The Comcast guy was very pleasant, professional, helpful, etc today. Didn't directly fix my problems. Directly. He did rule out actual transport layer issues. It was NOT the fault of the comcast network. Got a new modem, some new splitters, and a new length of cable out of it though. :-)

Since I'd rebuilt the laptop from the ground up (from fdisk), that left only the actual, physical hardware. Connected the CAT5 to both the docking station and the laptop with the same results. Leaving only my internal network card.

However, once I disabled my LAN card, my wireless 802.11G took over seamlessly. :-)
Not quite as fast as before, but much faster than I actually need. And secured, so, eh.

I've got a spare PCI slot, but it would appear that one actually needs to search to find a PCI WIRED network card in this new-fangled year. I expect the intarwebs will deliver what I want. Now, I just need to replace the RAM so that it actually responds snappily. (currently two 256MEG PC2700 DDR SDRAM chips occupying the two slots.)

Then it should be good until the next failure.
Bought it in Jan/Feb 2004, so 36 months.
I suppose it's too much to hope for that I get 18 months before the next?

(despite the fact that Miss Bethanie beat me to the punch. Hopefully not foreshadowing, as those who read to the end shall see.)

I hope 2006 will be remembered fondly by one and all. Except that 2007 rocked so much more. I expect that will be the case for me.

In 2006: I dropped 25 pounds. And kept it off (more later). Started a new job (well, technically, started it towards the end of 2005) that I like a lot better, with a better manager. Left the National Guard (W00T!) and a unit I had come to cordially despise. Joined the Army Reserve and a unit that I cannot say enough great things about. (No, it's not perfect, but it's a whole lot closer, and the organizational culture is right). Saw the end of my relationship with AL (in that weird twilight where we are friends. Doubt it will work, but I figure that it is worth a good faith effort.). Earned both my blue and green belts in karate. Watched my son compete in one karate tournament, missed seeing him compete in another. No, he didn't win, place, or show. But he showed up and gave it his all. Which is the point. Went to my son's basketball practices (just found out: the season was cancelled - they decided it didn't make sense to field a middle-school team with EXACTLY 5 boys on it. But they still get to practice with the older kids, so that's good). Went to a few local MMA tournaments with Talinom. (more later). Went to a couple schools for my Reserve unit, one to learn to be an Army instructor, one to get me some book larnin on the subject(s) I will be teaching. Watched my son perform a few times (dance festival, school play, magic tricks at talent show), did a couple Weblows events and one Boy Scout one. Took two APFT (military fitness) tests. Each showing better numbers/fitness. Was offered a couple of jobs, which I didn't take. And wasn't offered a few, which I likewise did not take.:-)

[breath]

AND. Went to my HS reunion, and got a chance to spend time with some people that I hadn't seen in years and wanted to. And learned some stuff about the difference between reality as it is/was and how you may have chosen to filter and perceive it. Heard from my first real girlfriend (freshman year of college). Odd, that. Put in a sprinkler system and hyrdoseeded the lawn (for values of "gave someone else money to do it for me"). Put in a new patio next to the rose garden. By hand. one brick at a time. (just made my back hurt again, thinking about it!) Tore all the old roses out of said garden, so that I can start over in the spring. Got a RAZR phone, which I like very much. Saw the death of "Army of One" :-). And another. Learned how to fix a gas stove. Have started the move from programming into project management.

And one or one thing that I'm just not going to mention here. :-P Well, other than by the reference in the last sentence, and this one. I like being all mysterious like that.

But the biggest things aren't things. I noticed at some point during the year (I'm not sure exactly when), that I had finally let go of my bitterness about my marriage & divorce. as well as my animosity towards the X. (for the record, still all her fault! ;->). We've had a civil/pleasant/cordial relationship ever since the divorce, due to the need for one for the sake of my son. And that is what we continue to have. And will have in the future. But there was a big shift in my internal/emotional state about it. Which had a large impact in the amount of stress that is no longer involved in maintaining that civil relationship. I doubt we will ever be friends, but I find it easy, rather than work, to be friendly towards her.

Also, at some point this year (and I CAN almost pinpoint the exact day of this), I noticed that I was generally, genuinely happy. (this being a change of default state) Which isn't to say to I don't still get pissed off, grumble, complain, bitch, whine & moan. 'cuz I do. :-) But the default state is happy, or at least content. Interesting thing. When you are mostly happy, things go better. Period. Full Stop. When you are generally pleasant to be around, others tend to be more pleasant and helpful. When you are normally smiling, strangers (especially hot chick strangers) are more likely to pass the time of day with you. Etc, etc, etc.

[breath]

And some things went other than I would have liked. Never did make it back to Boston. :-( yo-yo'ed on the effort put into martial arts. The diet was inconsistent - never going up much, but spending LOOOONNGGG times not moving down (especially once my default state changed to "happy". Much too willing to cut myself slack.). I would have liked the breakup with AL to have gone more smoothly/less drama. Washing machine died --> $$ fled my pockets. I never got around to learning morse code, even though I tried to trick myself into it. I didn't win the lottery. Bastards.
And my time management has sucked.

I think that towards the end of the year, I may have inadvertently given serious offense to a friend of mine. Friend said not, but their behavior has been different since (or I'm being oversensitive), so I donno. I hope that I didn't give offense. Or that it is soon forgiven.

2007 looks to be a bumper year. I don't normally do new year's resolutions. and I'm not really, per se, technically, doing so here. It's just that a lot of things have been decided and/or set in motion over the last few months. And there's this here new year...

I am finally getting around to learning some Spanish. (thanks to the two dotters who have offered assistance at various times), something that I have been wanting to do for quite a while. As well as starting on two other languages, to be named later. Will be starting on another degree soon (BA in Psych - application and transcripts already submitted, should start around the end of Jan, to be followed by MA in same, most likely). Will complete most of ILE (military master's degree - or close enough). Will teach at least one course for my reserve unit (February). Will go through the UW certificate in tech project management program on the employer's dime and time. New roses for the rose garden. And shrubberies. Will do a some other small household improvements - wood flooring in laundry/mud room, baseboards in computer/workout room, redo workshop, etc. Probably with copious help from RedHeadedKitten and BBB. I will be picking up my general class ham radio license in Feb/Mar, and the Extra class in April/May. Playing with the idea of getting a PI license. Just 'cuz.

Knock on wood, going to get back to Boston, and a few other "fun" trips. I will also take an actual vacation this summer.

Getting back on course with my time management. It IS a skill I have, and am good at. I just haven't been USING it much since I got back from Iraq. Partly because I didn't have any real NEED to do so. Partly because of a natural laziness. Anyway, this is probably one of my two "actual" new year's resolutions. Because it will be necessary for all the other things I want to get done.

The other is to express myself more positively more of the time. As I said, my "default" state is now happy (and has been for a while). But it would seem that years of habit, as well as my sense of humor can lead others to think I am (significantly) more negative than I am. Doesn't mean I plan to go all Pollyanna, but perhaps take a second to review and judge whether what I am about to say will accurately CONVEY what I mean. For instance, when someone asked my how my APFT run was the other day (see below), I replied "cold, wet, long. Feet hurt." (or words to that effect) This was all true. But rather accentuated the negative and didn't convey the core fact that I was VERY happy with the results of the test, and glad that I had done it.

Drumroll....

I will be getting into the ring for a MMA fight in late spring/early summer. In the 185lb (+/- 5lbs for amateurs. a drop of approx 15-20 lbs) division. :-) Which gives me a nice external motivator and timeline for getting in shape (strength & cardio - wise), focusing on my martial arts training, and getting back on the glide path for weighing what I want to (about 1.5-2 lb a week). I'm not sure if it will be the right kick in the pants to hit my black belt timeline (40th birthday - August 2008). It might be, but that's a lot of ground to cover (red, brown, black). In any case, it has been a goal in it's own right ever since I joined the school. I was just too focused on negative crap to pursue with any regularity. Went to the cardio kickboxing class Saturday (which is going to be added to my regimen 2-3 times a week, over the next month or so), and talked to the school owner after, so I am committed. Should hopefully know the date within a month or so. W00T!!

Spent the 31st watching UFC & rebuilding my PC from the ground up & a little time with my son.

(Oh, and it has been definitively proven that my computer problems are actually Comcast's problems. Download speeds between 5-15meg, upload less than 1K. Significantly less than. Good for chat, a HTTP request, and that's about it.) However, a number of things on my system that have never been "quite right" now are, so it wasn't a useless exercise. AND I now have a good backup script.)

A good closing to a good year.

Monday, an APFT. (267 points, up from 258 in July, and 230 in April). Picked the wrong start point, and ran an extra quarter mile, which makes me feel a little bit better that my run time increased by just under a minute (though that was more due to the jog/walk routine I did for the last quarter mile). It WAS cold, wet, and long. and the wind was nasty on the mile out. AND I got a blister on one of my feet (RW needs new shoes badly). I think I'm going to start doing them quarterly as a progress check.

Then watched Rocky (it rocked. Best line? "Fighters fight." For the record, I came up with "Warriors war" prior to seeing the movie). Went home and continued to rebuild my PC. Much better system performance. Need to add some more ram. Hopefully, it'll be easily accessible. Comcast should be at my house this afternoon, and hopefully they'll fix quickly.

Got to bed fairly early. Made it to work on time this morning.

A good start to a good year? Only time will tell, but I think so. :-)

I hope each and every one of the circle had a great 2006, with a nice closing, and has an even better 2007.

bar

From the bottom of my heart.
(doing housecleaning :-P)

Good christmas at the Warrior household. which is probably the only house on the block decorated in humbug fashion. :-) (all the Christmas stuff is in the workshop awaiting next year when I officially have my son for the holiday.)

The eve was spent at my X's house, with my son. We opened presents last night, and he was very happy with his loot, especially his flat panel LCD TV. (Their old TV had given up the ghost a while back, and they had been using a borrowed 9" one for the time being). I was very happy that I didn't go overboard with the presents this year. I have a tendency to treat his wish list as a shopping list. I think it's a large part having had some sucky Christmases growing up, with just a dash of divorced father guilt. Of course, that leads to a bunch of junk that doesn't get played with much. Not this year. The TV (yeah, it cost, but it was ONE item, that will get used. And it counts as the X's Christmas AND birthday. :-) ), a couple DVD sets (1st season JLU, 2nd season Teen Titans), and a basketball (He decided to go out for basketball this year, as I think I mentioned. Btw, those portable basketball hoops? WAY more 'spensive than I expected!!!).

Something like 10 gifts less than I got him in prior years. :-)
Of course, with his mom, both sets of relations, etc, etc, he is still coming away with quite a haul.
(I really am trying to work on the not buy him stuff out of guilt thing)

Following that, we combinded gifts in order to watch the 1st disk of JLU. :-D

Woke up in the morning to see what Santa left overnight. He left me a clock with japanese numerals. Something that I had been casually been looking for for years. Handmade by my son. with a maker's mark on the back and everything. :-)
(other loot, not sucky, not exciting. Though showing thoughtfulness on the part of my son. And willingness to play along on the part of my X.)

The X and son left for Mass, where he had volunteered to be an alter server/boy/whatever they are called today. Based on a follow-up call, turns out he was the only one who showed. :-)

Killing time right now, waiting for the X and son to get up here. So they can follow me to the RW_matrilineal_extended_family Christmas gathering. 'twas a bit of a surprise when I found out they were coming (this morning on the way out the door), as the X had indicated "not" before. Made a frantic call to my mom to verify there would be a present under the tree for son. There will be.

THAT is another change that has been made to the Christmas regimen over the last couple years. In the past, the extended family thing was a full-blown everybody gets all their gifts main-event type thing. That has changed to a each child has one (the number on the whole number scale between 0 and +2), and only one, gift under the tree. Each adult brings one, and only one, gift into the house for a white elephant-type thing. Each adult leaves with the same number of gifts they entered with. All other gifting is done on your own time, and elsewhere. Cuts way down on the silly "obligation" gifts. And the stress they engender. Especially when one branch or twig of the tree is doing markedly better/worse than the others.

Of course, since I had been told that son was not attending, I had not ensured that there would be a present under the tree for him, and gave all mine already. However, a quick call, and he will get one of his gifts (from my sister) earlier than he would have otherwise.

Following the family thing, I will swing by Talinom's place for some further cheer. After which I will return home, where my son and X are spending the night before heading over to eastern washington to spend after-Christmas with X-BIL (He's a priest, coving 3 parishes and thus Christmas per se is not the best time to hang out with/for him.)

And the nifty bit? Next year I get to have my son for Christmas. :-D

Just finished my weeky project status meeting (11:30 - make your meetings just before lunch, and it's easier to stay on-agenda :->) with the contractors. Reading through one of their weekly status reports (due 30 min before the meeting, to give me time to scan & highlight anything that looks odd), and came across the following:

"There are [location] existing tests that appear to test the various message reading classes we are modifying. Unfortunately, they depend on data that no longer exists, configuration lore that is still being recovered...

Configuration Lore.
Phrase of the day. :-D

Clarification: Calling all Geeks who are readining my journal in the normal course of wandering through the zoo. If you're reading this because it appeared on the front page, despite my selecting "Post", please piss off. 'Cuz journals don't belong on the front page. And I only want opinions from the WASHED masses. Thanks for your time. :-P

Now, for the zoo:
PC/Laptop Headsets, USB or otherwise. Whadda like?
I've found with doing my online meetings with my reserve unit, as well as a little bit of Skype, that my $9.99 headset I bought a few years back (and never used until recently) sucks.

I need something that has good audio quality, and doesn't have a lot of feedback. If the headset were wireless, that would be double-plus good, though not required.

So, whadda got? Like it? Hate it? Recommendations?[1]

[1] Just for the record, "buy a Mac/IPOD", while technically a recommendation[2], really wouldn't solve my issue in this case. :-)

[2] And not bad in its own right, and my Vista upgrade path.

So, I joined the cool kids and got a Motorola Razr. Had I waited until after watching the Bond movie, I would have likely gone with a Sony-Erickson (Bond being an even BIGGER Sony fanboy that I). But I REALLY like the Razr.

Whereas This leaves me in the position of having 4 cell phones at the moment, which stikes even me as somewhat excessive.

and Whereas I feel one backup phone is probably a good idea.

and Whereas one of them is "locked" (needs a special code every time it's turned on, a PITA), and thus won't be passed on.

and Whereas I don't want to go through the hassle of selling the other two (especially as I tossed the packaging, and don't feel like listening to a bunch of whiners or getting negative feedback on ebay/amazon.

It is hereby resolved that: An unlocked Motorola Mpx200 in NIB condition (less the box) along with battery and charger; and an unlocked Motorola Mpx220 (very much in used condition, with a small crack in the case, but completely functional) along with battery, charger, car charger, bluetooth headset (cheap), and USB data cable shall be given away to whomever wants them, either separately or together, provided expressed willingness to pay US Post Office shipping charges.

[Go find your own Bastiat quote]

Just a couple of scenes from small town life this day of this year.

Today was my Son's first basketball practice for his middle-school team. He seems to have a really good coach who cares about teaching the kids, not just winning. Which is good, as there are exactly 5 kids who turned out for the team. And they haven't had a team in prior years. There is a 1:1 ratio between coaches/assistant coaches and kids. As far as I can tell, they are all good instructors, at least I know that *I* know infinitely more about basketball than I did 24 hours ago. (yes, I sat through the practice). Oh, all the coaches are volunteer, as the district doesn't have the $$ to hire[1], especially for that small of a population. The head coach is a town cop with the swing shift. At least one of the others is also a cop, and another one a town firefighter.

After we went back to my X's and the son took a shower, we then headed to the town's GRAND OPENING OF THE NEW LIBRARY. And, yes, this was an all-caps, bold-type event. The library is about a third of the size of either of the two nearest my house. Maybe 2000sq ft, but I seriously doubt it. No rows of computers offering internet access to all and sundry. Just a small town library with these paper-based information storage and retrieval units. Other than the computers for the staff (two librarians and an admin type), and the one for self checkout[3], someone could walk in from 1950 and not see much out of place[2], compared to the old library down the street. That said, the place was PACKED. The library parking lot was full, the on-street parking was full, the Red Apple (which is also known as THE (singular) grocery store) parking lot was full, and the parking lot for the baseball field was full. I think the VFW was also catching some of the overflow. People were literally elbow to elbow in there. an ALL CAPS, BOLD FONT major event. Oh yeah, and they had a cake with either juice or coffee.

Now, the interesting bit. Part of the openning ceremony was where the Friends of the Library presented the mayor with the deed to the library. That would be the free and clear deed. As in the library is paid for. As in there is no public debt to retire[4]. As in there are no levy bonds that will come due. This was the first library in the history of this multi-county libary system to be built with no levies, no bonds, no allocation of taxes. Because, a number of years ago (the number of the counting being 17), a bunch of people in the community decided the town could benefit from a newer library. So they raised the funds and built it. A community getting something good for itself without a government mandate. Go figure. No, it is not a rich community, that's why it took 17 years.

Tangentally, It turns out that my son and all the library staff are on a first name basis. This sort of thing shouldn't surprise me, given the size of the town, but it always does. And they let him know when a new book comes in that they think he might like. Also, I found out he had been giving them design and decor suggestions over the last year or so. And they listened, at least to some extent.

Yeah, I don't like my son living as far away from me as he does.
Yeah, I would never move there.
But Norman Rockwell would be right at home.[5]
And I think I'm kind of glad my son lives there.

[1] As noted before, the elementry, middle, and high school share a common parking lot with the district offices - which are in the same building as the middle school gym. It shares some of it's admin staff with the "neighboring" school district 25-30 miles away.
[2] Unless they focused on the materials used, handicapped access, and the lack of a card catalog. But then, they aren't playing along. So screw 'em.
[3] Which was a big deal. They were giving demonstrations.
[4] Libraries being, btw, something that I have no issue using public funds for, as long as they are used intelligently.
[5] Speaking of which, Talinom, I finally finished watch Titus.

So, the other day, a RL female friend of mine indicated that she may consider getting her assets augmented. She asked for my feedback as to whether guys had a strong preference.

I had to admit that I have no basis to judge, lacking an augmented volunteer to play adjust the radio with. :-(

However, I thought it might be more interesting that the current questionaire meme going around. If you're a guy: Real or Memorex? Do you care?

BLUF[6]: What artifacts should one develop for a small, "rush" project of 3-4 months duration. I want enough for clear direction and historical documentation, but no more than absolutely necessary.

----
The long version:

That Maven of Management Helicobacter, the Stalwart Degrees, the Esteemed Mr. Lindenmuth, and the cast of thousands who read this journal and have some experience in project management and/or being a lead devolper on a project, lend me your ears.

Well, actually, I have no use for your ears. What I'm hoping for is your thoughts.
So....

This project that I am in charge of is expected to kick off on Wednesday. I am doubtful that it will happen that quickly, but it might. There will be a couple days of overhead in getting the contractors' workstations set up (mostly the dev environment, as setting up for this monster [at least by our agency's standards] application requires a bit of hand-crufting the first time), introductions to stakeholders, etc, blah.

Other background stuff, I am going to my "overnight wonder" PM class on the 12th and 13th. There is a fairly important meeting on the agency-wide project[1] on the 12th, particularly on the mainframe side. My nominal lead will go in my stead to that meeting. If the contractors are here by that date (which I expect), I will have them go as well.

Oh, and I will be in Dallas for the military on the 12-14th of Jan, and teaching a class for the military Feb 5-17. I will have the ability the check email a couple times a day during that timeframe.

There are also some features being added to the applicaiton by another project (actually, the same project which spawned my app. It's long-term goal is to take all the disparate systems we use to conduct our core business and turn them into a coherent suite of applications) which I will need to coordinate with. Mainly in the area of keeping the branches from getting tangled. THEY have a later implementation date. We just need to manage not to step on each other's toes.

I'll have two contractors working for me, one for mainframe/messaging, one for dotNet stuff. They have both worked on projects for the agency for a number of years and know our systems, our data, and our culture. Thank [diety_of_choice] for LARGE favors. That really makes my job easier. Though not this particular application. As the work is being done to my, I can jump in on the dotNet (but not the mainframe&messaging) side in a pinch. However, I want to avoid that, as I have strong feelings about project managers programming. The phrase "Know your role..." comes to mind.

blah, blah, blah, blah.
-------

We have up to[2] 730 hours worth of work, divided into about 600 hours of development-related tasks, and about 130 "other" (documentation, user testing, planning, project management, overhead, etc.).

• May 23 is our "hard" date. 'Cuz the feds tells us so.
• March 3+/- is our soft date. There WILL be a production drop on that date, with what is tested and working at that point[3]. This also the date we will integrate the our new shared security client with our app.
• Feb 15 is our (tentative move to pre-prod and business area beta testing date. (and yes, I can translate hours to weeks...). I won't be on site on that day. :-(
• Dec 11 is the latest date the contractors will hit the ground. It is also the date by which their workstations and development environments will be up and working. AKA "start date".
• Dec 6 is the earliest date the contractors will hit the ground. The workstations may or may not be configured by this date.

That is the rough schedule I have to date. AND I know I will be gone on the 12th & 13th, so I need some plan that is not crap before the 6th, so that I don't waste their time and start out with the project behind.

What I KNOW I will be creating in the realm of artifacts ARE:

• A Project plan/Gannt chart. Which, sadly, means I will need to learn to US MS Project[4]
• A detailed breakdown of tasks (we have a high level one now, that guestimates in about 5 hour increments)
• An Implementation Plan. (I'm actually quite good that these) Probably a second one, depending on whether I think we can get everything into the March 3 drop.
• A Communication Plan. This will actually be incorporated into the Implementation Plan.
• A weekly status reporting/progress tracking document format of some sort that links the detailed task listing to project completion.

What other documents do you think would either be necessary or REALLY helpful? I will need some sort of format that documents what changes were made within the application & mainframe procedures, as I will need to update the application's documentation[5] after completion of this project.

Also, as a confirmed meeting-hater, I am mulling whether or not to have regular status reporting/review meetings and at what frequency. I am leaning towards "no" and "never", as I expect to be talking informally on a daily basis with these guys, and don't like meetings for meetings sake myself. I will be updating MY boss on a weekly basis, but I am thinking that informal communications as well as the weekly progress tracking document should give me adequate prep. OTOH, You've just GOTTA have meetings! Didn't you read the memo?!? Thoughts?

[1] The mainframe portion has been going on for quite a while (almost 2 years) is almost completed, which is what the meeting on the 12th is to go over thier implimentation and a final check for any gaps.

[2] The business area, naturally, has not given us any actual requirements to date. Meeting on Thursday to 'splain to them what happens if they don't. Short answer, is we assume worst (most work for us) case, which is where we get the 730 hours from. I'm thinking that we will end up somewhere in the vicinity of 550, as there is really no business reason to make all the presentation/interface changes we've outlined. Also, the 730 has about 15% padding built in. At least, we THOUGHT it was padding when we wrote it up.

[3] Our 730 includes about 150 hours of mainframy/messaging (IBM Websphere) type stuff. That, and a couple of transaction pieces (150-200 hours, IIRC) are the critical parts. All the rest are really presentation stuff.

[4] Yes, I know. However, in my agency, Projects use Project(tm). I can do it in some other format TOO, if I want. :-)

[5] Which is excellent, up to date, and relevant. The project (the app moved out of development and into maintenace about six months ago) had an honest to goodness business analyst/documentation position. Which was filled by somebody who is competent. It is a thing of beauty. Usefull documentation!! And as the maintenance guy for the application, I have every intention of keeping it so. However, there is a LOT of it that will need to be slogged through, and I do NOT want documentation updates to impact on our timeline. I just need enough bread crumbs so that I can get it done at a later date.

[6] Bottom Line Up Front. "Read this bit to see if you care or need to read the rest" :-)

First, a little background.
A while back I mentioned that I am thinking of moving from programming into project management. My employer sponsors a yearlong PM training program that starts every Oct. The plan is for me to hop into the next iteration. In the meantime, I'm doing a 2 day instant-wonder class in a couple weeks.

I didn't mention that I recently was called upon to review[1] the responses we got to a RFP/Q (request for proposal/quotation - I forget which it officially was) for some contracted services.

Well, I just found out that I will be getting a little jump start on the PM stuff. I am the project manager for the sub-project the contractors are being brought on board for. It's a small project, of short duration (2-3 months max), with only 2 contractors under me. A step in the right direction nonetheless. They should be here and working on Wednesday.

[1]Quick summary: Better than interviewing direct employee candidates[2]. However, if you send in a document to try to get you/your company hired BUY A SPELL-CHECKER (yes, my spalling sux, but not in formal correspondence). A well done document will help significantly, all other things being equal. A well done document WON'T help if you are a one person shop and you don't have the required KSA (Knowledge/Skills/Abilities).
[2] They didn't want to make the position a promotion, so I didn't take it. It is being interviewed for as an "in training" position, which is a much better solution all around. It is being interviewed for as one of a number of agency IT positions (ie, there are about 35 candidates interviewing for around 7 positions, and the hiring managers for all the positions are interviewing everyone). Which means *I* don't have to be on the panel.

"Invisibility?"

If you watch Beauty and the Geek, and your brain asplodes, it's your own fault.

That is all

The old washing machine beat me.

The stove now works. I am free to burn pizza to my heart's content.

The new washing machine put up one hell of a fight, but I got it installed and working. With enough water on the floor to float an armada. First too little silicon tape. Then too much. Then "Oh yeah! Don't forget to put these washers on and these filters inline!" Rasafrasn... Now I just have to fine-tune the water settings - I have more pressure/flow coming from the cold line than the hot, and so the cold valve needs to be opened to some % of full in order for the "warm" cycle to be "warm" (hot and cold will, of course, work as expected). An operation that needs to be done once per setup. Did I think to record the setting before shutting off the valve and removing the old washer?....

The new dryer works. Grrrr. So it is an electric dryer. The manual (yes, I violate the man code and (d)read the instructions) had so many notices about how it was a gas dryer that I had to stop and check. It was at this point that I noticed that it had NO POWER CORD! Full-bore panic - they gave me the wrong one! On closer inspection, I notice a hole where a power cord COULD come out. There is a panel right above it held in place by two screws. I open it to discover...The posts to connect the power cord to. A further reading of the manual (AFTER the english, spanish, and french portions of the "how to set up" really, I'd think it would have been OK to put this info up front) informs me that IF I have an electric dryer (despite all the manual's gas dryer warnings), that Maytag does not include a ... power cord (unless you live in Canada, in which case they do!?!)!!! OK, so I install the power cord from the old. Now I pull the knob and it won't start. Hmmm... Ponder. Hmmm... Right under the dial, it says "To start, pull and hold". So I pull AND hold. Yeah!!! Easy win.

Yup, there was a reason that I put Now to hook up the washer and dryer ... before I sleep. in the prior post.

I sometimes think that a spear and a sharp piece of flint are just about my speed. Well, maybe not the spear. It has at least two parts, maybe three. How about a sharp stick?...

OTOH, I successfully programmed my new cheap field digital watch. So I guess that's something.

As I may have mentioned a time or twenty, I am NOT a mechanically enclined person.

Soooo...

Yesterday, after returning home from buying the washing machine, I decide that I would like a slice of pizza (it only later became f'ing). So, I turn on the oven to preheat while writing the above JE. It dings when it reaches temp.

About 40 minutes later, I notice "no ding". The oven is completely cold. So I run some tests. All the cooktop burners work. The "broil" setting works. It's just the "bake" that doesn't.

No f'ing (it now being late, and me now being hungry) pizza for RW tonight. Some random microwavable food instead.

So I take a few minutes out of my day today to f'ing google it and decide it is most likely a fault with the glow bar/ignitor.

So tonight, after a brief WoW stint with Sol, Blinder, and BBB (Yeah!), I tear apart the oven. Sure enough the glowing thing isn't glowing, leading directly to its not igniting. Soooo... I remove the cage from arount the ignitor, and lay it on the base of the oven. For giggles, I turn the oven on. It starts glowing immediately. So I put it back together. No glow. So I go to take it back apart, only to determine that one of the bolts holding the cage has become cross-threaded or something. So I pound on it for a while, and finally get it apart again. Glow. So I put it back in position (without cage). Glow. So I put the cage back on. Glow. And ignition (I hadn't let it get hot enough the other times, on purpose).

I am ASSUMING that there was a lose connection that I reconnected in my banging around. Of course, I don't actually KNOW that... Feh.

So now the f'ing pizza is almost done. 24 hours later. I hate machines.
Now to hook up the washer and dryer (yeah, I got the dryer too) before I sleep.

Follow-up: I burned the pizza....

How I spent my Saturday night at the National Guard Armory. Roughly 25% of the fighters train at my school. And roughly 45% of the winners. :-)

Oh, and Round #2[MSWF?] is the best round.

The results.

NB. Bill is a professional photograper, but obviously NOT a professional at protecting his content on the web... While the images are meant for being viewed (else they wouldn't be posted), I would ask that you respect his toothless copyright notice.

Continuing a long standing practice, I am not quite visible in one of the pictures. :-)