Reality Me

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.

In sticking with my plan to “pound code” I awoke at 2am. Cathy lay on the left side of the bed, Molly the puppy was curled up on the foot of the bed, Amy was in the middle asleep but squirming, and I was on the right side of the bed doing a balancing act to keep from falling off. The room had a chill last night but our bed spread would keep us all warm, well, except for me because I could only cover part of my right leg as the rest of the covers had disappeared into some blackhole in the middle of the bed. Or perhaps they shrink in the night because I learned in the morning that Cathy neither had covers. I pondered over and over moving to the computer to be able to get work done. 4 hours of programming in the middle of the night is equivalent to 12 hours of coding during the day!

When it came down to making the decision I could not risk having Amy roll off the bed and I didn’t think she would stay asleep for the transfer to her own bed so I stayed in bed until the morning came and Molly had the desire to go outside (and outside she went!).

My OCD 2 year old wrote on her hands yesterday with marker. This morning she looked at me and begged “wash it.” So we washed her hand the best we could but the marker wouldn’t come off. She stared at it a second and said “wash it again.” Her short, focused, serious comments make me want to laugh.

I’ve been a good little programmer today and pounded many keys. I need a brief break and think it is well deserved although I do not want to styme this momentum.

According to BK Delong at Brainstream if you link to Bill O’Reilly’s article in the Gazette-Times titled How did Buster get mixed up in this mess? I guess I’m soon to get my very first Cease and Desist! How exciting!

Of course, this could be a huge publicity stunt for the Gazette-Times as our links are nothing more than free advertising for them.

Student: Why do they keep beating me up?
Master: You are paying your Karmic debt. Now choose to get depressed or get motivated. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Do you?

I know the f%^king rules. How come I can’t play the game?

Seems like the minute you start to get back on your feet in our society some bastard has to come knock you down harder.

It’s 2am. I should have been in construction…I dig such nice holes for myself.

On a positive note, it’s really nice to be programming in ColdFusion again!

Today’s Woot! won’t last. It’s a Microsoft Wireless Optical Elite Keyboard and Mouse.

It’s not your Grandpa’s wireless. Because that was a radio.

I’d grab one up if I wasn’t budgeted for other things like..uh..mmm..a child!

Unbelievable! It’s such a sad day when a keyboard has such requirements!

Hard Disk: 60 MB of available hard-disk space

I recall desperately wanting to buy a 20MB harddrive in the early 80s and commenting that “I’d never be able to fill it up!”

Has Tetris beat you down? Do you get infuriated with no having enough time to decide where to place the shape? If so, then Tetris 1D is for you! (warning: you could find yourself playing for days on end!)

It’s one of those crisp, clear nights that makes you want to bundle up a little, sit on the porch and just listen to the wonderful "silence."

I’m being productive this morning and pounding away at code; code which somehow I’ve fallen absurdly behind on and am quite disappointed in myself for doing so.

I wish I had the stamina to get up at this time every morning and work. I could knock out most of my client obligations whilst everyone sleeps then use the day primarily for family needs. Perhaps I could take a 4 hour nap in the evening and grab a nap during the day to keep my body rested.