She won't be able to do this much longer.

My father died this afternoon.

It was not unexpected. He passed in his sleep, quickly and painlessly, and this was much better than what he was facing. There are little blessings even in death.

Date:	2009-05-01 23:11
Security:	Public
Mood:	giddy

Chair: PersonA says they will only stay for the meeting if your presentation is wildly entertaining.
PersonA: I didn't say "wildly" entertaining. Just "entertaining" will do.
Presenter: Would you like me to start with a trailer?

Date:	2009-04-02 00:24
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy

Problem Statement

The couch is too big

• Get a smaller couch
  
• Host more events with lots of people in attendance
  
• Store clean clothes in laundry baskets on the chaise lounge instead of hanging them up in the closet
  
• Buy more pillows
  
• Put sheets on it and turn the family room into a guest bedroom
  
• Move to a larger home
  
• Re-orient to repel Mongol invasion
  
• Use half as a coffee table
  
• Spend more time in the utility room until we learn to appreciate the extra seating space

Get another Wolfhound.

Meet Carroy Eileanóra MacDuncun, aka "Eleanor". We pick her up in early May.

Date:	2009-04-01 23:59
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative

There is a smart phone sitting next to me and I don't know what to make of it. For years I think I was at risk of becoming a luddite without realizing it, hanging on to this ancient belief that cell phones were, at heart, basically phones and intended to be used as such. I remember once a few years ago, in fact, getting frustrated in the Sprint store because I couldn't find one that didn't come with a camera, and at the ridiculous list of options that included mobile web, picture mail, JAVA applications, qwerty keyboards on miniature buttons, and the emerging craze of MP3 ring tones. Clearly, the world was going insane, to the point where plan-subsidized phones were necessary just to make the darn things affordable. The question, then, becomes this: have I sold out my principles, or did I finally have a moment of clarity and enter the modern age?

Sometimes I think there's no question that I spent more than I should, even with the subsidy underwriting a good chunk of it, but then I am reminded of what it means to be able to consolidate so much onto a single device. I used to (and in fact still do) own a PocketPC which I purchased on a heavy discount some years ago, with the intent of using it for managing my work calendar. That lasted for a few months until it was clear that carrying around something that size was just not very practical, and even less so with a cell phone added into the pile. Yes, I am a geek at heart, but there are limits to the amount of gadgetry I am willing to carry on my person, if not because I don't want to advertise "dork" everywhere I go, then for the fact that the more there is hanging off your waist or in your pockets, the more difficult it is to do everything from going somewhere in a hurry to sitting in a chair to relax. It was one more thing to keep track of, one more thing that can potentially fall and break, and one more thing to have to put somewhere at a restaurant. It wasn't long before the impracticality became a liability, and I stopped carrying it around. And at that point it ceased being useful.

Flash-forward a couple of years, and now there is this smart phone. The enlightenment, if you can call it that, was that the one electronic device I always had with me, no matter where I went, was the phone. And so the idea was born.

Do I really need it? There is something to be said for having conference rooms and phone numbers for meetings right in front of me, as opposed to hidden deep within the bowels of Microsoft Outlook, which always finds a way to hang indefinitely when I am most in need of the secrets it keeps. Particularly when I am short on time. It is also quite useful to be able to be able to look at the calendar a couple of weeks in advance to schedule everything from car service to medical appointments without fear of conflicting with the work schedule. To know that the calendar is always up-to-date, thanks to the wonders of automation.

But do I need it?

Or is such a question even relevant?

According to Caller ID, we got a phone call tonight from "Moses".

This turned out to be something of a disappointment.
 

We drove to Costco today without chains. Of course, it helped that Costco was only a couple of blocks away, that the roads are flat between here and there, that both of us grew up driving in worse than this, that I spent an hour shoveling the driveway so that the car could get out and back, and that the Volvo XC70 is really one hell of a car on ice and snow.

We are supposed to have chains for it, but the good folks at the dealer gave us a set that fit the base model and not ours with the upgraded wheels, which means they don't fit. Something I found out when I went to install them before the dumping on Saturday. Oops. The dealer is more than happy to swap them for the correct size to fix their error, but of course getting there at this point is something of a challenge and by the time we get them we'll probably not need them. But at least we'll have them for next year.

Date:	2008-12-21 14:08
Security:	Public
Mood:	cold

So, yeah. Snow. This morning I measured eight inches of it in the back yard, and then another quarter-inch of ice on top of that. And that was a consistent eight inches, not in snow drifts or across the wind-swept landscaping. We've experienced heavy snowfalls before in Portland since moving out here, including the storms in early 1996 and 2004, but this thing has been a monster in a class of its own. For a solid week now we've been buried in snow and ice and slush, in temperatures rarely climbing above freezing, and yesterday didn't so much top it off as overflow the tank. I cleared the driveway around noon on Saturday just so Christina could get back into the garage, and by 4pm it looked like I'd done nothing at all. The snow just flowed from one neighbor to the next, obliterating any evidence of my labor.

The dogs wanted to go out at 2:30 last night and they had no idea what to do once they were there. Charlie took one step onto the ice crust and his foot fell through with a crunch. The next step was the same. He tried to dash out of it, and the crunches turned to a yelp, and then he turned around and made back for the house without going to the bathroom. Proof, I suppose, that mind over matter really does work when you're sufficiently motivated. Even Ferguson, who thought the snow was pretty cool earlier in the day, and couldn't understand why we weren't outside all the freaking time, found the freezing rain untenable at first, and though he has since recovered, he'd rather walk the paths of crushed ice and snow that I cleared this morning than the untouched sheet of ice that tops the powder on the rest of the deck.

What I had forgotten, having left the midwest well over a decade ago, was how bright snow and ice really are. As I was watching Charlie's pathetic dance across the porch, it struck me how clearly I could see in what should be the darkest part of the night. The street lamps of an entire city were reflected in the clouds and the ground, and so bright that I could literally have read a book on the porch without turning on lights of our own. The whole landscape just glowed a soft blue under an orange sky.

I grabbed the camera at dusk because the light had turned purple, intensified by the falling ice and snow. I may hate this stuff, but I have to admit: it sure is something to look at.

"Great student camera"
It's crap but it's cheap

"Hardly used"
I bought it at Costco along with a 20 gallon jug of mayonnaise and a stainless steel power juicer

"OBO"
I don't know how much it's worth

"This is an amazing deal"
I really don't know how much it's worth

"Professional camera"
It's heavy and has lots of buttons

"Paid over $XXX for it new"
I'd like more for it than it is worth

"Purchased recently"
I can't believe I wasted my money on this garbage

"With extras!"
Includes the strap, battery charger, manual and box

"Great Christmas gift!"
I got it as a gift and don't want it because it's crap

Date:	2008-11-25 15:47
Security:	Public
Mood:	discontent

Foods you won't find at your favorite restaurant or organic market:

• molten lamb
  
• potato fondue
  
• meat-based vegetable substitute
  
• char-broiled sorbet
  
• unleavened yeast
  

Looks like that accident we witnessed made the local news. Video is here. It's a very short segment, and the accident wasn't "in" the tunnel so much as "into" it, but close enough.

Edit: Text story here.

The reporting in both is pretty accurate.

Date:	2008-10-31 23:46
Security:	Public
Mood:	indescribable

On the way home from seeing "Guys and Dolls" tonight, wheeker and I were the first people to respond to a car accident on Burnside. We were climbing towards Skyline and just entered the tunnel when we saw debris flying across the entrance on the west end. We didn't know what it was at first. Leaves? A small rock slide? But as we exited she spotted a car crumpled against the wall of the entrance. It took us a moment to put two and two together, and we U-turned and headed back to the scene. When we saw steam rising from the car's radiator, we knew that it had just happened, and the debris we saw was the glass, rocks, and smoke from the impact. The driver was slumped over the steering wheel and not moving.

The driver had hit the hillside full speed. He basically missed the entrance and slammed into the wall instead, crumpling the front of the car like an accordion.

I turned around again, making our third pass through the tunnel, and looked for a spot to pull over while wheeker got on the cell to 911. Once we parked, she dashed over to join the gathering crowd as I stayed in the car with the phone. I got the world's least competent dispatcher.

"Where on Burnside?"
"At the tunnel, as you are coming down from Skyline into downtown Portland."
"How far from Skyline is it?"
"About a half mile, at the tunnel!"
"What's the nearest cross street?"
"..."

For those of you who don't live in Portland, there's only one tunnel on Burnside.

By now a couple of other bystanders were helping direct traffic around the accident. EMS arrived in just a few minutes, though it felt like an eternity, especially after he regained consciousness, went into shock and started crying out. The guy apparently reeked of alcohol, meaning he was either completely wasted or had bathed in it before going out for the evening. One other witness saw him driving from a ways back and said he was swerving all over the road.

A total of two fire trucks, one ambulance and four or five police cars were at the scene before it was over. They had to cut him out of the car, but other than being really banged up it looked like he was going to live.

Scary thought for the evening? We entered the tunnel headed west just as he hit the wall going east. What if he'd made it inside?

Date:	2008-09-12 08:44
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired

First, the power went out. Which normally would be okay, except that the circuit that failed was in front of the UPS system. Which isn't necessarily a disaster thanks to the generators, which run until power is restored, but for the data center to stay up the chillers have run. Which they would normally do, except for the failure in the cooling system, probably caused by the power spikes. And normally losing a chiller would be just an inconvenience, except that, like the power, the failure occurred upstream and took them all out. At which point it's "turn off everything", including the stuff you never power down.

When the hallway outside the data center feels like Louisiana in the summer time, you know you're in for a long night.

Date:	2008-09-09 10:20
Security:	Public
Mood:	blank

I spent two hours on Saturday cleaning our seven foot runner by hand. The thing about olefin rugs is that the pile is directional, and the thicker and denser the pile (and therefore, ironically, the nicer the rug), the more it becomes a problem. Vacuuming, we learned within the second week, could only be done on the diagonal and even then the natural lay of the fibers tends to trap in fuzz, fluff and long, skinny filaments like, say, dog hair. Which makes cleaning the area rugs in our house something of a bitch. Even worse, however, is how the fibers trap water and prevent cleaners and scrubber from getting down under the pile to the backing in order to remove certain, oh, say, fluids, that might also come from a dog, particularly one that's old and having trouble controlling the same. The carpet cleaners, the consumer kind that you can buy at your local retailer, just didn't cut it, and so it was off to the deck for some manual labor.

I'd tell you what, exactly, it was that led to this, but I am sure that at least one of you is eating while you read this and I don't want to kill your appetite. Suffice it to say that it was disgusting, even for someone who's been cleaning up after large dogs for a good 10 years.

I once asked one of the local carpet cleaning experts what the key was to cleaning a heavily soiled carpet, particularly one whose value didn't quite warrant repeated professional treatment (You think this only happens once a year? Think again). "Lots and lots of water," was his answer, and I decided to give it a try. The one upside of olefin is that you're just not going to ruin it unless you go at it with a torch and a grinder, so it was worth a shot. I pulled the runner outside, laid it out on the deck (where it could dry in the high-80's sun), brought out the hose, some mild soap, and lots of white rags for scrubbing.

It took, as I said earlier, about two hours. And that bit about the pile being directional was the key to getting the job done. You scrub the soap in "against the grain", then expel the excess water by squeegeeing with the grain. Rinse, squeegee, repeat. Rinse, squeegee, repeat. At the end, if you did it right, your rug no longer smells like...that...and the water starts running clear. Success!

On Sunday night, I put the dried rug back in the entrance hallway. And on Monday afternoon, Roxy pooped on it.

Screw the synthetics. Next time, we're buying wool.

Date:	2008-08-13 21:57
Security:	Public
Mood:	weird

Me: These frames are named "Curious"
Christina: Be glad I'm not getting bifocals

Date:	2008-08-12 23:12
Security:	Public
Mood:	accomplished

Having finally grown tired of the fact that our bedroom is the hottest room in the house in the summer, even with the central A/C running, we broke down and threw money at the problem. Why is the room so hot? Your guess is as good as mine, and so far my guesses are the vaulted ceilings, the giant window on the west side of the room that lets the heat in during the morning and noon hours, the giant window in the entry foyer that shines sunlight on the room during the evening hours, and possibly some deficiencies in our ductwork and insulation. Whatever the reasons, it's sometimes so stuffy that we can't sleep at night, and after 10 years of this crap, we've purchased a portable A/C unit to boost the cooling in the room.

"Portable" in this case is a relative term. At a modest 88 lbs, it is more portable than, say, our central air unit, which is bolted to the garage floor and wall. It is also more portable than the bathtub in the master bathroom, the Sony 36" CRT television downstairs, and the water bed in the guest bedroom. The little unit comes with tiny casters for wheeling around, which is surely the manufacturer's idea of a great joke, since it implies easy wheeling from one room to the next. Which it would be, if it were not for the giant flexible tubes that serve as intake and exhaust, the evaporator hose, and the fact that the casters don't actually roll that well (translation: at all) anyway.

So, yeah. Portable.

But, hey, at least it works.

Date:	2008-07-22 05:49
Security:	Public
Mood:	irate

I had my very first job interviews in 14 years yesterday. They were for another position in the same company, but they were interviews, nonetheless. Here's the scorecard:

• Interview #1 was rescheduled for later in the week because the interviewer was traveling on business
  
• Interview #2 was also rescheduled for later in the week because the interviewer had a prior commitment
  
• Interview #3 did happen, but almost didn't because of confusion on the location
  
• Interview #4 didn't happen at all because the interviewer didn't show up. Turns out they were on vacation.
  

Date:	2008-06-30 11:48
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative

I am always amazed by the deeply personal details that some people are willing to discuss, loudly, in public, while on their cell phones. Here in the Indianapolis airport, for example, there's a gentleman not twenty feet from me who is revealing that a relation of his- I could not tell which- had just undergone a cesarean section, and that this was her second. Her first child born in this manner later, tragically, died of SIDS. While I do not know this family, and likely never will, it seems wrong to broadcast their medical history to nearly the entire contingent of United flight 745 to Denver, particularly when someone in the same seating area is inclined to comment on this using a social networking site. I suppose I can explain this one as lack of experience with cell phones: surprisingly enough, this gentleman, who appears to be in his late 40's, had never used his cell phone to place a phone call (the conversation began with, "Hello, from the cell phone!", followed shortly by "I didn't know how to make a call, and it took a while to figure it out"). But is that really an excuse? It's not like a veil of silence descends around you when you press "talk". Yet people routinely enter their own world, unaware that everyone around them is listening in because, frankly, it's next to impossible not to.

Christina has regularly commented that I am terse, if not abrupt, when talking on the cell in public. It's true, and it's possibly borderline rude when I do it, but it's a reaction to the environment I'm in. I'm uncomfortable sharing much information, much less my emotional state, when there are dozens of people hearing every word.

Date:	2008-06-13 09:03
Security:	Public
Mood:	giddy

For my birthday this year (and, yes, I know that was almost two months ago) my wife bought me the Tokina 12-24mm DX lens for my D70. While one would not normally wax poetic about third-party lenses, this one is just so beautiful that I can't help myself. It's color saturation, contrast and sharpness are nothing short of amazing even wide open at f/4, and I just can't get over how good everything looks. Yes, I know, getting good images has little to do with the equipment-- I've seen some beautiful cell phone pictures-- but it does make the job easier and faster. This lens elevates even the mundane.

And of course, having a wide angle lens on digital is just tons of fun. Thanks, wheeker!