I'm home sick today (and hopefully not tomorrow) and I haven't had a chance to watch Across the Universe yet, even though MJ loaned me the DVD as soon as I showed interest. I enjoyed the music, but I don't think I've seen a movie quite this weird for a long time. I kept trying to read too much into the plot; took awhile to pick out the main characters and relations (did I mention that my ability to focus is a bit off too).
Some fun choreography, and some interesting interpretations of the Beatles music, but it didn't quite flow as smoothly as I'd have wanted.
2009-02-26
2009-02-24
I am NOT the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz
This afternoon I got a call from our mid level corporate wizard that one of the hard drives in our Dell file server had gone bad and needed to be replaced. Dell was on the line and could I take a few minutes to help him check things out.
Two hours later, I determined that the software that the Dell techie needed to have installed on our server (which we'd downloaded at 67 MBps on our T1 - and to think I get 500+ MBps transfer speeds at home), that this software could not be installed by me - - - I no longer have admin rights on our local server. I managed to get one of the national corporate tech guys to page a specialist in the Net Admin group, to remote into the network and to open a "runas" command box, so that I could become a temporary wizard and install the updated software. We'll see in the morning whether the updated software can rebuild the missing volume, or if the replacement that Dell is sending as a precaution needs to be installed.
The CMD box and command line interface was a bit foreign to the specialist in our Net Admin group, but having spent a few years with a DOS prompt, I was able to navigate and get the job moving.
Two hours later, I determined that the software that the Dell techie needed to have installed on our server (which we'd downloaded at 67 MBps on our T1 - and to think I get 500+ MBps transfer speeds at home), that this software could not be installed by me - - - I no longer have admin rights on our local server. I managed to get one of the national corporate tech guys to page a specialist in the Net Admin group, to remote into the network and to open a "runas" command box, so that I could become a temporary wizard and install the updated software. We'll see in the morning whether the updated software can rebuild the missing volume, or if the replacement that Dell is sending as a precaution needs to be installed.
The CMD box and command line interface was a bit foreign to the specialist in our Net Admin group, but having spent a few years with a DOS prompt, I was able to navigate and get the job moving.
Dental Convention Season
I got to come to town, play, and get paid for it! It's dental convention season.
In exchange for working in the booth and eating out in restaurants that I normally would not go to (not the usual $ and $$ type restaurants I frequent, but more of $$$ type restaurants) I get a weekend to play and a chance to visit family, friends, and friends of family who just "happen" to also be working the convention.
After closing down the show, I got a chance to catch up with Mom, and spent some time with my granddaughter (and the rest of the family).... and best of all, this time there were no emergency calls from the Ward.
Grandma was wanting some pictures of family, so I had Frik burn a CD with a good number of family pictures along with a number of historical pictures of family members.
In exchange for working in the booth and eating out in restaurants that I normally would not go to (not the usual $ and $$ type restaurants I frequent, but more of $$$ type restaurants) I get a weekend to play and a chance to visit family, friends, and friends of family who just "happen" to also be working the convention.
After closing down the show, I got a chance to catch up with Mom, and spent some time with my granddaughter (and the rest of the family).... and best of all, this time there were no emergency calls from the Ward.
Grandma was wanting some pictures of family, so I had Frik burn a CD with a good number of family pictures along with a number of historical pictures of family members.
2009-02-18
Cars - can't live with them...
So I've been driving Scooter's car this week, because the radio is broken. (Scooter has my car). Knowing the clown that did the install, I was pretty sure that the electrical taped connections to the wiring harness that I'd done had come loose. I finally got around to soldering the wiring harness in place, and the radio doesn't work. The Cruiser has the same radio, so I've been debating whether to go to the trouble of swapping radios as a test, or filing a warranty claim, because what else could it be but the radio.
As we pulled into Crew meeting, Samara said that the speakers were the problem. So just to humor her, I reach up under the dash to check the speakers and the driver's side's cone is a mess, and pressing in the right spot on the cone on the passenger's side speaker produces sound! This now has become a project to complete Tuesday before I skip town.
Tuesday as I'm scrambling to get final packing at the office done, I get a call from Samara, who was driving Scooter to the doctors office in my car. (Scooter was too tired to drive). The problem was she had hit the curb and popped the right front tire... oh and the right rear was looking pretty low too.
So I bail out of the office, change the front tire (and my spare was low, but this time not totally flat), drive home (closer than the gas station that's a mile from the house) & put air in the right side tires, and drag Samara off to Discount to get the tires fixed. (We made it a half hour before Discount closed). Nothing that money can't solve.
I abandoned Samara and headed off to Sam's Club, because I'd volunteered to pick up the food for our part of the combined 4 ward Mutual activity (tacos and Mexican games), grab dinner at the grocery deli and draft an answer to an email from a Ward member until 2 am. Up at 4:30 to get to the airport for my flight.
Needless to say, the speakers did not get fixed, but at least I know the problem...
AND the solution...
AND I have my car back again.
As we pulled into Crew meeting, Samara said that the speakers were the problem. So just to humor her, I reach up under the dash to check the speakers and the driver's side's cone is a mess, and pressing in the right spot on the cone on the passenger's side speaker produces sound! This now has become a project to complete Tuesday before I skip town.
Tuesday as I'm scrambling to get final packing at the office done, I get a call from Samara, who was driving Scooter to the doctors office in my car. (Scooter was too tired to drive). The problem was she had hit the curb and popped the right front tire... oh and the right rear was looking pretty low too.
So I bail out of the office, change the front tire (and my spare was low, but this time not totally flat), drive home (closer than the gas station that's a mile from the house) & put air in the right side tires, and drag Samara off to Discount to get the tires fixed. (We made it a half hour before Discount closed). Nothing that money can't solve.
I abandoned Samara and headed off to Sam's Club, because I'd volunteered to pick up the food for our part of the combined 4 ward Mutual activity (tacos and Mexican games), grab dinner at the grocery deli and draft an answer to an email from a Ward member until 2 am. Up at 4:30 to get to the airport for my flight.
Needless to say, the speakers did not get fixed, but at least I know the problem...
AND the solution...
AND I have my car back again.
2009-02-16
The Tax Man
I did mom's taxes last night. Something about being disabled opens up an entirely new world of deductions. When all was said and done, the deductions exceeded her taxable income. She'll get back everything that the feds withheld from her social security and annuities, and even with 0 taxable federal income will still owe money to the state...
I'm looking for a second opinion before I click the "File" button.
BTW - Scooter, your W2's were sent here!!
I'm looking for a second opinion before I click the "File" button.
BTW - Scooter, your W2's were sent here!!
The Last Word
That's what the Bishop gets when the speaker is done before the end of the meeting (We're on a schedule that gives us 10 minutes to exit the chapel as the next ward is coming in. If we're out early, then we wait for classrooms; if we're out late, then they're backed up in the halls waiting to get it). Ending on time is not optional.
Usually, I'll turn to the counselor that's conducting and say "Looks like you're speaking". Today, though, I felt like I had a few things that I wanted to say, so I let the counselor conducting off the hook. All in all, I had 15 minutes of fairly impromptu talk to give. I spoke without notes, and ran out of time before I ran out of things to say.
Too many years speaking on the High Council circuit and too many years doing scout leader training - and a lot less stress than speaking at a funeral.
Usually, I'll turn to the counselor that's conducting and say "Looks like you're speaking". Today, though, I felt like I had a few things that I wanted to say, so I let the counselor conducting off the hook. All in all, I had 15 minutes of fairly impromptu talk to give. I spoke without notes, and ran out of time before I ran out of things to say.
Too many years speaking on the High Council circuit and too many years doing scout leader training - and a lot less stress than speaking at a funeral.
2009-02-13
I may not be allowed to leave town again...
Friday I was headed out to visit mom and to attend the wedding luncheon and reception of TheOrb and Ballerina. On my way to the airport, I drove past the scene of an accident. I didn't think anything of it at the time. When I got off the plane, I had a text message from Samara to call a member of the ward. That in and of itself, is not unusual. It was unusual when the Relief Society President answered the member's phone. The member's husband had been killed in the accident that I passed on the way to the wedding.
The intersection where the accident occurred is on a US highway that carries the traffic of a rush hour freeway at freeway speeds (55-65 mph) - except for the stop lights and the turn lanes, which make it not quite a freeway. The husband was making a left turn across traffic on his way to work and was hit by a truck estimated to be traveling at 60 mph. The witnesses have given conflicting testimony as to whether the light was green, yellow, or red. Police are still investigating, to determine the fault. I'd expect with all the growth that in the next 10 years or so, there will be additional overpasses built turning the highway into a freeway.
I made the whirlwind tour, conducted some church business, visiting mom, siblings, and kids; attended the luncheon, visited with bride and groom & their parents; none for near as long as I'd have liked, then caught the last flight home. In the meantime my counselors and the Relief Society Presidency were on top of EVERYTHING... and not just helping the grieving wife. We also had one of our young women break her leg (both tibia and fibula) playing church basketball.
It was my first funeral as a Bishop; the first death in the Ward in close to 4 years. The ward really rallied to support the young widow and her out of town family. They would have been married for three months this past Sunday. This guy really made an impression with his co-workers - he'd been at the job for only a year, but had really impressed everyone with his cheerful attitude and helpfulness, even dragging the recluses in the IT department into the social structure of the rest of the company.
The work place really rallied too in support of the widow. It was at times almost comical - the ward would think of something to do that work had already done & vice versa.
The memorial service was yesterday, followed by a luncheon. Things went off with only a minor glitch. Some Bishop who was conducting the service (who will remain mostly nameless) got up at the appointed hour and started the service without remembering to invite the family (who had been greeting in the hall) to come in and take their place on the front row. Good thing I had a member of the Stake Presidency with me on the stand to keep me honest.
My next trip out of town is next week.
The intersection where the accident occurred is on a US highway that carries the traffic of a rush hour freeway at freeway speeds (55-65 mph) - except for the stop lights and the turn lanes, which make it not quite a freeway. The husband was making a left turn across traffic on his way to work and was hit by a truck estimated to be traveling at 60 mph. The witnesses have given conflicting testimony as to whether the light was green, yellow, or red. Police are still investigating, to determine the fault. I'd expect with all the growth that in the next 10 years or so, there will be additional overpasses built turning the highway into a freeway.
I made the whirlwind tour, conducted some church business, visiting mom, siblings, and kids; attended the luncheon, visited with bride and groom & their parents; none for near as long as I'd have liked, then caught the last flight home. In the meantime my counselors and the Relief Society Presidency were on top of EVERYTHING... and not just helping the grieving wife. We also had one of our young women break her leg (both tibia and fibula) playing church basketball.
It was my first funeral as a Bishop; the first death in the Ward in close to 4 years. The ward really rallied to support the young widow and her out of town family. They would have been married for three months this past Sunday. This guy really made an impression with his co-workers - he'd been at the job for only a year, but had really impressed everyone with his cheerful attitude and helpfulness, even dragging the recluses in the IT department into the social structure of the rest of the company.
The work place really rallied too in support of the widow. It was at times almost comical - the ward would think of something to do that work had already done & vice versa.
The memorial service was yesterday, followed by a luncheon. Things went off with only a minor glitch. Some Bishop who was conducting the service (who will remain mostly nameless) got up at the appointed hour and started the service without remembering to invite the family (who had been greeting in the hall) to come in and take their place on the front row. Good thing I had a member of the Stake Presidency with me on the stand to keep me honest.
My next trip out of town is next week.
2009-02-01
Watch me make a lightbulb (not a pencil) disappear
At Sam's Club today I saw some new cool bulbs for the dining room light. LEDs instead of compact florescent. 1.5 watts instead of 40! I didn't have a need to buy, but couldn't resist trying them out. I'm unscrewing the old bulb - Chaelomen is letting the dog in and Jack-Jack is wandering into the dining room... and I drop the bulb!
After sweeping up the mess, I look in the dust pan and there aren't enough parts to convince me that I've found them all. Specifically the base of the bulb (the part that screws in) is not to be found. With assistance, nothing is found! With a flashlight, still nothing!
Then while admiring the new bulb, I suddenly find the missing base, lying on its side, in the light (look at the center of the fixture in the picture taken from inside the fixture).
After sweeping up the mess, I look in the dust pan and there aren't enough parts to convince me that I've found them all. Specifically the base of the bulb (the part that screws in) is not to be found. With assistance, nothing is found! With a flashlight, still nothing!
Then while admiring the new bulb, I suddenly find the missing base, lying on its side, in the light (look at the center of the fixture in the picture taken from inside the fixture).
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