Done last week (20160508Su - 0514Sa)

[mdlbear]

Monday I got my new work laptop,and spent altogether too much time (much of 2 days, spread over 3) configuring it thanks mainly to an obscure bug in my .bashrc file.

It seems that, in Ubuntu 14.04, the wrapper script that starts sessions for lightdm -- or maybe just terminal sessions -- is written in bash (rather than the safer and more usual sh), so it naturally sources the user's .bashrc file on startup. This is usually a good thing, since the user's environment ends up being configured the way they like it. When a terminal emulator like xterm or gnome-terminal starts up, it uses whatever is in the $SHELL environment variable to create its shell. This fails when one has the seemingly-innocuous like "SHELL=$0" in one's .bashrc file.

This normally does exactly the right thing, because when you start a program -- and in particular a shell -- $0 is bound to the path that was used to start the program, and all is well. Unfortunately, in 14.04, the wrapper script is started in an odd way, with $0 bound to "bash" instead of to "/bin/bash". So terminals don't start, because they can't find the shell. What hurts is that the line was put in to fix a similar bug in RedHat, where shells were getting started by Gnome with $SHELL set wrong.

Anyway, by mid-week my job-related anxiety level was sky-high, and has remained that way.

Most of what I've been doing around the house counts as puttering.

Notes & links:

0508Su Mother's Day
  * up 06:15; W=196.4; dishes,... laundry, dinner
  * 15min:  books, end tables.
  : Barnard's new battery arrived.  I'd been expecting one of the 3-cell ones, but got a
    6.  Which I don't mind too much, since it gives it a 5-hour battery life.  It is not,
    unfortunately, easily upgradable.  (And probably not really worth the trouble.)
  * Farmer's market with Chaos and Colleen.  I was still busy when they wanted to leave,
    so I told them I'd catch up.  By the time I got there they were almost done.  We split
    up at QFC, with me going there for meat and C+C going to TJ's.  Also stopped off at
    the auto parts store for a turn signal bulb for the van.
  * shelf/towel rack in kids' bathroom.  The older of my two Ryobi drills appears to be
    dying -- there's a distinct smell of burnt insulation.
  * I'm also missing a couple of 25' tape measures.  At least two, maybe three.
    I did, however, find the worry-stick I've been missing and blamed the cats for -- it
    was in the top basket of my rolling file, evidently having fallen -- or been pushed --
    off the back of my desk.  I still blame the cats.
  : The screen-door rollers I got yesterday are the wrong kind.  I remembered wrong, and
    also got myself confused and bought three the same instead of two of one and one of
    the kind I knew I had one of at home.  There are two other kinds -- with a center
    screw, and cantelevered, and I need some of each.
  @ mdlbear | RainbowCon 1 - report from the con bear
  * made chili for dinner.  Four pounds of meat and two boxes of chili kit.  Win.
  
0509Mo
  * up 6:15; W=196.8; laundry, dinner
  : Got my new laptop at work.  Spent too much time configuring it.
  * Cooked chicken tikka masala for dinner.  By the time it was ready around 7:40 I was
    hungry enough that it was affecting my thinking.
  % at least, I *think* it was hunger.  My stomach is still hurting even after eating, so
    who knows?  It's not like I'm good at that kind of self-knowledge.
  : The halogen-replacement bulbs I ordered arrived; the one I put in the light fixture
    over the dressing table works perfectly.  Need three more, for the rest of the
    fixtures upstairs.
    -> ordered two of a different brand, since the one I ordered last week is out of stock.
  ~ replace dimmer switches upstairs - need at least 3 switches, maybe 5 -> dimmable bulbs
    work, so not urgent to replace the dimmers
  & don't have to call Invacare about the flashing wrench indicator light on Colleen's
    chair:  http://www.manualslib.com/manual/78153/Invacare-Pronto-M51-Base.html?page=26
    says 9 flashes is a "communication fault".  Re-seated the base-to-joystick connector.
    No more wrench.  (The manual says, "contact Invacare/dealer for service".  Foo.)
  x call Invacare

0510Tu
  * up 6:30; W=197.2; laundry, dishes
  * rough day at work, accomplishing almost nothing, frustratingly.  Managed to screw up
    my new laptop by installing xfce4-terminal on it.  That makes *all terminals* fail to
    start.  Apparently they run some kind of wrapper around the shell.  AARGH!
    Note that this does *not* happen on normal Ubuntu machines as far as I can tell.
    It may have something to do with systemd.
  * 15min:  A little book puttering.  Brought down the VG fir 1x12 that used to be the top
    shelf in the closet -- it'll be perfect for N's bedroom.
  % 9:16 sleepy, drifty

0511We
  * up 5:30; W=195.4; laundry,
  * *finally* got my new work laptop configured.  :P  Much time was wasted; I need to
    automate more of the setup process.  But it's usable now, with xmonad, eclipse, the
    local build system, and most if not all of the certificates I need.
  @ 
    The Rose: 272 Sq. Ft. Housetruck For Sale
  @ '99 Sterling Diesel Roadrunner House Truck For Sale 

0512Th
  * up 5:30; W=195.2; laundry, dishes
  * Found what was causing terminals to fail to start on my Ubuntu 14.04 laptop at work.
    (They worked under Unity, but not Gnome or Xmonad) ->  export SHELL=$0
    Aparently there are wrapper scripts that fail to use the full pathname.  This seems to
    be a problem unique to Ubuntu 14.04, but it does it at home too.  Not in 12.04,
    15.10, or 16.04.

0513Fr
  * Up 3:50; W=196; laundry, dishes
  @ West Seattle Blog… | West Seattle Crime Watch: The case of the leaping prowler
    You can see our back fence in the picture -- we may need to start keeping the back
    gate closed.
  : My next batch of stock vests on June 15th.  Not sure I can hang on that long.
  * Finally got everything working satisfactorily on my work laptop -- the final one was
    figuring out that plugging the PS2 trackball into the dock made it stop recognizing
    the trackpad!  WTF?  Putting it on a USB adapter worked.  :P
  * put up a bulb in Kat+Rabbit's room; left them the other one.  (Kat's out larping)
    The 10W LED bulbs aren't as bright as the 120W halogens, but they're close enough, and
    more than adequate.  I got a 14W to try in my room; I'll probably get more for the
    middle room upstairs because the ceiling is higher, and inverse square law.
    (No; as it turns out I had two more 10W bulbs on order; they're just being slow)
  % back hurts.  Left QL, I think.  Used the last of my methocarbamol.
  
0514Sa
  * Up 6ish; W=194.8; laundry, dishes
  @ How England's First Feline Show Countered Victorian Snobbery About Cats
    (The origins of English cat-tolerance (and -fancying) - Bitter Grace)
  @ The 50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time | TIME (including the Hitachi magic
    wand vibrator and the Commodore 64)
  % ok; things may not be completely hopeless.  I was noodling on the guitar, played a
    verse of "For Amy", then somehow launched into Donovan's "To Try for the Sun".
    Where the heck did *that* come from?
  * 15min:  a lot more than 15min, but puttering, mostly in the garage.  Some books
    arranging.  Some shredding.
  * Shopping:  Home Depot and Waltreens
  * one of the three boxes of shredding from the garage done.  Mindless, and I could
    easily have been doing something better.  But still.  A certain sense of
    accomplishment, and I damned well need it.
  * shop work and shelf-hanging.  Finding wall anchors with small enough heads and shafts
    was a challenge -- I eventually used 3/16" anchors with Spax screws.  Worked, but...
  ~ call Safeco -> told N the details of the settlement
  % wiped.  Back hurting.
  & Took a flexeril before bed

Comments

[alatefeline]

>>I did, however, find the worry-stick I've been missing and blamed the cats for -- it
was in the top basket of my rolling file, evidently having fallen -- or been pushed --
off the back of my desk. I still blame the cats. <<

Always blame the cats. Felines are sneaky and playful and good at dumping WTF's on their human minions.

>> Anyway, by mid-week my job-related anxiety level was sky-high, and has remained that way. <<

Ouch. Sorry. If I had a magic calming button I'd share it with you.

[mdlbear]

The magic button — Make Everything OK

It's a bit unreliable.

Here we either blame the cats or the housekeeper. The cats hardly ever empty the dishwasher or tidy up the kitchen.

Yay Button!

[alatefeline]

*delighted flail*

I am going to USE that button. A lot. Unreliable (nonexistent?) direct effects aside, smiling and laughing and saying that it will be okay is an AMAZING boost.

Also, cats are who you blame for screwing things up, or for fur up your nose. Unless they are actually there purring at you, the one you blame for good things is the dish fairies, the anima of the building, the residual good karma from actually tidying up, etc. Or your neighbor/partner/kid/parent/employee/whomever, but that's dull.