Thursday, September 23, 2004
I’ve been a lot more responsible lately. For example, last night I put the last dish in the sink, looked down at it, and though to myself, I want to have a clean, empty sink. So I cleaned all the dishes, gave the sink my Chlorine Enema™, and wiped it down with Clorox. And afterwards I felt good. This is in contrast to my attitude at my old apartment, which I can summarize as “Eh.” Picture a Gallic shrug to accompany it. It’s […]
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Apparently, summer has grumpily decided to play ball once again. Temperatures were back in the 80’s on Tuesday. I had a tough time concentrating at work on Tuesday. I had a good day; more productive than almost any other day in months. But Monday was better, and I’m probably a bit worried that my initial enthusiasm is already waning. I was tired and generally a bit bored with documentation work. Hard to blame […]
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Sunday, fall arrived like a hammer blow. I woke up to a 70-degree house and that nip in the air that can only be found in fall. Spring can be cold, but it’s a gentle kind of cold. Sunday morning hinted of falling leaves and leather jackets. Sunday was pretty much perfect. I woke up at noon, which negated my morning but left me completely rested, so I figured that was […]
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Balance is a lie. I’ve talked about life balance before, I think. Balance says that you should find a way of doing everything in its proper proportion. It says that, in a given week, you’ll always be giving a certain percent of your time to work, another percent to your family, another percent to your friends, and so on. It says that you should seek a way of serving all […]
Thursday, September 16, 2004
How to summarize the last few weeks? I’ve moved in to my townhouse. That took quite a while, actually, about a month’s worth of trips to and from my old apartment. I just have so much stuff; computers, musical instruments, clothes, books, CDs, DVDs…and none of it is easily trashed. I’m not truly settled in yet, though. I still feel like I’m living in a hotel. I want to feel settled, like this is home, […]
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Okay, I seem to be having interesting problems with updating this journal, but at least it’s back. Short version of recent events: I’m fine, and my server is fine. It’s taken an awfully long time to resolve a lot of weird little problems with the server, but on the whole I’m pleased with the server. The new townhouse is good, though it’s a lot of work. I’m kinda overwhelmed with everything there […]
Friday, August 20, 2004
Reviewed the townhouse again last night. There’s a lot to be done. For those unfamiliar with the process, here’s a quick overview of the steps required in buying a home: Look for homes that are being sold. You can do this through an agent, or not. The standard trade-off applies: If you use an agent, you have have to pay him/her fees when you “close” (more on that later), but the agent does […]
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Well, that’s it. I closed on a townhouse this morning. I now own a home, as much as anyone actually owns one. Amazingly, I’m not a complete basket case. I’m pretty calm about it. This was a decision I came to slowly and deliberately. This feels right. More VR story coming later today.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
I read Donald Norman’s The Design of Everday Things last week. I expected a set of case studies in product design. Perhaps each chapter would be devoted to a particular modern appliance or tool — the teapot, the toaster, the microwave oven — and illuminate its faults and successes. The book does study various everyday things, but it’s much more of a manifesto than a set of case studies. It’s a call for reasonable design. It pleads […]
Monday, August 16, 2004
This past week has been a complete blur of work. The customer came in to audit our documents. This translated to half a dozen folks sitting in front of computers in a conference room, electronically reviewing documents and writing up “Formal Action Items” if they found anything wrong. A Form Action Item is essentially a description of a problem that needs to be resolved before the customer will accept the documents. Unfortunately, the customer was […]