In the morning, the temps had fallen into the 40’s overnight, and according to the weather channel were expected to continue to fall all day… not exactly the best news when your only mode of transportation is a motorcycle, and you’re away from home!
One of the places we wanted to see was the Train museum in Roanoke, so despite the weather we packed the bikes, suited up and headed out. By the time we reached the museum, the temps were in the lower 40’s, but the sun was out and riding, in town at least, didn’t seem all that bad. We had a great time in the museum checking out a ton of historical train info and climbing around on old locomotives, but, by the time we were ready to leave, it had started to snow, and snow fairly heavily, these great big flakes that reminded me of the ‘lake effect’ snow we’d get when I lived in North Bay.
Undaunted we headed out anyway. We rode over to a Department of Environmental Conservation office in Southeastern VA, where Donna had once worked, before Tim snatched her off to a ‘life of luxury’ so she could say Hi to some old friends. As we sat in the parking lot, it continued to snow, enough that it was beginning to cover the grass, but the pavement remained only wet.
Once Donna had finished chatting with her old friends we headed out. One of the places we had still had to go was to the motel where her parents were staying, as she would not be taking the rest of the trip with us. Donna was going to visit with her parents and hop a flight back to Kansas City, while Tim and Steve hooked it back on the bikes later in the week.
When we got to Donna’s folks room, they were kind enough to let us all hang out in there and get warmed up, before we threw a leg, pointed the bikes towards the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed out once again. The higher we climbed in the mountains the cooler it got. It did stop snowing, but it continued to get colder by the hour, not warmer. We had to drop off the parkway in at least two places that I remember as it had been closed due to ice and snow.
Late that afternoon we decided to call it a day and slipped into ‘Fancy Gap’ to find some warm food, and hopefully an even warmer motel room. We found a motel, the only one there in Fancy Gap; it was definitely NOT the Marriot! The rooms were marginally clean, the bathrooms, well, suffice it to say neither my wife, nor I, were willing to shower in there. There was more “black” in the shower stalls than there was on our leathers!!
We checked in, cranked the heat up and walked a couple of hundred yards down the road to the local restaurant. As I recall, the food was acceptable, barely, but the company was good and the coffee was hot, and we ended up laughing about the day and our ‘chilled to the bone’ bodies.
I don’t know how everyone else slept, but Maryan and I slept the sleep of the dead. We laid down, with at least me having initial thoughts that had nothing to do with ‘sleeping’, but, the next thing I knew sunlight was streaming through the windows and it was morning. I don’t think either of us ‘moved’ all night. We were still cuddled up like I remembered us being the night before… and it took everything I had, to get up out of bed, go get some coffee from the office and get our day started.
It wasn’t long before everyone was up, the bikes repacked (which by the way, is almost a ritual on motorcycle road trips) with all our gear and we were once again suited up against the cold and heading out.
This day was even colder than the previous one, the difference being the sun was out and we had high hopes it would warm up. It would, but warm up meant it got all the way up to 42 degrees! I remember at one point, around noon, we had to drop down off the parkway again, as yet another section was closed due to ice and snow, and found ourselves in some little town South of Fancy Gap, but still North of Little Switzerland.
We found a local hardware store there, and initially went inside to see what we could find in the way of gloves, either to wear over, or under the ones we already had. When we got inside however, they had this huge old coal stove sitting in the middle of the store. It was all stoked up and pouring out an incredible amount of heat.
The four of us ended up standing around this stove; it was so big I’m not sure we could have all held hands. One by one we were opening up our jackets and letting that heat soak in, each of us taking a little journey to the ‘glove isle’ only to wander back to the stove again. The shopkeeper was very friendly, and sympathetic to our plight, he even pointed us to the best of the local diners for lunch.
I wish I could remember the name of the town, and that store, to give them credit for being so hospitable, unfortunately I can’t.
I do remember we bought sever pairs of gloves, some thinner, cotton types to act as glove liners, and Maryan I think got some X-Large leather work gloves to wear over her regular riding gloves.
Once we’d all gotten as warm as we could stand and had lunch, we once again saddled up and headed out looking for the next entrance to the parkway. Once we found it and got back up on the Blue Ridge it felt as though the temperatures had dropped another 10 degrees, I’m not sure it actually did but the wind was just cutting though us. It was the first time, in all my years of riding, that I actually found myself wishing I’d installed a windshield on a bike! The wind was just that cold.
I should mention that it wasn’t for ‘lack of gear’ that we were cold. I was wearing leather pants, with leather chaps over those, an undershirt, a long sleeved pullover top and a flannel shirt, underneath my insulated leather jacket, a full face helmet and heavy ‘winter’ gauntlet style riding gloves. Maryan, Tim and Steve were all similarly attired, however both Tim and Steve had windshields (wimps!).
We cruised down the ridge eventually reaching Little Switzerland around 3:00, maybe 4:00 in the afternoon. We’d initially intended to stay at the famous ‘Lodge’ there, but on arrival we discovered they wanted over $120/night and that simply wasn’t in the budget!
I’m glad it wasn’t, because about a quarter of a mile down the mountain was this small little motel/restaurant that had rooms for about $40/night and the restaurant served beer!
So we checked in, got relaxed and cleaned up (the bathrooms here were very clean!) and headed over to the bar for a little post ride, pre-supper BS session. I remember this as one of the best meals we had on the trip, and that the four of us laughed all through dinner.
The best part was yet to come though, as after dinner the waiter suggested we enjoy the sunset on the deck. It was absolutely perfect! The building sheltered us from the wind, and the sun was setting over the mountains as we all sat there, talking and marveling at the view. It was a $40 motel, with a million dollar view, one we most likely would have missed if we’d stayed in the ‘better’ place!
Part #3… to follow… If we hit a hotel with access along the way… well then I’ll post it before I get back, if not… I’ll post it when I get back!!
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Motorcycle Honeymoon... Part #1
I know most people dream of taking a honeymoon trip to Hawaii, Tahiti or some other exotic place, and to some degree so did Maryan and I. We were kind of short on cash though. We’d recently finished renovating the home we’d bought, and (as those of you who’ve gutted a home and put it back together know) it had really sucked up all of our available funds.
We’d picked April 16th as our wedding date, spring is in full bloom here in North Carolina then, and knew we would be getting married in Roanoke, Va. just a short hop from the Blue Ridge Parkway.
As we started letting folks we knew, know about our plans, a couple of things happened. First, my boss at the time wanted us to have the wedding at his house, complete with a reception afterward. While it was a wonderful gesture on his part, we were looking for something a little less ‘grand’ and a lot more private. Second, my old riding buddy Tim (and his wife Donna) wanted to be around for the wedding, and planned on riding his bike in from Kansas City, Mo.
Maryan and I talked about it, and decided that getting married and taking a bike trip for the honeymoon would be a kick, so we started making plans.
We found a Justice of the Peace in Roanoke to perform the ceremony, found a bike friendly motel (that means rooms on the first floor where you can park the bike right outside the room) nearby that was reasonably priced and clean, and let Tim, and another friend of mine, Greg know what the plans were.
The week before we planned to get married the weather was absolutely beautiful, upper 70’s, a couple of days were almost 80, the humidity was low and everything was beginning to bloom. We were looking forward to a great trip, with some of my good friends Maryan had already met Tim and Donna at a “Honda Hoot” in Asheville, NC shortly after she and I had met, but Greg, she’d only heard stories about. I was excited about us all getting together as Maryan and Donna had gotten along well at the hoot, and Greg, well he’s another one of those unique folks I’ve met along the way and I was certain they’d get along great!
The week of our wedding however, the weather cooled off some, and the day we were leaving we flirted with an overcast sky, rain shower, and cold temps all the way to Roanoke. We got in early though, made a call to the JP and she said it was fine, we should just come on over and we’ve have the ceremony early; which is exactly what we did.
We got married in this woman’s home, and she was a very warm and welcoming person, making us immediately comfortable in her home and telling us quite a bit actually about her life before getting to the vows and the legal stuff.
She was a pretty cool old woman too; as I recall she was 87, widowed and retired, and that she explained she did the wedding ceremonies because she enjoyed seeing happy couples and helping them get started on their new lives together.
I remember as we left her house, a married couple now, the sun was shining and the air had warmed considerably, it was like us getting married had changed, not only our lives, the weather, for the better!!
We went and had a little lunch and headed back to the motel for some ‘alone time’. “Some”, alone time is exactly what we got. We’d….ummmmmmmm… gotten comfortable when a series of ‘knocks’ began occurring at our door. Now being newlyweds and all we were not about to be jumping up to answer the door!! I’m sure they all thought it was quite funny... I was not thinking ‘funny’ at the time!
Eventually we did get up and look out the door, and what did we find but a bottle of champagne and a note wishing us well. Well we decided it would be rude of us not to ‘toast’ our recent union, so we popped the cork and poured a couple of glasses.
Shortly after that Greg showed up, we all talked for a bit, and then we decided we needed to go out, and have a nice dinner to celebrate the day. We found a restaurant in downtown Roanoke called “Frankie B’s”. It wasn’t a big place, small actually, but the atmosphere was definitely 1st class. So the three of us headed off to dinner, Greg drove which allowed Maryan and I to imbibe as part of our celebration.
I remember Maryan ordered a lobster, and when they brought it out, they had completely removed the lobster from its shell for her. She had all the flavor, and none of the work!! I know we had at least two, possibly three bottles of wine with dinner. I know I ordered one, Greg ordered one and I think (at least that’s how I remember it) the restaurant brought us one ‘on the house’.
That wasn’t all they did either. The owner sent us desert, the entire staff signed a menu for us, and throughout it all the service, atmosphere and food were excellent. (If they’re still there, and you’re in Roanoke, I’d highly recommend it!!)
After dinner we headed back to the motel once again, Maryan and I fully intending to slip off into our room for some more ‘alone time’… However, when we got back to the motel, Tim, Donna and a buddy of his Steve, had arrived. We’d been expecting them in the morning, but they’d made better time than expected and were here now. A few hours of where are we going, what time should we leave etc followed before we kicked everyone out.
Tomorrow... Part #2, the trip begins...
Just a reminder, we'll be away for about a week. I'm visiting soem friends up North, attending my goddaughters graduation party and in general trying to relax and enjoy my wife, and some good friends.
We’d picked April 16th as our wedding date, spring is in full bloom here in North Carolina then, and knew we would be getting married in Roanoke, Va. just a short hop from the Blue Ridge Parkway.
As we started letting folks we knew, know about our plans, a couple of things happened. First, my boss at the time wanted us to have the wedding at his house, complete with a reception afterward. While it was a wonderful gesture on his part, we were looking for something a little less ‘grand’ and a lot more private. Second, my old riding buddy Tim (and his wife Donna) wanted to be around for the wedding, and planned on riding his bike in from Kansas City, Mo.
Maryan and I talked about it, and decided that getting married and taking a bike trip for the honeymoon would be a kick, so we started making plans.
We found a Justice of the Peace in Roanoke to perform the ceremony, found a bike friendly motel (that means rooms on the first floor where you can park the bike right outside the room) nearby that was reasonably priced and clean, and let Tim, and another friend of mine, Greg know what the plans were.
The week before we planned to get married the weather was absolutely beautiful, upper 70’s, a couple of days were almost 80, the humidity was low and everything was beginning to bloom. We were looking forward to a great trip, with some of my good friends Maryan had already met Tim and Donna at a “Honda Hoot” in Asheville, NC shortly after she and I had met, but Greg, she’d only heard stories about. I was excited about us all getting together as Maryan and Donna had gotten along well at the hoot, and Greg, well he’s another one of those unique folks I’ve met along the way and I was certain they’d get along great!
The week of our wedding however, the weather cooled off some, and the day we were leaving we flirted with an overcast sky, rain shower, and cold temps all the way to Roanoke. We got in early though, made a call to the JP and she said it was fine, we should just come on over and we’ve have the ceremony early; which is exactly what we did.
We got married in this woman’s home, and she was a very warm and welcoming person, making us immediately comfortable in her home and telling us quite a bit actually about her life before getting to the vows and the legal stuff.
She was a pretty cool old woman too; as I recall she was 87, widowed and retired, and that she explained she did the wedding ceremonies because she enjoyed seeing happy couples and helping them get started on their new lives together.
I remember as we left her house, a married couple now, the sun was shining and the air had warmed considerably, it was like us getting married had changed, not only our lives, the weather, for the better!!
We went and had a little lunch and headed back to the motel for some ‘alone time’. “Some”, alone time is exactly what we got. We’d….ummmmmmmm… gotten comfortable when a series of ‘knocks’ began occurring at our door. Now being newlyweds and all we were not about to be jumping up to answer the door!! I’m sure they all thought it was quite funny... I was not thinking ‘funny’ at the time!
Eventually we did get up and look out the door, and what did we find but a bottle of champagne and a note wishing us well. Well we decided it would be rude of us not to ‘toast’ our recent union, so we popped the cork and poured a couple of glasses.
Shortly after that Greg showed up, we all talked for a bit, and then we decided we needed to go out, and have a nice dinner to celebrate the day. We found a restaurant in downtown Roanoke called “Frankie B’s”. It wasn’t a big place, small actually, but the atmosphere was definitely 1st class. So the three of us headed off to dinner, Greg drove which allowed Maryan and I to imbibe as part of our celebration.
I remember Maryan ordered a lobster, and when they brought it out, they had completely removed the lobster from its shell for her. She had all the flavor, and none of the work!! I know we had at least two, possibly three bottles of wine with dinner. I know I ordered one, Greg ordered one and I think (at least that’s how I remember it) the restaurant brought us one ‘on the house’.
That wasn’t all they did either. The owner sent us desert, the entire staff signed a menu for us, and throughout it all the service, atmosphere and food were excellent. (If they’re still there, and you’re in Roanoke, I’d highly recommend it!!)
After dinner we headed back to the motel once again, Maryan and I fully intending to slip off into our room for some more ‘alone time’… However, when we got back to the motel, Tim, Donna and a buddy of his Steve, had arrived. We’d been expecting them in the morning, but they’d made better time than expected and were here now. A few hours of where are we going, what time should we leave etc followed before we kicked everyone out.
Tomorrow... Part #2, the trip begins...
Just a reminder, we'll be away for about a week. I'm visiting soem friends up North, attending my goddaughters graduation party and in general trying to relax and enjoy my wife, and some good friends.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Five things I miss from childhood....
Comfort Addict tagged me with this one, it was fun trying to think of the top five things I miss.
1) Ice cream on the way home from the pool
There was a public pool, near the high school, in the town where I grew up. In the summer it was often one of those places we’d gravitate to when the weather got really hot. I have these memories of the “Mr. Frosty” ice cream truck, and how sometimes as we were walking the couple of miles back home it would pass, and once in a while I’d have enough money to buy a cone. I’m sure, that ‘soft-serve’ stuff they served wasn’t really all that good, but to me, then, it was the best thing ever.
2) Playing in the woods
Summer was a time when I could vanish with my friends into the ‘woods’, which in reality were simply a couple of vacant lots at the end of the street. To us though, it could be the wilderness, a jungle… essentially anything we wanted it to be. We’d build forts, hideouts, dig ‘foxholes’ and play Army… climb the trees and spy on the neighbors…
3) Not knowing how life works
The naiveté of youth. We were poor, but I didn’t know it then. I always had food to eat, clothes to wear, a warm bed and a roof over my head… who knew what it actually took to provide all of that? I didn’t know about homeless people, starving people were the people my parents told me would ‘like’ the dinner I didn’t want. Small kids like me, well, we just got to be kids… I do miss that
4) The taste of everything being new
When I was young, I had (and actually still do) an almost inexhaustible energy for anything that was ‘new’, new to me that is. As far back as I can recall, when ever I’d get interested in something new, everything else ceased to matter. I’d focus on that one thing until I’d discovered all I could about it. While I still have the desire, and the energy at times, I simply don’t have that ‘luxury’ these days.
5) Music
Music that I related to that is. I listen to, and enjoy all (well, most) types of music, but, as a kid it seemed to speak to me. I could identify with all the lyrics, they made sense in my life then. I suppose it was because the artists were close to my age, and going through similar emotions… but, I still miss that!!
1) Ice cream on the way home from the pool
There was a public pool, near the high school, in the town where I grew up. In the summer it was often one of those places we’d gravitate to when the weather got really hot. I have these memories of the “Mr. Frosty” ice cream truck, and how sometimes as we were walking the couple of miles back home it would pass, and once in a while I’d have enough money to buy a cone. I’m sure, that ‘soft-serve’ stuff they served wasn’t really all that good, but to me, then, it was the best thing ever.
2) Playing in the woods
Summer was a time when I could vanish with my friends into the ‘woods’, which in reality were simply a couple of vacant lots at the end of the street. To us though, it could be the wilderness, a jungle… essentially anything we wanted it to be. We’d build forts, hideouts, dig ‘foxholes’ and play Army… climb the trees and spy on the neighbors…
3) Not knowing how life works
The naiveté of youth. We were poor, but I didn’t know it then. I always had food to eat, clothes to wear, a warm bed and a roof over my head… who knew what it actually took to provide all of that? I didn’t know about homeless people, starving people were the people my parents told me would ‘like’ the dinner I didn’t want. Small kids like me, well, we just got to be kids… I do miss that
4) The taste of everything being new
When I was young, I had (and actually still do) an almost inexhaustible energy for anything that was ‘new’, new to me that is. As far back as I can recall, when ever I’d get interested in something new, everything else ceased to matter. I’d focus on that one thing until I’d discovered all I could about it. While I still have the desire, and the energy at times, I simply don’t have that ‘luxury’ these days.
5) Music
Music that I related to that is. I listen to, and enjoy all (well, most) types of music, but, as a kid it seemed to speak to me. I could identify with all the lyrics, they made sense in my life then. I suppose it was because the artists were close to my age, and going through similar emotions… but, I still miss that!!
Friday, July 22, 2005
Yet another twist in the road…
I worked from home today, always a nice break from the 50 minute commute (each way) to the client site.
As usual I was having a stellar day. For whatever reason I really get a lot more done when I’m able to sit here, in my office, at my PC, than whenever I’m anywhere else. I suppose it could have to do with ever single tool and utility I’ve created over the years is here, or, that I’m just more focused for some reason, regardless, I was having a very productive day.
Then, at about 4:00pm I received an email fro my project manager, and the entire sync project I’ve been working on since March is being “re-scoped”. For those of you who don’t know, that’s about the same as saying we’re going “back to the drawing board”. Talk about letting the wind out of your sails! She was upbeat however, as always, making it clear it was in industry decision and not the result of our work so far.
I can’t help but thinking that it’s a mistake to go back at this point. That they were so close to having a system that would work, short term, and that could be expanded over the next year or so to incorporate all the additional items they really need.
Well, it’s not my call, nor is it my client’s call, it’s an industry deal we’re working on, so if they (the industry representatives) want to revamp the project it’s entirely within their scope to do so. I can’t help thinking though, if they’d just waited 4 more weeks, until we hit preliminary testing, most, if not all of their concerns would have slipped away.
Such is the nature of the contract life though. We’re never really ‘in the mix’, more facilitators of the deliverables.
I’m so glad I didn’t have to be outside today though… the last I checked the heat index was still at 104… like it was from about 1:30 this afternoon. In that kind of heat it takes about half of the trip home for my car to cool down enough to approach comfortable! Instead, I’ve enjoyed the AC in the house, and am now listening to the approach of the afternoon thundershower we’ve been promised!
I’ve got some plans for the truck this weekend, but maybe half days (mornings) and then I’ll tackle some ‘interior’ house projects (where there’s AC) in the afternoons.
I’m also tossing around some thoughts on another series of memories posts, hopefully I can get something written and posted over the weekend.
We’re pretty busy making final plans for the trip up North as that time is rapidly approaching, and I’m really looking forward to seeing a lot of my old friends again!
I’ll be seeing Whit, and Mitch and Jack for sure, I’m hopeful though that I’ll be able to hook up with a few more as well! I know my Mom and Andy are planning to come up to the lake for at least one day, and possibly one (or more) of my siblings will make their way up as well. I’m pretty much playing it by ear, like I always do with vacations. I’m a sort of have a couple “want to do’s” and let the rest just happen, type of vacation person.
Maybe it’s because so much of the rest of my year revolves around goals, plans, deadlines and fitting things to the rules other have, that I enjoy no plans, goals or itineraries when I’m on vacation.
My ideal vacation is similar to the one Maryan and I took a few years ago. We knew we’d be gone 14 days, our general ‘destination’ was Denver and the Rockies, and that we’d be meeting up with my biker buddy Tim and his wife Donna in Kansas City on the way. Other than that we really had no plans at all. No reservations… just us, the bike, some clothes, convenience items and the road.
We still talk about how much fun that trip was!
I think I should write a story about that trip for y’all… what do you think?
As usual I was having a stellar day. For whatever reason I really get a lot more done when I’m able to sit here, in my office, at my PC, than whenever I’m anywhere else. I suppose it could have to do with ever single tool and utility I’ve created over the years is here, or, that I’m just more focused for some reason, regardless, I was having a very productive day.
Then, at about 4:00pm I received an email fro my project manager, and the entire sync project I’ve been working on since March is being “re-scoped”. For those of you who don’t know, that’s about the same as saying we’re going “back to the drawing board”. Talk about letting the wind out of your sails! She was upbeat however, as always, making it clear it was in industry decision and not the result of our work so far.
I can’t help but thinking that it’s a mistake to go back at this point. That they were so close to having a system that would work, short term, and that could be expanded over the next year or so to incorporate all the additional items they really need.
Well, it’s not my call, nor is it my client’s call, it’s an industry deal we’re working on, so if they (the industry representatives) want to revamp the project it’s entirely within their scope to do so. I can’t help thinking though, if they’d just waited 4 more weeks, until we hit preliminary testing, most, if not all of their concerns would have slipped away.
Such is the nature of the contract life though. We’re never really ‘in the mix’, more facilitators of the deliverables.
I’m so glad I didn’t have to be outside today though… the last I checked the heat index was still at 104… like it was from about 1:30 this afternoon. In that kind of heat it takes about half of the trip home for my car to cool down enough to approach comfortable! Instead, I’ve enjoyed the AC in the house, and am now listening to the approach of the afternoon thundershower we’ve been promised!
I’ve got some plans for the truck this weekend, but maybe half days (mornings) and then I’ll tackle some ‘interior’ house projects (where there’s AC) in the afternoons.
I’m also tossing around some thoughts on another series of memories posts, hopefully I can get something written and posted over the weekend.
We’re pretty busy making final plans for the trip up North as that time is rapidly approaching, and I’m really looking forward to seeing a lot of my old friends again!
I’ll be seeing Whit, and Mitch and Jack for sure, I’m hopeful though that I’ll be able to hook up with a few more as well! I know my Mom and Andy are planning to come up to the lake for at least one day, and possibly one (or more) of my siblings will make their way up as well. I’m pretty much playing it by ear, like I always do with vacations. I’m a sort of have a couple “want to do’s” and let the rest just happen, type of vacation person.
Maybe it’s because so much of the rest of my year revolves around goals, plans, deadlines and fitting things to the rules other have, that I enjoy no plans, goals or itineraries when I’m on vacation.
My ideal vacation is similar to the one Maryan and I took a few years ago. We knew we’d be gone 14 days, our general ‘destination’ was Denver and the Rockies, and that we’d be meeting up with my biker buddy Tim and his wife Donna in Kansas City on the way. Other than that we really had no plans at all. No reservations… just us, the bike, some clothes, convenience items and the road.
We still talk about how much fun that trip was!
I think I should write a story about that trip for y’all… what do you think?
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Life’s little twists…
Some of you may remember the posts I made a while back that had to do with ‘String Comparisons’, Jaro-Winkler, NYSIIS, DoubleMetaPhone, Levenshtein and my implementations of their work. I also posted recently that while that work had been useful in our initial testing as we got further down stream that it had been rendered all but ‘un-needed’.
Then about a week ago, I got an email from a fellow up in Canada who’s very interested in what I’ve done, and specifically in my Visual FoxPro implementations.
This was a bit of a surprise, as I’d sort of expected I’d see some interest from the VB.Net/Java folks first as they’re much more active development environments these days.
The guy is working on duplicate identification and ‘near matches’ in some Canadian government databases, and wants to test my work in their environment! I’m excited and flattered that he’d be willing to test out the product, sight unseen.
You see, I never really thought much about this blog actually bringing me together with other programmers, and/or clients. Back in January I was thinking of it more as a creative outlet and a ‘venting’ mechanism. It’s funny, to me at least, how a blog sort of takes on a life of its own, as well as it’s owner.
I know for certain I’d never intended to share any of those old poems, the stories about old friends, firefighting and so on, they just sort of slipped out the end of my fingers and onto the screen! I know the continual postings of others, their poetry and stories, encouraged me to post some of mine. The stories I’ve read on many of your sites have reminded me of, and encouraged me to write about, memories of my own.
I honestly thought, initially, that I’d be writing a journal, mostly for myself, but that maybe, just maybe I’d get some feedback from time to time. That so many of you would stop by and take the time to comment has been a particularly enjoyable side of this place for me!
So, for the past few days I’ve been putting some finishing touches on the programming work I’d done previously and compiling it all into a ‘Loadable library’ for him to start testing. It’s been a fun diversion from the daily “fix this”, “change that”, and “Oh, we forgot to mention we wanted this too” process that’s essentially the work day of a contractor. I’m working on ‘my’ product, for an actual ‘beta’ tester!
I expect I’ll be delivering that to him this week, and pending his feedback I’ll probably be making it available to other developers from one of the other websites in the near future. It’s unlikely I’ll ever get rich on this utility, but its one more step down the road towards that end.
Now on to a few completely unrelated issues.
First, about the chemical stripping of the truck bed, I can tell you it’s all but a dead issue. I spoke with the pricing guy yesterday and he wants more to strip it, than it would cost for me to buy a brand new floor! They don’t do the ‘dip primer’ process either, so even if it had been affordable, the end result wouldn’t have been ideal for my purposes.
So, it’s back to scrapers and strippers for me. The upside to all of this is that he did have a good idea for getting into those ‘crevices’ with paint, a cheap garden sprayer! Simply load it up with the paint/rust inhibitor of choice and slide the wand into the channels… when finished just chuck the whole thing in the trash… not a bad idea at all!!
So, the plan now is to finish the welding on the top side, flip the floor over, strip and treat the underside and start reassembling the bed,. I fully expect to be in reassembly mode by Sunday… I guess we’ll see where I get!
Second, Adobe PDF documents, has anyone here used the JavaScript utilities that are available in version 7? Do you possibly know anyone who has? If so, I’d appreciate it if you’d please point them in my direction. I’ve got an idea for handling some data gathering on the web, via PDF forms, and I’d love to talk with someone who has done this, or tried to.
Last, and certainly not least, my wife had another MRI on Wednesday. It’s looking like surgery is the only way she’s ever going to get the pain in her lower back resolved (the other pain in her back, me, will be much harder to get rid of!). She had it now, of course, after the Doctors strung her along for six months of injections, muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatories and pain killers they need a ‘current’ MRI before they can schedule her for surgery. As if that ruptured disc somehow ‘moved’ to another location!
I am so worn out with the medical community these days. If a car dealer did this kind of thing with car repairs we’d be calling the State Attorney General, filing ‘Class Action Lawsuits’ and all sorts of stuff. I find myself pondering the reasons we tolerate this level of medical ‘care’, instead of demanding our medical folks be as ‘up and up’ as we’ve come to demand our car repair shops are!!
It’s probably fear most of all. None of us ‘want’ to be sick, or be in need of a Doctor, but when we are, we want to be able to rely 100% on their advice and counsel. It’s just truly unfortunate that there are so few we seem to be able to do that with! The one’s who are simply adequate; seem like such stellar performers, when compared to the rest. Fortunately, the surgeon she’s seeing at the moment, is really good, and he’s pretty personable as well, as surgeons go anyway.
Despite my ranting… If I were him, and I wasn’t the Doc who’d ordered the original MRI, I’d probably want another too, just to be sure nothing ‘new’ had happened… but, then again, he took one look at the original and was wondering why the other surgeon hadn’t scheduled her immediately… go figure.
Then about a week ago, I got an email from a fellow up in Canada who’s very interested in what I’ve done, and specifically in my Visual FoxPro implementations.
This was a bit of a surprise, as I’d sort of expected I’d see some interest from the VB.Net/Java folks first as they’re much more active development environments these days.
The guy is working on duplicate identification and ‘near matches’ in some Canadian government databases, and wants to test my work in their environment! I’m excited and flattered that he’d be willing to test out the product, sight unseen.
You see, I never really thought much about this blog actually bringing me together with other programmers, and/or clients. Back in January I was thinking of it more as a creative outlet and a ‘venting’ mechanism. It’s funny, to me at least, how a blog sort of takes on a life of its own, as well as it’s owner.
I know for certain I’d never intended to share any of those old poems, the stories about old friends, firefighting and so on, they just sort of slipped out the end of my fingers and onto the screen! I know the continual postings of others, their poetry and stories, encouraged me to post some of mine. The stories I’ve read on many of your sites have reminded me of, and encouraged me to write about, memories of my own.
I honestly thought, initially, that I’d be writing a journal, mostly for myself, but that maybe, just maybe I’d get some feedback from time to time. That so many of you would stop by and take the time to comment has been a particularly enjoyable side of this place for me!
So, for the past few days I’ve been putting some finishing touches on the programming work I’d done previously and compiling it all into a ‘Loadable library’ for him to start testing. It’s been a fun diversion from the daily “fix this”, “change that”, and “Oh, we forgot to mention we wanted this too” process that’s essentially the work day of a contractor. I’m working on ‘my’ product, for an actual ‘beta’ tester!
I expect I’ll be delivering that to him this week, and pending his feedback I’ll probably be making it available to other developers from one of the other websites in the near future. It’s unlikely I’ll ever get rich on this utility, but its one more step down the road towards that end.
Now on to a few completely unrelated issues.
First, about the chemical stripping of the truck bed, I can tell you it’s all but a dead issue. I spoke with the pricing guy yesterday and he wants more to strip it, than it would cost for me to buy a brand new floor! They don’t do the ‘dip primer’ process either, so even if it had been affordable, the end result wouldn’t have been ideal for my purposes.
So, it’s back to scrapers and strippers for me. The upside to all of this is that he did have a good idea for getting into those ‘crevices’ with paint, a cheap garden sprayer! Simply load it up with the paint/rust inhibitor of choice and slide the wand into the channels… when finished just chuck the whole thing in the trash… not a bad idea at all!!
So, the plan now is to finish the welding on the top side, flip the floor over, strip and treat the underside and start reassembling the bed,. I fully expect to be in reassembly mode by Sunday… I guess we’ll see where I get!
Second, Adobe PDF documents, has anyone here used the JavaScript utilities that are available in version 7? Do you possibly know anyone who has? If so, I’d appreciate it if you’d please point them in my direction. I’ve got an idea for handling some data gathering on the web, via PDF forms, and I’d love to talk with someone who has done this, or tried to.
Last, and certainly not least, my wife had another MRI on Wednesday. It’s looking like surgery is the only way she’s ever going to get the pain in her lower back resolved (the other pain in her back, me, will be much harder to get rid of!). She had it now, of course, after the Doctors strung her along for six months of injections, muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatories and pain killers they need a ‘current’ MRI before they can schedule her for surgery. As if that ruptured disc somehow ‘moved’ to another location!
I am so worn out with the medical community these days. If a car dealer did this kind of thing with car repairs we’d be calling the State Attorney General, filing ‘Class Action Lawsuits’ and all sorts of stuff. I find myself pondering the reasons we tolerate this level of medical ‘care’, instead of demanding our medical folks be as ‘up and up’ as we’ve come to demand our car repair shops are!!
It’s probably fear most of all. None of us ‘want’ to be sick, or be in need of a Doctor, but when we are, we want to be able to rely 100% on their advice and counsel. It’s just truly unfortunate that there are so few we seem to be able to do that with! The one’s who are simply adequate; seem like such stellar performers, when compared to the rest. Fortunately, the surgeon she’s seeing at the moment, is really good, and he’s pretty personable as well, as surgeons go anyway.
Despite my ranting… If I were him, and I wasn’t the Doc who’d ordered the original MRI, I’d probably want another too, just to be sure nothing ‘new’ had happened… but, then again, he took one look at the original and was wondering why the other surgeon hadn’t scheduled her immediately… go figure.
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