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.

Argh III

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In my introduction conference entry for my CMIS class, I said I hate school group projects. At work it’s fine, people are motivated and interested – the mission gets accomplished. My dislike continues to be fueled by the current group project I’m participating in. I posted up template documents, did my part quickly, completely, and early to provide exemplar material to make it easy for my teammates to follow the template … and we needed everyone to the the first part done by last night. Of the other three folks, only one had anything done. Me == Sad.

I’ve finished my Geology course – that’s the last of the General Education Requirements retired. All that’s left is upper division electives – the one that I’ve got three weeks left in now, two in the Summer session, and two in the Fall. Huzzah!

So sorry for the delay in this post – my life is pretty bloody full right now, and daylight savings time sent me for a loop. Feeble excuses at best, but I’m here now…

*     *     *

Our condolences to the family, friends, and compatriots of Specialist Acosta

  • Spc. Edward J. Acosta, 21, of Hesperia, Calif., died March 5, in La Jolla, Calif., of injuries sustained Dec. 3, 2011, when his vehicle was struck by an improvised-explosive device in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

That’s MY spot!

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Lexi in my spot

Lexi in my spot

I worked until about 2330 last night, remotely to the office. When I came to bed, there was Lexi, in my spot. You might say that she was keeping it warm, but frankly, she was resentful about having to move. Nice picture for the circumstances, too: A 6-watt night-light provided enough ambient light for the sensor in the D5100. I’m rather impressed.

I’ll rest when I’m dead

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I took off from work a couple of hours early on Friday.

At that time, I was still feeling a bit off my feed – this whatever it is that isn’t a cold anymore has been kicking my ass. So I “took it easy” this weekend: I slept in past eight both days! Thanks, Lexi!!!

After that, though, no rest for the wicked. I put in about 12 hours writing for both classes yesterday. Today: Shopping, washed the car, cleaned the dining room, weeded out the raised beds, and seeded/prepared for snow peas. Then I reviewed the writing I did yesterday, and submitted the assignment I could. The other one doesn’t have a class link for submission yet, argh! Now THAT’S frustrating.

Oh, yeah, and the bug’s still got me, more’s the pity. Still plugging away with the antibiotics, fluids, and other OTC meds.

*     *     *

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

Maj. Robert J. Marchanti II, 48, of Baltimore, Maryland, died Feb. 25, from  wounds received during an attack at the Interior Ministry, Kabul, Afghanistan.

On Feb. 25, the armed forces medical examiner at the Dover Port Mortuary in Dover, Del., positively identified the remains of Staff Sgt. Ahmed K. Altaie, of Ann Arbor, Michigan. On Dec. 11, 2006, a casualty review board declared Altaie “missing – captured” after his disappearance in Baghdad, Iraq on Oct. 23, 2006.

Cpl. Conner T. Lowry, 24, of Chicago, Illinois, died March 1 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Jordan L. Bear, 25, of Denver, Colorado, died Mar. 1, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from small arms fire during an attack on his base.

Pfc. Payton A. Jones, 19, of Marble Falls, Texas, died Mar. 1, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from small arms fire during an attack on his base.