7th Grade Poem
October 26, 2007 – 10:51 amI wrote this poem in 7th grade and never forgot it. My friend Peter thought I was a god for a semester for writing it:
Shit shot cosmonaut,
Itching sqeezing burning hot,
With ease,
release.
First Birthday Gifts
October 26, 2007 – 7:21 amRiles will be 1 year old next week on Halloween. Courtney and I have spent the last week reminiscing about last year at this time. The nerves, the excitement, and the fateful night two weeks before. Riley never really made many “shifts” during the pregnancy to indicate that he was going to pop out. It began quite nerve racking, actually. But one evening in mid October Courtney got up and paced around for most of night. Looking back on it, it was Riles only sign that he wanted out.
As we get closer to his birthday he’s starting the “new trick” phase again. Right before major milestones he seems to pull out some new trick. Within the last week he’s been saying “uh-oh!”, which sometimes comes out as a painful “oh-uh!” Try to say it backwards, it’s not easy or graceful to do.
On top of that he’s finally waving. We’ve been waving at him for 6 months now. Just this week he seems to have finally gotten the point. When Courtney and I pass him back and forth between us he immediately spins around and waves to the person he just left.
The best new trick, though, has been the hugs. He just started hugging us all of the sudden. It was like one day he just really, really missed us. And ever since he’s been throwing his arms around us.
So, his birthday will be fun. I look forward to it. Pictures next week.
P.S. - I taught Riley the “Pile-Driver” this week too. I told Courtney that he’ll need to know that sort of stuff for when he has a younger sibling.
Taking It Online
October 23, 2007 – 6:39 amI’ve struggled over the years to find a good, reliable solution for maintaining secure backups of my files. As my much of my real-world possessions become digital versions of themselves I’ve grown increasingly paranoid about losing them.
I’ve been averaging about 1 lost hard drive per year for the last 4 years. When a begins hard drive to fail I typically have to scramble to clear space somewhere else, or start digging through my archives in hopes that I actually did back up everything to one of the other corners of another hard drive. I’ve tried building dedicated server machines, I’ve tried a multiple hard drive configuration, but it is all too complicated.
Running parallel to all of this has been my growing concern for my carbon footprint. Sure, it sounds wacky. Why should I be concerned? I’m just some guy in MN. But I figure becoming more green isn’t a choice, but a lifestyle change. If we don’t start to become aware of our ecological impact now then we won’t be able to solve the problem later. We recently downsized from the truck to the Mazda, all new light bulbs are compact fluorescent (most that are needing to be replaced were already halogens). This article got me thinking about the waste of power I was spending keeping so many machines on during the day.
So to cut out one whole computer from the Broken Complex I decided to outsource my backup. I chose to use Mozy, for mostly the unlimited backup space and zero transfer charges. For 5 bucks a month I can backup any data on my machine. Mozy runs in the background constantly checking for new files. Once a night any new files are uploaded to Mozy. So far I’ve been quite satisfied with the service. Mozy makes it clear that they are not an offsite hard drive facility, Mozy is a backup solution, that’s it. It doesn’t work well as a file dumping grounds. It’s job is to simply ensure that the files selected on the local machine are successfully backed up to Mozy’s servers. There are other services that tackle both backup and remote storage, but they were cost prohibited to the amount I need to store.
The initial backup of 80 gigs of pictures and music took 6 weeks due to Comcast’s upload limit of 384kbps. It finally completed the other day and we reclaimed a speedy network connection again. After the upload completed I was able to shut off a computer that had been running for 3 years. The computer room has become quite quiet.
The Toilet Runeth
October 21, 2007 – 6:52 pmI honestly cannot remember when the toilet started running, but as of late it had become more than a drip or trickle. It had gotten so bad that we’d get up in the middle of the night to shut the bathroom door AND our bedroom door just to muffle the noise.
3 weeks ago I bought a “replace-everything” toilet flushing kit. Unknown to me at the time, I didn’t need to replace “everything” per-se, the bolts holding the tank to the bowl could have been saved. Regardless, since I had all new parts I spent Saturday morning fixing the toilet. After living with the a running water noise for so long, the lack of it is deafening. But it also feels like a bad itch has finally been scratched.
In other news, I have switched jobs once again. This time, though, I think I’ve hit on something good. I made the career switch to consulting vs permanent employment. I’m still salaried through a consulting firm, but now get to enjoy the luxury of zero emotional attachment to the work. I still really enjoy working with the technology and working on solving complex problems. With consulting comes the automatic respect and expectations of a job well done. I don’t feel like a drone so much.
The downside, working at a large corporate healthcare client has seriously cut into my online social life. No longer am I able to ping anyone via instant messaging. If I try to access any sort of IM on my work computer I’m kindly reminded via the proxy server that I am violating corporate policy and if I continue attempt to access IM it will be reported to my manager. Yet-another-reason I’m glad I’m not an employee.
Riles birthday party is fast approaching. With it comes the release of Guitar Hero III for the Wii. If I’m not reading about GH3, I’m telling Courtney about it. While Riley’s birthday party will be fun, I will also be enjoying a few competitive “battle of the bands” round against Drew and Chad.
Riley’s Halloween Birthday Party
October 1, 2007 – 12:58 pmA conversation between Courtney and myself:
[13:55] brokenindu: do we have to dress up for riles birthday?
[13:55] Courtney: yes!
[13:55] Courtney: i was going to tell you!
[13:55] brokenindu: dammit…
[13:55] Courtney: at Target they have an adult size gorilla costume
[13:56] brokenindu: you’ll look good in it.
[13:56] Courtney: its too big for me
[13:56] Courtney: you will have to take one for the team
No Rest for the Weary
October 1, 2007 – 9:28 amThe weekend started out with a bang but ended in a 3 am Charlie Foxtrot Monday morning. Let me explain:
Feeling feisty and hungry Friday night, we checked Riley into the “Grandparents Motel” and headed out for the evening. In search of a good steak we decided to hit Red Stone in Minnetonka. We enjoyed a fine 3-course meal sprinkled with wine and vodka. The only thing better than the food was the impeccable service. At one point I called over the manager to give kudos to our waiter.
Still Riley-free Saturday morning, we did a little birthday shopping for him. I don’t want to ruin any surprises but lets just say he’ll really appreciate all the new clothes we got him. We were beat tired from the night before so we settled in for a quiet night at home. Court put Riley to bed and I began reading Into the Wild. We hit the sack early and called it a day.
An hour later we heard a barking seal from Riley’s room. We listened for awhile as the seal got angrier. Riley awoke from his slumber angry and frustrated. The coughing kept Riley up. We were concerned because his breathing was quite labored and he was gasping for breath. With my history of asthma we’re overly concerned when we hear things like this. We hopped in the car and headed to the emergency room. By 3am Riley had been diagnosed with croup, an inflammation of his throat, and we were heading home for a little sleep.
Sunday we spent over at the folks house watching football. None of the three of us had slept much the night before. We made it through the ‘rents on sugar and caffeine. We all crashed early. Called it a night before night began.
My work pager rang at 2:30am. It was an urgent issue that needed attention. 2:30am is no time to be thinking, especially about work. Some item wasn’t showing on the website and it needed to be active by 5am. When in the T.V. biz this stuff happens at all hours of the day. I spent the next 2 hours troubleshooting and waking up many other poor souls. At the end of the night it was someone else’s mess up that got me up in the middle of the night.
This morning I’m flying on little sleep and even less motivation. I’m waiting for today to come and go. The kicker is that I will get no more extra sleep tonight. I have a scheduled upgrade for work at 2am. I may just have to call in sick tomorrow.
Amazon - The 3-step 1-click Checkout
September 26, 2007 – 7:14 amAs promised I just gave Amazon’s MP3 Download store a run. I wanted to purchase The New Pornographers Challengers. Here was the steps I had to go through to purchase it:
1. After arriving at the web site I found the album
2. I downloaded Amazon’s Downloader. It’s nothing more than a download manager application. Doesn’t do anything fancy
3. On the album I clicked the “Buy MP3 Album with 1-Click”. Although I am not an avid 1-click user it appeared to be the only option for purchasing the full album.
4. I was prompted to verify my purchase, which I did. I was then given an error message which indicated that payment could not be processed. It didn’t surprise me since I probably didn’t have my Amazon.com 1-click settings configured.
5. I configured my Amazon.com 1-click settings and proceeded back through the same checkout process.
6. I received a different checkout error indicating that I needed to update my credit card settings.
7. I went back into my account and removed any old credit cards. As a bonus I also cleared out all old shipping addresses.
8. I proceeded back through the same checkout process. I was given the same checkout error indicating my credit card settings were wrong.
9. Getting pretty fed up, I went into my Amazon.com 1-click settings and turned it off.
10. I marched through the checkout process again. This time because my 1-click settings were off I was given the option to choose a credit card to bill to. I selected the only one on the list (a valid one mind you) and was able to successfully complete my purchase.
The only option for purchasing a full album is a button on the site called “Buy MP3 Album with 1-Click”. But I was able to purchase an album without using the 1-click settings. It seems a little confusing to me.
The download process was seamless. A file is sent from the browser to the Amazon Downloader application which aptly handles the downloading of the files. A nice touch is the automatic import into iTunes. The downloader adds the songs to your iTunes library automatically.
The MP3 quality is 256kbps which sounds good. I have the track Myriad Harbour in both Mp3 and AAC . From what I can hear the songs are identical.
All in all, to save a few bucks and get the tracks without DRM I think the initial headaches of Amazon will fade. The interface is so-so for the Amazon store. It similar to the rest of Amazon, functional but not aesthetically pleasing.
UPDATE: Upon purchasing a second album the checkout process was only a 2-step process of clickin ghte “Buy MP3 Album with 1-Click” and then verifying the purchase. It would appear that after the first purchase 1-click is automatically set up.
The Music Revolution
September 25, 2007 – 3:30 pmI recently gave up on CDs. I have been a staunch supporter of my local music shops for many years. But I finally became fed up after struggling to find even local music at the local Cheapo. I would pack up Riles and hop in the car on a Sunday and drive to Cheapo to just be let down when they didn’t have the music I came looking for.
So, instead of CDs we converted to buying online at iTunes. The DRM issue has always kept me at arms length with Apple. But the convenience of having music at the push of a button overrode my fear. I also hoped the switch would help me spend my money a little more wiser. In the past I’ve bought a flurry of bad albums. There has always been at least one good song on every album I bought, but sometimes it was *just* one. While 99 cents may not be the perfect price for a track, I realized using the old school route I was spending way more than that for just one song.
About once a week Courtney and I hop online to spend a few bucks on music. One night after a racking up the tracks Courtney said, “Oh, I better stop. I’m spending too much money.” In reality she had only purchased 8 tracks costing us much less than if she had bought every album for just the single track.
Amazon launched their MP3 store today. I’m a little torn now. I can get my music without the DRM for a little bit less than what I pay at iTunes….but then I wouldn’t be using iTunes. Half of the ease of online music purchasing is due to iTunes. There’s also this feeling of betrayal. We’ve come to love our iTunes shopping sprees. Will Amazon be the same?
So tonight Courtney and I will probably give Amazon a whirl. See how it works. See if we get the same satisfaction from it as we do from iTunes.
p.s. - The love of Apple carries over to Amazon. As of this writing Fiest’s song 1234 is Amazon’s #1 track for today.
Car Flood
September 21, 2007 – 6:50 amA few years ago we learned a hard lesson about our street block. The southern end tends to flash flood in heavy rain. We learned the hard way and had to have $1500 worth of carpet repaired in our old Honda.
I arrived home yesterday during the torrential rain last evening to find no less than 4 cars in various predicaments at the end of the street. I felt bad for them but they had already gone in too deep. There wasn’t much they could do except push their car out and wait for it to dry out. Unfortunately they too had to learn the hard way.
In a panic I called Courtney, who was following me home, “DO NOT COME HOME FROM THE SOUTH!” I shouted on her voicemail. About 10 minutes later she arrived home with her car just fine.
Calorie Count - Life Hacking
September 12, 2007 – 11:47 amI count calories…well, sort of. I like to attempt to count calories. I try my best to eat right but I’m always cutting corners. Calorie counting helps keep me honest. With that said, I cheat a lot.
I like to try out various websites that help with calorie counting. It’s hard to find a single site that has everything I eat. My recent test-drive has been with Calorie Count Plus, a site provided by About.com. I like that it goes above and beyond just counting calories. It has a decent community side to it as well as a bountiful amount of information about food and general health.
I’m on day 2 of my attempt to count how healthy I eat. I’m not claiming any success, I’m just sayin’.
Last night I was recording what I had for dinner. I crunched the numbers and ran the food log report. 2 out of 7 items were healthy. The rest were given grades of a C+ or lower.
I pondered this for awhile, assessed the situation and proclaimed to Courtney, “Yep. I see my problem. It was the DQ Buster Bar and the mint ice cream that did me in.”
Courtney raised an eyebrow. “The Buster Bar and ice cream? You needed a website to tell you that.”
Apparently some of us know this information off-hand.
