Category / general

subversive! 8 November, 2006 at 9:45 pm

i was tasked with looking into subversion for doing version control at the office, back when i started

(then i asked for vmware so i could practice messing around with it; don’t hve vm yet …)

this week, it came back up. so i installed it at the office

and i’m working on my nanowrimo story. which i keep having ot mail back and forth, or the new bits, etc

and it occurred to me: hey! why don’t i just set it up and put my story into subversion! sweeet :)

now i can work on the same freakin’ text both ways!!!

ok, so, you probably find this far less exciting than i do. so bite me :p

halloween drinking 29 October, 2006 at 12:00 pm

last night was our neighbors halloween party. friend from my old office went to school with my neighbor, so he was there too.

i got home at 2:30 in the morning. 3 guinnesses, a killians, 4 “shots” of vodka (i think my first was a double or even triple ; we ran out of shot glasses, so i just splashed some into a cup) … 6 hours of party, and all i really had to eat was cheese and crackers, and chips and salsa

i decided to go ahead and be sick when i got home, rather than waiting and getting sick all over the sofa or something :o eww

NTS: 4 shots of vodka bad. 4 beers AND 4 shots really bad on an empty stomach :o

had fun though, although i suppose my friend and i spent most of the evening hanging out together. but we really didn’t know most of the rest of the people :/

undepressed == suicidal? 23 October, 2006 at 9:16 pm

talking to the doc last week, i expressed that my meds didn’t seem to be doing enough anymore. I stipulated that it might be season, hoping he’d up me to 30 or even 40mg of lexapro. where it worked for me nicely.

skipped mentioning the new job and that i’ve virtually cut out soda. that would have led to “well, there’s a lot of changes, so lets wait until your next appointment” in three months … yeah, that’d be good.

he decided to switch me, asked how long i was on lexapro. i told him 18-24 months, he looked stunned isnce i’ve only been seeing him for maybe 9? so i explained that my doc had had me on it. “you’re on 10mg right?” “no, you have me on 20. she had me at 40″ “40?” “yeah” “oh i didn’t know that. i’ll just put you back on that then” “ok. i came to see you when the pharmacy was giving us grief over the script” “yeah, the normal dose is 20. but some people need more, some people less. your normal dose might be 40″ “yeah” “the pharmacy will call me to verify the prescription too” and he trailed off mumbling to himself.

“OK, i’m going to switch you to EffexorXR” … uh? what happened to my happy 40???

apparently Effexor (which is a serotonin & norepinephrin reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) doesn’t play well with others. Apparently MAOI’s and SNRI’s mixed means you die :o

luckily my lexa and welbutrin are SSRI’s. of course, he’s “weaning” me off the lexapro (did a week at 10 before switching to effexor). then ramping up on effexor.

but apparently i’m supposed to watch the first few weeks (and by i, he meant me. by i, i mean kiir :) for changes of personality, suicidal thoughts and tendencies, and hypo/manic episodes … frankly, i’m wondering if being depressed was really all that bad :p

color blind in reverse 29 September, 2006 at 9:55 pm

with our home equity, we were paying off a handful of cards, and as part of the agreement we were closign two. the bank was auto-cutting the checks for those to payoff. great.

one (the one that is at the same bank as the loan) paid off quickly. the other didn’t. a week or so later i got a thing in the mail with a copy of the bill i copied to them, and a cashiers check. which said “void if no watermark”. so i hold it up to check, no mark.

but while i have it in hand i notice where it says “void void void” across the body of the check. so yeah, this is my receipt.

another week and a half, no payment still. so took the check in today and asked the bank. it’s the real check. when i ask about the voidvoidvoid … well, first of all neither the guy at the bank nor kiir can actually see it. but he explains that it’s an anti-copy protection thing. if you copy the check, the voidvoidvoid comes out dark, clear, bold. visible.

so my color blindness screwed me again. but in reverse this time, b/c i saw somethin i shouldn’t instead of not someting i should.

good. grief.

fixing up around the home 23 September, 2006 at 4:25 pm

so, the dryer’s been running real freakin’ slow. as in, a load (and not one of hte huge full loads or a load full of sweaters and sweatshirts and other sponge-mimicking materials; regular t-shirts and underwear loads here) were taking 1.5-2 hours to dry. it used to take the same 30-45 minutes as the washing machine, which was downright handy.

been measuring the tube, but i had to do it by running the tape around and then dividing by 3.14125something … in my head (yeah, so i divided by 3 and then fudged a bit :p) came out to 4.5″ pipe. great. i can take that, and unless they have like 4, 4.25, 4.5, 4.75 or something, i can get the one that looks closest to what i wanted. and i DID! 4″. of course, having pulled out the dryer so i could unhook the old hose, i found that it said on the back “use 4″ exhaust” .. convenient that :o

clambered around, vacuumed out the hookups on both sides (well, vacuumed some, but mostly just pulled stuff out). there was an inch to inch-and-a-half thick layer. all around the tube. meaning a 4″ exhaust was flowing through ~1″ of space … no wonder it took fucking forever :o

while we were out we picked up a new air filter and i swapped it out. got primer for redoing the border region in the nursery (the squares i did were all screwed up and all over the place and looked like crap) and ran it over the drywall patch in the bedroom, so we can paint that eventually

then put out the “caulk-b-gone” around the tub. no clue on that, waiting for it to finish.

and k wants a second walk it seems :/ but i’m *TIRED* dammit!

contractor fun 21 September, 2006 at 4:02 pm

contractors got here ~8:15 or so. got started pretty fast, things looked good.

stopped for lunch after testing the new fixtures int eh shower and making sure it all worked, figured they’d come back and finish the drain/spout and a few things, and cover back the holes.

thats when things started going bad :/ the fixtures sprung some kind drip, so they pulled the connection and redid it. leak. did it again, fixed it this time. then they realized they’d done a step out of order, so they needed to take a washer off something so they could put on the faceplate. they’d put it on real good, though. finally got it off, put on the plate, and spent half an hour trying to get the piece back on. or the new piece they pulled out instead.

then while they were drywalling and picking things up, i asked about the toilet. the toilet that’s been lifted ~1″ off the ground for the last umpteen months (since fall or so i think, maybe?) they went to go find the contract to look at it b/c they didn’t remember the problem (eh, i only remembered b/c it’s my toilet) decided it wouldn’t take long to fix it.

then they took off the toilet and realized just how wrong that might have been. after much figuring, they managed to screw through the steel plate, and started grinding out the sticky-out bits that were on the flange-ring i put in, which were what was keeping the toilet up. once they were off, they put it back together and all looks good with the world.

they tought to be done by noon. it’s gonna be 4:30, or even 5, before they get out :/ i feel bad for them, this relatively simple task turned into a total cluster.

but that’s why i’m paying them instead of screwing it all up myself ;)

home equity, elapsed time: 45 days 11 September, 2006 at 11:39 am

Jesus. applied for a home equity loan near the end of july, b/c we decided we needed to clean up our finances, lower monthly bills, etc.

basically every freakin’ step has involved me callin a bunch :/ just before vacation i got them to say that we were preliminarily approved, pending a evaluation of the home coming in high enough. ok, no problem. they’ll call and we’ll schedule the appraiser and stuff. except no one called before we left (ok they only had that week, but).

then no one called while we were gone. so i called, and “oh, yeah, the appraisal came back good. now we just need a credit card statement (for the one you’re closing) and the insurance information” … b/c we couldn’t've called and left me a message saying that? oi.

so i send that stuff, and while talking to the insurance, they inform me that the credit union will have to call to get added as the second mortgage. ok, no problem. talk to the CU people, tell them that. then nothing.

call them ~10 days later and … “they haven’t sent us anything” … oh, and “the lady you’ve been talking to for most of the last month was on loan to us, and she’s gone back to her department. so i don’t know anything about what you’ve talked to her about with this and the insurance ,but we need the insurance information.” … oi.

so i call insurance, give them ANOTHER number to fax to. b/c apparently the one THEY provided was wrong :o don’t hear from cu in a few hours, call. “i don’t have it yet, but they haven’t brought by the faxes lately.” oh and “i’m going on vacation. you can call (a) or (b) while i’m gone.” … b/c they’re gonna know anything about this?

so call this morning. don’t remember a or b, so i ask the operator to transfer me to someone in that department. i mean, the people i know the names of AREN’T THERE anyway. talk to the nice lady. she goes to find my file. she comes back, asks for more information, goes to look again. comes back, asks me for my # so she can just call me back when she finds the damned file. it’s apparently MIA. jesus.

called back ~5 minutes later. someone else, about scheduling the signing and stuff. apparently they got the fax. i tell her she should tell the other nice lady, but that’s apparently who brought the file over. OK great. now she needs to ask me a bunch of questions about the property (uh? who’s name is on the title? is it leased from the county? is it a mobile home? shouldn’t someone’ve asked this EARLIER somewhere? jeeeesh).

so we’re scheduled to close this week. so hopefully we’ll have the money by next week when we have to pay the contractors who are fixing the bathroom. the contractors we contracted in … uh … may? yeah. maybe i can pay some of the blasted bills i was holding off waiting for the loan to pay them out, too.

*igh*

headline idiocy 8 September, 2006 at 9:29 am

CNN Pipeline offers real-time stream of 9/11/01

OK, first off, let me say: i have no problem with people remembering 9/11. the movies are a bit meh of an idea in my opinion, but whatever. and the video from that day helps remember. helps us keep up our fighting spirit. helps us support the war in iraq b/c … uh … they … didn’t have anything to do with it?

whatever. ANYWAY. it’s from 2001. it’s 2006. I assure you, it’s not real-time streaming. It may be streaming. and it may have BEEN live real-time video. but five years? it loses “live real-time” somewhere in the first … uh … hour? a 5-minute delay loses “real-time”. an hour kinda loses “live” 5 years? it’s ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE !!! oi.

(just read the bit about it on CNN. apparently they’re showing starting at 8:30am. so the stream is supposed to be happening at the exact moments and showing the exact footage from cnn, that was on CNN-TV 5 years ago ; so i guess they can kindof claim real-time)

there was more, but i don’t see them offhand now :/

rain! 5 September, 2006 at 12:18 pm

so, it rained heavily on thursday evening and friday (ernesto)

rained a bunch on saturday, so we skipped going to renfest with some friends.  i don’t much like trudging around in the mud.  apparently the faire didn’t get that much rain, so the straw and mulch chips everywhere was enough to keep feet dry and unmuddy.  oh well

sunday was cookout with my parents, but again due to the amount of rain that had made our area all muddy and wet, we left K at home.  i mean, its’ not like he was all depressed about it or antything anyway :)  but we get down and they’re asking where the puppy is.  everyone else, as they arrive (ok two people) ask where the puppy is.

see, there wasn’t that much rain there.  and instead of pouring down it kinda drizzled and moistened.  so the ground got watered but not drenched.  heck, even the puddle at the side of the house, which fills up and swamps that side after a little rain, was drained out and reasonably unmuddy.  oh well.

yesterday was OK.  today it’s pouring rain again!  there was a sports bottle in the carport, so i set it out where it would get rained on while I took k to the vets for his  shots.  in the hour i was gone, it got ~1.5-2.0 ” …  that is a lotta rain for an hour!  :o  but apparently it only rains on our house :)

all natural meat-potatoes 31 August, 2006 at 7:44 am

ok

when have potatoes ever tasted like meat? i mean, i always thought potatoes tasted like … what is it again … dammit on the tip of my tongue …. p … o …. t … a …. t … o …. yeah. POTATOES

but apparently mcdonalds has special meat-grain-milk flavoured potatoes.

[quote]
natural flavor (beef, wheat and dairy sources),[/quote]

uh? that’s the third entry (of FIVE!) on the french fries.

and then they’re cooked in vegetable oil(s).

[quote] Cooked in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (may contain partially hydrogenated soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated corn oil and/or partially hydrogenated canola oil and/or cottonseed oil and/or sunflower oil and/or corn oil).[/quote]

that’s six freakin’ oils! five if you notice that corn oil is listed twice under different “variants” …

what, cook comes in and brings a bottle from home of whatever was on sale at the grocery?

[quote]our suppliers informed us
for the first time that hydrolyzed milk and hydrolyzed wheat are ingredients in the natural flavoring used[/quote]

just noticed this on the allergens page. so apparently the wheat and milk weren’t listed before. which means the “natural flavor” was … meat? with nothing else? b/c it only says three things, and two of them were “news to us!” …

at least their website FAQ has changed to “we accomodate special requests for vegetarian or allergen restrictions, but we do not represent any of our food as vegetarian and cannot garauntee that the preparation will not come in contact with allergen foods you wanted to avoid”

it’s better than a few years ago when they said the fries were vegetarian b/c they were cooked in veggie oil. ignore the natural beef potatoes :o