Design docs? What design docs?

I just got out of a meeting with some people I think will never believe that the source code is the design. We're going to have to generate some annoyingly pointless documents to make them happy, since our high-level design isn't specific enough, and they can't/won't read the nicely commented code.

It's like I'm a hamster on a wheel!

I spent all afternoon working on code that I had to throw out. I have nothing to show for myself today. It's a bit disheartening.

Oh well, now I get to go to a "aren't we clever?" back-patting reception for my center here at work. Yay, free food! (Can you tell I'm not that far removed from college?)

No Gmail for me

A while back I had an opportunity to get Gmail in my Blogger Dashboard, but I didn't get around to clicking on it (what with the wedding going on an all) and now it's gone. :( Alas!

I need a yarn fix

I've been working on a shawl at home and socks at work, but I am starting to feel the need to go down to Village Wools to buy something new.

Nutella!

How had I missed the tasty goodness of Nutella for so long? Now I think I can understand why so many people go nuts over it.

I must stay true to my geeky roots!

Lambda the Ultimate: Programming Languages Weblog

Yum! Pizza!

My husband and I bought ourselves a baking stone recently. We tried it out last night on some homemade pizza. The resulting product was delightfully crisp. I may never use a pizza pan again.

Does Losing Sleep Mean Gaining Weight?

Interesting article at ABC news website.

Let me in!

My officemate got his security clearance this week, six months after submitting his paperwork. I've been waiting just over a year for mine. Surely my life is at least as boring as his! We're starting to suspect that something has been misplaced in the depths of the bureaucracy. *sigh*

Virgin Mary In Grilled Cheese

Apparently, there is an eBay auction where a woman is selling a 10 year old grilled cheese sandwich that has the image of a woman on it. It has attracted quite a bit of media attention and a lot of copycat auctions. Currently the bidding is at $7600. Dude!

End Daylight Saving Time!

After having to reset my clocks last month so I now drive home in sudden darkness, I am once again reminded how much DST annoys me. I am originally from Indiana, so I wasn't subjected to this nonsense for most of my life. I think I have a better grasp of time zones and Daylight Saving Time than my husband does, since he has always just blindly gone along with it, whereas I have had to pay attention to keep track of how many hours off my out of state friends were in different seasons.
There is at least one group on the web that wants to end Daylight Saving Time. I'm in favor of it, although I know that it is unlikely to ever happen.

Daylight Savings Time doesn't save any daylight, it just shifts the clocks! If you want more light in the evening, wake up earlier! Duh! Are we such slaves to timepieces that we can't change our schedules without an act of Congress? How sad is that!

Drugs! Yay!

I have a cold. It started with a sore through last Thursday, and then progressed to a runny nose and stuffed up head. It wasn't exactly painful once I got to the phlegmy stage of things, but I was no longer capable of coherent thought. So much for my novel writing! After suffering through it this past weekend (well, spending a lot of time watching cartoons, and using massive amounts of tissues) and keeping my husband awake with my wheezing at night, I finally gave in and got some Sudafed 12 Hour Tablets. It's impressive the difference it makes. I can think again and no longer feel like my brain is being displaced by mucus. (Yucky image, I know.) If only it could be a little more selective about what tissues it dries out. Living in the desert, I need to keep what moisture I can. Oh well. I'll take a pill so I can breathe at work and some cherry-flavored NyQuil if I'm feeling lousy at bedtime, but I think I'll be done with this cold soon.

CNN.com Election 2004

CNN also has a nifty election summary page.

Election coverage

I find myself checking out the election map on the BBC News website. It was also interesting to read their explanation of the America electoral system for all the Brits reading the USA election coverage there.

Snow!

Well, snow flurries anyway. I guess winter is actually coming. Time to dig out my scarf and gloves.

The Onion's 2004 Election Guide

Don't you just love fake news?

Spacey today

You know you are out of it when you go half the day with your shirt on backwards. (It was a turtleneck, so it wasn't all that odd, but sure shows I wasn't paying attention getting dressed.)

National Novel Writing Month

In case you didn't see the article on Blogger's main page, National Novel Writing Month is coming up. Want to participate?

I think I'm coming down with something.

I'm very tired today and can't think straight. It might just be that I haven't been taking proper care of myself now that I'm left to my own devices at night, but I might have caught some bug. We'll have to see how I feel tomorrow. At the moment, I don't think I should be trusted with my code at work. I'd probably just break it.

Tracking the current presidential race

If you are interested in seeing poll data in a pretty map form, check out www.electoral-vote.com and watch the results change from day to day. Of course, some polls can be rather dubious, and the site acknowledges that. Basically, it shows that it is an awfully close race.

Whee! I'm in a battleground state!

Go reference site

I once learned how to play Go when I was in college, but only played a couple of games my freshman year. It would be nice to learn and play.

What time is it where you are?

Now I can keep track of what time it is in South Africa, among other places. Great for tracking figuring out when your loved ones are located.

elgooG

Google spelled backwards is elgooG.

The Case of the Missing Leftovers

One of the many adjustments I've had to make now that I'm married is accepting that food will vanish from the fridge when I'm not looking. Twice this week, I've gone to the kitchen with the intention of eating some specific leftover food (once it was some curry for supper, this morning it was cold pizza for breakfast) only to find my dear husband had gotten there first. It wasn't like I had laid claim to them, but it is disappointing to have a specific craving and then have to go foraging for something else instead. Obviously, we must make sure we always have two servings leftover in the future. *grin*

Sluggy Freelance election day special

It was created during the last presidential election, but the Sluggy Freelance comic explaining the issues is still funny.

2004 Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

The 2004 Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is coming up. I'm going to have to make myself wake up early enough to see them launch some morning.

Article by E. W. Dijkstra

The Humble Programmer

It was written in 1972, but is still an interesting read.

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

The MIT Press has the full text of SICP online. I should get around to reading it, since it is often referenced in certain programming circles. I suppose wanting to read it and work on the examples shows how much I've started missing Scheme since leaving graduate school.

Alibi Haiku Contest

Every year, a free local paper known as the Alibi has a haiku contest. I liked a number of them, but feel the winner of the Best Albuquerque Haiku sums up the driving style of many regions, not just here in New Mexico.

No need to signal.
Why should you exert yourself?
I can read your mind.
—Pamela Menter

For those undecided voters out there...

Fix America! Vote Robocratic!

Nifty blog listed on the Blogger Dashboard

Cooking For Engineers

I'll have to look more closely later, but the recipe grids are an interesting format.

Drat!

So, yesterday I proudly declared that "It works!" Eh, not so much. It turns out I did a little hack fix before leaving for the wedding next month, so the code kind of fakes it at one point. I'll have to actually make it totally do the right thing before handing it off. Bleh!

Smart pointers

I've been reading some code that makes use of auto_ptr and I think I like it. I knew smart pointers were out there, but all too often the code I need to use ignores many nice ideas like that.

It works!

So, I set up a little test script to see if I could break my code. (It's not for my big project, but a little side task that I had been putting off. This week, the big project is sort of on hold.) While I waited, I played a little Button Men Online and did some blog-surfing. (I'm really addicted to that "Next Blog" link.) Wonder of wonders, the program not only runs without crashing, it actually does what it is supposed to do! (It's sad when your expectations are low enough for that to give you a thrill.)

Of course, this means that the code is just about good enough to give to the guy who will actually use it, which is somewhat scary. It's sure to die in a horribly messy way as soon as someone is depending on it. I'll do some cleanup and try to reassure myself that all is well tomorrow.

Ouch!

It is so dry here lately that my lips have cracked. Generous applications of Chapstick have yet to improve the situation. This is an especially annoying situation for newlyweds.

"I love you, honey, but please leave my lips alone!"

There's a Blog in My Throat

I ran across this blog while waiting for some code to run today. I don't really know why I found it so enjoyable to read, but I guess it is because we all can identify with someone who finds herself crawling around her office in search of a dropped banana.

Other knitters on Blogger

I was blogsurfing today and ran across *tiny owl knits*. It's nice to see something like that amidst all the junk out there.

I really should post pictures of some of my knitting, too.

State Fair

I'm planning on going to the State Fair (a.k.a. Expo New Mexico) this weekend. I'm looking forward to eating my annual elephant ear, although I'll have to search for someone who sells them since this state seems to be funnel cake territory. We'll be taking a coworker of mine who has never been to a fair before and seems to not entirely believe my descriptions of the sort of activities that can be found there.

Back to work!

It is amazing how difficult it can be to regain your train of thought after taking a couple of weeks off of work. I know I was doing something productive before I left last month, but I've just sort of been puttering around the last couple of days, trying to get back into the groove. Mostly I've been reading over my code, trying to decide what to do next. At least I didn't leave anything major dangling while I was gone, but that also means that there isn't something quite as obvious to deal with right away.

Bye-bye, apartment!

I'm completely moved out of my old place now. I gave the carpet one last vacuum and turned in the keys this morning. It was a good place, at least until the creepy naked guy showed up. I'll miss having a branch of the library so close to me. I'm glad to be done with it, though. The final cleanup part of the move was most annoying. Of course, I'm not really done moving yet, since we both have oodles of boxes all over the house right now. I'm hoping we can take care of that during September.

Geek Test

Home of the Geek Test
I ranked 28.79684% - Total Geek

SkyHigh Airlines

http://www.skyhighairlines.com
Check it out the next time you are fed up trying to book a flight.

I hate moving

All my furniture is in the new place, but I still have to haul a lot of small stuff over from the old apartment. Finishing the job is the most annoying part of the move, I think. I just want it to be done! I don't want to have to go out of my way to pick up my drygoods and bakeware. Bleh!

Knitting explosion!

Dude! This article tells the story of a woman whose knitting needle exploded. Take a look at the picture!

Low security passcode

I live in a gated apartment complex. You have to enter a four digit code on a keypad to open the gate at night. The other night, on a whim, I tried entering 1234 instead of my own self-selected code. It actually worked! Come on people, can't you think of something a little better than that? I'm willing to bet that a large percentage of those security keypads will open with that code. Given a large enough population behind the gate, the odds of someone picking a totally lame passcode become really high. Now I find myself wondering: how many people choose 1234 as their ATM PIN?

Gradually letting go...

I've been taking my stuff over to the new place a few boxes at a time, slowly dismantling my nest of an apartment. This weekend we're renting a truck to haul my furniture, and then I'll actually be living in the house, too. It all feels so strange. I'm glad we found a three bedroom house. I'm used to having my own space and we both have a lot of stuff. I've already called assigned one of the closets to yarn storage.

I need a bit of a stretch break, so I think I'll mosey on over to the post office and fill out a change of address card.

It's the rainy season.

Pouring rain here. It makes quite a racket on the roof of my trailer. I need
to go shopping for shoes tonight, but I'm not going to head out until the
rain ends. What we lack in quantity, we make up for in intensity. It's as if
the drops were being hurled down from the sky.

Moving stuff

I need to contact PNM to notify them I am moving out this month. I also must transfer my phone service. Fortunately, Qwest has an online service for me to do that, athough it looks like I won't get to keep the same phone number at the new place.

Loud talker!

The guy down the hall from my office doesn't seem to understand the you don't actually need to speak loudly to be heard at the far end of the phone line. As far as I can tell, he's trying to get his message across without the benefit of technology.

New eyes

I had my eyes examined today. My precription has changed a bit. They gave me a new pair of contact lenses to try out and have checked in a week. If my eyes don't complain I'll buy a year's supply of them. Things always look a little surreal with an updated precription. I never realize how much I adapted to slightly outdated lenses until I get new ones and everything is extra-sharp again.

I also got a new pair of glasses and let myself be talked into buying a nice pair of sunglasses. They had a discount for the second frames, and sunglasses are ever so important out here. I do have to admit that they seem to fit better that the cheap pair I had been using. My old pair has now been downgraded to backup status.

So, I've taken advantage of my vision plan. Next up, find a dentist and use that dental coverage. Yay, job with good benefits!

Naughty knitting!

Sexy knitting is the theme of the most recent issue of knitty.com, an online knitting magazine that I only recently discovered. Kind of contradicts the stereotype of knitters being old granny types, doesn't it? (Of course, one could say that non-orientable knitting also goes against the stereotype...)

Freaky knitting

I'm mostly done knitting a projective plane hat from Nate's pattern. It has been one of the most trippy pieces of knitting that I've ever done. I've been using a long circular needle instead of the 10 double-points that he used, but I think I'm going to have to switch to dpns myself before I can graft it together at the top. I'll have to wait until I go home for that, since it'll take more concentration than I can give it while waiting for my code to compile and run.

Waiting for my sweetheart...

So, his flight was originally scheduled to arrive a bit after 9:00 tonight, but bad weather means it hasn't even taken off yet. According to American Airlines, it should arrive sometime after 11:30. Dang it, I'm getting all twitchy! I had been playing Button Men, but I've caught up on all my open games. If the flight was on time, I would be leaving for the airport soon, but now that would be silly. I suppose I should get myself something to eat. I had been delaying supper with the thought of grabbing a bite together once he arrived. *sigh* I'll guess I'll just sit around reading, knitting, and/or websurfing to pass the time.

Rain!

It's pouring rain outside. I hope it doesn't get the inside of my car all wet. I think I cracked the rear windows to try to keep it from getting too hot in the intense sunlight. Not much likelyhood of that right now, although I can see plenty of clear sky towards the horizon.

Wow, thunder! That was loud!

Hmm, I wonder if it is really a good idea for me to keep working on the computer right now. (Yes, I'm looking for an excuse to go home. *grin*)

So, is it "soda" or "pop"?

Dialect Survey

Some people at Harvard made an interesting (albeit unscientific) online survey about how people speak in America. Check out the nifty maps!

I like my apartment maintainance people

The doorknob problem yesterday was fixed by the time I got back home. They always seem to fix problems like that right away. Too bad they can't do something about the Creepy Naked Guy (who I haven't seen again, thankfully).

I gave blood...

...and I feel fine! I usually get so woozy after giving blood that feeling normal is a big deal for me. The last couple of times I donated, they had to elevate my legs and bring out the ice packs, but this time they elevated my legs while I was bleeding for them. Aside from some pain when I bend my left arm (I think they hit a valve), I'm feeling good. Yay!

Yet another reason why I'm glad to move soon

This morning as I was leaving for work, the doorknob came off my front door! What is up with that?

Ah-ha!

I found the website for my pedometer and they sell clip repair kits! It will be cheaper (and less wasteful) to repair the clip than to buy a new pedometer.

Drat!

I broke the clip on my pedometer. I've rubberbanded it to my belt to see if it will still work that way until I can get a repair kit.

Stupid code!

I give up. My code has some bizarre dependencies in it that shouldn't be there and are causing some annoying behaviour. I'll deal with this when I come back in tomorrow.

Beam me up, Scotty!

Last week, I went down to the Verizon store and bought myself a cell phone. I have a flip phone, so I can pretend like I'm Captain Kirk or something. *grin*

So far, I like it. The sound quality is good and it is nice to be able to talk on the phone while taking a walk down the recreation trail down the street. I think I won't really know how good it is until I've received a few bills, though.

Knitting One-Sided Surfaces

Nate Berglund has a web page on knitting one-sided surfaces. I did a mobius scarf (I still wear it in winter)and a klein bottle hat (rather pathetic looking, unlike his) before he ever learned to knit, but now he has far surpassed me in the geek knitting department. He has knitted a really freaky projective plane hat! I'm going to have to try that one out, myself.

Happy Independence Day!

There is something vaguely depressing about watching fireworks by yourself. From where I live, I can look out across the city and see the tops of at least three big fireworks displays, plus whatever explosives the neighbors decide to light. There was a woman and her son lighting Roman candles in the parking lot when I came back inside.

I just hope nothing big catches on fire tonight. We've had some rain, so it isn't as dry as it was, but I still worry that some idiot kids may decide to set off bottle rockets too close to the bosque or something.

I'm trying to decide if I want to bother taking tomorrow off or if it would be better to earn a day of flextime. I doubt I'd be able to get much of anything done on the home front, so maybe I should just go to work. I have a morning meeting on Tuesday, and I'm afraid I'll have a terrible time waking up for it after an extra-long weekend.

Rudy's BBQ Sause

Rudy's "Country Store" & Bar-B-Q

I gave Dad some of this stuff for Father's Day. Unfortunately, I bought the bottle at my local Rudy's and mailed it to him, so it cost a lot more than it would have if we'd ordered off the website. Any future BBQ sauce needs he has will have to be taken care of that way. Ooh, they have the spice rubs there too!

Dang it, I shouldn't websurf like this when I'm hungry. I'm not always much of a fan of the "piles of meat" restaurant, but occasionally it is good.

Constructed languages are cool!

Official Lojban Home Page

Creepy Naked Guy: The Return

He's back! I saw the creepy naked guy again last night. He was wandering around on the lawn in front of my building. Once again, he was gone before the cops arrived.

I've talked to the people in the leasing office and they said that they had reports of a naked guy in the complex last summer. Needless to say, they weren't pleased to learn that he has returned. It's something of a relief to learn that this is more of a local nut than someone who is just targeting me. They said they hadn't had any reports of him knocking on doors before, but it is possible that no one else had been awake to hear him if he did.

Anyway, I'm definitely going to stay alert (as if I could do otherwise with this creepiness going on), but for now this guy seems more pathetic than scary. (Especially when contemplated in the light of day.) Apparently, in one of the sightings last summer he was riding a bicycle around the tennis courts. I would think a man would be living somewhat dangerously to ride a bike naked!

The leasing office is going to see if they can get APD to up their patrols in the area or something, so we'll see what happens.
Categories: creepy, naked

Rain!

It's pouring rain outside! What is up with that? it has been raining for at least half an hour, possibly more. The temperature has dropped to the low 60s, wind is over 20 mph (gusting nearly to 40 mph), and we have already gotten over a half inch of precipitation.

It's almost like a summer storm back home in the Midwest.

Dark clouds, no rain

The sky is dark, wind is blowing, and I'm hearing pre-storm sounds, but there is no rain. I think the weather is just taunting us today.

Your Money Or Your Life

My parents gave me the book Your Money Or Your Life for my birthday. I've been reading it lately. I really like the idea of separating the idea of work from paid employment. Also, it is important to separate who you are from what you do.

With getting married soon, it is probably a very good idea for us both to be more fiscally aware before we merge finances. I know we both live within our means, but how much within our means? At what point could we become financially independent? I should start tracking this stuff. (Well, first I'm going to finish the book. Then, I'll go back and start working through the steps it contains.)

I need a cell phone

I used to have a cell phone, but they don't have my provider out here. I want to have one to be in contact when, say, I'm out walking the recreation trail across the street. (Oh, who am I kidding, I just want to be able to talk on the phone while I'm in the laundry room folding my clothes.)

It would be helpful to have a cell phone when I'm traveling. I've been looking at Verizon Wireless, since they got pretty good marks in Consumer Reports. I need to decide how many minutes I would need in a plan. I'll think about it later. Right now, I want to get something to eat!

Hi, Mom! (I've been spotted!)

Oh, my! My mother has found her way from my wedding planning blog over to my general blog. I guess it is a good thing I didn't have any sort of "My mom is insane!" rants posted. (Not that I ever would, mind you. *grin*) Welcome and enjoy, Mom.

My blog also has a poetic comment from a total stranger. Cool! I guess it has been up long enough to be noticed. I'll have to take a closer look at her blog sometime, too. I'll save that for at-home websurfing, though. It's too easy to be sucked into reading extensive webpages so I must avoid such activity at work.

An excellent diversion

Button Men Online Web Game

Buttonmen is a fun dice game created by CheapAss Games. This online version is really fun to play, especially since it can be hard to find opponents in real life. (It's also hard to get enough dice in real life, but that is another matter entirely.)

Yay!

My agents actually build new stuff now!

I'm tired of thinking

I would go look up reception information tonight, but I've done a lot of coding today. I'm going to go see a cheap movie instead.

I need to shift back to days!

My wake-sleep cycle has been shifted off by several hours lately. (Creepy naked guy in the middle of the night didn't help that any. I haven't seen him again, fortunately. I'm hoping it was a one-time drunken idiot sort of thing.) I'd much rather be working something normal like 8-5, or 9-6, instead of the 11-8 I've slipped into of late. (I work 9 hour days Monday-Thursday and get alternate Fridays off.) I think I'll have to force myself to just go to bed really early to reset my clock. (Staying up and wrapping around never works very well, but I often tried it in college.)

I think I'm going to go bonkers with the wedding planning soon. My fiance will be going to a class out of town for a couple of weeks soon, so it would be really good to have most things nailed down before he is gone. Bleh! I can't believe some people actually enjoy planning these things.

Creepy naked guy

Last night around 12:30 some weird naked guy came knocking on my door. He asked if I wanted to go swimming, told me not to be scared (yeah, that always reassures people!), and said he had enjoyed watching me. That last bit is what freaked me out enough to call the police. Of course, he was gone by the time they arrived. I had my fiance come over and stay to make me feel safe enough to sleep.

I'm not sure which is a creepier thought, that this nut might have been peeking past my bedroom blinds and watching me in some state of undress, or that he enjoyed watching me sit on the couch in my living room watching late-night television. Either thought is quite disturbing. I think I'll be keeping my blinds shut at night now.

I'm wondering where this guy came from. Does he live in my complex? Would I recognize him if I saw him in the mailroom? What would I do if I did?

*sigh* It's a strange world. I suppose that after enough time goes by, this will become one of those odd stories you tell at parties, but for now, I'm still a bit on edge.
Categories: creepy, naked

So dry...

I don't think to go get water when it isn't readily available.

I think I have a bit of a dehydration headache.

They must refill the water cooler! It's right by my office.

No water!

The watercooler in the hall has been completely empty since early yesterday afternoon. The next bottle delivery isn't until Thursday, I think. It's summer in the desert, people! We need more water! I'm just glad there is a drinking fountain down at the far end of the building so we don't get completely dried out.

Strange recipe

I was websurfing on Snopes and ran across a link for a turducken recipe. Apparently, it is a chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey with different stuffings in between each layer. Seems like a lot of work for a dubious result.

Current Weather

If you are curious about what is going on outside where I am, one of the groups at Sandia National Labs has a current weather webpage that updates every minute.

My reach exceeds my grasp

I had such nice success at the end of last week that I tried to continue it this morning by adding a new clever trick to my code. Unfortunately, that broke the program in a mysterious way and I had to revert most of it back to the backup version. So much for being clever. Tomorrow, I'll come back and add the functionality with a more plodding, brute force technique. (I hate it when I have to resort to that.)

In other news, my fiance gave me the wonderful birthday present of a set of new bobbins for my spinning wheel! He used some nice, pretty wood for them. (Walnut, rosewood, and one other type that I can't remember.) Isn't he great? As soon as the finish is dry on them, I'm going to try them out spinning some more yarn for my mother's shawl.

Back where I started again...

I've spent the past two days restructuring code and just now restored the original behaviour. At least I did find a couple of bugs in a code library.

I'm about to move some functionality into a new class. I'm hoping that it doesn't break it all over again.

Unlike when I was trying to get some toy project to work for a class in school, I actually care about doing this stuff right. (Well, I cared about it in school, too, but didn't have as much time to devote to it.) Once I finish getting this framework set up, we should see some impressive progress. Unfortunately, while I set up the framework, it doesn't look like much is happening. Oh well.

The wind is from the east today, so the humidity is all the way up to 20% or so. I never thought I'd be saying "up to" 20%. There are actually some clouds in the sky today. It was almost overcast this morning. I'm glad I flew back to my hometown for my sister's wedding last week. I was starting to miss rain.

It was a lovely wedding. I think they'll be very happy. Unfortunately for me, I no longer can use my sister's wedding to distract my mother from my own plans (or lack thereof). I have to get my act together!

Afternoon slump

The sunlight through the window is making me sleepy.

Today I managed to locate a bug in someone else's code without making much progress on my own. I spent some time tidying up a couple of files while waiting for the bugfix.

Now it looks like the bug isn't completely gone. Maybe I should just go home. I stayed a bit late yesterday, so I could probably justify leaving work a little on the early side today, especially since I can't do much on that project until the problem is fixed. I know it is probably a problem with the bugfix, because I hadn't changed my part of the code there. Knowing it is "somebody else's problem" is occasionally good, as long as the "somebody else" does something about it in a timely fashion.

It's just one of those days.

I've been rearranging code today with nothing to show for it. *sigh*
Sometimes being a computer scientist can be rather frustrating.

My officemate is beating on some code with a metaphorical sledgehammer. I've
been there before.

Occasionally, I'd like to actually work with physical objects instead of
just manipulating a virtual world. I think that is part of the reason why I
enjoy knitting so much. There I actually can see what I have done, as
opposed to looking at an apparently unchanging computer.

Okay, grumbling break is over. Back to work!

Mine! All Mine!

I paid off my car last month and just got the title in the mail today. No longer am I beholden to the Bank of America. The car is mine, free and clear.

If I were a pessimist, I would expect something to fall off the car tomorrow. :)

*Yawn*

For some reason, I woke up around 5:15 this morning. I decided to just go
ahead and come in to work, so I've been in since 7:00. At least this will
let me go home early and pack.

Why am I still awake?

I have a meeting at 8:30 tomorrow morning, and here I am, still up after 11:30. If I don't go in early, I won't be able to leave early, and if I don't leave early, I won't be able to pack for my flight on Tuesday without staying up late. My sister's wedding is next weekend, and I'm flying home early enough to get some good family time in. My sibling and I intend to go shopping for a wedding dress for me. I haven't found something out here, so I'm hoping that I can find something at the same store where she got her dress.

I'm going log on and check my work email in the small hope that tomorrow's meeting has been cancelled. Of course, even if it has been cancelled, I should go to bed and get up early. If I don't go to work early, I should get some clothing together for my trip. (My flight is early on Tuesday morning, so I have to make sure I pack the night before.

It worked!

Having BookCrossing send an email to my blog worked... mostly. There was a lot of HTML formatting that I had to remove before Blogger would accept the post. If BookCrossing had sent out a nice friendly text-only email, we would have had no problems.

Check out BookCrossing.com...

I found this cool site for book lovers...       BookCrossing.com ...and thought you would appreciate it. The website encourages people to Read, Register, and then Release their books "into the wild" and then track where they go and the lives they touch. Great concept... share your books and follow their progress forever. Best of all, it's FREE. Help spread the word by forwarding this to your friends, and of course be sure to visit www.BookCrossing.com! Personal message from Brooke: After recently picking up a lot of material for $2/bag at the big library booksale, I've decided I should start using my bookcrossing account again. Many of these books will be appreciated much more by letting other people have them than by just sitting in a box or on a shelf in my apartment.

In case you forgot I live in a desert...

85 degrees Fahrenheit, 12% humidity

This morning there was a man with a jackhammer outside my office window. I'm not sure why he was tearing up the pavement, but it was nearly impossible to get any work done until he stopped. It was really loud and the floor was shaking. Why couldn't they have waited until people weren't working in here? Was it that urgent to dig a trench today?

My code hates me...

I make what should be a minor change and suddenly it refuses to behave. Stupid program!

Gardening

I went to a nursery yesterday afternoon and bought some plants for my patio. If all goes well, I'll have a nice supply of herbs all summer, and if all goes very well, I'll be able to harvest some tomatoes. (I'm not sure how well tomatoes will grow in containers, but it is worth a try.)

I have a few avocado pits in water that are sending up shoots. I'm hoping to get a decent avocado plant or two from them.

I've been thinking I should dig out my sprouting jar and buy some seeds. I used to grow alfalfa sprouts all the time, but got out of the habit when the jar was boxed up for an apartment move. I was reminded of it when I saw a book on sprouting a the used book store yesterday.

Lazy weekend

I had stuff I should have done yesterday, but I mostly just sat around the house knitting. (At least it wasn't a total loss. I got a few more inches done on a shawl for my mother.) Today is shaping up to be just as slow. Here it is after noon and my biggest accomplishment is that I've showered and washed my hair. I'm living the high life now!

I'm thinking of going out to a plant nursery and picking up some herbs that I could grow in containers on my patio. The sunlight out here should be great for plants, provided I remember to water them enough.

I still need to come up with a gift for my sister. I'll be flying over a few days early, so I might put it off until I get there so I don't have to wrangle a package on the plane.

I'm supposed to start how early?!

My FMIL bought me a couple of wedding planning books. The timeline given starts at least a year in advance. Apparently I'm really rushing things by not being in the finishing stages by now (with over three months until W-day). I don't think my attention span is long enough to start planning a party that early. At least I am able to save effort by skipping a lot of the nonsense in those books.

Engagement announcements? Anyone who doesn't know already isn't close enough to us to care.
Engagement party? Come on, who really has those?
Lots of expensive stuff that nobody notices or cares about? Ha!

Yes, planning this thing remotely will probably drive me nuts, but at least it isn't going to drag on forever. I refuse to let this take over my life!

I must go shopping!

I just realized that I haven't gotten a gift for my sister's wedding, which is coming up in about two weeks. I would have liked to have knit them something, but at this point there is no way my needles would be able to fly that fast.

Hmm, what on earth would they like? They already have a well-equipped household between the two of them. (Actually, I think my sister alone was set up pretty well, so adding her fiance's stuff ensures it.)

Perhaps some sort of southwestern-themed item? (After all, I do live all the way out here, so I should take advantage of what is in this region.) I don't want to give them a useless dust-collector, though. I must think upon this.

It lives!

After much work, my program finally does something! It is amazing how long it took to get the components to actually interact, but now my agents can talk to each other. (They're still really stupid, but at least the framework is in place now.)

Short break for a happy dance before getting back to work!

I ended up in the back of the room with a pen and paper, "taking notes". Well, actually, I did write down some notes, but they were things to do later rather than anything to do with the presentation I was watching.

I've a meeting with my manager in the morning. I really hope this whole knitting controversy isn't going to get out of hand.

Some paranoid person at work thinks that it looks bad for me to knit during meetings. It's not as if I do it when I'm actually part of the meeting, but if I'm going to be stuck in a four hour meeting as an observer with nothing to contribute, I need to keep my hands busy to pay attention. I was sitting off in the back of the room out of the way! I bet this guy wouldn't have had any problem if I had paid no attention at all and doodled on a piece of paper, but since I had my yarn out it could "give the wrong impression to the customer". What impression is that, that people in our company are capable of multitasking? I wonder if he is one of those people who can't walk and chew gum at the same time?

Anyway, just because of one anti-knitter in another department, I'll have to find something else to do if I'm ever in one of those interminable meetings with people from outside my department. Knitting was perfect. I could channel my fidgeting into something constructive, and I didn't have to look at my hands while I did it. *sigh* Oh, well. I guess I may just have to give up on paying attention in those things. I have a another long meeting in the morning, so I'd better come up with something quick.

I'm not feeling as light-headed now. I think drinking a bunch of water and just sitting in my office all afternoon helped my body recover a bit from the blood donation.

I just gave blood today. Feeling kind of light-headed, but not too bad. Two months ago when I gave, I got really pale and dizzy. I suppose it was rather shocking to my system to have a pint of blood drawn just when my body was finally adapting to the altitude.

I think I'll have a hamburger or some other meat for supper tonight to make up for the lost iron and stuff. I also think I'd better not try to make any major design decisions on my code today, since I'm not exactly working at full capacity right now.

Time to get another drink of water and go back to work.

Wedding dress shopping is insane! I went on a whirlwind tour of six shops in two days with my FMIL. The whole wedding industry seems disturbingly manipulative.

It's supposed to get in the mid to high 80s today. I can feel my contact lenses trying to suck the moisture from my eyeballs. Oh, by the way, it's still spring!

I must find a way to get to the yarn store in the near future. I ordered a cone of Harrisville Designs Shetland in a nice purple shade and it has finally arrived. Now I'll be able to finish the shawl I had to put on hold a while back. Of course, I've started a couple of new projects while I was waiting, so now I have to choose what I should try to finish first.

No new knitting projects until I free up at least one set of needles!

Brief post while waiting for my code to compile...

It's springtime in the desert. I'm still trying to adapt to this climate. I drank a whole bottle of water on the drive to work this morning. I've found I get headaches if I'm dehydrated. On the plus side, my hair dried quite quickly after my shower.

Yay! The project compiled with no errors! Back to work for me.

My future mother-in-law will be in town tomorrow. I spent most of last Saturday cleaning my apartment in preparation. I think I somehow hurt my back mopping. I had two days of pain, but today it has subsided to a mild ache. I hope my efforts are appreciated. I don't move my clutter for just anyone, you know!

Since I'm too lazy to make much of a web site, I've decided to try a blog. It remains to be seen if it will hold my interest for long.