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Jul. 11th, 2005
I had a weekend of computer problems like you wouldn't believe. Kelly and I had a fit of DIY inspiration and decided we'd make our own invitations for The Thing instead of having them printed. We decided this justified the purchase of a new printer. Kelly was surprised at my complete lack of enthusiasm for a new printer, but I really hate the entire concept of printers and printing. I think it has something to do with my years as a professional paper jam consultant at the Amherst College computer center. Anyway, the new printer is quite possibly more of a headache than all of the other printers I've owned in my life. I think I got it to dump core when I tried to print an envelope. We'll see what HP customer support says. I have a few days to make it work before we give up and go with our backup plan.
To top it off, I also managed to kill iPhoto. I think it decided to commit hara-kiri when I installed Photoshop Elements. Fortunately, I had backups of all the really important photos, but I was even more stressed than usual for a few hours. I also managed to single-handedly take Apple's support forums offline overnight. I bookmarked a page with del.icio.us, and when I came back an hour later the server was down. It did start working again the next day, but not until after lunch.
In between computer problems, I managed to help my softball team lose a game and a half. I'm getting the hang of second base and managed one really good stop in addition to lots of routine plays. Fortunately, we got some clouds near the end of the game, because this field is set up so that the sun is always right over the backstop and it's brutal without clouds. We also went to our friend C's 30th birthday party and got to hang out with lots of nice people and drink sangria. C+D have done a fantastic job with their backyard. They bought their house a year or so before we bought our condo, so they are way ahead of us on the home improvement front. Kelly is working on our backyard, which needs to be deforested. I did find some excellent patio options at http://www.geckostone.com/ but they only sell molds and I don't have time to pour my own concrete this summer. Since Kelly's on vacation, her life is much more interesting than mine these days. I should really get her to ghostwrite this journal.
I managed to work at my contract gig on Saturday without locking my keys in the office. That was a major improvement over last weekend. I'm starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel on that project, which is nice. I'm looking forward to wrapping that up right before we go on vacation in a few weeks. My day job is also keeping me pretty busy. I need to find some time to read Steve McConnell's Software Project Survival Guide before I make any of the mistakes against which it presumably warns.
To top it off, I also managed to kill iPhoto. I think it decided to commit hara-kiri when I installed Photoshop Elements. Fortunately, I had backups of all the really important photos, but I was even more stressed than usual for a few hours. I also managed to single-handedly take Apple's support forums offline overnight. I bookmarked a page with del.icio.us, and when I came back an hour later the server was down. It did start working again the next day, but not until after lunch.
In between computer problems, I managed to help my softball team lose a game and a half. I'm getting the hang of second base and managed one really good stop in addition to lots of routine plays. Fortunately, we got some clouds near the end of the game, because this field is set up so that the sun is always right over the backstop and it's brutal without clouds. We also went to our friend C's 30th birthday party and got to hang out with lots of nice people and drink sangria. C+D have done a fantastic job with their backyard. They bought their house a year or so before we bought our condo, so they are way ahead of us on the home improvement front. Kelly is working on our backyard, which needs to be deforested. I did find some excellent patio options at http://www.geckostone.com/ but they only sell molds and I don't have time to pour my own concrete this summer. Since Kelly's on vacation, her life is much more interesting than mine these days. I should really get her to ghostwrite this journal.
I managed to work at my contract gig on Saturday without locking my keys in the office. That was a major improvement over last weekend. I'm starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel on that project, which is nice. I'm looking forward to wrapping that up right before we go on vacation in a few weeks. My day job is also keeping me pretty busy. I need to find some time to read Steve McConnell's Software Project Survival Guide before I make any of the mistakes against which it presumably warns.
So, one of my reality TV addictions is The Scholar on ABC. It's a show in which 10 high-school seniors compete for a full college scholarship. It's a refreshing break from reality-TV-as-usual because there's no humiliation and no weekly elimination. They also managed to make all the characters seem like basically good people and still have a plot. But that's not the interesting part.
The interesting part was that for tonight's episode they took the 10 contestants to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where 6 of them competed in a debate. The subject of the debate was same-sex marriage, so 3 of them argued each side of the issue. The amazing thing is that they had cast a racially/geographically diverse group of kids, but none of them were portrayed as personally opposed to same-sex marriage and they didn't seem to think there was anything remarkable about that. It was insane in a very encouraging kind of way. Except that I really felt bad for the boy who had to argue against same-sex marriage because he seemed to be taking it personally.
After the debate scenes, there was a disclaimer stating that opinions represented on the show were not shared by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. I'm a little surprised that ABC got away with filming there in the first place.
The interesting part was that for tonight's episode they took the 10 contestants to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where 6 of them competed in a debate. The subject of the debate was same-sex marriage, so 3 of them argued each side of the issue. The amazing thing is that they had cast a racially/geographically diverse group of kids, but none of them were portrayed as personally opposed to same-sex marriage and they didn't seem to think there was anything remarkable about that. It was insane in a very encouraging kind of way. Except that I really felt bad for the boy who had to argue against same-sex marriage because he seemed to be taking it personally.
After the debate scenes, there was a disclaimer stating that opinions represented on the show were not shared by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. I'm a little surprised that ABC got away with filming there in the first place.