Travel not so crappy... crapiness is in the destination

I left Abilene just after noon and drove 4.5 hours straight, getting into the OKC metro ~4:30 before I finally had to stop and "empty the tank". While my trip was largely uneventful, even weather-wise (a surprise to me), I arrived in OKC just in time to hit the bad weather AND rush hour traffic. It was backed-up for miles and very slow going. Seemed like there were accidents every few hundred yards. I wanted to go straight to pick up the kids so I wouldn't have to get back out into the stuff excessively. Plus I knew I still had to do things like return my rental car, so timing was everything here. It was after six by the time I got the kids and got to my side of town, and while the roads were not the most terrible they've been, there were certainly a number of surprisingly slippery spots.

By the time I got my rental car turned-in, it was pretty late (had to take it back to the airport and coordinate a ride). And wouldn't you know it, my own car wouldn't start. Three days of sitting in the cold must have gotten to it, but it's sat at least that long before, so I'm not sure there isn't some other problem. Even though it's a fuel-injection vehicle, I had to pump the gas before it would finally start.

Crappy travels ahead

As though the five hour drive down here wasn't bad enough, the way back is impeded by bad weather. That is SO motivating...

On Vista day, I'm chock full of XP

I came here with 3 laptops. My personal laptop, my work laptop, and a demo laptop. I'm leaving with five, as I have to take a couple more back with me for software testing. So I couldn't resist lining them all up in the hotel room for a photo opp.

Another long day

After waking up at 03:40 and not wanting go back to sleep lest I unintentionally oversleep on this important (for work) day, I returned to my hotel room only a short time ago. And I am very, VERY tired.

I would love to go to sleep right now, but I am also hungry, didn't eat breakfast (I was picked up from my hotel at 06:30, the time my hotel's breakfast bar opened), and didn't have a big lunch. Dinner is soon, and I plan to have myself a very large steak.

Deep in the heart...

So I'm in Abilene, Texas, a first for me. I've got important meetings and demos over the next couple days, and I've got some software application testing to do as well.

The drive down was mostly uneventful, though I must admit I was concerned for a moment. I took several Texas backroads to get here upon the recommendation of an Abilene frequenter. It worked out okay, but there were a couple surprises, in particular the detour I had to take due to a bridge being out. I wasn't too fond of being in the middle of nowhere Texas on a too-narrow-for-two-cars, pitch-black, GRAVEL road, not knowing for sure how much of a diversion it would be.

Probably more disconcerting was the skunk. About a foot on my side of the yellow line, as I was driving sixty-five plus, there was a skunk that I would CERTAINLY have hit (in my RENTAL), had I not swerved wildly at the last possible second. I'm not sure what would have awaken me more thoroughly, what actually happened, or having to deal with the smell for the rest of the journey had I hit it. Needless to say I was all kinds of paranoid about road critters the rest of the trip. And there were some, but mostly the sort that scurried off the road for me.


Update: By "Texas backroads", this is what I meant. That's the road I had to traverse to get around the bridge.

Another party!

The girls had another birthday party to attend today, else I'd already be on the road (and probably resting by now). Darby had alter service this morning, after which I had to pick up a rental car for my trip (believe it or not, it cost the company less to rent me a car than to reimburse me the mileage for using my own). Not long after picking up the car, we were on the road for the party. It was a second consecutive skate party for us, and of course the girls had plenty of fun. But I can delay no further. I must embark. See you in six or so hours.

Finally a party

After postponing Darby's 11th birthday party because of what I refer to as a "warmth wedgie" (above, and in other words, we canceled it for nothing), we finally held her party today (a mere sixteen days late). Though not without having to gasp at the fact that it was snowing when I looked out the window this morning. Fortunately, it was just a flurry, and the party went on mostly with out hitch.



I've posted a few additional photos in the album.

Longest day

I've got a business trip on Sunday, and I was lacking in what you might call complete preparedness. However, the weekend is slated to be a VERY busy one, with birthday parties on both Saturday and Sunday, and so there's pretty much no time to come back into the office to catch up. So I had to stay at work tonight until after midnight to make sure I was ready, as it is a fairly important trip. It wouldn't have been so bad had I not gotten to work at 07:45. That is one long freakin day.

Identity swap

Yesterday I was simultaneously the victim and the perpetrator of identity theft, albeit unwittingly on both accounts.

A friend and I went to lunch, and after paying for our food, neither of us noticed that the waitress mixed up our check cards while giving them back. As we both use the same bank, it was not immediately noticeable to either of us, and we both went about our days.

This morning while paying for breakfast, I noticed a strange glimmer from the direction of my check card. Though apparently it wasn't actually my card. Upon closer examination, I noticed it was in fact my friend's card, which was newer, and so the silver lettering of the name and other data had not yet worn away.

I about keeled over in embarrassment as I retracted my card from the cashier and instead provided cash. I immediately texted my friend an inquiry about the status of my check card, and he was equally surprised that the card in his wallet was not, in fact, his own.

My initial thought was that I was glad I didn't charge anything to his card, that I was lucky to have caught myself before I did anything stupid. But we got together for lunch again to re-swap cards, and he asked about a charge he saw on his account. Doh! I had charged dinner the night before without realizing. Didn't once look at the name on the card. Nobody ever challenged me with signature mismatches. Nothing.

And on his part, he made a couple different charges at pharmacies, and even tried to get cash back via debit mode. However, when the PIN failed (to his confusion) the cashier -- WITH CARD IN HAND -- converted each transaction to credit to conclude the transaction, clearly not checking the signature. I say clearly because my card is not even signed. I've written "Ask for I.D." on the back of it, which they did not do. Even when I use the card myself, only about 10% of the time do people see the request and fulfill it by verifying my I.D.

So, let that be a lesson to you folks. It IS that easy for someone else to use your credit cards, whether on purpose or by accident. So if someone takes your card, and forges your signature, unless I.D. is verified, it seems unlikely they will get caught.

Stress relieved with the right words

Darby had a piano audition today for the school we hope she will attend next year. Below is a video of her rehearsing last night. She has been quite stressed about this audition for some time, and is quite glad to be done. We have one more hurdle to overcome and then it's a matter of waiting to find out if she gets in.

Prior to her audition, the teacher asked her a question: "Why do you want to go to this school?"

Her answer: "Because I know it's a good school and I want to go to a good college"


I was personally shocked that she would come up with such a perfect answer. And the teacher concurred that it was the right answer at the right time.

Straight A's

Report cards are in and Darby has straight A's! Shelby "forgot" hers at school, so we'll see tomorrow, but she insists she has all A's and B's.

Seeing the invisible(s)?

The girls wanted to see Arthur and the Invisibles tonight, so we did. It was kind of a neat movie, if not a little strange. The plot was a bit wacky in the sense that it seems as though they could have gone at it more directly (years ago grandpa brought back African tribesmen to Connecticut, but they stay out of sight until it's time to use the magic telescope? Wha?). But the effects were pretty cool, and the world of the Invisibles was interesting most of the time. I actually think it was a bit short and needed more time for story development (or perhaps that wouldn't have helped). Maybe if they went right into the Invisibles world and didn't spend so much time with the prelude. The kids liked it, as I think most would, and I even got a few chuckles out of it, but I'm not sure I would call it a "tier 1 kid movie" like a Pixar or Dreamworks film.

Spared by the cusp

The call was for up to a foot of snow. And as yet, no snow. Though much rain. I'm mixed about the outcome, of course, because I went and canceled my daughter's birthday party when we probably could have proceeded, because at the time the word on the street was "100% chance of snow". I should be pleased, I supposed, as this means the girls should return to school, on the 22nd, for the first time since January 12th!

Make no mistake, I am keenly aware how close we came, and I am thankful to have missed out. So how close was it? Check out this state-wide radar image. The snow and sleet barely missed to the North and West, and in this close-up we see that a patch of snow missed us to the South as well.

Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon, as they say the freezing line could drop below us any time, but 24-hours ago they called many inches of snow by this time, so either way this storm is largely, and thankfully, a bust for us. And it's a good thing, cause I never got my hands on an ice scraper.


Update: Okay, so I spoke A LITTLE too soon. We did get some snow, but clearly we missed the bulk of the mess.


Update: The news says, had the rain we got been snow, it would have been in excess of six inches. I definitely prefer the actual result.


Update: Well, at least they've let us know what happened. If you buy that sort of thing. I would have been fine with a graphic that read "we're sorry, really".

Somebody Fedex me an ice scraper (for crying out loud)

So when I broke two ice scrapers the other day on the hard ice, I didn't think it'd be a big deal to replace them. But tonight I've been several places to get a new one with another storm coming, and apparently everyone is sold out. Cr-AP. You'd think places would stock up on such things at a time like this.


Update: Nevermind. Dad found me one. He picked up the last two at the local Ace hardware.

Canceled

I hate that I had to do this, but as the forecast now predicts a 100% likelihood of 4-8 inches of snow/ice on Saturday, Darby's birthday party has been postponed. What's worse, they're already showing some possibility of winter precipitation the following weekend as well (on the extended forecast), so I can't even immediately reschedule the thing just yet, unless I do so for sometime in February. What a screwed up January this has been.

Finally some freakin progress ("some" being generous)

I am still completely amazed that sleet/ice that last fell on Sunday has completely incapacitated this 600+ square mile metro area to the extent that school has yet to resume, is not planned to resume tomorrow, and quite likely won't resume on Friday, all due to non-plowed roads. Highways are good. SOME major roads are improving, but some are actually getting worse because of re-freezing.

However, I was shocked and amazed to see my little OKC suburb take (late but) decisive action by bringing out a few construction vehicles and also giving them police escorts to (finally) start clearing what were otherwise terrible streets (even the major ones).

As we are straddled by OKC on one side and Midwest City on the other, I suspect what happened was someone (of influence) noticed (and complained) that a particularly major road was reasonably clear in OKC, got treacherously nasty in Del City, and then strangely became mostly fine again in MWC.

In all my years as a DC resident, I don't recall them ever doing more than sprinkling scant amounts of magic fairy dust (okay, sand) upon one or two major-to-everyone-else roadways with crossed fingers. So tonight's traffic blockage (while meant well, their timing was poor -- the tail end of rush hour) was actually overlookable given the rarity of the event.

First prototype

I had previously noted that my design had been chosen for the unit coin, and today I was shown the first prototype.

Design:


Prototype:


For the most part I am surprised by the quality and reasonably accurate representation of my design. I knew certain elements wouldn't come across well, but most of them seem to have worked.

However, there are at least two things I hope can be changed before this thing goes to press en mass. First, it has what must be the poorest representation of a B-1 I have ever seen, and I've been exposed to B-1s since I was eleven years old when I built my first B-1 model airplane, so I'm not unfamiliar with how the thing is supposed to look. Second, and much more minor, is the way the gray/shaded parts of the eagle on the reverse side overly blend with the silver.

Those things get fixed and I'll be pretty eager to my hands on the final version.

Double whammy

Saturday is supposed to be Darby's birthday party. But there is more winter weather forecast, for the second weekend in a row. Anywhere from 0-6 inches of ice or snow (on top of what we STILL have) depending where you look. Personally I prefer zero, but I suspect I'll not achieve my preference.

Trouble is we have invited people from Darby's old school, her new school, and from out of town. Coordinating a reschedule is highly undesirable to say the least. I'm crossing my fingers, but I must decide by late tomorrow at the latest.



I so can't wait for Summer. Can't. WAIT.

Day full of bad ideas

The day started off innocently enough, but didn't take long to start looking like a a series of bad ideas waiting to happen.

They began with digging the car out from under a couple inches of ice. I broke two ice scrapers and didn't even get the job finished so had to make due. That was... unpleasant.

Then there was the (usually short) trip to the optometrist over what can only be called terrible roads. I made appointments for the kids and I on a holiday so there would be no school absences. Usually an okay idea, but today not so much. Even the highways were in ridiculously poor shape. Where the heck are the plows? I mean, where I grew up, it was about more than sprinkling some salt or sand on the road. You must also plow or things get worse. And worse it got. Almost no asphalt was visible anywhere. The ice is so thick and hard on some roads that you get a serious washboard effect at even slow speeds.

The optometrist visit was not too eventful save two issues. One, I forgot my pre-filled paperwork -- I HATE filling out doctor office paperwork, so I ask for extra copies, scan them in, fill them out electronically and bring in the pre-filled papers... except for today, since I forgot the papers I typed up last night -- so I had to fill out bunches of paperwork by hand... bleh.

Then there was the dilation (thanks to my nice but not-quite-thinking-ahead optometrist). Normally you can tough this one out. But throw in fresh, white snow/ice on a crystal clear sunny day, and even the darkest sunglasses are no match for the glare. So, I was driving down the street WITHOUT MY GLASSES ON, so that I could wear sunglasses, which didn't help much, so my eyes were squinting more than they naturally do, making EVERYTHING very blurry, all the while I was slipping around on the ice, hoping to God I didn't get in a wreck in those circumstances.

So what was the rush? Another appointment. Not long after the eye doctor's visit I had a car maintenance appointment. And how about the timing? This very morning my check engine light went on. Well, it sure seemed fortuitous at first, but now I wonder. A few minutes ago I was told my thermostat is out and with (mostly) labor costs we're talking $533 for this repair. Ugh. Just weeks after Christmas, a week before Darby's birthday party, and the last time I was here, I spent $300+ on a water pump replacement, also mostly labor. Dammit.

Needless to say, I'm sulking right now. Not. Happy. Hopefully I won't have to update this thing with more bad ideas later.


Update: You see! The powers that be decide to skimp on the road clearing and now what? Schools closed tomorrow, to the angst of parents everywhere. There has been no new precipitation since Sunday, and 48 hours later they cannot hold classes because of poor road conditions... I'm sorry, but we simply must do better than that.

On the way back from car maintenance I did see a plow. ONE. PLOW.


Update: Yet ANOTHER snow day tomorrow purely because of poor roads. Unacceptable.

Collapse

We learned today that the roof of the gymnasium at the girls' former school collapsed this weekend under the weight of the ice from the recent storm. There's a video all about it on a local news site which shows the graphic details. I was actually there on Friday when the storm had just gotten started. I was handing out invitations for Darby's birthday party to her friends from the old school. Crazy, huh?

What the heck happened to "4th and 26"?

A few years ago, I lauded the Eagles for their seemingly miraculous acquisition of a first down, on fourth down, from twenty-six yards out. I thought for sure with such a precedent, and similarly with so much on the line, that there would be no way on earth Mr. Reid would choose to NOT go for it on 4th and 15, with two minutes left in the game.

But...

I would apparently be wrong.


Now, my Eagles are out of it and I am... well, unsatisfied. That was no way to end a season. I would much rather have gone for it and not made than to never have gone for it at all. The actual outcome, while equally lacking in result, was far less fulfilling or worthy of the kind of season we had there at the end.

However, I am very excited for next season. SO much potential. Therefore I am disappointed but hopeful. I guess not the worst possible disposition.

A new low?

Shelby is a master face-maker. Silly faces, ugly faces, you name it. My digital photo albums are littered with non-smiles in otherwise good photos. She's always trying to sneak a face into a photo at the last second to the extent that I often have to take two or three pictures just to get a decent one with her smiling.

To date, I had considered this to be her "all-time ugliest face".



That is, until I found this gem on her digital camera.



Well, she's going to regret having taken that photo in a few short years (as well as some others). I promise. :)

Iced-in

We had weekend plans. Had.

Pick up the kids Saturday morning, take them up to Tulsa for a slumber party at their friend's. And while the kids were slumbering the adults would have a poker night. We were to come back on Sunday morning just in time for a birthday skate party.

But the weather has killed it all. Every form of frozen precipitation seems to have occurred today, making the roads not practical to travel to (or from) Tulsa in a reasonable amount of time.

So much for a fun weekend.

Worst (OKC) traffic ever experienced

There was what must have been a massive accident on I-235 this morning, cause we traveled 2.5 miles in thirty minutes, making the girls VERY late for school. Our normally 15-20 minute trip to school in the morning involves a 5-8 minute stint on the highway, of which we only completed half, but in triple the time. We left with just enough time to make it to school under typical conditions, so that was blown out of the water in what was the worst OKC traffic I've ever sat through (during morning rush hour). Once I finally got off the highway and took the streets, it only took seven minutes for us to get to school, but the girls were nowhere near on time, one of the bad points about going to a non-neighborhood school.

On my way to work from the school, and going the opposite direction, the accident was still there, giving me the opportunity to see the extent of the traffic backlog, which went on for miles (good thing I gave up when I did).

Of course, that delay caused a bad-morning trickle-down, including some seriously bad parking.

Eleven on the eleventh (Happy Birthday Darby!)

I can't believe my first born is merely two years shy of being a dreaded teenager...


Update: As is traditional, here's a photo of Darby on her birthday.

Promotion for Shelby

Shelby passed her fencing test today, earning a promotion (her 9th if I'm counting correctly). She has thus been awarded a red ribbon (which follows green, then blue). Here's the chart (Shelby is the lone red ribbon on the right) to put it in perspective (and compared to late 2004).

Yea Shelby!

It's here!

I received my aforementioned new laptop today! Of course, while it's quite swell thus far, the worst time with a new computer is when you first get it, because there's SO much to be done before it's configured just the way you like it. Thus begins my journey... wish me luck. (sigh)

Yep, that's an "irreg"

Darby's birthday gift arrived today (a digital piano). The box was... larger than expected (back pack present for scale). It's what we UPS alum call an "irreg", meaning a package of irregular size. It was interesting to receive such a package, because I have a fairly detailed understanding of the process irregs endure, and the (non) word irreg was my first thought upon seeing the package, no doubt about it.

Visiting hours

Went straight from work to see dad at the hospital tonight. Surgery seems to have gone well. The girls were dropped off at the hospital as well, and we stayed with dad until visiting hours were over. Surprisingly he was up and walking around with assistance already. Also a surprise, he will get to go home to recover tomorrow if things continue to progress well.

Last meal

Dad is having back surgery tomorrow, so the girls and I had a nice family dinner with him tonight at the OG (Olive Garden). A last chance for him to stuff himself before not being allowed to eat past midnight. The surgery is not trivial, but is supposedly fairly routine, so let's all cross our fingers for a complication-free operation and a speedy recovery.

Pierced

Darby's ears were pierced before the age of two in somewhat controversial fashion, which will not be elaborated upon at this time. They were pierced for more than a couple years, but we started having a good deal of trouble with keeping them clean due to her continual touching of them with her grubby toddler fingers. During a particularly bad infection, the earrings were removed to let her ears heal and just never went back in. So, from that time (around age 4) until today (almost 11), she has been piercing free.

Shelby has never been pierced. And this is probably a good thing. She's got a touch of OCD, so I'm not sure pointy metal things in her ears are the best idea. Plus she's got a nickel allergy, so I suspect most non-expensive types of earrings would be out of the question. But since she's not so good at leaving things alone, I imagine the good earrings would find themselves lost quite quickly.

So I got phone call from Darby today while she was with her mom shopping at Claire's with Christmas gift cards. She asked if she could get her ears pierced again. This isn't the first time she's asked this of me in recent years. My answer was, "It's not that you're not allowed, but you have a number of other responsibilities that you aren't quite living up to, so I'm not sure it's best to add another thing you have to take care of at this time."

Of course, she heard "you're allowed to" and came home with earrings. Grrr. I expressed my discontentment with the result of that conversation, and also disclaimed that her ear care is all on her. If they get funky again, the earrings are gone for good. So here she is with earrings. Yea her.

Back to fencing

Today was Shelby's first day back to fencing since before the holiday break. She did well, and she has a promotion test next week.

I took the opportunity to test the new camera in a low-light setting. My previous camera didn't do so well without the flash in the fluorescent lighting. The new one seems (to me) to do much better. Or maybe it just feels better. Here's a pic from today with no flash compared to a pic from a year ago with flash. Seems like the new cam is better to me, but maybe the difference is imperceptible.

Last day of breakage

Today was the last day for both the girls' holiday break from school, and the break in our typical day-to-day process. I'm torn about the matter cause it will be nice to get back to routine (instead of trying to figure out where the kids will go today since there's no school), but that routine can be rather stressing at times, thus my conflict.

One thing's for sure, the girls went out with a bang. They stayed with some family today and rode bikes, played with neighborhood kids, and, I'm told, generally had a great time. They're somewhat excited to get back to school, but I'm quite certain that won't last beyond tomorrow.


Also coming to and end today, if only peripherally related, is good parking. I let myself get spoiled with the near-front-row parking the last couple weeks, with people out for various holiday activities. So now that it's back to normal (more than 100 yards/meters), the walk into the office has lost all remaining joy. Not that there was much left after nearly ten years of the same walk into the same building.

RIP Laptop. Long Live Laptop?

This was supposed to be a much happier entry. It was first envisioned as such. But Dell has really miffed me. Eventually, the result of this day will reach a happy end, but for now, I shall remain displeased.

Really, I am most unhappy with my Averatec laptop of two years. As though $1200 wasn't enough to spend on it to begin with, I've spent around $250 over the last year for various repairs, in particular to the power port, a component quite critical to its operation. But for the third time the power port has gone inoperable on me, meaning I have an otherwise decent laptop with a dead battery that will not charge. And I simply refuse to spend another dime on it. I just can't justify it. I had hoped to get another year out of it before replacing it, but necessity has forced my hand.

So, hopefully not unwisely, I've gone and spent $1500 on a nicely stocked midrange Dell (2Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 160GB HD) I hope will last me 3-5 years. And I was completely ecstatic to be only a week away from laptop nirvana. That is, until Dell killed my buzz. I'm still pleased as can be with my new laptop configuration, but I didn't realize that one of my device selections could cause Windows Vista issues. So just a few minutes after my order went through, I called Dell to have my order tweaked slightly. We're talking about a $40 configuration change. But four phone calls and three online chats later, I am no closer to completing my change (which I was hoping to do BEFORE the laptop was built). I've been put on extensive hold, transferred, dropped, and flat ignored (was promised a call-back in 2-3 hours, but that never came). No one has been able to help me, for what I believe to be ridiculous technicalities.

Hopefully this will all get resolved tomorrow and I can go about my happy-laptopping way this time next week (with a fully Vista compatible unit of course). But I'm not exactly confident in "the system" at the moment, and I fully intend to write a strongly worded letter. Or... letter-like blog.


Update, 3 Jan: As hoped, all was resolved this morning after about 15 minutes on the phone. While I think it should have gone this way the first time around, I'm just glad to be getting a kick-butt (for me) laptop in the next week or so. It will be SO nice to have some substantial period of time with no significant laptop issues. It has been quite long since I've known that feeling.

Update, 4 Jan: SNAFU! While I have no significant regret with regard to my laptop configuration, I had a head-smacking revelation today. I have rendered my PC(MCIA) Cards useless. I did not realize the new laptop did NOT have a PC Card slot. ONLY Express Card. When did THAT start happening. I have ordered many laptops, be it for friends, family, myself, work, and never have I had a laptop NOT have a PC Card slot. It's a good thing in a way, as I'm prepared for the future as PC Card is phased out, BUT now I have a useless media card reader and smart card reader. AND, I took the time to look around at CompUSA today (while there for other tech immersive goodness) for Express Card peripherals, only to find they are not yet plentiful. Bleh. Yet another buzz kill.

New Year!

Last year I nixed "Happy New Year" in favor of "Happy End of Year". Not sure that caught on too well. I still don't think I'm all that into this brand new year that has thrust itself upon me, so I'll not express gratuitous (or naive) happiness about its presence, instead simply proclaiming that it has arrived.

So here it goes... New Year! New Year! Hey, everybody, New Year!


Happy now?