Cold here in the Windy City.
Arrived safely. Stopped for dinner. Yummy Chinese food. Ate Christmas cookies. Went to bed.
Today we’ll continue on to Michigan. I hear reports that there might be snow! I hope so. That was one of the main goals- to have the kids playing in snow.
I guess we’ll know soon enough.
I’ll check in later. Don’t burn the joint down…
N
Vacation!
It’s been a stressful last few months. Looking forward to a peaceful week or two. The weather is forecast to be kind of lousy – lots of rain (too warm for snow to stick). But I have books. And a coffee machine. And a nearby brewery. Priorities not necessarily in that order.
Happy Christmas everyone!
Yes, vacation! I’m off until January 6. I don’t have anything planned as of yet, but I’m sure some projects will pop up.
I’m working, but not hard. I’m at home with the company laptop finishing up a couple of reports that are to be sent out to a client on Monday. The actual project schedule says that the documents are due “the week of the 23rd” which gives us until Friday but almost no one will be working on the 2 days after Christmas.
The project manager at this client is a nag. He emailed us half a dozen times last week “are you done yet?”. Our project manager just replied that we are sticking to original schedule. He then emailed me alone without CCing our PM asking me to send him the unfinished documents on the sly so they can start their review. I’m wise enough not to take that bait.
I had the reports (very technical sciency stuff) done early last week but we don’t send anything out without a full technical review by someone with knowledge of the specific science involved. That person wasn’t available until yesterday. So today I am addressing the technical reviewer’s comments and suggestions. Should only be a couple of hours work.
Off until January 2, but I left instructions how to contact me in the event of emergency or if the Music Ed major starts installing her group’s lousy CPU-consuming support scripts on my servers.
I still check email once a day.
After the holidays, management is building another layer of questionably qualified support in order to hire one key technical talent who insisted on being a manager. Something to look forward to in the new year.
Cold here in the Windy City.
Cold and windy here in south Texas. Probably not as cold as in Illinois.
MrAtoz might enjoy this one: https://gab.com/iron-dragon/posts/103347837293403493
Mighty stinkin’ cold here, too. Cold enough that I’m noticing it, and I shovel my driveway barefoot and no jacket or pants. (I’ll wear a hooded sweatshirt, shorts, and a pair of light gloves, and sneakers or even boots if I need the traction, but for the record I shovel the driveway with no pants or shoes.)
Must thrill the neighbors.
“Dutch Court Upholds Government Order to Cut CO2 Emissions 25% by EOY 2020”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/12/20/dutch-court-upholds-government-order-to-cut-emissions-25-by-eoy-2020/
One of the comments:
“So, how important are the farmers?”
“The Netherlands is one of the world’s 10 leading exporting countries. Foodstuffs form the largest industrial sector. ”
“Oops! Harming the farmers is really going to hurt the economy. Everyone will start to hurt shortly thereafter.”
I shovel the driveway with no pants
Must thrill the neighbors.
You know, thrill is the wrong word. I was thinking horrify.
Eye bleach, in industrial quantities….
Caught up on my napping.
There was enough snow for the kids to make a snowman, for us all to have a snowball fight, and for an hour of sledding in the front yard. A good day, in other words.
It’s odd that we’re in eastern time here. Just a bit east of chicago really, doesn’t seem like it should be an hour different.
I’m headed to an early bed tonight too. Just as soon as the kids are asleep, and some presents can be safely moved to the tree….
n
If only in Kalifornia
Lovely day now over in the southern reaches of the Great White North: clear skies and a balmy 4C (37F). I am anxiously waiting for clouds and snow so I can go cross-country skiing, but not enough staying on the ground yet. Bah, Humbug! On vacation (at home) until January 2 but checking in to make sure the project I am baby-sitting for someone else (who is already on vacation) does not fall-down as it must implement in January. So far, so good. To keep busy, I have been baking and making rum-balls. Hard to believe it but the rum-balls are way more popular than the cookies. I have given away about 180 so far (4 batches). Might be the chocolate and sugar, but I imagine the rum has something to do with it. A bunch of other small projects – mounting TV on wall, paint touch-ups, etc… will keep me busy.
So, is that the American or British use of the word pants?
(For the British, pants are underwear. If you don’t know this, the when someone from England derisively describes something as “it’s the pants”, the statement will make no sense to you, and didn’t to me for years. Of course, if I say “panties” most people think “women’s undergarments”. Somehow the male usage has faded in North America.)
I am beginning to hate DirecTV / AT&T. They will not send me a paper bill anymore. They just send me emails that I have not paid my bill yet. Well, they are dead to me after the first of the year when we move.
I used to pay my bill three months at time. What jerks !
In fact, I spent the afternoon watching the Impulse season two on Youtube. We stream a lot nowadays.
Also, AT&T is starting a new streaming service at the first of the year. Only $100/month. I can hardly wait ! Not !
https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/att-tv-will-go-live-nationwide-in-february-2020/
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2019/12/19/homeless-crisis-housing-city-citizens-again-california/
Hmmm. A PRC. What could possibly go wrong?
In case you don’t want to follow the link, it’s a 300 Acre homeless shelter with dorms and underground tunnels.
Our across-the-street neighbors are from southern India. One fine day I was shoveling the driveway, in shorts and sweatshirt, and I saw them in their big front window. She was waving her arms and obviously nagging and he was gesturing in a “what do you want me to do about it?” manner. Then she pointed at me and yelled at him. Five minutes later he came out, bundled up, and started clearing their driveway with their big-ass snowblower. Shooting me dirty looks the entire time.
Some secrets I’ll take to the grave.
I am beginning to hate DirecTV / AT&T. They will not send me a paper bill anymore. They just send me emails that I have not paid my bill yet. Well, they are dead to me after the first of the year when we move.
I finally managed to receive paper bills for my copper line, but it took four years of digging around on the web site. Plus the copper is still regulated tighter than DirecTV or Uverse; I don’t know if that is a a factor.
In case you don’t want to follow the link, it’s a 300 Acre homeless shelter with dorms and underground tunnels.
From what I understand, CA already has such a place. It is the city formerly known as San Francisco.
Closer to home, the City of Austin wants to take the failing Microtel near the office and turn it into a shelter. I don’t see that ending well, especially since, based on appearance, none of the hotels near the office are doing great despite being five minutes from the airport.
The problem (at least in Austin) isn’t that shelter space doesn’t already exist, but the homeless don’t want to meet the terms of the buildings, often run by charities, which prohibit drug and alcohol use on the grounds.
Same in Vegas. The bums would rather sleep in the dirt and beg on the corner so they can run in to by ciggies and booze. There are shelters around the city run by charities. At least someone or family done on their luck can get a meal and a cot without some stinky ass bum all over them.