jaq

meat

2008-08-02T21:16:20Z

We went and bought some nice meat for the grill today, so of course this afternoon it is raining :-(

steps to integration

2008-07-16T12:48:57Z

We have acquired another piece of the American Dream - our big charcoal grill was delivered yesterday :-)

The pricing was such that we thought we might as well get the larger size, but now we have it it seems very big. Hmm. I guess we can put charcoal on just part of it if we are only cooking for ourselves.

animal watch

2008-07-13T11:57:58Z

No groundhog or chipmunk this morning.

Instead, it was a rabbit munching away at our lawn. At least the groundhog yesterday had the decency to run when I opened the door. I had to go find some shoes to go out and chase the rabbit away.

meeting the locals

2008-07-13T01:18:20Z

I'm enjoying a long weekend trying to sort out things at the new house. Yesterday we went out to a garden center and home store, since we thought it would be less busy than the weekend.

We acquired a cord to go with the old lawnmower we got left, some pots and soil for our tomatoes, and a few garden tools. We also looked at some garden chairs - we had a table left by the previous owners. Later on we unpacked plates and things, and tried out the dishwasher for the first time.

This morning I was pottering around early when I spotted a brown creature gamboling on our lawn. Though I haven't seen one before I decided it was a groundhog AKA woodchuck. Cute as it may be to have the woodland creatures visit, since we're planning to grow vegetables in the garden we don't want these guys getting too comfortable, so I went and scared it off, after having a good look.

Today we drove around looking for yard sales, since we hoped we might find something useful. We didn't get a lot, but a caller ID display that works, a book and some games, and some shower curtain hooks since we can't find a set.

It was also our day to pick up our rain barrel (known as a 'water butt' where I come from). So another job to add to my list is figuring out where to put that, and altering a downspout to empty into it.

In the afternoon we tried to investigate the compost bin, only to find it now houses a nest of wasps who were unhappy about being disturbed. One of them stung my hand, and it still hurts. I decided I had had enough of the garden for one day, so I came inside and set up my computer instead. theora pointed out of the window that there was a chipmunk sitting on the garden wall - I'm sure it was laughing at me.

I've run out of thoughts now.

T, T, bus, walk

2008-07-10T12:34:24Z

Since theora wanted the car yesterday evening, I have determined that it is possible to get home from work by public transport. It took an hour and 45 minutes, and involved the Green line, Red line, 77 bus and a mile walk at the end.

It is better than not being able to get home without a car though.

summer Fridays

2008-07-08T12:06:15Z

This week I am mostly trying to get a 'Summer Friday'. This is a scheme at work whereby if we do our forty-hour week during Monday-Thursday we can get Friday off (for a limited number during July and August).

out of gas

2008-07-03T14:29:10Z

["gas" == "petrol"]

On Monday we made a few trips to and from Arlington. In the car the petrol was running low, and on the last trip it reached the bottom of the gauge, beeped and started flashing. We had previously established that when that happens, there are actually a couple of gallons left in the tank, so we carried on.

On Tuesday theora made a trip to Arlington and back in the day. I was surprised to find out that she did not get petrol. Later on we made another trip there and back, and on the way back I said we really should get some petrol. So we went to a gas station on the way home, but theora said it was too expensive so we carried on past.

Yesterday we set out on another trip to Arlington. I said we really should get some petrol. We drove onto Rt 9 towards a nearby gas station and mostly rolled down the hill to the junction at the bottom, because the car was starting to accelerate a bit strangely by then. When the lights changed and we pulled away there was a cough and lots of warning lights came on.

We drove around the corner and into the gas station under electric power. You can do that with a Prius. I don't think it is advisable though.

decaf

2008-06-25T13:05:36Z

The decaf coffee for the Keurig machine in the office is a 'selection'. The box was running low so this morning I tried the 'hazelnut'.

As I should have guessed, it is horrible. Bleurgh.

translation

2008-06-20T20:57:23Z

I've been working on a project which involves integration with a German organisation's system. We had a few errors reported, so I ended up calling them today. The developer I spoke to apologised for his poor English, but I thought he did well, considering I speak no German.

He said he would follow up with our project manager on Monday, since she is German and he can explain more easily: but then she doesn't speak the technical language so well...

syndication?

2008-06-10T18:04:43Z

Has anyone created a Livejournal syndication feed of this IJ?

camera crew

2008-06-06T15:52:40Z

And now we have the video team shooting random people in cubes for atmosphere.

Er, as in filming them, not shooting them with guns. Oops.

things that would never have happened in my old jobs

2008-06-06T12:40:06Z

A video crew comes to film a promotional item for Google.

in house news

2008-06-02T20:09:00Z

We have notified our landlord that we plan on moving out. He was disappointed but understanding.

getting me through the day

2008-06-02T15:27:18Z

Decaf coffee with fat-free milk. The word 'unholy' sprang to mind.

documentation

2008-05-29T19:12:20Z

In a lunchtime presentation on our social networking applications,
"Do we plan to port our applications to Mixi, a Japanese social networking site?"
"All the documentation is in Japanese!"
"But it will still be better than MySpace [documentation]..."

what's that roaring noise?

2008-05-27T19:53:48Z

It's the rain hitting the skylights!

rock theatre

2008-05-21T20:33:36Z

Last night I went with theora and her brothers to the Boston show of the 'Progressive Nation' tour. It was at the Orpheum, which is a crummy but well-situated theatre in Boston. It is rare that I go to gigs which are entirely seated, but actually I didn't mind that aspect.

First up was '3'. Their set divided our group - theora and one brother didn't think much of them, whereas other brother and I thought they showed promise. The band tried to blend together various styles, and I liked the combination of acoustic guitar with heavy backing. The singer seemed to have quite a 'small' voice for a big 'metal' guy. Oh, and '3' has 5 members.

Next was 'Between the Buried and Me'. They also showed promise, with an interesting mixture of noisy death metal, some 'epic' riffing and a few comedy elements thrown in. The sound balance was pretty bad for the first two bands though, so I'd have to listen to their recordings to really make out the songs.

Opeth were third band on, and played a flawless set as usual. Mikael cracked me up again, telling us about how he got into Dream Theater ("... and James Labrie was wearing a 'Napalm Death' t-shirt"), and giving a helpful explanation of what 'Death Metal' is. These guys should be headlining.

Dream Theater were of course the headliners. Dream Theater are annoying - we know they have plenty of good songs that they can play well, but they insist on spending half their stage time wanking. Really the most entertaining touches were not things that the band played, but recordings that were played before and after: string quartet versions of some of their songs; a 'Mario' mashup; and some suspiciously DT-like euro-techno on the way out.

Come on guys, 'Forsaken' sounds just like Evanescence.

trip

2008-05-19T12:37:00Z

We had a nice trip to Provincetown.

I want to go back to bed now though.

something new

2008-05-16T16:35:54Z

Today I learned that RRRuffles Have Ridges®.

took a while to find it

2008-05-15T18:27:20Z

Of course, the link table between t_location and t_content is t_contentstarrating :-P

different place

2008-05-15T17:52:53Z

Standing waiting for my coffee to pour, I glanced at my clothes - shoes I bought a couple of weeks ago, trousers I got last summer after I moved here, company issue fleece jacket - and felt sad for having left behind so much of my 'old life'.

Anyway, the t-shirt I'm wearing is from London.

to do list

2008-05-13T18:50:25Z

1. Check ferry tickets.
2. Add Opeth and Dream Theater to iPod.
3. Set up fileserver with static address and port forwarding on router.
4. Try out Passenger for my hosted Rails apps.

coffee

2008-05-12T19:23:03Z

The theme for today is 'drinking half a cup of coffee then having to leave or go do something so it gets left to go cold'.

celebrating

2008-05-06T14:52:28Z

I'm not sure if I like Cinco de Mayo - I'm forced to drink copious margaritas, and then I get a hangover the next day.

no thanks

2008-04-30T18:59:55Z

So a recruiter, who previously met me at the Boston Java Meetup, called me on my office phone to ask if I'm looking for opportunities. Since I didn't give him my contact details, but the meetup was soon before I started working here and I mentioned that, I can only assume he has called the main number and asked for me by name, despite knowing I've only been working here for a month.

Whaddawanka.