Greg's navel gazing — LiveJournal

10:00 pm - I love working for the government at times.

So, I got a notice today about my appeal of the furlough from 2013, which was that a telecon is being scheduled for July 7th. I love the pace of how this legal process is moving! Since I had to go to the stupid web site to download the pdf, I had to check the "forgot username" button to get my username, and when I clicked the "forgot password" (who remembers the password from 2 years ago when you haven't been to the site since then?) I got EMAILED my password in the clear! Sheesh! No wonder the chinese now have all my PII from hacking OPM!

09:58 am - identifying people

You know you have a strange social circle, when you are having lunch with someone, and they are trying to describe a friend of a friend, and offer "You know, the she's the one with blue hair", and you think a minute and offer "That doesn't narrow it down nearly enough", at which the friend replies "Yea, you are right."

08:45 pm - New Bujold

New Bujold book! https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/8046824-new-book

02:45 pm - stupid college kids

I find myself conflicted over the two University of Oklahoma students who got expelled. Yes, they said some awful things, but being expelled from a state school seems like a potential violation of their first amendment rights. I may not agree with what they say, etc. Beside, racists are some of the people most in need of learning.

02:00 pm - i welcome our new robot overlords

We've been getting robot phone calls for about three week reminding us of "Lily's" appointment. Since no Lily lives here, I tried a few times to press various buttons in an attempt to speak to a human, but no luck.
Today, the doc's office called, wanting to know why Lily didn't show up. I had a very pleasant conversation with the Doc's office, explaining that there is no Lily here, and I found out that the doc's office is in Iowa, and it was -22 last night. Brrrr!

05:12 pm - POI performance

I've been taking a poi spinning class for the last 12 weeks. The class was a 'performance' class, where you could choose to perform the routine in public. I decided to try, and the event went well. I was rather frantic before the performance, but it went well. Here is a link that I think will work, please let me know if it doesn't. https://vimeo.com/112669166

11:36 am - showtime

I've been taking a 12 week class on poi spinning (not brave enough to do fire yet) and this afternoon is the performance. First time I've been in a performance since I had a bit part in the high school play. Boy am I nervious! A sample of our practice is located https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152830927462855&set=vb.107872302854&type=2&theater Unfortunately the camera angle sucks, and I'm not directly visible, but if you squint you can see my reflection in the mirror.

08:56 pm - 1 0K

I got off my butt today and ran the 10K across the Bay Bridge. Lovely views.

10:49 am - Joys of dog ownership

I don't know which gave me more joy this morning, the puppy barking at 7am, or finding out that the puppy was digging up my flower bed (again). She shouldn't look so cute when she tracks the dirt into the laundry room. *prance* *prance*

Current Mood: annoyed

11:32 am - dinner on CalTech Campus

So I don't know if the most interesting part of the evening was having dinner with someone who drives a Mars rover, or meeting Ed Stone.

06:50 pm - Hobby Lobby

Am I the only one who things the uproar about the Hobby Lobby case is overblown? It seems that Kennedy is basically holding up a neon sign saying "apply the same let the insurance company pay for the cost of womens contraception compromize" that fully religious organizations have. I mean Obama can direct HHS to do that in a week, and then the women get full coverage for the items in conflict with no addtional burden. Or is it that I've actually read the 90 page opinion, and haven';t been paying attention to the yammering in the news?

12:58 am - Hunger games

Just finished Hunger Games II, loved it, but part of the final battle was confusing. Who is able to talk about it in the comments so not to give away spoilers?

11:47 pm - New furball

Meet the new furball. Named "Sleepy" by the rescue society, probably not going to keep that name. Although it seems to fit.

03:15 pm - two flowers

I planted some bulbs a few years ago. I don't remember what they are. But I think they are pretty.

11:16 am - credit card

Gee, looks like I get to spend lots of time dealing with the credit card fraud division of my credit union. And to the person who bought two thousand bucks worth of stuff on my credit card, fuck you very much.

11:57 am - joke from new star trek movie?

( Read more...Collapse )

08:21 am - To help Reedrover have a more pleasant day.

A baby goat. Playing on a pig.

06:47 pm - results

The Tune Up Tri
1.5 Mile Run, 4 Mile Bike, 250 Yard Swim

Place Div/Tot Bib Name S Age Rank Run T1 Rank Bike T2 Rank Swim Finish Penalty Rank Time
131 8/10 170 Greg Hennessy M 50 125 17:20 1:32 141 21:48 1:27 142 10:55 53:01 131 53:01

10:57 am - triathalon

Finished 131 out of 158, 8th out of 10 in my age group. Won't have the offical time till sometime later in the day.

09:54 pm - Mystery object

Guess what this is!

11:17 pm - my daily snark

I was reading an article about an attempt to rename a mountain called Negro Mountain in Pennsylvania, and there was a line in the story of "They don't call Mount McKinley `White Man Mountain.'" and the only thing that went through my mind was "No, they call it Denali".

01:55 pm - leak cost

Looks like about 3K to fix the leak, and replace the failing dish washer and the failed garbage disposal.

07:16 pm - Joy

Something is leaking in the basement. And not a small amount.

11:49 am - Les Mis question

Saw the movie yesterday with vvalkyri. My first les Mis other than the Liam Neeson movie, which was most certainly not a musical. I'm confused as to if I'm supposed to be liking the Eponine character, and her involvement in the love triangle with Marius and Cosette. I'm perfectly fine with disliking Thénardiers (in spite of the fact that Helen Bonham Carter and Sasha Baron Cohen stole the show with their over the top comedic relief), but I started out all 'boo hiss' with Eponine but by the end of the movie I was sad for her. Is she *supposed* to be an honorable character? The movie didn't have Eponine abusing Cosette as a youngster, and as a young adult Eponine did deliver the note to Marius, and I can't think of any reason not to consider her as sympathetic as any of the other young idiots who got them a case of dead going up against the French army.

Thoughts?

05:32 pm - electronics fun

Pam got me an arduino to play with. Now to start to take over the world. Muhahaha!

12:57 pm - RIP

Rest in peace Sierra.

10:12 am - traffic

I survived the opening of the (not brave enough to acutally take them) HOT lanes on my 495 commute. Apparently there have been five accidents at one entrance since Saturday.

*edited

05:04 pm - I am old

Today in Panera's I saw a cute young thing, probably early 20's, wearing a white frilly blouse, with thin shoulder straps, cut low enough I could see her belly button jewlery. The thought that went through my mind was "she should put on a sweater, she's going to get cold", followed by "damn, I'm old".

03:36 pm - experiance is knowing you are about to be hosed.

So, yesterday someone from IT asked me for the ip addresses of our departmental printers. I gave him the information he needed, and then said outloud "I wonder how long before all the printers break." Turns out the answer was about 24* hours, since at 2pm all my printers broke. The dude that broke them? He went home at 2:05.

*edited typo.

04:55 pm - Bujold in DC

Lois McMaster Bujold will be at the National Book Festival on the Mall in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Library of Congress, on Sunday September 23rd.

http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/

She will be speaking at 12:55 PM, and signing at 2:30 PM.

More info here:

http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/author/lois_mcmaster_bujold

09:46 am - married life

I was getting ready to go to bed last night, when my lovely wife said to me "Do you need help in doing (unpleasant task)*?"

I replied that I wasn't aware that I was doing (unpleasant task).

After a silence of about 10 seconds, I replied "No, I'm fine doing it myself".

*Pilling the dog.

10:03 pm - results

Place Div/Tot  Bib Name                    S Age Rank Swim  T1    Rank Bike    T2    Rank Run   Finish  Penalty Rank Time 

112   7/7    193 Greg Hennessy           M  49  105 12:32  3:31  111   36:56  2:04  102 22:18 1:17:19          112 1:17:19 

09:49 am - triathalon

finished triathalon in 1 Hr 17 MIN. finished 112 our of 125

09:44 am - For the Harry Dresden fans

Jim Butcher this morning tweeted that he was eating home made fruit rollups. Oh, and he had also finished "Cold Days".

01:12 pm - IT pinheads

The IT department has their heads up their asses more than usual. Today's phonecall "Me: Hi Tom, is there something wrong with the network?" "No, but you can send Ted email." Me:"No, I can't, I can't connect to the exchange server." Tom: 'Well, then send Daniel email." Me: "What part of I can't connect to the exchange server was unclear?" Tom: "Then send Bill email." Me: "Do you want me to walk over there and hit you?"

I suspect I probably shouldn't threaten to hit another employee, but I can't seem to care much.

04:04 pm - sometimes i hate work

I was observing in Flagstaff last week, and had to change plans to come home early due to the storms. I estimated the plane cost by taking half the orgional costs, and adding on the cost of the new return flight. The Pointy Headed folk told me I needed a refund receipt, so I spent an hour getting the form, and faxing it to the right people, all to find out that I was entitled to $5.40 more than I had put down for. I think the tax payers got screwed on that deal.

09:14 am - Instant political analysis

Conservatives are going to be so angry that Holder is sure to be held in contempt.

09:27 am - things to be careful of while not quite awake

My normal routine is to get up early, do Sierra care (which includes shoving half a dozen pills down her throat while she protests, the ungrateful wench), shower, dress, and then take my own meds before leaving for work. While I was getting my meds ready I had this feeling of deja vu, and a feeling of something being wrong. I've learned a long time ago to listen to those warning signs, so I looked down at my meds to figure out what was wrong, and realized I was preparing Sierra's meds, not mine. Oops!

07:38 pm - Bujold

I will not buy the new Ivan eARC released today.
i will not buy the new Ivan eARC released today.
I will not . . .

10:06 am - i don't know if i should be annoyed or not

Work has a task that needed to be done. I wasn't assigned to do it. The person who was assigned to do it told me ealier in the week that she had gotten a data dump from a vendor, and needed to prepare a presentation to management within 24 hours, and asked me to do the task. I went to Goddard  yesterday and finished the task.

I don't know if i should be annoyed at her for not being able to do her assigned task, or glad since I now know that the task was done correctly.

11:36 am - my day so far

Wake up due to dog whining, do various bits of dog care, dog still not eating well. Leave for office at 8am. At 8:45
while on Clara Barton Parkway realize I left laptop at home. Make less than legal U turn, drive home, grab laptop,
return to morning commute with heavy sense of Deja Vu. Arrive at work a few minutes after 10.

On the other hand, I was impressed by the new park between Nats Park and the Navy Yard, they
certainly cleaned that part of the Anacostia river up.

06:37 pm - Perminance

I am shocked, *shocked*, that the three dollar umbrella failed after the third use.

09:09 am - Finding the past

When I'm at these conferences (American astronomical society) I like to find persons I knew from my past. I've already found one
person I was a summer student with in 1986, and I also ran into Rick Perley, who was a staff member at the VLA when I was an undergrad.  I said hi to him, and when he mentioned he didn't recognize me at first, I pointed out I had a beard last he saw me. Rick then pointed out I was a lot skinnier then. *sigh*

11:02 am - No donuts

Apparently the AAS stopped providing donuts at the poster sessions as a cost cutting measure. I'm going through some serious sugar withdraw here. Please send donuts!

07:54 am - Day one of Alaska

Twelve hours in so far, and I've been fed raindeer sausage twice. Now off to the American astronomical society meetings!

11:22 pm - Promethius

Doesn't everyone know it is a prequel to Alien?

10:41 pm - Snow white

Well, Kristen Stewart can act! Charlize Theron was wonderful, and her costumes fantastic. The movie was part Snow White, part Sleeping Beauty, and a large part of Joan of Arc.

01:31 pm - Hiking

The billy goat trail near great falls is not to be missed. You will miss oxygen, cause when you finish there won't be any, but 2 hours for 3.8 miles seems pretty good. Now if I can get the gps route uploaded to the intrawebs. 

03:05 pm - Billy goat trail

I have a hankering to hike the billy goat trail next Saturday?   Anyone want to join me?

08:38 pm - your government at work

So, as of May 1st I was shifted out of the department I had worked for 17 years, into a different department. Today I got a memo saying I'm being shifted back as of May 21st. All those books I moved? I have to move them back.