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The continuing adventures of ugly leg

Jul 012009

In the good news, I’ve have the time between my allergy shots extended to 4 weeks. I’ve felt ready for it for a couple of months. Now I’m pretty much on the home stretch of allergy shots. Also the doctor reviewed my previous blood test and found that I don’t have to have any more blood tests done to determine whether I’m genetically predisposed to clotting. Those were all done initially and I am definitely not a born clotter.

In clot news, I saw my doctor this morning to decide what’s next for the ugly leg. Â Considering my leg is pretty much the same as it was after 3 months the clot is still there and she says it’s likely to remain there. So the choice is whether to continue on the Warfarin and start developing a risk for major internal organ bleeding over time, or to stop taking it and see if the clot gets worse again. I decided it to put off that decision in favor of talking to a vascular surgeon to see what they think can be done.

Hopefully a surgeon will consider this something that can be dealt with and the clot can be removed. Since I’m not a clotter by nature I won’t have to worry about recurrence so much. I know what to look for now.

Fixed one thing broke another

boingboingboing!, bummer No Responses »

Sep 172008

A few weeks ago the microwave door wouldn’t latch shut anymore. Since the hooks in the door were intact and seemed to be moving okay I figured it was the latching mechanism. So I took it apart and took out the latching mechanism but nothing seemed to be wrong. Still, I called around to appliance parts stores and even though I was going to need to bring it in for proper identification, the total would be under $10. While it was out I held it and ran the door into it so I could get a good look and realized that the hooks weren’t settling down into the latch which meant they must be pulled down. Shaking the door yielded a rattling noise so I opened it up and found the spring on the bottom. The hook on the door frame that it latched on to was torn off. I guess that tiny plastic tab wasn’t enough. Â I went to the store for some appropriate glue, found about a hundred kinds of glue depending on what kind of plastic you have. I had no idea so I settled for one that claimed plastics in general and had a strength of 2300 lbs/sq in. Â It was an epoxy without the nasty smell, 90 minutes of work time and 6 hours for complete ready to use time. It’s worked perfectly ever since!

The broken thing was the Blackberry Pearl I had for work. It was still in my jacket when I washed it. I took it apart made sure it was dry, re-assembled it, and it would charge the battery and blink some status LED but that was it. Then I followed the directions I later found that said to put it in a sealed comtainer with rice and put that over something warm like a DVR Â for 5 days. That definitely pulled more moisture out and the backlight came on and some bad looking streaks showed on the LCD and then it was back to how it was the first time. I now fully admit it is dead and just when I was getting used to the keyboard and starting to appreciate the e-mail features.

A weekend of entertainment

boingboingboing!, bummer, Santa Cruz, Science No Responses »

May 122008

Saturday we went to the Computer History Museum to see the opening of Babbage’s Difference Engine exhibit. It’s the second one that’s been built and it’s impressive in person. After wandering through the rest of the museum we arrived at the difference engine in time to see them setting it up for calculation of an 8th degree polynomial. The setup took 5-10 minutes, first setting up the odd factors and then the evens before finally cranking away. We were surprised that engine is quiet while it runs aside from the periodic clunks as the rods shift. During setup there was a person explaining that the crank speed has to be fairly constant and if it’s too slow there isn’t enough momentum to operate correctly. As much as I liked the calculating part I think the printer output was just as impressive. Pulleys move the appropriate digits into position, an ink roller inks the digits and then the paper is pressed to the digits.

Saturday evening was another Santa Cruz Roller Girls roller derby match, this time between Fistful of Dollies and Beach Flat Betties. These two of the three local teams that the all-star team draws from to play against teams from other cities. Â The Dollies ended up winning by about ten points but it was pretty close all the way though. Robin Yo Life joined the announcers which was nice for clarifying what was going on at various points and amusingly it sometimes turned into comments that were meant more for coaching what was happening at that moment. Next match in Santa Cruz is on June 28.

Sunday we went to Bay Meadows for the final day of live racing and it was really crowded, both from people there for Mother’s Day and people there for the last day. For the first half there was a lot less smoking going on than normal, but then the parties with mothers thinned out some and the smoking kicked it up a notch. The horses ran, we lost money on our small bets, we ate junk food, it was a lot of fun.

Last day at work

boingboingboing!, bummer, work No Responses »

Feb 012008

This morning I planned to bake some things for work as a parting gift to my co-workers. I decided on this “Death by Chocolate” recipe (it’s not really deadly, but it is very good) and what some people call Sugar-Crack cookies (I should write that recipe up). I surveyed the ingredients, went to the store for what I didn’t have, came home, made the two chocolate pies and started on the cookies. Then I discovered with Nicole’s helpt aht I didn’t add up the butter right so back to the store for that. Then I came to the part that called for baking powder and remembered that I hadn’t picked up any since the last time I discovered we were out, so back to the store a third time! Finally I made the cookies and made it to work, but not before I apparently turned off the DSL modem, oh wait… Now I see the UPS looks like it’s decided not to work anymore so back into straight surge protector it goes.

Anyway, I made it to work and the chocolate pies were devorured along with the cookies. I checked in the last of my code changes, visited with a lot of people, had a goodbye lunch. Things were good. HR person wasn’t made aware until very late that I was leaving today so my exit interview was over the phone. I found the big box of kazoos from our wedding party that was left over and I gave them out throughout the building. I gave away the cube loot people wanted and since cube space was available at the new job so I carted all the stuff I was keeping on cart to the new cube in the new building. I answered some questions at the new job and ran back to the office so I could turn in my badge before the person I needed to turn them in to went home.

I had Dan go with me to Long’s so I could get back into the building after I bought a lot of chocolate to leave on my desk so people wouldn’t have to go cold turkey. Then I said my goodbyes to those still remaining and went home. I’m going to miss working with everyone there and I hope I get a chance to work with them again in the future.

New job time

boingboingboing!, bummer, work 1 Response »

Jan 262008

I’m leaving VeriSign (last day is next Friday, Feb 1), and while I’m sad I’ll be leaving my co-workers, I am excited to be moving on to a new job at Full Power (starting Monday, Feb 18). That gives me two weeks off before I start. It’s still local and in fact my commute will be shortened by a few hundred feet!

I’m bad at 3-day weekends

bummer No Responses »

Sep 302007

Recently I needed to reduce my vacation time and with the current project load not wanting me to take a block of time off I decided to take off a number of Fridays in a row. Either I have a problem with 3-day weekends that begin on a Friday, or I need more mental notice that one is coming. Unlike normal 3-day weekends I lose track of what day it is and feelÂ likeÂ I’mÂ wandering aimlessly. On Friday I feel like it’s Saturday and on Saturday I have to keep reminding myself that it isn’t Sunday and I’m not really going to work the next day. I think next time I need to keep in mind a 3-day weekend is coming.

Chicago…kinda

bummer, Things to do, work No Responses »

May 042007

Work sent me to Chicago two weeks ago. My co-workers and I flew in at night (late because United likes delays). The escalator leading out of concourse C had a video screen on each side of it. The boot device for the PC driving those screens had failed and you could see “Operating System Not Found” on the screen.

In the Hertz shuttle the LED display that showed the time and date was claiming it was November 30, 2026. The time was almost correct but it hadn’t been adjusted for daylight savings time yet.

The Hertz desk was having problems using their computer to find a car for us. I guess technology isn’t so hot in Chicago.

Since being back I’ve been told that Chicago has two seasons, Winter and construction. This was definitely construction season. We were cruising on the freeway to get to our hotel. A helpful sign pointed out that our exit was closed and we should take the exit before it as a detour. That sign is placed so you’ll only see it as you are passing the detour exit and the next exit was 15 minutes away. after going 30 minutes out of our way we made it to the hotel in Evanston.

The next morning was business breakfast in the hotel followed by a 3-hour meeting. Then a business lunch int he hotel, followed by another 3-hour meeting. Then there were informal but essential meetings in the hallway afterwards. Then it was time to go to the airport.

Evanston seems like a nice place and the return trip to the airport showed me a large Jewish population (bagel shops, kosher delis, two large temples). The houses have some really nice brick work on them. I was surprised a lot of trees weren’t starting to get leaves yet so a lot of areas looked barren, but it was neat seeing people paddle their little boats in the streams. I think I need to go check it out without business betting in the way.

Heading towards normalcy

boingboingboing!, bummer No Responses »

Mar 192007

Tami arrived back home yesterday, and I returned to work today. That makes for a more structured, but less entertaining day. In more exciting news, I had a hard drive failure on my desktop machine at home and with a little time here and there during Tami’s visit, and a little consultation with Eli, Anne, and Ben, I was able to get a new drive and get all but a few e-mail messages salvaged.

I was most concerned about Opera’s data since that’s also my e-mail reader and note keeper. I didn’t realize how much I had in there. Quicken was the easiest to restore and Trillian was a little tricky, but not too bad.

Next up is installing the sound card drivers, the extra IDE drivers, and catching up on everyone’s pages so I know what’s going on in everyone’s lives.

A cancerous dog have we

bummer, grrrrr No Responses »

Sep 052006

I’ve been avoiding talking about this unless it’s been directly mentioned. Partially because I just didn’t want to be thinking about it so much, and partially because when I told people about it I wanted as much information as possible. But I’m done with that now. We know all we’re going to know and it’s easier if others know.
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R.I.P. Maynard Ferguson: May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006

bummer, Music talk 4 Responses »

Aug 242006

The last of the biggies from the big-band era passed away yesterday from kidney & liver failure resulting from an abdominal infection. His last and final album that he just finished recording will be coming out this fall. I was hoping to see him again next year when his tour hit Salinas.
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