3.30.2006

Indescribable Cabbages

Bless his little pea pickin' heart...My husband, DD, is a computer programmer. More specifically, he writes web applications. You know what that is right? Well, if you don't you can skip this entire entry. If you do, bless your pea pickin' heart, too.

So, I have been bugging him about "writing code" for some time. Like as in, "If I could write code, I could make the big bucks, too!" He's always told me, "Sure, I can show you. But, I'm not sure you'll really like it."

I was hanging out around the house the other day, as usual. I was having my afternoon snack. Which that afternoon was a huge slice of fresh red cabbage. Sans garnish or condiment, of course. I was cruching away and dear DD corralled me into "helping" him. I went to his office, pulled up a chair and asked how I could help. DD needed to figure out the a way of setting up the logistics for a menu system for a new website. Could I help him? Sure, I guessed I could.

So far, so good. Except I kept Crunching on my cabbage. As he described his "programming pickle" he glanced over at me and said, "That is Indescribably Irritating" I said, "What? My bad cabbage breath, now way."

'Nope, it's your irritating crunching.'
Then I breathed on him and said, "What? This isn't irritating?"
"No, that's just totally rank."

On to more programming, more crunching, but no more strategically directed exhales. We worked on the problem of the sequencing of the menu. DD actually began to write the code, test it, then revise, rewrite and revamp the code. I said that I likened it to doing a Rubik's Cube. (Which, by the way, I could never complete) It's a giant puzzle where one move inevitably influenced the next move and so on, and so on, and so on. (and they told two friends, and they told two friends) Well, he said he had to agree with my theory.

I watched him code, test, revise and revamp for another 10 or 15 minutes...then I asked if my presence had somehow helped him. He said it certainly did. And then I bailed. It was all I could handle. Yikes.

I never want to learn to write code beyond very, very basic html. My hat's off to him and all the other web app developers. You do what you do, I'll do what I do and it will be a fine world. Oh, when I'm ordering more crap from Amazon.com, make sure that freakin' website and database keeps on working.

Website results:
DD and HP "working" on coding = 25 minutes Problems solved by coding = 0
DD really working on coding = 5 hours Problems solved by coding = all of them

He's a genius.

3.29.2006

Heavenly

Oh, this is so freakin' nice. I have a new 'puter, lovingly assembled, maximized and tweaked by my loving, sweet husband. I am really fired up to have the newness.

I feel good using it and having it in our home as it was Uncle Rudy's. Uncle Rudy passed on right after New Years, this year. He was kind enough to bequeath the compy to us...a good thing all around. His sister, Betty, wanted to get him a computer last year for Christmas. We ordered it for her and delivered it to him at Christmas. Now it's back at our home again. He enjoyed it...and I will too.

Bless you Uncle Rudy....love the crazy recipes for Italian cookies, love your funny stories, you are a gem. We miss you!

3.27.2006

Dr. Covey horrified!

OK, time to get it back together! I woke up this morning at around 9:30. I lazed around and read a good book until.....

DD came in at 10:50 and kindly reminded me I had promised to be at the Leukemia Society at 11:00 to do volunteer work. It's a ten minute drive, how was that going to happen?

Holy smokes....time to slide into dirty jeans and sweater, brush teeth, brush greasy hair, throw on shoes, grab coffee and run out the door. I knew I could get ready fast and be there by 11:20...somehow I made it.

So the upshot of my rushed departure is that I need to get my shit together and start checking my schedule....yikes. I actually still have a schedule, believe it or not. I guess everyone gets more efficient the busier they are...well I need to get busy, I guess!

3.22.2006

SNASU

Situation normal, all sleeped up!
So here's a little synopsis of our days and nights. Still currently unemployed, still loving sleeping in, walking around in sweat pants, sweaters and slippers. DD still working in the basement as a consultant, in jammy pants, sweater and slippers. Big dumb sweet fuzzy cat curled up within 5 foot radius of me. Still surfing away.

Search a little on the internet for jobs. (usually pretty lame ones) Network on cell phone with contacts, set up coffee or lunch appointments, then chat with some of my employed friends. Drink more coffee, maybe eat lunch, maybe just more coffee. Surf a little more.....my favorite. The walk downstairs, install myself on the couch and check out Stacy and Clinton, or my other favorite! I know, it's a stressful life. Sometimes, I even leave the house!

Sometimes I will do a few projects. Clean, laundry, organize etc. (all on my New Years Resolution list) but usually, not so much. It usually comes in spurts, sometimes I will clean all day. Then the next day I will need my rest because I am so sore.

OK, I told you about the run down on my/our days. Evenings are usually a little different. They usually involve beer or vodka, music, hanging out......or movies, beer or vodka, popcorn. But, you will notice, none of these options include leaving the house. Yep, you got it, hardly ever leaving the house. Once every 2 or 3 weeks we will venture down the street to grab a bite to eat and some more beer/vodka. This fun is also punctuated by the gigs my husband plays. I am kind of a music snob so I only go to the gigs that I like. (You see, it's all about me...the beer, the vodka and skinny moo) So, that's it in a nutshell.

Oh no, where'd the kitty go? Better go find him

ZZZZZZZZ....

Wow! It's been more than a few days and I probably have some 'splainin to do. DD and I had some wicked kind of bug. Some flu thing, I reckon. I slept about 15 hours on monday and about 18 hours yesterday. Now, I know I can sleep alot but that is ridiculous! Really, even for me!

Pending any significant change in the overall temperature, the trainer is still set up in the living room. To my blogger friend, Jill, I know I am a wimp. I'm looking for 40 degrees or above with little or no precipitation. That's what you get when you're a suburban biker! Well, let me rethink that....Our fundraising ride isn't until November so I'm not keen on riding in cold, wet weather just yet. Still a wimp, huh? Yes, my lady, I believe so.

3.13.2006

errand girl

I think I lost my calling. I need to be someone's executive "go-fer" DD and I ran errands, shopped and did a little
git Er Done today. Now that I'm looking for a job, I should market my services.
Go to dry cleaners, movie store, grocery store, return purchased items, drop off shoes at cobbler.
Yee ha!

Anybody want some of that?

3.12.2006

Yinzers Unite

DD and I just spent a fabulously slothful weekend at the PGH headquarters of his family. As is typical with any vacation, we spent our time eating, sitting around talking about what and when we should eat next and then eating again. Oh yeah, I also did some mean napping. So, all in all it was a great weekend of family and fun.

DD's Aunt is cleaning and purging her home in anticipation of moving to a smaller, more convenient home. We were there to help out a bit and collect the family wine press. It was apparently last used by DD's great grandfather very early in the last century. How cool is that??? And if it turns out that it is impossible to sanitize...it will make an absolutely awesome planter for our front porch. (I have to have priorities, don't I?)

Yes, to piss off nearly everyone from Cleveland, DD was also the recipient of a ton of Steelers Super Bowl gear. Two foam "Steel Heads" for he and Louis. One million tshirts too! I got a Ben Rothlisberger tshirt...I can cheer for him as he is from my alma mater. (no comments, Uncle Crappy)

3.07.2006

a quick ride

Went for a quick 12 mile jaunt today. It was about 45 degrees out, sunny and very dry.
We layered up with all our cold weather gear and set out. It was unbelievable to be out again. We made good time and didn't get too frosty. I'm really proud of myself. When we started training last year, I was in pretty poor shape. I also was not at all confident in my ability to put in the mileage, do hills, deal with traffic and get fit in general.

I remember our first ride. It was on the bike path and I think we went a total of 4 miles. I almost passed out from the effort! Everything I did that day was very tentative and somewhat uncoordinated. Now I'm saying we did a "quick" ride of 12 miles. If we could have rested in a warm place, I could easily have done 20 more! That's huge. I guess I didn't realize how far we'd come since May of last year until our "first ride" of 2006. We are gonna kick some ass this year!

Next on the "gear want list" is glove liners, new cycling gloves (my favorites got ruint in Maryland) and some wind proof socks! My toes were pretty chilled by the end of the ride. Everything else was warm!

Hope for clear sailing tomorrow too!

3.06.2006

Mission Statement

Ok, the title is a joke. The main reason I am blogging is to post updates on cycling, post photos and rant and rave to the whole blog - 0 - sphere. Thanks for joining me!

Really the current phantasy for 2006 is to ride the Tour de Tucson in November of this year. Unfortunately, DD and I will not be joined by Uncle Crappy and the Wife, since it is Ohio State vs. Michigan weekend. (Better luck next year, I guess.) Our best beer friends will join us yet. Maybe Lake Tahoe in 2007!

We're riding the Tour to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training . We rode in the Seagull Century Ride last year. It was an amazing feat as we were accompanied that entire day with the remains of Hurricane Tammy. It would have been no small feat anyway, but the constant driving rain and intense winds really did us in. We had a great team that raised over $70,000 that day for the Leukemia Society. It was a great way to bond with new friends and do something fun...but mostly to do something for a great cause.

Lurk no more

So, upon looking at my blog, I see I started it just a little over a year ago. 3 posts so far, not impressive by any stretch. It's not public, yet, that would be a huge step. I am a major "lurker" at other's blogs. I might as well set up my own so I can be "lurked upon"

Kudos to Penny Pressed, John Wilder, Jill Homer and the original, the masterful, the most-est, Uncle Crappy!
Thanks for letting me lurk for so long!

I've updated my profile, updated my settings and now it's time to go live with all this shizzy.

Wish me luck