Month: March 2005

I was unable to use Blogger for a day and a half. I was certain that I was having network issues because Google wouldn’t allow that much downtime would they? Wherever the problem lay, it seems fixed now.

I have a day and a half of writings cooped up in me but I have weeks of coding begging to get out so I best return to client obligations.

It wasn’t until recently that I understood “three dog night.” I always thought that meant spring up and shout “Jeremiah was a bullfrog. Was a good friend of mine…” Apparently 3 dog night refers to temperature. A 3 dog night means that to stay warm you needed 3 dogs in the bed with you. Thank you Cathy for explaining that to me.

We have 2 dog nights occasionally around here but usually its just a one dog night. Molly plays a game with me. She takes my spot in the bed until I’m ready to come to bed. It’s funny and at the same time guarantees me a warm spot to settle into.

Remember when gay meant gay? Apparently other words have changed meaning over the years too. Batman’s Greatest Boner

In school I used to love to do math because not only could you solve a problem, you could solve it again and prove your answer. Math has a tangible success. You do it and receive instant gratification. Coding is much the same. I actually got to code this morning! And I produced results! And the client is happy.

Now onto more difficult, less quickly solved problems.

So the puppy is finally starting to figure out that poop and pee goes outside. She’s even picked 2 favorite spots. What’s funny is that she doesn’t seem capable of going unless she and I have played soccer. I take a blue soccer ball and I’ll kick it over the house or down to the lower lot and she will take off with exuberance to find this ball. She’ll run down the hill and bring the ball back to me. I’ll kick it a second time and she’ll return holding this blue soccer ball in her mouth but this time she’ll bypass me and go to her spot. She won’t let go of the ball while doing her business. It’s the funniest sight! Of course it only makes sense that our family would end up with a dog with rules and rituals.

In today’s home repairs I rehung the towel rack on the back of the bathroom door (with the proper hex screw so it will stay hung) and I hung the vinyl levelor blinds in Noah’s bedroom window so he can stop flashing the neighbors.

Ah! Feels great to make progress on the house!

I uninstalled Firefox and deleted all references to extensions and temporary files. When I inspected the registry I had references to Firebird and versions predataing .8. With the machine cleaned and a fresh install of Firefox 1.0.1 I’m hoping to be a happier camper. I’ll clutter it with extensions soon but not Tabbrowser Extensions. I can live without saving tab sessions if it means better browsing.

Seems as though my installation of FireFox has bitten the dust. I am blaming the Tabbrowser Extension as I have not seem any of this behavior on other computers. Of course, I do use this one the heaviest and it is the only one with Avast! installed. I will completely uninstall FireFox and reinstall to see if things improve. After using FireFox so much, Internet Explorer just seems so pathethic.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching a hawk sit in a tree in the backyard and have its lunch. It tore apart a mouse (some kind of rodent), cleaned its beak then flew away. I learned how to use the digital zoom on Cathy’s Canon Powershot A95 just after it flew away. For those wanting the same, you move the switch to the picture of the mountain then click the thumb button on the back of the camera down where it reads a picture of a flower and MF; this turns on a magnified sqaure in the viewer and you can use the zoom toggle to move in a little closer. Remember, this is a digital zoom so some quality will be sacrificed.

Student: How do I learn responsibility?
Master: Teach responsibility.

It’s gorgeous outside (68° C with a light breeze and lots of sunshine) and I’ve trapped myself indoors with no consideration of playing outside, taking the kids outside or the dog to the dog park, and the mountains are simply these hills on the horizon. Days like this should be celebrated in outdoor activity and I’ve squandered mine.

I’m using the free antivirus Avast! on this computer and recently suddenly started receiving a lot of strange error messages. It comes up in red and reads:

The page cannot be displayed
There is a problem with the page you are trying to reach and it cannot be displayed.

Please try the following:

    * Click the Refresh button, or try again later.
    * Open the Web site home page, and then look for links to the information you want.
    * Check your firewall settings. The Web Shield process (ashWebSv.exe) must be allowed to access the Internet.
    * If you believe you should be able to view this directory or page, please contact the Web site administrator by using the e-mail address or phone number listed on the Web site home page.

HTTP 502 – Gateway timeout
avast! Web Proxy

The proxy server did not receive a correct response from the upstream server specified by URI or the response was not understood by proxy.

Winsock: (997) Overlapped I/O operation is in progress.
GET {this is the url at the time}
Winsock: (997) Overlapped I/O operation is in progress.

I have yet to find any useful information toward resolving this issue. Seems like it goes away if I go to "On-Access Protection Control" and disable Web Shield. I didn’t even know I was using a “web proxy” on this machine. Could explain some of the sluggishness.

There is a definite zone. If you’ve ever done anything that you truly enjoy and requires intense concentration then you’ve been there. Might be mountain biking when you are rushing down the single track just a little faster than you know you should and everything is blurred in your peripheral vision and it seems like you can anticipate every rut, obsticle and jump on the trail as if you had esp. You know the ride is going to be perfect and the adrenaline rush helps make you more invincible than you already know you are. But if you slip out of The Zone you’re a smear on the trail. Just a taco’d wheel, bent fork, smashed helmet, and a bloodied road rash carrying your bike out of the woods.

Computer programming can be the same. If I can get into The Zone then I can pound out elegant computer code that reads like Pulitzer Prize winning poetry. Like anything else, finding the zone takes effort. Maintaining the zone takes concentration. I love being in The Zone. It’s frustrating when I can’t find it. Sometimes you can find it, but something pulls you out of it for just a moment, then it’s lost.