February 2012

Nap.

I just took a 15 minute nap in the Jeep during my lunch hour. I used the Pzizz “Energizer” app to do so; it’s an app designed to guide you through a quick, restful nap in the middle of your workday. It uses soothing noises, gentle voices and binaural beats to bring you to a restful, relaxing place quickly. It’s kind of like meditation with a technological twist.

I use the Pzizz “Sleep” app at night when I’m having a hard time sleeping naturally. This is the first time I’ve used the Pzizz Energizer app for an entire cycle; I usually don’t allow myself enough time to use it because I don’t slow down enough to have the 15 minutes or so to just relax. Other than the fact that one transition in the audio startled me and made me jump (and the Jeep jump as well, because I jumped so hard), I can say that I feel great, I don’t have a “nap headache” and I’m ready to tackle the rest of my workday.

I might have to incorporate this into my routine on a more regular basis.

For more information on Pzizz, visit their website here. Highly recommended.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

6 February 2012 by Fun and Games Dept 0

If.

So tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time the application that I have been writing for the past two months goes to production and loses its “BETA” status. Starting tomorrow every bug is now a feature and will perpetuate my need for continued employment with the organization.

I’m tired, but I feel like I have accomplished something.

The application in question is a project within a bigger project and that is coming along nicely. The authoring of the app has been my largest consumption of time, I am looking forward to getting back to a somewhat normal work routine by this time next week. In the meantime, I’m tired but I feel good. I was up at 4:30 this morning so I could get to work early and teach the overnight crew how to use the application. I’ve taught two more classes since then. I don’t have another class to teach until tomorrow; I’ll write reports and chase bugs in the code in the meantime.

Sometimes I wonder why people read my blog, mostly because entries like these are rather boring and I just ramble on about being tired but feeling a sense of accomplishment. This weekend Earl and I are going to mix it up a bit and do it up like we used to when we were young. We’ll be sure to share some pictures.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

6 February 2012 by Geek 3

Weekend.

This is my weekend. It’s not an entirely bad thing, but this is what I have been doing for most of my weekend.


$right_now = time();
if ((strftime('%F', $right_now) == '2011-02-04') ||
(strftime('%F', $right_now) == '2011-02-05))
{
echo 'I am working at home this weekend!';
}
exit();

5 February 2012 by Geek 3

Buffet.

Last night, upon my arrival at home, I carried on the time tested tradition of asking my husband what was going on with supper. I think I inherited this trait, but I like to know what’s going on with the evening meal within a few moments of arriving home from a day in the rat race. Call me old-fashioned but I want to smell something, taste something or be told something about the supper plans so that we’re not trying to make decisions that drag out to all hours of the night and I end up gnawing on the kitchen table trying in an effort to coax a few calories out of the woodgrain.

It’s not like I’m lacking calories, mind you, it’s just that I like to have that ‘security blanket’ feeling of knowing where and when my next meal will be. I learned early in my childhood not to question the “what” of supper.

Earlier this week Earl tried making a new dish that involved potatoes and ham. I knew this and was pleased to encounter the aroma of promise when I walked into the door. 45 minutes later I was informed that the dish was not going as well as planned and I was given two choices: pizza or Chinese.

I opted for Chinese and was subsequently punished for the next 48 hours. As God as my witness, for the approximately 642nd time in my life I am swearing off Chinese food.

We finally had the ham and potato dish the following night and it was delicious. I guess 24 hours in the oven can do that to even the most experimental of cooking endeavours.

Last night, I arrived home after being gone for an overnight and Earl did the same. There were no tempting aromas when I walked in so I was not surprised when Earl suggested that we go out. I was a little surprised by his suggestion of Ponderosa, a local chain restaurant that was recently reopened after being boarded up for five years.

The Ponderosa experience at this location was just as I remembered it from the last decade; placing the order at the register was clusterfuck at best. The buffet was a madhouse of people licking spoons, crusty plates and arguments over who got the last piece of blue jello, but overall it was sustenance and for that we are thankful. The chicken I ordered must have done quite well to have survived the boarded up period of this particular location and for that I must say “wow”.

I’m using this blog entry as a reminder that this is the 1st time in my life that I am swearing off Ponderosa. More importantly, I am hopeful that I will be greeted with the pleasant aromas of something delicious tonight. Or at the very least, news of something that doesn’t involve a buffet.

3 February 2012 by Fun and Games Dept 4

These Dreams.

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So last night I spent the night at the Holiday Inn closest to work. I didn’t get the best of night’s sleep, but I did manage to get enough to keep me productive throughout the day. Worried that I was going to sleep through my alarm, I woke up several times during the night. Because of this, I had quite a selection of dreams peppered through my slumber to keep things interesting. For the first time in quite a few nights, I didn’t dream about tornadoes (thanks for taking over that duty, Erik) but instead I had one of my “performance frustration dreams”. These dreams usually come up when I’m worried about not doing well at something and they frequently manifest themselves as something music or radio related; for example, I can’t get CDs into the players fast enough to avoid dead air on the radio or I can’t beat match a mix while DJing at a club, no matter how many times I have been able to mix the two records in question in the past.

Last night’s spin on my performance frustration dreams involved a live performance of the group Heart. In my dream I was one of their sound engineers for this comeback concert, and I was in charge of making sure the recorded music augmented their live performances perfectly. Because I had to make sure the tracks matched the instruments, I was challenged with playing vinyl records that had been recorded at home. And because it was a rowdy crowd, I had to spin the record on top of a beer bottle while holding the needle in place. I couldn’t let the record wobble in any way or else Nancy and Ann would sound all warped, and that would be bad. The record ended up falling off the top of the beer bottle and the whole show slowed down into a warbling, draggy sound. Just as everyone was looking at me for messing up this comeback tour, my dream morphed into something more interesting that didn’t involve frustration at all.

That all being said, because of last night’s dream, this track has been my ear bug, playing over and over. If you follow me on Rdio, you’ll notice that I have played this track several times today trying to get it to move back into my enjoyment category and out of my repetitive category.

So, out of respect for the Wilson sisters of Heart, and with my apologizes for wobbling the record that was spinning on top of the beer bottle, here they are with their 1987 hit, “There’s The Girl.”

Great track, by the way. I LOVE the backup vocals on this. Interesting, melodic backup vocals do a lot more for me than lead vocal acrobatics.

2 February 2012 by Deep. DJ Geek 0

Teaching.

Right out of high school I went to college with the intent on getting a degree in Music Education. At the time it seemed like the natural career path for me, because I did have an interest in teaching and I enjoyed my musical aspirations. My music performances (vocal and tuba) brought joy to others so wouldn’t it be a wonderful contribution to the world if I could teach others to do the same thing. However, my heart wasn’t into college that first time around and I abandoned the idea of becoming a music teacher after a while. I could get into a long discussion as to the reasons for this realization but we’ll save that for the next time we have a drink together.

The reason I bring this up is that although I didn’t pursue that education degree, there’s a part of me that still very much enjoys teaching and that is what I’ve been doing at work this latter half of the week. I’ve been working on writing software for the past eight weeks, now it’s time to instruct users on what it does, why it does it and how one goes about accomplishing what they’re destined to accomplish using the application I have written. The classes started last night. So far they have been well received.

I think because I am so passionate about technology and the fact that I like people to get what they can out of a technological experience is why I enjoy teaching others about it so much. Some people may not realize that I feel this way, because there is an IT geek part of me that does the stereotypical roll of the eyes, a big sigh and a click click click of the mouse to fix something that someone has messed up on their computer once in a while, but that’s usually reserved for something that I think the user should know in tandem with a cranky mood I might be having. I don’t respond as well to expected IT support (“make my screensaver do something nifty!”) as I do a genuine interest in how to accomplish something on a computer (“please show me how to change my screensaver).

I think it’s the passion and the belief in the subject that fuels my motivation to teach. And because of my eccentric ways, some might find that my passion might be in something that most find mundane, so I guess in a way it’s a win-win for all involved.

There’s a part of me that wants to pursue teaching technological stuff to others, or at the very least, writing about it and sharing with the world all the nifty things that one can do with the right geek tools when used properly.

Perhaps this is something that I need to put on the bucket list.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2 February 2012 by Ponderings and Musings 1

Loot.

I’m spending the night near work since I have to resume training classes early tomorrow. I am pleased to see that Holiday Inn is making up for its bland, boring new logo by providing Priority Club Members with a little bit of loot. Much better than the one cookie from Hampton Inn.

Feed me popcorn and I’m happy.

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1 February 2012 by Fun and Games Dept 4

Shifted.

Those that see the Twitter announcement that I a new blog entry has been posted will note that I am writing this blog entry at 9:13 a.m.  Contrary to the notion that I am covertly writing this blog entry from my cubicle at work, I am actually sitting in the comfort of my home office and I am currently not on anyone’s clock.

I start work at noon today.

Now I know that that’s quite an introductory paragraph for such a simple fact; a shift in one’s time schedule is not something to get all giddy about. However, in my reality, I am giddy because my day is changed up a little bit and I am actually going to be working during my personal Prime Working Hours. I enjoy being productive in my Prime Working Hours. I would enjoy it even more if I could do it from the comfort of my own home office, but that’s another blog entry.

I am working different hours today so I can train the first round of users on how to use the software I have been designing and building for the past month or so. It’s going to be a little bit of a trick, training users on how to use a software application that hasn’t been completed yet, but it’s a challenge that I am sure that I can live up to. Full on implementation for the new software isn’t until next Tuesday, so I have plenty of time to get it completed and the bugs worked out. (Please don’t let the sarcasm drip onto your nice looking clothes).

In all seriousness, I have enough of the application done that it is functional and we can get data where it needs to be, there’s just not enough flash and pizazz for my liking. I’ll be tweaking for a while. Besides, these days people don’t expect the “.0” release to be anything beyond functional anyway.

Despite the challenge, I am very excited to be working these different hours today. My only concern, other than the aforementioned incomplete application, is whether my iced tea at my favorite Dunkin’ Donuts will be warm at 8 p.m. after waiting for me to retrieve it at noon.

 

1 February 2012 by Ponderings and Musings 0

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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