Working hard...
This weekend was no picnic by any stretch. A little good news is that the woodworking 2 class that I had signed up for, which was to run all day on Saturday, was canceled. This is good because I ended up working eight or so hours on Saturday, leaving without any real proof that the problem we're seeing isn't actually in our software or hardware.
I took some time out to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. An interesting looking movie, but I decided I didn't actually like the look. It looks washed out, over exposed, and a little too much like a 1930's Flash Gordon serial. It's an interesting concept though, a 100%-computer-generated-sets movie. It reminded me of the days when you'd have real actors in cartoon worlds. They're better at making the real people and the fake world line up, but still, the lighting is off in places, and the world just doesn't look real. At least with a cartoon you know it's not supposed to look real. Here it was distracting. The acting was good, the dialog was interesting though a bit of "Who talks like that?" The robot at the end reminded me of the one from Metropolis, which I imagine is what they wanted. All in all, it was an OK movie, but I had trouble staying awake during it (at a 5pm showing), so it couldn't have been that interesting.
Sunday was a brutal 12 hour day working on the problem again. We left even more convinced that it's not us, but unclear on how to prove that, or more usefully, how to work around the issue. We'll be exploring more ideas on Monday, if we can keep our spirits up and our eyes open.
It's a real shame that I was stuck working late every night and this weekend, as my only non-work friends were all at the St. Paul Saints baseball games -- the final three games of the post-season. They were the underdogs in the championship battle, and were even at game two of the five game series when they lost game three on Friday night (couldn't make it, worked 'till midnight), then won on Saturday to push it a full five games (couldn't make it, had to sleep). On Sunday, it looked like certain doom in the 9th with two outs but with a grand-slam the Saints take the win and championship (couldn't make it, worked 'till midnight). Read about it here. Damn, that sounded like a good game, and I'm not even a big fan of baseball. Plus I had tickets to all three games, given to me by a friend. At least he had other friends at game.
The weather here has been really nice, and it's a shame that I'm stuck inside. Saturday was an autumn festival that was happening just outside of our office. I couldn't do anything but stare at it. Yesterday was gorgeous as well, and today looks to be nice as well. Though it's going to be windy, maybe 25-35mph all day long, and it might rain tonight. That certainly helps to keep the perceived heat down. Plus it's lots of fun watching the big rigs trying to drive in straight lines.
I'm hoping to be able to start looking at houses again later in this week, or this coming weekend, though there are no guarantees that this fire will be put out by then. I'm also beginning to wonder if I should be buying a house. I could live out here for years on what I have in the bank. I'm unlikely to throw in the towel, but the thought of being able to definitely gives me some form of comfort. I've never backed away from a challenge yet, and I don't want to start. But on the other hand, I don't want to snap either. Lots of things to think about in the coming weeks.
I took some time out to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. An interesting looking movie, but I decided I didn't actually like the look. It looks washed out, over exposed, and a little too much like a 1930's Flash Gordon serial. It's an interesting concept though, a 100%-computer-generated-sets movie. It reminded me of the days when you'd have real actors in cartoon worlds. They're better at making the real people and the fake world line up, but still, the lighting is off in places, and the world just doesn't look real. At least with a cartoon you know it's not supposed to look real. Here it was distracting. The acting was good, the dialog was interesting though a bit of "Who talks like that?" The robot at the end reminded me of the one from Metropolis, which I imagine is what they wanted. All in all, it was an OK movie, but I had trouble staying awake during it (at a 5pm showing), so it couldn't have been that interesting.
Sunday was a brutal 12 hour day working on the problem again. We left even more convinced that it's not us, but unclear on how to prove that, or more usefully, how to work around the issue. We'll be exploring more ideas on Monday, if we can keep our spirits up and our eyes open.
It's a real shame that I was stuck working late every night and this weekend, as my only non-work friends were all at the St. Paul Saints baseball games -- the final three games of the post-season. They were the underdogs in the championship battle, and were even at game two of the five game series when they lost game three on Friday night (couldn't make it, worked 'till midnight), then won on Saturday to push it a full five games (couldn't make it, had to sleep). On Sunday, it looked like certain doom in the 9th with two outs but with a grand-slam the Saints take the win and championship (couldn't make it, worked 'till midnight). Read about it here. Damn, that sounded like a good game, and I'm not even a big fan of baseball. Plus I had tickets to all three games, given to me by a friend. At least he had other friends at game.
The weather here has been really nice, and it's a shame that I'm stuck inside. Saturday was an autumn festival that was happening just outside of our office. I couldn't do anything but stare at it. Yesterday was gorgeous as well, and today looks to be nice as well. Though it's going to be windy, maybe 25-35mph all day long, and it might rain tonight. That certainly helps to keep the perceived heat down. Plus it's lots of fun watching the big rigs trying to drive in straight lines.
I'm hoping to be able to start looking at houses again later in this week, or this coming weekend, though there are no guarantees that this fire will be put out by then. I'm also beginning to wonder if I should be buying a house. I could live out here for years on what I have in the bank. I'm unlikely to throw in the towel, but the thought of being able to definitely gives me some form of comfort. I've never backed away from a challenge yet, and I don't want to start. But on the other hand, I don't want to snap either. Lots of things to think about in the coming weeks.
posted by Mark at 8:59 AM
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