So Much For Relaxing…

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I was going to take a weekend to relax. Really I was. But I’m on call, see. So my Saturday started with a page at 0608 – a dead system. I was at the office by 0715, and fixed that, then worked on a couple of other tasks before heading back home. So … I washed the car, cut the lawns, finished the mulching, and cleaned up the side yard. That put paid to Saturday.

Today, Darlion (nee´ Harmony), the 2007 MacBook Pro was laid to rest. It had shut itself off several times in the last couple of weeks. Just a matter of time, really, until it ate data I cared about. So I migrated everything off the system, and issued the (probably) final shutdown command. Supper out tonight at Mi Hacienda with Marcia and LindaRose, yum.

*      *      *

Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Staff Sgt. David P. Nowaczyk, 32, of Dyer, Indiana, died April 15, in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was attacked with an enemy improvised explosive device.
  • Cpl. Aaron M. Faust, 22, Louisville, Kentucky, died April 15 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Capt. Michael C. Braden, 31, of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, died April 18 in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Apologies

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Today, I was at work by 0555. We finished up the necessary work, I dropped by the nursery to pick up a couple more bags of mulch, and I was home by noon. So that’s a good thing.

A bad thing is that I managed to not push the publish button on last Sunday’s second post: My apologies, as I really don’t like shirking on my acknowledgement of the sacrifices made on our behalf by the men and women of our Armed Forces.

*      *      *

Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Spc. James E. Dutton, 25, of Checotah, Oklahoma, died March 31, in Logar province, Afghanistan.
  • Cpl. Michael J. Palacio, 23, of Lake Elsinore, California, died March 29 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Staff Sgt. Christopher L. Brown, 26, of Columbus, Ohio, died April 3, in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained after he was attacked with an improvised explosive device while on a dismounted patrol.
  • Cpl. Christopher D. Bordoni, 21, of Ithaca, New York, died April 3 of wounds sustained Jan. 18, 2012, while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Capt. Nicholas J. Rozanski, 36, of Dublin, Ohio, died April 4, in Faryab province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained during an enemy attack by a suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device.
  • Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey J. Rieck, 45, of Columbus, Ohio, died April 4, in Faryab province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained during an enemy attack by a suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device.
  • Sgt. 1st Class Shawn T. Hannon, 44, of Grove City, Ohio, died April 4, in Faryab province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained during an enemy attack by a suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device.
  • Cpl. Alex Martinez, 21, of Elgin, Illinois, died April 5 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Spc. Jeffrey L. White, Jr., 21, of Catawissa, Montana, died April 3, in Khost province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Antonio C. Burnside, 31, of Great Falls, Montana, died Apr. 6 at Ghanzi province, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire.
  • Staff Sgt. Tyler J. Smith, 24, of Licking, Missouri, died April 3, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when he was attacked with an enemy improvised explosive device.
  • Constructionman Trevor J. Stanley, 22, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, died April 7 while deployed to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.
  • Lance Cpl. Ramon T. Kaipat, 22, of Tacoma, Washington, died April 11 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Spc. Philip C. S. Schiller, 21, of The Colony, Texas, died April 11 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.
  • Lance Cpl. Abraham Tarwoe, 25, Providence, Rhode Island, died April 12 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Sgt. Tanner S. Higgins, 23, of Yantis, Texas, died Apr. 14 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.

Third day and done

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I decided not to add a new category: Pain. It belongs here, but it’d (hopefully) be so bloody rare as to be much like a broken pencil.

You saw one before-ish (more middle-ish, really)  picture from the front yard, day before yesterday. Here’s one more deeply before picture: the right-hand bed off the front porch:

Right porch bed before cleanup

Right porch bed before cleanup

You might need to click on the image to get the full extent of the pain this bed caused me yesterday. Bracketing the bed are a pair of golden euonymous bushes (pre-trimming. In the center is our wonderful batch of tiger lilies. They’re being owned, sadly, by the yellow-ish grasses, so those had to do. The tulips and gladiolas have been pretty sad the last year or two as well, so everything had to go, excepting the shrubs and and tiger lilies.

Friday morning, I started work on the left porch bed, and it was a bit of a breeze, really. Weeded it out with a hoe, then turned it over with the rototiller. I turned my attention to the right bed. I started weeding it out.

That was when I realized the depth of my problem with the yellow grasses. They were going to take over the whole bed within another couple of years. So I started trying to take those out. Hmmm. The hoe wasn’t going to cut it. More to the point, the hoe was bouncing off. I didn’t want to use the pickaxe, because I don’t want lots of left over bits for this thing to spring back to life with. So a shovel it was. There went two hours of my day, cutting some “grasses” the size of a love seat from the right hand bed.

By the time I’d actually cleared the bed all the way around, it was about 3 PM. I figured I could “hit the ground running” with the rototiller after shopping this morning (Saturday), and get the whole thing done by around 3 PM. So I spent an hour transplanting some of the tiger lilies into the tree bed on the left side of the yard, and called it a day.

I did the shopping this morning (off my usual Sunday, but I’ve got to go to work tomorrow for an indeterminate period of time), got home, took the dog for a leisurely walk, and changed into the yard clothing. Out came the rototiller, and I attacked the final bed. The ground attacked back, and won! It’s partly due to how dry things are here (we’re really short on rain this spring), and other than a few specific areas, much of that bed hasn’t been touched in 7 years. Sigh. Out comes the pickaxe, there goes two hours.

I amended the broken up bed with some leaf compost, and turned it with the rototiller. I tuned up all of the beds with a landscaping rake, applied the mulch to all of the appropriate places in the yard …

Wait, did I just say all? One more piece of bad news. Unlike topping up the mulch from year to year, this time I pulled it all out and refreshed the whole yard. Well, the whole yard except for the bit on the back of the tree bed on the left side of the yard. I had 25 bags of mulch. That’s 50 cubic feet, and I came up short by about a bag and a half. But from the street it looks great, and I’m bloody tired.

Here’s what some of it looks like:

Transplanted tiger lilies in the tree bed

Transplanted tiger lilies in the tree bed

The right porch bed, after

The right porch bed, after

With a bit of the old clicky-clicky, you can see that I’ve already added some new decorative grasses to the right porch bed. They’re spiky and non-invasive. In a year or two they’ll do a nice job of providing a bit of backdrop for whatever I plant there.

Now it’s nearly time to sleep, but first to walk the mutt. Ciao!

Spring: Sprung

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For the second morning in a row, early temperatures in the mid-30’s Fahrenheit put a bit of a damper on morning yard work. I’ve taken a couple of days off to get the front yard in order. I’m peeling out all the old mulch, weeding everything, edging around the trees, and re-seating border bricks around the beds. What I didn’t count on yesterday was finding that a couple of the beds needed a deep turning.

Revising a planting bed

Revising a planting bed

When I uncovered the bed you see above, the soil seemed a bit lifeless and compacted, in keeping with the tepid growth of the few tulips that survived there. Normally I plant hardy annuals there, but they haven’t done so well, of late. This time, I remembered why: I haven’t turned that bed (nor the one behind it, up against the fence) since we moved into the house, nigh unto a decade ago.

Side note: We’re really short on spring rain this year – there hasn’t been but perhaps a quarter of an inch in the last 6 weeks or so.

Silly me, I attacked the ground with a spade point shovel. That bought me about three inches of penetration. I tottered back into the shed, and brought out the pickaxe. That did the job. I trenched out to 12-15 inches (in both beds, tree and fence), hauling the dirt back onto the concrete pad behind the fence. There I broke it up and mixed it with equal parts leaf compost. Then I barrowed the mix back out and filled the beds. The first partial load has just been tipped in, above. When all was said and done, five barrow loads went back into the bed.

The bed work slowed me considerably, though. I didn’t finish with the de-mulching and weeding yesterday, but I did all seven of the smaller beds/trees. What’s left are the two large beds around the front porch. I do know I’ve amended those quite recently, so no more pickaxe work today. I’m just waiting for the temps to rise into the 50’s so that I can get back to work. Ciao!

 

School and Lexi

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First, Lexi … She’s a dog who epitomizes dogness, especially in the napping department. But when it comes to bed neatness, well, it’s not her long suit. This bed had been made, before Lexi decided to climb back in for a late afternoon nap:

Lexi vs. the bedding

Lexi vs. the bedding

You say, no, that’s not Lexi … You’re the slob, Brian. Not so. See:

Lexi uncovered

Lexi uncovered

But she’s not very good at looking guilty, is she?

*      *      *

When all was said and done with the PeopleSoft upgrade of MyUMUC, many things were broken. THANKS, UMUC! For one thing, my instructor from the Software Engineering course has been unable to submit grades, so I don’t have my grade to submit for reimbursement. Grrr. THANKS, UMUC!

Worse, the student advising tool, designed to help people figure out what courses need to be taken to finish up their degree is now both less useful, and a big fat liar. It’s less useful because it is a dramatic departure from the prior interface, which worked just fine, thanks. In the name of modern web technology, they’ve made a dynamic Ajax-y crap pile.

The big fat liar part comes in here: The answers that the former advising tool gave are different than the new tool. WTF? Now what? THANKS, UMUC! I called on Wednesday, they said that they knew it was broken, and it’d be fixed in a week or two. I have an idea. Don’t release BROKEN CRAP SOFTWARE that tens of thousands of students rely on for information and advice. THANKS, UMUC! You can have my idea for free … just act on it.

Spring Semester Fini!

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Yay! I wrote and submitted my last 11 pages of work for the Principles of Software Engineering class yesterday, so I’m done and waiting on the ‘A’.

Today, to celebrate a few weeks of freedom from school, I shopped, cleaned the coffee roaster, did yard work, roasted coffee, cooked, and cooked some more. Sore and tired now, but still happy. And of course, we won something on Friday. Nothing close to a half billion dollars, though.

*      *      *

Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Capt. Aaron D. Istre, 37, of Vinton, Louisiana, died March 24 in Kabul, Afghanistan.
  • Sgt. Daniel J. Brown, 27, of Jerome, Idaho, died March 24 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Sgt. William R. Wilson III, of Getzville, New York, died March 26 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds from small arms fire.
  • Sgt. Joseph D’Augustine, 29, of Waldwick, New Jersey, died March 27 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Capt. Francis D. Imlay, 31, of Vacaville, California, died March 28 from injuries received in an accident involving an F-15 aircraft near a base in Southwest Asia.
  • Pfc. Johnathon F. Davis, 20, of Griffin, Georgia, died Mar. 29, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire.
  • Cpl. Roberto Cazarez, 24, of Harbor City, California, died Mar. 30, while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Spc. David W. Taylor, 20, of Dixon, Kentucky, died Mar. 29, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.

Training Week

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A week of intense training, VMware vSphere 5 Fast Track presented by Global Knowledge, is now done. I had the benefit of a great instructor: Scott South. But my brain is bursting with information about this latest update to the VMware product line.

Also, Spring session at UMUC is almost done for me. I’ve got one paper-ish thing to write this weekend, and then wait for the ‘A’. Yeah, but I’m not just being smug: I’ve got 86 points going into this last week, and 12.5 points still to be graded, so it’s a reasonably certain ‘A’. Much more statistically sound than playing the bloody Lottery, which I also did, just because of this: You can’t lose if you don’t play.

The reading stack

The reading stack

Why do I share this boring picture with you? This is what happens to me when school is in session. Stuff I want to read is stacked up way behind schoolwork, etc. There’s Make in there, woodworking mags, and much more. There’s also a virtual stack in the Kindle. I’m going to start at the top of the physical stack and unwind from training week this evening.

I’ll do the schoolwork tomorrow, and probably some yardwork on Sunday. Ciao!

Good news, bad news

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The good news is twofold. First, my penultimate deliverable for the Software Engineering class is in the hopper – two sections (about 11 pages) of an SDMP document. One more week of reading and writing puts that class to bed.

Second, it looks like my effort to finally purchase materials and get the cold frame built (see yesterday’s post) is going to pay off: we’re likely to see frosts Monday and Tuesday nights. With luck what I built protects what I’m growing.

Third (yes, third, this is a bonus good thing, for some definition of good), I’ve got a week-long VSphere 5 boot camp training that I’m attending this upcoming week. It’s nearby, I won’t be away from home much early or later than normal working hours, and I’m going to learn a crapload about VMware to supplement what I already know from the environments I’ve worked with previously. The downside is that all of this piles into my brain while I’m trying to finish a very challenging UMUC class. Such is life – the next convenient training is months away.

*     *     *

Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Sgt. Jamie D. Jarboe, 27, of Frankfort, Indiana, died March 21 in Topeka, Kan., from wounds suffered on April 10, 2011 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.
  • Spc. Dennis P. Weichel Jr., 29, of Providence, Rhode Island, died March 22 in Laghman province, Afghanistan, from injuries suffered in a noncombat related incident.

Another Spring, Another Garden

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The snow peas are coming in fine …

Snow peas coming up

Snow peas coming up

… although that might be a bit of a misnomer. It was nearly 80 yesterday. Fortunately the humidity didn’t match. We could still get a late cold snap, and even snow. But I really want to get more things started. Potatoes should do okay regardless:

Where the potatoes are

Where the potatoes are

That looks boring now, but soon, soon. As the potatoes come up, I’ll sweep the earth in from the sides and mound over the potatoes, which should increase yield. And there at the bottom left, you can see my snow/frost preventer.

Finally, a cold frame

Finally, a cold frame

In years past, I’ve started from seed in trays similar to those above. Sitting out in the weather, all it took was one frosty night to kill all my seedlings dead. I’d have to remember to bring them in at night, and put them out in the morning. Now I don’t have to do that. And since I don’t … I probably won’t need to. It’d be even cooler if I could put a temperature sensing system connected to a motor to crank that frame up and down at the appropriate times. But I can certainly go outside and pull the prop as necessary. The frame is hinged to the bed on the side away from the camera. The top is 3′ x 4′ x 1/8″ plexiglass, screwed to the top of the frame, and one center bar.

I got all that done, and tools brought in, and pictures taken just as the rain started to come down. Apparently we’re due for an inch or two this weekend. I hope the potatoes like that.

 

Team Project DONE; Now, Lasers!

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I’ve been working like mad on a team project for my CMIS330 class, it’s due tonight, and happily, I think it’s done! I’ve got it out for review to the team members right now, and hell or high water I’m turning it in at 2100 EDT.

It makes me want to build robots with Laser Eyes (thanks to JoCo) and loose them upon the world.

*     *     *

Our condolences to the familes, friends and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Staff Sgt. Jesse J. Grindey, 30, of Hazel Green, Wis., died March 12, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.
  • Spc. Daquane D. Rivers, 21, of Marianna, Fla., died March 14, from injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident in Paktika province, Afghanistan.
  • 2nd Lt. Clovis T. Ray, 34, of San Antonio, Texas died Mar. 15 at Kunar province, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.