Star's End: Jamie's Blog

After the rains

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:34:24 GMT

It stopped raining yesterday and today was bright and sunny with temperatures in the 70s. I was up at 4:20 but didn't make it into the gym today. While I slept better last night, it was still not great. I'd planned to go to the gym after work, but when our first softball practice was canceled (due to a muddy field), I gave up. In fact, I made matters much worse when I got home by ordering a pizza and then eating nearly three-quarters of the thing by myself.

On the train home this afternoon, I noted the Potomac was muddy and flooded. In fact, at high tide (which it must have been since the moon was overhead), water on the north bank had flooded over onto the sidewalk, the first time in 6 years that I can remember seeing that happen. (FYI, just in case, I just checked and high tide was at 3:56 PM today; I crossed the river about 10 minutes after 4.)

I managed to watch Randy Pausch's lecture on time management today, which was excellent.

I had about 10 pieces of mail when I got home, and every single one of them was junk. I think that might be a record for a single day. There was no one piece of live mail in the bunch.

The workday was made up mostly of meetings, three or four hours of them. I think I have a similar schedule tomorrow. But tomorrow morning, at least, I hope to get to the gym beforehand.

he11o_sunshine and stubiebrother should be on their way to Paris about now, for a week in and around that famous city. Bon voyage!

Catching up on science

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:21:08 GMT

I'm three months behind on my SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN reading, but that's not really news, it's status quo these days. On the train ride home this afternoon, I tried to correct that, working back from most recent with the May 2008 issue. A few items to note:

Page 36 has an in memorium for Sir Arthur C. Clarke. The brief item reminds us of Clarke's scientific optimism and recalls the most famous of his three "laws", that "a sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." But it concludes with what I feel is an even more touching and positive sentiment:

An asteroid, an orbit, a species of dinosaur and several prizes have been named after him. Many scientists, astronauts and writers have credited him with inspiring them in starting their careers. His impact, you might say, was indistinguishable from magic.

I was rather dismayed by the forum opinion column by Mark Alpert, titled, "The Mad Scientist Myth" with the subtitle "Readers need more novels about real science". The article criticizes novels by the likes of H.G. Wells and Ian Fleming for their portrayal of "mad scientists", and points to Sinclair Lewis's Arrowsmith, which won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize as an early example of a novel that does a good job at portraying scientists. He goes on to mention a few other novels that achieve this goal, with authors like John Updike and Allergra Goodman. He concludes:

A good work of fiction can convey the smell of a laboratory, the colors of a dissected heart, the anxieties of a chemist and the joys of an astronomer... Novels such as Intuition, with their fully fleshed out characters and messy conflicts, can erase the sinister Dr. No cartoons. And most important, these books can inspire readers to become scientists themselves.

When I read this I was thunderstruck. Did this guy grow up on an island? John W. Campbell, who took over as editor of Astounding Science Fiction in 1938 and was at the helm until his death in 1971, did exactly this: he insisted that scientists in fiction be real people, with real problems to solve; he turned away from the action/adventure/mad scientist and by doing so, appealed to a generation of writers that gave birth to the Golden Age of science fiction. Readers need more novels about real science, Alpert says. Has he never read a book by Arthur C. Clarke? Or Isaac Asimov? Or Hal Clement? How about a book by Robert Silverberg? Or Robert Heinlein? Present day writers who write novels about real science are too many to count. Glancing at the titles and authors on my bookshelves, I see novels about science by Greg Bear and Gregory Benford; by Joe Haldeman; by Robert J. Sawyer. Walk into any Barnes & Noble or Borders and the science fiction section is filled with more novels about science than the science and nature section is filled with science books. Furthermore, ask a scientist what inspired him or her to become a scientists and odds are that he or she will tell you that part of it had to do with reading science fiction as a kid. I agree we need more novels about real science. But I don't think you have to look very far to find a whole lot of good ones already out there.

Finally, there is a fascinating article on "Science 2.0", or the notion of using social networking as an added tool to peer review in science. The premise is, in essence, to publish everything online, to make the web each and every scientists' notebook, one in which other scientists could comment, and provide immediate feedback. The discussion of pros and cons is a fascinating insight into the world of peer review, tenure tracks, publishing, where the science seems to get lost in a process that rewards priority and secrecy. Publishing mistakes can be as useful as publishing successes. Those of us who've taken science courses know that this is why our teachers told us never to erase things. We need to learn from that. And in a social networking environment, we can learn from more than just ourselves. For those interested, the article happens to be freely available on the Scientific American website.

The rain it raineth every day

Mon, 12 May 2008 23:42:41 GMT

I heard we'd received about 6 inches of rain since yesterday afternoon. It wouldn't surprise me. It rained heavily for what seemed to be more than 24 hours and yards on the south side of my street, closer the the railroad tracks, are flooded. It's not raining now.

Didn't really sleep last night--second night in a row that I've had trouble. So I took a sick day today. I thought I might get caught up on sleep, but I didn't sleep during the day either. I plan on sleeping tonight. I rather forced the issue. I took some NyQuil and I'm heading off to bed as soon as I finish this post and pack my lunch.

Lazy, rainy Sunday

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:15:02 GMT

I didn't want to get out of bed this morning. I was very comfortable and wanted to sleep in some. I guess I did sleep in a little bit. I think I finally got up around 8:30 AM. Kelly and I had breakfast and finished up some laundry, and then we headed out to do some grocery shopping, stopping at Target and the grocery store.

Kelly headed home early today in order to avoid being caught out on the roads when the rain started, and to have time to go to the gym. I spent my entire afternoon in the productive activity of watching episode after episode from season 6 of The West Wing. I could have spent that time cleaning up the place, which has gotten to be a bit of mess. But why bother, right? There's always tomorrow.

I spoke to he11o_sunshine on the phone this afternoon. I also called Mom to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. (Did you know that today is the 100th anniversary of the Mother's Day holiday?) And I called vickyandnorm to congratulate Norm on his graduating from UConn yesterday and obtaining his Ph.D. Now I'm packing my lunch and heading off to bed. I'm back to the gym in the morning, and this week, I'm back to strength training in addition to cardio.

Friday cardio workout

Fri, 09 May 2008 21:05:19 GMT

I didn't get to the gym this morning; instead I did some extra work. But I didn't skip either. I headed to the gym at 4 PM and did 30 minutes of cardio. I pushed a little harder. My heart rate is still way up, but once I settle in it should come back down again. In any event, it felt good, no knee pain or anything.

Interviews, interviews

Fri, 09 May 2008 01:51:24 GMT

Got to sleep in a little this morning because I was at Kelly's last night, and she lives so close to work that we can leave much later. That's always nice. I actually slept really well last night. It was warm, but not hot, and with the storms coming in, there was a nice breeze in the air.

Busy day at work with meetings and two interviews that I did today. During the second interview, I was training someone on how to do these screening interviews and that proved to be pretty useful, I think. But it made for a long day in the office. I didn't leave until after 5 PM and didn't get home until about 6 PM. I decided to be lazy this evening and avoided doing anything remotely productive.

Had a check in the mail from my landlord for the electrical work I had done earlier in the week. I paid the bill and he reimbursed me for it. I have the best landlord ever invented.

Still doing good with no carbs for dinner. (I'm back to that now that I'm back to the gym.) I cheated just a little tonight, when I had a few cookies, but I'm improving. It's much easier to phase it in than to do it cold turkey. (What, I wonder, is the etymology of that expression?)

Did some reading today--I'm more than 300 pages through In Joy Still Felt.

It rained just about all day, at times pretty hard, and I think more is expected overnight and into tomorrow. Lots of phone calls today. Spoke to Mom, Dad, Doug, and he11o_sunshine. Mom and Dad are out of town this weekend for my Uncle Bob's funeral in Utah. That means Mom will be away on Mother's Day and so I had flowers sent to her today. She called when she got home to tell me she'd gotten them.

I failed to follow up on my blood donation yesterday. It all went well. I managed to donate an entire pint in about 6 minutes. I felt a little light-headed but not nearly as much as the first time. It's not a pleasant experience. I don't mind the sight of blood in the least, but I don't like the feeling of your life being slowing sucked away. It's one of those things that is--for all it's discomfort--not worth doing; except that it is worth doing. And if you understand that, then you know exactly what cognitive dissonance is all about. In fact, I hate the feeling, but I force myself to do it anyway. I get through by cracking bad jokes. The Red Cross people were great and they have the efficiency of their process down to a science. I was, however, amused by one inefficiency that I noted. In the screening process, I was asked for a picture ID. I gave my driver's license. The nurse placed the license before her and keyed in some information. She asked me a few questions and then asked, "What's your date of birth?" I thought that was odd, since my DOB is right there in red on the license. But I answered. A few minutes later, she asked again. I answered but I was mildly annoyed. Lesson: if you have the information in front of you, save everyone time and don't ask! I'd been warned not to exert myself too much. Running for a train after work, I discovered why. I was completely out of breath, my heart was pounding. I felt unmanned. Of course, I feel back to normal today.

Def Leppard has a new studio album out, their first one to make the top ten since 1992. I downloaded it to my iPhone this morning, but haven't listened to it yet. strausmouse is skeptical.

Gym tomorrow morning. Another busy day.

Good luck, Norm!

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:07:24 GMT

Norm (of the infamous vickyandnorm clan), defends his Ph.D. thesis tomorrow, and then graduates from UConn on Saturday.

Not to belittle the professions (doctors, dentists, and lawyers), but a Ph.D. is the highest academic agree awarded for original research. (True, M.D.s spend years in school, but it is technical training, and usually does not involve original research.) We've already got one Ph.D in the group, Doctor rmstraus, and I am exceedingly eager to welcome our second, when this weekend, Norm will officially change his first name from "Norm" to "Doctor Norm".

I must be perfectly honest and admit that I am fearfully envious of both Norm and Ryane. I have often dreamed about going back to school and getting a Ph.D. in some subject that fascinates me. Alas, there are too many subjects to choose from (astronomy, computer science, history, and physics to name just a few), and too little time. And besides, I have grown use to my lifestyle and it would be incredibly difficult to change things now. I've had some achievements of which I have been proud (graduating from college, getting my pilot's license, selling a science fiction story) but getting a Ph.D. makes these achievements pale in comparison in my mind. I am exceedingly lucky to have such hyper-talented friends and I am thrilled for Norm and I wish him the best of luck on his defense tomorrow, although I'm certain he doesn't need it.

Blood, sweat and tears (not necessarily in that order)

Wed, 07 May 2008 11:55:50 GMT

Up at 4:20 AM after getting to sleep after 10 PM. When I woke up, I was in no mood to go to the gym, but I ate breakfast, got ready, and headed into the office. By the time I got to the office, my mood was better and I went to the gym.

25 minutes of cardio today, abbreviated mainly because I became famished while on the elliptical. Even though I ate breakfast, I was still hungry and the feeling was growing more intense with each step. So I made it to 25 minutes and called it quits. When I got back to the office, I had my "second" breakfast (toasted peanut butter and banana sandwich). I feel much better.

You'd think the big news this morning would have been that Obama won North Carolina and nearly split Indiana, all of which was good news for Obama (it would have been better if he had decisively won both, of course). But no. The top story this morning (while I was at the gym) was the fact that northern Virgina area experienced a whopping 1.5 magnitude earthquake.

You didn't read that wrong: 1.5.

For those of us who lived in Southern California, a 1.5 magnitude earthquake making top story in the news would be the equivalent of a 1.5 cm snow storm making top-story of the news in Boston in the middle of winter. Of course, this isn't Socal, but still, a 1.5 earthquake is what happens when a truck passed by on the street.

I may be biased here. I lived through numerous quakes, including the deadly Northridge quake in 1994--in fact, my family lived in Northridge at the time, and had to relocate for a few months while damage to our house was repaired. It got to the point, eventually, where I didn't even get out of bed for anything less than a 5.0 magnitude earthquake, mostly because I am a heavy sleeper and I simply slept through them.

I'm donating blood this morning. The Red Cross is here at my office taking donations and I signed up a while back. I have a 9:30 appointment. This will be my second time donating. The first time, my blood type was identified as O positive and since then, I get at least 1 call a week from the Red Cross, asking me to donate blood. This, despite the fact that you can only donate once every 45 days or so. If ever the term "vampire" applied...

Addendum

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:56:32 GMT

Since I almost always mention my evening calls and who I talked to during the day, and knowing how sensitive a certain someone can be, I would be remiss in my journaling duties if I failed to mention the fact that I spoke to strausmouse on the phone this evening. (I also called vickyandnorm but, alas, only got to speak to their answering machine.)

Home work

Tue, 06 May 2008 23:51:21 GMT

Days that I work from home always seem longer than days that I'm in the office. I think it's the lack of a commute. I get started early, don't have to commute in, don't have to commute home, and I usually work later. And to top it off, I had 4 hours of phone meetings that stretched my poor phone battery to it's limits.

The bathroom fan has been replaced. The electrician came out today. They were scheduled to come out between 8 and 10 AM. At around 9:30, I got a call from the guy telling me he was stuck on a job and would be closer to noon. He was very polite and apologized. And because he had the courtesy to call and explain, I didn't mind in the least. He ended up getting here around 11 AM, and made quick work, pulling out the old fan, replacing it, and adding a new cover too. Twenty minutes.

I've been doing some work on my modeling software--that's the software that I first developed about 10 or 11 years ago that I use to manage my finances. I've been fixing some bugs with it. I've been considering doing a new version of it, but I'm trying instead to adapt the current version to my needs. I'd rather spend the time getting back to writing.

Been keeping an eye on the Indiana primary, now that Obama won North Carolina. News is currently saying that Clinton has the lead, but it's still too early to call it. I'm hoping Obama can pull off a victory there and that Clinton will get out of the race. We'll see.

Going to pack my lunch for tomorrow and then head off to bed. As busy as I was today, I don't feel very accomplished, for some reason.

It's full of stars!

Tue, 06 May 2008 02:01:47 GMT

Work went by quickly today, and I was kept fairly busy throughout the day. In fact, I didn't get out of the office until almost 5 PM. I had a 6 PM meeting so once I left, I couldn't dawdle. While waiting to change trains at Mt. Vernon Square, a man came up to me and asked, in a thick Russian accent, "Do you speak Russian?" I said no, but I wonder why he asked me, of all people.

I was back home just before 6 PM, in time for my meeting, which fortunately only lasted 30 minutes.

Got the July issue of ASIMOV'S in the mail today and the JULY/AUGUST issue of ANALOG. Also my American Express bill.

I packed my lunch today, and I also managed to eat second breakfast after the gym. It was a good day health-wise. In fact, I capped it with a low-carb dinner of hummus and carrots and tuna fish (no bread, just the tuna). It was good!

Yesterday, I started reading Randy Pausch's book, The Last Lecture. This morning, I finished it. It was a great book. I really enjoyed it. Once I was finished, I couldn't let it go at that. I went to the website and I watched all 76 minutes of the actual lecture. It was incredible. On the train home, I resumed In Joy Still Felt. I'm nearly 300 pages through at this point.

Spoke with he11o_sunshine this evening. Also talked to Doug for a while.

I'm working from home tomorrow (which is why it's 10 PM and I'm still awake). I have an electrician coming by to do some work.

I took the telescope out briefly this evening. I still need to align it properly but I was able to look at a few stars. I spent about 30 minutes at it. Not only was it fun, but it was relaxing, too.

Don't skimp on the important stuff!

Mon, 05 May 2008 11:23:14 GMT

Thinking about the toilet paper in the restrooms at the office, I am reminded that there are some things that we shouldn't be cheap about. Toilet paper is one of them.

Back to the gym

Mon, 05 May 2008 11:02:12 GMT

After a few month of sabbatical, I finally made it back to the gym this morning. I was up at 4:20 AM (after having been in bed just before 8 PM), had breakfast, and then headed into the office. I did a quick check of email and then headed over to the gym.

I did 40 minutes of cardio, taking it easy, and not trying to push myself (although I eventually worked my way up to 80 RPM). A little bit of right knee pain about 25 minutes in, but I adjusted my leg motion and the pain went away. I ended up burning 558 calories and doing 2.98 miles.

I feel pretty good for just having made it to the gym this morning.

And a lazy Sunday, too

Sun, 04 May 2008 23:48:16 GMT

Rich called around 10:30 last night and I spoke to him on the phone for half an hour or so. He deploys to Iraq in about 2-1/2 weeks, to a base north of Baghdad. He'll be over there doing trauma surgery for the next third of a year.

We slept in until around 8:30. The early part of the morning was spent doing laundry and other odds and ends. Sometime after 11, we headed out. We walked over to the town center, where an arts festival was taking place, and browsed for a while. After that we walked over to the Riversdale Mansion, where they were having "kids" day. Kelly and I took a "kids" tour of the mansion house. In the 6 years I've lived here, I'd never been inside, but today, I finally went in.

We took an early afternoon nap and were awakened by Zeke, who was throwing up. Of course, I became anxious, but he seems to be doing fine now, and he was up and eating just a little while ago.

Late this afternoon, we headed over to downtown Silver Spring to walk around for a little while. I stopped in a Whole Foods while there, to pick up some additional groceries. I made us ravioli for dinner. After dinner, Kelly headed back home.

I spoke to Mom and Dad this evening. I also spoke to Dan for a while this evening. Dan sounded pretty sick on the phone.

My lunch is packed and I'm planning to (finally!) get to the gym tomorrow morning so I'm trying to get to bed bed 8:20. I'm also trying to finish up The Last Lecture, but I probably won't actually finish it until tomorrow. And I'm hoping to finish up In Joy Still Felt this week.

Lazy Saturday

Sun, 04 May 2008 01:58:59 GMT

It's been 3 or 4 weeks since Kelly and I have had a free weekend, but we planned to have a quiet, relaxing one today. I stayed in bed until 8:30 or 9 AM, I think. Kelly was already up when I finally pulled my way out of bed. The weather was warm--the first really warm morning of the year. We decided to take advantage of it. We grabbed the basketball and headed over the local park to shoot some hoops. I was terrible at first, but slowly managed to get my game back. Kelly was very good, but as she pointed out, she had a hoop in her driveway growing up.

After, Kelly went to the gym and I did some reading and worked on the computer. Around 12:30, we headed to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. We'd invited A.J. and Denisse. A.J. was off playing tennis and our lunchtime was too early for Denisse. I had a good chicken salad sandwich, but it was way too much food for me.

We walked back to Kelly's, collected her laundry and then headed up to my house. At 4 PM, we took Zeke to his regularly scheduled vet appointment. He got his shots, and impressed Kelly (and the vet) by his strength when he tried to keep himself in his carrier once at the vet. Everything is good, but he needs to lose some weight. He weights about 16.5 lbs and should be around 13 lbs. Much of the weight gain is due to his special diet. Beginning this afternoon, therefore, I started him on "meals" rather than leaving his dry food out for him. He gets 2/3rds of a cup in the morning, and 2/3rds in the evening.

We were supposed to stick around from 5-8 PM to wait for the cable guy to "cap the line". We spent some of that time reading parts of The Last Lecture to one another. Sometime around 4:30, I noticed a cable truck across the street, but no one ever stopped by. By 6 PM, I was a little impatient. I checked the cable, and wouldn't you know it!--they had capped the line--and I now only get the local channels, as I requested. I was annoyed enough, however, to call Comcast and ask them why I had to stick around if no one had to come in the house. They didn't have an answer for that, of course.

We celebrated by driving up the lake and taking a walk around it. Usually, we walk around twice, but there were dark clouds looming close by so we kept it at a single loop. From there we headed to the grocery store to do the shopping.

At home this evening, I made french bread pizza, which turned out okay. We watched last night's The Office and we both agree that the show is going downhill. It's depressing.

I wanted to take the telescope out tonight. Saturn is visible and it would be great to get a look at it, but it was still cloudy when I last checked.

Out of this world

Fri, 02 May 2008 17:20:25 GMT

Eventually, I fell asleep last night. At some point, I had a rather remarkable dream. I was standing on some other planet (perhaps the moon, but I don't think so). The Earth rose above the horizon casting a bluish light across the sky. It was close enough to make out the continents and oceans and clouds, and what's more, I could see it rotating on it's axis. I distinctly recall how bright and blue the oceans looks. It was spectacular.

Still here...

Fri, 02 May 2008 06:33:52 GMT

Still awake. This is infuriating.

Insomnia

Fri, 02 May 2008 04:15:15 GMT

For the first time in a long time, I simply can't sleep. I'm tired, but I toss and turn. After a while, I give up. Now, I'm back to watching episodes of The West Wing.

Ten years ago today

Fri, 02 May 2008 01:22:49 GMT

Quoted here, from my diary, without comment:

Saturday, May 1, 1998 -- I think that I decided that I want to be an astronaut today. I know that sounds odd, especially since I'm already 26 years old and "grown up". But I was browsing some of NASA's web today and found their astronaut candidate program pages. I know I don't have a chance in hell to qualify. And I'm not kidding myself. It was only a daydream... but... I certainly may not make it. But think of what I can do for myself by trying. I can put myself into outstanding mental and physical condition. I can try to learn new things with a real heroic goal in mind. And as long as I remain realistic from the start (my chances are extraordinarily slim) I can't lose. I'll come out a far better person than I went in no matter what.

May Day

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:55:09 GMT

Kelly put on Futurama (the movie) last night around 8 PM and tried as I might, I couldn't make it through it. I fell asleep something like 40 minutes into the thing. When we finally went to bed, we were kept up by the noise of moving furniture in the next apartment. Given that it was April 30, I figured someone was moving out. It seemed to last until around midnight or so.

Luckily, I could sleep in this morning and I was into the office around 8:30 AM. Busy day today, writing SQL code. My grandboss was in the office too and hosted a luncheon for our group. We had a fire drill this morning. I had a "tip" that it was coming so I pulled out my softball mitt and a ball and when we all marched over to the gathering area as part of the drill, I had something to keep me occupied for the 15 minutes or so it took to count everyone. Turns out that the president of the company was in town. When I worked in Santa Monica, I was his assigned computer support guy and I hadn't seen him in a while. I said hello, and since he's a Red Sox fan, we talked baseball on the walk back to the office.

I had to walk home from the Metro station this evening because my car was at home (I drove Kelly's car into work yesterday), but it was nice out--warm even. I called Rich and left him a message. Tricia told me he's deploying to Iraq in about 3 weeks. He'd called the other night but I'd already gone to bed. I also called he11o_sunshine and we talked for a while.

Spent the rest of the evening watching episodes of the fifth season of The West Wing. I've only seen the 5th-7th seasons once and I was reminded of one of my favorite (and to be honest, one of the funniest) lines of the show. It's when President Bartlett, ranting about the importance of scientific research says, "Have you seen these grant applications? Thank God they didn't have these in Einstein's day or goodness knows what E would have equaled." I think that series was the last television show that had consistently brilliant writing. Even The Office, whose first three seasons were hysterically written, turned me off, more or less, with last week's episode. I'm not even bothering to watch it tonight.

Besides, I should be writing. I should be getting back to the gym. I should, I should, I should.

What the heck's the matter with me, anyway?

Mayday! Mayday!

Hump day

Thu, 01 May 2008 00:05:03 GMT

Up at 4:20 AM. Since I had Kelly's car (from the weekend), I drove into work this morning and got there right at 5 AM. I was still tired, but I started working right away, and except for an abbreviated lunch break, I worked straight through. I actually felt pretty good about what I managed to get done today. I managed to squeeze in a 25 minute nap at lunch and it really helped.

I left the office at 4 PM. It was $16 to park there fore the day, but it only took me about 10 minutes to get back to Kelly's. Kelly got home around 4:40 and we took advantage of the pleasant evening to walk over to Whole Foods, where we did a little shopping and got salads for dinner.

We also booked our holiday travel. Yes, it's 8 month before Christmas, but with crazy fuel prices, and unpredictable airfares, we decided to lock in our fare now. We're heading down to Florida from December 20-27 and we have our tickets. Should be a lot of fun!

Not much reading today.

Graveyard shift

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:35:16 GMT

It's been a long day. It started at midnight, when I got up in order to do a server upgrade. All told, that took 4 hours and I finally got back to bed between 4 and 5 AM. I slept for an hour and a half or so before getting up again, grabbing breakfast and starting my day. My last meeting ended around 3 PM. Once that was over, I took a break in order to mow the lawn. Since I last cut the grass, there has been a lot of rain and the grass grew taller than I've ever seen it in the 6 years that I've lived here. I think I nearly broke my mower trying to plow through it. But at least it's done, front and back, and so I'm good on the home front for another week or so.

I finally arranged for an electrician to come by next Tuesday. We played phone tag, but finally talked and I was able to get a quote ($135 total) for what I needed.

Phone call from he11o_sunshine last night, but we didn't get to talk long because I was off to bed so early. And tonight's a repeat, only tonight, I get to sleep in 4 hours longer than last night. I'm back to my normal routine of getting up at 4:20 AM.

I'm about 140 pages through In Joy Still Felt. Going to do a little more reading before lights out.

Make-up day

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:48:08 GMT

Kelly and I got back to Washington early this morning, around 1 AM. It was raining when I left or L.A. and it was raining when I returned. I stayed at Kelly's last night and got home this morning. I worked from home today because (a) I got in so late last night and (b) I have to work tonight beginning at midnight. In between various work task, I managed to catch up with a few things that I couldn't do when I was gone last week. First, I canceled my cable, finally. Well sort of. Turns out it costs the same to keep Internet service and local channels as it does for just internet, so I did that. It cuts my bill by more than half. The cable guy is coming Saturday evening between 5-8 PM to cap the line.

I also called the vet to order more wet and dry food for Zeke. I headed over to pick it up early this afternoon. I also made an appointment for Zeke on Saturday at 4 PM. I called an electrician about some work I need done and have been playing phone tag this afternoon, but hope to get him out Saturday as well. And I even managed to squeeze in a haircut.

And speaking of haircut, with all of the rain we've gotten my yard is overrun by long grass. But I have to wait for it to dry out before I can cut it.

I have to return the cable boxes at some point, and then we're transferring my Tivo unit and service to Kelly's house. Probably do that next week.

A lot of junk mail over the course of the week, but some good "live" mail too The latest issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN as well as the June issue of F&SF. I got my HHonors Silver card for 2008/09 in the mail today. The bill from my accountant was there too, along with my AOPA Pilot magazine.

I'm off to bed now (yes, it's not even 6 PM) because I have to be up at midnight to do a server upgrade.

(I realize that I have not yet caught up on Saturday or Sunday yet, to say nothing of comment on the nebula award winners, but I will as soon as I have a chance to breathe.)

Heat wave?

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:19:26 GMT

Busy as I have been all week, I have neglected to mention how beautiful the weather has been in Santa Monica. Crystal clear skies. Temperatures in the low-to-mid 70s all week long. When Kelly and I woke up this morning, and finally decided to get out of bed around 8 AM, it looked overcast, but that was because we had the thick curtains in our room pulled tightly shut. When we opened them, it was bright and sunny out.

Turns out it's going to be just about 90 degrees today.

In Santa Monica!

That's almost unheard of. We are getting together with some of Kelly's friends around 10 AM. Mom and Dad should be out here around 2 PM and we are spending the rest of the day with them. We have dinner reservations at Ocean Avenue Seafood for 6 PM.

Okay, well, Kelly's back from the gym. I need to get ready.

Retreat prep

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:15:01 GMT

I was up at 6 AM after getting nearly 10 hours of sleep last night. Some weird, recurring dreams, but otherwise, I slept well. I nervously used the hotel shampoo in the shower this morning, remembering the reaction I had a few weeks ago at the W in New York. So far, so good.

I'm out here in Santa Monica this week for a team "retreat"--a planning session for next year. We've got two and half days worth of all-day meetings beginning at 8 AM this morning. Today, I've got lunch scheduled with Jim and Robert. Tonight is our retreat dinner. I may have a chance to do one more update later today, before I go to bed. We'll see...