thanks to my buddy (who I called after the Celts won on Thursday at what must have been close to midnight, but I knew he'd be up), including a critical game 5 against Cleveland where Rondo knocked down two threes just before the half to keep the Celtics in the game. It was really a game where if they didn't win they were totally dead, a true playoff. The building was rocking, I was rocking.
Well, only two or three weeks to go on this most difficult of projects. We put a fix into the video yesterday, this one to prevent random program crashes which have been happening spuriously for some not easily detectable reason. I sat by Rich and Vasely and kibbitzed the code. Vasely is not much of a kibbitzer, but Rich will listen and is definitely into the group programming thing. It was the three of us just getting the fix so it would stream video. We got it working about seven and headed home.
Today, Saturday, I get the day off. I would have come into work, but Rich didn't want to. I think we need to test Rich's solution to the new video format before Monday, but he's planning on doing it next week. Which means it will probably won't be tested in a real environment in two weeks - when I'm down there. Rich will not go down in two weeks, but he should go down instead of me, or with me. I hope we can talk him into it. He's the guy who knows video, and did the control code. But I know he won't go. Oh well, one day at a time.
Today's weight - 173. Not bad, but I need to ramp it down to 170.
Jack
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 15 June 2008 02:25 am |
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Dear Diary,
Well, I got some work done on my web page today at Borders. I was there from about 3 to 8 or so. What's good about Borders is you have to pay for the internet, so I don't, which means I can't go off browsing and I end up getting work done.
What did I eat so far? Breakfast, oatmeal and 2 bananas. Lunch, pork and veggies. Dinner, pasta and some fruit. Now the acid test. Can I make it all the way to bed without eating? I wouldn't be the farm on it.
I did get some excercise in today - a good set of tennis w/ my bro. He got up on mye 4-2 but I scratched my way back for a victory. But the main thing was, it was a good workout, I was breathing hard a lot of the time.
Tomorrow, I'm off to my daughter's college for orientation - two nights, Sunday and Monday. The owner (work) doesn't even know I'm off for those day, she will probably gripe a little bit about letting her know, but I already told my boss. He barely remembered me telling him. Anyway, I've been putting in bunches of time on this project. Maybe she will fire me and force me to find someting closer to home!
I've been on a wierd sleep schedule since yesterday. I got home at 9 last night, slept for an hour, ate, talked with my wife for a while, went to bed again, got up at like 3 or something, then back to bed at 5. I had this really cool dream - I dreamt I was flying, over a beautifully architected frame of open-air building, made from black marble beams. It was kind of like the bones of a cathedral. Tt was really meant for looks reather than function, really large, and surrounded by multi-colored grids of beautuiful garden and farmland. I started to fall back to the surface, and instead of trying to stay up, I just kind of let go - I knew it was only a dream! I thought it was amazing that such a coherent, moving picture could be happening inside my own head. You only get these kind of dreams every once in a while.
Anyway, I'm going to go do some more work on my web-site. It's proofreading, mostly. My goal is to review all the 2000 kanji, and I'm up to about 1600. But, it's slow going.
ciao,
Jack
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 15 June 2008 05:26 am |
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aren't those what they call lucid dreams? they can be wicked cool as long as they are good dreams. and you really can't get much better than flying
oooh- i dind't realize you had a website. what's it all about? or if you already mentioned it, just point me in that direction!
have you ever written for a sports publication? you could certainly take that on as a fun job (if you even ever had time to relax, let alone pick up a second career!)
and how'd ya do on the not eating after dinner? inquiring minds want to know!
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 15 June 2008 03:48 pm |
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Hi Zen,
I like dreams when I fly - it means I'm in a good patch. So, I guess it was a lucid dream. I've had others which are pretty lucid, in a different way. No need to describe them in detail, let's say they are indicative of other parts of my life.
Did I eat last night after posting? You would have to ask. yup. Cheddar cheese, and maybe a banana or two. I totally forget about your trick of posting instead of binging. So, I was up a pound at 174 this morning. I will remember your technique, next time - promise.
I do have a web page, but it's pretty old and not very attractive at this point. I have lots of good testimonials on it, though. It's a site where I market a flashcard flaschard program for memorizing foriegn language characters. Too bad I never used it very much! I did a a web version of the program for a project on my last course, and am thinking about replacing or supplementing my page with that. The new interface looks very nice, if I do say so myself - it came out far better than I had expected, and the underlying XHTML is nice and clean. I'll send you a link to it when I have the new page up.
Thanks for your kind words about sports-writing! It never occurred to me before. There is one really funny guy, Bill Simmons, who writes for ESPN. Since he's from Boston, there is a lot of Boston coverage in his columns. He's really funny. Look up his entry in Wikipedia if you want a few chuckles.
Ok, back to work - only a couple of hundred kanji left to go!
jack
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 18 June 2008 02:42 am |
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Heya Jack
Well, glad to hear you snuck in some work at Borders, nice change of atmosphere there. Hope all is well.
You asked about my old vinyl spinning days - yep - the music differed depending on what I was doing really. The radio gig was alt rock on the small station where I was the GM for a spell (say Pixies, REM, the Cure, Siouxie, Ramones) and then the 'big station' was a mix of classic and modern rock (Doors, U2, Beatles, Zeppelin, Floyd, you name it). The club dj gig was the most fun, that was hotmixing dance which 12" at the time spanned anything from house (Rob Bass, Public Enemy) to new wave (New Order, Depeche Mode) to Light/Pop Techno (Information Society, Kon Kan, Book of Love etc.) to Industrial (Front 242, Ministry, Nitzer Ebb) jumbled in with campus faves like "I Melt With You" or "You Shook Me all Night Long" or "The End of the World As We Know it" or Violent Femmes cause after all it was part of the job to keep them partying and drinking and whip them into a frenzy of alchol laden glee. The frat parties I did on the side were fairly similar to the club gig, in fact that's usually why people wanted me to do their parties. It sure was fun though and easy cash too. Nothing like holding the mood of hundreds of people in the palm of your hand and whipping them around with the whole place pulsating and shaking and tripping on the vibe you are throwing out....aww man I think just talking about it I am gonna go whip out my turntables. I'll catch up with ya later....
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 19 June 2008 10:49 am |
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Hey MM!
It sounds like you really knew what you were doing as a DJ! I like the names of those groups. I love hearing the names of groups, especially alternative rock groups. They sound so cool. Sometimes, the best thing about a group are their names, depending on the group. If you can think of a good name, it's almost worth forming it just because of that.
Jack
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 20 June 2008 04:23 am |
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Dear Diary,
I just saw how MM is down to 145 - that's some serious weight loss. I've lost about 5 since I started this group! I just want to get the next 5.
It will have to wait till after next week, when I get back from the road trip. I'm going armed for bear. I bought an external USB hard drive which can pack 160 "wild and juicy" gigs - no running out of space on my 4 gig thumb drive. I will bring the source code AND the builds and all the binaries down with me. I will have the latest and greatest and will be able to put it on the mobile systems.
I also bought a verizon phone. The outside coverage is spotty there, but Vasely said Verizon had it covered from both outside and inside. I have the cheapo tracfone, pay-as-you go. Normally, it's all I need and want. But, going down there, having to support this software, Tracfone doesn't cut it. I need my ines of commuincation to be as robust as possible. I can return it within 30 days, but I will probably give it to my daughter. She needs one for college, and wants Verizon, not Tracfone, so she can talk to her friends. But 40 bucks a months is a lot of money. I don't like it. Nope, don't like it at all.
I have a bunch of bulls**t to put together for this trip. I got the phone and usb drive out of the way. I booked a hotel - a nice holiday in at 85 bucks a night, it has a special discount for research projects associated with Central headquarters - I stumbled across it. It even has wireless in the room, unlike the cheezy Comfort Inn's etc. that were recommended by Central Headquarters, which only support wired. I am saving them a lot of money with this rate. Like at least, 45 bucks a night, over six nights, call it 50, so $300 bucks. Plus, with my AAA discount on the car rental, I went from over $400 to $240 and a free tank of gas - another $160 save, $200 if you count the gas. So I saved them $500 bucks. It should be worth the hard drive AND the phone, for which it will only cost $20 bucks after rebate.
I need to reveiw the directions; get a map of the area; get the software working on my laptop AND copied to the usb drive. Print my reservations and get them into my bag. I won't bore you with all the details.
Food: Breakfast: oatmeal and bananan - I read that a high-carb breakfast is really good for you. Lunch - salad & banana. Snack apple. Small back of cheezo (75 cents worth) on my way home. Dinner, ribs and salad. Just had some cheddar cheese as the late night snick. about 10 slices, not awful.
Thinking about bed!
Jack
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 20 June 2008 04:35 am |
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Hey Jack, thanks! All I can say is when you have a LOT to lose, like I did, you can lose a lot pretty quickly. I've made it to the harder part now where every pound feels like victory, so I'll be right there with ya.
I've had Verizon service while my husband has had a few other carriers. I've found Verizon to be very reliable whereever I travel and often has the best signal compared to whatever my husband is on at the time. Good luck, there's really no such thing as an inexpensive cell phone. If the rate is $40 there will probably be $10 per month in taxes.  But being able to communicate at nearly any time with your daughter = priceless.
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 20 June 2008 05:29 pm |
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your road trip sounds completely work related- hopefully you can get in a bit of relaxing and fun in there, too!
we have verizon, too and it's not too bad. maybe you should do a family plan where you can talk to your daughter without using minutes? just a thought, if you havn't thought of it already.
have a safe trip!
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 21 June 2008 03:15 am |
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MM & Zen, thanks for stopping by!
MM: I like your attitude - it IS priceless to be able to talk to my daughter. I'd just like to do priceless at a discount
Zen: Thanks for the good wishes about having fun. I will keep that in mind. It's never a bad idea to have some fun!
Unfortunately, these trips always seem to be all about work. They are high stress, all about getting stuff to work in a short amount of time with what seems like a lot of people waiting on you. 9 times out of ten, when there's a problem, it's a setup issue. That's why this weekend I plan to document the setup stuff as well as I can. I'll make a checklist.
Food - not bad, but I overate on sharp cheese after dinner. This morning, I weighed 173 - plateau city, but I'll take it. If I opened time for excercise, I bet I'd be down to 170, lickety-split.
I actually have to be careful on this trip. When you have free restuaurant food every day, you can tend to overeat. Especially toward the end. I will really have to watch out. I have to make a priority out of it. It's going to be tough. Six nights! I'll have to listen to my stomach.
ciou,
Jack
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 21 June 2008 05:10 am |
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| aye, there's the rub. listening to your tummy. funny how something so natural and so made for all living things- such of a basic notion, but we have completely deprogrammed ourselves. the mind is a very powerful thing. i wish you luck on that, esp. amidst all of the temptations. maybe make some time for a jog or something. it's not too difficult to wake up 45 min early, is it? (oh who am i kidding, i'm lucky if i make it to 20 min! 4:50 comes pretty early).
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 21 June 2008 06:48 am |
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| oh! you have to get set up on live strong and all that. wanna see you around once this place poofs into cyber nothingness.... when ya get there, look me up. i couldn't keep my real name, but it's not that different- zenobia8 (no, i am not the 8th zenobia. eight is one of my favorite numbers- looks like infinity ). oh, and there is a group of cphers exploring livestrong. bunches of us are there. Last edited on 21 June 2008 06:49 am by zenobia
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 21 June 2008 03:18 pm |
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Thanks for the reminder, Zen. I keep thinking I'll go and do it, then I forget. I'll take care of it next week after I get back. What's happend, anyway? This site got bought up by Live Strong and then is going to dissappear? This is a sure thing? Why does Live Strong buy it if they're not going to use it? Wipe out competition? Get subscribers like us to set up over there? Why would we pick the Live Strong site (which purchased this) as opposed to some other given site? Just curious, really.
Jack
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 21 June 2008 04:35 pm |
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i have heard that they might keep cph around through a link in their site, but not sure. i don't think anyone is sure. Peter sold the site a while ago to an outside group and they sold to livestrong. not sure why. i am just moving over there because lots of us are and i want to keep in touch with the same peeps (or i'm a lemming... not sure). some use other sites as well now. i haven't explored anywhere else yet. the site is a bit daunting- it's huge and sorta confusing. i love how simple cph is...
anyway, that's about all i know. there maybe more info in the general discussions or off topic posts sections.
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 22 June 2008 02:00 pm |
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Thanks, Zen. That makes sense I guess. Man, I'd love to start a web site someone wanted to buy! I hope he made a bundle.
Ok, the big trip starts today! I need to call Vasely because my project isn't compiling. Rich hates it when you call him at home on weekends, but Vasely a bachelor and probably won't care. I know the fix it will be quick, but I just tried a few things and it didn't work, so it's up to the big guns now. Anyway, it's just for myself so I can play around with it and get familiar with it - the project is already installed at the site.
I took care of a few details yesterday - mowed the lawn, packed, put air in my daughter bike, attempted to get the project working. Also picked up a few shorts, a baseball hat, and some t-shirts for the trip. And some spitzers - it's going to be hot.
Played tennis with my bro again yestery. Got down early, but managed to claw my way back to victory, same as last week. It was a good workout - I was huffing and puffing. I hit about 500 balls off the wall after that.
I was back at 173 this morning. I'm shooting for 170, then we'll see how 165 goes. I overate at dinner, taking seconds when I was already full.
I'm more or less decided on the course I'm going to take in the fall. It's going to be a courrse called "Introduction to Formal Systems and Computation". It's a geeky theoretical math course, but I need to take one in order to quality for for a Software Engineering concentration. Of the three offerred, I think it's the easiest. The data structures and althorithms course is insanely time-consuming and difficult, and further the guy is a tough marker. The compiler course (the other option) is a lot of work too, and requires you have the insanely diffiuclt and time-consuming course as a pre-req.
Of course, the (the intro to formal systems & computation) course requires a couple of pre-reqs which I don't have - Discrete Math and Data Structures. But, I figure if I sort of dedicate my life to the course for the next few months, I can figure them out as I go along. I hope.
The nice thing about this is there's a good textbook, I've already got the handouts and problem sets from the website, and I have about 2 1/2 months to prepare for it. Also, the final counts for 25%, but the midterm is only a closed-book quiz that counts for 1 of 10 problem sets, so it's not that critical. So, 75% of the mark is out-of-class work (except for the midterm "quiz"), as opposed to test related, so that's good. The problem with tests are that are unpredictable. You can nail tham, or they can nail you. Homework, you can get it done if you are dedicated enough.
I might actually rent a studio for the duration of the course. That well give me an extra 2-3 hours a day to devote to passing this course, since i won't have the commute. Once I'm done, I can move back home. The rest of the courses will be do-able enough that I can get by with the commute time. Of course, if I'm spending $320 a month on gas, and the studio goes for $400, I might just keep it, and go home weekends. For $1000 bucks a year extra, it might be worth it. We'll see.
I heard a guy on the radio, Mark McMahon. He talks about stuff I think about. Basically, his point of view is that if you had 5 million dollars, what would you do? If you know what it is, why not do now? And let the money work itself out.
Pretty powerful stuff.
If I had 5 million, I'd do this:
1) play blues Guitar
2) Get really good at tennis
3) ski
4) start a band
5) write songs
6) move to an artsy / crafty area
7) finish off learning Japanese
8) Learn Spanish itallian
9) Read classics and poetry
10) Listen to a whole lot of Music
11) take art classes
12) Live in France
Jack
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