Category: Daily Life

Ramblings, often stream of conscious, journaling the events of my life.

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Overslept – Do you use an alarm clock?

Last night I slept deep! I had vivid, colorful dreams with incredible detail. Central themes: strife. I haven’t used an alarm clock since about 6 months before Amy was born. So for about 6%frac12; years I have gone to sleep by saying, "I will wake up at ____." Usually, I wake within 5 minutes of the time I say as I lay down. Today I overslept 45 minutes! I was just so mentally and physically exhausted. Amy still made it to school on time although just under the bell.

Last weekend our Scout troop had its monthly scout master meeting. Eight adults showed up and I had the opportunity to relate my success of waking without an alarm clock. Another adult chimed up and said, "Oh yes. I’ve done that for 10 years." 25% of the people sitting at the table spent the bulk of a decade successfully waking without an alarm clock. I wonder if the numbers hold. Does ¼ of society choose to not have an alarm clock and still wake on time?

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LHC Achieves Blackhole!

And it has formed in my house! Last night I set my glasses down and they instantly vanished. This morning the same thing happened to some ointment I pulled out for one of the children. When I say vanished, I mean blink and it is gone! I hope this hole doesn’t grow too large. So far it has only eaten objects about the size of 2 decks of cards. Now I’ll allow it to eat the cat but any larger than that the children are at risk and there will none of that!

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I like my operating system slightly aged

I have a development server in the house that still runs Windows 2000 Server and has Internet Explorer 6.0.2800 on it. The machine is finally starting to show its age and could not hold up to testing my current project, a web application whose end users will primarily use Internet Explorer 6.0.2900. My server just wasn’t cutting it tonight so I bit the bullet and pulled a laptop which had Ubuntu installed. I pulled out my free copy of Windows XP I got from Microsoft for participating in the Windows XP beta program. After installing it, the network card wouldn’t work so updates were impossible. Fortunately, I used to be a Microsoft Partner and participated in the Microsoft Action Pack program so I had a disc that had XP Service Pack 2 on it. After installing that things were looking better but the NIC still wasn’t working. I dug out a USB drive and used another computer to get the network adapter driver from Dell’s website and suddenly the machine was working. After installing the updated video drivers the laptop with 256MB of ram is running almost better than my workstation I used for development! Best of all, it now has Internet Explorer 6.0.2900 and I can see the website exactly as my clients see it!

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Painful Phone Call

The guy on the phone is so slow and following his script so tightly that it makes me want to put hot pokers in my eyes. I haven’t even made my request yet but he’s kindly "checking on something for me real quick" Some of our dialog:

Him: I need your home number
Me: I only have a cell phone.
Him: Okay but I’m required to get your home and business numbers.
Me: I only have a cell phone.
Him: I have to tell you…
Me, interrupting: Yes that a cell phone is not secure. That’s okay.
Him: I have to let you know that communications on a wireless device are not secure. If you are okay with that…
Me: I’m okay with that.
Him: If you are okay with that I’ll need your authorization to continue.
Me: You have my authorization.
Him: Do you authorize me to continue?
Me: Yes.
Him: I need your authorization.
Me: You have my authorization.

The rest of the call was very similar. I called only about one thing and before I finished my request he interrupts me to say, "Let’s do one thing at a time." and at the end of the call he abruptly hangs up on me. So, why do I feel bad?

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Pound pound pound pound

Enough already! I’ve basically had a headache since last weekend. I finally understand the agony my wife and son must go through when they experience their migraines. I’ve never in my life been prescribed any pain medicines. Not Vicodin, Percoset, or anything. Shoot. I don’t even know how to spell Percoset. But I am coming around to thinking pain medicines should be easier to get. I’m not talking over the counter. Right now I believe pain medicines should be dispensed out of vending machines! Or delivered with your pizza. Wait a minute. Don’t pizza guys already do that? Back to coding.

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I’m beat

This is one of those moments I’m thinking a beer on the front porch would be very nice only the mosquitoes are so thick the neighbor’s house looks blurry and I haven’t any beer in this house for months; I’d rather chant anyway.

I been hit and run down and run over and
walked on and knocked around and I’m just
settin’ here now trying to study up what else I
can do to show … that I still ain’t afraid
of hard work. [Source, Arlo Guthrie, Woody’s Rag/hard Work lyrics]

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Today is 9/11

twintowersI remain at a mostly at loss for words. Of course, two very unexpected things happened as a result of September 11, 2001. First, Amy happened. Second, September 12, 2001 happened. September 12 is a day I will never forget for it was the first time I my life, the only time, I can remember looking into the sky and not seeing a single airplane. No flashing lights. No contrails. No engine noise. No whump whump whump of helicopter blades. Only sky, birds, and at night, stars. For such tragedy on September 11th, there was an ironic peacefulness to the skies in the hours and days that followed.

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From the mouths of babes

Amy, three, with Noah, twelve, beside her: "Can the dogs go with us to school?" (she means carpool)
Dad: "Sure but don’t let them in the car until I wipe their feet."
Noah, Evan, Amy and the dogs walk out the door. Dad from the front porch hollers: "Don’t let the dogs in the car until their feet get wiped."
Noah walks to car and puts hand on door handle. Dad yells: "Don’t let the dogs in the van!"
Noah opens the door and lets Dharma in with no effort to stop her.
Dad goes on a tirade: {this part is unprintable}
Noah: "I thought you were talking to Amy."

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The world wants to spin

I can feel the dizzy spells wanting to come back. It would be a mistake to lean my head back and look up at the ceiling right now. I must calm myself. I had two cups of coffee this morning which aggravates the problem. I really don’t want to take the Meclizine. I’d like to see a chiropractor but that’s just out the question right now. Eating right would probably help. I’m certain diet contributes to this. Mostly stress. Ugh.