I got all my stuff done 'just in time,' got a sandwich from D'Amico and we were off. Traffic was okay, but we saw an accident being pried apart right at the spot where 94 splits for the DOT testing area. If it weren't for the two highways, we would have been sitting there forever. The further north we got, the less snow we saw. By the time we got up to Fergus mid afternoon there was no snow at all. It'd rained a few times on the way up, but looked clear otherwise. Eli went nonstop until bedtime. In the meantime he had Blue Yo-J, frosted Animal Crackers, and lots of fun playing.

When we put him to bed we offered our nightly 'goodnight' songs of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and Jill's "Star" song. But no, this time he wanted us to sing the theme to Bob the Builder (which Jill belted out quite well -- I didn't know all the words). And then I offered the spider song but he said no. So I offered the other song I know -- Jingle Bells. He didn't want that, either. So we sang Bob the Builder AGAIN. And I left Jill and Eli to the last quiet song. Jill reported that he wanted her not to sing the star song, but Jingle Bells. Yay, Dad!

And as I write this on Grandma Judy's computer (forgot the darn AC adapter for the laptop. Argh!) I notice that it's snowing. Lots. In about a half an hour it's gone from no snow to completely white. That's the hardest part about spring snow -- the spirit crushing part.

Read Fragments of a Hologram Rose and "Disneyland with the death penalty" both by William Gibson today.

Harry Potter 1, 2, and 3. Agrippa by William Gibson. Both Parties Concerned by J.D. Salinger. These are all books I've read in the last three weeks. Want to note when and what I'm reading now. Bus riding and palm document files are really cool. :)

My two week project has just been delayed again. Currently at 7 weeks, if they actually launch on the current deadline. Ridiculous.

I just got Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002. I flew from Minneapolis to St. Louis to New Orleans last night. I was in a World War I era Sopwith Camel biplane, using only my wits to navigate down the Mississippi. Ok, so I used a map once or twice to see what state I was in, but otherwise it was all dead reckoning.

Couple things I like:
1. Scenery is Really Pretty. I have a list of destinations around the world I want to visit.
2. It's HUGE. Madagascar is on my list of destinations. I think that's so cool. The whole world on three CD-ROMs. I cannot imagine how they do that.
3. The planes are fun. I was sporting around in my Biplane for a while, but when I went back to revisit New Orleans, I took one of those huge 747's. Can't wait to try the seaplane -- I want to land it on Bear Lake, where our cabin is.
4. No CD involved. If you install the whole honkin 1+ gig, you don't need the CD when you play. This is super for my laptop, which has an external CD.
5. It works. With the graphics cranked up it can get a bit jerky, but for the most part it's smooth and pretty, even on my old machine.

I think tonight I might try and fly across an ocean. See how long that takes.. :)

Took Eli to Bandana Square to look at the model train exhibit Saturday. He thought it was really cool. But he was pretty tired, too. When we left I expected some resistance, and as I walked out of the exhibit I wondered just how many Grand Mal Tantrums had been thrown just outside that door. Funny.

Sunday we had a great breakfast with the Mitchells. Field is great -- he's so much better at making funny faces than Eli is, and he has a lot of Matchbox cars. Two very important things for kids. I think I might start buying Eli Matchbox cars every now and then, he needs a collection.

Started demolition on the basement last night. We were trying to expose pipes for the plumber to be able to give us an estimate. In the process we ended up taking down a lot more ceiling tiles and pulling half the corner closet apart. Jill had to restrain me, it was so much fun. I did a lot of it by hand -- literally. The stuff that isn't nailed down with 10 nails per board just comes off with a little pulling. I think we may end up being selfish and not having a 'destruction party' and just doing it ourselves.

And why can't I find a decent flight simulator?

Still not laughing about the "3/14/2002 1:40:54 PM" comment. And though the deadline moved a week back, it's going to end up being stress.. Oh well. It's fun. And Joe started Monday so that's cool.

One Million Keystrokes - Between February 1 and March 20 (today) I typed one million letters.

Thanks. I'd like to thank all the little letters, and my shift key, without whom I would always be shouting. And I want everyone to consider the plight of the dvorak keyboards, and urge the world to stop the keyboardism and abuse they recieve. United We Type!

I was doing a scary "Find in Files" in Textpad and it complained about not enough memory. So I started the search again. But my mouse was acting funny so I tool the mouseball out to clean it, and while I was doing that it looked like my new search had stopped. So I moved the mouse to see if the machine was locked up. But the mouse didn't have a ball in it, so the pointer didn't move. I panicked. Good thing I didn't hit the reset button. :)

Took Eli to McDonald's for dinner last night, as Jill had a massive headache and we thought she might want some time to rest. We both had a lot of fun, and he thought the big cup and the little cup for our pops was neat. "Eli cup, Daddy cup" is a great example of how he's noticing size differences and attaching roles to things.

When we got to Calhoun square he immediately said "That's circle, that's oval, that's square!" and pointed at three benches that were just that. He's a smart kid.

We also went to Urban Outfitters, but didn't find anything fun. He liked the stairs a lot, though. And the whole trip he kept saying "Uptown!"

Right now I have to build business objects for this project, while also coming up with the Integration Requirements and the Detailed Design. I also have to learn and understand strongly typed datasets being used in leiu of data objects, and when I write code, I have to use c# - which I'm not at all familiar with. I'm out tomorrow and monday, and it's all got to be done by next Friday. And the front end developer needs my stuff before then so he can build the pages. It's not stress, it's supreme frustration and annoyance. I don't even completely understand what a Business Object is. Oh yeah, and everyone else knows what they're doing.

I'm hoping I can look back on this paragraph in a short amount of time and laugh.

So I was going to Grand to meet the 8:22 bus when I thought I heard a bus going up Grand, past my stop. I get to the corner and sure enough, there it is, gone by a block. So I look at my pocket schedule and it seems I was looking at the wrong column, and was one minute late for the bus. The next one came in 20 minutes, which would get me downtown at about ten after nine. Blargh.

But I see a guy standing on the corner for the "express" bus I'd never taken because it comes too infrequently and it's an express so it's $2.25 and I have a $1.75 pass. With no change I grabbed a dollar and headed over, ready to eat the 50 cents and see what it was like.

Turns out it's not an express, it's only a limited stop. And it was full of hip yuppies from Uptown. And it wasn't crowded. And quite literally ten minutes later I was dropped half a block from the front door of our building. I was actually at my desk with juice and donut at the same time the "next" bus on Grand would have been picking me up.

So I'm going to have to check it out on the way home, but I'm really a happy camper at this point. Yay!

Culture shift. Someone noticed my certificate stating that I am an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church (http://www.ulc.org) and after some conversation I kidded that people were probably using ULC ministers in Everquest. Ha ha funny, right?

Well, funny if you've heard of Everquest. "Everquest? Huh?"

I then got the "I haven't played games since 1996, too much to do -- play softball, waterski, whatever. Gaming is a waste of time, go outside" speech -- from EVERYONE.

I can handle being the alpha geek, and having people think I'm more nerdy than everyone else, but other developers should certainly KNOW about geek culture.

And I'm one of the only people I know of in the organization that has a personal web page/site. And I've looked. Pretty strange for an ONLINE UNIVERSITY.

I'm so pathetic. I just used the freakin' paperclip office assistant to find out how to do something in Word. The really sad part is that it worked and I found out how to make my change quickly and easily. Dammit.

My hand hurts. A lot. I think I bruised it chipping ice last weekend, but it's got me thinking about "What if I got Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" and that's a horrid horrid scary thought.

It's probably ok, as yesterday it hurt in one place and today it's in another, so it's moving. And I only have today and tomorrow to be typing for 10 hours (7-8 at work and 2-3 at home) a day.

And I have to pack for New York tonight, so I think I'll be okay. Might have to go out and get a brace or something at lunch. It hurts even when I'm not moving it.

Ever feel like you got hired to do something and they completely misunderstood your qualifications? "Do you know how to make Business Objects and understand Terribly Complicated Stuff?" "Uh, nope." "Great, you're hired!"

My web site is done. Yes, done. All future content can be integrated using administrative interfaces or ACDSee for labeling descriptions of items. All sites have error reporting and rerouting options, all have statistics reporting systems, and there are common controls among them all to manage 'new' items, navigation, style sheets, etc.

I feel so.. completed.

There is still a bunch of stuff to be moved in/built, but it's all additional content, nothing that's crippling any portion of the site. I'm quite pleased.

Yup, Jill and Eli home today, maybe again tomorrow too. I'm fine thus far, crossing fingers, sacrificing chickens, etc.

Getting into some cool stuff at work, but of course it all starts with Documentation, doesn't it? :)

New York this friday! Woo!

What a weekend! Eli sick with a feverish cold, Jill sick with a feverish cold and cough. Jill's Mom just back from African Safari, lots of interesting stuff, and she watched Eli while Jill and I went to C&J's housewarming. Was fun. Today Ann and Erik and Gatsby (Erik's dog) came over and we played Nascar (it's Ann's birthday) -- lots of fun, but at 7:30 Jill and Eli were in bed, and by now I'm sure they're both fast asleep. Time to play my new game -- Harry Potter.

I'm working on the Kaboomery, a Toontown Online fansite -- and I can develop the site well enough, but every time I hit the site my computer turns itself off. Yup. Works just fine on everything except hitting that one site. Yeah, it bothers me too. My CDROM no longer works, either. I'm getting a little worried I have to buy a new PC. I don't want to buy a new PC. I want to buy a new Scooter.

Unsettling: You are just sitting there when your glasses pop a lens and you sense a Very Very Very small screw fall into the darkness beneath your desk. And you can't see well any longer.

It's the human equivalent of throwing a horseshoe. You'll live, but not well.

I somehow managed to find the screw and screw it in using my wits and a fingernail.

I also got a SPAM that advertised a special deal on carpet that was actually tax deductable.