What's New With Mick

Tag: work

  • Vital Statistics

    Aches & pains: swollen left elbow, sore right shoulder, sore lower back

    Current reading: Stack Overflow

    Recent listening: Waking Up with Sam Harris, The Accidental Tech Podcast, Radiolab, This American Life, WTF with Marc Maron

    Recent viewing: Saturday Night Live, The Looming Tower, The Last Man on Earth, Scandal, Billions, Homeland, Lost in Space, Transparent, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Wakefield, Black Panther, The Slo Mo Show

    Recent playing: starman

    Recently accomplished: Took Butters to the vet, 30 miles a week riding, bought and returned rain jacket, bought new sandals, removed cherry tree

    Imperative To Do: 100 miles/week riding, Dad’s Day at Depauw, plant grass in bare spots, revisit financial aid for 2018, compost, fix desk speakers

  • Vital Statistics

    Aches & pains: slightly sore left elbow and shoulder

    Current reading: Getting Things Done by David Allen

    Recent listening: Waking Up with Sam Harris, The Accidental Tech Podcast, Radiolab, This American Life

    Recent viewing: Saturday Night Live, The Frankenstein Chronicles, The Looming Tower, The Last Man on Earth, Jessica Jones (Season 2), Scandal, The Naked Truth (Season 1), Godless

    Recent playing: n/a

    Recently accomplished: Got a job (4 month contract), bike riding to work, replaced dishwasher, completed physical therapy for dislocated elbow

    Imperative To Do: Take Butters to the vet, 100 miles/week riding, lower grade to 8 inches, reduce CPAP leakage

  • Vital Statistics

    Aches & pains: n/a
    Current reading: Beginning iPhone 3.0 Development by David Mark and Jeff LaMarche, Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
    Recent listening: Neil Young, Edith Piaf, The Modern Lovers, The Black Keys, Tones on Tail, Thomas Dolby
    Recent viewing: Countdown, Rachel Maddow, Friday Night Lights, Kill Bill, Hollywoodland, The Fly, LoudQUIETloud, Crazy, The Heart Is A Drum Machine, Psych
    Recent playing: Words with Friends, Plants vs. Zombies, Angry Birds, QRANK
    Recently accomplished: Hauled old computer equipment to Splash office, ongoing yard revival, filled propane tank, returned Nehalem to Foster City, CDs for Laine
    Imperative To Do: Buy deck boards, birthday party invites, haircut, chainsaw some stuff, iPhone app

  • Vital Statistics

    Bike odometer: 2567
    Aches & pains: mosquito bites
    Current reading: Beginning iPhone 3.0 Development by David Mark and Jeff LaMarche, Food Rules by Michael Pollan
    Recent listening: Billie Holiday, Gershwin, Bright Eyes
    Recent viewing: Jazz (Ken Burns), Futurama, Wipeout, Psych, Jack, Toy Story 3, Freaks and Geeks, The Blues Brothers, Crazy Heart, The Rachel Maddow Show
    Recent playing: Words with Friends, Plants vs. Zombies, Angry Birds
    Recently accomplished: Blackberry removal, fixed deck railing, doctor’s appointment, client visit in Milwaukee, finished Iowa travel arrangements
    Imperative To Do: Mail box of books to Camden County Jail, pick up new meds, wrap-up must-do work items before vacation, vacation, iPhone app

  • The moon is in a phase and I guess that I am too

    Last night Graham and Thomas had their final orchestra concert of the year. In anticipation of the event, several months ago I invited my mother to visit us at this time so that she could attend. Graham’s fourth grade orchestra was the first to play and they did a very nice job of showing how much they had improved during the year. After they took their bow, they all started off stage to make room for the fifth grade orchestra. As Graham stood near the edge of the stage waiting for the rest of the kids to move, he chatted and laughed with his nearby friends. I looked away for a second to talk to Tina and then we heard a crash in front of the stage followed by a gasp from the audience. Somebody fell. Tina asked, “Who fell?” Scanning the group near the commotion, I realized Graham was no longer on stage. “It’s Graham!” I told her as she stood and then rushed down the stairs to the stage.

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  • Vital Statistics

    Bike odometer: 2529
    Van odometer: 155015
    Aches & pains: lower back, muscles (moving)
    Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Cross-platform GUI Programming with wxWidgets, The Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    Recent listening: No Line on the Horizon by U2, Final Boss by MC Frontalot
    Recent viewing: Lost (Seasons 2-5), Medium, Hardball, NBA Playoffs, Rachel Maddow Show
    Recent playing: Galcon
    Recently accomplished: working in Vancouver, cleaned cat boxes, cleaned van, cardboard recycling, showed Thomas how to mow lawn, showed Graham how to use the edger, equipment salvage in Vancouver office
    Imperative To Do: Scouts accounting, turn compost, read Sam’s script, return cans

  • Transoceanic depth in this earth in this cenotaph

    It’s been three weeks since Tina’s surgery and she is still recovering. Her mom, Jan, stayed with us for a couple of weeks and was a tremendous help, but we’re on our own again now. We’ve all gotten into a routine since she left, but we’ll be glad when Tina is back to full strength again. She’s frustrated with the speed of her recovery but glad that she already feels better now than she did before the surgery. She’s looking forward to an active spring and summer with our family.

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  • Peeping from behind every window pane

    I find myself in Foster City once again at EFI headquarters. I’ve been moved to another team again so I’m here familiarizing myself with the tool set and meeting the other team members. I’ll be here until Friday night.

    Working from home has been better than I expected. Even though I’ve been very busy, I get to choose the times when I work and the times that I don’t. That means when I feel like doing a couple of hours in the evening, it’s no big deal. Or if I have to run some errand in the afternoon. So far I feel like I’ve been pretty productive and my new office feels like a cockpit controlling my working world and it has to do with the decoration I put on it, including windows with motorized blinds so I can control it from everywhere I’m with my phone. I’m sure I’ll write more on this later. I bought Hunter Douglas honeycomb shades and saved a ton of money on my electric bill right away.

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  • Vital Statistics

    Bike odometer: 2500
    Van odometer: 154003
    Weight lost (in pounds): 0
    Aches & pains: left shin (scab gone), lower back, all my muscles
    Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
    Recent listening: The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Box), News from Lake Wobegon, Science Friday, Coverville, DrugMusic
    Recent viewing: Olympics, Democratic National Convention, Republican National Convention, The O’Reilly Factor
    Recent playing: Chain Factor, Spaceward Ho!
    Recently accomplished: Upgraded DSL, cleaned cat boxes, setup VPN access for work, office cleaning, office moving, office remodeling, cardboard recycling
    Imperative To Do: Craigslist items for Thomas/Graham, install Tina’s bike computer, get rid of office junk, freecycle, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, weeds, clean garage, moss

  • The wisdom of a fool won’t set you free

    Life has been demanding lately. At work I’ve been transitioning to a new team while still maintaining some responsibility for the product the Splash team just shipped. I’ve also been working on another project outside of work that has been very demanding of my time. Today was supposed to be the first day working from home since the EFI office in Vancouver is now officially closed. Unfortunately, because of the recent time crunch, I didn’t have time to move my work stuff (and there’s a lot of it) home until Friday when Tina and the boys helped me lug a few computers and displays home. I spent the better part of the three day weekend emptying my office at home, cleaning it and redecorating. I didn’t completely finish but it’s in a workable state and most of the junk I moved out is no longer cluttering the rest of the house.
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