See You Next Wednesday
Monday, September 25
How do you make a space suit look like evening wear?*
On Sunday I started to walk up Mt Ainslie with Bing, James, his father (whose name might be Peter), Kate, Shy, Yang and 4.2 dogs (actually three whole dogs). Unfortunately the weather was positively impending so we turned back before it was too late.
Then we went outlet shopping without Bing and Yang or any dogs. I am inspired to replace my wardrobe. However I know perfectly well I have trouble ridding myself of material possessions and no applied sartorial skill so it will be a reconditioning at best.
Then we went to see Monster House without James or his father, or Kate. I stayed awake through a horror movie without someone poking me, which was nice. (Someone did poke me, but I was awake anyway.)
* It's a rhetorical question.
On Sunday I started to walk up Mt Ainslie with Bing, James, his father (whose name might be Peter), Kate, Shy, Yang and 4.2 dogs (actually three whole dogs). Unfortunately the weather was positively impending so we turned back before it was too late.
Then we went outlet shopping without Bing and Yang or any dogs. I am inspired to replace my wardrobe. However I know perfectly well I have trouble ridding myself of material possessions and no applied sartorial skill so it will be a reconditioning at best.
Then we went to see Monster House without James or his father, or Kate. I stayed awake through a horror movie without someone poking me, which was nice. (Someone did poke me, but I was awake anyway.)
* It's a rhetorical question.
Thursday, September 21
There aren't any wrong answers.
According to the trainer on the business analysis course I went to: there are no wrong answers, only different people's interpretations. I tested his assertion and it may be true, at least in his training room. When our team made deliberate omissions the answer was not wrong. Even when our team made diliberate errors the answer was not wrong. In fact, when we made deliberate misinterpretations the answer was not wrong. I toyed with the idea of drawing a data flow diagram which looked like a duck.
I think other people were testing his assertion too. When one team proposed amalgamating the "Customer Order" with the "Stock Ledger" while maintaining separate "Back Order" and "Stock Receipt" data stores, the answer was not wrong either. What the trainer did say was "an Order data store and a Product data store would be another solution", and he was surprised no team had thought of it. Ironically, he was standing next to another team's big colourful data flow diagram featuring an "Order File" and a "Product File". (I don't know why they both changed "stock" to "product", but they did.)
We learned other things, tarred with the same authority:
1. When do you write the specification? Whenever is most sensible.
2. We learned about Exhaustive Decision Tables which could resolve a decision in all circumstances. Somebody asked what the question marks meant. Somebody else pointed out the footnote which identified the question marks as "unresolved".
3. We learned the difference between Business Process Review and Total Quality Management. If you had a process which took a fortnight: BPR would reduce the time by ten percent; TQM would reduce the time to a day.
He regretted we couldn't go into some of the topics a bit more: "We only have four days, not five or six or seven or eight. Five or six or seven or eight would be too long anyway.".
And in return for his knowledge I was able to give him some advice about his people skills. When he told me he was "going to get a smile out of me" and struck me lightly on the upper arm, I told him "not if you keep hitting me".
Better now.
Last night I went to the theatre to see The 5th Door.
According to the trainer on the business analysis course I went to: there are no wrong answers, only different people's interpretations. I tested his assertion and it may be true, at least in his training room. When our team made deliberate omissions the answer was not wrong. Even when our team made diliberate errors the answer was not wrong. In fact, when we made deliberate misinterpretations the answer was not wrong. I toyed with the idea of drawing a data flow diagram which looked like a duck.
I think other people were testing his assertion too. When one team proposed amalgamating the "Customer Order" with the "Stock Ledger" while maintaining separate "Back Order" and "Stock Receipt" data stores, the answer was not wrong either. What the trainer did say was "an Order data store and a Product data store would be another solution", and he was surprised no team had thought of it. Ironically, he was standing next to another team's big colourful data flow diagram featuring an "Order File" and a "Product File". (I don't know why they both changed "stock" to "product", but they did.)
We learned other things, tarred with the same authority:
1. When do you write the specification? Whenever is most sensible.
2. We learned about Exhaustive Decision Tables which could resolve a decision in all circumstances. Somebody asked what the question marks meant. Somebody else pointed out the footnote which identified the question marks as "unresolved".
3. We learned the difference between Business Process Review and Total Quality Management. If you had a process which took a fortnight: BPR would reduce the time by ten percent; TQM would reduce the time to a day.
He regretted we couldn't go into some of the topics a bit more: "We only have four days, not five or six or seven or eight. Five or six or seven or eight would be too long anyway.".
And in return for his knowledge I was able to give him some advice about his people skills. When he told me he was "going to get a smile out of me" and struck me lightly on the upper arm, I told him "not if you keep hitting me".
Better now.
Last night I went to the theatre to see The 5th Door.
Monday, September 18
Everything is back to normal.*
Our neighbour returned our bin. I don't know if it was before or after the people across the road filled it with the scrap timber they couldn't fit in their bin.
*For stupid values of normal.
Our neighbour returned our bin. I don't know if it was before or after the people across the road filled it with the scrap timber they couldn't fit in their bin.
*For stupid values of normal.
Sunday, September 17
Stuff done.
The World's Largest Dungeon game has restarted now those players who had been absent in Europe are back in town. They slew a lot of drow, a lot. And not just mooks either. There were warrior thises and elite thats. They slew them all except one old blind one who gave them the backstory. I think the party opinion was "Whatever, we would have slain them all anyway". WLD is not a very good module. Dave would like to play a Warhammer RPG just for respite, but we don't know when yet.
Also this week, many people started playing Lexicon. It only took ten days from discovering it to getting the first submission, which was nice.
Yesterday I went out to dinner to celebrate Andrew and Nicole's birthdays with Kirstan, Kristan, Linda, Max, Michael, Mike, Nigel and Penelope. (Some names may have been changed due to noise in the restaurant). Today I had yummy breakfast at my mum's before digging in her garden. Mmm, food.
The World's Largest Dungeon game has restarted now those players who had been absent in Europe are back in town. They slew a lot of drow, a lot. And not just mooks either. There were warrior thises and elite thats. They slew them all except one old blind one who gave them the backstory. I think the party opinion was "Whatever, we would have slain them all anyway". WLD is not a very good module. Dave would like to play a Warhammer RPG just for respite, but we don't know when yet.
Also this week, many people started playing Lexicon. It only took ten days from discovering it to getting the first submission, which was nice.
Yesterday I went out to dinner to celebrate Andrew and Nicole's birthdays with Kirstan, Kristan, Linda, Max, Michael, Mike, Nigel and Penelope. (Some names may have been changed due to noise in the restaurant). Today I had yummy breakfast at my mum's before digging in her garden. Mmm, food.
Tuesday, September 12
We've been stung by a smooth criminal.
A hinge on our neighbour's rubbish bin broke. On Sunday he placed his bins next to where I put our bins out for collection; on the curb across the lawn from his driveway. I noticed because it's right next to our driveway and he's never put them there before.
(In fact, he has previously moved our bins from there in some sort of protest against our bins being on his side of what would be the property line if there wasn't a nature strip. He did this a few times but the curb in front of our house is too steep to stand a bin on and he gave up.)
But on Sunday evening his bins were right there next to our driveway so I put out our bins next to his bins. On Monday afternoon when I got home there were only two bins on the curb. Our recycling bin and - his rubbish bin with the broken hinge! Oh no!
Our neighbour had, somehow, taken our intact bin instead of his own broken one. Obviously it was an honest mistake. Those bins all look the same and, in the bright light of day, he could have easily confused our bin for his own. If he had been trying to surreptitiously swap the bins, surely he would have moved his bin to where our bin had been when he took it. Then his ruse wouldn't have been immediately obvious to a casual observer who hadn't even got out of the car yet.
This morning it took less than two minutes on the phone to arrange a free new bin for us.
A hinge on our neighbour's rubbish bin broke. On Sunday he placed his bins next to where I put our bins out for collection; on the curb across the lawn from his driveway. I noticed because it's right next to our driveway and he's never put them there before.
(In fact, he has previously moved our bins from there in some sort of protest against our bins being on his side of what would be the property line if there wasn't a nature strip. He did this a few times but the curb in front of our house is too steep to stand a bin on and he gave up.)
But on Sunday evening his bins were right there next to our driveway so I put out our bins next to his bins. On Monday afternoon when I got home there were only two bins on the curb. Our recycling bin and - his rubbish bin with the broken hinge! Oh no!
Our neighbour had, somehow, taken our intact bin instead of his own broken one. Obviously it was an honest mistake. Those bins all look the same and, in the bright light of day, he could have easily confused our bin for his own. If he had been trying to surreptitiously swap the bins, surely he would have moved his bin to where our bin had been when he took it. Then his ruse wouldn't have been immediately obvious to a casual observer who hadn't even got out of the car yet.
This morning it took less than two minutes on the phone to arrange a free new bin for us.
Monday, September 11
One Weekend Later
The RPG Meetup met up at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Alex, Drew, James, Paul and Shy were there. Paul brought Shy the whole series of The Mysterious Cities of Gold on disc (and on PalmPilot, except he wanted to keep his PalmPilot). Steve and Xine arrived later with their kiddies. It was literally cold but the whole place is an enormous windbreak so after a couple of hours in the cafe (or one infant's good behaviour span) we went for a stroll around the grounds, which was nice. Lots of windy* paths and lawns** made me think about writing a freeform live action role playing game... but not out loud, it may have been the coffee thinking.
Linda had a big week at work, so big it included Saturday, so she played a bunch of World of Warcraft on Sunday, and I played some too. Also, I went to see High Treason. The live piano accompaniment was intrusive for about a second, for the other 4199 it was brilliant.
And my bigpond email account is working again.
* Twisty, not gusty
** And seats and bridges and a gully and a pond and an ampitheatre and a sundial.
The RPG Meetup met up at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Alex, Drew, James, Paul and Shy were there. Paul brought Shy the whole series of The Mysterious Cities of Gold on disc (and on PalmPilot, except he wanted to keep his PalmPilot). Steve and Xine arrived later with their kiddies. It was literally cold but the whole place is an enormous windbreak so after a couple of hours in the cafe (or one infant's good behaviour span) we went for a stroll around the grounds, which was nice. Lots of windy* paths and lawns** made me think about writing a freeform live action role playing game... but not out loud, it may have been the coffee thinking.
Linda had a big week at work, so big it included Saturday, so she played a bunch of World of Warcraft on Sunday, and I played some too. Also, I went to see High Treason. The live piano accompaniment was intrusive for about a second, for the other 4199 it was brilliant.
And my bigpond email account is working again.
* Twisty, not gusty
** And seats and bridges and a gully and a pond and an ampitheatre and a sundial.
Saturday, September 9
I said "you", meaning "me".
| You've Experienced 60% of Life |
 You have a good deal of life experience, about as much as someone in their late 20s. You've seen and done enough to be quite wise, but you still have a lot of life to look forward to. |
You Are 60% Shy |
 Although you live a pretty normal life, you tend to be a fairly shy person. Many situations make you feel uncomfortable, and you sometimes find your shyness hindering your life. |
You Are 30% Addicted to Blogthings |
 Okay, so you know how to take and post a Blogthing. But you're no addict. (Hey, this quiz *proves* it!) For you, Blogthings is more of a healthy habit. At least, that's what you tell yourself! |
Wednesday, September 6
It worked last time.
Actually it didn't, but it did work the day before. My bigpond account advises me "There was a problem processing your last request. Please try again later." when I tried to look at my email. I didn't think it was remarkable, I thought the system was robust and would be available later. But it isn't available a day later so I tried to send them a message. This required me to log into my account, unfortunately it does not recognise my password. Oh dear.
The firewall at work holds my external emails up for as much as two whole days. Frequently it takes hours for messages to get into or out of my work email account. This has caused trouble.
And Blogger remembered my Gmail account name and password (how, I don't know) instead of my Blogger account name and password, which is less helpful than not remembering either of them. I did manage to solve this one by deleting History, Saved Forms, Passwords etc. from Firefox. So I have hope for the other fraying edges of my cyberspace. Meanwhile, don't rely on my email.
Actually it didn't, but it did work the day before. My bigpond account advises me "There was a problem processing your last request. Please try again later." when I tried to look at my email. I didn't think it was remarkable, I thought the system was robust and would be available later. But it isn't available a day later so I tried to send them a message. This required me to log into my account, unfortunately it does not recognise my password. Oh dear.
The firewall at work holds my external emails up for as much as two whole days. Frequently it takes hours for messages to get into or out of my work email account. This has caused trouble.
And Blogger remembered my Gmail account name and password (how, I don't know) instead of my Blogger account name and password, which is less helpful than not remembering either of them. I did manage to solve this one by deleting History, Saved Forms, Passwords etc. from Firefox. So I have hope for the other fraying edges of my cyberspace. Meanwhile, don't rely on my email.
Sunday, September 3
Even more loot.
And then:
9. Cafe Jazz 4 CD set;
10. Writing - The Story of Alphabets and Scripts by Georges Jean;
11. Numbers - The Universal Language by Denis Guedj; and
12. AHistory - An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe by Lance Parkin.
Feeling tentative.
On Saturday nobody could make it to my monthly Dungeons and Dragons game so I posted an open invitation for anybody to turn up at the Pancake Parlour at ten to play anything they liked. By twelve only Shaiyena had turned up so we went to see 49 Up at Electric Shadows. Later, when Dave and Fiona woke up, Linda and I visited Duffy Street. Simon also woke up. They had been sleeping off the jet lag from their trip to Europe. Simon said Brick was a good movie. Next weekend I want to see High Treason.
Yet even more loot.
The weary travellers presented me with a drink coaster from Portmeirion, where The Prisoner was filmed, which says "you have just been poisoned".
And then:
9. Cafe Jazz 4 CD set;
10. Writing - The Story of Alphabets and Scripts by Georges Jean;
11. Numbers - The Universal Language by Denis Guedj; and
12. AHistory - An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe by Lance Parkin.
Feeling tentative.
On Saturday nobody could make it to my monthly Dungeons and Dragons game so I posted an open invitation for anybody to turn up at the Pancake Parlour at ten to play anything they liked. By twelve only Shaiyena had turned up so we went to see 49 Up at Electric Shadows. Later, when Dave and Fiona woke up, Linda and I visited Duffy Street. Simon also woke up. They had been sleeping off the jet lag from their trip to Europe. Simon said Brick was a good movie. Next weekend I want to see High Treason.
Yet even more loot.
The weary travellers presented me with a drink coaster from Portmeirion, where The Prisoner was filmed, which says "you have just been poisoned".
