Sometimes, I hate weekends

Particularly LONG weekends.

A lot of the work at my job runs 24x7, and when I come in after a long weekend, there are usally all sorts of issues to deal with. Sigh

Wire Management - again

How come, in this day and age of way too many wires, we don't see desks, either for the home, or for the office, with good cable/wire management features? Wire troughs, outlets trips build in, etc?

Yes, I know wireless stuff is becomeing more common now, but that just means you'll have a USB or charger cable up to the desk, along with at least one monitor data cable and power cable, probably a keyboard and mouse cable (or else a cable up for the wireless head)

Cable Management

Did a bit of cable cleanup today - No, the lan cable and the power strip you see on the floor were NOT included

Happy Holloween

Good checkup

Saw my endo yesterday, and a basically good checkup. BP was good, A1C at 5.9%, foot tests good, got my normal flu shot (they did not have the H1N1 available - call in a week or so)

The only bad was I put on 4 lbs

Nice weekend

I did 2 things this weekend I haven't done in over a year

1)Played in a ham radio contest - actually, the first NY State QSO party that has been held in 17 years,

2)Had a wee dram of scotch - as I'm no longer on pain killers, I was able to sit by the fire, and enjoy a single malt while listening to a Windam Hill Record yesterday during the rain

Gahhhh

Forgot my Medic ID necklace AND my USB thumb drive at home today (they stay together).

I swear that some days I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached

Blogrolls

An interesting post on the roll of well blogrolls (no pun intended) over at Ripples in the Ether

Time to rename the Nobel Peace Prize

Time to rename the Peace Prize - the "Seinfeld Prize" It's an award about nothing

Just before impact this morning, LCROSS's last transmission:

Not Kidding

"That's it! Ground! Ha! I wonder if it'll be friends with me?"

Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize?

WTF?

This is a joke

Drop me a line...

I know I have 1 or 2 readers out there, but not many

A short bleg - IF you read this blog, post a comment or drop me a line at

kg2vny @ nospam @ gmail.com

Remove the obvious part

Let me know what you like, what you don't - what you'd like to see me write on (hey, the reason I don't write more is I don't know what to say

Charlie

Think I'm coming down with a cold

Oh Joy, think I'm comong down with a cold

Never Forget

Enough said

Squirrel Season

It's the opening day of Squirrel Season in most of New York (well, except for LI, the City and what, Westchester?), and the weather is stunning. Wish I had the day of to nominally go hunting.

Why do I say nominally? I can't tell you the number of times Dad and I would go upstate to go "Squirrel Hunting", grab our lunch, stuff some ammo in out pockets, I'd grab my .22, he'd grab the shotgun, and we'd look at each other and say "Going to load the gun today?" "Nope" and we'd go for a walk in the woods, sit under a tree, and nominally "hunt Squirrels". Of course what we were really doing was enjoying each other's company, and continuing the tradition.




I miss Dad, particularly on days like this.

So Ted (The Swimmer) Kennedy is Dead

I see that Ted Kennedy is dead. May justice for Mary Jo Kopechne be served in the afterlife. It sure wasn't served here

Soccer Starts Tonight

Sigh, another soccer season starts with 90 minutes of practice for my Son tonight. Yea!

Working Effectively with Legacy Code

What can be said about Michael Feathers' Working Effectively with Legacy Code that has not already been said?

This book, along with a few others (for example, Code Complete
and Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code
) belong on every programmer's bookshelf.

Michael defines "Legacy Code" as "Code without tests". In this book, he shows you examples of HOW to find the "seams" in your code, so that you can add tests, in order to refactor your code and/or extend your application without breaking your code.

Code refactoring is the process of changing a computer program's internal structure without modifying its external functional behavior or existing functionality.

If you work at ALL with legacy (brownfield) applications, you need to read this book.

Machine Shop Trade Secrets

A couple of years ago, the author of the book Machine Shop Trade Secrets sent me a copy for review, and I've had a quick review on mw web site for a long time, but I thought it was time to expand it a bit.

This book, written by James A Harvey, is a compendium of tips and tricks for use in the machine shop.

It's somewhat in the same vein as Guy Lautard's The Machinist's Bedside Reader, but with a heavier slant towards the professional machinist, for example, there is an entire chapter on Mold Making, which is not normally a Home Shop activity.

The book has 18 chapters, with everything from the aformentioned Mold Making Tips, Tips for Novices, How to make your parts look good, how to work fast, and lots of others.

I DID notice one mistake in my copy of the book that I pointed out to the Author. In the Chapter "Tell Me something I didn't know" he claims that "The 'RS" in RS232 stands for Radio Shack". Nope, it stands for 'Recomended Standard'

Summer Soccer if Over

Ah, Summer soccer is over - Hugh's team (U7-U9 unisex) came in 2nd, Anna's (u12-u15 I think, again Unisex) came in 3rd

Of course, one of Hugh's (and looks Like Anna's too) leagues has their parents meeting Friday - it never ends

"Dissent is patriotic."

Of course, except when you have a Dem as President

What could Possibly go wrong?

Health Care Reform - >What could possibly got wrong?

If Obama has his way, his health care plan will be funded by his treasury chief who did not pay his taxes, overseen by his surgeon general who is obese, signed by a president who smokes, and financed by a country that is just about broke.

Shack Updates

Well, I never have gotten the beam up. Two years later, it's still sitting in the yard. I can't find anyone to install it, because no one waht the liability of bolting it to the roof. I might just have to save up, and out up say a 40 ft crankup in the yard.

One thing I really want to do in the shack is change my desk around. It's a mess. I really think I'm going to make or buy a couple of desktop "turret" racks to mount all the ham gear in, plus put say a 2.5 or 3 ft rack under the desk to mount all the computer stuff and power supplies in.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

Leg aching today

It's aching - just aching. I'm tired. I need a vacation

It's watching me

40 years ago + 1 day

Yes, I know it's an urban legend, but...

"Good Luck Mr Gorsky"

Painting

Recently, I've been painting my old bedoom at my parent's house. As the ceiling was new sheetrock, I decided to try that new Behr (read Home Depot) paint and primer in one. I found it worked really really well on the raw sheetrock, and the few spots I spot primed on the walls, it covered the old paint extremely well. The raw wood trim however was not so good (needed a 2nd coat)

Interestingly, I've always been a Benjamin Moore user - I went to paint the walls with the standard Regal Wall Satin - the color choice was "Opal" (aka OC73), simply because I had 2 gallons of it sitting here at the house. It didn't cover worth a darn - 2 coats were manditory, where the spots with the ONE coat of white Behr paint just covered.

YMMV

Charlie

Gahh - Wound Care

As I think I've blogged, my old wound care MD disapeared in Mid-Feb. Started with a new one today. I've been told no gym, stay off my feet, I'm back in a Unna boot, and there is talk of major time in a wound care center.

Breaking News

Michael Jackson is still dead.

(and so is Generalissimo Francisco Franco)

Endocrinologist visit

Went to my endocrinologist yesterday

First the bad news - I gained weight (boo)

The good news - my A1C is down to 5.8

This is kind of a shock to me, as I expected it to have gone UP. My average readings have gone up, but that is partly because I've started to have a mid morning and late afternoon snack. Good news on a whole I guess

Dentist turned out to be no big deal

Woot!
Turned out not to be a big deal - the chip was small enough that they were able to bond on some sort of plastic or something - no drilling, no pain, in an out in 15 minutes.

While I was there, I made an apointment for my cleaning. As I go every 3 months, that's usually not too bad

Dentist tonight

I woke up Friday moring, a spit out a small chunk of my left rear lower molar - joy, but luckly no pain. I had a choice - travel about 1 hour, and mess up my weekend, or wait - DDS said "it's OK to wait if you're not in pain", so tonight is the night

Oh so true

A quote from Tocqueville

The sovereign extends its arms about the society as a whole; it covers its surface with a network of petty regulations—complicated, minute, and uniform—through which even the most original minds and the most vigorous souls know not how to make their way… it does not break wills; it softens them, bends them, and directs them; rarely does it force one to act, but it constantly opposes itself to one’s acting on one’s own … it does not tyrannize, it gets in the way: it curtails, it enervates, it extinguishes, it stupefies, and finally reduces each nation to being nothing more than a herd of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my lovely wife Mary, and to Canada

Billy Mays

First there was Ed,
Then Farah,
Then MJ

But wait, there's more...

Didn't do Field Day

Missed Field Day for the 3rd year in a row.

Sheet rocking on Friday ran LATE - but we got started late, so I didn't get the 1st coat of tape up. Ended up doing that on Saturday AM, then had to spend the rest of the early afternoon running to Home Depot, and the local appliance place(AC in the den died last summer - time to replace it)

Sunday I went "Upstate" - aka the Kingston Area (West Hurley and Lamontville). The Ashokan was going over the spillway and the woods were WET. Nice party for Jane's graduation, and it was GOOD to see everyone. The last time I saw most of them was just over a year ago at Dad's Funeral. I normally get up there 4-5 times a year, but the last couple of years have been crazy. I hope to get up there (and to PA to visit with John and Lyn) a LOT more now that things have calmed down a bit in my life

Field Day 2009

I was really really hoping to make it to Field Day this year, but last Friday I received an invite to a friend's Daughter's High School Graduation. This is one I will NOT miss. I hope to get to play some on Saturday, after putting a 2nd coat of taping compound on the spare bedroom ceiling at Mom and Dad's place

Look for KG2V as either a 1D or 1E (depends on how I feel) from NLI section (probably 1D)

Dix Hills Soccer Tournament - A wet time

So, on Saturday, I took Hugh out to the Tournement. His club had 2 teams playing, and Hugh got to play with the more advanced players, despite not normally playing with them. (They were short handed, ended up playing with only 2 subs)

They won 1, lost 2, but played well

Sunday, Mary took him out, and they tied 1 (against the other club team) and lost the other game

Saturday, the Coach was happy, despite the record, as the kids played well, and tried. I gather that on Sunday, this was NOT the case

Dr Seuss for the internet age

http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=4440353&cpp=1

Breakup Songs

Today I was listening to Matt Pinfield on WRXP, when Leslie said "Everyone has a breakup song"

WRONG

I married my childhood sweetheart, and we're still together

There is only ONE bad thing I can think of with marrying your childhood sweetheart - it's that they remember all the stupid things you used to do when you were a teenager

Mary, Thanks for puuting up with me for all these years

Air France 447

First, may the victims rest in peace

What worries me (and HAS to be worrying Airbus) - Have you looked at the photos of the wreckage? A nice ripped off vertical stabilizer floating on the water. Now where have we seen that before?

Oh yeah - American Flight 587 which crashed in the Rockaways when the vertical stabilizer ripped off an Airbus A300

Normally, when you look at plane crashes, you'll see that the "tail feathers" (Vertical and Horizontal Stabs, rudder, elevator etc) stay together, as that section of the airplane is fairly "beefy"

Another thing that worries me - from what I gather, Airbus and Boeing have VERY different ways of looking at "fly by wire" - I gather that with Airbus, the software will do what it wants, no matter what you want, with Boeing, you can override the software

Why is this relevant? Having actually read the AA-587 crash report, they blame the crash on the pilot making excessive rudder inputs, and ripping the VS off the plane, when he got stuck in turbulence. I don't buy it. We have a few pilots here - if you were stuck in an emergency/rough turbulence - you going to be doing much with the rudder? Ailerons make you turn, the rudder makes it pretty. I still believe that the VS was already parting ways with the A300 and the pilot was trying to compensate - that the turbulence of the previous flight was causing the plane to come apart

Now we have an A320, in turbulence, over the Atlantic that comes apart.. I'll bet that Airbus hopes they never find those black boxes

Dix Hills Soccer Tournament this weekend

This weekend is the 2009 Ken Graff Jr. Memorial Father's Day Tournament. My son HUgh will be playing with the U-8s from Jigs Soccer. Should be fun.

Bencher BY-1 Paddle Mod

I had some ham radio fun this weekend. For a while, I've been thinking of modifying my old Bencher BY-1 paddles to use a 1/8" mini-jack instead of a cable. Makes things a bit easier to swap in and out. I'll modify my Kent paddles next.

Take a look

Wow, didn't realize it's been this long

Sorry about the gap, but I've been twittering, and facebooking

The good news - last time I went to the MD, I got my A1C down to 6.0, not half bad, but recently (last 10 days or so), my blood glucose has been high - can't figure it out

The last week - 10 days, the gym has been lagging due to work and not feeling great.

I'll have some ham radio posts SOON - have done some interesting things in the shop, some Ham releated and some shooting sports related

Good Workout - and watch out for those carbs

Good workout today. I went to the gym expecting problems, as my left ankle was really bothering me, plus my left bicep was sore, but I had no problem.

One interesting thing, I've been going to the gym less than 1 week, and I had been doing some aerobic exercise at physical therapy, but my peak as well as average heart rates for the same treadmill workout has already fallen 10 BPM! Not bad.

Yesterday, I got home, to Hugh to soccer, and Anna to dance, then checked my BG levels - and they were higher than I would like (around 130). I was really confused, until I started really looking at the nutrition information for what I ate yesterday. First, the Sugar Free Lifesavers are NOT zero carb - arrghhh. There are sugar free candy that is, so I'll have to go get some. The other "Interesting" one was the soup at lunch. When you buy canned soup, Campbell's Tomato is one of the lower carb soups out there. At the company cafeteria, it turns out NOT to be the case, in fact, the other 2 options (Italian Wedding and Chicken Noodle) have about 2/3rd the carbs as the "Old fashioned Tomato" Who'd have guessed?

Been a while

Been a while since I blogged, and a LOT has gone on. Besides the usual Holiday stuff in Decemeber, I just wasn't feeling right.

On Jan 6th, I woke up with HORRID abdominal pain - I mean BAD. I had my wife take me to the emergency rooom at North Shore LIJ Manhasset. I was admitted to the hospital with acute pancreatitis. I was there until Jan 20th (aka 2 weeks).

It seems that this was caused by an extremely high triglyceride level (14000 - yes that is the right number of zeros)

While I was in the hospital, they also discovered that I am a Type II diabetic. They DID manage to get rid of the infection in my leg wound, and I'd say it's about 70% healed now.

About 1-2 weeks after I got home, I started physical therapy, as I was extremely weak. That went very well, and I "graduated" on March 16th, in other words, when they did my reevaluation, I was too well to continue.

I finally got back to work on March 18th (yes, I was out 10 weeks)

When I got back to work, I joined the Reebok Gym across the street from work. So far I really like the place. I met with my personal trainer Spencer yesterday, and we setup a good routine. Today was the first weekday I missed going to the gym because my leg wound (remember that other 30%) was really aching. I may try to go at lunch.