I think I have all the documents I need to start my taxes. So, here we go again. Time to fire up TurboTax, collect various receipts, print out forms from Scottrade, dig through the medical file to find out how much we spent on precriptions, and so forth.
It's going to be an interesting process this year with all the different situations I find myself in. Unemployment, funeral, odd job income, new business expenses, and business losses.
It's something we all have to deal with, so I best get on with it.
//
Kurt Warner is scheduled to announce his retirement/non-retirement decision in just under three hours. If he decides to stay, it just delays the inevitable transition. If he retires, the Cardinals need to become Matt Leinart's team quickly, and the running game will become a focus for Coach Whis. I'm wearing Cardinal red today (see photo two entries below) to support both Kurt and the team no matter the decision.
The expiration of the agreement between the players and owners will make this an interesting season regardless. My understanding is that if no new agreement is reached, the salary cap goes away for the 2010 season. One of the reasons I have turned away from baseball to football was the long stretch without a labor dispute. I also like the salary cap, and how it seems to have brought a lot of parity to the NFL. With no salary cap, do you see Indianapolis and New Orleans as the top seeds in playoffs, or do the large market teams dominate like they do in baseball?
Remember the days when the Kansas City Royals were a contender? That was back in the mid 1980s. It's a small city market, and they can't compete with George Steinbrenner, who constantly buys pennants. The Yankees are a great organization, but it isn't hard to win that many pennants if you have the cash to hoard all the good players. It takes away from the game.
A lockout of the 2011 football season, which the sportswriters all predict, would probably push me away from football into hockey. That would be a great loss, because I love football.
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Friday, January 29, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
'Twas an Adventure
Today I made a foolhardy attempt to fix a leak in the roof. I have a two story house, and the upstairs attic is cramped and dusty. Loose insulation comes to a depth of eight inches minimum, buring the 2x4s and covering the drywall floor. That's right, the drywall is just nailed to the 2x4s and that's my floor in that attic.
The leak was a good ten feet from the access hole, and thus I had to climb up there, remaining on the 2x4s at all times. Falling through the sheetrock would have been catastrophic since the leak is over the stairs going to the first floor. A good 15 foot drop to the landing then a roll down the rest of the stairs.
Needless to say, I used extreme caution up there., moving slowly and deliberately. I don't like going up there and I don't want to do it again. Sitting for 30 minutes in an awkward position trying to coat the plywood of the ceiling with patch tar was, well, let's say it was loads of fun. Stiff muscles and fatigue made the difficulty extra challenging. On top of that, I had no evidence of where the leak exactly was, other than the wet spot in the insulation. I took my best guess and sealed up far more than was probably necessary. I just hope I got the leak.
By the way, WD-40 gets patch tar off your hands.
The leak was a good ten feet from the access hole, and thus I had to climb up there, remaining on the 2x4s at all times. Falling through the sheetrock would have been catastrophic since the leak is over the stairs going to the first floor. A good 15 foot drop to the landing then a roll down the rest of the stairs.
Needless to say, I used extreme caution up there., moving slowly and deliberately. I don't like going up there and I don't want to do it again. Sitting for 30 minutes in an awkward position trying to coat the plywood of the ceiling with patch tar was, well, let's say it was loads of fun. Stiff muscles and fatigue made the difficulty extra challenging. On top of that, I had no evidence of where the leak exactly was, other than the wet spot in the insulation. I took my best guess and sealed up far more than was probably necessary. I just hope I got the leak.
By the way, WD-40 gets patch tar off your hands.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Rain? In the Desert?
The same series of storms that passed through California is in process of making its way through Arizona. We've collected considerable amount of water in the back yard over the past several days. It always accumulates in the low areas because the ground is so hard. It takes a long time for the water to soak into the ground. Some of the computer models show as much as six inches dumping on Phoenix. It seems like s decent storm for anywhere, but to put it into perspective, we only get an average of seven inches of rain a year.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Gearing Up
I went into last week with three classes to teach at the local community college. By thursday, two had been canceled due to low enrollment, and one had been take by a full timer who lost a class due to low enrollment. Friday I picked up two new classes at a satellite location. It's a little farther from the house, but it's 7 credits total. That should be enough to knock me off unemployment again.
I only have to generate notes for one of the classes this time, as I've taught the other one before. Generating notes is the worst part. Very time consuming.
This afternoon, I plan to get back on the writing horse. I have an Aether Age story to finish, then I want to get cracking on that NaNo novel and finish the thing. There was a nice motivation article in today's business section by Harvey Mackay called Rebound from your Failures by Taking Lessons from Mistakes. Among other influences, this article is motivating me to get writing again after the 6+ week hiatus that started when my hard drive crashed last month. I'd like to get back on the pace I held during NaNoWriMo, or reasonably close to that. It's a good clip that can finish a novel in two months, and it feels good to be that productive.
I only have to generate notes for one of the classes this time, as I've taught the other one before. Generating notes is the worst part. Very time consuming.
This afternoon, I plan to get back on the writing horse. I have an Aether Age story to finish, then I want to get cracking on that NaNo novel and finish the thing. There was a nice motivation article in today's business section by Harvey Mackay called Rebound from your Failures by Taking Lessons from Mistakes. Among other influences, this article is motivating me to get writing again after the 6+ week hiatus that started when my hard drive crashed last month. I'd like to get back on the pace I held during NaNoWriMo, or reasonably close to that. It's a good clip that can finish a novel in two months, and it feels good to be that productive.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Driving Lesson: Freeway On Ramps
I hate when I have to take matters into my own hands, but please people, pay attention. (Drivers of very massive vehicles are exempt from this rant--it's a detail of classical physics.)
Freeway on-ramps are constructed for the express purpose of entering freeways. This means you must use the ramp to accelerate until you match the speed of the vehicles already on the freeway.
See, if you decide to travel 40 MPH up a ramp when the traffic on the freeway is traveling 65 MPH, there is a 25 MPH difference. In order to move left onto the freeway, because you are going 40 MPH, you must CUT SOMEBODY OFF, forcing them to slam on the brakes, or force them to move left if they can, or they can simply HIT YOU.
Furthermore, if I am behind you when you decide to travel 40 MPH on the ramp, I will also be forced to go 40 MPH, and must then cut somebody off to get on the freeway because you are preventing me from entering the freeway correctly.
It is easier to get on the freeway if you match speed with the traffic thereon. If you end up with a car next to you, it is simple enough to speed up or slow down to as the situation dictates, in order to move left into an opening. If, however, you are going much slower than the cars on the freeway, you can only hope I'm not killed.
Got it?
Freeway on-ramps are constructed for the express purpose of entering freeways. This means you must use the ramp to accelerate until you match the speed of the vehicles already on the freeway.
See, if you decide to travel 40 MPH up a ramp when the traffic on the freeway is traveling 65 MPH, there is a 25 MPH difference. In order to move left onto the freeway, because you are going 40 MPH, you must CUT SOMEBODY OFF, forcing them to slam on the brakes, or force them to move left if they can, or they can simply HIT YOU.
Furthermore, if I am behind you when you decide to travel 40 MPH on the ramp, I will also be forced to go 40 MPH, and must then cut somebody off to get on the freeway because you are preventing me from entering the freeway correctly.
It is easier to get on the freeway if you match speed with the traffic thereon. If you end up with a car next to you, it is simple enough to speed up or slow down to as the situation dictates, in order to move left into an opening. If, however, you are going much slower than the cars on the freeway, you can only hope I'm not killed.
Got it?
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Still Staggering
I'm still on the mend from the cold I inherited. Nose is crunchy from all the runny nose activity but it's healing. I'm using the holidays to catch up on all the things that get lost in the shuffle during busy periods, things like balancing the checkbook. As the one year anniversary of the layoff looms in the not-too-distant future, I'll be managing the finances a lot more closely.
On the brighter side, Wisconsin went to Florida to play the Miami Hurricanes and basically had their way with them. Miami looked good on their first possession, but the cold *giggle* weather got to them. For Wisconsin, it felt like spring, and their offense played well passing and running the ball.
On the brighter side, Wisconsin went to Florida to play the Miami Hurricanes and basically had their way with them. Miami looked good on their first possession, but the cold *giggle* weather got to them. For Wisconsin, it felt like spring, and their offense played well passing and running the ball.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Staggering Back to Life
Over the past several days, I have been "enjoying" the cold my daughters brought home from school and gave me for Christmas. It's been a nasty headcold that I am now on the recovery end of. I feel pretty fortunate that it hasn't developed into a sinus infection (yet).
On the writing front, nothing much has happened. The loss of the computer derailed my momentum from NaNoWriMo, and now the whole family is home all day for the holidays, making it more difficult to slip away and spend quality time with a story. I have one partial that I have to finish within the next month, due for the M-Brane SF Aether Age anthology. Once I finish that, I want to finish the NaNo novel and get back on track. That should be easier as I get over this cold and stop feeling like I want to melt into the floor, with the cold weather the only thing preventing it.
//
The Cardinals got their tenth win yesterday, the first time in something like 35 years. they won, and the media is all over how they looked back in sync and played well. I disagree. The passing game looked a bit better, but the play was still sloppy. They should have wiped the mat with the Rams the way Green Bay did with Seattle. The Rams were still in the game until deep into the 4th quarter. They contained Beanie Wells, who also nearly fumbled once. Hightower looked like the ineffective running back from a few years ago, and there are very few passing plays with yards after the catch. That last item has been an issue all season.
The Cardinals still have an outside shot at the first round bye, but I doubt that we'll see the Bears beat the Vikings tonight. A Vikings loss still means the Cardinals need both the Eagles and the Vikings to lose in week 17. That combination is about as likely as a pool umbrella staying put in a dust storm.
So, we'll know by tomorrow, but I suspect we'll not see a lot of Warner or Rodgers when the Packers come to town to play the Cardinals. And probably, the Packers will just stay in town after that game since they'll likely be playing the Cardinals in round one of the playoffs.
On the writing front, nothing much has happened. The loss of the computer derailed my momentum from NaNoWriMo, and now the whole family is home all day for the holidays, making it more difficult to slip away and spend quality time with a story. I have one partial that I have to finish within the next month, due for the M-Brane SF Aether Age anthology. Once I finish that, I want to finish the NaNo novel and get back on track. That should be easier as I get over this cold and stop feeling like I want to melt into the floor, with the cold weather the only thing preventing it.
//
The Cardinals got their tenth win yesterday, the first time in something like 35 years. they won, and the media is all over how they looked back in sync and played well. I disagree. The passing game looked a bit better, but the play was still sloppy. They should have wiped the mat with the Rams the way Green Bay did with Seattle. The Rams were still in the game until deep into the 4th quarter. They contained Beanie Wells, who also nearly fumbled once. Hightower looked like the ineffective running back from a few years ago, and there are very few passing plays with yards after the catch. That last item has been an issue all season.
The Cardinals still have an outside shot at the first round bye, but I doubt that we'll see the Bears beat the Vikings tonight. A Vikings loss still means the Cardinals need both the Eagles and the Vikings to lose in week 17. That combination is about as likely as a pool umbrella staying put in a dust storm.
So, we'll know by tomorrow, but I suspect we'll not see a lot of Warner or Rodgers when the Packers come to town to play the Cardinals. And probably, the Packers will just stay in town after that game since they'll likely be playing the Cardinals in round one of the playoffs.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Coming Back to Life
Due to the fact that I have lost 16 days I could have used to complete a video project, I spent the entire day today trying to get the job done. I am pretty much finished with the linear part. All that remains is to add the menu and associated tagging, then cut the proof disk. The project is a very emotional one for the client, and I'll be happy to finally call it a wrap.
My plans for the rest of the year, once that video work is done, is to add a crossword puzzle page to my web site. I have several puzzles that for one or more reasons can't be sold. I might as well let people enjoy them rather than let them collect digital dust on my hard drive. These won't be lame crossword puzzles like your third grade teacher made. I make real daily-sized crosswords that follow the guidelines for publication in the New York Times, the LA Times, and so forth. If people find them interesting, I'll try to post new ones regularly.
I also need to get back on the writing horse. I intended to take a day or two break from the novel to finish the above-mentioned video project. I lost both when the computer went down. Now the momentum is lost, too. Sigh.
The other main project will be painting some of the interior walls of the house.
My plans for the rest of the year, once that video work is done, is to add a crossword puzzle page to my web site. I have several puzzles that for one or more reasons can't be sold. I might as well let people enjoy them rather than let them collect digital dust on my hard drive. These won't be lame crossword puzzles like your third grade teacher made. I make real daily-sized crosswords that follow the guidelines for publication in the New York Times, the LA Times, and so forth. If people find them interesting, I'll try to post new ones regularly.
I also need to get back on the writing horse. I intended to take a day or two break from the novel to finish the above-mentioned video project. I lost both when the computer went down. Now the momentum is lost, too. Sigh.
The other main project will be painting some of the interior walls of the house.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Entropy Central Held Hostage: Day 16
Still no word on the status of the computer. I did not hear from Data Doctors at all yesterday. There are some impending deadlines that will be missed if I don't have the machine back today or tomorrow. Even with it back today, the video deadline will be very tough to make.
In other problems, the pool pump backwash valve manifold has a crack, and that needs immediate replacement. The service guy is coming this afternoon a few hours after I finish giving my last final (Brief Calculus, let the bleeding begin). They charge an obscene amount, something like 60 bucks for the first half hour and 30 every 15 minutes afterwards. Maybe I should go into business fixing pool pumps.
Russell is on the bus heading for a Tombstone, AZ. The 7th grade social studies students get a trip there every year. It's about a 3 hour trip each way, so they had to be on the bus by 5:15 this morning. That meant getting up about 3 hours ago. The sun is only now starting to rise.
In other problems, the pool pump backwash valve manifold has a crack, and that needs immediate replacement. The service guy is coming this afternoon a few hours after I finish giving my last final (Brief Calculus, let the bleeding begin). They charge an obscene amount, something like 60 bucks for the first half hour and 30 every 15 minutes afterwards. Maybe I should go into business fixing pool pumps.
Russell is on the bus heading for a Tombstone, AZ. The 7th grade social studies students get a trip there every year. It's about a 3 hour trip each way, so they had to be on the bus by 5:15 this morning. That meant getting up about 3 hours ago. The sun is only now starting to rise.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Entropy Central Held Hostage: Day 15
Day 15 of the computer crisis. Still running on the old laptop.
I stopped by the place yesterday because I was driving past, and they were struggling with the operating system. Needed the key, they said, and the sticker isn't on the computer side panel. Well, of course not. I built the system myself and I put the sticker on the back. He didn't look there.
He got the OS validated and I sit here waiting to hear on the status again. Waiting. Waiting.
In other news, the Cardinals really beat themselves up last night. Monday Night Football has never been very kind to the Cards, and this week was no exception. 7 turn-overs. It's a testament to the team that they were only beaten by 15 points. Imagine the score if they had turned the ball over 7 times against the Vikings.
Hopefully, they got it all out of their systems and can make Detroit pay. Of course, everyone makes Detroit pay... The Larry Fitzgerald injury was the most frightening part of the game. Thankfully, he played in the 4th quarter. Of more concern is the injury to Neil Rackers. He is one of the best kickers in the NFL and without him, the Cardinals are going to be hurting bad.
Ugly ugly loss.
I stopped by the place yesterday because I was driving past, and they were struggling with the operating system. Needed the key, they said, and the sticker isn't on the computer side panel. Well, of course not. I built the system myself and I put the sticker on the back. He didn't look there.
He got the OS validated and I sit here waiting to hear on the status again. Waiting. Waiting.
In other news, the Cardinals really beat themselves up last night. Monday Night Football has never been very kind to the Cards, and this week was no exception. 7 turn-overs. It's a testament to the team that they were only beaten by 15 points. Imagine the score if they had turned the ball over 7 times against the Vikings.
Hopefully, they got it all out of their systems and can make Detroit pay. Of course, everyone makes Detroit pay... The Larry Fitzgerald injury was the most frightening part of the game. Thankfully, he played in the 4th quarter. Of more concern is the injury to Neil Rackers. He is one of the best kickers in the NFL and without him, the Cardinals are going to be hurting bad.
Ugly ugly loss.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Still Limping
Entropy Central Held Hostage: Day 11.
Desktop PC still at the shop. found traces of viruses on the bootable drive, but I do scan regularly and with the situation of how I experienced the crash, I think a virus is not likely the cause. More likely the boot sector was corrupted by the abnormal shut down.
Data Doctors has been charged with the recovery task, something I'm starting to wish I had just taken on my self to do. Got a call from them this afternoon. My video card, which was working just fine before the crash, apparently was smoking when they tried to start up the system. It does look like some serious electrical overstress on the package of one of the power MOSFETs resident on the board. Having worked in the industry, I can recognize some of these things. The question I can't answer is how it happened. The component is in the middle of the board and it would have needed some serious current to damage the package and not just the silicon inside.
In any event, now I have some new questions. Did the video card cause the whole flap? Did the people supposedly fixing the problem damage the board? I have no reason to believe that, but there is always that doubt.
I did buy a new 500 gig hard drive to transfer the contents of the old one with bad sectors. The majority of my data should be salvaged. And, the good news is that I got some of my more urgent files off the image--grades for the classes I'm teaching, my web site offline directory, my Cactus Wren contracts, and other assorted items. The one thing I didn't find yet was my shared drive which held my NaNoWriMo novel's 5200 words, my customized David Gerrold spreadsheet, and the most up-to-date copy of my short ficiton tracking spreadsheet. Don't leave anything in a shared folder. Share the whole hard drive so you can see where your files live.
Getting back to viruses, I exchanged some emails with Jerry Pournelle, who is always up to date on all the PC goings on. He used to write a column in Byte magazine back in the day. Anyway, one perk of belonging to SFWA and hanging out in the lounge on sff.net is that a guy like that might actually recognize my name. Jerry and I have had occasional discussions on sff.net, including one on scouting.
I asked Jerry for his recommendation and he says that anymore, he only uses Microsoft Security Essentials. Which, I should point out, is free so long as you own a legitimate copy of Windows. Since I am very unhapy with Norton and with McAfee, I decided to give MSE a shot. So far so good. Cleaned 3 trojans off the computer the kids use attached to some of my daughter's mp3 music files.
Desktop PC still at the shop. found traces of viruses on the bootable drive, but I do scan regularly and with the situation of how I experienced the crash, I think a virus is not likely the cause. More likely the boot sector was corrupted by the abnormal shut down.
Data Doctors has been charged with the recovery task, something I'm starting to wish I had just taken on my self to do. Got a call from them this afternoon. My video card, which was working just fine before the crash, apparently was smoking when they tried to start up the system. It does look like some serious electrical overstress on the package of one of the power MOSFETs resident on the board. Having worked in the industry, I can recognize some of these things. The question I can't answer is how it happened. The component is in the middle of the board and it would have needed some serious current to damage the package and not just the silicon inside.
In any event, now I have some new questions. Did the video card cause the whole flap? Did the people supposedly fixing the problem damage the board? I have no reason to believe that, but there is always that doubt.
I did buy a new 500 gig hard drive to transfer the contents of the old one with bad sectors. The majority of my data should be salvaged. And, the good news is that I got some of my more urgent files off the image--grades for the classes I'm teaching, my web site offline directory, my Cactus Wren contracts, and other assorted items. The one thing I didn't find yet was my shared drive which held my NaNoWriMo novel's 5200 words, my customized David Gerrold spreadsheet, and the most up-to-date copy of my short ficiton tracking spreadsheet. Don't leave anything in a shared folder. Share the whole hard drive so you can see where your files live.
Getting back to viruses, I exchanged some emails with Jerry Pournelle, who is always up to date on all the PC goings on. He used to write a column in Byte magazine back in the day. Anyway, one perk of belonging to SFWA and hanging out in the lounge on sff.net is that a guy like that might actually recognize my name. Jerry and I have had occasional discussions on sff.net, including one on scouting.
I asked Jerry for his recommendation and he says that anymore, he only uses Microsoft Security Essentials. Which, I should point out, is free so long as you own a legitimate copy of Windows. Since I am very unhapy with Norton and with McAfee, I decided to give MSE a shot. So far so good. Cleaned 3 trojans off the computer the kids use attached to some of my daughter's mp3 music files.
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Limping Along
The perils of not backing up are rearing their ugly head. My main computer crashed on tuesday while I was working some video. It left the computer utterly unbootable.
Last update, the computer was at Data Doctors having the 500Gig hard drive imaged. They report there are numerous bad sectors on that drive. That data is the utmost importance, holding family photos, all my video, and other files that are too large to backup to anything but another hard drive. It's something that I had been intending to do, but never got around to doing while I'm out of full time work.
Also on that disk is all my writing, most of which is backed up on a flash drive and several iterations of CD-ROM disks. The main file that isn't backed up turns out to be the 52,000 words of my NaNoWriMo novel. If that file is lost, I doubt I'll ever return to the novel because I don't know if I'm jazzed enough about the story to start from scratch. There are other novels I prefer to write instead. If the data is still there, I'll probably finish the novel then set it aside for a while before editing and trying to sell it.
Right now, I'm limping along on my 5-year-old laptop computer and recovering some other files that were backed up by virtue of the sent folder in gmail, including my resume and a couple of crossword puzzle submissions to the LA Times.
So, while I'm thinking about it, what are my fiction plans for the upcoming year? As mentioned, assuming my NaNoWriMo novel partial survives the computer crash, I will finish that. There is the M-Brane SF Aether Age anthology, which I'd like to be in, and I suspect Christopher Fletcher would like to have something from me included. I want to write four short stories in 2010, and want to either win Writers of the Future, or disqualify myself with sales to pro markets. Either outcome will elevate my SFWA membership from associate to active. I'm one sale short of that right now. After that, I want to go back and finish Rigel Kentaurus, which I've been working toward finishing on and off for about 3 years.
Anyway, if I can recover the data I need from the disk image tomorrow, I will fell much better about everything, even if it means I lost all my NovyMirror masters. The video I'm working on for somebody else still has the masters on the camera. Starting from a frest OS and software install would not be the worst thing in the world since I intend to stay with XP until I buy a new laptop computer. But, I suspect I will buy several hard drives, including a large external drive for major backups.
Last update, the computer was at Data Doctors having the 500Gig hard drive imaged. They report there are numerous bad sectors on that drive. That data is the utmost importance, holding family photos, all my video, and other files that are too large to backup to anything but another hard drive. It's something that I had been intending to do, but never got around to doing while I'm out of full time work.
Also on that disk is all my writing, most of which is backed up on a flash drive and several iterations of CD-ROM disks. The main file that isn't backed up turns out to be the 52,000 words of my NaNoWriMo novel. If that file is lost, I doubt I'll ever return to the novel because I don't know if I'm jazzed enough about the story to start from scratch. There are other novels I prefer to write instead. If the data is still there, I'll probably finish the novel then set it aside for a while before editing and trying to sell it.
Right now, I'm limping along on my 5-year-old laptop computer and recovering some other files that were backed up by virtue of the sent folder in gmail, including my resume and a couple of crossword puzzle submissions to the LA Times.
So, while I'm thinking about it, what are my fiction plans for the upcoming year? As mentioned, assuming my NaNoWriMo novel partial survives the computer crash, I will finish that. There is the M-Brane SF Aether Age anthology, which I'd like to be in, and I suspect Christopher Fletcher would like to have something from me included. I want to write four short stories in 2010, and want to either win Writers of the Future, or disqualify myself with sales to pro markets. Either outcome will elevate my SFWA membership from associate to active. I'm one sale short of that right now. After that, I want to go back and finish Rigel Kentaurus, which I've been working toward finishing on and off for about 3 years.
Anyway, if I can recover the data I need from the disk image tomorrow, I will fell much better about everything, even if it means I lost all my NovyMirror masters. The video I'm working on for somebody else still has the masters on the camera. Starting from a frest OS and software install would not be the worst thing in the world since I intend to stay with XP until I buy a new laptop computer. But, I suspect I will buy several hard drives, including a large external drive for major backups.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
I Has Been So Negligent
Wow, suddenly a month goes by and I haven't posted. It's just like the old days when I was working for Yertle the Turtle.
Gosh, we have some news now. November was National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. I wrote 52,000 words in November, which is about 60% of the novel. That makes me a NaNoWriMo Winner! (Cue the Dixieyland band.)
That's probably a good chunk of the reason for missing a month's worth of blog entries.
Well, so here's some good news. My first SFWA eligible sale in a long time went live today. The story is called "Catalyst" and can be seen here, in the online zine "Flash Fiction Online."
So that's the good news. The bad news is that my main computer, the server that ties all the wireless network together and also holds most of my work, died today while I was working on a video project for somebody. Timing was bad. My writing is all backed up...all but the NaNoWriMo novel, of course. The video is backed up on the camera, but in raw form. I need the cpu power of the desktop computer to be able to process it.
I do keep all my data on a slave hard drive so it's completely independent of the boot drive. I did that intentionally to to prevent a total catastrophe in case something like this happened. That strategy saved my data once already, about five years ago. The problem smells like something to do with the boot sector because the computer is in an infinite reboot loop. It won't even boot from the operating system CD.
I took the computer to Data Doctors this afternoon. They should be able to tell me what the smeg is going on. Hopefully it's something easily fixed.
Gosh, we have some news now. November was National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. I wrote 52,000 words in November, which is about 60% of the novel. That makes me a NaNoWriMo Winner! (Cue the Dixieyland band.)
That's probably a good chunk of the reason for missing a month's worth of blog entries.
Well, so here's some good news. My first SFWA eligible sale in a long time went live today. The story is called "Catalyst" and can be seen here, in the online zine "Flash Fiction Online."
So that's the good news. The bad news is that my main computer, the server that ties all the wireless network together and also holds most of my work, died today while I was working on a video project for somebody. Timing was bad. My writing is all backed up...all but the NaNoWriMo novel, of course. The video is backed up on the camera, but in raw form. I need the cpu power of the desktop computer to be able to process it.
I do keep all my data on a slave hard drive so it's completely independent of the boot drive. I did that intentionally to to prevent a total catastrophe in case something like this happened. That strategy saved my data once already, about five years ago. The problem smells like something to do with the boot sector because the computer is in an infinite reboot loop. It won't even boot from the operating system CD.
I took the computer to Data Doctors this afternoon. They should be able to tell me what the smeg is going on. Hopefully it's something easily fixed.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Overseeding 2009
One of the tasks I have to do because I live in the desert is prepare the lawn for winter. We use Bermuda grass here in the summer because not many other grasses can handle the extreme heat with 4 months above 100 degrees, and as many as 15 days over 110 degrees (Fahrenheit).
Unfortunately, the Bermuda grass goes dormant when it gets (relatively) cold and it stays brown all winter. HOA obligates me to over-seed with rye grass every October. There is roughly a two week window to get the seeds planted after the last 100 degree day and have new grass by Halloween.
The first step is to scalp the lawn, meaning to mow it as close to the ground as possible. It helps if you stop watering the Bermuda grass a week or two ahead of time.
This year I ran over a sprinkler head and ruined it. That isn't normally one of the steps in over-seeding. In fact, when I mowed the first loop around the edge of the lawn I was wise enough to go around it. When I came back for the rest of the lawn, I was not. Thus, I have an additional job this year--replace sprinkler head.
This is what the lawn looks like scalped.
The old sprinkler head has to come out. Fortunately, I happened to have a replacement in the shed. Unfortunately, it did not have a nozzle and I am sans vehicle because it is in the shop for a brake job. Details.
Sprinkler head replaced, it's time to finish the over-seeding job. There are four items I put on the lawn this year. First, I sprinkled some Bermuda grass seeds where I had some troublesome bald patches this past summer. From past seeding jobs, I am confident it will germinate in the spring. Next, I sprinkle Ammonium Sulfate fertilizer (21-0-0) on the lawn. Finally, the rye grass seed goes down. All my seed this year is leftovers from previous years. The Home Depot and Lowes have guys from the seed companies come in to advise you. They'll tell you the seed from last year is not good. Horse-hockey. The newest bag of seed I'm using this year is a year old. Others are even older.
The green stuff is Bermuda seed. It's about the size of a poppy seed. Tiny. The white stuff is the fertilizer. You can't see the rye grass seed, it looks like you would expect grass seed to look like.
Finally, the entire lawn must be covered in steer manure. It helps to fertilize the lawn. It helps to keep the seeds wet. Most importantly, it covers the seeds so small aviators do not eat them. It also stinks when wet, which amuses the neighbors. But it's under a buck a bag. I have 14 cubic feet for my lawn.
Once the BS is spread around the lawn, you are ready for water.
And we're watering...we're watering. This is what my sprinkler head spray pattern looks like without a nozzle. But, the lawn has to be wet. I'll have a nozzle on by this evening. Once I have my truck back and can get to the store.
In two weeks I should have a lot of little tiny grass sprouts.
Unfortunately, the Bermuda grass goes dormant when it gets (relatively) cold and it stays brown all winter. HOA obligates me to over-seed with rye grass every October. There is roughly a two week window to get the seeds planted after the last 100 degree day and have new grass by Halloween.
The first step is to scalp the lawn, meaning to mow it as close to the ground as possible. It helps if you stop watering the Bermuda grass a week or two ahead of time.
This year I ran over a sprinkler head and ruined it. That isn't normally one of the steps in over-seeding. In fact, when I mowed the first loop around the edge of the lawn I was wise enough to go around it. When I came back for the rest of the lawn, I was not. Thus, I have an additional job this year--replace sprinkler head.
This is what the lawn looks like scalped.
The old sprinkler head has to come out. Fortunately, I happened to have a replacement in the shed. Unfortunately, it did not have a nozzle and I am sans vehicle because it is in the shop for a brake job. Details.
Sprinkler head replaced, it's time to finish the over-seeding job. There are four items I put on the lawn this year. First, I sprinkled some Bermuda grass seeds where I had some troublesome bald patches this past summer. From past seeding jobs, I am confident it will germinate in the spring. Next, I sprinkle Ammonium Sulfate fertilizer (21-0-0) on the lawn. Finally, the rye grass seed goes down. All my seed this year is leftovers from previous years. The Home Depot and Lowes have guys from the seed companies come in to advise you. They'll tell you the seed from last year is not good. Horse-hockey. The newest bag of seed I'm using this year is a year old. Others are even older.
The green stuff is Bermuda seed. It's about the size of a poppy seed. Tiny. The white stuff is the fertilizer. You can't see the rye grass seed, it looks like you would expect grass seed to look like.
Finally, the entire lawn must be covered in steer manure. It helps to fertilize the lawn. It helps to keep the seeds wet. Most importantly, it covers the seeds so small aviators do not eat them. It also stinks when wet, which amuses the neighbors. But it's under a buck a bag. I have 14 cubic feet for my lawn.
Once the BS is spread around the lawn, you are ready for water.
And we're watering...we're watering. This is what my sprinkler head spray pattern looks like without a nozzle. But, the lawn has to be wet. I'll have a nozzle on by this evening. Once I have my truck back and can get to the store.
In two weeks I should have a lot of little tiny grass sprouts.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Audrey on Saturday
Okay, so shoot me because it's been a week since I posted. this post is about my eldest daughter, Audrey. Seems she wanted to go the high school football game last night and intended to use oil-based acrylic paint on her face. Fortunately, Reanna (who owns the paint) caught her.
This morning, Audrey had her first cross country meet for the high school. Three miles in 26 minutes, which isn't varsity time but not bad for a freshman. she finished in the main population of the open heat. Fortunately, the rain from the remnants of hurricane Jimena missed her race and fell on the other races that started later.
I, of course, had to get up at 4:30 to get her out of bed and in the car. That would have been fine but I also had to get up at 3:00 to deal with a sick dog. I don't know how long I will stay awake.
This morning, Audrey had her first cross country meet for the high school. Three miles in 26 minutes, which isn't varsity time but not bad for a freshman. she finished in the main population of the open heat. Fortunately, the rain from the remnants of hurricane Jimena missed her race and fell on the other races that started later.
I, of course, had to get up at 4:30 to get her out of bed and in the car. That would have been fine but I also had to get up at 3:00 to deal with a sick dog. I don't know how long I will stay awake.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Odds and Ends
I finally woke up and get back to my IRA portfolio. My strategy involves creating my own mutual fund using a super secret formula I discovered hidden in ancient Havasupai rock carvings in the Grand Canyon. It's a good strategy that has served me well over the years. The problem is, whenever I put the strategy in place, it makes a splash. It's not that I buy enough stock to affect the prices. I'm not Warren Buffet. But some Karmic thing happens where whatever I buy will go down at first. It takes about 2 weeks before the splash settles and the market gets back to doing whatever it wants to do. It happens so often that I have to factor it into my stop-loss prices. I've been whipsawed way too many times. So, if you see the market fall in the next few days, you can rest assured that it's my fault.
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My trade paperback "Winter" was released in July and I have yet to receive my copies of the book. Sam's Dot is generally reliable if not a little slow with this sort of thing. It's a small press, so I can give them a break, but it's frustrating because I am supposed to be a major factor in the marketing effort. Since my strategy includes selling copies in person, not having any copies makes that rather difficult. Since I had planned to buy 20% of the print run, I find it strange that I don't yet know how to order them.
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Why has every catch that I have seen Larry Fitzgerald make this pre-season been with his feet out-of-bounds? Kurt Warner looks pretty good, but I have a sinking feeling that Matt Leinart will be starting before the end of the regular season. I hope he learned from watching Warner last season. Out of college, Leinart was on the fast-track to flash-in-the-pan status. He dated hot models and drank beer before big games, and his play suffered for it. Rumors I hear say that Leinart is a different quarterback than he was this time last year whenhe lost the starting position. I hope that's true, because it's always a good problem to have a Steve Young waiting to replace a Joe Montana.
///
My trade paperback "Winter" was released in July and I have yet to receive my copies of the book. Sam's Dot is generally reliable if not a little slow with this sort of thing. It's a small press, so I can give them a break, but it's frustrating because I am supposed to be a major factor in the marketing effort. Since my strategy includes selling copies in person, not having any copies makes that rather difficult. Since I had planned to buy 20% of the print run, I find it strange that I don't yet know how to order them.
///
Why has every catch that I have seen Larry Fitzgerald make this pre-season been with his feet out-of-bounds? Kurt Warner looks pretty good, but I have a sinking feeling that Matt Leinart will be starting before the end of the regular season. I hope he learned from watching Warner last season. Out of college, Leinart was on the fast-track to flash-in-the-pan status. He dated hot models and drank beer before big games, and his play suffered for it. Rumors I hear say that Leinart is a different quarterback than he was this time last year whenhe lost the starting position. I hope that's true, because it's always a good problem to have a Steve Young waiting to replace a Joe Montana.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
What Gets My Gall?
In the December issue of the parent newsletter from the Paradise Valley Unified School District, there is a letter from the Superintendent. I wanted to excerpt part of that here then comment.
Okay, so what's wrong with this statement? It helps if you understand what an override actually is. An override is permission to EXCEED the budget. So why the hell is PVUSD already making plans to spend money that by all rights they should be able to function without?
There are budget overrides on the ballot every year. How did we get into this cycle of depending on overrides? Every year the portion of my property tax that goes into PVUSD increases. Two years ago, every item in my property tax went down except PVUSD. That went up almost 20%, and yet they cut the band program for the 4th graders.
There is a fundamental flaw in the budgeting process for this school district. If the budget is too small to begin with, we should be working on using the political system, including ballot propositions, to restructure the PVUSD budget. Asking every year to exceed the budget not only makes it look as though the school district cannot handle the money it already has, it also leaves the real budget far too susceptable to downturns in the economy and the mood of the voting public.
Overrides are a bandage. We need a real solution, and it behooves PVUSD to address the real problem instead of begging the public to allow them to exceed the budget year after year.
On November 4, voters in the PVUSD approved the continuation of the K-3 override, but defeated the Maintenance and Operation budget override. That will impact every employee in our district in some way.
We have work to do to make appropriate decisions for dealing with the loss of approximately $5 million in revenue from the Maintenance and Operations override...
Okay, so what's wrong with this statement? It helps if you understand what an override actually is. An override is permission to EXCEED the budget. So why the hell is PVUSD already making plans to spend money that by all rights they should be able to function without?
There are budget overrides on the ballot every year. How did we get into this cycle of depending on overrides? Every year the portion of my property tax that goes into PVUSD increases. Two years ago, every item in my property tax went down except PVUSD. That went up almost 20%, and yet they cut the band program for the 4th graders.
There is a fundamental flaw in the budgeting process for this school district. If the budget is too small to begin with, we should be working on using the political system, including ballot propositions, to restructure the PVUSD budget. Asking every year to exceed the budget not only makes it look as though the school district cannot handle the money it already has, it also leaves the real budget far too susceptable to downturns in the economy and the mood of the voting public.
Overrides are a bandage. We need a real solution, and it behooves PVUSD to address the real problem instead of begging the public to allow them to exceed the budget year after year.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Blah
I hate getting a cold, and I especially hate summer colds. Yes, I realize everywhere else it's autumn, but it hit 105 degrees here, so it's still summer for me. Whenever I get sick, it goes to my nose. I can't take a day off work because a certain project is at a critical time.
So, I'm left without energy and a sore nose. I tried to write this evening but I can't get the creative juices flowing. Maybe I'll just read.
Speaking of reading, I finally managed to get my son reading over the past couple of days. He discovered the Dan Gutman books like Honus and Me. He's read that one and Mickey and Me, and he's now reading Shoeless Joe and Me. I'm not sure what to give him after those are finished. He has a handful of other sports books, but they won't last him long. I'm hoping he'll finally pick up the Hardy Boys books I bought for him. I read and enjoyed most of those as a boy. (So why don't I write mysteries instead of SF? The market is much bigger.)
So long as he keeps reading.
So, I'm left without energy and a sore nose. I tried to write this evening but I can't get the creative juices flowing. Maybe I'll just read.
Speaking of reading, I finally managed to get my son reading over the past couple of days. He discovered the Dan Gutman books like Honus and Me. He's read that one and Mickey and Me, and he's now reading Shoeless Joe and Me. I'm not sure what to give him after those are finished. He has a handful of other sports books, but they won't last him long. I'm hoping he'll finally pick up the Hardy Boys books I bought for him. I read and enjoyed most of those as a boy. (So why don't I write mysteries instead of SF? The market is much bigger.)
So long as he keeps reading.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Good News and Bad News
Today, we get polar opposites. On the one hand, Pink Floyd keyboard player and founding member Richard Wright passed away. On the other hand, my oldest child was inducted into the Junior National Honor Society this evening Let's start with the bad news, so we can end this post on a positive note.
Richard Wright was an integral part of the true sound of Pink Floyd. Here is the announcement from the Pink Floyd web site:
Wright was a self-taught musician of the highest caliber. Without Wright, there would have been no Pink Floyd. The long keyboard solo on Dogs, from the Animals album is, I think, one of the best demonstrations of his musical ability.
Wright was always my favorite member of Pink Floyd, his low-key quiet manner radiated class. I don't know what the man was like off-stage, but on the stage, he was the consumate professional. He let his fingers do the talking most of the time, but on the few songs where he had the lead vocals, he handled them with such skill it makes you wish he sang the lead more often.
While I am saddened by the passing of Wright, he lives on in the only real place I know him. That is in the music. On the radio this evening, they played "Wish You Were Here" for their Live at Five segment. They played it in tribute to Wright. At first, I was taken aback because the song is very heavy in the sound of David Gilmour's guitar. After a couple of verses, it occurred to me that the music wasn't the point. The words were the point. It escaped me at first because I know the song was written about Syd Barrett. But today, the words were for Wright.
Okay, enough mourning. Let's talk about something more upbeat. Today, my oldest daughter, Audrey, was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.
Here is Audrey in her new dress, accompanied by her sister. It's really an outtake. They are trying to keep a group of friends out of the shot.
Here's the real deal, when she became a member.
And here is her posed picture shaking hands with the principal, with the vice principal standing by.
Of course, we are very proud of Audrey and wish her continued success in her studies.
Richard Wright was an integral part of the true sound of Pink Floyd. Here is the announcement from the Pink Floyd web site:
The family of Richard Wright, founder member of Pink Floyd, announce with great sadness, that Richard died today after a short struggle with cancer. The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time.
Wright was a self-taught musician of the highest caliber. Without Wright, there would have been no Pink Floyd. The long keyboard solo on Dogs, from the Animals album is, I think, one of the best demonstrations of his musical ability.
Wright was always my favorite member of Pink Floyd, his low-key quiet manner radiated class. I don't know what the man was like off-stage, but on the stage, he was the consumate professional. He let his fingers do the talking most of the time, but on the few songs where he had the lead vocals, he handled them with such skill it makes you wish he sang the lead more often.
While I am saddened by the passing of Wright, he lives on in the only real place I know him. That is in the music. On the radio this evening, they played "Wish You Were Here" for their Live at Five segment. They played it in tribute to Wright. At first, I was taken aback because the song is very heavy in the sound of David Gilmour's guitar. After a couple of verses, it occurred to me that the music wasn't the point. The words were the point. It escaped me at first because I know the song was written about Syd Barrett. But today, the words were for Wright.
Okay, enough mourning. Let's talk about something more upbeat. Today, my oldest daughter, Audrey, was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.
Here is Audrey in her new dress, accompanied by her sister. It's really an outtake. They are trying to keep a group of friends out of the shot.
Here's the real deal, when she became a member.And here is her posed picture shaking hands with the principal, with the vice principal standing by.
Of course, we are very proud of Audrey and wish her continued success in her studies.
Friday, September 12, 2008
DSL is Back
It's been a painful week, nearly to the hour, of going without DSL. My ISP apparently lost two techs (back to school, not pissed and quit) so their night support was thin. The main guy called me from home this evening and got me running in about 5 minutes.
The basic problem, what I was missing, was the password that I can't see in the old modem. Once we put that in, we were off and running. (Thanks Eric.)
So, now that we're back online and we all survived the black hole at Cern, it's back to business.
It's been a long time since I've posted any opinion items on SF as a literary field. I'm thinking of putting another one up soon. This one will be on alt-history.
The basic problem, what I was missing, was the password that I can't see in the old modem. Once we put that in, we were off and running. (Thanks Eric.)
So, now that we're back online and we all survived the black hole at Cern, it's back to business.
It's been a long time since I've posted any opinion items on SF as a literary field. I'm thinking of putting another one up soon. This one will be on alt-history.
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