Better Than Nothing

Got a call from a contract agent late today, low-paying short-term contract in Sunnyvale for a company in my field, doing the kind of QA I like best, I think. He didn't have much in the way of details. They want me to come in for an interview tomorrow afternoon, time TBA. I guess I'll find out what the job really is when I get there.

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No Silicon for me this year. Was hoping to be on some panels, but that didn't happen. No response from the art show, but that turns out to be more time & money than I can afford to invest this year. Being fannish has gained me many acquaintances, but no real friends, so I'm going to go back to being a hermit, and just maintain a nebulous Internet presence.

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Domino has gained a pound since going on Prednisone liquid & on-the-ear hyperthyroid paste.

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UPS automated phone widget called to remind me to be home to sign for the D90 when it arrives tomorrow. I hope I'm back from the interview by then. The two phones I have listed on eBay have bids, so those will sell. The D300 has no bids, but 3 watchers. All of them have 4+ days to run.

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Been surfing the new HD channels Comcast finally made available (things I watched at Microsoft 3 years ago). MSNBC and Fox News both have gorgeous HD images, much clearer than CNN. ESPN News, too, though their screen is way too cluttered.

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Health care reform is not going to happen. Too many Republicans who run as Democrats because Lincon freed the slaves. Too many congresscritters in the pocket of insurance cartels.

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Time to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Interfoo, Photo goodness

The interview was not a match, they were looking for a database guru, but they had me chat with their encoding manager, who may have something for me. Excellent location, looks like a well-funded company, but nobody showed me the product, and there was no evidence of it anywhere I looked. First round of interviews was on the Torchwood conference room, which featured a poster of Cap'n Jack and the gang. Second round was in the manager's office, which had a Rocky I poster.

Disappointing, but we're getting warmer.

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I was home by 2, which is good because UPS showed up early, about 2:45 instead of the usual 6 pm with the D90 for me to sign for. It's a lightweight D300, literally, but the only feature I will truly miss is the 1/8000 shutter (D90 only goes to 1/4000). It works correctly with the SB-800 flash in both TTL modes, which is worth a lot more to me than the shutter speed. The LCD viewer is clearer, and it has the D70/80 presets wheel which I really missed on the D300. Odd, the diopter was way out of focus when I took the unit out of the box. Probably was tested by someone with a major eyeglass prescription. Or maybe they have a QA problem - the D300 was also out of alignment when I got it. My GPS unit has to use a different cable, but it came with one and after some initial logistics to prevent one side or the other from popping out, it worked fine. I'm a little puzzled about the capacity indicator - I'm using a 16GB memory chip, same as on the D300 (except this one is SDHC instead of CF) but it shows twice as many shots available. I thought they were the same resolution and Mpixels. Looking at Nikon's spec comparison, they are identical. Hmmm. Anyway, I guess I should get out this weekend and use it.

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Plans for tomorrow:
Read the D90 manual for changes
Janice is coming over to help edit her Fiji video and the family memories video slide show she had made on VHS. Not sure how long that will last, it's going to be another broiling afternoon here.