Saturday: MB headed out beastly early to go teach a BD class. Woke up at one point. Did the phone ring? Out of bed and stumbling around. Continued to sleep until she returned around 9. MB did a sitting. Gus treatments. Shower. Fixed breakfast (eggs, half a bagel, soy sausage, coffee, fruit smoothie). We ate, and cleaned up. My mom called to talk to MB.
Down basement, email, morning practices, drums. Heard MB stomping around signaling her departure to language class. Went up and said goodbye to her. Some packing and setting things in order. Back down basement and a bit of guitar. Packed the car and headed out just after 4 PM.
Stopped for gas, a soda and snacks, then got on the road. A lovely sunny day. Left a message on mom's answering machine letting her know I was on my way. A lot of fluid wanted to leave my body, so several stops. At one, a boy-scout troop was giving away coffee. I took a cup and donated a dollar. I should have just given them the money and left the coffee. Figured out how to check email on my cell phone. Made good time, arriving just as the sun was setting, around 7:15 PM.
Hanging out with mom. Decided to order out instead of cooking. Her knee has been bothering her. I drove out and picked up the Italian food. Talked to MB on the cell. Picked up some antacid tablets at the pharmacy. Back to mom's and supper. More chatting in the living room with mom and dog. Listening to Samuel Barber's Adagio for strings. Wonderful. And Where is the Nurse? Talking about music's influence on brain development. Helped mom with some little house projects. Could not figure out how to set up a simple Cisco wireless router with her brand new laptop, despite it having a connection "wizard." (Plugged in, intenet working, status lights good... Wizard can't find the thing?) Brushing the teeth. Some guitar. Completing the day.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
His name is Oscar
Friday: Woke feeling water logged, but recovered sitting at the computer. Gus treatments, shower. Downstairs and heated some coffee. Noticed the Gus doppleganger in the back yard. My ploy of walking around the side, to avoid startling him, worked, and he ate the offered food, and let me pet him. He also told me his name is Oscar. Over the course of the morning I fed him twice more. Hungry blighter. Down basement morning practices, musing, drums, and some guitar. Put some bird food out.
Headed out, driving the long way around. Fixed a couple more bugs brought out by the Mr Skitters file, and checked-in late in the day. A good meeting, deciding we're getting pretty close. Two tacos at the chain place. The light jazz music they were playing significantly detracted from my experience, which is a shame, because the food is actually perfectly serviceable.
Back home by 7:20. MB and I drove right back out again to a Ethiopian restaurant a few blocks away. A friendly dinner with St and Rbn. We talked about work and the public school systems in Boston. Rbn offered an interesting theory on the relationship between smoking, the pitch of his voice, and stammering.
After dinner, we said goodbye to these friends, and went and met some other friends at the iCafe. Bn was supposed to be dancing, but the cafe lost their entertainment license. We ate some dessert crepes, and talked about work, with Bn and a couple who were with her. The woman in the couple works for a drug company, and I found it interesting to hear how productivity is measured in an industry where most efforts fail.
Back home around 11. MB taking a shower. Gus is sitting in front of me dribbling snot on my hands as I type.
Headed out, driving the long way around. Fixed a couple more bugs brought out by the Mr Skitters file, and checked-in late in the day. A good meeting, deciding we're getting pretty close. Two tacos at the chain place. The light jazz music they were playing significantly detracted from my experience, which is a shame, because the food is actually perfectly serviceable.
Back home by 7:20. MB and I drove right back out again to a Ethiopian restaurant a few blocks away. A friendly dinner with St and Rbn. We talked about work and the public school systems in Boston. Rbn offered an interesting theory on the relationship between smoking, the pitch of his voice, and stammering.
After dinner, we said goodbye to these friends, and went and met some other friends at the iCafe. Bn was supposed to be dancing, but the cafe lost their entertainment license. We ate some dessert crepes, and talked about work, with Bn and a couple who were with her. The woman in the couple works for a drug company, and I found it interesting to hear how productivity is measured in an industry where most efforts fail.
Back home around 11. MB taking a shower. Gus is sitting in front of me dribbling snot on my hands as I type.
Last class
Thursday: Slept in a bit. Called the heating repair people and left a message, since the furnace wasn't working properly again last night. (I soldered together the suspect leads, and it worked temporarily, but then failed again. Probably a bad solder joint on the circuit board.) Downstairs and put on hot water. Gus treatments. Shower. Breakfast (coffee, cereal). Down basement, and morning practices. The heater guys called, and said they were on their way over. They showed up pretty quickly. Funny guy, looking around at my stuff, and talking about going bowling, how is boss was pulling his leg and so on. The replacement part had a mismatched connector given the existing wiring rig, which caused some consternation. The boss had to come over, and they eventually cut the wires and spliced it in with twist ons. Drums and guitar. Headed out.
In the office today, looking at a particular performance problem. Found a nice way to first profile with system trace, and then use time slice view on an individual thread to figure out what was going on. Made a bunch of simple edits in a collection of files... but I may move them to a different branch. Two bean tacos, and some lunch from MB. Figured out its Spotlight that is holding open files we are trying to delete (and causing a -47 error). Headed out at 7:45.
Third Life Studio. Last class. Just Gbr showed up. Nice to work with her. Afterwards, ordered some Chinese food. Back home, MB was already there. I ate, listening to what's going on for her at work. She read me some from her current book (suppressing laughter at a glee club performance). Made the bed (two odd spots had appeared on the sheets... maybe from Gus?). Down basement and more guitar. Email. Now to complete the day.
In the office today, looking at a particular performance problem. Found a nice way to first profile with system trace, and then use time slice view on an individual thread to figure out what was going on. Made a bunch of simple edits in a collection of files... but I may move them to a different branch. Two bean tacos, and some lunch from MB. Figured out its Spotlight that is holding open files we are trying to delete (and causing a -47 error). Headed out at 7:45.
Third Life Studio. Last class. Just Gbr showed up. Nice to work with her. Afterwards, ordered some Chinese food. Back home, MB was already there. I ate, listening to what's going on for her at work. She read me some from her current book (suppressing laughter at a glee club performance). Made the bed (two odd spots had appeared on the sheets... maybe from Gus?). Down basement and more guitar. Email. Now to complete the day.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Return of the doppelganger
Wednesday: Up around 8 as MB headed out. In bed until 9 or so. Up, email. Downstairs, and saw the Gus-doppelganger on the shed roof. (Been missing for a couple weeks.) Tried to give him some food. He almost came up to me, but when I stood up to retreat into the kitchen, he took off. Shower. Reheated coffee, cold cereal and yogurt. Emptied the dishwasher. Down basement for morning meditation, drums and some guitar.
Stopped at the vets and got a case of cat food for Gus. In to work. Fixed a couple of important bugs, one of which I recently introduced when I added some code to fix another bug, against my better judgement. Collaborated with Al some. Got a little testy at one point. Burrito. There are now three flavors of burrito to choose from in easy walking distance of the office. That's market saturation. The one that will survive will probably be the one with the deepest pockets and the most generic product. Walked out and got a coffee, then met Shawn.
Driving to Arlington Shawn filled me in on his recent creative work for the Church of Flying Dreams project. Good ideas. Productive rehearsal, running through our material, and also working on EotN. Shawn wants to do the counting in. I liked the fact that he wanted to take charge of the rhythm in this way. Dropped him back at his place, then home.
Put out the garbage. MB returned from a long day at work. Some soup, and jocularity. She made some lunches. Cleaning up. She went to take a shower, and I went down basement.
Stopped at the vets and got a case of cat food for Gus. In to work. Fixed a couple of important bugs, one of which I recently introduced when I added some code to fix another bug, against my better judgement. Collaborated with Al some. Got a little testy at one point. Burrito. There are now three flavors of burrito to choose from in easy walking distance of the office. That's market saturation. The one that will survive will probably be the one with the deepest pockets and the most generic product. Walked out and got a coffee, then met Shawn.
Driving to Arlington Shawn filled me in on his recent creative work for the Church of Flying Dreams project. Good ideas. Productive rehearsal, running through our material, and also working on EotN. Shawn wants to do the counting in. I liked the fact that he wanted to take charge of the rhythm in this way. Dropped him back at his place, then home.
Put out the garbage. MB returned from a long day at work. Some soup, and jocularity. She made some lunches. Cleaning up. She went to take a shower, and I went down basement.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Leftover day
Tuesday: Slept in a bit. Email. Gus treatments. Shower, with hot water, and everything. Fried up my leftover burrito from yesterday with an egg. Instant huevos rancheros. Down basement, morning practices, drums, and some guitar.
Drove across town to work. Donald came up and sold me a paper as I neared the parking garage. I walked over to my barbershop and got a haircut, having a conversation about the Amalphi Coast with the fellow doing the cutting. Coffee. In the office, a short day. Fixed a couple of asserts. Talked to Al about some performance issues we're trying to address. Headed out at 6:30.
Yoga class with Wendy Cook. Quite good. Ended up with a resting posture hanging the top of the torso off a stack of cushions. Ate crackers, standing around afterwards.
Back home, some email. MB returned from a dance class she had given tonight. Hanging out and eating the leftover Indian food from last night. It was a leftover day! More email while MB showered. Rubs. Soon down basement.
Drove across town to work. Donald came up and sold me a paper as I neared the parking garage. I walked over to my barbershop and got a haircut, having a conversation about the Amalphi Coast with the fellow doing the cutting. Coffee. In the office, a short day. Fixed a couple of asserts. Talked to Al about some performance issues we're trying to address. Headed out at 6:30.
Yoga class with Wendy Cook. Quite good. Ended up with a resting posture hanging the top of the torso off a stack of cushions. Ate crackers, standing around afterwards.
Back home, some email. MB returned from a dance class she had given tonight. Hanging out and eating the leftover Indian food from last night. It was a leftover day! More email while MB showered. Rubs. Soon down basement.
54 mpg
Monday: Woke to MB telling me the furnace was out again. So that's why it got so cold in the basement last night. Up, and called the plumber. Breakfast with Gus. Heated some water on the stove, which I then splashed over and around myself in the tub. Gus treatments. Down basement for practices, drums and some guitar. The plumber showed up, and it was a loose wire, which had probably caused the other malfunction. Drove the long way around to work.
Saw Adm on the ride up in the elevator, and touched base about travelling to Allen's memorial service. Not a terribly productive day. Looked at a feature enhancement, but decided it was not the right time to tackle it. Coffee. Re-rooted my glitch-reduction branch (which was more difficult than I thought it would be). Burrito. Spent some time reading about networking. Tried to reproduce a bug. This led me to re-install driver software, which required a couple of machine reboots. Finally realized that I just had some bad hardware. Was able to reproduce the bug once, but only in the ship build.
Wnd picked me up around 7:00. We had dinner at Tanjore (we both ordered too much). Took a nice long drive in her new Prius out along the Charles and through Lexington and Lincoln, finally finding our way onto Route 2. We averaged 54 mpg on our trip. She dropped me back in Harvard Square. Drove home across town.
Hello to MB. She was eating rice pudding and reading Rolling Stone. Some hanging out. Down basement and lots of email. Made plans for next installments from TG. Hello again to MB. Back down basement.
Cool link: Go here on your cell-phone's browser: www.google.com/gmm
Saw Adm on the ride up in the elevator, and touched base about travelling to Allen's memorial service. Not a terribly productive day. Looked at a feature enhancement, but decided it was not the right time to tackle it. Coffee. Re-rooted my glitch-reduction branch (which was more difficult than I thought it would be). Burrito. Spent some time reading about networking. Tried to reproduce a bug. This led me to re-install driver software, which required a couple of machine reboots. Finally realized that I just had some bad hardware. Was able to reproduce the bug once, but only in the ship build.
Wnd picked me up around 7:00. We had dinner at Tanjore (we both ordered too much). Took a nice long drive in her new Prius out along the Charles and through Lexington and Lincoln, finally finding our way onto Route 2. We averaged 54 mpg on our trip. She dropped me back in Harvard Square. Drove home across town.
Hello to MB. She was eating rice pudding and reading Rolling Stone. Some hanging out. Down basement and lots of email. Made plans for next installments from TG. Hello again to MB. Back down basement.
Cool link: Go here on your cell-phone's browser: www.google.com/gmm
Monday, March 26, 2007
A Circle of Seven
Sunday: MB and I slept until noon. Gus treatments. She had a sitting while I made breakfast. A bit too much cheese on the eggs today. I vacuumed some ants up into a cloth and released them on the porch. Breakfast with MB. Unpacked the car. A guy was walking down the street looking in car windows. My neighbor Chris came out of his house and said "Can I help you?" The guy said "I am just trying to get the pimple out of my face." Chris said "Well don't squirt it on the car." and went back inside. Shower, while MB cleaned up the dishes.
Down basement, morning practices, drums, guitar, some reading, some more meditation. Somehow it got to be 6 PM. Took a walk with MB out and about. Tried to talk to a guy lurking around two doors down, but he couldn't speak English. We walked around and up onto Highland. Lots of garbage. Up to the "castle on the hill" where some guys were playing a small kit drum and hand percussion. Enjoyed the sunset, and the vista. Walked back home, packed the car and headed out to Guitar Circle.
Alex and Chris P were there before us. A good meeting, with 7 of us. It's been quite a while since we had a circle of this size. Felt good. We worked on a new piece of Victor's, then other repertoire: EotN, Third Rel, Inv 1, Passage, Asturias, Askesis, Thrak, Growing Circle. We tried to circulate C Major up and back in 4 octaves. Not so good, which is sad, because it should have been easy as pie, given that there were 7 of us. A good rehearsal overall. Chris has come a long way, and I'm not just saying that because he lives in CT.
Back home, MB and I ate leftover Chinese food and some soup. Down basement and catching up on diary entries.
Down basement, morning practices, drums, guitar, some reading, some more meditation. Somehow it got to be 6 PM. Took a walk with MB out and about. Tried to talk to a guy lurking around two doors down, but he couldn't speak English. We walked around and up onto Highland. Lots of garbage. Up to the "castle on the hill" where some guys were playing a small kit drum and hand percussion. Enjoyed the sunset, and the vista. Walked back home, packed the car and headed out to Guitar Circle.
Alex and Chris P were there before us. A good meeting, with 7 of us. It's been quite a while since we had a circle of this size. Felt good. We worked on a new piece of Victor's, then other repertoire: EotN, Third Rel, Inv 1, Passage, Asturias, Askesis, Thrak, Growing Circle. We tried to circulate C Major up and back in 4 octaves. Not so good, which is sad, because it should have been easy as pie, given that there were 7 of us. A good rehearsal overall. Chris has come a long way, and I'm not just saying that because he lives in CT.
Back home, MB and I ate leftover Chinese food and some soup. Down basement and catching up on diary entries.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Where is the Nurse?
Saturday: Up around 8:15. Noise coming from the condo next-door. Sitting. Went out to the car to get a tee-shirt I'd forgotten to bring in. Shower. Mom made some eggs with sun-dried tomatoes for breakfast. We talked and ate from 9:15 until 10. I packed my car, and headed off.
Fairly smooth getting into NYC until the FDR. Put my car in a lot, and then headed up to Tony's arriving about 15 minutes late. We warmed up with C Major in groups of 4 up and back in three octaves. Then "Where Is The Nurse?" bass. His computers were still experiencing some finickiness after a recent drive-crash, and he spent some time trying to call-up the score. Tim arrived for a lesson.
I took my guitar and walked west on 4th, finding a courtyard with some benches. Found a spot in the sun and worked on what I'd just learned, finding it already slipping away. Then practiced other pieces for about an hour. Some black-guys walked passed and said "Play on man." A little cold to be sitting for so long. Walked back to the car, meeting Tim just leaving his lesson. Put my guitar in the car, and then wandered around. Found quite an amazing musical instrument store. Unfortunately the prices did not match the junk yard inspired presentation. A guy tried to sell me pot. Around 3:34, met AE. We wandered around for a bit, hitting a CD store, a store that sells industrial restaurant supplies, a small cafe and then a vegetarian Indian restaurant. Yum. Great conversation. We took a cab back to my car, and I gave her a ride home.
I headed north on West Side Drive, hitting traffic getting onto the GWB. Rain and snow on the way home made the drive a bit nerve wracking, but arrived safe and sound right around 1 AM. Completing the day. MB returned from a successful BD gig around 2.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
ACIP Release Party
Friday: Up around 8. Shower, Gus, Packing. Down basement for morning practices, drums and a little guitar. Packed the car, and headed out. Stopped for a coffee at Starbucks and a muffin in the place next door.
Satisfying day at work. Found and fixed a small but significant bug that was causing each transition to have a bit of incorrectly blended signal. Checked that in just in time for another beta round. Headed off on my NYC trip a little after 3 PM.
Made pretty decent time getting into the city. Hit some traffic on the FDR, but still arrived in the neighborhood with plenty of time to spare. Found a parking garage. At the yoga center, it turned out they were running late. Sat in the cafe without much of anything to do, people watching. Saw some familiar faces. Lots of activity, most of it involving laptop computers. I went and found my way into the hall, but was told I couldn't be in there yet. Sat in the hall trying to stay out of the way. People spread rose petals on the floor, and strung Christmas lights around. Eventually they let us in. After another long wait, some people chanted some mantras accompanied by hand drums and guitar. Some of us sang along. That was pleasant. Finally, GMR and Christine arrived. They gave a teaching, and then the new release of the Asian Classics Input Project was discussed. Many thanks to many people. Some stories. Then the event turned into a dance party. I ate the most exquisite little chocolate ball. GMR and Christine were dancing with some kids. My shoes were lost for a bit. Headed out. Drove back to my mom's house. She had some warm milk in the kitchen when I arrived. Chatting. Then soon to bed after completing the day.
Satisfying day at work. Found and fixed a small but significant bug that was causing each transition to have a bit of incorrectly blended signal. Checked that in just in time for another beta round. Headed off on my NYC trip a little after 3 PM.
Made pretty decent time getting into the city. Hit some traffic on the FDR, but still arrived in the neighborhood with plenty of time to spare. Found a parking garage. At the yoga center, it turned out they were running late. Sat in the cafe without much of anything to do, people watching. Saw some familiar faces. Lots of activity, most of it involving laptop computers. I went and found my way into the hall, but was told I couldn't be in there yet. Sat in the hall trying to stay out of the way. People spread rose petals on the floor, and strung Christmas lights around. Eventually they let us in. After another long wait, some people chanted some mantras accompanied by hand drums and guitar. Some of us sang along. That was pleasant. Finally, GMR and Christine arrived. They gave a teaching, and then the new release of the Asian Classics Input Project was discussed. Many thanks to many people. Some stories. Then the event turned into a dance party. I ate the most exquisite little chocolate ball. GMR and Christine were dancing with some kids. My shoes were lost for a bit. Headed out. Drove back to my mom's house. She had some warm milk in the kitchen when I arrived. Chatting. Then soon to bed after completing the day.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The weekend materializes
Thursday: Gus the pokey poker poked me quite thoroughly this morning. Email, and a sitting of sorts. Downstairs and some food for him. Put on water to boil. Gus treatments. Shower. Down basement, morning practices, drums and brief guitar. Realized I'd left my pick in Shawn's rehearsal space. Used a spare. Huge difference in tone. Put away laundry. Eggs and such for breakfast. Headed out. A beautiful sunny day. Wanted to put the top down on the old beast, but the safty switch is malfunctioning.
In at the office, more bug thwacking. Though the day was on the short side, managed to wrap up the "lazing file closing" fix from yesterday, fix a new deadlock that I came across, and a file naming issue. Talked to my mom and confirmed a place to stay on Friday night. TG wrote me an email saying he could do a lesson on Sat. A plan materializes. The office smelled of burning cow flesh, thanks to the new Mexican place on the first floor. Yuck. Mk gave me a DVD that his wife made: stop motion done in iMovie of an Elephant in Rome.
At Third Life around 8, the other class had run a little over. Two people, a couple. Fun working with them. Afterwards, talked to MB. Over to Wang's to pick up Chinese food. Back home, hanging with MB and eating a bit. Talking about ego gratification in the work-place. Upstairs and rubs and a head vacation. Goodnight to her. Down basement. Email, guitar and completing the day.
In at the office, more bug thwacking. Though the day was on the short side, managed to wrap up the "lazing file closing" fix from yesterday, fix a new deadlock that I came across, and a file naming issue. Talked to my mom and confirmed a place to stay on Friday night. TG wrote me an email saying he could do a lesson on Sat. A plan materializes. The office smelled of burning cow flesh, thanks to the new Mexican place on the first floor. Yuck. Mk gave me a DVD that his wife made: stop motion done in iMovie of an Elephant in Rome.
At Third Life around 8, the other class had run a little over. Two people, a couple. Fun working with them. Afterwards, talked to MB. Over to Wang's to pick up Chinese food. Back home, hanging with MB and eating a bit. Talking about ego gratification in the work-place. Upstairs and rubs and a head vacation. Goodnight to her. Down basement. Email, guitar and completing the day.
Hot Shower
Wednesday: Slept in a bit. Email. Burned a DVD for MB of her recent reading work. Gus. A real hot shower. Breakfast of two eggs and so on. Down basement for morning practices and drums. Also played a little guitar: I'm instituting the habit of having two guitar practices a day, morning and night, even if they are brief. I've noticed that a brief warm-up in the morning can make a big difference in my evening practice. Laundry. Headed out, doing a quick shopping trip, then dropping two DVDs in the mail (one to BA and one to MM). Swung back home to drop off the groceries.
In at the office, a brief day. Some consulting with Al about the SFE, and an interesting insight about the way files are held open. Did some work towards resolving that. Spoke with MB, who was up in Nashua, heading to dinner with her friends from work. At 7:30, headed down and met Shawn.
Over to Arlington, and a good rehearsal. EotN is coming along. Played acoustic, but at a bit higher volume tonight than usual. Gave Shawn a ride home, talking about real estate.
Back at my house, Indian food, and watching The Wire. Took out garbage. MB called again. Email. Now, down basement.
In at the office, a brief day. Some consulting with Al about the SFE, and an interesting insight about the way files are held open. Did some work towards resolving that. Spoke with MB, who was up in Nashua, heading to dinner with her friends from work. At 7:30, headed down and met Shawn.
Over to Arlington, and a good rehearsal. EotN is coming along. Played acoustic, but at a bit higher volume tonight than usual. Gave Shawn a ride home, talking about real estate.
Back at my house, Indian food, and watching The Wire. Took out garbage. MB called again. Email. Now, down basement.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
MB in Nashua
Tuesday: MB headed out early. She tried to have a conversation with me, but I was still too much in my sleep to respond. I slept in, much needed. Up around 11. Cold house. Gave Gus some treatments. Put on hot water. Around noon I called the heating repair company, and they said they would arrive within the hour. Sitting in the dance room. Met the fellow from the heating company, and got him situated to work. He seemed to isolate the problem, and headed out for a part.
Had a sponge bath, with some very hot water. Printed out some course materials. The heating repair fellow called and said everything was working again. Cut him a check. Breakfast of eggs, coffee and soy sausage.
Headed off to work. Mellow day, continuing to work on the "smoothing ripple effects of editing" project. Decided not to go to yoga, since I'd gotten in late, and I was actually getting some work done. Burrito from the new place, served by an over-eager youngster. Got a call from Richard, and simultaneously a call from MB (what are the chances?) Richard was expressing appreciation for the DVD project, and MB was checking in, since she's staying up in Nashua tonight. Worked until 10 or so.
Back home, stopping to get gas. It turned a bit colder outside. Veggie burger. Watched an episode of The Wire. More treatments for Gus. Now down basement for guitar and completing the day.
Had a sponge bath, with some very hot water. Printed out some course materials. The heating repair fellow called and said everything was working again. Cut him a check. Breakfast of eggs, coffee and soy sausage.
Headed off to work. Mellow day, continuing to work on the "smoothing ripple effects of editing" project. Decided not to go to yoga, since I'd gotten in late, and I was actually getting some work done. Burrito from the new place, served by an over-eager youngster. Got a call from Richard, and simultaneously a call from MB (what are the chances?) Richard was expressing appreciation for the DVD project, and MB was checking in, since she's staying up in Nashua tonight. Worked until 10 or so.
Back home, stopping to get gas. It turned a bit colder outside. Veggie burger. Watched an episode of The Wire. More treatments for Gus. Now down basement for guitar and completing the day.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Furnace on the fritz
Monday: Woke around 8:30, feeling groggy from lack of sleep. NPR. Up, and was going to shower, but the water was cold. Noticed no heat from the radiators. The furnace was not working. Sponge bath. Gus. Down basement. Morning practices and very brief drums. Called heating people to see about getting the furnace fixed. Paid a parking ticket from Berkeley CA. Headed out.
Drove into Boston and found parking. Arrived at the dentist's office on time at 10:30. Cleaning, uneventful. Picked up a bagel-egg sandwich (whole-wheat everything) and a coffee on the way back to my car. Ate. Noticed I'd left my scarf at the dentist's office. Happy to have a reason to walk around, as the day was mild and sunny.
In to work. The new burrito place was open with people staging a mock demonstration in front to promote. Went over bug list. Walked out and got a coffee and picked up a couple of gifts. Around 3:20 the heating people called. Back home to meet them. P took a look, but didn't have the right diagnostic equipment. He headed off to try to pick something up. I spent some time contemplating my wall "display" and reading some from my old favorite GEB. As I was heading out to pick up something at the vet's, P called to say he couldn't come back today. In for a chilly night. Back home briefly to fully lock-up, then back off to the vets. Pet Tinic for Gus. Then back to the office. Spent the last half of the day working on my non-glitching project. At 8:10 PM headed out.
Union Square, met MB as she walked towards the India Palace. We had a nice dinner accompanied by Indian Music Video. I find the extra visual stimulation irksome. Avoiding TV in the US is difficult. The waitress seemed enthusisatic about the videos.
Back home to our chilly house. Luckily its not so cold tonight. Fired up the oven. The DVD project has just hit its next milestone, and a long email on that topic.
Drove into Boston and found parking. Arrived at the dentist's office on time at 10:30. Cleaning, uneventful. Picked up a bagel-egg sandwich (whole-wheat everything) and a coffee on the way back to my car. Ate. Noticed I'd left my scarf at the dentist's office. Happy to have a reason to walk around, as the day was mild and sunny.
In to work. The new burrito place was open with people staging a mock demonstration in front to promote. Went over bug list. Walked out and got a coffee and picked up a couple of gifts. Around 3:20 the heating people called. Back home to meet them. P took a look, but didn't have the right diagnostic equipment. He headed off to try to pick something up. I spent some time contemplating my wall "display" and reading some from my old favorite GEB. As I was heading out to pick up something at the vet's, P called to say he couldn't come back today. In for a chilly night. Back home briefly to fully lock-up, then back off to the vets. Pet Tinic for Gus. Then back to the office. Spent the last half of the day working on my non-glitching project. At 8:10 PM headed out.
Union Square, met MB as she walked towards the India Palace. We had a nice dinner accompanied by Indian Music Video. I find the extra visual stimulation irksome. Avoiding TV in the US is difficult. The waitress seemed enthusisatic about the videos.
Back home to our chilly house. Luckily its not so cold tonight. Fired up the oven. The DVD project has just hit its next milestone, and a long email on that topic.
GCNE at OCBC
Sunday: Up early, around 6:30. MB asked "where are you going?" "To the bathroom?" hoping that would suffice. Shower. I made breakfast while she had her sitting. Then we ate: coffee, eggs, toast. Down basement for brief morning practices. We headed off to OCBC at about 8:20.
Arrived just moments before Martin. Good timing. Gear set up (including the large speakers). Victor and Dev arrive, followed by David. Irv asked if we could sight read hymns, as the organist's car broke down. Nope. Some warming up. We played Growing Circle and Invention 1 as people entered. Passage while the money came in. Third Relation at the end. Quite lot of sitting in between, during which time we, strangely, had a refresher on the plot of "About Schmidt." Loading out. The Martin clan and the Hughes clan met in South Boston, and transported the PA, via freight elevator, to Jane's studio. Jane just had surgery, and Victor needed to go be with.
Back home, and a spontaneous nap. MB and I woke around 3:45. Lunch of lentil soup, leftover pizza, salad and a veggie burger. Called mom, who had gotten back from a trip to Florida. The trip back was a little stressful, as flights were being delayed due to bad weather. Put the registration sticker on my car. Down basement while MB did some audio recording. Some more cleaning up after the (small) flood on Friday. Began a project by putting up a large piece of paper on the wall.
Later, upstairs and hanging with MB, while she made cookies. Decided to drive and and see Zodiac while MB did more recording. Thumbs up. Back home, a microwaved burrito. Soon to complete the day.
Arrived just moments before Martin. Good timing. Gear set up (including the large speakers). Victor and Dev arrive, followed by David. Irv asked if we could sight read hymns, as the organist's car broke down. Nope. Some warming up. We played Growing Circle and Invention 1 as people entered. Passage while the money came in. Third Relation at the end. Quite lot of sitting in between, during which time we, strangely, had a refresher on the plot of "About Schmidt." Loading out. The Martin clan and the Hughes clan met in South Boston, and transported the PA, via freight elevator, to Jane's studio. Jane just had surgery, and Victor needed to go be with.
Back home, and a spontaneous nap. MB and I woke around 3:45. Lunch of lentil soup, leftover pizza, salad and a veggie burger. Called mom, who had gotten back from a trip to Florida. The trip back was a little stressful, as flights were being delayed due to bad weather. Put the registration sticker on my car. Down basement while MB did some audio recording. Some more cleaning up after the (small) flood on Friday. Began a project by putting up a large piece of paper on the wall.
Later, upstairs and hanging with MB, while she made cookies. Decided to drive and and see Zodiac while MB did more recording. Thumbs up. Back home, a microwaved burrito. Soon to complete the day.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Early circle meeting
Saturday: Woke around 9 AM. An alarm had gone off at 8, but I'd ignored it. MB on the phone: We were having circle meeting and might need to pick up David. Threw on clothes. Drank a soda. Down basement and brief morning practices. Called David and asked if he needed a ride. It turned out yes. Some water in the basement, so I moved some stuff in case it got worse, and did a little wet-vacing.
Headed off to pick up David around 9:35. The roads weren't so bad. He wasn't able to get his car out, as it was at the end of his drive, which was all snowed in. Stopped at a donut shop for coffee and some food. Arrived at Jane's studio around 10:30. I buzzed some random buttons and got someone to let us into the building. Up to the fifth floor with Martin (who'd arrived before everyone) MB David and myself. 16 bar exercise. Third Relation. First primary. Victor showed up, and we had a rehearsal. "Passage" is not as together as one would hope, but Eye of the Needle was sounding pretty good. Afterwards, loaded the speakers and such into the freight elevator, and then off-loaded them into Martin's car. David got a ride home with Martin. MB dropped me back at the house before heading to her language class.
Leftover Chinese food. I gave Gus his treatments and watched an episode of Six Feet Under. Then took a look at my guitar. The truss rod needed adjusting, which explained why I had been needing to set my action high to avoid buzzing on the high frets. Played some, a new piece beginning to form. MB returned home. We hung out a bit. She ate a PB&J. Coffee.
I did some shoveling out along the side of the house while MB got ready for her evening belly-dance gig. I was hoping to avoid more water coming into the cellar. As she was heading out, I walked out also to pick up pizza and salad. At this while watching another Six Feet Under. Walked the DVD back to the store. The new neighbors two doors down have disemboweled their basement, large trash bags and refuse in the yard. Back at home, cleaning in the basement. Now completing the day.
Headed off to pick up David around 9:35. The roads weren't so bad. He wasn't able to get his car out, as it was at the end of his drive, which was all snowed in. Stopped at a donut shop for coffee and some food. Arrived at Jane's studio around 10:30. I buzzed some random buttons and got someone to let us into the building. Up to the fifth floor with Martin (who'd arrived before everyone) MB David and myself. 16 bar exercise. Third Relation. First primary. Victor showed up, and we had a rehearsal. "Passage" is not as together as one would hope, but Eye of the Needle was sounding pretty good. Afterwards, loaded the speakers and such into the freight elevator, and then off-loaded them into Martin's car. David got a ride home with Martin. MB dropped me back at the house before heading to her language class.
Leftover Chinese food. I gave Gus his treatments and watched an episode of Six Feet Under. Then took a look at my guitar. The truss rod needed adjusting, which explained why I had been needing to set my action high to avoid buzzing on the high frets. Played some, a new piece beginning to form. MB returned home. We hung out a bit. She ate a PB&J. Coffee.
I did some shoveling out along the side of the house while MB got ready for her evening belly-dance gig. I was hoping to avoid more water coming into the cellar. As she was heading out, I walked out also to pick up pizza and salad. At this while watching another Six Feet Under. Walked the DVD back to the store. The new neighbors two doors down have disemboweled their basement, large trash bags and refuse in the yard. Back at home, cleaning in the basement. Now completing the day.
Snow
Friday: Slept in a bit. Nice morning. Email, Gus, Shower. Walked out to the store (snowing). Slipped past the junkie-lookin-dude with the large gauze bandage on his face, and bought a dozen eggs and some milk. Back home and had a nice breakfast. Down basement, morning practices and drums. Raised my temperature a couple of degrees on the kit today. Drumming can be quite therapeutic.
Shoveling. Then headed to work. Slow going today, snow falling. Picked up keys from OCBC. Then to work. A mellow day, reading more about connectivity. Research on my "anti-blemish" project. Consulting with Dv. Al was not in the office today. Headed home around 8. My 10 minute commute took almost a half hour, slowly crawling through the snowy streets.
Back home, swapped the cars around. Shoveling. Hanging out with MB. Victor called and we had a nice conversation about the Circulation project. Leftover Chinese food with MB, and talking about how things that seem permanent can be gone in a flash. Instant chocolate pudding. More Shoveling. Down basement. IMing with Shawn, trading youtube links. Now, completing the day.
Shoveling. Then headed to work. Slow going today, snow falling. Picked up keys from OCBC. Then to work. A mellow day, reading more about connectivity. Research on my "anti-blemish" project. Consulting with Dv. Al was not in the office today. Headed home around 8. My 10 minute commute took almost a half hour, slowly crawling through the snowy streets.
Back home, swapped the cars around. Shoveling. Hanging out with MB. Victor called and we had a nice conversation about the Circulation project. Leftover Chinese food with MB, and talking about how things that seem permanent can be gone in a flash. Instant chocolate pudding. More Shoveling. Down basement. IMing with Shawn, trading youtube links. Now, completing the day.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Something Forgotten
Thursday: Slept in a bit, much needed. Woke with Gus on my chest, and the feeling that I'd forgotten something important. Email. Gus. Shower. A sitting in the dance room. Breakfast (waffles, soy sausage, yogurt, coffee). Down basement and morning practices and drums. Did some tidying.
In at the office, some consulting with Dv about an assert, that proved to be harmless. Fixed a bug. Did some research on a connectivity technology, and got some examples building and running. Headed out at 7:25.
Over at Union Sq, 4 participants tonight. One person had done some similar work, but seemed a little put off by some of the exercises. Sometimes experience can be a hindrance. But, it felt like a good evening. Talked to MB. Picked up some Chinese food. Home and eating, then watching Six Feet Under. Down basement, email, guitar and completing the day.
In at the office, some consulting with Dv about an assert, that proved to be harmless. Fixed a bug. Did some research on a connectivity technology, and got some examples building and running. Headed out at 7:25.
Over at Union Sq, 4 participants tonight. One person had done some similar work, but seemed a little put off by some of the exercises. Sometimes experience can be a hindrance. But, it felt like a good evening. Talked to MB. Picked up some Chinese food. Home and eating, then watching Six Feet Under. Down basement, email, guitar and completing the day.
Lovely Rita Tax Prep Maid
Thursday: Woke at 8, which seemed like a cruel time, given I'd only gotten to bed around 5:30 AM. Up with MB, shower, Gus. Down basement for a sitting. MB and I headed out around 9:35.
Stopped at the donut shop for coffee and egg sandwiches. I was feeling pretty flat and out of it. At the tax preparer, we got the same woman (Rita) as last year. She's very efficient, in a Japanese sort of way. There was a crazy lady that came in that was taking a poll about some business idea she's developing, offering fresh baked bread as a bribe, treating an amended return like it was a federal emergency, confounded by her ringing cell-phone, and so on. Another guy, when asked what sort of tax documents he had brought, seemed completely flumuxed and stammered "No one has ever asked me anything like that before!" It was a little bit like a real-world "Confederacy of Dunces."
Afterwards, back home. Some drums in the basement. A nap was aborted by the loud central vacuum cleaner, wielded by our monthly housekeeping ninja team. Packed the car with the electric rig and headed out.
Didn't get much done at work today, but had a couple of good conversations with B about future development. Did figure out a glitch was caused not on the scribe side, but on the unspooling side, caused by ripple effects of analysis. Burrito. Mk was talking about the new chain restaurant that is going in on the first floor. Unfortunate. Left at 7:25.
With Shawn over to Arlington. He told me a story about a friend of his who is quite overweight, and has suffered a shocking series of medical results following on from this. A very good rehearsal, running all our material, in our electric configuration. Some work on Eye of the Needle, which is coming along.
Gave Shawn a ride back home. Stopped briefly at the Somerville Castle. Back at the ranch, hanging with MB, eating some home-made pizza and red-pepper soup. Down basement, email, and now completing the day.
Stopped at the donut shop for coffee and egg sandwiches. I was feeling pretty flat and out of it. At the tax preparer, we got the same woman (Rita) as last year. She's very efficient, in a Japanese sort of way. There was a crazy lady that came in that was taking a poll about some business idea she's developing, offering fresh baked bread as a bribe, treating an amended return like it was a federal emergency, confounded by her ringing cell-phone, and so on. Another guy, when asked what sort of tax documents he had brought, seemed completely flumuxed and stammered "No one has ever asked me anything like that before!" It was a little bit like a real-world "Confederacy of Dunces."
Afterwards, back home. Some drums in the basement. A nap was aborted by the loud central vacuum cleaner, wielded by our monthly housekeeping ninja team. Packed the car with the electric rig and headed out.
Didn't get much done at work today, but had a couple of good conversations with B about future development. Did figure out a glitch was caused not on the scribe side, but on the unspooling side, caused by ripple effects of analysis. Burrito. Mk was talking about the new chain restaurant that is going in on the first floor. Unfortunate. Left at 7:25.
With Shawn over to Arlington. He told me a story about a friend of his who is quite overweight, and has suffered a shocking series of medical results following on from this. A very good rehearsal, running all our material, in our electric configuration. Some work on Eye of the Needle, which is coming along.
Gave Shawn a ride back home. Stopped briefly at the Somerville Castle. Back at the ranch, hanging with MB, eating some home-made pizza and red-pepper soup. Down basement, email, and now completing the day.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
MB's GD Passes
Tuesday: Woke to the alarm at 9. Email. Gus. Shower. Sitting in the dance room. Downstairs for a quick bowl of cereal and coffee. Took Gus to the vet, for a routine check-up. A new young Asian woman saw him.
Back home, and down basement for some hanging out, drums, and a sort-of nap. Wrote another email to Victor trying to put my feelings into some sort of well defined form, without being too offensive. Off to work.
Didn't really get much done today. We're getting some reports of performance related problems, but I haven't been able to reproduce this at all. Al was rushing around acting freaked out, because of problems with his furnace at home. Had a nice conversation with Antoinette about the DVD. Talked to MB.
After work, headed down to see Wnd. Hit some traffic, but then it cleared out. We hung out for a bit, then got Indian take out, and watched an episode of "24" on the TiVo.
Driving back home, MB phoned with the news that her grandfather had passed away. He was 96 and in declining health, so it was not really a big surprise, but, still quite sad. He was a sparkly, cantankerous old gentleman, and he will be missed.
Back home, and lending comfort as best I could to MB. Coffee and treats. Worked on assembling more tax information (going through accumulated papers, making an accounting of class participants, and so on). Goodnight to MB. Gave Gus his antibiotics. Now completing the day.
Back home, and down basement for some hanging out, drums, and a sort-of nap. Wrote another email to Victor trying to put my feelings into some sort of well defined form, without being too offensive. Off to work.
Didn't really get much done today. We're getting some reports of performance related problems, but I haven't been able to reproduce this at all. Al was rushing around acting freaked out, because of problems with his furnace at home. Had a nice conversation with Antoinette about the DVD. Talked to MB.
After work, headed down to see Wnd. Hit some traffic, but then it cleared out. We hung out for a bit, then got Indian take out, and watched an episode of "24" on the TiVo.
Driving back home, MB phoned with the news that her grandfather had passed away. He was 96 and in declining health, so it was not really a big surprise, but, still quite sad. He was a sparkly, cantankerous old gentleman, and he will be missed.
Back home, and lending comfort as best I could to MB. Coffee and treats. Worked on assembling more tax information (going through accumulated papers, making an accounting of class participants, and so on). Goodnight to MB. Gave Gus his antibiotics. Now completing the day.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Not the facilitator
Monday: Lazed in bed, feeling a bit wiped, but also strangely good. I ignored the phone both times it rang. Email. Gus. Shower. Had a couple eggs for breakfast. Although one was cracked, it hadn't spoiled. Fed the Gus-look-alike. Down basement, morning practices and drums. Email. Decided to resign as facilitator for the Royalston course. A theme lately is: PRUNE. Did some tidying.
Headed off to work. Stopped and picked up some dry cleaning. In at the office, didn't do a whole lot today. Continued tracking some performance issues, but nothing major jumped out. Converted something that had been saving as plain ASCII to save as HTML.
Back home, MB has a cold. A little food, hanging out, and reading a pretty dire Rolling Stone article about the possible outcomes in Iraq. Email. Pulling tax documents together.
Headed off to work. Stopped and picked up some dry cleaning. In at the office, didn't do a whole lot today. Continued tracking some performance issues, but nothing major jumped out. Converted something that had been saving as plain ASCII to save as HTML.
Back home, MB has a cold. A little food, hanging out, and reading a pretty dire Rolling Stone article about the possible outcomes in Iraq. Email. Pulling tax documents together.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Inspiration
Sunday: Slept in, after being up late, and the (early this year) day-light-savings time-change. MB was off to an all-day BD gig at Spring-Step. Listening to "This American Life" just enjoying being in bed. Email. Gus. Shower. Downstairs and made some French-toast sort of stuff from an egg and leftover bread. Coffee. Down basement and morning practices, followed by drums. Had an inspiration during sitting that I carried with me for the rest of the day. Played a little guitar. Did some tidying. Eventually took a walk around, up the hill to the Somerville overlook, the sun going down, and children and parents coming out for the view. Stopped at a little market/convenience store for some food. MB rang to say she was headed home. Picked her up some pizza also. Back home, a little hanging out. She'd gotten me a "brain erasing" fudge-bar/brownie. Then, getting ready for circle. Headed off in separate cars around 7:15.
Circle meeting at Jane's studio. MB had trouble getting in the door for some reason. Invention 1, several times. "Passage" (Victor's circulation). Third Relation. Dev arrived. More work on Third Relation. MB headed out to another BD gig. Growing Circle.
Saw a lot of police activity on my drive home. Veggie burger, leftover soup, and the last of the "mind eraser." Down basement and email. I hear MB taking a shower upstairs, and now, completing the day.
Adrift
Saturday: Woke as MB was coming back in from some dance practice at Third Life. She'd bought us scones. Gus, shower. Downstairs and also made some eggs and coffee. Talking about careers. Some friction.
Down basement, morning practices and drums. When I looked out, MB had left for language class. Coffee and left-over scones. Feeling a bit adrift. Still head-coldish. Some little work on the DVD. Changed strings on my guitar.
Later on, checked in with MB. We decided to go try a new Italian place. It was a hole-in-the-wall, at the back of a deli. They said there was an hour wait. Decided to leave. Tried the other small Italian place in Somerville, with similar results. Over to a larger place in Medford, where we finally found a table. A nice meal, though the environment was a bit crazy, with kids throwing paper airplanes and so on. After dinner, we walked over to the shopping mall to the little Italian cafe there, for cappuccino and treats.
Back home and watched some silent short films on DVD. Down basement and guitar practice. Soon completing the day.
Down basement, morning practices and drums. When I looked out, MB had left for language class. Coffee and left-over scones. Feeling a bit adrift. Still head-coldish. Some little work on the DVD. Changed strings on my guitar.
Later on, checked in with MB. We decided to go try a new Italian place. It was a hole-in-the-wall, at the back of a deli. They said there was an hour wait. Decided to leave. Tried the other small Italian place in Somerville, with similar results. Over to a larger place in Medford, where we finally found a table. A nice meal, though the environment was a bit crazy, with kids throwing paper airplanes and so on. After dinner, we walked over to the shopping mall to the little Italian cafe there, for cappuccino and treats.
Back home and watched some silent short films on DVD. Down basement and guitar practice. Soon completing the day.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
DVD Off to R&A
Friday: Up around 11 again. A pattern has emerged. Too bad, because I had a nice early morning habit coming off my trip. Email. Gus. Shower. Head cold still there, but more of a nuisance than anything at this point. A couple of eggs for breakfast. Coffee. Watched my DVD work from last night, and with a few minor tweaks, I think I'm done. Down basement, morning practices. Drums.
Headed out. Sunny and not quite as cold today. Stopped at the video store and dropped off. Put the newly minted DVD in the mail to R&A. Across town to work.
Al had figured out the bug I was on the track of last night. I spent the day looking over the bug list, and looking into a problem that crops up with particular (unfortunately quite common) hardware. The perennial "let's stop right away" problem. Consulting with Dv, who had a funny ski-mask sunburn. Headed home around 10:30.
Back at the ranch, MB was out at the I-Cafe. Veggie burger and soup for dinner. Down basement and tweaking the DVD project. Now, some guitar and completing the day.
Headed out. Sunny and not quite as cold today. Stopped at the video store and dropped off. Put the newly minted DVD in the mail to R&A. Across town to work.
Al had figured out the bug I was on the track of last night. I spent the day looking over the bug list, and looking into a problem that crops up with particular (unfortunately quite common) hardware. The perennial "let's stop right away" problem. Consulting with Dv, who had a funny ski-mask sunburn. Headed home around 10:30.
Back at the ranch, MB was out at the I-Cafe. Veggie burger and soup for dinner. Down basement and tweaking the DVD project. Now, some guitar and completing the day.
Friday, March 09, 2007
DVD Menus
Thursday: Woke at 11, feeling better, but still runny nose. Email. Gus. Put on some hot water. Shower. Made a French Toast like thing for breakfast. Coffee. Brought in recycling bin. Down basement, morning practices, and drums (raised the stool a bit). Spent quite some time working on the menuing system for the DVD. Put away clothes. Headed out. Quite cold, and sunny.
Stopped at video store, then bought head-cold medicine. Dropped some letters in the mail. At a stop sign, with three cars ahead of me, the woman behind me began blowing her horn at me. I looked in the mirror as if to say "What do you want me to do?" and she nodded, and blew her horn again. OK!
Didn't get much done today. Rebuilt the program several times. RPT made some conversation with me in the men's room. Determined that a bug that had been assigned to me was probably not my business.
Over at Third Life, one participant. An interesting session, just letting things come to me. Back home, and ate the leftover Chinese food, and some soup. Tea. Down basement and a call to my friend Chrn. She's doing well, and her big project is about to go out the door. Text messaging with Shawn. Upstairs and hello to MB, who told me about her second BD gig at the place that looks like a ship. The owner did a funny impersonation of a bellydancer. Brushed Gus' teeth with mouthwash. Watched an episode of Six Feet Under, with MB for part. Down basement. Lots more work on the DVD menus. Close to being respectable. Completing the day.
Stopped at video store, then bought head-cold medicine. Dropped some letters in the mail. At a stop sign, with three cars ahead of me, the woman behind me began blowing her horn at me. I looked in the mirror as if to say "What do you want me to do?" and she nodded, and blew her horn again. OK!
Didn't get much done today. Rebuilt the program several times. RPT made some conversation with me in the men's room. Determined that a bug that had been assigned to me was probably not my business.
Over at Third Life, one participant. An interesting session, just letting things come to me. Back home, and ate the leftover Chinese food, and some soup. Tea. Down basement and a call to my friend Chrn. She's doing well, and her big project is about to go out the door. Text messaging with Shawn. Upstairs and hello to MB, who told me about her second BD gig at the place that looks like a ship. The owner did a funny impersonation of a bellydancer. Brushed Gus' teeth with mouthwash. Watched an episode of Six Feet Under, with MB for part. Down basement. Lots more work on the DVD menus. Close to being respectable. Completing the day.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Being baby-sat
Wednesday: MB had some questions about the thermostat which I perhaps didn't answer as nicely as I might. Woke around 11 again. Head cold. Email. Back to bed. Feeling a bit better, up, Gus, Shower. Fed the Gus-doppleganger in the back yard. And Gus. Two eggs, coffee. Down basement. Set some video encoding with the new software. The phone rang right at the end of my practice, giving me a startle. John Kerry's organization. I hate the phone. Drums.
Upstairs, did some paper-purging/organizing. Two sayings of my father keep coming to mind these days: People are no damn good & Ninety percent of everything is crap. Actually, I think those were my grandfather's nuggets, and my dad just passed them on.
Packed the car and headed off to work. Sunny and quite cold. More work on the copy protection problem. It turned out there was additional bug, which was rather interesting. Discovered something new about C++: you can test if an exception is in the process of being thrown. It felt like B was baby-sitting me a bit. Hrumph. I let it go. Decided to not have rehearsal tonight, as the head cold was still blooming. The fire alarm went off, so I decided to leave for the night, as I was about to leave anyway.
Back home, MB's belly-dance student had not arrived. I phoned ahead for Chinese food from Wang's, then went and picked it up. Stopped at the video store, and picked up The Illusionist, and a Six Feet Under disc. Back home, and Chinese food with MB. (Her student never showed). Made a call to my friend Chn, but it wasn't a good time for her, so we rescheduled for tomorrow. Watched The Illusionist. Fun, but pretty obvious. Some hanging with MB. Down basement, playing with the more sophisticated DVD authoring software. Now completing the day.
Upstairs, did some paper-purging/organizing. Two sayings of my father keep coming to mind these days: People are no damn good & Ninety percent of everything is crap. Actually, I think those were my grandfather's nuggets, and my dad just passed them on.
Packed the car and headed off to work. Sunny and quite cold. More work on the copy protection problem. It turned out there was additional bug, which was rather interesting. Discovered something new about C++: you can test if an exception is in the process of being thrown. It felt like B was baby-sitting me a bit. Hrumph. I let it go. Decided to not have rehearsal tonight, as the head cold was still blooming. The fire alarm went off, so I decided to leave for the night, as I was about to leave anyway.
Back home, MB's belly-dance student had not arrived. I phoned ahead for Chinese food from Wang's, then went and picked it up. Stopped at the video store, and picked up The Illusionist, and a Six Feet Under disc. Back home, and Chinese food with MB. (Her student never showed). Made a call to my friend Chn, but it wasn't a good time for her, so we rescheduled for tomorrow. Watched The Illusionist. Fun, but pretty obvious. Some hanging with MB. Down basement, playing with the more sophisticated DVD authoring software. Now completing the day.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Scooter
Tuesday: Gus pokes, so out of the room. Woke around 11. Email. Listened to some analysis of the "Scooter Libby" verdict on NPR. Gus. Shower. Laundry. Two Eggs and coffee. Put the dishes away. Down basement, and had my first "traditional" morning since the flood last Friday, morning practices and drums. Did some further tidying. Headed out. Cold and clear, with a strong wind.
At the office, it seemed like B was not at his desk much today. A couple of long conversations with Al. It's nice when you can disagree without being disagreeable Very close to a beta. Short day. Headed out at 6:30.
Yoga, for the first time in awhile. Several new people, so Wendy kept it a little simple, but fairly strenuous. I could tell I haven't been in awhile. Good to see the regulars, and be in the KKC space.
Back home, some food, then down basement. Had a call at 10 PM (which I was 24 hours early for yesterday), with my class-mates. Then back upstairs and hello to MB, who was making lunches. Some hanging out. She made $225 at her BD class tonight! Reading Final Cut Pro manuals. Good gravy, so complicated. IM with Shawn. Now some guitar and completing the day.
At the office, it seemed like B was not at his desk much today. A couple of long conversations with Al. It's nice when you can disagree without being disagreeable Very close to a beta. Short day. Headed out at 6:30.
Yoga, for the first time in awhile. Several new people, so Wendy kept it a little simple, but fairly strenuous. I could tell I haven't been in awhile. Good to see the regulars, and be in the KKC space.
Back home, some food, then down basement. Had a call at 10 PM (which I was 24 hours early for yesterday), with my class-mates. Then back upstairs and hello to MB, who was making lunches. Some hanging out. She made $225 at her BD class tonight! Reading Final Cut Pro manuals. Good gravy, so complicated. IM with Shawn. Now some guitar and completing the day.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
24 Hours Early
Monday: Woke around 10:30, and realized I had a call at 11. Up and ate some cereal with re-heated coffee. Down basement, and had my call. Reconnecting with a student that had fallen off the map for a bit. Drums, morning practices. Some tidying. Back upstairs, paying bills. Shower.
Headed out. Paid my excise tax at city all. Drove to the vets and picked up saline solution for Gus. A couple of pieces of pizza from a place in Davis Square, which I ate in my car. Snowing lightly, sun shining.
In at work, interesting results in the vari-speed profiling: All the time was going into text operations and file specification manipulations. Crazy. Looked into some asserts, but couldn't reproduce. R and B spent quite a long time doing some tech support sort of thing for R. Worked until 9:30ish.
Called my old friend Zooter on the drive home. Good to hear his voice. He's the friend I've had longest in this world. I believe I met him in second grade.
Realized I was 24 hours early for another call. Upstairs and hanging out with MB in the kitchen. She read me a bit of "Nature Girl" while I had some food. Guitar, first with the two of us, and then on my own. Email. Now to complete the day.
Headed out. Paid my excise tax at city all. Drove to the vets and picked up saline solution for Gus. A couple of pieces of pizza from a place in Davis Square, which I ate in my car. Snowing lightly, sun shining.
In at work, interesting results in the vari-speed profiling: All the time was going into text operations and file specification manipulations. Crazy. Looked into some asserts, but couldn't reproduce. R and B spent quite a long time doing some tech support sort of thing for R. Worked until 9:30ish.
Called my old friend Zooter on the drive home. Good to hear his voice. He's the friend I've had longest in this world. I believe I met him in second grade.
Realized I was 24 hours early for another call. Upstairs and hanging out with MB in the kitchen. She read me a bit of "Nature Girl" while I had some food. Guitar, first with the two of us, and then on my own. Email. Now to complete the day.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Cleaning in the basement
Sunday: MB woke early to go play the Moving Force with Victor at a church. "I need help!" she said. Up and navigating via maps.google. She headed out. Phone ringing. Not answered. Trouble getting back to sleep. She returned around 1. I made us some breakfast (scrambled eggs with olives mushrooms cheese and dill). She had a lie-down upstairs. Sitting in the still-pulled-apart basement. A bit of straightening. MB headed off to the i-Cafe around 3. Some guitar. Took a walk out, my feet leading me to the video store. Almost rented Tideland, but thought better of it. Walked back home. Down basement for a spell, and some important emailing. MB returned home. We had some burritos for dinner, with refried beans, mushrooms olives cheese and salsa. After this, I went back down basement and began the last leg of cleaning after the flood. Quite a bit of work. Mostly done now.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Coughing Man
Saturday: Slept in a bit. MB got up to do her sitting. Down to the somewhat pulled apart basement for a brief morning session. Walked out to pick up eggs and a few other essentials.
At the corner convenience store, I had picked out a few items, when a disheveled looking man came in. He knew the cashier and one of the other patrons. He said: "I can't believe how sick I am (cough cough cough) I could barely (cough) make it up the stairs (cough). I must have caught something from the foreigners when I was getting off the bus. They're not vaccinated or nothing. (cough cough cough)." I edged toward the back of the store, hoping he would leave, pretending to make other selections. He continued his discussion about how sick he was, how they had given him pills at the hospital, and various ways of stopping smoking, while coughing more, standing right at the register. I put back my selections, took a deep breath, and walked, with rapidity, out the door... And I had just been thinking how I felt at home in this trashy little part of the universe. When to the larger grocery store.
MB was working on languages when I got home. Made us some breakfast. Played guitar. MB headed off to her language class. Watched an instructional guitar DVD, and did some work on C symmetric scale. Some email work, and more tidying in the basement. MB returned. We practiced guitar together, she wanting to prepare for her performance with Victor tomorrow. A cheese sandwich. MB did some audio recording, and I spent an hour and a half cleaning in the basement, moping behind things, and so on. An opportunity to delve into corners not visited for some time. Came up for air. MB was getting ready for a BD performance.
Drove out, stopping at the grocery store for toilet paper. Returned the sump pump I'd bought at Home Depot. In to work, and unraveled the mystery of the encrypted add-on. Headed home around 1 AM. MB was in bed. Down basement, and some more tidying. Now, completing the day.
At the corner convenience store, I had picked out a few items, when a disheveled looking man came in. He knew the cashier and one of the other patrons. He said: "I can't believe how sick I am (cough cough cough) I could barely (cough) make it up the stairs (cough). I must have caught something from the foreigners when I was getting off the bus. They're not vaccinated or nothing. (cough cough cough)." I edged toward the back of the store, hoping he would leave, pretending to make other selections. He continued his discussion about how sick he was, how they had given him pills at the hospital, and various ways of stopping smoking, while coughing more, standing right at the register. I put back my selections, took a deep breath, and walked, with rapidity, out the door... And I had just been thinking how I felt at home in this trashy little part of the universe. When to the larger grocery store.
MB was working on languages when I got home. Made us some breakfast. Played guitar. MB headed off to her language class. Watched an instructional guitar DVD, and did some work on C symmetric scale. Some email work, and more tidying in the basement. MB returned. We practiced guitar together, she wanting to prepare for her performance with Victor tomorrow. A cheese sandwich. MB did some audio recording, and I spent an hour and a half cleaning in the basement, moping behind things, and so on. An opportunity to delve into corners not visited for some time. Came up for air. MB was getting ready for a BD performance.
Drove out, stopping at the grocery store for toilet paper. Returned the sump pump I'd bought at Home Depot. In to work, and unraveled the mystery of the encrypted add-on. Headed home around 1 AM. MB was in bed. Down basement, and some more tidying. Now, completing the day.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Water in the basement
Friday: Woke feeling pretty good. EMail, Gus, Shower. Downstairs. Decided some coffee would be worth waiting for water to boil. Breakfast (last two eggs in the dozen). Down basement, and stepping off the last stair, into about two inches of water. Surveying, there was water covering almost the entire floor. Pulled up rugs and such. Meditation cushion got a little wet. The bottom of my Parker guitar case got damp, but the guitar was fine. No great losses. Back upstairs and sitting in the dance room. Headed out, it still raining. Deposited my pay at the bank, with a real live teller. Filled the gas tank, my "Distance To Empty" reading at 8 miles. To Home Depot. There was a run on wet-vacs and sump pumps, so, they were easy to find. The woman at the cash register said that days like these she was glad that she rented. Back home, and the water had already receded considerably. What flows in also flows out. Did some wet-vacuuming. Headed off to work.
Worked on my vari-speed stuff, writing a new debugging system that allowed two quite distant portions of the code-base to send messages through a single gate-keeper. With the help of this, I eventually found my bug. The fix was to move a "fBoolVar = true;" statement from one place to another. More mystery on the encrypted add-on front. Went out, MB gave me a call on her way to Lowell, eventually decided to get a burrito. Stayed until around 11.
Back home, down basement and more drying/cleaning. Took a shower. Practices in the basement, sitting on the futon.
Worked on my vari-speed stuff, writing a new debugging system that allowed two quite distant portions of the code-base to send messages through a single gate-keeper. With the help of this, I eventually found my bug. The fix was to move a "fBoolVar = true;" statement from one place to another. More mystery on the encrypted add-on front. Went out, MB gave me a call on her way to Lowell, eventually decided to get a burrito. Stayed until around 11.
Back home, down basement and more drying/cleaning. Took a shower. Practices in the basement, sitting on the futon.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Squawk 2
Thursday: MB, looking all gussied up, headed out early. Ridiculous dream involving over the top approval from a work-related-authority-figure. Email. Gus. Was going to put on water to boil, but realized I had left over coffee. Got MB's cell phone up and running (had to call the carrier). Shower. Had a nice breakfast of eggs. I've gotten to be quite speedy at frying two eggs, making toast, and so on. Down basement for mourning practices and drums. Loaded the car up. Headed off.
Stopped at the shopping center in Porter Square. Bought some distilled water for my guitar humidifier. Bought some "fast fret" stuff at the music store. In to work. Tying up some lose ends. Later working on the vari-speed stuff, which isn't performing as well as it needs to be.
Over to Union. No peoples. Tweaked the height of the E string, and used some "fast fret." Some guitar practice. Stopped back home and picked up the video camera, then over to Squawk. A couple, woman playing bongos, the man reading Beat poetry. MB already there, with a tale of dancing in a restaurant that looks like a ship on the outside. Shawn arrived. Soon, we went on. Third Relation, the World Blind, Hope, Thrak, "encore" of Branding Iron. MB danced. TR was a bit wobbly from my side. The rest was pretty robust. I miced Shawn's electric kick peddle. Good response. Then, a young singer with quite an amazing voice. A song about being Sun's Rays. A story about masturbation and literature (of course).
Looked for a place to get gas on the way home. The place that looked like it was open, wasn't. Back at the ranch, hanging with MB, who told me about more troubles with the CA adoption (do little corrections violate the terms of the process?) Soup and toast. Email. Now down basement.
Stopped at the shopping center in Porter Square. Bought some distilled water for my guitar humidifier. Bought some "fast fret" stuff at the music store. In to work. Tying up some lose ends. Later working on the vari-speed stuff, which isn't performing as well as it needs to be.
Over to Union. No peoples. Tweaked the height of the E string, and used some "fast fret." Some guitar practice. Stopped back home and picked up the video camera, then over to Squawk. A couple, woman playing bongos, the man reading Beat poetry. MB already there, with a tale of dancing in a restaurant that looks like a ship on the outside. Shawn arrived. Soon, we went on. Third Relation, the World Blind, Hope, Thrak, "encore" of Branding Iron. MB danced. TR was a bit wobbly from my side. The rest was pretty robust. I miced Shawn's electric kick peddle. Good response. Then, a young singer with quite an amazing voice. A song about being Sun's Rays. A story about masturbation and literature (of course).
Looked for a place to get gas on the way home. The place that looked like it was open, wasn't. Back at the ranch, hanging with MB, who told me about more troubles with the CA adoption (do little corrections violate the terms of the process?) Soup and toast. Email. Now down basement.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Three Home Invaders
Wednesday: Woke around 8 as MB headed out. (Last night during sitting, a rustling outside, then, the smell of skunk.) Up, waiting for the cable guy. Email. Gus. A knock at the door, and then someone's voice. I threw on a robe, to find a woman standing in the hall. She looked surprised, excused herself and left. Wrong house, I guess. Put on some water to boil. The abandoned black cat was on the back porch. I put some food out for him. (He ran away when the door opened, but when I looked out a minute later the food was all gone, with only smudge left on the deck.) Shower. Sitting in the dance room. The cable guy showed up. He didn't want to talk much, but I did manage to pry out of him that the signal to the modem was poor. He figured out that the problem was in the line from the pole. I left him to it, and went to make some breakfast (fried eggs, etc). The internet working again, my taciturn cable man drove away. Bought tickets to see the Dalai Lama in San Francisco (I did KKC a bit of a good turn by pointing out that they were available pre-sale to people in the loop.) Down basement for some morning practices and drums. Packed the car and headed out.
A sunny day. Drove the long way around to work. In the office, much wrangling about why the combination of our software with an add-on and another third party product, isn't working. Fixed some little bugs. Weird problems only on PPC... unfortunately building on PPC takes a long time. As does profiling. Some more little bug fixes. Burrito. Made a mix CD for Shawn. Met him out back at around 7:30.
Over to Arlington, and a short rehearsal, running through our proposed set twice. Gave him a lift back home, some uneasy quiet in the car. Back home, MB was just heading out to the Middle East. Her new cell phone arrived. Put out the garbage. Web surfing. Evening practices. She got in around half past midnight. A little hanging out, she telling me about the peculiarities of the belly dance world. Soon bed.
A sunny day. Drove the long way around to work. In the office, much wrangling about why the combination of our software with an add-on and another third party product, isn't working. Fixed some little bugs. Weird problems only on PPC... unfortunately building on PPC takes a long time. As does profiling. Some more little bug fixes. Burrito. Made a mix CD for Shawn. Met him out back at around 7:30.
Over to Arlington, and a short rehearsal, running through our proposed set twice. Gave him a lift back home, some uneasy quiet in the car. Back home, MB was just heading out to the Middle East. Her new cell phone arrived. Put out the garbage. Web surfing. Evening practices. She got in around half past midnight. A little hanging out, she telling me about the peculiarities of the belly dance world. Soon bed.
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