Yay! Blog!

Just some more stuff

kinez — 2008-09-03T20:19:59-06:00

One of my favorite authors, Robert Jordan, died a while back. He was the fantasy author who wrote The Wheel of Time series (or most of it). He collected swords and knives and fantasy type weapons. Some of his collection is available on eBay.
Crabapple Lane Rob is back to bloggin after Gustav. Seems like the worst that happened is he lost his internet.
The Ridin' Gustav blogger is back, too. He says that while Gustav wasn't as hard on New Orleans as Katrina in terms of surge and rain, it was harder on the power supply due to the wind.
I'm feeling better mentally today than I did over the weekend. Maybe it was mostly PMS.
I'm going to the doctor tomorrow morning to see what she says about the dull pain in my hip. I hope it's something minor. My friend Ann at work is having back trouble, and her doctor told her it's her muscles tightening up around a strain. The strain can't heal until the muscles relax, and the muscles can't relax because of the strain. So she got some drugs to help with that.

Just some stuff

kinez — 2008-08-31T12:20:56-06:00

My friend Rob is going to ride out Hurricane Gustav at Crabapple Lane. He's about 50 miles north of New Orleans. Sending good luck wishes and prayers.
I've been watching my Deluxe Edition Black Hawk Down DVD. I saw the movie once before, but couldn't tie it all together. This time, I watched it twice. Once without commentary, and once with commentary from some guys who were there. Then I watched History Channel and PBS documentaries about the mission in Somalia. Those guys were brave. It's one thing to go in, not know what to expect and get out. But to go back in again? I know I couldn't do it.
It's a three day weekend, and I should be feeling on top of the world. Instead, I'm just sleeping, eating and crying mostly. I guess I'm okay as long as I still want to eat since that's my favorite thing to do in the world. The problem is trying to adjust to changes at work with a bit of PMS thrown in. At least, I hope there's some PMS thrown in. I hate to think what I'll feel like when that kicks in if it's not here already. Not sure if I'm going to be able to adjust to the changes at work. I need to internalize the fact that I'm not the boss of me anymore. That's a tough adjustment to make.
On a positive note, I got my domain name problems worked out. I transferred the one that's expiring to Domain Direct. I hope they're good people. I'm not impressed with NetNameOne's or Tucows' customer service. They treat everyone like they're domain name process experts. I'm not. If I was, I wouldn't need help. Still waiting to see if the refund NetNameOne said they credited to my credit card shows up.
I think I'll head out for some lunch. Then I should probably mow and trim the lawn this afternoon. Maybe food and hard work will snap me out of this low.

Save the Accessibility Institute

kinez — 2008-08-29T20:29:02-06:00

The University of Texas closed its accessibility institute today. There's a petition to save it.

I heard about it yesterday in a listserv e-mail that had a series of bullets. One bullet was about Target settling a lawsuit over the accessibility its Web site and agreeing to pay $6 million. Another bullet said UT was closing their accessibility institute sending the message that accessibility isn't a priority. They should talk to Target and see what Target has to say about that.

On the subject of accessibility:

Coders and programmers can hack together html code in a way that makes it hard for disabled people to use the Web. Or they can use elegant code that makes it easy for disabled people to use the Web. To me, it's a no brainer. I produce elegant code that makes the Web page usable by everyone. But the coders and programmers who hack together ugly, non-standard code don't want to change. That's all this is about... they don't want to change.

I'll paraphrase something Sharron Rush of Knowbility said:

The Internet makes many things easier for those of us who aren't disabled. The Internet makes many things POSSIBLE for those who are.

It's too bad so many hack coder/programmers would rather build roadblocks than passageways.

It would mean a lot to me if you would sign the petition.

Domain Name Crap

kinez — 2008-08-27T19:48:59-06:00

The system for domain names is confusing and frustrating. When I first got my own web hosting, the hosting company purchased my domain name for me. I thought it belonged to me, but when I decided to change hosting companies, they held it hostage. That's why I have strangesandwich.com and ssmrocks.com. I purchased ssmrocks while the strangesandwich was being held hostage. Eventually, the hosting company transferred strangesandwich to me. Now both domains point to my Web site.

strangesandwich.com is about to expire. I got an email from my domain service provider, netnameone.com, to renew it. I clicked through, and it said they were partnering with GoDaddy. I paid for 3 years and set up an account through their new interface. They sent me an e-mail with instructions and secret codes to initiate a transfer. The last step was to enter an authorization code. It said I had to get it from my old service provider. I don't have an old service provider. I've always been with netnameone.com and netnameone.com is who I'm renewing with.

So I sent an e-mail to support. They told me my domain is with Tucows, and I need to contact them to renew. So I go to their site, and it says they don't deal directly with individual domains, and that I need to contact my service provider, netnameone.com.

So netnameone.com tells me I have to contact Tucows. Tucows tells me I have to contact netnameone.com.

I'm screwed.

LBJ's 100th Birthday

kinez — 2008-08-27T10:15:42-06:00

Today would be LBJ's 100th Birthday. I'm going to celebrate by:

getting my car inspected

going out for lunch

decluttering my desk

backing up my hard drive

defragging my hard drive

upgrading to Windows SP3

I'm feeling down about work. New supervisor transition. I was the supervisor, but that kind of work made me want to claw my eyes out, so I stepped down. I like my new supervisor fine, but our culture is changing dramatically to one where we have to do mandatory team-building activities like building catapults out of tinker toys... while the huge stack of work on my desk gets bigger. Some people like that stuff, so it will be good for them. It brings me down so much that I'm still depressed about it a day later. A day off to clear my head and focus on the work that needs to be done at home is probably a really good thing.

International Food Festival/Cook-off and Closing Ceremony

kinez — 2008-08-22T17:09:36-06:00

The last day of our Office Olympics was the International Food Festival and Closing Ceremonies. Each country brought a main dish and a dessert to be judged in four categories: main dish taste, main dish presentation, dessert taste and dessert presentation. Each country had a placemat sized area to display their food for the judges. There were three awards in each category. Main dish winners got gold, silver and bronze wooden spatulas. Dessert winners got gold, silver and bronze wooden spoons.

Brazilian Mary Helen cooked Feijoada made from white rice, black beans, pork, and what I would call salsa for the main dish. Brazilian Lisa made Pineapple Empanadas for the dessert.

Countries were also supposed to bring enough food to feed all the people in their country. Everyone could walk around and eat other countries' foods, though.

After the judging and eating, the awards were to be given out for the overall medal points, the cook-off and the Spirit Award. It took so long to tally up the scores for the cook-off, though, that we had to give those awards later.

The chairman of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave out the bronze overall award to Kenya. Kenya was made up of all the managers and administrative folks plus a couple of other folks who provide training and program support. It's the first Olympics where the managers had their own team. Usually, those folks were farmed out to other countries. It gave them a chance to work together on something goofy.

The silver overall award went to Russia. Russia is a hodge podge of special project type people. When their section was formed during a re-org earlier this year, their unofficial names were "the think tank" and "the brain trust."

The gold overall award went to Germany. Germany is made up of accountants and budgetary types. They help keep track of the state's budget and produce the state's financial reports. So remember that the next time you think all accountants are stodgy.

After those awards were given, I gave out the Spirit Award. The Spirit Award is handed off from the country who won it last time to the country who won it this time. The section I work in won the Spirit Award last time (although I wasn't part of the section back then). Each country submitted a vote to me for their choice based on participation, visibility, supportiveness, inspiration and stuff like that. I had just gotten the votes in the morning, so I had to write a quick speech just before the festival and ceremony.

Russia got the most votes. They had t-shirts printed up before the opening ceremony and wore them throughout the two weeks, having a huge red presence at all the events. They chose Russian sounding nicknames such as "Boris" and "Rasputen" and "Tatiyana." They were loud. They supported the underdog teams. They were helpful at the events even when they weren't hosting. Their event was well thought out and creative (the balance bean event). They were willing to take smack just as much as they dished it out. They even had one team member who never participates in any office fun participate in three events.

I think my speech went well, and the Russian team was very excited to receive the award.

After the speech, the chairman of the IOC called IOC members together to break some ties in the food competition tallies. Then I was given the official results. I went back to my desk and built a Web page showing the winners. I told only a few people the results beforehand... people I could trust not to pass it on.

When the results were posted, I waited. Just a short while later, I heard a holler. "WHOOOOO!!" from Brazilian Mary Helen. Then another. Then another and another. Brazil had won an award in all four categories. Gold for main dish taste. Gold for main dish presentation. Silver for dessert taste, and bronze for dessert presentation. Brazil was the only team to win something in all four categories. It was a spirit lifter after finishing the athletic competitions tied for last place.

I got to walk around to the countries and pass out the awards. Our Mexican neighbors had won three awards, and when I gave the gold spoon to Mexican Jane for winning best dessert taste for her Tres Leches Cake, she exclaimed, "And it isn't even as good as it usually is!" I hadn't tasted that cake during the festival, and there were leftovers, so I tried a small piece. It was marvelous.

Kenya won the gold spoon for best dessert presentation for their Mango Ice Cream.

I enjoyed the Olympics this year, and I'm already looking forward to the Winter Olympics in 2010. Maybe I'll be back on my game by then and will bring home a medal. I'm not sure what country I'll be a member of next time, but for now...

Go Brazil!!

Balance Bean

kinez — 2008-08-21T00:06:55-06:00

Russia's Balance Bean event was one of the most intense spectacles of the Olympics. It was the last event that counted toward overall scores. Germany and Russia were tied for first, and Kenya was within reach of a three way tie if they won the gold and Germany and Russia didn't medal.

Russia had gone all out decorating the conference room. Candroid was there, serving as flag bearer. One wall had each of the nine Olympic country's flags with tanks pointed at the countries that Russia wanted to invade (which was everyone except USA. There were extra tanks pointed toward Kenya). On another wall, each of the Russian athletes were represented by human faced bears with their Russian names printed on their chests.

The athletes had a tough task ahead. They had to mount an 8 foot 4x4 beam sitting flat on the floor.

Once on the beam, they had to cross to the other side and turn over a card with colored dots on it. They had to memorize the number of dots of each color and head back over to the other side of the beam. If they touched the floor or one of the Russian spotters posted on either side of the beam, they would be penalized a full minute.

At the other end of the beam was a bowl of beans. These beans would melt in your mouth and not in your hand, if you know what I mean. Athletes had to pick beans out of the bowl to match the dots on the card at the other end. Then they had to go back to the other end and place the beans on the dots. If they had extra beans that didn't fit on the card, they had to place them in a bowl. Each bean in the bowl cost them another 30 seconds.

German Kelley was graceful, as was Kenya Suzy. The others were a mixture of grace and not so much, but I'm not criticizing... I sure couldn't do it. I tried before the event started, and I was glad Brazilian Mary Helen was competing instead of me. Mary Helen shook the whole time she was on the beam, bless her heart. Russian David did the best at memorizing the bean colors. On his first trip back to the bean card with his beans, he lacked only one yellow bean to complete the card and had to go back for that one.

Before the event, I expressed to my Press Corps partner, Brazilian Lisa, that my money was on David as the surprise gold medal winner. I mean, who would suspect the guy who never participates in anything would win the gold medal in a bean counting balancing event? He would have won it, too, had he remembered that one little, yellow bean.

Once an athlete had all the right beans on all the dots, he or she was free to go to the other end of the beam and dismount. A dismount was concluded when the athlete was off the beam and had two limbs in the air. Arms, legs, an arm and a leg... whatever combination the athlete chose. There were no points given for style, though, so it was merely a crowd pleaser.

As mentioned, it was incredibly intense. There were gasps from the crowd as athletes wobbled their way across the beam. No one took a tumble. In the end, Germany won the gold, Kenya won silver, and Russian David won the bronze. That gave Germany the top spot in the overall medal scores, Russia second and Kenya third. Brazil would end the Olympics tied with Jamaica for last place with one bronze medal each. That's okay... at least we weren't in last place by ourselves.

We still had a chance at more awards, though, at the International Food Cook-off and Closing Ceremony tomorrow.

Go Brazil!!

Putt Putt

kinez — 2008-08-20T22:51:02-06:00

Team USA hosted the Putt Putt event. In the Summer Olympics four years ago, there was a putting event, but they putted on the conference room carpet. This year, USA brought in some astroturf and built a green.

The nine golfers had to putt five balls from 12 feet. The top five advanced to round two. The top five were determined by the athletes who putted the most balls in the cup. If some didn't get any in the cup, then they were judged by whoever got a ball the closest to the cup.

The host country painted a wonderful mural for the wall to get people in the golfing spirit.

First up was Kenya Jennifer. She didn't drop any putts, but had a ball touching the edge of the cup.

Next up was French Dean. France was the only country with no medals. Dean tested the wind. He didn't drop any putts, either, but got one within an inch of the cup. Russian Daniel was the first to putt one in. The next four golfers didn't drop any putts. Brazilian Julie went last. She got two in!! But they both popped back out. And then they kept rolling so far away from the cup that she didn't advance to the next round. Boo hoo.

In the second round, golfers putted 5 balls from 15 feet with the same scoring system.

When French Dean was up, Russian Daniel blurted out "Does your husband play golf?" which prompted giggles from the gallery while they puffed their chests out at each other.

The only golfer to drop a putt in the second round was again Russian Daniel, winning Russia the gold medal. Russian Gary served as the ball-to-cup measurer even though it was USA's event. Those Russians are so helpful. The measurements showed France had the closest ball, and USA the second closest. That gave France the silver — their first medal of the games. I was happy for them, but then I remembered that Brazil only had one bronze, so now we were tied for last place with Jamaica. Russia's gold medal put them in a tie with Germany for the top spot with only one event to go — Russia's Balance Bean [sic].

Go Brazil!!

Soccer Slalom Dash

kinez — 2008-08-19T06:52:31-06:00

Today's event was Soccer Slalom Dash hosted by Kenya. Each country entered three athletes who, one at a time, had to kick a soccer ball around one of the floors of our building. The route started in Russia and headed west. Athletes took a right at Elaine's desk and then a left through German territory. They took a right at Phyllis, went past the break room and headed out to the main hallway. The main hallway was cluttered with discarded furniture and boxes from a recent move, so there were plenty of obstacles to avoid. They sprinted down that hallway to the receptionist desk where they turned left and had to slalom through 4 cones. Then they took a right turn and headed toward the director's office, took a right at Jennifer's desk, went past the copy machine and back out into the main hallway where they turned left and kicked it into the goal (the conference room).

The team with the lowest combined time would win gold, etc.

With the course being so big, I couldn't see all the action. I sat at the turn from the main hallway to the slalom next to the reception desk to take pictures as people dashed down the hall.

Brazilian Julie was stationed in the conference room to take pictures when the athletes got to the goal.

A couple of times the ball got away from an athlete and rolled over to me, so I just sat very still and let the athlete come and get it.

It was fun to watch and the crowd was loud. The main Kenyan host kept calling out things like "Italy in the hole!!" I think that meant Italy was lined up to run the course, but I'm not sure.

Some of the athletes had changed into athletic clothing, but others played in their slacks, button up shirts and dress shoes. That's true office Olympic style!

When it was over, Kenya won gold, Mexico silver and Russia bronze. There was one controversy where the timekeeper started Russian Boris prematurely. He was fast, and Jamaican JJ before him was having difficulty, so Boris was catching up to JJ. One of the Kenyan judges called for the time keeper to stop Boris's run, and he had to do the course again a few minutes later. It was obvious to spectators that Boris' first aborted run was better than the second run, so the "what if's" going through people's minds are whether Russia could have bested Mexico for the silver.

Later that afternoon, the Russian's filed a protest and even threatened invasion of Kenya. The International Olympic Committee denied the protest, and Kenya warned Russia that they had the full backing of U.S. forces (which I'm not sure is true, but sounded like some good posturing).

After the event, Germany was still in the overall lead with Russia and Kenya gaining ground. Brazil was tied for second to last place with Jamaica, and France was in last place.

Go Brazil!!

Der Scheibengolf

kinez — 2008-08-18T23:37:09-06:00

Today's event was Der Scheibengolf (disc golf) hosted by Germany. I was the backup athlete since the athlete who volunteered is prone to lateness, absenteeism or just plain not-feeling-wellness on Mondays. It turned out to be a late/not-feeling-well Monday. I had practiced throwing a frisbee around my backyard over the weekend, so I felt I was ready.

The discs were of the small variety. The target looked like a disc golf goal, but it was small, too. The other equipment used were nine buckets (one for each country), an alpine hat and Heidi braids.

The first thing we did was draw numbers. This gave the order of play and the order that athletes could place their buckets around the main goal. The rules said that if you got it in the main goal, you'd get 5 points. If you got it in a bucket, the country assigned to the bucket would get 1 point. I drew number two. I thought placing Brazil's bucket right in front of the goal would be best, but then I thought bucket placement might be counterintuitive. I figured people would be veering off to the right or left, so I placed the bucket just to the right and behind the goal.

We had five discs to throw: three from directly in front of the goal, one a little off to the right and one a little to the left. And we had to use our non-dominant hand. First up was Kenya Darrell. He donned the alpine hat and threw his discs with the same style as he threw the pizzas in the Pizza Toss event. He didn't get any points, though. I was next. I put on the Heidi braids (which went with my shirt very well!), but I didn't get any points. Didn't give any away, either.

Third was German Luis. He threw like he knew what he was doing and got two in the main goal for 10 points. Wow! Fourth was Mexico Pat. Before the event, he informed those in earshot that his waistline is the same size as eight Olympic medal winner Michael Phelps. He proved that the country who placed their bucket last wasn't at a disadvantage as he dropped one in theirs giving Russia one point. Russia's bucket was in the back right next to Brazil's bucket.

Next up were the two countries who haven't won any medals in the game so far: France and Jamaica. French Diana was next. She didn't get or give any points. Jamaica Melissa, though, tossed one into the main goal and showed that maybe it would have been a good idea for me to put Brazil's bucket right in front of the goal as she also tossed one into that one giving Germany a point. Like they needed another point. Now the scores were Germany 11, Jamaica 5 and Russia 1.

USA Kristalle and Italy Ly were next, but neither put any points on the board for their countries or any other country. Russia Gary was the last to go. He thought he had bronze sewed up with his one point and expressed as much, but what he didn't realize was if he dropped one in another country's bucket, he would tie up the score, force a playoff and risk losing. Or he could drop two in one country's bucket and lose outright. If he had realized that, he might have spiked his discs and assured Russia of the bronze. But he didn't.

His first three tosses missed everything. I was really hoping he would drop one in Brazil's bucket and bring back my hopes of winning a medal. His fourth landed — right in the main goal. This put Russia in second place with six points. With one disc left, he could tie things up with Germany and force a playoff for the gold. His last disc didn't land, though, and Russia took the silver. Final score: Germany 11, Russia 6 and Jamaica 5.

It was a fun event, but much too quick. My defeat didn't prompt the deep feelings of agony that I had when I lost the Triathlon. I guess I'm used to being a loser now.

This event gave Jamaica their first medal in the games and put Germany out to a very strong lead overall. Tomorrow's event is Soccer Slalom Dash.

Go Brazil!!