Protected: Why didn’t they tell us that earlier?
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Another day, another software emergency.
Yet another problem on the same classroom computers I dealt with yesterday. Straightforward, but tedious–I had to a make a change individually to each workstation in the room–immediately. The whole class was being held up. Again, not really my job, but I was the first person my boss could reach. Several senior people were present. It went OK. I left the classroom with a piece of cake and a round of applause.
Reaching Agreement
…. from a project risk assessment document here at work, dealing with an issue that is quite controversial in the systems development world.
4.6.5 Mitigation Strategy
The […] project manager will assemble all project stakeholders, tie them to their chairs, and force them to listen to very loud Rap music until an agreement is reached..
Scrambling at work
Late yesterday, and again this morning, I was asked to do some software installation and configuration on a classroom full of computers. Emergency, top priority…. and somebody should have thought of it weeks ago. So both times I changed my plans and got it done. Better organization would certainly make for a smoother work environment. OTOH, if everything were perfectly organized I might be out of a job.
Visit by Prince Charles
Anybody got a caption for this? Enjoy.
Clann Tartan Meeting
Most of Saturday afternoon was devoted to the quarterly membership meeting of Clann Tartan. It seemed to go quite well; some organizational problems were discussed at length, three solutions were proposed, and one was chosen by a clear vote of the membership. Then elections were held to fill some vacant positions. These went well, with clear results. Nobody lost their temper in the course of the afternoon. Seemed like a good meeting, and afterwards several of us went over to the Groveland Tap for a pleasant late lunch and a few beers. I thought it was a good afternoon’s work, and felt quite pleased with the day.
Appearances can be deceiving. Checking my e-mail this morning I found two exceptionally unpleasant msgs from someone who had been at the meeting and at the bar afterwards. This was completely unexpected–nothing in what he said yesterday suggested he would write these things. rillaspins received the same e-mails (for the same reason), and there is some discussion of it on her Live Journal. I was really shocked by this, and it took me while to readjust to our family’s Sunday routine.
Saws and planes
Finished ripping that old oak….then planed the sawn sides smooth. Unfortunately, in the course of that I broke a small part on my best plane. The part was not original, in fact it was a distinctly inferior modern replacement. Nevertheless I have to find another replacement, or, perhaps, make one. I am getting more comfortable with simple metalwork.
Protected: Hassle at Work
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Axis of Ripping
A little more shop time tonight. Nothing fancy, just legs for a stool. I did not want to buy more wood, so I am using some leftover oak (from discarded church pews). Did not have any in the right size, so I have to rip (saw longways) about 4 feet of thoroughly seasoned, very dry oak, 1 1/2 inches thick. …..
…. without power tools. I have several hand saws, and did some experimenting. A very cheap rip saw from Harbor Freight proved to be worth about what I paid for it. A pull saw (Japanese style blade) from Home Depot actually worked OK, though it is not specifically intended for ripping. My big Japanese rip saw did quite well, but I think my Putsch saw from Germany did better.
This is hard work. That oak is tough. I am getting some exercise on this project.
Apheresis
Did a another platelet donation at the downtown Minneapolis Red Cross today. It takes a while (2+ hours), but I don’t really mind. All I do is lie on my back for a couple hours and doze off. Occasionally the nurses (mostly female) stop by and tell me what a great guy I am for doing this!
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 