Better latent than never

Work was good-ish. Got the 32GB memory upgrade on my laptop. Idiot IT guy brought it to me with only 16 installed, I had to send him back to put in the other two 8GB chips (I had given him 4). He gets to keep the two 4GB chips which had been in the machine.

It made some difference, but not enough. CPU is too slow for the project. And it's an i7. I think what we have really proven is the marketing people are whacked to think end users will ever see these videos stream until we have optical to the home. The 4K format is for DVD players, not streaming. Even using HEVC compression.

Lunch at the ugly Togo's. Asian chicken salad.  Almost went for meatball sandwich, but wanted more veggies.

Short stop home after work, then to the songwriters' meetup. Half the people who signed up did not show, I blame that on the nasty weather but more on the backlash of last month's meeting when 15 people showed up in a room built for a dozen, max.

I waited till last, and presented my Thai love song project, and was surprised at how well received it was. People pointed out that my English translation actually scanned with the music much of the time, which was a complete accident.

Also got to plug Iolanthe.

Email from the Iolanthe producer, there is a spreadsheet on Google docs with all the info - staff & cast list, first 2 weeks of rehearsal schedule, and lots more yet to be filled in. Like orchestra, costume measurements, set shop schedule, etc. And they still have not told us what time the read-through will be. We have a date, not a time.

Home from the meetup, watched Sam Goldwyn's grandson trace the other side of his family tree in Who Do You Thing You Are? He was so not excited when he said he was excited. It was clear he was hoping for some colorful ancestors like the other side of the family. All they turned up was his 3x grandparents founded Hood River, OR. Boring.

Lit the furnace and turned the switch from "cool" to "heat". After a scorching winter, it is now fall in California. We had some rain last night, more than a trace, but only 0.03". The Bee's Friends flowers liked it, and the roses.

A big check for the 3 years I didn't use on the Corolla's 5-year extended warranty made it possible for me to buy a refurbished version of the $1500 lens my boss just bought new.

Dinner was sausages and veggies. Pie for dessert.

Plans for tomorrow:

Work
1-on-1
Maybe Costco for paper plates & Kraft Singles, and Safeway for frozen dinners.

It's Winter again

Woke up to mid-40s temps outside, but the furnace kept things comfortable inside. I tried to stay in bed too long, but Spook jumped up and yelled right into my ear until I got up. Did some extra stuff on the computer (paid 2x my first car loan to see if that would change the next due date, ordered another batch of insulin). Got dressed, and heard Spook pushing her treats dish around. Once in a while she will do that as a hint.

Got a call from the dishwasher delivery/installer people, they wanted to schedule it for next week, but when I told him I was going to be home Friday for other deliveries, he changed it to Friday, no argument at all. Later in the day Sleep Number robo-called saying they would be there Friday between 11 am and 3 pm.

Packed my usual snacks, but felt like I'd missed something. L8r at work I figured it out. No HB egg and no peanut butter. But I did have 2 bananas...

Good morning at work, plowed though a bunch of test cases. Lunch at Boston Market. Chicken pot pie is advertised as all white meat, but it's all dark meat, which I prefer. They had a pulled pork promotion going. Not interested.

On the way back I took a small detour to deposit the check from Toyota, $1200, which was more than I expected and more than enough to pay for the lens I had been wanting to buy for the "new" camera. Or the dishwasher, depending o how one juggles the budget. It was a piece of financial stupidity on the part of Toyota. Instead of applying that to the maintenance contract I bought for the Prius, they charged me full price for that and processed the refund for the unused Corolla extended warranty.

Quiet afternoon at work because what I had planned to test was pulled from the feature list. No tears, it really wasn't a feature that needed to be there, but it meant I ran out of things to do. And then boss slid our 1-on-1 to tomorrow. So I went outside to our little umbrella tables and enjoyed banana #2 and the blue sky and sunshine. Was going to phone sister #2, but decided to wait until she saw the Burger King post I was going to put on her FB timeline.

http://www.cnn.com/…/burger-king-wedding-irpt-fe…/index.html

#2 sister was proposed to in a Burger King, he used a paper BK ring, and gave her a BK crown. Their engagement photo was a romantic one of them from the back, holding hands, walking toward the sun setting behind a BK.

After work, a quick surgical strike at Costco for paper plates, American Singles, lactose-free 2% milk, and bananas. I did not see bananas, but I got some blueberries. Wanted to stock up on walnuts, but not at $10/lb. Would have bought some dark chocolate stuff, but there was nothing where I could buy just the flavor I wanted and not 2 or 3 others I don't like.

As my stuff was moving down the check-out conveyor belt, the guy behind me slapped a hand of bananas on there. Too late to get out of line and grab some, and I didn't want to be That Customer®™.

Home, and as I was about to punch the code into the door lock, this happened:

My next door (to the left) neighbor's main caregiver called out to me from their porch, and said my neighbor, Mary, wanted to meet me. Mary came to her door using a walker, and yelled across to me that tomorrow is her 101st birthday, and she wanted to see what I looked like and talk to me. She is the opposite of the frail, sickly ancient person I imagined, and she has one heck of a fine stage voice.

I have been living in this house since December 2013, and had never seen my next door neighbor. I was scared to go over there because I had seen a birthday greeting for her in the HOA magazine last year for her 100th birthday. I have talked to her caregivers a little, but did not want to bother someone that old.

We talked for about 10 minutes. She wants me to meet her son the next time he visits, which sounds like a good idea. She also told me the woman who previously owned my house had been  her caregiver for a while.

She said she had two complaints about turning 101. First, that she doesn't think she should really still be here. And second, what is she going to do with all the flowers people are sending her?

Happy birthday Mary. Pleased to finally meet you

Inside, gave Spook some treats. Sat out on the porch and watched hummingbirds, took some photos of the roses, which are coming up, well, roses. Many more buds yet to bloom. I know I should cut some of them back, but maybe next time. Decided to train the hummers, so I stood next to the feeder and waited. There are three distinct birds. Two are tiny females (one has a slightly torn tail feather) and a 2x as large male. Each of them came up to my face and inspected me. The females then carried on to the feeder, but wouldn't perch on it. The male would zip between me and the tree across the street that they all hang out in.

Dinner was a small spaghetti and meatballs frozen item, and some chocolate cream pie.

Fired up Amazon Fire and poked around my watch list. Played the trailer for Silverado, it's not offered as a freebie, and I wasn't planning watching all of it tonight, especially at $4 for a 24-hour rental, but maybe Friday when I'm home waiting for the bed & dishwasher.

Started watching a freebie called The Second Best Science Fiction Movie Of All Time which wasn't. Very boring, but lithe women in spandex body suits will pull me back to it some day.

 Plans for tomorrow:
Work
Pick up insulin if it's ready
Home, clear off the area above the dishwasher. Unload the dishwasher