Archive for the Doing category
Gully washer
I woke up this morning around 7:15am to the sounds of heavy rain. Here's what I found in the backyard:
Here's what caused it:
Multiple parenthetical elements
My sister and I enjoy the occasional discussion/argument about grammar and punctuation. We're a little weird that way. We use Gregg's Ninth Edition as the arbiter.
Today's discussion was about the proper way to punctuate a sentence that has two parenthetical elements. I had an e-mail where I wanted to have a long clause in parentheses at the end of the sentence, but I also wanted to wrap one special word in it's own parentheses. In the past I've put the outer clause in parens, and the inner clause/word in brackets, but I couldn't find it referenced in Gregg.
My sister called me this morning, and we talked it out. She agreed with me on the brackets, but we both wondered why Gregg didn't have an entry for it. It turns out I had stopped looking a little too early.
Gregg's sections on parentheses are 224-226, and my problem isn't referenced there. However, at the end of 226, there's a list of related references, including Parenthetical elements within parenthetical elements: see ¶297.
Here's the full text of ¶297:
- When a parenthetical element falls within another parenthetical element, enclose the smaller element in brackets and enclose the larger element in parentheses.
Now, being the logical programmer type, I took issue with this. I came up with an example where the smaller element was the outer one, which would mean, according to Gregg, that the block should open with a bracket. After some additional debate, my sister and I agreed that we did not agree with Gregg, at all really. Our opinion is that the outer element is enclosed in parens, and the inner element is enclosed in brackets, regardless of their length. We even got some moral outrage going at the end.
And so it goes...
Some notoriety
I have the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG) feed on Google Reader. My sister and I enjoy the odd grammar discussion, and SPOGG has a lot of fun posts about the problems that big-name web sites and newspapers have with grammar, spelling, and editing.
Last night, I went to the Los Angeles Times web site for some updated weather info, and found an interesting typo. I sent it in to the nice woman who runs the SPOGG site, and this morning she posted it:
Why newspapers need copy editors
The story was especially relevant to Jason:
Authorities lift mandatory evacuation orders for homes in the Paradise Valley area of La Caņada Flintridge, where many people staid put.Here's the screen dump I took of the Times' web site; click for a full-size version:
Top 5
From time to time I play a flash-based basketball game on the onlinesgames.com site. Normally I'm in the 40th percentile - around 200 out of 500 players. Just now, I made the top 5 for the first time ever. The best I've had before was 30th. Click for the full-size image.
Boom
Life got busy last night, so I didn't get to bed until about 11:45pm, with the alarm set for 6:05am. I was sleeping soundly, or so it seemed, when a boom shook the house, like a plane crashed into the roof or something. The time projected on the ceiling said it was 4:05am.
A thunderstorm cell passed right over the house. There was almost no delay between the flash and the bang, and the whole bedroom got really bright, even through the heavy shades we use on the outside of the windows. Each set had about three or four closely spaced booms, and there were five or six sets. The rain didn't start falling until the third strike, and it was heavy, but not the heaviest we've seen.
After it passed I slept until the alarm went off, way too soon...
Implant
After a long fight, my dentist (the fantastic and highly recommended Dr. James Crabtree in Arcadia) and I decided that my #3 upper right molar could not be saved. A botched crown some years back did the damage, but what can you do?
Dr. Ardary, an excellent oral surgeon in Arcadia, extracted the tooth long ago, and late in 2008 he did a sinus augmentation to build up the bone structure in my upper jaw so that it could handle the implant.
Today, he placed the implant. In ten days the stitches come out, and in three to six months he'll do some more, relatively minor work to prepare it for the crown. Dr. Crabtree takes over then, creating a mold for the crown, then installing it. Implants are more like car repair than traditional dentistry, but I think they are much preferred over bridges.
Geography
This Traveler IQ was calculated on Friday, November 20, 2009 at 05:36AM GMT by comparing this person's geographical knowledge against the Web's Original Travel Blog's 4,796,318 travelers who've taken the challenge.
Name that road sign
Working with Google Maps
During the Iron Butt Rally, I developed some static Google Maps showing the various bonus locations and checkpoints. I started with the Leg 1 bonus locations, once they were published on the IBR web site. I scraped the necessary data from the PDF file, wrote a Perl script to reformat it, and the map was born. Click here for the IBR maps.
The powers-that-be didn't publish the bonus locations for legs 2 and 3 until after the rally was over, but when they did I created maps for those legs as well, along with a single map showing all the bonus locations, using different color push-pins for the different legs.
A couple of weeks ago the SPOT people began publishing the tracking data in an XML format, which made it a lot easier to download the data. I've been using the Spot Trip Manager website to display maps with the tracks for my trips, but I had a few issues with some of the formatting, and wanted to store the data on my own site for future use. With the new XML format, I saw that I could set it up to work just the way I wanted it.
For the last couple of weeks I've been building a trip viewer to manage and display my SPOT tracks, and yesterday I converted all of the SPOT maps on the tcfjr site over to my new viewer.
I use a Perl script running in a cron job every 15 minutes to download the XML data from the SPOT site. The script parses the data, and inserts any new spots into a MySQL database.
The trip viewer is a PHP script that builds a Google Maps API v3 page to display the spots. For multi-day trips I can set it to display markers X number of times per day, which makes the overview map a lot cleaner. Polyline support was just added to V3 earlier this week, so lines are now drawn between every spot, even if the spot's marker is suppressed, so the overall track can be viewed.
I have a basic trip creator CGI script in place, but mostly I dive into the phpMyadmin page in my hosting account's cPanel to create and edit trip definitions.
It's been a lot of fun learning about the Google Maps API, and there's always more stuff to add to it. Yesterday I added a trip listing page, and added support for embedding maps in other pages using iframes.
For now it's only for my own use, but the infrastructure is set up to support multiple accounts. The current Spot Trip Manager is great for most people, so unless something changes with STM I will use my setup just for me.
Pre-patellar bursitis
Back in January, I tripped over a ledge in the sidewalk on Brand Blvd. near my work, and fell onto my right knee. It hurt, and had a bruise and some abrasion, but after a week or so it seemed to have healed up normally.
When I got back from my motorcycle ride to British Columbia near the end of June, I noticed that the knee was swollen. I had no pain or even discomfort, but the top of the knee cap was noticeably puffy — about the same diameter as a tennis ball, and about an inch deep. I didn't think much of it, thinking it would go down on it's own, and I didn't think about it much until mid-August.
Justin was going to see Dr. Ackerson, the orthopedic specialist, about his collar-bone. Everyone in the family, except for me, has been going to Dr. Ackerson for years, pretty much since Jason broke his wrist playing U-12 soccer. Justin said he'd ask Dr. Ackerson about my knee at his next appointment.
Dr. Ackerson told Justin that I should have it looked at promptly, and said he was the man for the job. I called up the next day, and got an appointment scheduled for the following day.
Now, Dr. Ackerson has been around forever, and has seen it all, so when he told me to wrap it in an Ace bandage for a week to see what happens, I did as I was told. After the week was up, he said it the swelling had reduced about 10%, and told me to keep it wrapped for another two weeks — he was reluctant to open it up unless absolutely necessary. The biggest hassle was his instruction to avoid exercising - I had lost about 25 pounds in the last couple of months, and was walking almost every day.
I came back last Wednesday after the two weeks were up, and it had not gone down much more at all. Dr. Ackerson shot my knee up with something to numb it, and made a small incision in the skin right above the knee cap. A combination of semi-clear fluid and blood came out when he squeezed my knee. His R.N. Carla — who puts up with a lot from the doctor — bandaged me up, and I was told to come back the next morning. I couldn't get the dressing wet, so no showering allowed.
On Thursday, he decided to go in with no numbing first. He stuck the tip of a Kelly clamp into the incision, and dug around in there for half a minute or so, then he squeezed more gunk out. Decidedly uncomfortable. Again, I was told to come back the next morning. Again, no showers allowed.
On Friday morning, he numbed me up again, did his probe with the clamp, and had Carla swab out a sample for a culture. Then he inserted a wick - basically a medicated strip 1/4" wide and about 4" long. He packed it into the incision, with about an inch hanging outside. Because of the long weekend, he told Carla to tape up the dressing really well, and I was asked to return on Tuesday. Still no showers.
When I woke up Saturday morning, the knee was really sore. I think he did an especially good job with his probing on Friday. A few Advil and some rest made it manageable. We went to Rick's house for a family birthday thing, which was fun.
Sunday and Monday were uncomfortable. The soreness in the knee itself was mostly gone, but the tape was irritating my skin a lot. I wasn't sure how the wick would work out if I re-dressed it myself, so I grinned and bore it as best I could.
Tuesday morning's appointment was bright and early at 8:00am. He numbed it up, lengthened the incision from 1/4" to about 1", did his sadistic probing with the clamp, and inserted a new wick. He told me to let it drain for 10 minutes, but I clot pretty fast, and it was stopped up within 2-3 minutes. Carla used only a single piece of tape to hold the dressing on, and hooked me up with more gauze and tape so I can redo it myself if need be.
When I go back on Thursday, they should have the results back on the culture they took on Friday. Based on the results of the culture, I'll either be good to go, or I might need surgery to remove the pre-patellar bursa. I really hope I don't need surgery.
Follow-up: Thursday was more of the same - clean-up, probing, inserting the wick, re-dress, and come back tomorrow. He said it's looking better, and he doesn't think it will need surgery, but he can't know for sure until the culter comes back.
Follow-up 2: On Friday, Dr. Ackerson first had them take an x-ray, which came back good. When he looked at it, he said it looked good, and told Carla to re-dress it without any probing or anything. He said they got the results back on the culture, and there was no infection. He told me to take it easy over the weekend, and if things look good on Monday we'd be done, except for check-ups every couple of weeks for a while. I've been working hard to take it easy, and am really looking forward to taking a real shower on Tuesday morning.
Arghhhhh...
I woke up this morning with a spring in my step, looking forward to a long but wonderful day of riding up to Yosemite for my last Dam Tour stop. It didn't work out that way. Instead, for reasons I can't go into here, I spent the day at home, frustrated at myself and annoyed with the world.
6J
I saw my first car with a CA license plate beginning with 6J. It was a beautiful gray Mini, parked on Fair Oaks north of California, by the Starbucks. It had a June month sticker.
Knee-knee
I've had some fluid on my right knee for the last few months. There's no pain, no redness, but it's really puffy. My supportive family tells me it feels like a silicon implant just under the skin...
I wasn't certain what kind of doctor I should go to about it. Luckily, Justin had an appointment with Dr. Ackerson, the orthopedist, and he asked him about my knee. Dr. Ackerson said he was the guy for the job, and the sooner the better. My first visit was last Wednesday. Everyone else in my family have been regulars with Dr. Ackerson, but this was my first visit to him as a patient.
He looked it over, then told me a scary story about a former colleague of his who had drained the fluid from a patient's elbow, which somehow introduced an infection, which led to surgery, which led to the guy having a fatal heart attack on the table. He recommended a compression bandage and some daily anti-inflammatories, for seven days.
I went back this morning for the follow-up. I haven't noticed any big changes, but Dr. Ackerson said it felt more fluid than it had been. He felt a little guilty about it, but he suggested I keep on with the ace bandage and the anti-inflammatories for another two weeks. He said even if it doesn't go down much, the compression was loosening the fluid up, which will make it easier to extract. He warned me that he'll probably need to make a small incision to get all the fluid out - a needle alone won't do the trick.
I can walk, and ride a bike, but no running for the duration, and I'm supposed to avoid kneeling down on the knee — so no sprinkler work for a while. I was hoping to get it over with today, but he's the doc.
Squirrel Portrait
Too cute not to post. From NatGeo:
My husband and I were exploring Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park-Canada when we stopped for a timed picture of the two of us. We had our camera set up on some rocks and were getting ready to take the picture when this curious little ground squirrel appeared, became intriqued with the sound of the focusing camera and popped right into our shot! A once in a lifetime moment! We were laughing about this little guy for days!!
It's that time again...
I had a very nice birthday today.
I picked up a two and a half dozen donuts from Uncle Joe's to take to work, and ate my cinnamon roll with raisins in the car on the way. I treated myself to a steak and shrimp plate fro San Sei for lunch, and then met Carole and Justin at Chili's for a nice, low-key dinner. (Justin and I combined our 'big' birthday dinner last Wednesday at Ruth's Chris.)
Puzzle
My boss had this word puzzle today:
What's black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?
Answer: Charcoal
Use your mouse to highlight the text in the black box.
The ENT
Since my sinus augmentation surgery last December, Carole (more) and I (less) have noticed that I wheeze more than before. I finally got around to visiting an ENT to have it checked out.
The ENT was nice, a new junior member of a long-standing practice whose founder is now concentrating on his plastics work, which by all accounts is very lucrative, based on amount the numbers in the waiting room on a late Friday afternoon.
In the examining room, I gave the doctor a brief description of my symptoms, and was a little surprised that she did not know what a sinus augmentation was. We talked some more, and I gave her a pretty full rundown of my migraine history. After some more pokes and prods, we finished up, and she gave me her recommendations.
She said it looked like I had some allergy problems, and she gave me a prescription for Nasonex, and told me to pick-up some OTC Zyrtec. Next, she had me sign two records requests: one for details on my sinus augmentation, and another for details on my sleep study. Even though I told her that I was happy with my current migraine treatment protocol, she seemed anxious to work on it, and ordered a CAT scan of my sinuses and a new sleep study. A CAT scan is no big, but I wasn't happy about the sleep study.
After talking it over with Carole, I decided to hold off on the CAT scan and the sleep study. I've lost about 25 pounds so far on my new diet, and intend to keep going indefinitely. If I took those tests now, they would be useless in a few months if I continue to lose weight at this rate. The tests are expensive (mostly to my insurance company, but also out of my pocket), and the sleep study is an enormous pain in the ass.
I tried the Nasonex, but really didn't like the weird taste in my mouth and the nasty drainage into my throat. For now, I'm taking one Zyrtec at night, along with my Melatonin. I'm going to make an appointment with Dr. Liao for August after I get back from WFO, and I'll discuss the ENT's recommendations with her before I make any hard and fast decisions.
Stories
I was reminded tonight that I shouldn't tell stories, no matter how short. People just don't want to hear them.
My car guy
A few years back, I needed someone serious to work on my '69 Cadillac. I'd tried a few guys around the area, and they all talked a good game, but it never really worked out. Then, someone recommended Albert.
Albert Motus is young, but really knows his classic American cars. Over the years, Albert worked on the Cadillac, which was in serious disrepair after some neglect before I took over. The Caddie is now in the drive-way, under a new cover, waiting for the cash needed to do an engine swap. When that time comes, Albert is the guy who will do it.
When Sheehan was looking at buying his Solara, he asked me if I had a guy who could do a quick inspection, and I gave him Albert. Albert and his crew specialize in American cars, but he's pretty handy with the imports too.
A&A Automotive
Pasadena, CA
626-744-0926
My garage door guy
A few months ago, the spring on my aluminum roll-up garage door broke. Carole dug up the records for the original installation from the packet of stuff left by the previous owners, and amazingly the guy who did the original installation is still in business, in the same location.
Ed came out and replaced the spring — on-time, at the quoted price, and with a warranty. I just sent his info to my sister, who's working on getting my Dad's garage door replaced. Ed is my guy.
Ed Degner
Quality Garage Door Service
909-465-9960 or 626-969-4650
A cut above
Starting in the mid 80's, only one person ever cut my hair. Gil Carrasco, at a shop over on Baldwin in Arcadia, was the guy I trusted with my hair, and for over fifteen years no one else cut my hair (except one time when he was on vacation - I needed a trim to attend a wedding and a nice woman at his shop filled in).
When I got my V-Star motorcycle back in 2003, I started buzzing my hair to avoid the dreaded helmet hair look. Carole took care of it, but a few times I did it myself. One time I went all the way and took a razor to it after the buzz. It felt very strange inside my helmet.
I've been wanting to update my look a little, so a few weeks ago I started growing my hair out, and it looked okay. With my hair short, the gray in my beard stands out and gives me an older look, so the longer hair actually makes me look younger. After a while, though, the long hair was needing a clean-up.
On Tuesday before Christmas, I got the stitches from my sinus lift removed. Afterwards, I went hunting for a barber, but all the places I found were closed, either for the day or permanently.
On the Saturday after Christmas, with Jimmy's wedding in the afternoon, it was time for action. If I couldn't find a barber, it was off to SuperCuts.
I stopped in at Arnold's on Broadway (where I used to get my hair cut by Mr. Bruno back in the late 60's). He seemed nice, but was also popular — he had a young guy in the chair, and two more guys waiting. I just didn't have time to wait my turn.
I headed over to the SuperCuts, and found it nearly empty. An older guy was getting a trim, but the other three stylists (?) were free and there was no waiting. It was Kenny's turn, and as we went back to his chair I explained the situation. He asked a few questions, and then got started. A tiny amount off the top, neatly trimmed on the back and sides, tapered but not stepped. It all went as expected.
When I got home, Carole gave me a thumbs up, and Justin finally stopped telling me to cut my hair.
Sinus lift
So, my #3 tooth (upper right first molar) had an old filling go bad, and after working on it off and on for a few years Dr. Crabtree decided it couldn't be saved and really needed to be removed. In December of '07, Dr. Ardary (my oral surgeon, and highly recommended) removed it, and we made plans to replace it with an implant.
There are sinuses running horizontally just above the tooth line in everyone's upper jaw called the maxillary sinus. In my case, the sinus ran very low in the area of the #3 tooth — so low that there wasn't sufficient bone depth to hold the implant post. The solution to this sorry state? A sinus augmentation, or sinus lift.
Here's a summary of the procedure: an incision is made at the site of the missing tooth; the sinus and its related tissue is lifted up and away; and bone graft material is used to fill in the resulting void.
The graft has to mature for 9 months or so before it is strong enough to accept the implant.
Last Thursday, I went in for my sinus lift. They can do it with either local or general anesthesia, but everyone I talked to - Dr. Crabtree, Jodie, the great RN at Dr. Ardary's office - told me (in no uncertain terms) to get the general. Justin was my driver, and did a great job.
So far, it's been three days of pain and suffering, but that's to be expected. Vicodin is a wonderful thing.
Hopefully by Monday I'll be back in form.
Why is a B2 bomber orbiting SoCal?
Jeremy came over to do some laundry, and said there's a B2 bomber flying overhead. Sure enough, a couple of minutes later a B2 flies almost right over the house, going from north to south at about 1000 feet. Five minutes later, it's back, nicely silhouetted against the low clouds. Very cool.
The B2 flies over the Rose Parade almost every year, but other than that we couldn't think of a reason for it to be here.
Edit: from the Beacon Media News: "A B-2 stealth bomber from the 509th Bomber Wing performed a ceremonial flyover Sunday during services for Verne Orr, a former secretary of the U.S. Air Force who died last week at age 92."
Modern questions
Tiny Geo Coder
Tiny Geo-coder | The fastest way to find latitude and longitude
When I created a Garmin POI file with all the Yamaha dealers in the US (and a separate file for Canada), I needed a way to convert a street address (or even just a city name) into latitude and longitude.
At the time, the sites that provided this conversion had restrictions that limited how many look-ups you could do in a set period of time. This forced me to put together a wonderful piece of Perl code that did a round-robin http proxy, so I could then scrape out the data I really needed.
Now, Tiny Geo Coder does the conversions, with no restrictions and with a useful API. Plus, it has a nice tie-in with the Google Maps API. Good stuff.
Vertigo
From the National Geographic:
Uphill Rush
Uphill RushCrate & Barrel
With the FJR in for service, Carole and Mandy drove over to my office to pick me up after work. We walked down to the Granville Cafe at the Americana, and had a nice early dinner. We took the nickel tour of the main area of the Americana, ending at the Shaving Store of all places. Carole thinks her dad would like a new shaving brush.
I had to check the motorcycle out before they closed at 7:00pm. It took forever to pay the bill - before the cashier could charge me, the ticket had to be closed in the computer, but the owner had left it open so he could tell me about the worn-out rear tire - which I already knew. I couldn't talk to him right away because he was with a sales customer, but after ten minutes we got things straightened away. I parked the bike on the street, and we drove back to Old Town Pasadena.
Jimmy and Jen have a couple shower this Sunday, and registered at Crate and Barrel. Carole printed their list, and found some nice purple plates which of course we had to get. We added some purple tea lights to finish it off.
Their list also had a nice pitcher. I've been telling Carole that her mom needs a bigger pitcher to serve water at big family dinners, so we got the Cha-Cha pitcher for Pat. I got a cast-iron cord bread pan that looks like fun, and Carole got a pair of sugar cube tongs. Really.
Afterwards, we strolled a little looking for dessert, and settled on an Italian ice cream shop. I got a toasted almond gellato, but I don't remember exactly which flavors the ladies got.
Mandy came back to the house and beat us at Bananagrams. A fun Friday evening, indeed.
Where I've Been
I used to keep a written journal, and used the back page to track the states and provinces I had visited. I'm moving it here.
Update: As of April 3, 2006, states I've visited on a motorcycle are now in reddish-orange. In late July, 2008, I converted Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado from just-visited to motorcycle-visited.
6E
I saw my first vehicle with a California license plate starting with 6E today. It was a black Honda CRV, going west on the 134 just past Figueroa in Eagle Rock.
Sorry, Jodie
I went in for my quarterly visit to Dr. Crabtree for a teeth cleaning. Afterwards, I set up a couple of appointments with Jodie — the first for the next cleaning, and the second for the crown on #19. As we were finishing up, she asked me if I had all my paperwork, and after checking I said I didn't have a card for my cleaning on Sept. 4th. She looked around, and asked me to double check, certain that she had given me that card. She finally wrote out another card, but jokingly told me to call her when I found the original.
Well, I found the original. I had stuck it in the currency section of my wallet. I have to give Jodie a call...
Pains
I had pains in my stomach when I went to bed, but hoped some Pepto and a couple of Advil would do the trick. I slept until 3:00am, but the pain was just too much to continue sleeping. I puttered around with the computer and the Tivo until 4:00am, when I grabbed a bowl and stopped fighting. I felt better for an hour or so, when I started in again. This repeated off and on until about 9:00am, when I finally reached a point where I could get some sleep.
Stupid Justin teased me all morning and into the afternoon. I HAD to be at work at 4:00pm to shut down the data center, but I was feeling better by then so that part went smoothly. It's lucky I like crackers and ginger ale...
Bone marrow
Late last week I read something Google Reader about becoming a bone marrow donor. Normally, it costs up to $75 to join the registry, but someone made a big contribution and they have free registration from May 5th through May 19th.
I got the donor packet in the mail yesterday, and did my swabbing this afternoon at work. I made it downstairs to the mail room in time for today's pickup.
TravelIQ
141...
I hit 141 this afternoon.
The Web's Original Travel Blog.
140!
I've really been enjoying this geography quiz game, and tonight I matched my highest level - a travel IQ of 140. Yay, me!
The Web's Original Travel Blog.
Poppy walk
Carole, Mandy, and I went to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve west of Lancaster on Sunday. The drive was fun, even with the limits of the Escape, and the weather was just about perfect.
The poppy's are a little past their prime, but were still beautiful. The beetles and caterpillars were out in force, and the wind was not bad. We walked for a couple of miles.
On the way back we stopped at Tom's #25 in West Palmdale. I've stopped here on many a Sunday motorcycle ride. Mandy had breakfast, and Carole wished she had, but enjoyed her burger and hash browns. My bbq beet was a little more than I needed, but tasted really good.
Mandy was going to hit the laundromat, but we convinced her to hang at our house and do her washing there - the arm twisting was minimal. Afterwards, I made carne asada, for a nice finish to the day.
6D
I've been actively looking for a 6D license plate for a few weeks now. I saw my first yesterday, on a white Mazda in the 210 carpool lane. Within a few minutes, I saw a second, third, and fourth. Weird.
Ego deflation
My cubicle at work is the same dull, drab looking cubicle that everyone else has. The fabric is beige with gray highlights, with pseudo-modern gray plastic panels. The ceiling tiles are white. The office walls are so drab that no one could name the color - we finally decided it was antique white, or maybe ecru.
Our previous location had a nice variety of paintings and graphics on the walls, and it added a lot of contrast. When we moved out last August, a couple of savvy staffers took the pictures home, knowing that the Facilities brown shirts would confiscate them otherwise.
A few months ago, we came in one Monday to find a nice selection of the old pictures hanging on the office walls. The mounting was done with care, and the picture selections were chosen with a designer's eye. Everyone enjoyed the colorful break from the ecru monotony. No one admitted to doing the work for fear of bureaucratic reprisals, but we applauded them nonetheless.
Last week, the Data Center had its second power outage in as many weeks. Apparently the professionally engineered UPS system would not revert back to building power after an outage - even one of less than a second. Once it kicks in, it will run everything for 15-20 minutes, then shutdown when the batteries run out - even though building power was quickly restored.
The head of Facilities and her sidekick came up to deal with the power problems. While they were here, she decided to enforce the unwritten edict against hanging pictures, and made the sidekick take them all down and load them in the company truck. So much for bright and cheery.
I've been talking about getting something to brighten up my cube. I thought about covering my fabric panels with some bamboo fencing, and Carole and Mandy suggested a small bamboo plant to add some greenery. Last weekend I poked around Home Depot, but they only had fencing in 20' rolls.
Carole said to check at Cost Plus for the bamboo plant. On a lark I checked for locations near my work, and found one about five blocks away at Glendale and Wilson - a nice walk on a sunny, almost Spring day.
I grabbed some fish tacos at Rubio's, then hit the Cost Plus. They didn't have any live bamboo plants, but they had some bamboo shades and other fabrics that might work for covering my panels. While I was browsing, I noticed this woman looking at me and smiling. She was nice looking, early thirties or so, so of course I wondered why she was smiling at me. I nodded at her, and went back to my shopping, gratified at the implications.
A few minutes later, I came across the same woman again. She made eye contact and smiled again. As we get older, we all enjoy this kind of innocent attention, so I smiled back, and she said... "Do you work here?"
Apparently, my new beige and green island print shirt made me look like a Cost Plus employee. I politely said, "no, sorry", and moved on to the cookware section, my ego returning to its proper inflation.
When I got back to the office, empty handed, there was news. The VP of the department that includes Facilities had called my friend, one of the senior developers, with news about the pictures. He said he was sorry that the pictures had been removed, that it was absolutely not the policy of upper management to not allow pictures, and that they would be returned and rehung shortly. My friend asked if the rumor was true, that the pictures had been destroyed. The VP said if so, there would be serious repercussions.
It was kind of amazing - as this news spread, a buzz went around the suite, and everyone was smiling and laughing. A little bit a joy bloomed, like a flower in the desert.
Tragus
The tragus is the small flap at the front center of the ear. A couple of weeks ago, I was at Dr. Voron's for a check-up on my arm, and asked him about a couple of problem areas on my face - one on the left side of my nose, and one just above the tragus on my left ear. He wasted no time in numbing both areas and cutting out samples, and told me at the time that the ear looked problematic.
A week ago his staff called — the lab had confirmed that the spot on my ear was a basal cell carcinoma (of the superficial variety). BCC is a common problem, and this one was caught very early, so the prognosis is excellent, but I did have to have surgery to remove all traces of the problem.
Both times the anesthetic injections hurt like a son-of-a-gun. For my surgery last week, I had to wait 15 minutes after the injection for the epinephrine to take hold — it's used to reduce the bleeding. The nice PA Suzanne put a drape over my ear, and the doctor did his thing. It took about 30 minutes, and both Dr. Voron and Suzanne said it went very well. The doctor made a flap incision, cleaned everything out, then sutured up the flap. This is supposed to leave only the smallest of scars.
For this kind of surgery, samples are sent off to the lab to make sure that everything necessary was actually removed.
Suzanne spent a long time bandaging over the stitches. I'm not supposed to get them wet, which makes showering a challenge. The bandage is still sticking pretty well, except for a section that covers my beard area just below my sideburns.
I was originally going to go back next Monday to have the stitches removed, but my plans to take the FJR up to Portland for suspension work fell through when a fresh storm hit the Siskiyous. I'm going in on Friday now — it will be nice to take a shower without having to cover my ear with a plastic tumbler.