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dennette@wiz-worx.com
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Dennette
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I vaporlocked today - so much has happened in the last week, I though it had been two weeks since I saw Betty Case, so I showed up for my appointment a week early! Ah, well, I picked up some books for PO, so the trip was not a total loss.
On Monday, I met Steve Wyman, the court-appointed trustee for the bankrupt CAD company, Sigma Design. Salleh Diab visited me on Saturday so that I could demonstrate Internet/Web functions (created a home-page for him), and he insisted that I come down to Burlington on Monday to check the place out. DISASTER! They'd just discovered that someone took all of the checking account records when they left, as well as hard-drives with the source code! I FAX'd Steve a resume after the interview, because Salleh had failed to give him a copy.
I finally got Netscape to work on the OmniBook (got a null Winsock that would work), so now I can demo my Web pages on the road! I'll still probably take Brucilla down to DC so they can see what a real connection looks like in color. OTOH, unless I've figured out how to use CIS for WWW access, it may become moot.
Did 4 more hours for Salleh in New Hampshire yesterday - 3 actually, because I'd done an hour at home the night before. (Another day, another $200!) He e-mailed me more stuff to "grammarize" last night, and this morning we finally got around to doing FTP, so we're even more closely connected.
A few days ago, I found the bird feeder on the ground, in pieces. At frist I thought, "Vandalism!", butthen I noticed the teeth marks where something had gnawed at it. It was preety old and sun-faded anyway, so I bought a new one for ten bucks at the drug store. The next day, I noticed that the 4 pegs for the birds to perch on were gone -- that &^%$! squirel had trashed the new one in less than 24-hours!! I'm keeping my CO2 pistol by the door now, and if I see him again, he's toast!
Pop was visiting Uncle LeRoy when I called him yesterday, so I talked to him as well as Lynda, the first time I've spoken to her since the event. I reminded her that yesterday was the anniversary of my stroke. One year ago today, I was in intensive care with monitors and tubes stuck in me. Today, I can hardly tell the difference from before the stroke - my recovery has been nothing short of miraculous (Praise God!)
I've grown sick of the OUT OF MEMEORY messages on the OmniBook, s I placed an ad on CompuServe to find a buyer for my 2Mb chip. Somebody from Michigan called me last week and offered $75 plus shipping, so I ordered a 4Mb from an 800 number on the Left Coast. It should arrive by the end of next week.
Just came from seeing Betty Case -- she gave me a copy of a New York Times suppliment with a piece on Black soldiers (Tuskegee Airmen, mostly) in WWII. I'm still pretty "up", mostly because I'm so busy. I told her about my relationship with Salleh, and my optomism about a job with Sigma Design.
Speaking of Sigma, Salleh had a meeting with them yesterday, and he's sending me som letters to his attorney to correct for him tonight. He sezz the Metro bid made it to Toronto in time, and he wants me to come by tomorrow for a few hours to brainstorm on the priorities for Sigma.
I caught the squirrel at the feeder as I was leaving to see Ms. Case, but the CO2 cartridge was too depleted to get a good shot at him -- maybe next time! Meanwhile, I'll see if I can find a glass feeder, or at least something that cannot be trashed as easily.
Yesterday I made my hotel reservations for the IPO meeting in Xtal City at the end of June. I have about six weeks to finsh the scanning of the photos I brought back from DC in January, but I keep getting distracted by other scanning projects.
This week has been passing very quickly -- I'm back on my "work all night, sleep all day" schedule, which I don't like. OTOH, I've been getting out almost every day, if only for a short trip to the store, etc.
Salleh is putting in a bid to do the next version of ARRIS -- he's only got 6-8 weeks to do it, and the schedule has to be in by Monday, so he wants to get together with me tomorrow. One of his "valued enhancements" is the ability to read "all popular PC/Windows graphics formats", so I sent a message to JASC about the possibility of buying their Paint Shop Pro input library.
Brian&Jan got bacck last weekend -- got e-mail from him, and he said that he didn't have a WWw browser. I called him later in the week while I was downloading teh CompuServe Internet access package, and he said that he couldn't get the one from AOL to work. Well, I got the CIS one to work, but it uses its own WINSOCK.DLL so it can get the dialer profile from WinCIM, and their version of Mosaic was not pretty. The whole experience was like watching paint dry -- their packet protocol just can't handle the bandwidth/user load. OTOH, when I go to DC and Rochester, it may be my only option. I hear that ACM has an Internet service, so I'll see what I can do through them to get 28.8 service on the road, assuming I can get a new modem by then - Computer City still has the US Robotics on back-order <sigh!>
Well, all the bills are paid, including the ones that arrived today. I have $450 in my checking account ($40in the Wiz Worx account) and $87 on my person (including Mr. Deep Pocket). Salleh sez there's money coming, but I really don't expect much cash from him this week -- I think that a gentle reminder is in order.
I've over-flowed my 5Mb storage on UltraNet (50+ HTML files and almost 300 GIF files), but I think I can make a substantial savings by coverting the monochrome GIFs to 4-bit (16 shade) files -- they don't look as good, but they xfer twice as fast, and I doubt that most will notice the difference. I'll make backups and try the new ones in 640x480 mode before I commit. Come to think of it, all of the icon files could be brain-damaged, including the color ones. :-)
The latest draft of IGES 5.3 arrived on Thurday, and I spent a few hours at the Szechuan Garden yeaterday (after jummat) doing- a page-by-page to check the corrections from the last draft. There's been a Moby Snafu with the figures, probably because Gaylen did not have the correct set -- Phil & I changed some of the filenames. He FTP'd the new LaTeX files to me yesterday afternoon, so I'll try to find out What Went Wrong.
"This is the story of how we begin to remember ..."
Pop called me at 18:00 yesterday evening to say that Uncle LeRoy had passed away at around 14:00. The hospital called him (after Lynda and Lisa) when he went into cardiac arrest. Pop arrived about 14:45, and Mousie had been with him when he expired.
"This is the powerful pumping of love through our veins ..."
I never thought that the last time I talked to Uncle LeRoy would also be the last time he'd talk to me. I'm driving down to DC next month for the IPO meeting in Chrystal City, and I was going to give him two of the canes that I bought last year after my own stroke.
Brian came over today, and he was with me when the call came, which was a great comfort. We had been crawling my Web pages and making repairs in Real Time -- edit the HTML file and FTP it to the Internet disk-farm.
I did something today for the first time, and my life will never be the same again. [The day before, actually, but I'd been up all night so it was still Friday to my mind.] Between bouts of uncontrollable grief and sobbing (while Brian gave me space by watching ReBoot on video tape in the living room) I corrected HARRODX.HTM to say that four of the people in the Extended Harrod Family portrait are dead now, instead of only three. I also added a time-stamped entry about Pop's call directly into HTML and put the revised page into cyberspace. I'm using the Internet for my backup and archive.
From today forward, I will occasionally make my journal entries directly into the Internet as HTML.
"These are the days of miracle and wonder ..."
I had a supper meeting with Salleh at the Sezchuan Garden that I had to postpone for two hours because of my state of shock. (Never begin a business negotiation on an empty stomach. 121st Rule of Acqusition.) He had called earlier, right after he got back from meeting with Steve Wyman and the other creditors to talk about our proposal for ARRIS 7.0 and getting SDI back on its feet.
When he left my place at around 21:00, Lurker in Clothes Dryers must have slipped unnoticed into the mud room. Around midnight, I wandered into the kitchen for a fresh coff-a-cupee, and heard plaintive meows that I first though might have been the Ginger Cat from down the road. Then I recognized it as the little Face of Fur, but she was nowhere in sight, so I started searching.
When I got back to the kitchen I started opening cabinets, and then I caught a glimpse of her through the window in the door. She was cold and frightened and quite vocal, and wouldn't let me hold her. Don't it always seem to go -- I had removed her collar to comb her before I let her have her way with the clean towels in the drier (Brian was here for over an hour before I remarked that she had been in the drier since before he arrived, and had been quietly observing his comings and goings without being noticed) -- she could have escaped to the World Oustide without her ID tags, and I would have had a Major Meltdown.
I'm chain smoking, literally lighting one cigarette with the previous one (I forgot my zippo) -- chatting with the party of five in the next booth -- they paid me about 63 cents in accumulated change to hit one of the guys in the back of the head. (Anything worth doing is worth doing for money. 13th Rule of Acquisition.)
A very symbolic ritual ... "What's it worth to you?" "All the loose change in my pockt at the moment!" I told them that a scar would cost extra, gave him a light, open-handed slap on the back of his head, and scooped up the change from the table. Then I told them that if they wanted anyone "retired", I could arrange a hit by either Lybians or Sicilians, probably for the same price. :-)
I found a new term for what I do -- I'm an "infomerchant" -- I don't know everything, but I know how to find answers, and that is sufficient. "If I can't find the answer, then it's not worth knowing." (Possible business names: Pinhead Enterprises, String Length, Moby Rock.)
Just took a snapshot of a fellow Comix Nerd, Mike Lavoie. He's got a cap full of cloisenie pins, including Gambit, one of the X-Men (the cajun) -- I really wish I had worn my Logan pin, with him saying "I'm the best there is at what I do. Mike's suggestion for the day -- get the Spawn trade paperback with the first five issues. I feel better, now, but there's still mourning yet to come.
"All those memories will be lost in time ... like tears in rain."
I don't think so -- Homey don't play that!
When I was driving to Bickford's, there was a half-moon transiting the meridian on my right, and the sky was getting bight on my left. The sun is well above the horizon now, casting horizontal beams through the lunch room and out the windows on the other side.
-=DAH=- 20-May-95 06:50
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These week's mail was 75% trash, and the only bill to be paid is the $52 budget billing form the Electric Co.
I've been up since about noon yesterday, and will probably crash this afternoon, wake up for Saturday Evening SciFi on TV (Star Trek & Babylon 5), then spend the night working on Web pages ... started on "I Am Somebody!" when I got home from Bickford's this morning -- scanned a bunch of old photo ID cards and driving permits -- a pictoral chronology from 1966 to 1983.
I'm trying to collect my snapshots of Uncle LeRoy, and I don't have as many as I thought -- the only one of me and him together also has one of my Greenfield cousins, one of Hugh's sons (Michael?), and I can't find it, although I saw it just last week. :-(
I must finish the 366th Yearbook before I go to Uncle LeRoy's funeral, so I can show it to Pop -- The Wall of Pictures will have to wait until after I get back.
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Meeting with Chris Walsh & Geoffrey Schultz (President) of UltraaNet Communications, my Internet service provider -- a job interview for the part time position of telephone technical support. They knew I was overqualified, but Chris was impressed with my telephone skills and my WWW Home Page.
So, why should I work there at an entry level position? Because there aren't enou people willing to pay me $50 an hour for contract work, or $5,000 for my IGES source code library, and it's better than slinging burgers for half as much.
jprovo@sushine.io.com -- to demonstrate my e-mail bug
They showed me the operation, and I think they were impressed. They're new, they're growing, and there may be a place for me if we "fit". I told them that I could start next week, because of the funeral on Friday. Monday's a holiday, which we had both forgotten!! I'll have to call USAir to try to get a "bereavement" discount and a bump on the holiday travel glut.
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C&L Air Limo picked myup at 09:15 to get here by 11:00 for a noon flight. There was no line at the ticket counter (the DC flight has their own area), so I've got over 90 minutes to kill. I found a ffood court, and a seat right next to an electric outlet, so I can play with my OmniBook for as long as I want.
I found the garment bag of my dreams for $120 at Caldors (nothing in the Samsonite line came even close and they cost even more) but decided to go with a $30 "no frills" bag. I mean, this thing's gonna sit in the closet until the next funeral, anyway.
Mac called from New Mexico last night ... Mom called him a few days ago. I really wasn't in any mood to deal with him, but I know he meant well. Saw Betty Case yesterday, and got some of my grief out -- we didn't have time to discuss my interview at UltraNet the other day.
The last time I was in Seattle, I got a "trick" pen knife that's just been sitting in my dresser drawer. When I got the OmniBook last fall, I decided to have the name-plate on the bottom engraved, so I took the pen knife in, too. Well, the messed it up -- "D A Harrod" instead of "DAHarrod". <sigh!> When I was crawling the mall looking for a garment bag, I finally found a jeweller that would brush off the engraving (it was brush finished anyway ... I cannot stand a "mirror" finish on anything that lives in a pocket), but he only picks up and delivers on Mondays, so it will be two weeks before I get it back. They wanted two bucks a letter for engraving, but there are too many places that only charge fifty cents -- heck, I might even go back to the people who messedit up the first time, because they're in Chelmsford.
Hrrmmm ... this cofffee may not have been such a good idea -- I Really Hate using public bathrooms!! OTOH, I'm wearing my "buryin' shoes", and they could use a shine, so where there's one, there's the other, at least in airports. I have to go outside to smoke, so I'd better decide which urge is stronger, nature or nicotine?
10:20 PM - Varnum St.
Phynque is trimming Xerox enlargements of Polaroids of Uncle LeRoy & Aunt Gloria -- she also gave me a copy of Great-grandmother's obituary, which she had copied for a distant cousin who had requested it, but had not mailed yet.
When I arrived at DC National at 13:45, I called Pop while riding the airport shuttle to the Metro station. When I arrived at the Conn. Ave stop, he was waiting for me at the top of the escalator, leaning on the mechanism -- I'd been using the elevators, but that stop was deep underground, and I did not feel like waiting for it, but Pop was in a position to see (or be seen from) the elevator.
This afternoon, I watched the "Duet" episode of ST:DS9 with Mom & Phynque -- the one that I brought the wrong tape whe I came down in January. Today is Phynque's birthday, and we were going to go out to supper, but there were severe thunderstorms, so we ordered a delivery. Mom has gone up to bed, because she was up all night, which is why I suggested we watch it in the afternoon.
I called Lynda & Lisa tonight to let them know I was in town -- Lynda was not expecting me to be a pall bearer because of my stroke -- I told her I just had to be on the left side so I'd be using my right hand. When I had my session with Betty Case yesterday, I talked about bonding with Lyndon Williams at Aunt Gloria's funeral, and how I was looking forward to sharing my grief with him again tomorrow.
It's hot & muggy, so I think I'll sleep on the porch tonight. I reminded Pop not to let me slep until the last minute -- I have to shave!
-=DAH=- 25-May-95
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When I got home and checked my e-mail last night, there was a message from Chris@UltraNet -- "Geoff and I have decided to change your account to 'free'. Call us Tuesday for details. Welcome aboard!" So, it looks like I've got a Real Job again!
Paul Mailman has some scanning work for me (a guy from his office), and I may shoot their development group to make a BMP for imbedding in the "HELP - ABOUT" dialog box on their applictaion. He also sez they he and Lynn picked up a 1Gb Seagate drive last week for $300 -- I'm at flood stage, so maybe I'll get one, too. He also told me that Lynn totalled her car last week, so they're spending this weekend shopping, and thry'll swap that old tape drive that Jean gave me for the Millenium Canary into the new vehicle.
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Don't it always seem to go ... just as I finished uploading my diary from the OmniBook to brucilla, I looked out the window and noticed two families of geese grazing in Alice's yard -- one with six chicks, the other with eight. I s-l-o-w-l-y raised the screen and took some snapshots, then went outside to complete the roll from Uncle LeRoy's funeral.
Paul Flannery came by today and put the dock in the water. We chatted for a while, and I plumb forgot to give him the went check! I tried to catch him when I realized, but he was already down the road by the time I got to the door. Ah, well, the mailman will pick it up on Tuesday (tomorrow being a holiday).
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Darla called from Rochester today -- told her I was planning to spend a few days there on the way back from DC -- turns out that it will be the 4th of July weekend (the 4th is on Tuesday).
Paul Mailman stopped by to pick up the scans I did over the weekend for his friend at work, and we spent about an hour crawling the Web. I'd called him yesterday to share a programming insight -- I'd found an old assignment from my Compiler Construction class at RIT in '82, my PASTEL compiler, and it had a solution to the "forward reference" problem -- create a backward reference to a "dummy" jump!! I knew I had solved it once, and maybe I can make it work for my IGES problems!
Last update: 2005-05-26 by
dennette@wiz-worx.com
<Who is this Dennette
person?>