Today I'm thankful for ...
... having a productive work day. Sometimes it's really good just to get down and power-code.
30 April 2008
29 April 2008
All together now
Today I'm thankful for ...
... Google Docs. Granted, this stuff was absorbed from Writely, but I think it's working pretty well. D and I are organizing our documents online and we have a lot of really good ideas coming together. I think this crazy venture of ours will work out just fine. And having the documents online makes it all that much easier to collaborate.
... Google Docs. Granted, this stuff was absorbed from Writely, but I think it's working pretty well. D and I are organizing our documents online and we have a lot of really good ideas coming together. I think this crazy venture of ours will work out just fine. And having the documents online makes it all that much easier to collaborate.
28 April 2008
No pain, no ... pain!
Today I'm thankful for ...
... this is Day 3 of Prednisone. I think it's working. Really working. I had solid sleep this weekend and I'm feeling peppy. Thank goodness.
... this is Day 3 of Prednisone. I think it's working. Really working. I had solid sleep this weekend and I'm feeling peppy. Thank goodness.
27 April 2008
You still there?
Today I'm thankful for ...
... good friends who don't drift too far. I moved to the City, she got a full-time job. But we still keep in touch. Yay. She came up to the City and we did the dinner thing. :)
... good friends who don't drift too far. I moved to the City, she got a full-time job. But we still keep in touch. Yay. She came up to the City and we did the dinner thing. :)
26 April 2008
New faces
Today I'm thankful for ...
... meeting new people. B had a few friends getting together for a reunion of sorts, so we headed to E Tutto Qua in North Beach.
... meeting new people. B had a few friends getting together for a reunion of sorts, so we headed to E Tutto Qua in North Beach.
25 April 2008
And ... that's a wrap!
Today I'm thankful for ...
... finishing out another week. It has been a bit of a struggle getting things done at work but progress has been made.
... finishing out another week. It has been a bit of a struggle getting things done at work but progress has been made.
24 April 2008
Docs in the cloud
Today I'm thankful for ...
... Google Docs. It's so much better to coordinate things when everyone can see them at the same time. Hooray for online document systems.
... Google Docs. It's so much better to coordinate things when everyone can see them at the same time. Hooray for online document systems.
23 April 2008
Polly wants a song, Polly wants a song
Today I'm thankful for ...
... iTunes' duplicate detection. I'm merging all of my music onto my little laptop's hard drive which doubled in size recently. As a result there are a bazillion duplicates since I'm copying several backups en masse to it. But there's a little menu option in iTunes now that lets me manage this mess. Yay.
... iTunes' duplicate detection. I'm merging all of my music onto my little laptop's hard drive which doubled in size recently. As a result there are a bazillion duplicates since I'm copying several backups en masse to it. But there's a little menu option in iTunes now that lets me manage this mess. Yay.
22 April 2008
Home print shop
Today I'm thankful for ...
... technology being at the point one can run a fairly professional design studio right from their home office. I'm impressed that the quality of home equipment today means crisp, clear, vibrant printing and software that can run on a laptop. Without the project D and I are working on would never have a chance of getting done on a zero budget.
... technology being at the point one can run a fairly professional design studio right from their home office. I'm impressed that the quality of home equipment today means crisp, clear, vibrant printing and software that can run on a laptop. Without the project D and I are working on would never have a chance of getting done on a zero budget.
21 April 2008
Would. You. Like. To. Play. A. Game?
Today I'm thankful for ...
... how about global thermonuclear war? No, let's not. Let's just have a friendly gaming session with a bunch of people that like the same thing. Let's meet in a cafe in San Francisco, where there are lots of other people who want to meet too!
... how about global thermonuclear war? No, let's not. Let's just have a friendly gaming session with a bunch of people that like the same thing. Let's meet in a cafe in San Francisco, where there are lots of other people who want to meet too!
20 April 2008
Lazy Sundays
Today I'm thankful for ...
... not completely committing myself to be anywhere today. I was thinking about making it down to a BBQ in the South Bay but I realized that I really needed to do things like laundry.
... not completely committing myself to be anywhere today. I was thinking about making it down to a BBQ in the South Bay but I realized that I really needed to do things like laundry.
19 April 2008
Mr. West
Today I'm thankful for ...
... a good concert down at the HP Pavilion, even it was a little hard to hear Kanye's words sometimes. It's the venue---I hate the acoustics there. But Kanye put on a good show.
... a good concert down at the HP Pavilion, even it was a little hard to hear Kanye's words sometimes. It's the venue---I hate the acoustics there. But Kanye put on a good show.
18 April 2008
Just chillin'
Today I'm thankful for ...
... being at this place in my life where things seem to be headed in a positive direction. It has been a long road. Of course, who knows what's next around the corner but I do give thanks.
... being at this place in my life where things seem to be headed in a positive direction. It has been a long road. Of course, who knows what's next around the corner but I do give thanks.
17 April 2008
Ikuzooooooooo!
Today I'm thankful for ...
... having watched anime for many years. It explains the weirdness in some Japanese movies. Really, what is up with Casshern? Its plot doesn't necessarily have holes but rather continuity problems. It jumps around a bit and there are a few places where the audience just has to believe that a bolt of lightning really can change the world. Oh, and it helps to know something about how spirits from dead bodies can visibly rise and coalesce into a blinding white light.
Speaking of Japanese, my Sony Playstation 3's Blu-Ray drive died. Yeah. The PS3 might not have the "red rings of death" but the more subtle I'm-not-going-to-read-you-disc problem. My old PS2 had a problem where if you played it long enough the discs would stop being able to be read---some overheating problem causing the laser lens to get misaligned I think. It sucks too. I had just gotten the PS3 about 3 weeks prior. But, fortunately I have the Best Buy electronics protection thing so I waltzed in to the store and they exchanged it, no questions asked.
... having watched anime for many years. It explains the weirdness in some Japanese movies. Really, what is up with Casshern? Its plot doesn't necessarily have holes but rather continuity problems. It jumps around a bit and there are a few places where the audience just has to believe that a bolt of lightning really can change the world. Oh, and it helps to know something about how spirits from dead bodies can visibly rise and coalesce into a blinding white light.
Speaking of Japanese, my Sony Playstation 3's Blu-Ray drive died. Yeah. The PS3 might not have the "red rings of death" but the more subtle I'm-not-going-to-read-you-disc problem. My old PS2 had a problem where if you played it long enough the discs would stop being able to be read---some overheating problem causing the laser lens to get misaligned I think. It sucks too. I had just gotten the PS3 about 3 weeks prior. But, fortunately I have the Best Buy electronics protection thing so I waltzed in to the store and they exchanged it, no questions asked.
16 April 2008
Rabbit food
Today I'm thankful for ...
... places like Herbivore that serve vegan food that tastes awesome. I don't know why people have to make fake meat products when you can have really tasty dishes made from veggies. Seriously, I had one of the most awesome strawberry shakes---and there was no milk in it!
... places like Herbivore that serve vegan food that tastes awesome. I don't know why people have to make fake meat products when you can have really tasty dishes made from veggies. Seriously, I had one of the most awesome strawberry shakes---and there was no milk in it!
15 April 2008
Calm seas
Today I'm thankful for ...
... being able to get back on a pretty regular sleeping/eating schedule again.
... being able to get back on a pretty regular sleeping/eating schedule again.
14 April 2008
The man of many voices
Today I'm thankful for ...
... being told about the Robin Williams show at Bimbos 365 club. He is doing a very limited show---two shows---called "Working on Material". And, yes, he's working on material.
A friend got in touch with me over the weekend saying that tickets would go on sale Friday at 12:00 PM. I synchronized my clocks and started clicking away just before the stroke of 12:00 PM. A few minutes later I had a completed order for the tickets! (Apparently they sold out within a couple of minutes.) She was ecstatic to hear the news!
We met up Monday evening about 6-ish and she was already in line. I ran to get the tickets from willcall and back to her. We got a table about 4 rows back from the stage and it was great viewing. A couple we met in line ended up being our tablemates too.
Robin was as crazy as ever, although I would say he is looking a lot older these days. But he still has bountiful energy.
... being told about the Robin Williams show at Bimbos 365 club. He is doing a very limited show---two shows---called "Working on Material". And, yes, he's working on material.
A friend got in touch with me over the weekend saying that tickets would go on sale Friday at 12:00 PM. I synchronized my clocks and started clicking away just before the stroke of 12:00 PM. A few minutes later I had a completed order for the tickets! (Apparently they sold out within a couple of minutes.) She was ecstatic to hear the news!
We met up Monday evening about 6-ish and she was already in line. I ran to get the tickets from willcall and back to her. We got a table about 4 rows back from the stage and it was great viewing. A couple we met in line ended up being our tablemates too.
Robin was as crazy as ever, although I would say he is looking a lot older these days. But he still has bountiful energy.
13 April 2008
Power up
Today I'm thankful for ...
... Red Bull and warm tea. After dillydallying most of the day, I finally got down to get some work done. (I had planned to work the entire day but due to mitigating circumstances I got home later than expected. However, I finally hit that zone of pure focus about midnight and by 1 AM I was definitely rockin' the keyboard. Bursts of caffeine kept me up (and warm) as I coded until about 6 AM. Then I had to finally convince myself that any amount of sleep would be better than none. After all, I had Robin Williams tickets for Monday night.
... Red Bull and warm tea. After dillydallying most of the day, I finally got down to get some work done. (I had planned to work the entire day but due to mitigating circumstances I got home later than expected. However, I finally hit that zone of pure focus about midnight and by 1 AM I was definitely rockin' the keyboard. Bursts of caffeine kept me up (and warm) as I coded until about 6 AM. Then I had to finally convince myself that any amount of sleep would be better than none. After all, I had Robin Williams tickets for Monday night.
12 April 2008
Here comes the sun
Today I'm thankful for ...
... gloriously beautiful weather in San Francisco today. I'm tired of the freezing cold weather. Not that I don't expect the chilly nights out here at the tip of the Peninsula, but lately it has been wool coat weather. I mean, really. It's April. Sure Steinbeck said the coldest winter he'd experienced was a summer in SF, but geez.
Today B and I walked around Yerba Buena Gardens after checking out the Cartoon Art Museum. Each of us had gotten a book and so we sat in the dimming afternoon sun over the park with a light breeze. It was perfect.
... gloriously beautiful weather in San Francisco today. I'm tired of the freezing cold weather. Not that I don't expect the chilly nights out here at the tip of the Peninsula, but lately it has been wool coat weather. I mean, really. It's April. Sure Steinbeck said the coldest winter he'd experienced was a summer in SF, but geez.
Today B and I walked around Yerba Buena Gardens after checking out the Cartoon Art Museum. Each of us had gotten a book and so we sat in the dimming afternoon sun over the park with a light breeze. It was perfect.
11 April 2008
Daddy Dearest
Today I'm thankful for ...
... chilling with the Dad. I got up late and walked down to the back patio. Dad was sitting there looking at some paintings he's working on. Sure I had promised Mom I'd get some dusting done and maybe even polish her teak cabinets. But Dad and I got to talking for a while. It's good catching up with him and I learn a little bit more about him every time I talk to him. He doesn't say much about his life, so it took a lot of prying to figure out where and when he went to school, who were the people he knew, where he went driving in his car, etc.
Mom is similar too. I never got to know her mom (my maternal grandmother) because she passed away when I was really young. I asked about what she was like. Of course my Mom said "oh she was normal" or things she did were "just regular". But I have no context what that really means. I asked if she was boisterous or quiet, if she was into cooking or arts and crafts. I got a few answers but they're still pretty foggy. I haven't even really seen pictures of her.
Also, credit needs to be given to Super Duper, the awesome backup/copy program for Macs. I'm definitely registering this bad boy. Going from my 120 GB HDD to a new 250 GB HDD was so painless it's crazy! I was dreading the upgrade because I've been through it before where you have to reinstall everything. Unless the drives would be an exact image (e.g. same size) I was thinking that I'd have to go through a backup, reinstall, and transfer process. However, Super Duper creates bootable clones of your hard drive and does it on a file-by-file level. So, no downtime! Yay! So if you ever need to upgrade your Mac's hard drives, definitely give Super Duper a shot!
... chilling with the Dad. I got up late and walked down to the back patio. Dad was sitting there looking at some paintings he's working on. Sure I had promised Mom I'd get some dusting done and maybe even polish her teak cabinets. But Dad and I got to talking for a while. It's good catching up with him and I learn a little bit more about him every time I talk to him. He doesn't say much about his life, so it took a lot of prying to figure out where and when he went to school, who were the people he knew, where he went driving in his car, etc.
Mom is similar too. I never got to know her mom (my maternal grandmother) because she passed away when I was really young. I asked about what she was like. Of course my Mom said "oh she was normal" or things she did were "just regular". But I have no context what that really means. I asked if she was boisterous or quiet, if she was into cooking or arts and crafts. I got a few answers but they're still pretty foggy. I haven't even really seen pictures of her.
Also, credit needs to be given to Super Duper, the awesome backup/copy program for Macs. I'm definitely registering this bad boy. Going from my 120 GB HDD to a new 250 GB HDD was so painless it's crazy! I was dreading the upgrade because I've been through it before where you have to reinstall everything. Unless the drives would be an exact image (e.g. same size) I was thinking that I'd have to go through a backup, reinstall, and transfer process. However, Super Duper creates bootable clones of your hard drive and does it on a file-by-file level. So, no downtime! Yay! So if you ever need to upgrade your Mac's hard drives, definitely give Super Duper a shot!
10 April 2008
Roll up yer sleeves
Today I'm thankful for ...
... remembering that I had forgotten my Torx T-6 screwdrivers at home. Yeah, that would have made the hard drive replacement impossible. Unfortunately the Macbook Pro has two Torx screws right around the memory compartment. TWO. Just TWO. I mean, really? Really really? Why not just use a standard screw? Maybe it's to deter people from opening up the Macbook Pros casually, but still even the plain Macbook makes hard drive replacement a snap! They even have a pull-tab for it! Anyways, I ran back home after work to get the screwdrivers.
I guess I'm also thankful that I've already been through a hard drive replacement so I knew exactly what to do.
... remembering that I had forgotten my Torx T-6 screwdrivers at home. Yeah, that would have made the hard drive replacement impossible. Unfortunately the Macbook Pro has two Torx screws right around the memory compartment. TWO. Just TWO. I mean, really? Really really? Why not just use a standard screw? Maybe it's to deter people from opening up the Macbook Pros casually, but still even the plain Macbook makes hard drive replacement a snap! They even have a pull-tab for it! Anyways, I ran back home after work to get the screwdrivers.
I guess I'm also thankful that I've already been through a hard drive replacement so I knew exactly what to do.
09 April 2008
What's that smell?
Today I'm thankful for ...
... Yelp.com. Yelp is awesome. They helped me find a very out-of-the-way Mediterranean restaurant in San Mateo, Lahmacun Pizzeria. The food was definitely good. If only their location was better they'd do really well.
... Yelp.com. Yelp is awesome. They helped me find a very out-of-the-way Mediterranean restaurant in San Mateo, Lahmacun Pizzeria. The food was definitely good. If only their location was better they'd do really well.
08 April 2008
Shiny ideas
Today I'm thankful for ...
... being mostly free from bugs at work. After slaving through bugs last week I was able to sit down and plan out a new application for our product. I think it'll work and help us grow.
... being mostly free from bugs at work. After slaving through bugs last week I was able to sit down and plan out a new application for our product. I think it'll work and help us grow.
07 April 2008
Wasaaaaaaaaaaaaap?!
Today I'm thankful for ...
... the fact I still keep in touch with my old roommates. I had received some mail that apparently was not forwarded to my new address. So I picked J up and took him home. I also got to catch up on what's happening with him. That's cool.
... the fact I still keep in touch with my old roommates. I had received some mail that apparently was not forwarded to my new address. So I picked J up and took him home. I also got to catch up on what's happening with him. That's cool.
06 April 2008
Zzzz...
Today I'm thankful for ...
... sleeping in. I haven't done that in a while! Sometimes it's the simple things that matter the most.
... sleeping in. I haven't done that in a while! Sometimes it's the simple things that matter the most.
05 April 2008
Arrrr! Thar be me treasure!
Today I'm thankful for ...
... being shown where the Pirate Store is. It's part of a creative writing workshop center for kids, 826 Valencia. They have all sorts of great gag gifts and other odd things. I guess if you're looking for inspiration, this would be the place! Plus, don't be surprised if you get "mopped". Ask at the counter where you can find out about mopping.
... being shown where the Pirate Store is. It's part of a creative writing workshop center for kids, 826 Valencia. They have all sorts of great gag gifts and other odd things. I guess if you're looking for inspiration, this would be the place! Plus, don't be surprised if you get "mopped". Ask at the counter where you can find out about mopping.
04 April 2008
Beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer!
Today I'm thankful for ...
... being told about the Asylum Street Spankers. What a weird group! It has a folk feel and there's even a song using the saw. Yes, saw. And throat singing. But they're fun and good musicians. We were also really lucky to get seating in the front row of the chairs section. We had perfect visibility.
... being told about the Asylum Street Spankers. What a weird group! It has a folk feel and there's even a song using the saw. Yes, saw. And throat singing. But they're fun and good musicians. We were also really lucky to get seating in the front row of the chairs section. We had perfect visibility.
03 April 2008
All together now...
Today I'm thankful for ...
... being part of a company that values human relationships. We had the first of our Thursday Hang-Outs and it was just good to kick back outside the office and take down some wine and hors d'oeuvres.
... being part of a company that values human relationships. We had the first of our Thursday Hang-Outs and it was just good to kick back outside the office and take down some wine and hors d'oeuvres.
02 April 2008
Yeah yeah whatever
Today I'm thankful for ...
... being able to see through a personnel issue we're having right now at work. The problem is that I feel like I'm being micromanaged by someone who isn't even my boss. He's literally dictating my work schedule and trying to withhold information from me that he deems not necessary. It's really frustrating working with this individual because he seems to believe he has the correct answers and is in charge of the roadmap. I've been doing a lot of thinking about how to solve this problem because clearly I'm never going to be able to shout louder than him---he'll find a way to out-speak, out-volume, out-maneuver me. It's tricky. So I think I'm going to try a different approach.
I have been trying to analyze the psychology behind his motivations and I'm fairly convinced that he perceives me as being inferior in a number of ways. He may be smarter, true, but that does not give him the right to try to control me. Firstly, we have two totally different roles---he's more of a developer and I'm more of a designer. Secondly, we have a very different range of experiences---he's into very structured programming, I'm into flexibility to accommodate rapid design iterations. Thirdly, we have different working styles---he always works from high priority to low, I work mostly in that order but if I need to take a "break" I'll pick off some low-hanging fruit.
I've boiled it down to an issue of trust. It is my current belief that he doesn't trust me to do the job right or to do the highest priority items first. However, if he would just stop and examine my track record I think he'll find that I always get the job done, on time, and with better results than originally expected. Just because I don't do everything in his manner does not mean I don't have validity. In fact, many of the misunderstandings lately have come as a result of 1) his lack of proper documentation, 2) difficult-to-decipher logic that is overly complex, 3) his lack of visibility into my current task list which includes items not currently in our bug tracking system.
It is now my goal to try to get him to see my perspective so we can work together. I'm composing a very point-by-point based e-mail (which is how he thinks, not how I usually think) to address very specific issues. I'm hoping he'll at least give it a chance.
This has turned out to be a little more of a rant than a mini blog entry but I'm sure that there will be a number of future entries related to this one.
... being able to see through a personnel issue we're having right now at work. The problem is that I feel like I'm being micromanaged by someone who isn't even my boss. He's literally dictating my work schedule and trying to withhold information from me that he deems not necessary. It's really frustrating working with this individual because he seems to believe he has the correct answers and is in charge of the roadmap. I've been doing a lot of thinking about how to solve this problem because clearly I'm never going to be able to shout louder than him---he'll find a way to out-speak, out-volume, out-maneuver me. It's tricky. So I think I'm going to try a different approach.
I have been trying to analyze the psychology behind his motivations and I'm fairly convinced that he perceives me as being inferior in a number of ways. He may be smarter, true, but that does not give him the right to try to control me. Firstly, we have two totally different roles---he's more of a developer and I'm more of a designer. Secondly, we have a very different range of experiences---he's into very structured programming, I'm into flexibility to accommodate rapid design iterations. Thirdly, we have different working styles---he always works from high priority to low, I work mostly in that order but if I need to take a "break" I'll pick off some low-hanging fruit.
I've boiled it down to an issue of trust. It is my current belief that he doesn't trust me to do the job right or to do the highest priority items first. However, if he would just stop and examine my track record I think he'll find that I always get the job done, on time, and with better results than originally expected. Just because I don't do everything in his manner does not mean I don't have validity. In fact, many of the misunderstandings lately have come as a result of 1) his lack of proper documentation, 2) difficult-to-decipher logic that is overly complex, 3) his lack of visibility into my current task list which includes items not currently in our bug tracking system.
It is now my goal to try to get him to see my perspective so we can work together. I'm composing a very point-by-point based e-mail (which is how he thinks, not how I usually think) to address very specific issues. I'm hoping he'll at least give it a chance.
This has turned out to be a little more of a rant than a mini blog entry but I'm sure that there will be a number of future entries related to this one.
01 April 2008
Can you hear me now?
Today I'm thankful for ...
... finding one little spot in the office that was able to connect to our wireless router. We've been having severe networking problems at the office with our wireless connections and because of that I've been holed up in the back part of the office where I could get a WiFi connection. But it's kinda lonely and dark back there. So I found a little spot near the wall today in the main room that I can use with a strong signal. After a little furniture rearranging I'm set up near one of the whiteboards.
Oh, and I also got to see The Boyfriend after a week of being away. Hugs are an awesome thing. Very awesome.
... finding one little spot in the office that was able to connect to our wireless router. We've been having severe networking problems at the office with our wireless connections and because of that I've been holed up in the back part of the office where I could get a WiFi connection. But it's kinda lonely and dark back there. So I found a little spot near the wall today in the main room that I can use with a strong signal. After a little furniture rearranging I'm set up near one of the whiteboards.
Oh, and I also got to see The Boyfriend after a week of being away. Hugs are an awesome thing. Very awesome.
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