Susan Dennis

I slept great last night. I am generally a good sleeper but last night I was a great sleeper.

I'm sure it was due, in part, to my evening's technical success. My Tivo has these Tivocasts which are generally online webcasts of stuff. CNet has one about general stuff. John Dvorak has a weekly geek chat with geek people. Threadbangers does very short, interesting DIY bits.

I have no patience for these on the PC but they are great fillers on my Tivo list.

I want more. Tivo now offers more - way more with their latest Desktop Plus application. I did not grab it when it first came out because it's $25 and I don't need/want most of what it does. But while the Mariners were losing last night, I decided it was time to spend the $.

I love Tivo. I bought my first one nearly a decade ago. I have three now. And I cannot imagine live without them but, bless their hearts, their developers have no experience with the average user. I got the software installed and operational and was able to get part of it working with Tivo but not the important (to me part). The documentation is scattered about and woefully incomplete. There are several good websites of user to user support. But nothing, no one, gave me one clue that made it work - under the File menu, you have to go to Link to My Account and fill in the info. I figured it out in desperation looking for something else.

Whew. It works and now I have tons of cool little alternate programs in my Now Playing List.

Next project is to move the operation to my other ('server') computer. It has to be running all the time to get the web stuff so better to have it served up from there.

While I was victorious, the Mariners were handing the Padres their ticket out of the baseball basement. The Nationals are now the worst and in a few weeks, we play them. I'll bet they are very excited.

I have a Rosie session at 10. I've only got about 30 minutes left to slaughter.

From my Twitter.

• 08:58 roomba running in the back half of the house - front half boasts two cats on point.
• 08:58 you'd think after more than 3 years of roomb, they would relax
• 19:49 The very worst team in all of baseball is beating us 4-0 in the 2nd.
• 19:49 We've had some bad baseball years but this one is shaping up to be the worst yet.

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It's too warm to be chillin' so I'm just coolin'. My condo faces east so when the day starts in sun, my place gets it full throttle. It truly makes me anxious. I have these great window shades - they are the kind that somehow magically keep out the sun but let in the daylight. I love them. I usually pull them all the way down at night before I got to bed but last night I forgot.

By 11 a.m., however, the sun has moved on and things start to get better. Right now it is 1 p.m. and it is very comfortable in here. The indoor thermometer says 79.

I really need to get some Jedi mind control going here or I am going to make myself crazy and make this journal a one non-hit wonder.

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There's a large-ish guy with a pony tail who has, twice in the past two weeks, delivered flowers to someone here in this building. The only clue I have about who it might be is that it is definitely not me. Today's bouquet is a really pretty one. And obviously the recipient is not home. Sigh.

The front door to the building requires a key for entry or you can be buzzed in. The buzzed in but can be tricky because 1. Our system is not intuitive to any living soul and 2. It often doesn't work or 3. The buzzee isn't answering their phone.

I keep my TV on the front door channel for amusement so I often see people who can't get in for whatever reason. I know from experience that if I left my unit (on the 4th floor) right now, there is no way I could get down to the front door before whoever can't get in gives up and leaves. So I never try.

But, he's still down there now and those flowers are sure pretty. Tempting.

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There's not a lot happening around here today which is fine. The next item on my organization list is the non-garbage side of the under the kitchen sink. It won't take long - it's really just a matter of consolidating and tossing.

Once I get it done, I'm pretty much done with the house at least until it all needs done again. I started at the front door and emptied every cabinet shelf and drawer and only put back those things that belonged there. The only thing not completely done (after the under the kitchen sink) is the file drawers in the desk. I did them once but they still need work. I have lots of stuff from Mom's estate that can be tossed.

I really like being organized - opening up cabinets and drawers and finding what I went there to get. Yesterday I found my hand mixer which I probably last used when Carter was in office right off the bat and got it easily and put it back when I was done. Nice.

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Ramble ramble ramble ramble....

A good 30 minutes today.  Instead of speed sprints, I did some elevation work - not too high and not too long but enough to break up the 30 minutes nicely.   It was not heavenly cool when I stepped outside after.  Sigh. 

My already negative attitude about heat is not helped by the weather people warning us of the record breaking heatwave here for today and tomorrow.  I even had trouble sleeping last night.  Sadly, I think it's more my attitude than the actual heat.  I'm such a whiny wimp about it.  I need to get over myself. 

I think I'll start with a cool shower.

From my Twitter.

• 10:46 I'd like to get up and do stuff but Betty's got her best suggle on and if I move I'll break the spell
• 11:25 potatoes peeled and in the pot - duvet packed up til next Fall
• 12:49 potatoes mashed and creamed and in the freezer - kitchen is a mess

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Another slow work day although I did have a more interesting than usual task this morning, it was only for an hour and a half so I've been filling in the rest with stuff.

I really do like the way the bed looks without the comforter. It's just neater and tidier. Travis thought it would be really cool to get inside the duvet cover. He's such a scamp.

I made some very excellent creamy mashed potatoes. They are really some of my best and it's a good thing cause it was a pain in the ass. I had 6 giant potatoes which was really too many to do at once but did I let that stop me? Heck, no. This morning at the store I paused at the Country Crock mashed potatoes which I really do like. They were $3 a tub. I spent the $3 on buttermilk instead and made the equivalent 7 tubs. Whew.

I used a giant pot and a giant bowl and some other giant stuff so I filled the dishwasher with the little stuff and hand washed the big stuff.

Then I reorganized the freezer and put 6 of the tubs in there.

Then I cleaned off all the counter tops in the kitchen and, because by that point my halo was not tight enough, I cleaned out the litter box and hauled two bags of garbage to the dumpster.

Betty is napping on the fish bed and Travis is playing toss with one of his mice in the bedroom. All is fine here at sdhq.

The California Supreme Court did good finally overturning the ban on gay marriage. Wish Washington could say the same (both Washingtons, actually). It will be wonderful one day to look back on these years and scratch our heads at how stupid it was to try and prevent gays from marrying.

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Got my oil changed at the new place and I likey. I pulled up, handed off the keys, walked a few blocks down to the market and found some good deals on beef and pork and remembered to get eggs. I also got some buttermilk. Eons ago, I accidentally got a bushel of potatoes (instead of the 10 or so I wanted) in an online order. I've worked my way through most of them and plan to turn the last of them into creamy mashed potatoes with buttermilk and sour cream.

The oil change guy was really nice and told me he checked a bunch of other stuff like my brakes - thank you! - and everything else was fine. He said that unless I start driving a whole bunch that 12 months would be a good next time to get the oil changed again but he said to stop in before winter and let him check the antifreeze. Will do.

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The down comforter is coming off the bed today. I'll just use the empty duvet cover until that gets too much and then it will be down to a sheet and light blanket. It is not overly warm today but very unusually humid. Weird.

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No baseball game today. Thankfully. I'm so tired of losing.

There was an interesting article in this morning's paper about the Mariners and not about their losing ways either particularly. On the current 25 man roster, there are players from 10 different countries speaking 5 different languages. It's kind of amazing to think about.

This morning after dropping my car off at the Cambodian auto mechanic's place, I walked to the market passing a Mexican restaurant (I mean really Mexican - there was not a whole lot of English on the menu in the window) and a Filipino hair and nail place.

I love living with all the variety. I was raised in the black and white South of the 50's. We had one Jew (Hal Kaplan) and he was it as far as diversity for us. I never had pizza until I got to college. I never had any Asian food until I was in my 20's. In my high school you could take Spanish but only after you mastered Latin and French (I hardly mastered English).

Living here where I can find a different culture every half a block is wonderful.

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LJ is not sending me comments in email. Bad LJ.

My friend, Sandy, is an ex CEO (i.e. smart and not terribly patient and not a computer person).   She has the latest Mac (high end - I don't know more than that) and wants to be able to take images and shrink them in file size down to 200 so her mailer will mail them. 

Is there not some very simple inbred (as in 'comes with') Mac thingie that will let her do this easily? 

If so, could someone give me the basics? 

1.  Open it with ...
2.  Select ...
3.  Fill in ...
4.  Save as ...

If not, I know I can find her an online tool to do it with but I thought I'd see if there were some low hanging fruit first.

Added later: Thanks guys!!! Mac peops rock.

Good thing I have gotten good days out of this program cause today was really not that good. I'm sweaty so it's not a loss but I was just not that into it.  Plus, I was doing one routine and Tija happened to be close by and kindly showed me how to do it correctly.  The way I was doing it was good - the correct way was HARD!

But there was one very bright spot.  Rosie has be doing squats atop the blue half ball while pushing out a 4 pound ball with my arms.  And she wants me to do it quickly - down/out then up/in and repeat fast and go deep.  I can do it so I like doing it.  I was squatting away this morning and there was a guy in the classroom doing chinups - he was young and cute and looked like he's spent a lot of his young cute years in a gym. 

While I was squating away he remarked in a tone of admiration 'that looks very challenging!'  

Thank you cute young guy.  You totally absolutely 100% made my day. 

I finally remembered that I still need the oil changed in my car.  It's been about a year, I think.   I have an appointment at 9 am tomorrow.

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I am so impressed with how gracious Hillary Clinton is these days.  She has to be crushed to the bone but you sure can't tell by looking at and hearing her. 

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It is supposed to get well into the 80's this weekend with sun.  Time for a blow job.   From the fan which I'll move out of the closet into the living room.  Hopefully we are still weeks, if not a month or more away from setting up the air conditioner.

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Memorial Day is not Monday.  It's a week from Monday  I am having real calendar issues today.

Not bad odd just different. After I got out of the shower, I checked work and there was nothing and since it was Tuesday, I had no meetings so I decided to go run a quick couple of errands.

Of course, I got carried away and took more time than I intended. I got back home about 10:45 and in time to realized that 1. it is Wednesday and 2. my 10 a.m. conf call probably wondered why I wasn't there!

I never do that, blow off a meeting like that. And this particular meeting has been every Wednesday at 10 for nearly a year. poop.

The Mariners are playing a day game in Texas and as I type this, are in the 7th inning and not losing. (However, the bases are loaded with Rangers and there is only 1 out so that bit of oddness will be resolved probably before I finish this entry.)

Travis has been super clingy all day. He just came over and sat right on top of my hands.

It's just like there is something in the air. Something odd.

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OK now this is odd. The count was 3 balls and 1 strike and he hit right into a double play. Inning over and we're still not losing. Where's that rainout when you need it??

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I managed to get a very odd thing happening in my Mesh setup. I poked around until I found the Mesh forums and posted a query about my situation. I got a response from one of the developers asking me to submit a bug with logs which I did.

I have to say that I am very impressed by this whole thing. I like the function, I like the features, the forum is particularly well run and submitting a bug directly was not dirt simple but very satisfying.

If you've got computers and devices you want to mesh... This review explains what it is... holler at me and I'll send you an invite.

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Work is not very slow today, it's nearly at a dead stop. I had one hour long bit to do this morning and that's been it. In general, June is our killer month. Our clients discover they have budget left and only 30 days to burn it. Looks like this year is going to be the same plus, one of my projects is working on a major redesign. So the sleepy that is now will be fully wakey wakey soon enough.

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We're in the bottom of the 8th and we're still ahead. Amazing.

Good session but not an easy one.  Some days 30 minutes seems like for.freakn.ever.  But, I always get to the end eventually. 

No exciting gym action.  Same old, same old.  The giant guy with his pants crotch at his knees is making great progress.  He used to get onto the treadmill and walk but this morning he hopped up there and started jogging right off the bat.   I do not understand why his pants are not at his ankles.  It's a gym miracle if you ask me.

Shower.

Travis was on webcam duty this afternoon and the more pictures I shot the cuter he got. The strip is linked to the set.

Sent From Phone

I saw a notice today for some new knitting machine classes at what I think is a new place called The Knitting School. The classes are at a not too inconvenient time, at a relatively fairly convenient place and they are expensive but not too expensive. I've been looking for something along these lines - something new to learn with some new people and kind of hassle free. And then I stopped.

Yep, I love knitting. I spend about 2 hours a day knitting. I've been knitting since I was 6 years old. That's 53 years of knitting. So more knitting... right up my alley. And I've always been interested in how it works. This would be a way to find out without having to buy a machine and carve out a space for it.

But. Machine knitting is all about the project. Get that sweater done faster, that afghan on the bed now, that scarf whipped up in between commercials.

I'm all about the process. I don't need sweaters. I'm too hot most of the time anyway. I have enough afghans and blankets. My chins don't leave enough room for a scarf. I don't even need the bears that I spend my 2 hours a day knitting. I give them away.

I love the process. The picking out of the colors and running the yarn through my fingers. The putting my feet up and turning on the TV and picking up the latest partial bear and working him through. The doing. Not the done.

I just saved myself more than 200 bucks!

It was a goooooood exercise day.  Some days things just work better than others and today was one of the better working days. 

Tija was working on the Closed Today signs for next Monday.  For once, it's not a problem since Mondays are my days off!  Nice! 

Shower time and then I need to get to work.  I don't think it's going to be a too busy day but I a few ToDos that need to be TaDone this morning.

Neither one of my laptop computers have speakers worth a damn. But, the one in the bedroom has the worst sound on the planet. I have been on the hunt for a solution ever since the last time my NPR station had a pledge drive and I used the laptop instead of the radio to pull in an alternative NPR station.

I tried a couple of sub $10 models and discovered they were worth sub $5 and took 'em back.

Then I saw this beauty. A little more than $10 and way more hassle to send back but what the hay... if it worked...

It came today and it is perfect!!! The radio sounds wonderful and even music sounds fine. The gooseneck is stiff enough to old position. I'm delighted. It's a B-Flex from jLab.

I got mine from Urban Outfitters of all the weird places. I think it was the best price or maybe the only place that had them in stock. Can't remember now but I got no complaints and I feel very hip ordering from Urban Outfitters.

I got invited to a MSG150.com lunch but I couldn't go. Adam had asked me how much notice I needed and I told him little to none which is so true most days but today I was launching new pages at noon and really needed to be here and not away from  computer.  I hope I get another chance.  Today they are going to the very same dim sum place I took jwg and rsc.  I'll be very interested to hear what they think.

My pages launched sans hitch and my lunch is salami and cheese. 

The Mariners won yesterday - finally. 

And I watched the last two episodes of the 4th season of The Wire.   Now I have to wait for the 5th and final season to come out on DVD.  This is one of the few - maybe only - TV shows I'd like to actually own a copy of.  I would like to see it all again from the beginning.  It's so extra ordinary and all encompassing.  I remember one Saturday a while back, I watched something like episodes in a row and the next morning was shocked to wake up and discover that I was not actually in Baltimore.

I recently moved my forks, knives, etc into the drawer next door after 15 years.  Now I can have the dishwasher open and that drawer open at the same time.  The question is not why did it take me 15 fucking years to do it right, the question is, how  many years will it take me to open the correct drawer when I want a fork?

The end.
For now.

I have the oddest problem on my work machine that I cannot solve. It started last week and it's making me nuts.

When I am RAS'd in, I click on a link - say

http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/en/us/dynamic-data-centers.aspx

And it automagically changes the http to https and throws me into an error page

https://www.microsoft.com/library/errorpages/smarterror.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/systemcenter/en/us/dynamic-data-centers.aspx

Oh, and if I click once, it goes to the error, but if I go back and click on the same fucking link, it goes to the correct page error free.

I've tweaked security settings, proxy settings, advanced settings and Travis' tail. Nothing helps. I tried leaving it alone for the weekend to see if it would cometojesus and no. I've rebooted, cleared cache, held my breath and sworn oaths.

And I can't figure out a good search string to google for help.

I'm hoping that by writing this entry, the damn thing will understand and fix itself.

Edit: I finally broke down and called help desk. My help desk guy was completely buffaloed but he was a good one so I let him reset everything and so far so good...