Got stuff done

It rained last night, about 11 pm or so, apparently a whole 1/4”. As usual, nowhere near the 1-2” predicted by the weather spokesmodels. I miss when I spent the summer working at KOMO-TV, and they had a real meteorologist on board. He wasn’t much to look at, but he knew how to read a weather map – none of this canned computer model crap. I’d earned meteorology merit badge a few years before, and he was thrilled that I could talk weather like a pro.

Predicting the weather for Seattle is easy, it’s pretty much what’s offshore from British Columbia, pushed in by Alaskan currents. SF Bay is tricky because you have to go way out over the Pacific, farther out than the computer models show. We get weather from the whole section of the Pacific parallel to WA, OR, CA & Mexico, as far out as 500 miles out to sea. As the fronts get closer to land they push at each other, and the whole picture can change in a matter of minutes.

But I digress.

Work started with a lot of paperwork, electronic variety. electronwork? We’re updating test results both in a spreadsheet for the team and in the regular test app. I had a bunch of tests passed yesterday and added to the spreadsheet, today was the chore of finding them and updating them in the app. While doing that I stumbled on a redundant case, and also a failed case which needed to have the bug report number added to it. And in other news, Dilbert’s spirit visited:

Weeks ago, the project manager found an issue, asked my boss to double-check and file a bug report. Boss tapped me. I confirmed the issue, filed a bug report.  Two new contract engineers took a crack at it, one was able to fix the problem, and I expected to close the case when the fix appeared in next week’s build. But then two of the senior engineers chimed in and said they didn’t see how this was a bug, and the guy who started all this replies that maybe it should be un-fixed. Which apparently it will be. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a bug, and ought to stay fixed. It’s date-related, and customers won’t see anything till next Spring. I’ll bet real cash pennies that we’ll get at least one tech support call on it then.

At about 10 I phoned the homeowner’s insurance company, which happens to be the company which found the house for me, and when they called back they promised to get in touch with my lender and explain that 1. My renewal notice is for 2016, not 2015 and 2. It includes flood insurance. A few minutes later they sent a copy of the fax they sent which only explained #2. She insists that the date on the coverage will magically change to 2016 when the mortgage company pays the premium. We’ll see.

Spent some time troubleshooting a bad SDI feed, and testing closed captioning and Teletext.

No lunch today. I was feeling odd, took a blood sugar reading at 10:30, it was 248. Way high for not having eaten anything, and having shot up the full 150 units at 9. By noon it was still 180, so instead of lunch I shot up more high-test and had an apple.

Online, ordered stamps to mail the calendars. Awkward amounts this year. $2.08 for US, $7.24 for overseas, $3.46 for Canadia.

Boss sent us home at 4:30.

Wanted to stock up on some stuff at Costco, but the evening before T-day is not the time to be there, except for emergencies. So straight home.

Got organized with the calendar. Pulled out what postage I had left from last year, and determined that I did not have enough 8¢ (or 10¢) stamps to make a dent in the pile of domestic mailings, and ditto for stamps which added up to 24¢ for international (can’t use Forever stamps outside of the USA).  I could probably do the three for Canada, but not gracefully. So I’ll wait till the 5¢, 3¢ (=8¢) and 22¢, 2¢ (=24¢, and 46¢) arrive next week.

The first four or 5 are going to tomorrow’s T-day dinner, and next week I’ll hand out about 15 at work. Not going to auction them at BASFA, because they never earn as much as they cost to make, which is insulting. But there are two BASFAns who will get one the next time I’m at a meeting. And one who won’t because she made a rude remark about cropping when I posted the images online. I rarely crop image, because I work hard to compose the photos right the first time.

Printed labels, pasted them and return addresses and “first class” stickers on envelopes. I have three more to do, a friend who moved from  house to an apartment and just sent the new address today, another friend who moved from an apartment to a house and I’m waiting for the new address (but I can use the old one since it will be forwarded), and one for mistymarshall who facebooked that she will email me.

Since Spook is on the cover, I’m sending one to the place I got her, Nine Lives, with a thank you note.

Printed a Firefly/Princess Bride-themed wedding card to go with the present for the host of the T-day dinner. It’s shiny.

Plans for tomorrow:

• Plant some basil


• Thanksgiving dinner noon-ish in SJ


• Watch football


• Take photos of the big laptop and finish the eBay auction for it.

I Am So Sleepy

They tell me turkey does that.

Had a really good sleep last night, up when the alarm went off at 8:30.  Went outside and planted the two basil plants I’d bought at the supermarket earlier in the week. Much the worse for being on the driveway during the cold snap. But I think they’ll make it.

One of the four squares of creeping ground cover which had been in that space showed some signs of life so I re-planted it deeper. Over on the rose garden side, I was going to pull out two catmints plants which looked dead last week, but both are showing new growth, so I watered them so much the potted forms melted into the soil.

Back inside where is wasn’t 42°, watched some football and some Macy’s parade. I cannot find video online yet, but was appalled to see several high school baton twirling teams had been converted to rifle twirling teams. They all had white rifle-shaped objects, obviously balanced for the purpose. The girls were dressed in the usual twirler’s outfits, tight fitting, cheerfully patterned thin material over whatever body suit was keeping them warm. Not military garb.

Punched Logan & Lisa’s address into the GPS and headed there for an early dinner. We were joined by Logan’s brother and one of his DJ friends (who DJed the wedding). I fially was able to give them their Thai batik wedding present, along with the Firefly themed card I made. Lisa loved the back story. Also debuted my 2016 calendar, which features Lisa’s silver shoes from the wedding so Logan says he is married to Miss September. She loved it. Three of the photos came from that trip to Bend. I did not travel much this year, hence not a lot of calendar photo candidates.

It was a good traditional turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, string beans, salad, dressing, corn on the cob and gravy. Dessert was pumpkin and apple pies (I had pumpkin) and vanilla ice cream.  Lots of chatting, not enough Lisa time because she was in the kitchen too much. I was the first to bail, at about 5.

Home, watched the Green Bay game. Meh.

Plans for tomorrow:

• Take the big laptop out of its box and photograph it for eBay. Finish the auction.
• Kaiser, pick up some insulin, alcohol swabs and lactaid pills, and drop off a full sharps container
• Target, exchange a soda stream cartridge and buy more diet cola mix and dental floss
• Monitor Amazon deals. Looking for a 55” 4K UHD TV for <=$500
• Maybe do some Costco shopping. Maybe wait a day