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A much more normal night. With a dull red glowing sun taking a nice blue morning in tow. While the sun doesn't stay red for long the sky keeps it's blue for most of the day. There are just some high thin white cotton feather forming in the evening. Trapping the heat for the night no doubt.
Current temp is 21.0°C in (airco) and 17.6°C out.
Yesterday I got a million calls in the morning. Today I get one.
And just a couple in the afternoon. But I don't regret it. At all. In stead of assisting stumbling users and cleaning up digital excrements left by incontinent programs I finish up the list of what's got to be finished before the end of the month.
Dinner is half a pizza. Proof of the top quality of the bottom is that it still hasn't turned soggy. Still crisp and tasty even after a night in the fridge.
O_O
Why the UK identity cards are such a good thing. ( http://eclectech.co.uk/swizz.php )
Perfect organisation. ( http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/06/fema_to_mac_linux_us.html ) Bill must be happy.
Wednesday 2005-09-07 (Remarks about 192 words)
Isn't it wonderful. The last weeks of the holidays were so-so. Of course the moment school begins it's all sunny and warm. Poor kids. It is warm outside, a happy 27 or there about, but the humidity is killing. And it's actually much nicer inside with the airco set at 23, all the airco actually does is drain the water from the air.
Current temp is 23.8°C in and 21.0°C out.
I have half a day off to get a new ID card. But of course I forget that and come into the office. It's only when R comes in and regards me weird that I realise I shouldn't be here. So, after solving some problems I go home again. And get the ID-card, now that only took five minutes, those 'lazy' civil servant are getting efficient. And walk back in at work just after 10:00. With W remarking to L 'See I told you he'd be back around ten.'. They're starting to know me by now. ^_^
Support is low, most calls are directly -and not urgently- for W but he's got the afternoon off to get his woman to hospital
Running is suicide. There was actually some free running water in my shoes when I finished! Seeing that I have been running alone most of the year I think I am going to switch again. Stop running after work but go back to Sunday mornings. Early morning means it's a lot cooler and I finish at home so I can pop under the shower immediately. The only disadvantage is that I'll be running on streets, a nice and even surface but hard.
Dinner is Nihoen Goreng, basically the same as the usual rice with leeks and ham stuff (Nasi Goreng) but with the rice replaced with rice-vermicelli. Not bad but I like the rice version better.
O_O
If you want to get rid of those pestering neighbour kids give them this link saying they should try it at home. ( http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/08/howto_make_ball_ligh.html ) You'll be rid if the neighbour kids as well as the annoying neighbours themselves.
Thursday 2005-09-08 ( Remarks about 373 words)
Someone of the weather gods screwed up. Or they are all on holiday. It's warm at night, warmer even in the morning. Tropical heat and humidity. With miserably grey winter clouds.
Current temp is 25.7°C in and 21.9°C out.
Nothing to report. Almost no support, nice progress on the SAP front.
I did leave early, well actually 17:00 should be normal but it is at least an hour sooner than usual, because I had to pass by the HR department, picking up paycheck en stuff. Of course I forgot why I was leaving early and only remembered back home.
Dinner is baked fish with shrimp and rice. Some imported Vietnamese fish but during transport (frozen) it must have lost it's taste. Not bad, not good, just a bit plain. Nothing that a good shrimp-sauce can't improve.
Friday 2005-09-09 ( Remarks about 148 words)
Curious. It looks perfectly sunny and clear but the humidity is still very high. Enough water in the air but no clouds to be found. Late in the afternoon come clouds drift in.
Current temp is 23.2°C ~airco~ in and 19.6°C out.
Shopping. Wine and fruit and groceries. Nothing much.
It looks perfect weather for gardening so I start to dig up some potatoes. Looks are deceiving though. I don't have many potatoes in my garden this year, most were planted at my brothers garden. I dug up one plant a couple of weeks ago cause the potatoes were showing up (heavy rain had washed away some soil, and potatoes that get sunlight turn green) so I only had 7 plants left. After just two plants I was panting for breath and swimming in sweath. And that's not because my physical condition is so bad.
So I go hide up on the attic with the airco which is spewing out water faster than it can evaporate on the roof. At least the air inside is of a breathable dryness.
Dinner is salmon with rice and tomato-paprika mix, with chicory.
The tomatoes are from my brothers garden, only a thousand times better than the shop-tomatoes. The shop-tomatoes disappear in the pan after ten minutes of simmering. They disappear not only structurally by disintegrating but their taste is lost as well, all you have left is some pale red liquid. The home-grown tomatoes are smaller but much denser and after ten or fifteen minutes of simmering they remain recognisable as tomato both in structure and texture as well as in taste. I actually have to add some water to prevent burning where usually the tomatoes provide an excess that must be cooked off. Of course I use less -and different- spices because less are needed to find a good balance.
Saturday 2005-09-10 ( Remarks about 323 words)
Autumn is known for it's mist in the morning. So now it must be autumn. And it remains morning all day cause we have that morning mist all day. Late evening is marked by drizzle. The lightest drizzle worth the name.
Current temp is 22.4°C in and 16.4°C out.
The forecast was for clear skies with clouds rolling in later bringing heavy showers. Nothing of that happens here of course (some places around the country get inundate with local flooding and mud slides) so now I am saddled with laundry that doesn't dry.
Not only the laundry stays wet but the beans as well. The variety I grow can be eaten as haricot-verte early in the season and can be dried and kept as classic white beans later on. Now most of the pods are drying out. Of course with the dew and rain this time of year along with falling leaves (bean-leaves mostly) they run the risk of rotting. So I pull all the beans that are low on the ground and spread them out on the driveway for drying.
Which doesn't work well this year. By evening they are still not dry so I pick them up and spread them out on the kitchen floor, under the table. They'll dry slowly there but at least they are out of the way. With some luck they dry enough to start pealing by Wednesday.
Planned dinner is a barbecue. With spiced pork and paprika on sticks. But it's not the right weather to sit out and cook in the open. So I pull the meat off the sticks and stir-fry it in the wok. Served on Japanese rice cooked with chopped parsley.
Wonderelicious. With a glass of Italian wine.
Sunday 2005-09-11 ( Remarks about 323 words)
I can't decide whether it's thick mist or extremely light drizzle. It's wet driving either way. Most of the day is warm and overcast, not as warm as yesterday but still sweaty and uncomfortable. But at least the evening is no longer misty so it does cool down a bit. To nicely comfortable sleeping temperatures.
Current temp is 22.4°C in and 12.5°C out.
Again there is almost no need for support. Well with L and W in and available nothing comes my way. So I can work out some more SAP stuff.
Which we have a meeting about in the afternoon. I think we still have six months of work ahead, to be finished before October the first. And now that is slowly sinking in with the others. I am however comfortable that, comes the first we have a working system ready for testing. One problem is that we are still without answers on some questions. The client which forces us to bend to SAP still can't ~or won't~ answer them so we will have to find out their answers when they start throwing real tests our way.
Dinner is stew with new potatoes. Needless to say I ~burps~ eat too much. ^_^'
Monday 2005-09-12 ( Remarks about 215 words)
Weather gods playing dice. Saturday we get semi tropical conditions with high humidity and heat. Sunday arctic ring weather, warm enough but misted-up all day. Today starts bright clear and sunny. And, with the addition of a few small white clouds the whole day plays mid-summer.
Current temp is 23.8°C in and 11.7°C out.
Again no big stuff on the support side of work. Seems clear that vacation is over and everybody has returned to his or her regular job.
Of course when support calls dry up wet sticky (and stinky brown) stuff appears on the SAP side of the fence. For a simple extra addition I pick up a program that R has done some time ago. And three hours later I am still working on it. *sigh*
Dinner is fennel stew with chicken. Or was it chicken stew with fennel. I don't know which. I do know it was good, not excellent, just good.
The fun thing about this dinner (and yesterday's) is that I am clearing out the freezer. There is lots of ice forming so I will have to thaw it out and clean up the freezer. Of course I have to get rid of the content first. As you should by now know I never put labels on the stuff I freeze in so it's always a surprise when I get it out. OK not always, asparagus is easy to recognise as are some other things like sausages or red cabbage. Less easy is the distinction between a dense tomato soup or a chicken stew (to which I add a lot of tomatoes) or my concentrated bean soup and a normal beef stew. I also cut chicken and various types of fish into stir-fry sized parts put them into bags and freeze them after which they become indistinguishable.
Hey it's food and it's fun.
O_O
Big old flash. ( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/12/furthest_gamma_ray_burst/ )
But it's good. Against piracy. Oh and it will prevent terrorism. ( http://www.godwinslaw.org/weblog/archive/2005/09/09/riaas-big-push-to-copy-protect-digital-radio ) And did we mention it will stop tornadoes and hurricanes dead in their tracks?
Gov giving in now. ( http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/09/10/katrina.media/index.html ) But they keep trying.
A noisy office may be a bonus. ( http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=893 ) Hunt 'n peck typing will be difficult to listen out as well.
Tuesday 2005-09-13 ( Remarks about 393 words)
I love variation. Today starts all overcast with a few red glowing near cracks. They stop glowing soon and stop being almost cracks as well, the overcast is complete. An we get some light rain in the early afternoon and light drizzle in the early evening.
Current temp is 20.1°C in and 15.0°C out.
Support was no fun. Not the amount was a problem but the level. Users succeed in breaking things that cannot be broken. And doing it without knowing they actually break things. And they always find new ways to break things.
The result is that I don't get much done for the sapification.
Dinner is asparagus rolls. But the way I have long wanted to try them.
The problem is that I seldom have black olives in house when I make them. Black olives are ripe olives and they cannot be kept indefinite. So I buy them in the smallest possible amounts, usually just enough for a couple of pizza. Also usually I look and buy the main ingredients of a course and use whatever I have in store for spicing up and enriching the dish. Not so this time. The moment I saw the box of olives I knew I would have something with olives for dinner.So I make the rolls as usual, two stems of asparagus and a pinch of ginger, rolled up in a slice of cooked ham. Put them in an oven dish and sprinkle a little bit of grated Gruiere cheese over it. On top of that I distribute chopped olives and some pizza herbs ~rosemary, thyme, parley, garlic~ an I cover it with thin slices of mozarella cheese. Baking that for almost 20 minutes in a moderate oven ~gas-5~ results in an acceptably good dinner.
O_O
Big drive and rather silent and reasonably fast. Sounds very good indeed. ( http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=26140 ) If you can get someone else to pay for it.
Back to basics. ( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/13/review_realbasic_2005/ ) Maybe MS can go back to building a BASIC environment as well.
Looks rather handy is you forgot where you parked your airplane. ( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/13/google_earth_threatens_democracy/ )
How to make anti-choice fundamentalist support free choice clinics. ( http://www.ppsp.org/PledgePicket-index.asp )
Wednesday 2005-09-14 ( Remarks about 383 words)
Today, we start with an hors d'œuvre of drizzle. The main course is dry clouds with a short spat of rain in the middle. The desert is windy wetness, a nice layering of alternating rain and drizzle covered in blistery wind.
Current temp is 21.9°C in and 15.2°C out.
I get just three or four calls and only one is real support. I love that sort of days. In between the normal SAP work I follow a meeting between W and L (and C) about load checking. Picking up some good information for the documentation stuff I try to keep track of. It looks a lot like archeology. You find a couple of bones and part of a skull and from that you construct a whole animal. Then you try to put other bones in the right place as you find them.
Dinner is salmon pizza, one of the best types there is.
I did start off on the wrong footing though by using to little water for the dough. And it's much easier to add flour to wet dough than it is to add water to a dry dough. It took more than twice as long to get the dough right, but good dough is worth the effort. For the topping I bough a normal piece of fresh salmon, a fillet piece from the tail is easiest. I cut that up into very thin slices, about five millimeter. Spread some siffed tomato on the rolled out dough and distribute the salmon evenly over that. Then cover with finely chopped onion a bit of garlic and some chopped olives. On top of that goes some cheese and a couple of olives. Just delicious.
O_O
Must sound reassuring for Intel. ( http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=26181 ) Oh well, it still sells for supercomputers so that's good. (For the moment.)
Thursday 2005-09-15 ( Remarks about 321 words)
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