the version from hell

Friday: Was at work until 6 AM. The source code control system failed me miserably. I thought I had everything squared away, and then I discovered my build wouldn't run. Slunk home in defeat.

Arrived home just as MB was getting up to go to work. Scared her in the bathroom. She said goodbye, and after a brief sitting, I got some sleep.

Woke around noon. M was downstairs cleaning. Email and shower. Said hello to M and thanked her for not waking me. Down basement for exercise and morning practices. Realized M might be holding off on using the central vacuum system (which makes a lot of noise in the basement), so I told her to "let it rip." After my work, spent some time cleaning out my valise. Off to work.

Sort of an odd day. Dn checked his stuff in. There was talk amongst the staff of going out and drinking. I discovered that a particular feature which was shoved in at the last minute was the pet project of the director of R&D. It had not been asked for by users, and no one knows exactly why he thinks its such a good idea. It's good to be king, but I found myself pissed at the disparity in our degrees of creative control. Started a new build, but didn't get much done. Headed home around 9.

Back home, grilled the sandwich MB had packed for my lunch, and cooked some veggies in the microwave. MB and I watched the second half of the extended version of the Two Towers. Some of the added scenes really do add detail to the film, but some might have done better being left on the cutting room floor, perhaps. Some web surfing. Spent quite awhile fussing with the Bluetooth connection with my cell-phone. This is an example of a technology that in many respects is more trouble than its worth.

watching digital paint dry with one eye

Thursday: Woke around 9, having not gotten terribly much sleep. Dim memory of MB saying goodbye as she headed out. Up, and some email. Internet acting wonky. Shower. Breakfast, much the same as yesterday. Did a little research into the matter to which I had committed to yesterday. Began making the travel arrangements for the GC course in April. Down basement, and exercise and morning practice. The little bit of exercise that I've been doing each day is beginning to have a noticeable effect on how my body feels. Mailed off the town census, and headed to work.

Discussion with L and B, and we decided I'd fix a few bugs, then see where things stood. I did that, rapidly chewing through a half dozen anomalies. We decided I'd make a build with my fixes for L, then do my merge with the trunk. B ordered some pizza, and as we were standing around eating, two programmers got to talking about my feature and speculating about how to solve a difficult problem that I was not planning on addressing. Eventually I said something along the lines of "I just do this to get paid, but knock yourselves out." After giving L a build, and beginning the build of the result of my merge, I headed home.

Hung with MB. Downtime, talking about housework. Some coffee in the kitchen, then back to work. Took my guitar, knowing I'd have a lot of idle time on my hands.

At the office, my build had completed successfully. That was pretty amazing and unexpected. Began the process of putting my changes back on the trunk. This did not go as planned, and I had to begin from scratch several times. The VCS was letting me down, yet again. Some guitar. Getting groggy, but some some focus, made it through Invention 1 without error. Web surfing, while watching digital paint dry with one eye.

np open for b

Wednesday: Slept late. Some email, shower, quick breakfast of a more modest size than yesterday (one fried egg on toast, yogurt, juice and coffee). Played guitar, making it through Invention 1 again. Down basement for exercise and morning practices. Recommitted to an old project. Organized some papers.

In at work, a warm but gray sort of day. Went out for some food with B, Ch and Dn. Mostly talked about work, so, it was a working lunch. Figured out why my add-on development wasn't functioning. A solution came to mind, and I spent the rest of the evening implementing it. Talked with MB. Worked late, heading home around 3 AM.

everything fit

Tuesday: MB headed off in the early morning, and I continued sleeping until around 9. Stayed in bed a bit longer, then up, email, shower. Downstairs and had a quite lavish breakfast (eggs, soy sausages, bagel, yogurt, juice coffee). Down basement, and morning practices. Swapped the order to put exercise last, to give some time to digest. Back upstairs and cut the cat's claws, and brushed their teeth. And off to work.

A productive day in the office. Talked about my crash-while-linking problem with Eln. Consulting with Dv. Got Jn up and running with my engine build. Worked on a new throttling scheme. Didn't quite have the result I had hoped for. Began investigating why the user interface was not updating frequently enough. Headed home at 9:30.

Call with my workshop buds. Only two others were on the call, but it was good to chat. S and I talked about ride-sharing to the next event. Talked about a home renovation fiasco with Mk.

Spent a little time with MB, then guitar. Made it through Invention 1, with only one mistake. MB headed to bed. Some snuggles, then me back downstairs. Ate some steamed buns that Wnd gave me for my birthday (and kept frozen) with a variety of odd condiments. My favorite was the Indian spicy tomato chutney. Watched a bit more of the Two Towers. Email. Soon bed.

late day

Monday: MB gave me a shove when her alarm went off. No, her alarm clock does not sound like snoring. I moved fitfully in and out of sleep until around 11. Up and shower, then over to KKC to fill water bowls. Said hello to Tsunma-la, who was cooking. She apologized for her 'stinky food,' but I said a stinky house is a vibrant house. I later asked her about Asafoetida, but she had no interest in a garlic substitute. Back home, feeling rather strange. Almost called in sick. Down basement and afternoon practices, in a different order, thinking I might take a nap. But, made it through. The physical exercise was very good for me today, providing a grounding that I was in need of. Paid bills. The cost of mailing a letter has gone up to 39 cents. Headed to work, stopping to fill the car's tank.

At the office, investigated why MetroWerks is crashing when I try to link an add-on. No luck in this. The cluster-merge has been put-off again. Moved on to fixing a bug. Then, to adding a few configuration cells to an existing dialog. Alx asked me some questions, which turned into a long discussion with B, and shifted into the unrelated topic of the bowels of various UI components, and why they need fixing. Coffee. Ran benchmarks against previous versions, and the competition. Stayed late enough to make a full day. MB called as she was headed to bed.

Back home, and some left-over pasta, watching the Two Towers. Some email. Soon bed.

down with trees

Sunday: Slept until 11. MB got me out of bed, some email, then downstairs with her for breakfast. Eggs. I took a shower while she completed the clean-up. Couldn't resist watching some of The Two Towers while drinking a little more coffee. Realized I was procrastinating. The sun came out, and I decided to allow myself to absorb some of it. So, a walk up to Highland, and around. Then down basement for afternoon practices and exercise. MB was playing guitar when I emerged. I folded and put away laundry. A spot more food with MB. Worked on Invention 1 for an hour or so, mapping out my notes, and then playing it with the sequencer. Down to South Boston for a GCNE meeting. Improvisation, Eye of the Needle, Askesis (a compositional challenge was thrown down: Ass of the Needle!) Played a loop of two sections for 10 minutes. Invention 1, making it (more or less) through the first page. Improvisation. Third Relation. Victor told us about an allergic reaction he had from eating a stripped beet. MB gave David the portable crib we had borrowed. Back home, MB and I took down the Christmas tree, listening to Aerial. What a large mess the tree left behind! Whose bright idea was it to bring a cut tree into the house? Vacuuming, finding a pen had gotten lodged in the hose. More snacks with MB. She off to bed. Computering, with two cats in the lap.

the disappearing story

Slept until around 10:30, MB heading out to RI. Email. Shower. Brief sitting. Had a leisurely breakfast (eggs), then drove to the grocery store and bought goodies for KKC. Over there, and set-up for a ceremony. Ed helped. I left right as things were about to get going. Two guys wearing shoes wanted to know if they could sit in. Back home and morning practice and exercise. MB returned while I was at it. Some chatting with her, then I headed off to Wnd's, arriving at 7 PM. I showed her the "disappearing story" exercise. This worked pretty well, but took quite a long time. We ordered out for Indian food, and then went to pick it up. Dinner, quite yummy, discussing the exercise. We watched some of the Fellowship of the Ring. Then headed home. MB returned not long after I did. We had some tea and cookies in the kitchen, then watched the rest of the movie.

Party of the Epiphany

Slept late: noonish. Made hat thing out of a second hand fur. Shower. Down basement for afternoon practices. In to work but, only briefly. Busy while I was there. Ordered some ME food. Got half dressed, and then to Watertown. Picked up food. To party. I was one of the first guests. Apps, and more people showing up. A fellow with home-brew mead. A lovely doctor from Western MA. Talk of hemp, various theories for why humans are hairless, allergies, family stories in the dark, how easy it is to ruin someone's reputation. I got a safety pin. Yummy ME food. A toast to La's mom. Headed out around 1. Gave W and P rides home. Back home myself. Hanging with MB. Then, in to work for a couple of hours, returning, finding a man in the elevator at 5 AM was surprising. Back home and sleep.

five bodies

Thursday: A fitful, but pleasant, sleep, waking with MB around 6 AM. She headed off to work around 7. After a little bit, I got up. Some email. Shower. Fed cats. Down basement. Exercise and morning practice. A bit more email. Headed off to work.

Got a coffee and said hello to Dnld. I completed my work on the monitoring methodology, then fixed a one line bug, that was causing all my work of the last few months to fail completely on some computers. Took a walk out and bought some clothes for the themed-party I'm attending tomorrow. B grilled me as to when my work would be done. I had the thought that I lose my self-respect when I allow myself to be managed in this way. It was so sad to see my father as an older man, at a time in his life when he should have had seniority, be bossed around by kids 3/4 his age. But, such is the lot of an engineer, I guess. Called Shawn and told him I needed a little more time. Got to the studio by 8:30.

A good session with Shawny, though we were both a bit beat. The challenging pieces remain a challenge. Then some looping. Shawn had talked to Christine, and talked about life matters. Gave him a ride to the Porter Red Line. Then home.

Some time with MB. Some leftover spaghetti from last night. Email. Soon bed.

Dinner party with Shawn, R and Sct

Wednesday: Woke around 10, MB getting back from having her car's headlight replaced. The phone rang, and she answered it. My mom. Didn't wind up talking to her. Shower. She put one of her dogs (very elderly) down. Ate a slightly stale bagel, and some leftover tea for breakfast. It was quick anyway. Down basement for morning practices and exercise. Feeling head coldish today. Off to work.

Mellow day working on monitoring logic. Almost completed. Dnl was not able to help me with the VCS, which continues to be flaky. Unrelatedly, went to CVS. Cold out today. Left work at 6:45.

Back home. MB had made brownies, flan and a salad. Popped the lasagna in the oven. Our guests arrived a little after 7:30: Shawn, his new female friend R, and our old bass player, visiting from Chicago, Sct. Stood around the kitchen until the dinner was ready (made R a plate of spaghetti, since she is allergic to mushrooms). Fun conversation, talking about "birds and bees" conversations with parents, and lots of other stuff. After dessert and more chat, they got ready to go. Gave Sct a quick house tour. MB showed R some wedding photos.

After they left, MB and I opened some late Christmas presents from her brother and his wife. Very fun and thoughtful gifts. We listened to the CD of classical Chinese music while cleaning up in the kitchen. Email. MB is typing away upstairs. Soon bed.

Swiftcode

Tuesday: I got to sleep right around the time MB was waking up, our schedules finally slipping past one another. I slept somewhat fitfully until around 10. Up, shower, morning practices in the basement. Car wouldn't start without a jump. This is definitely getting worse. Off to work.

Walked over to my bank, cold and slushy out. Finally was able to send the wire transfer to Hernan for the GC course in April. The Swiftcode number provided in the email is not the Swiftcode... at least not as my bank's wire transfer processing center was concerned. When we substituted the BIC number, in place of the Swiftcode, everything worked fine. Stopped and got a coffee on the way back.

Today was to have been a massive integration, but it didn't happen. I spent some time talking to Dv and B about taking measurements from various points in the signal path. Worked on the monitoring logic. Sandwich at my desk. Headed home at 9:30.

Down basement and the call with my friends from the course in November. Better attended this week, with some very interesting conversation. Didn't get a chance to talk much with S though. This will have to wait for another day. Upstairs and some time with MB, then to the kitchen. Made sauce, boiled noodles, and then assembled a lasagna. Put it in the fridge, to be cooked tomorrow. Clean up.

Some tea, watching "Lord of the Rings." Today was JRR's birthday, so some wishes to him, wherever he is now. Aur Onnad Meren!

breakfast of scraps/long night at the office

Monday: I slept in a bit, with odd dreams, my arms falling asleep. Up around 10. Late night last, having watched a bit of the Lord of the Rings. The thing that amazes me most about these films is, that overall things actually look the way I pictured them in my mind. I guess that is a testament to both the power of Tolkien's words and the mastery of Jackson's lens.

Breakfast with MB. Fits and starts, scraps and ends. We had the last two eggs (fried), left-over pancakes, left-over coffee, a left-over Danish and so on. A bit after we cleaned up, I headed over to KKC to fill water bowls. Saw Jf and Hln, but the center is strangely empty without Geshela around. Also set up candles for a ceremony to be held this evening. Sat for a time in the library enjoying the quiet.

Back home, and down basement for morning practices and exercise. When this was complete, I came upstairs and said hello to MB. Some conversation, and putting together a shopping list.

Headed to work. Coffee and an expensive sandwich. Said hello to Crs, and talked over a few things. Down to work, hooking up a couple of features that had been broken by my re-plumbing. All fairly successful, though a couple of unanswered questions remained by the time I left around 3:15 AM. Updated to the trunk and began a build. Sent B a summary of my progress.

Slushy snow falling outside for the drive home. All quiet here, MB upstairs asleep. Put away cookies that MB baked. A cup of tea.

flattened by pancakes

Sunday: MB and I slept in until noon. Not surprising, since we were both up until after 5 AM. Up, and a relaxed breakfast of blueberry pancakes, fresh juice and the like. Clean up put us around 2 PM. Our neighbor had shoveled our walk for us. Email, and a request to post the KKC calendar in provisional form. Did that. MB was taking a nap. We'd both been flattened by the pancakes.

Down basement around 4 for "morning" practices and exercise. Then, vacuumed in the basement. Spoke with MB's parents, thanking them for my gift. MB and I talked about plans to visit them in the summer. Ate some bread and cheese. Played a little guitar, then off to guitar circle meeting at Victor's.

Victor, MB, Glenn, David and Martin were all present, which is "all of us" the way things are going these days. Improv, Eye of the Needle (quite good except for the end), Askesis. A break for questions, which turned into a break for pie (MB had baked Victor a birthday pie), which turned into a break for tea, and discussion of the immediate and longer-term vision for the circle. Suggestions about how to accommodate Terry's schedule. A bit of work on Invention 1, Third Relation, a circulation, and then off. On the drive home a youth wearing a baseball cap, his chair tilted back at a steep incline, talking on a cell phone, and driving, weaved between lanes in a hazardous fashion.

NYE, No KKC, but Kasbah and Shawn's

Saturday: Slept in, until noonish. Breakfast with MB (eggs and so on). Somehow by the end of eating, it was 2 PM. Shower. Some computer time. Answered some questions MB had about Invention 1. Down basement. Sweeping. Some exercise. Morning (afternoon) practices.

Spent the late afternoon and early evening listening back to recordings made at my birthday party. Mostly it was as I remembered it. Some good, and some worthy of the dust-bin. Experimented with shifting tracks slightly to make up for travel time between mics. This made for a distinct improvement in the overall tightness of the sound. MB headed out for a belly dance gig in Winthrop.



I drove to KKC around 10 PM. Car wouldn't start and needed a jump. A bit of snow had fallen. No one was at the center. My guess is that the evenings activities mostly fizzled. They hadn't been well promoted, and I think everybody is off in their own world. Drove over to Winthrop, and hung out with MB between sets, and some friends of hers, for about 40 minutes. Bn danced around with a basket on her head giving out flowers. Very loud house music. Crazy energy.




Drove back to Arlington to Shawn's party, arriving 5 minutes before midnight. Rang in the new year with Shawn and a friendly bunch of people. Sang the traditional song. Then, Scrabble and Jenga. I came in last in Scrabble, but had a nice time. Gave a back-rub. MB showed up around 2 AM. More talking and hanging out. One woman was going through some emotional stuff, and Shawn was lending an ear. We later talked about Shawn's living situation, now that the owner of the house is probably going to a nursing home, and all the work that needs to be done on the place. Three guitarists were going at it upstairs. A fire. Food. Sct from Chicago was there, and it was very good to catch up with him a bit. Somehow it got to be 4 AM. MB and I headed home around 4:20, having to sweep off our cars and drive slowly through the snowy streets.