Rain is coming, often heavy, lasting through mid-day tomorrow. So, we've decided not to go to the camp this weekend. Most of the work there is outdoor work that's not easily done in the rain. Instead of having our first sauna this evening, we'll probably go to Sears and buy a stove.
The long-range forecast from the NWS says, "Will be inserting a slight chance of thunder into the grids with the prognosticated instability. "
Today marks 30 years since the U.S. left Vietnam. As you might expect, the Vietnamese government is regarding this as an independence day. In this country, we are still sorting through what the war meant to us and to southeast Asia. To those who served, we can, at least, say, "Welcome home."
Again with the confluence of holidays. Today is Holy Saturday for the eastern churches and Walpurgis Night, a springtime rendition of Halloween.
Today also marks the day in 1993 when CERN, the Swiss nuclear research institute that sparked the development of the WorldWide Web, announced that the web would be free. The Internet predates the WorldWide Web by at least a couple of decades, depending on how you define it. The Internet is big, but not limitless.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Friday, April 29, 2005
Recaffeination
It's a cool morning with a sharp northwest breeze. We stayed above freezing, but just barely.
The espresso machine at work is operational again and a bit of order has returned to the workplace. The machine has just a few buttons for espresso, cappuccino, and maybe one other thing. The place down the road, by contrast, is stunning in its range of offerings. So, we can enjoy a cup o' Java and be grateful that we work where we do.
We watched some of the President's news conference last night, at least until The Apprentice came on. (We're rooting for Tana.) Now, the blogosphere doesn't need another liberal rant, so I'll keep my comments brief. I found it a lot easier to absorb his ideas if I closed my eyes so I didn't have to see that silly smirk when he was talking to us as though we're idiots.
Choose life, eh? Yeah, choose life.
In America we get so cynical about our leaders. The British, well, they know how to show respect.
The espresso machine at work is operational again and a bit of order has returned to the workplace. The machine has just a few buttons for espresso, cappuccino, and maybe one other thing. The place down the road, by contrast, is stunning in its range of offerings. So, we can enjoy a cup o' Java and be grateful that we work where we do.
We watched some of the President's news conference last night, at least until The Apprentice came on. (We're rooting for Tana.) Now, the blogosphere doesn't need another liberal rant, so I'll keep my comments brief. I found it a lot easier to absorb his ideas if I closed my eyes so I didn't have to see that silly smirk when he was talking to us as though we're idiots.
Choose life, eh? Yeah, choose life.
In America we get so cynical about our leaders. The British, well, they know how to show respect.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Blue skies and blue screens
The clouds are breaking and there's blue sky above. Unfortunately, there was a blue screen here. The system rebooted right away and is showing no ill effects. My guess is that the combination of USB gadgets wasn't handled well. I'll investigate further.
Yesterday afternoon, people were standing around the break room, shuffling their feet, while they watched the guy from the espresso machine leasing company try to fix the elixir maker. (There were two machines in the building; the other broke last August.) If someone showed up in the parking lot and started selling these personal espresso machines off the back of a truck, well, business would be good. I suppose, however, that some other workers might have to face other types of danger in their jobs.
I cooked the black chicken last night and we may have it for dinner this evening. I hadn't expected that the head would still be on it. Our expectations have been set by Frank Perdue. Chicken beak anyone?
There's a new makeover show on TV tonight called Mobile Home Disaster. You can bet that it doesn't take place in any of these locations.
A few years ago, I visited the Archie McPhee store in Seattle. It's a great place to spend time and money. And even if you stumble on the uneven floors, you can get patched up quickly.
Curt Schilling is on the disabled list, as is David Wells. Schilling's condition, however, made it to the front page, above the fold, in today's Boston Globe.
Yesterday afternoon, people were standing around the break room, shuffling their feet, while they watched the guy from the espresso machine leasing company try to fix the elixir maker. (There were two machines in the building; the other broke last August.) If someone showed up in the parking lot and started selling these personal espresso machines off the back of a truck, well, business would be good. I suppose, however, that some other workers might have to face other types of danger in their jobs.
I cooked the black chicken last night and we may have it for dinner this evening. I hadn't expected that the head would still be on it. Our expectations have been set by Frank Perdue. Chicken beak anyone?
There's a new makeover show on TV tonight called Mobile Home Disaster. You can bet that it doesn't take place in any of these locations.
A few years ago, I visited the Archie McPhee store in Seattle. It's a great place to spend time and money. And even if you stumble on the uneven floors, you can get patched up quickly.
Curt Schilling is on the disabled list, as is David Wells. Schilling's condition, however, made it to the front page, above the fold, in today's Boston Globe.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Campaign signs sprouting. It must be spring.
Our town is having an election for selectmen and other offices. Frankly, I've not paid close attention this year. Fortunately, we have some neighbors who tend to be quite active politically. They put candidates' signs on their lawns. Their politics are also exactly opposite ours. So, if I'm ever not sure how to vote, I take a look at the signs on their lawns and then vote the other way.
Every afternoon the traffic bunches up on the route home near a baseball field. With the car window down on a warm day, I can hear the sounds of the kids playing ball. It's wonderful, although I doubt that I'll ever get used to the sound of a ball hitting a metal bat.
Automated job search results of the day:
The Wall Street Journal is running a story this morning about B.J.'s Wholesale Club's suit against IBM. The suit alleges that sensitive credit card information was stored in the computers' logs and thus was exposed to hackers. This could get interesting.
Every afternoon the traffic bunches up on the route home near a baseball field. With the car window down on a warm day, I can hear the sounds of the kids playing ball. It's wonderful, although I doubt that I'll ever get used to the sound of a ball hitting a metal bat.
Automated job search results of the day:
- Lead SAP FICO Functional Config - Global a Must (*Hot Perm*)#901
- SAP Basis Admin LEARN CRM & BW! (*HOT Perm Job*) #900
- 2 Insane Guys With Brilliant Idea Seek Online Advertising Coordinator to make sense of it all: "It turns out we need a sober, calm and collected soul with a forgiving sense of humor..."
The Wall Street Journal is running a story this morning about B.J.'s Wholesale Club's suit against IBM. The suit alleges that sensitive credit card information was stored in the computers' logs and thus was exposed to hackers. This could get interesting.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Brake, gas and wood
Every once in a while I get to work from home. Today the group is having a party to celebrate the latest product release. I'm going to stay home, work some and prepare a few things for what I hope is our final meeting with Conservation Commission. I didn't attend last release party in August. Something else was going on then.
So, today, I get to hang around in sweat pants and a well-worn Windows Suites denim shirt. (I worked in the Windows Suite group at Rational.) I have three computers in the study (five if you count the two VMware virtual systems on my work laptop). I'll be using all of them in one way or another during the day. I have to set up a small network to test a few things. In the meantime, Marley is lying by the wood stove, yipping at the squirrels in his dreams. The real squirrels outside have taken cover as a hawk circles the neighborhood.
In these worrisome times, with families and friends scattered across the globe, it's nice to know that the clothing industry and mobile telecommunications industries have joined to bring us remote hugs.
Last night I paid $2.49 per gallon of gasoline. I know that people in other parts of the U.S. and certainly in the Great White North are paying a lot more, but this was a new level for me. It's starting to make some folks think differently about their driving. As we've been hearing, sales of hybrid vehicles are climbing rapidly. This is hybrid of a different kind, a truck that burns wood.
So, today, I get to hang around in sweat pants and a well-worn Windows Suites denim shirt. (I worked in the Windows Suite group at Rational.) I have three computers in the study (five if you count the two VMware virtual systems on my work laptop). I'll be using all of them in one way or another during the day. I have to set up a small network to test a few things. In the meantime, Marley is lying by the wood stove, yipping at the squirrels in his dreams. The real squirrels outside have taken cover as a hawk circles the neighborhood.
In these worrisome times, with families and friends scattered across the globe, it's nice to know that the clothing industry and mobile telecommunications industries have joined to bring us remote hugs.
Last night I paid $2.49 per gallon of gasoline. I know that people in other parts of the U.S. and certainly in the Great White North are paying a lot more, but this was a new level for me. It's starting to make some folks think differently about their driving. As we've been hearing, sales of hybrid vehicles are climbing rapidly. This is hybrid of a different kind, a truck that burns wood.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Tiger Balm, for what ails you
The Worcester Night Life programs are one of the best values around. For a modest fee, you can take course ranging from basic harmonic to oil burner technician to Linux for beginners. The programs range from a few hours to a whole semester.
Yesterday, Sandra and I took a tour of Chinatown in Boston. We learned about the history of this sometimes rough section of the city, about those who settled there. Most of the residents speak Cantonese while people who have settled in Massachusetts for jobs in high-tech speak Mandarin. (Did you know that there is a group and a language named Hakka in mainland China and Taiwan?)
We had dim sum at the China Pearl, visited a bakery, an herbal pharmacy (Tiger Balm is made neither from nor for tigers), several restaurants, clothing and gift stores, and a grocery store. We bought a black chicken, carrots the size of a baby's arm, and several packages of snack cookies for young and old. We saw, but didn't buy, live eels, dorian melon (with a smell like carrion in custard), and vegetarian squid. It was good fun. A big part of it was getting over the notion that things need to look like the stuff you'd find in Stop & Shop, Denny's, or Subway. More than a billion people have kim chee, pork roll, or rice and tofu in soy sauce for breakfast. They're doing just fine without the Coronary Artery Bypass on a Bun Special.
I expect that we'll see a lot of dogs on Alitalia once this news gets around.
Today's automated search for a technical documentation job:
Yesterday, Sandra and I took a tour of Chinatown in Boston. We learned about the history of this sometimes rough section of the city, about those who settled there. Most of the residents speak Cantonese while people who have settled in Massachusetts for jobs in high-tech speak Mandarin. (Did you know that there is a group and a language named Hakka in mainland China and Taiwan?)
We had dim sum at the China Pearl, visited a bakery, an herbal pharmacy (Tiger Balm is made neither from nor for tigers), several restaurants, clothing and gift stores, and a grocery store. We bought a black chicken, carrots the size of a baby's arm, and several packages of snack cookies for young and old. We saw, but didn't buy, live eels, dorian melon (with a smell like carrion in custard), and vegetarian squid. It was good fun. A big part of it was getting over the notion that things need to look like the stuff you'd find in Stop & Shop, Denny's, or Subway. More than a billion people have kim chee, pork roll, or rice and tofu in soy sauce for breakfast. They're doing just fine without the Coronary Artery Bypass on a Bun Special.
I expect that we'll see a lot of dogs on Alitalia once this news gets around.
Today's automated search for a technical documentation job:
- Director of Housekeeping for a company in Florida: "Accomplishes housekeeping human resource strategies by determining accountabilities" and "Avoids legal challenges by understanding current and proposed legislation...."
- This one sounds dirty, but isn't: Sr SAP HR Org Mgt, Persnl Mgt Bene, Trainn/Evnt Mgt (*HOT Perm*)#881
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Fried whatchamacallit, on an untoasted roll
This morning's automated job search for a technical documentation job included a pointer to a Registered Dietitian position. To be fair, the job does include a requirement that the applicant write reports that "conform to all rules of punctuation, grammar, diction and style." Applicants must have "Registered Dietitian with the American Dietetic Association and Licensed Dietitian status".
Which reminds me. Kay's Dairy Bar is open for the season. Kay's is about a mile from my father's house. Kay's started as a Carvel franchise in the early 1960s and later went to its own ice cream. The ice cream is very good and the portions huge. When Sandra worked for Digital in Westminster in the early 90s, her co-workers nicknamed the place "We fry anything." It's under new ownership this year. I was relieved to see that fried alligator is still on the menu.
Normally I don't care when one liquor company buys another, but this purchase has some local impact. A French company is buying the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts. I suspect that this won't have much impact on Dunkin' Donuts' inexorable drive to world domination. We have a Dunkin' Donuts about a half mile from our home. The mania inspired by those Coolatas makes our drivers even goofier. (You can be comforted , however, that the Coolata still contains no crustaceans.) For the record, I don't like Dunkin' Donuts products. The coffee is weak and the donuts taste like sugared sawdust.
There will be a quiz on this next week. Who or what is Illanaaq the Inukshuk?
The excuse, and it's not a very good one, is that the Maine Turnpike is a long and boring road. You want to get through it as quickly as possible, so your speed gradually increases. The Maine state police have heard it all and will hear it again as they rev up their anti-speeding campaign. Our family drives the Maine Turnpike/I-95 to and from PEI and has seen some of the clever ways that the state police identify speeders.
Which reminds me. Kay's Dairy Bar is open for the season. Kay's is about a mile from my father's house. Kay's started as a Carvel franchise in the early 1960s and later went to its own ice cream. The ice cream is very good and the portions huge. When Sandra worked for Digital in Westminster in the early 90s, her co-workers nicknamed the place "We fry anything." It's under new ownership this year. I was relieved to see that fried alligator is still on the menu.
Normally I don't care when one liquor company buys another, but this purchase has some local impact. A French company is buying the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts. I suspect that this won't have much impact on Dunkin' Donuts' inexorable drive to world domination. We have a Dunkin' Donuts about a half mile from our home. The mania inspired by those Coolatas makes our drivers even goofier. (You can be comforted , however, that the Coolata still contains no crustaceans.) For the record, I don't like Dunkin' Donuts products. The coffee is weak and the donuts taste like sugared sawdust.
There will be a quiz on this next week. Who or what is Illanaaq the Inukshuk?
The excuse, and it's not a very good one, is that the Maine Turnpike is a long and boring road. You want to get through it as quickly as possible, so your speed gradually increases. The Maine state police have heard it all and will hear it again as they rev up their anti-speeding campaign. Our family drives the Maine Turnpike/I-95 to and from PEI and has seen some of the clever ways that the state police identify speeders.
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