Got Stuff Done

Work was somewhat busy, 9 am team meeting so the Belgium guys could be on the call, but one left early. Maybe still in vacation mode.

Did some automation, and also had my brain picked about Windows Transfer and one of our new automation apps which meeds to be run as Administrator on Windows 7, but not on XP. The story is that after I got a new laptop to replace the one which kept blue-screening on me, boss realized the almost everyone else was still using a 2007 XP model, and approved the whole team to upgrade. The new machines are much better for the kind of work we do, and since I was the first one to upgrade, I'm the go-to person for any growing pains. There really aren't many.

Lunchtime I went to Fry's to buy stuff for two home projects. Number 1 was to get back the full speed of my Internet connection by moving the router into the office, and running a long Ethernet cable from the cable modem in the livingroom. I bought a 50-foot roll and a 100-foot roll, and two 6-foot pieces of cable "concealer" - those humps which run across the floor so you don't trip over the wire. You might trip over the hump, but you won't pull the cable out. 

Number 2 was buying a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) and that was something of an adventure. First of all, Fry's moved them from the first aisle by the entrance to way deep into the store, but not near the PC cases and power supplies where I expected them. One of their minions led me to them, and hung around for a long time not being able to answer any of my questions but still hoping to get a commission. After he finally bailed, I found the one I'd seen online on sale, and as I was wheeling it out a very smarmy guy in a suit, who had been told by the minion that there was a commission to be made, tried to "help" me, but I was already gone. I'm all in favor of letting someone get a commission if they actually help me, but that never happens at Fry's, and the commission thing means a delay while they write it up at their local station and another delay as the cashier has to process the extra piece of paper. No thanks.

What made the choice difficult is they only carry two brands, they were out of stock of all the models of one brand, and the other brand had three kinds to choose from, with inconsistent features. ( Geek TMI here )

Home after work, watched the 49ers clobber Arizona, which makes the second time this month a SF team has trounced a Cardinals team. :-)

( More geeky TMI )

So now everything is how I want it, I think. I am not 100% sure the backup outlets are the ones I guessed. After I finish this I will run a test.

Plans for tomorrow:
Work (lots of new automation procedures to write. Okay, two.)
Home
Shower
Pack some toiletries and a dose of insulin, and my Kindle. And a T-shirt and shorts which will do for PJs
Drive to the sleep clinic near El Camino Hospital in Mountan view for an overnight sleep study.
 

Sandy Weather

Someone posted this Photoshop on FB this morning:


And then someone made some enhancements:


So I took it a bit further: