Done last week (20160214Su Valentine's Day - 0220Sa)

[mdlbear]

Mixed. Good week in some ways -- Thursday's basement-cleaning exercise with Giselle and N went a lot better than I expected. Getting rid of considerably more than we're keeping, which is good. Still need to do something like that in the garage.

My back hurts.

My back was not helped by spending all of yesterday sitting in uncomfortable chairs -- first at Lenscrafters while Emmy got her eyes examined, then at Harborview where they sent her for a CAT scan because her right optic nerve was swolen. *sigh* This happened back when she was 18; at that time the diagnosis was pseudotumor cerebri (which means that the pressure inside your head is high for no obvious reason), and she was told to lose weight. That's almost certainly the case this time, too. Not how I'd been planning to spend my Saturday, and not my favorite way of getting father-and-daughter time. Grumpy bear is grumpy.

I have not gotten much done at work this week. Grump.

Notes & links:

0214Su Valentine's Day
  * up 6:30ish; W=195.2; laundry, dishes
  "  Why am I sitting on this horse and where did all these windmills come from?
  " +(Kee Hinckley) (Immediately followed by "Where am I, and what am I doing in this
    handbasket...?")
  @ \TtH: the \TeX to HTML translator
    Probably more accurate than HeVeA - also, ttm translates to MathML
  * take out recycling and garbage (pickup Monday)
  * sort garbage, recycling, compostable in garage.  Some progress.
  * download the JPL posters.  They don't make it simple: the naming and even the formats
    are inconsistent between the solar system and exoplanets.
  : YD has been baking bread
  * more garage: a paper yard trash bag of compostable cardboard, and a white bag of
    garbage.  
  * Kat and Rabbit coming over for dinner - but no telling when.  Should have given them
    an early time to come over.  They'll probably only be here for an hour or two. 
    4:50: on their way.
  * Made sloppy joes for dinner, at Kat's suggestion.  Tasty.
  * Been comparing SSDs for Cygnus:  It's between Crucial BX100 250GB (70) and SanDisk SSD Plus 120GB ($45).  I don't really need the larger size; I'm currently
    at 44G (14 in / and 30 in /home).  May depend on how broke I'm feeling. 
  @ 50 Best Tiny Houses - Design Ideas for Small Homes
    Tiny Home Organizing Tips - Small Space Home Ideas
  & 15min:  just recycled a bag full of magazines -- the ones I didn't get around to
    reading on my trip to NC last year -- without even glancing at most of them.  Not sure
    whether this is a sign of practicality or depression.  It feels more like depression.
    Or at least, depressing.
  & Just dumped the batch that was in the box behind my desk chair.  I should drop my ACM
    membership -- I think I've read two or three in the last couple of years.

0215 Mo
  * up 5:45; W=196; laundry, dishes
  * The SSD choice is now between Crucial MX200 250GB ($80) and Crucial BX100 250GB ($70).  It's not clear that the hardware encryption is
    worthwhile, since I currently don't use it and don't know whether Ubuntu can take
    advantage of it.  -> M500 hardware encryption with GNU/Linux - Crucial Community says no.  (looks like
    some others do, though) cf. linux - SSD AES-256 hardware encryption - how to configure? - Super User 
  . secondary oncall
  @ Left-hand Writers
    revised 6/8/04 - This is an article submitted to The PENnant, the magazine of Pen
    Collectors of America for the winter 2000 issue.
    nibs.com also sells pens, nibs, and ink.

0216Tu
  * up 6:30; W=197.2; laundry, ..., dishes
  ! teared up a little reading an obit on FIP Fighters.  I can, apparently, feel
    emotions.  Negative ones, anyway, but it's better than nothing.  Maybe.  There is
    also, apparently, a difference between sad and depressed.  I'm mostly familiar with
    the latter.
  % 9:50ish:  restless
  & upgrade linux boxen for glibc patches.

0217We
  * Up 5:30; W=197.2;
  * reboot linux boxen
  * 15min:  cable management.  Reducing the rat's nest.
  : My glasses have been missing since yesterday.  I suspect that I may have left them in
    a conference room.  That, or they fell out of my pocket in the bus, which would be bad.
  * 11:15 Colleen UNW
    -> involved two cleanups, and we skipped lunch. :(
  x 2pm Steve Anita Brown
    -> cancelled in favor of going in to work for the division all-hands.  I would have
       gotten a lot more done staying home.  Decided not to go to the post-holiday party,
       which was a couple of miles away by Uber.  Of which I am not a member.  Maybe
       should have gone, since it would have included free food and drink.  So far today
     % I've had a couple of cups of coffee and a peanut butter and chutney sandwitch.
     & Plus a bowl of nuts and craisins after getting home.  Not complaining too much,
       since I'll probably lose weight.
  ! grumpy.  FB has been blocking my attempts to post in Filker.  Wanted to post
    @ Gittler Guitar which is gorgeous, north of $5K, and remarkably similar in
      appearance to what would have been my second-generation railgun guitar.
  ! I'm still not sure whether I regret not going to work's post-holiday party.       
  : The phone/internet problem is a short in the ancient line to the Rainbow Room.  Nice
    clean signal when plugged directly into the demarc.  Though of course that might
    change, too.

0215Th
  * up 5:30; W=196.6; laundry, dishes
  * WFH, sorting downstairs
  * 4ish Exhausted, but done.  All of the playroom - 15 boxes of books remaining.  Some of
    it, stuff I simply don't have the energy to think about right now, but a lot of good
    stuff.  Found (finally) 3:16, along with a number of other things that have been
    missed.  And some things that I really don't need, but am not ready to part with yet.
  @ Speaking Ranges for Characters (with Bonus Star Trek Videos) - Stardancer News
  @ Italy’s coffee pot king was buried in the appliance that made him famous - Quartz 
  @ It’s Been 20 Years Since This Man Declared Cyberspace Independence | WIRED
    A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace | EFF ([LWN.net])

0219Fr
  * up 5:30; W=196.6; laundry, dishes
  @ McCall’s Jumps Into Cosplay! | ComicMix (ysabetwordsmith )
  @ The Adipositivity Project (amaebi)  NSFW; gorgeous
    via Nude Photos Prove 'Big And Beautiful' People Have Love Stories Too
  @ At some point, you start
    burning inverse candle. The two ends pass each other and continue burning in an
    alternative plane of existence, and you keep on burning away because hey it's not like
    you have the alternative of not getting it done, right?  (kshandra)

0120Sa
  * up 5:30ish; W=198.2; laundry
  @ Burnout, creativity, and the tyranny of production schedules - Elizabeth Bear in
    Charlie's Diary f(Mary Anne Mohanraj)
  @ Steampunk 3d-printed guitar
    f(Margaret Middleton in Filker) $4K
    Making an Amazing Guitar with Polymaker PolyMax Advanced 3D Printing Filament |
    3DPrint.com maple neck, mahagony body insert -- takes the strain off the printed
    body.  Win.
  @ f(Ellen Eades - We were just discussing the political leanings of our pets...)
  * to Lenscrafters. much confusion, and they're out of network.  We're just getting
    glasses for Emmy at this point.  Colleen only needs an adjustment; I thought she
    needed a whole new pair.  And so on.  :P  I'm going to put off getting mine done,
    since the computer glasses see to be good enough for the moment.  Probably not for a
    multi-hour drive.  Glad I have them today, though.
  % 3:27 it's been a very long day, and I am not holding up well.  Colleen seems to be,
    though, so that's good.
  : ... and YD is scheduled for an MRI at Harborview.  Swollen optic nerve.  Eeep.
  : ... and Hillary won in Nevada.  We can hope that it isn't a trend, but...  N is
        panicked.  Understandably.
  & YD referred to Harborview -- took Colleen home, then headed over.  Not how I was
    planning to spend my evening.  Glad we had lunch at Azteca -- very late, and not all
    that good, but it's nearly 7 now.  My back is starting to hurt.
  @ Install YouTube-DL - A Command Line Video Download Tool for Linux apt-get
    How to Download MP3 Tracks from a YouTube Video Using YouTube-DL 
  % Observation:  I'm not as voracious a reader as I used to be.  Not entirely sure what
    to make of that.
  : cygnus is down to 14% power.  should plug in, since I can get to the socket now that
    they've moved the ultrasound machine out of the room. -> done.  8ish 23%
  % back hurts quite a lot.  Doesn't feel like QL but might be a different part of it than
    I usually injure.
  % 10pm back not hurting as much right now.  
  : YD done with her CAT scan (particularly appropriate for someone whose nickname is
    Neko-Chan"), so we may actually be getting out of here soonish.  For appropriately
    late values of "soon".
  : 11:06 cleared to go; nurse will be in with paperwork soon.  Hopefully we'll get home
    before midnight.
  * 11:40 home.

Comments

[montemplar]

I currently have a 128GB external SSD attached to my 2011 iMac, which acts as the system disk. I would have gone for a 250GB one, but was outside my budget at the time. Being a Thunderbolt-port-connected device, the vendor (Lacie) felt justified charging well over the odds, on the basis of Mac owners supposedly having more money that sense. Not this Mac owner. Only got this SSD because it was price-reduced at Amazon. (Used the excellent CamelCamelCamel price-watch service at http://camelcamelcamel.com/ to spot that bargain).

I did a big clear-out of all my old magazines and periodicals several years ago. To be honest, the Internet has been making most mags irrelevant for several decades now, but now that tablet devices are affordable and computers no longer have CD/DVD drives, the only reason to continue getting the dead tree version is nostalgia.

My parents own several Moka coffee pots in various sizes, so I've shared that story with them on Google+. :)

Doing web developer bootcamp has help me rediscover the joy of refactoring code. (Javascript, in this case.)

I started re-reading "Being Digital" by Nicholas Negroponte a while ago. Hard to know whether to laugh or cry. So much optimism and idealism at the time he penned it (1995).

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Not what you might have hoped, but any week that includes basement-clearing at all inspires awe in me.

[mdlbear]

I had help. But, yeah -- it's awesome. It'll be even more awesome after the rest of the donation stuff gets hauled off.

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

I shall prepare a liturgical dance.

[mdlbear]

I am having trouble picturing that in my mind -- I look forward to the performance. :)

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

:D

[carol-kitty.livejournal.com]

I hope Emmy is ok. Thoughts for all of you and please take care of yourself.

[mdlbear]

She appears to be ok. This appears to be a recurrence of a condition she's had before.