Wow, the rain this week has come pounding down. Everything is totally muddy and water-logged. I still don't have an umbrella, so I am using my gortex coat to dodge getting soaked. It's also rather hot here; it's like wandering around in hot soup. I finally broke down and bought an actual bus pass so I don't have to go fishing around in my wallet for dollar bills, and always make sure that I have ones in the first place.
Work is getting a bit more hands-on now. I have to do some lovely code archaeology just to build old stuff that is headed for retirement. So now I am waiting for the super secret magic incantations from other developers who supposedly know them. So much stuff has fallen between the cracks that I may very well never know how to reconstruct them. But I guess I have to try. Anyhow, the interesting stuff will start to drop in my lap when this stuff is more or less under control. I'm starting to see the real differences between self-educated consultants and employees who have been fighting fires their entire careers and thus unable to benefit from any education, it would seem. Consultants may just feel the pressure to really know their stuff because they can get canned if they don't, or will simply not get hired in the first place. Employees are sometimes never given a chance to become true experts because they often change jobs if they do. It is easier to leave the mess you trained on and drop in someplace else than to try to fix the mess on your own steam. Political pressures are always a good way to slow down good ideas. ;-)
I'm getting quite a bit of anticipation about my brother Daniel's wedding on July 3rd. He has asked me to be his best man, which I am honored to be. We have been discussing the ceremony, and we have plans for some lovely material that I believe everyone will enjoy. I'll be flying to MA next Wednesday, returning on July 5th from NJ. I have to take care of a few things in MA, and then Helen and Ian and I will drive down to NJ on Friday for the rehearsal. Our hotel has a wireless hotspot, so we will survive just fine and in style (Internet style, that is). Ian has to do some work for his web site job anyhow. We'll have a chance to do the July 4th thing that Sunday as well, which is something that Helen and I used to do with Daniel and Ben's mom even before Ben was born. So it will be a nice way to re-establish our tradition, but with better company this time. ;-)
Sigh. Now I have to go to bed because I have been depriving myself of sleep this week. I need to catch up, and then not doze all weekend.
...is a picture of the patio next to my apartment. It gives me serene thoughts when I am coming and going. :-)
Ah. I finally have an always-on Internet connection. So this means that now I have to get a firewall, etc. etc. I can do lots of things from the comfort of home, and not have to worry about when the places that have wireless hotspots close. I know this is not such a grand technological feat, but I've been waiting for almost two months to have it all set up. I'm just relieved that all the financial stuff has been cleaned up and I can afford the connection.
Since I've been here in Houston, I've started to read quite a bit more. I've even started reading fiction too. It's been soooo long since I read fiction. I am hereby soliciting suggestions for reading material. I pass by various bookstores, both here in Houston and in various airports, looking to see if there is anything out and visible that looks appealing. I really don't know what I'd like in fiction, since each author is so different (even when they cross topics), it is hard to say who I'd enjoy. Send me email with suggestions; anything is ok, because more suggestions are better than fewer, and I can always evaluate on my own. If you can find the book on Amazon, send the link too. Non-fiction suggestions are also welcome. Thanks in advance!
Today I finally fixed up my mortgage payment for June. Whew. It looks like I also dodged several other missed payments by a few days. Helen and I have to scour through the list of bills and check if anything else had a problem. I also finally have another paycheck on the way today, so I hope that all the aggravation has sunk in and a similar hickup won't happen again. Ah, the benefits of being "well-known" by the people who pay you. :-\
Rather impressive, on the whole. Thousands of people, as one would expect. They have the whole pomp and circumstance thing down to an art, but without coming across as being gratuitous. It shows you that it isn't just a name. It really is a different kind of institution.
It took at least an hour and a half for all the graduates to file in from many directions into the middle of Harvard Yard. Each group of graduates were conferred their degrees, by each of the schools, by the dean of the school and the president of the university. It really came off as though the conferring of degrees was something that was real and permanent, like a marriage, but with so many more people involved.
After the main ceremony, we went to the ceremony where Helen received her actual diploma. Then we went back to the Yard to hear Kofi Annan speak (article).
We picked up the car from the garage there in Harvard Square; the garage had been open until 1:30, I suppose in expectation of the following day. We went back to Quincy, and had a nice dinner with Helen's mom (Nancy), and finally got home to Marlborough. I was stuffed from the very good dinner, and rather exhausted. The alarm mistakenly went off at about 4am, and I did better than I expected, being sleep deprived and all.
The rest of my weekend went ok, besides the continued lack of resolution of my money troubles. I saw a bunch of friends (you know who you are), and headed back to Houston on Sunday afternoon.
I finally have money in my bank account. The money finally went through. And now I have more coming from another paycheck tomorrow. Sigh. Now to call everybody and get everything back up to date. Yuck, but at least I can.
I thought that I might catch both of my flights on time, but this is turning into a real annoyance. we're just pushing off the gate now, at 8:50, and my flight was supposed to leave at 8:00. This means that Helen is going to have to find a place to wait, and I can't call notify her that I am so delayed. I was hoping to get to bed a little early, but the night is going to wear on. We'll be up at around 5:00 tomorrow, so I have to stay relaxed. I worry more about Helen than myself, because she needs her rest for her graduation tomorrow. She is rather emotional about the whole thing, but I think she will settle down a bit once the ceremonies get underway. We'll be going to dinner in Quincy afterwards, and then drop her mom off. Then we'll go home to Marlborough.
[later] We just took off. Now I'll have to see if they have phone service on this plane at all. This plane is only three seats wide, and has no nifty services like music phones in the seats. I hope that Helen figures out to call and figure out what is going on with the flight. We may not make it to the garage in Cambridge on time to park there. I'm a bit stumped about how to rearrange plans now. We need to park someplace nearby. Hmmm... looks like we're being re-routed; I can see large electrical storms around us - there must be thunderheads out today.
[later] Looks like we might be delayed even more if conditions keep up. I hear that Logan is closed, and we might have to circle until things let up. I probably be out of the terminal at 11:30, if no added delays come up. It may be just way too late to get to the garage. Now who knows.
[later] Looks like the storm moved south, and we are coming in now, earlier than I expected.
[later] Looks like we'll be in Quincy a little after midnight now. I'm hoping that I actually get some sleep...
I've transcribed a bunch of old entries from my notes, particularly for May. Just click on the 'May 2004" link on the right-hand side of the main blog page, and you'll see all of the May entries. Even for me, it seems like quite a saga so far. But you can be your own judge of that. :-)
I finally called Time Warner Cable about getting their "Road Runner" broadband service. I'm scheduled to get things installed on the 16th. Then I can be more leisurely about writing and reading things online. I can also use all the various online services that I want, because at work they do some strange filtering of web sites. I should really save various online things for home anyhow, such as reading my news aggregator.
Helen went to the bank today, and was able to get a small reprieve from them ($200), and they said they would be able to get a copy of the check to find out what happened with it. At least that way we will know whose fault it really is. Sigh. Then I have to figure out what checks and automatic withdrawls blew up, and how much I owe everybody. Then I can push all this back on the responsible party and get everything straightened out.
Here in Houston, Michael was able to get that desk/table that he was talking about. It'll be worth the $50. Now I have a table to eat dinner at! Wee-ha! It immediately organizes the space so much. Eating at that teenie little desk in the bedroom always left such a mess. Now I think I really need actual real plates. I been doing pretty well with cooking for myself. Shopping for an entire week on one trip that I can carry the eight blocks has been a challenge. I continue to eat out on occasion, because sometimes I just forget to prepare a lunch for the next day. I think that there is some proper balance between making dinner and making lunch for the next day every evening that I haven't quite discovered. It is hard to plan too many days ahead to make that work out every day.
I've been composing a bit more these days, now that I have easy access to a guitar. A few new interesting directions, a few new innovations. The guitar itself is a bit smaller than my classical back in MA, so I have to adjust a bit because of that.
I am fit to be tied. :-(
My first paycheck bounced for some unknown reason, and we still don't know why. So now my bank account is totally frozen, and won't be taken care of until at the earliest Monday. I am really losing my patience with this financial junk. I need to get a bunch of people paid, and be able to pay for small things too, and I am stuck putting things on a credit card again until this all blows over. It is infuriating.
For once, it is good that I can't do anything about it until Monday. Because I would be up all night fixing it if I had to. I called the accountant with SACC today, but she could do nothing but call her bank, who said that the funds were "available". I have no idea what that means. And Saint Mary's Credit Union customer care was closed. I think it is really one person's fault, which means there is going to be a bunch of lying going on. :-(
I'm sitting in the Cafe Artiste, a few blocks from my apartment. I'm finally able to write a blog entry without needing to be at work. I bought a wireless card for my laptop while I was in Massachusetts. They have a wireless "hotspot" here, so I don't even need a network wire. Nice.
My return trip to Mass. last week was good. I had a chance to catch up on a bunch of administrative matters, including putting my first two pay checks in the bank. A bit of a close shave, but my regular mortgage payment will go through as usual. I was getting a bit nuts because of the delays that I get from this long food chain of payment, and the company that pays me (SACC) fibbed about when it sent the payment out. I hope that everything levels out soon so I can get on with paying everybody back. I started to adjust the spreadsheet I use to figure out what my monthly expenses typically are so I can strategize on my next move. I'll be ready to create my new corporation any day now. Then I'll probably create a Chase corporate bank account for the corporation, which SACC says it will be able to do direct deposit to. The shared bank account Helen and I have is already proving itself as a good idea. I just transfer money from my main account (where all my usual auto-payments come from) into the shared account, and Helen can take care of whatever she needs to.
Helen and I and Ian went with Helen's mother (Nancy) on a trip to the Boston Aquarium while I was there. It was a birthday treat for Nancy. We took a boat from Quincy (south shore area) to Long Wharf by way of Logan Airport, which was fun, although rather noisy. We saw an interesting exhibit on Jeyllyfish, followed by a film on Jellyfish, narrated by Leonard Nimoy.
Helen is graduating from the Harvard extension next week, and I'll be going back to attend the commencement ceremony. It's been a lot of fun to eavesdrop on her academic progress for these past years. I am so proud of her. But I knew she was a smart cookie a long time ago. ;-)
Life in Houston is getting hotter. Days are up in the 90's. Night are still pretty nice, with a wind coming up from the Gulf of Mexico. I didn't get the table Michael told me about yet, but he said that maybe next weekend might work. I really want a table badly now. Sitting in a chair or my bed (folded into couch mode) is ok, but not when you need to spread out a bit and shuffle papers.
Another member of my team arrived this week, and he (Krishna) is still getting set up with passwords, etc. We have out team conference calls on Thursdays, so we can start to hash out our next pile of stuff to do shortly.