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Big crazy day today, which included (but is not limited to):

  • Six hours of work building up the technical infrastructure of a new company (cvs server, cvsweb, time tracker, project management webapp, etc)
  • Wrote a bit more in my “Maven for Ant Users” guide (still not close to being done and needs a few rounds of editing) and got another fractional step toward announcing and releasing my Mac-Package Maven plugin.
  • Trip to Lowe's Hardware for vacuum cleaner bits, latches, and wood strips
  • Trip to G.I. Joe's Auto Parts and Sporting Goods for motor oil
  • Fixed the gap underneath the fridge like the one under the oven so stray kitty toys do not disappear
  • Installing child safety latches on all the bathroom cabinets upstairs so that the cats cannot again get to the bleach they seem to be so addicted to.
  • Money/financial/budget blah
  • Figured out and filled out the paperwork to get a certified birth certificate (now I need to find a Notary Public to stamp the form before it gets mailed)
  • Figured out the process of getting a passport (now, I need to get my birth certificate)
  • Figured out the process of registering my car up here and filled out the paperwork
  • Figured out the process of getting an Oregon license (which I should have done 8 months ago) and filled out the paperwork
  • Unknowingly leaked a 3-color printer ink cartridge all over some good pants and the carpet.
  • Spent an hour scrubbing and re-scrubbing the carpet (because the initial few scrubbings took pinpoint dots of cyan, magenta, and yellow ink and turned them into large pools of cyan, magenta, and yellow ink)
  • Washed my (cyan, magenta, and yellow polka-dot) pants in the kitchen sink with Woolite
  • Started watching Timeline

G.I. Joe's was not as testosterone-filled-scary as I thought. I would even go so far as to say the women outnumbered the men, as far as customers, and they were not scary-testosterone-women, either. The auto parts consisted of about a quarter of the store. The rest was for spr0ts, camping, boats, RVs, and who knows what else?

So far, Timeline is like the book on fast forward, with some of the future (or present, I guess) premise and quantum technology a little different (okay, a lot different). It, unsurprisingly, featured a French army yelling “RETREAT!” There was also much yelling of “TREBUCHET!”

Oh, and there was going to be a rant here. A rant at how surprised I am with the quality and nondisposability of the vacuum. When it stopped working, I was convinced I needed to get a new one. We live in a world where everything is disposable. If it breaks, it is too expensive to get it repaired–just throw it in a landfill and buy another one. My parent's vacuum lasted, what…20?…30?…years. This one is about 6 years old. I was talking to someone whose ideas convinced me to try a new belt in the vacuum. I picked up a 2-pack of belts and 3-pack of bags (the bag was nearing capacity, and I figured I might as well get new ones). After replacing the belt, the vacuum worked beautifully! It cleaned the entire downstairs. Five or ten minutes into cleaning, it started to make strange smells and sounds. Taking off the bottom, I discovered the entire rotating brush mechanism had sheared from its axle and broken free. So much for a $1 part fixing the whole thing.

On second thought, it looks like a new brush mechanism only costs $15, so I might try that. That's interesting. Eureka uses Yahoo as their storefront.

Oh, and with the ink and the carpet cleaning. The entire upstairs now smells like wood grain alcohol and bubble gum. It would seem my new cleaning product (the one mentioned the other day that cleans up vomit, urine, incontinence, etc.) has an artificial bubble gum smell. It would also seem it is an alcohol-based cleaner. Two great smells that shouldn't be anywhere near each other!

Posted in: Books Dear Diary Work

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