Stuff left in the toe of the Christmas stocking

We're putting in some long days this week as we head toward our project deadline of noon on Friday. There are times during the day when a nap would be helpful, but it's not to be. We'll just hope that the coffee supply holds up.

It's election season in Canada. A question that I'd never asked once, let alone frequently: "Is someone allowed to eat a ballot?" (Hint: No.)

And when we're through wondering what our neighbors to the north are doing for the future of civilization, we look across the pond and find that Sienna Miller is the most admired woman among teenaged British girls. Paris Hilton was #8 on the list. Paris Hilton. My theory is that Alistair Cook's bones weren't stolen, but that the spinning in his grave sent the bones too deep to be found.

Another holiday recipe - Creamy Spam Broccoli Casserole. Nice touch - skim milk and low-fat cheese to go with the Spam.

Finally, during flu season, never let anyone lick your keyboard.

I'm pretty sure that the pogo stick isn't ours

We're awakening to a quiet house, a light rain falling outside and fog rolling over the snow. Inside, there's a lot to pick up, clean up, and put away. There are several half-pies on the table and lots of leftovers in both refrigerators. And then there's the pogo stick, still in its box, "Lots of good healthy fun and exercise, indoors and outdoors." And, as the fog lifts, I can see two snowboards in the back yard.

It was a great party and everyone contributed. Sandra did most of the planning and lots of the cooking. People helped us fill the dishes before the meal and wash the dishes afterward. (Marley did his party, pre-washing many of the serving dishes and pans.)

I've kept people posted about our lives through this journal. Niece Lori asked, "So, who is Blaugustine?" I explained that Liz and I had worked together for several years at a previous company and that we now kept in touch via email and blogs. Juliet's health concerns became part of the dinner conversations.

While I was in our office, showing Michael and Joe how to put music files on their MP3 players, our granddaughters and Jennie's sister, Julie, were playing hide-and-go-seek around the house.

Folks left a bit after six. We fed 35 people. We'd parked our cars at the drug store parking lot about a quarter mile away, giving us more room in our driveway. Sandra, Marley, and I walked down to get the cars, enjoying the cool and quiet night.

Today we'll visit my father, bringing him a couple of meals of leftovers. We bought him a pair of Yaktrax so that he can walk across the ice more easily to get to his wood pile.

Bark us all bow-wows of folly

We went to Mike and Lynn's for a bit of Christmas Eve gift-giving and a dinner of Chinese food (nothing like this on the menu, though). Before the meal, we (Sandra and her parents and yours truly) drove around to see the Christmas lights. Some families have done put up glorious displays. Several years ago, we spent Christmas at Prince Edward Island. There the lights on the houses were even more hopeful because the houses are so far apart, the only bits of color and light in a dark night.

As Curly said, I have a cold and I don't smell so good. Soon the house will be filled with the smells of beef and turkey and veggies and pies and stuff(ing). People will arrive around noon and we expect to eat at 2:00. The weather is nice, so the kids can play in the yard, using their new sleds on the crusty snow.

Our kitchen is in the middle of our house. Even though I'll spend most of my time cooking, everyone has to pass through the kitchen on their way to anywhere else, so I'll get to see everyone and talk with most.

This is a needed time for a break from work. We have a very big deal deadline at noon on Friday. (If we don't deliver, the company doesn't get paid.) I have a rule that I can give one 70-hour week in each release. With Christmas weekend, I'll have long days, but I'll have a chance to recuperate. It means that I get to work my 40 hours in three days, instead of five.

We received lots of nice Christmas cards and newsletters. We're going to write back; at least we want to. The mailings may not get out until Groundhog's Day, though. As a friend observes - Don't be sorry. Change.

My Blackberry arrived and I've had a chance to play with a bit. Lots of features that I'm sure will be fun to play with while observing the posted speed limits on our interstate highways. The biggest deal about the Blackberry, I think, came when I was placing the order. I was trying to decide between a one-year and two-year contract. There was a significant savings in placing a two-year order, but I was hesitant because I wasn't sure if my job would be around in two years. "Don't worry," said our office administrator, confidently. I placed a two-year order.

The rest of the lyrics for Deck Us All With Boston Charlie/Bark Us All Bow-Wows of Folly are here.

In the time-honored tradition ...

The Red Sox let another of their best players get away, to the Yankees no less. There's no question that Johnny Damon is getting a lot of money from New York, more than $50M over four years. (Although he'll have to cut his hair and beard to get it.) The Red Sox could afford it and they need a high-energy guy like Damon to spark the team. I didn't mind losing Wade Boggs or Roger Clemens to the Yankees because they were arrogant and self-centered ballplayers. Damon, we'll miss. A lot.

Nothing says that you're celebrating Jesus' birth like:

• iPod boxer shorts
• Coyote fur hat
• Bacon-cooking alarm clock

And, of course, interesting opportunities keep showing up in my automated searches for technical documentation jobs:

• Looking for Cosmetolgist or Barber for a fun, relaxed sports enviorment [sic]
  
• CAREER BELLS RING, ARE YOU LISTENING? GM/CHEF OPENINGS NOW! (a sing-along)

The four candidates seeking the Canadian prime minister's post had a debate in French in Vancouver last week. They'll have a debate in English in Québec.

With the amount that I'm traveling for work, I'll be getting a Blackberry. The folks who make the Blackberry, Research in Motion (RIM), have been in a nasty legal dispute with NTP regarding patents that may or may not have been infringed. It's doubtful that RIM would let the Blackberries go dark; there are too many users and there is too much money involved. But, then, the Red Sox did let Johnny Damon get away.

Dice - Position 237

My automated job searches for a technical documentation position turned up this one: Dice - Position 237: "Heliarc Welder - local candidates need only apply". It's a job that my father could easily do, but he enjoys his retirement too much.

Canadian Cottage Holidays - Cottage rental and resort listings across Canada

Canadian Cottage Holidays - Cottage rental and resort listings across Canada: "from the hot sand dunes of Prince Edward Island..."

PEI, the new Malibu.

Messages as we find them

Seeing my mother's handwriting and reading her affirmations is just like hearing her voice. And she loved Papermate pens with the blue ink.

Collateral damage in a field of white

We picked up better than a foot of snow on Friday, the bulk of it coming in just a few hours. I worked from home and learned via email that the office was closed by mid-afternoon. The snow was light and the snowblower moved it away easily until the end. We cover the snowblower with a tarp during the off-hours. When it's time to start the cleanup, I remove the tarp and set it aside on top of the snow on the lawn. As I was returning the snowblower to its place, my glasses were covered with snow and, well, the snowblower inhaled the tarp, thick blue plastic wrapped around the auger. Yesterday morning, I spent nearly an hour cutting away the tarp, leaving a ground cover of blue confetti.

A couple of weeks ago, my father was getting his Jeep ready for the season. It started, but sounded a bit rough. He removed the air filter and found that it was filled with acorns.

Can you hear me now? Woof.

Gmail, Google's mail service, has a new feature called Web Clips. It presents links to news stories and, occasionally, advertisements. Gmail has a very good junk mail filter and puts all suspected junk mail into a Spam folder. When I go to clean out that folder, I also get a link for Spam recipes, such as Gingered Spam Salad.

The pace of work is picking up. We have a major project due on the 30th, with a contract payment contingent on product delivery. People have been even-tempered, a nice turn. I have had a couple of engineers provide helpful reviews of the documents I'm writing. In turn, I have a few cycle to help another team. I'll go White Plains for a couple of days to determine how best I can help with the other project.

We've started planning our family Christmas dinner. We'd originally counted 34 people, but several won't be able to join us. We have our menu planned. We're fortunate that Christmas comes on a Sunday, giving us an extra day for preparation. But, we're most fortunate that we have a family that wants to join us for the holiday. We have many blessings.

Goodle Good News - Funny Stuff - David McCandless

Goodle. Good news doesn't come easily; someone has to make it happen.

Well, there goes the neighborhood

A few cubicles opened up near my manager, so my co-workers and I moved recently. I did my best to clean my old cube before I moved and expect that the former tenant did the same. That said, there was an empty "Break The Curse" cookie package along with clear evidence that mice had dined well.

This new area is noisier than my previous location, all the more reason to crank up the tunes. I record broadcasts from radio stations over the Internet and then listen to them on my own schedule. Lately there have been a lot of tributes to the guitar great, Link Wray, who died last month.

You'd think that New York would have world-class TV news. It is, after all, the largest city in the country, the media capital, and the home of newspapers such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Nope. The TV news, at least what I've seen of the morning and evening offerings, isn't much better than the hyperventilated happy talk that we get locally. Heck, the small market stations, such as Manchester NH or Springfield MA, do just as well. And, with the local stations, you stand a chance of seeing clips from high school football games.

Next week we're having a holiday party at work. (Oh, bliss.) We were asked to bring foods from our ethnic traditions. I persuaded my boss that it wouldn't be a good idea to bring Finnish cuisine to a civilized gathering. I remember avoiding the pickled herring and baked turnip, but that's just the beginning. This article, for example, offers such gastronomic bombshells as fish aspic and lamprey. A cousin has had a business exporting dried reindeer meat, the perfect appetizer for a Christmas gathering. "Here, friends, have some Rudolph."

Happy 92nd Birthday, Huck.

Human Edge Software - First Class Overview

Human Edge Software - First Class Overview: "
First Class is synonymous with timetabling excellence."

...in case you were wondering.

Ice and snow and away we go

The weather forecast is calling for a stormy week, with wind and rain on Tuesday, possibly mixing with ice or snow, and then more precipitation that could give us snow cover by Thanksgiving. Today I'll bring the snow blower from behind the back shed and get it ready, just in case.

The ponds and sheltered portions of the lakes have a skim coat of ice. Yesterday we talked with someone who works at Mt. Wachusett, the ski area, not the college, She said that there was a chance that the mountain would be open for skiing this week. They've been making snow for a few days, covering several trails.

Sandra's parents returned from PEI on Friday and are settling for winter in Holden. It's nice to have them around. They're good company and good housemates.

It will be nice not to travel this week. I've gone to White Plains for five of the eight weeks in my new job, enough for me to know my way around the supermarkets, parking lots, and highways. The hotels that we use a typical business hotels, nicer than a Motel 6, but not a Trump Tower. High-speed Internet access is becoming standard, like air conditioning. With IBM nearby, White Plains is something of a technology center, but that doesn't stop politicians from making silly proposals. Most of the time, I buy my supper at Whole Foods, a natural food store, and go back to my room. One night I went out to dinner with some of the systems engineers who travel something like 40 weeks a year. They've been on the road too long and live at a pace that's too much for me.

My automated searches for technical documentation jobs are still finding some gems: Sensory Science Research Associate. "The successful candidate will set up and run sensory panels used to evaluate edible oils, food and beverages....Our Client develops, manufactures and sells naturally produced products from microalgae and fungi."

I've dressed pretty much the same way since high school - button-down shirts, slacks, loafers, ooccasionally a pocket protector. Most of my co-workers dress comparably, with a just a few folks in jeans and t-shirts. The IT industry, as rule, however, is pretty badly dressed. At Digital, one of the engineers wore red, flannel pajamas to work. (I don't think that they were the kind with the feet and the drop seat.)

As you prepare for Christmas, don't forget your USB-powered Christmas tree. (Google translation of the page is here.)

They shall not grow old

They shall not grow old: "They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We shall remember them. "

Thank a veteran today, if only in your remembrances.

Like a dog circling before it lies down, we're getting ready for winter. The outdoor furniture is put away. The storm windows are in place. The little heater that keeps the birdbath ice-free is plugged in. Sandra's parents will be returning from PEI next week. John Gardner talked about locking time, that time in November when things start to freeze up in New England. It's been mild this fall, so things are running a week to 10 days late. The big maple next to our house usally drops its leaves by Halloween; it's just now shedding the last. It was 25 this morning, so we're still moving toward winter.

Grandson Joe broke his arm Wednesday night. In a pig pile with his cousins, his arm went south while he went north. We saw him briefly last night and he was comfortable, able to give that great Joe smile.

Things are returning to normal in Ottawa. Mysterious radio signals were causing automatic garage doors to misbehave. The Canadians were blaming the American embassy. Someone could make a nice living selling tin-foil hats in the capital.

In today's almost-a-good-idea department: what could let drivers pay even less attention to the road ahead? A chance to watch traffic videos on their cell phones.

The other night, we had high winds which seem to have unsettled Marley. He was barking often through the night. It may be time to order an Anxiety Wrap for him. He's too big for a hoodie bed.

SI.com - MLB - Phils' Urbina arrested on attempted murder charges - Tuesday November 8, 2005 11:23AM

SI.com - MLB - Phils' Urbina arrested on attempted murder charges - Tuesday November 8, 2005 11:23AM: According to published reports, last month, Ugueth Urbina and a group of men allegedly wielded machetes at several employees at his family's ranch, and poured gasoline on them in an attempt to set them on fire. Urbina is a former Red Sox reliever. Urbina's lawyer said, "This of course can in some way hurt his career as a professional ballplayer..."

Notes from an area

A couple of times each year, I return to my college for some alumni work. This year, there was a mix-up and the stuff that I was to do didn't happen. Instead, I spent a couple of hours on a college campus, decades after I belong here. It's hard to get a sense of the mood on campus in just a couple of hours. The students seemed earnest, perhaps a bit too much so for a Saturday evening. Upstairs in the campus center, a band was rehearsing, playing old songs such as Piece of My Heart, Dixie Chicken, and Life During Wartime. They weren't very good. The rhythm section was ok, but the singers, one male and one female, each needed at least another half octave of range.

A sign on the southbound side of I-684:

Next Area
13 Miles

The next time that you fail to deliver on expectations at work, you can follow the example of Patrick Byrne, president of Overstock.com. "Q3 was rough. My bad."

The Red Sox will probably recover from the loss of GM Theo Epstein, but not quickly. With so many key players eligible for free agency and Manny being Manny, it'll be a challenge to put a contending team on the field next year. It was dumb to let him get away.

Yesterday on NPR's Morning Edition, Lynn Neary reported on an illustrated edition of Strunk and White's Elements of Style. The samples that I've seen on the NPR site are cute, but don't add to my appreciation of the elegant little original.

Happy 1st birthday, Cassandra.

Nice mask

We're gettting a nice stretch of Indian Summer with blue skies and mild breezes. On Saturday the eastern part of the state picked up as much as three inches of snow while we had none.

This will be a nice evening for trick-or-treaters. We don't get many. The neighborhood has just a few young kids. This year I only bought one (though large) bag of candy so we won't have a lot of leftovers. (We like 'em, but don't need 'em.)

I've long believed that the best way to deal with competitors is to send them new computers. Their productive will go into the tank and stay there for weeks as they get their new systems configured properly. Before my last trip to White Plains, I had to return one laptop that I'd borrowed and take another loaner with me on the trip. When I returned, my new laptop was ready. I'm still adding small programs and setting configurations. I expect that it will be Thanksgiving before I'm done.

I've added some new music to my weekly listening. WAMU, a public radio station in Washington, D.C., has a Sunday morning show called Stained Glass Bluegrass. The sound quality isn't great, sounding muddy like a cheap AM radio, but the music is fine.

Happy Birthday, Jane Pauley.

Test Day

Today is the last day of a week of network management training in White Plains. This afternoon, we'll have a two-hour test, 90 questions on the material we've covered. I've been reviewing my notes during breaks and am reasonably confident that I'll do ok.

Some folks in the class have spent most of their class times reading and writing email, surfing the web to plan their vacations, and shopping. They seem to know know their stuff, so who am I to judge?

The sky is clouding over and it looks like rain for the ride home. There was a frost last night in parts of north central Massachusetts, a late first frost this year. We still don't have much color in the trees, either. An odd season, this.

Happy 14th Birthday, Matt.

Snippets

One of the standard tests of culture is being able to listen to the William Tell Overture and not think of th Lone Ranger. The local classical station has been advertising a production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville. Naturally, my thoughts go to Bugs Bunny or Alfalfa from The Little Rascals.

The folks in the back room at the National Weather Service get to wax poetic every once in a while. Remarking on the diminished strength of Tropical Storm Vince, they wrote, "As the short happy life of Vince is now over...this will be the last advisory."

Now that the two-month lockout at the CBC has ended, we can keep up with the news about our northern brethren who are trying to gather the potato harvest in the rain.

There's been some good reaction in the tech press to IBM's announcement that it will donate a portion of the Rational Unified Process to the open source Eclipse Foundation.

Apple didn't release an 80GB iPod, as had been rumored, opting for a video iPod instead. Dunno. Maybe there's a market for it, but not with me.

Belief in God may be the result of evolution.

Treating depression in the workplace may make good business sense.

And the rains came

When I left the camp on Sunday, I did what they tell you not to do - drive on a road that's covered with water. A stream had overflowed, covering the road with a half foot of water. It's the first time that I've seen flooding on this stream. This flooding was mild compared to what hit southern New Hampshire, which, in turn, was a flicker compared to Guatemala. And, through it all, the ground stayed firm and steady, unlike Kashmir.

Fortunately, I brought in a supply of wood last week, so we have plenty of dry stuff for the stove. Wood prices are up about 30% this year. Last week I placed an order for green wood that will be dry by late spring if we need it.

It's been said that folks in Boston are not baseball fans; they're Red Sox fans. They're not football fans; they're Patriots fans. And so on. With the Yankees dispatched, I doubt that there will be much interest in the White Sox-Angels series. Maybe this is the year for the White Sox; they're certainly due.

I settled in and got some good work done yesterday, finishing off a tools assignment from my previous job and starting on plans for the upcoming release. The new project cycles between "This is manageable." to "The wheels are coming off and we have three more hills to climb." It's now on the manageable side of the cycle. It was raining mid-day, so Sandra and I walked indoors. Going to all sections of the building, we covered about a mile. Sandra and I sit two aisles apart.

Reports have it that Apple will announce new iPods this week, including a top-of-the-line 80GB beast.

I don't need to look for a job, but I've kept my automated searches running just to see what's out there. So, in my automated search for a technical documentation position, I received a lead on a position as Directory, Stewardship and Foundations for Focus on the Family.

In the late color

A low fog tumbles across the lake, the cold wind skimming over the (relatively) warmer water. You wouldn’t know that the water is warmer by standing it, however. I had some work to do on the boat and was in and out of the water for a half hour or so. Now I’m sitting next to the wood stove, warming and drying.

The rain has let up for a while now. During the night, the wind shifted to the northwest and bringing buckets of rain until early morning. Columbus Day weekend is usually the peak for foliage viewing, but not this year. The color is late and what color we have is dull.

Sandra and Marley are driving back from PEI and will be home this afternoon. It’s a long drive to make in a weekend. The connection to her parents and to the Island is important.

For many people, tomorrow is a holiday, Columbus Day in the States, Thanksgiving in Canada. We’re working, but many people will take the day off because the kids are out of school. Last week, when I was in White Plains, there were many kids around the office. Some schools in the New York area close during Rosh Hashanah.  

After I close up the camp this morning, I’ll go to my father’s house. He left his cane here when he came by here yesterday for coffee. A couple of weeks ago, he slipped while going up the cellar stair at his house. He bumped his shoulder in just the right way and chipped his collarbone. Generally, he’s been doing pretty well these past few months. This latest bump has meant that he hasn’t been able to get the mower deck off his tractor so he can work on the steering. It’s also nearing the time when he will have to get the Jeep ready for winter.

As I go into the third week of my new job, I am enjoying the people but am anxious about the amount of work. I’ve had difficulty concentrating while reading. I have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday and will talk about it more then. I don’t know if the difficulties are the result of the meds or the condition that the meds are trying to treat. I’ll be in the local office all of this week and then back to White Plains for the next.