Saturday, October 28, 2006

97% agree!

i just redid the openness quiz to reflect how i was tonight, and i got a 43%. i would've said 45%, but hey, that's still an improvement!

so tonight i went to a game night put on by BACW. it was at the president's house (i didn't know that until i left, when i was thanking her for hosting). it started at 4pm and to be honest, i figured i'd leave after a couple hours, tops.

but no, i was there until a little after 11. that's right, look at me! at a stranger's house for 6+ hours. having a good time! seriously. there ended up being 1 woman i knew, another one i'd met once (and we talked a bunch tonight) and a couple other women i got to know fairly well. which is of course, why i upped my ranking because i was all chatty and shit. rock on.

i attempted to learn the rules of euchre using my powers of observation with input from the experts. good grief that game is complicated. rather than trying to play though, i just watched, giggled, had super-awesome tri-tip, and later won some rounds of texas hold 'em. oh! and a partners game of pool, in which my partner got almost everything in, but i sucked...until the very end, when i got the last stripe AND the 8 ball in one shot.

which is like i always say: when i'm good at pool, i'm really good. but when i suck - wow, do i suck.

at any rate, i had a good time. as you could probably tell. :-)

Thursday, October 26, 2006

and now back to being silly

i don't actually like this flavor that much but the description...well, i'm posting this aren't i? that says it all.

You Are a Powdered Devil's Food Donut

A total sweetheart on the outside, you love to fool people with your innocent image.
On the inside you're a little darker, richer, and more complex.
You're a hedonist who demands more than one pleasure at a time.
Decadent and daring, you test the limits of human indulgence.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

on being efficient

so that last post. what's up with me crying and being vague? aren't we past that? we're back to mostly innocuous and silly posts, right?

well that's mostly right. because although it's been over a month since my last serious relationship post, and over 2 months since i've posted about AG, the fact is that in the meantime, both of those things have still been Issues, to varying degrees.

um. i thought you were over AG? or at least enough.

yeah me too. and while bit by bit, i suspected i was losing the fight, it wasn't until this last week that i realized the truly profound nature of my feelings.

what was the trigger, you say?

well i'll tell you. recently AG and i got to talking. not about anything in particular, really. just talking. and then, without hardly any provocation (on both sides, different times) we totally started flirting.

um. hi. flirting? i thought that was verboten with her?

no shit. so it didn't go on for very long, thank you very much. but within a few days i was thinking about her all the time again. wtf?

and then i realized:
- i was remembering how much i enjoyed - and missed - our delightfully witty, mildly lascivious banter from the days of yore.
- oops. i have been letting this need slide again.
- how getting to know her better, even on such nonromantic terms, was an incredible turn on. how every new thing i learned about her just endeared me to her further.
- how bloody mature she is. wow. she is a better woman than i.

oh and i forgot to say, in the last few months i've seen her a couple of times, as well. one time, there was this moment while we were standing next to each other, waiting for our ice cream (same kind, natch). we were so close, our arms were lightly touching. it was noisy around us but we were quiet...waiting. and i thought: this is heaven. this is heaven being right here, next to her, doing something as simple as getting a treat.

so it should be no surprise that after all this, i realized that i was done. she is there, in my heart, for good. and while this certainly doesn't make my life any easier, it is what it is and i can't really deny it any more.

now, what to do about it? that's another matter. while i could work it out to be with her (and i emphasize the word work, since i am still with, and love, min), fact is, AG's off the market at the moment. maybe not for good, and she has made it clear she is tempted by me, but for now, exploring that option is on hold.

however that does not change how i feel. *i* am not on hold -- i may be waiting, but i'm living my life. and i assure you, should i get a greenlight, things will change. granted that makes me nervous as shit. but this woman...she is so worth it.

and as i've already made quite clear, i can't help myself. so be it.

Monday, October 23, 2006

the queen of efficiency

i really love it that as i was driving home today, a song on the radio made me start crying, because it made me think about someone. and that last year, when i heard that same song, it made me cry about someone else.

that is all.
(just being efficient)

Friday, October 20, 2006

apparently

i really have a knack for detecting stale chocolate. the first time this was brought to my attention was a few weeks ago, when liz offered me some chocolate-covered nutter butters.

that i promptly spit out and lightning-bolted the rest to the garbage, once i realized they were stale.

today, for the first time in eons, probably because i am in the midst of MHP (which is doing much better the last few months, thank you, thanks to a little medicine called yaz), i broke down and got some candy from the vending machine. when i vend i usually get something like m&m's because it feels like it lasts longer. there's so many of them!

but no, today i decided to go with a milky way. and with the first bite, i knew - STALE, STALE, STALE.

apparently my craving trumps the staleness, today, because i ate most of it. however: bleh.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

i am in love

with The Colbert Report. i just started watching it a few weeks ago, by accident after the also-awesome-and-related The Daily Show.

i have decided that The Colbert Report kicks The Daily Show's ass. i mean, TDS - very amusing, witty, urbane, etc. i am very fond of you, TDS. but i'm afraid my heart belongs to the insanely hilarious Stephen Colbert, who does not just amuse me, but has me laughing out loud at least 4 or 5 times per show. i mean, do the math. that's a guaranteed home run every 4.888 minutes. how can you argue with that?

i doubled my political geekiness righteousness factor tonight by working on my absentee ballot for the november election during both shows. that's right. i think before i vote. i also giggle while i vote. and you can't take that away from me.

i leave you with a quote from the show tonight, which was their one year anniversary. and the quote is: "I know we've only been together a year, America, but I would still SO do you!"

i rest my case.

uppin' my geekhood

the last few days i've been trying to get someone else's code do what i want. and what i want is: when you type in a certain character into an input field, a graphic somewhere else on the page changes becomes somewhat transparent.

i knew this would a) be a smidge complicated and b) require both javascript and css. so i was pretty anxious about it because i hate javascript.

anyway, today i gave up on the home-grown code (which was similar to what i needed) and looked on Ye Olde Internet. lo and behold! i found similar code that actually worked! it just changed *something* on the page, mind you. i still had to figure out the whole opacity thing. because opacity is not an officially recognized css property…yet. take that!

of course that means, the solution takes 3 lines instead of 1, but so be it.

but voila! presto! it's ALIVE!!!

now i have to write the whole algorithm -- when blah, show blah (and also do blah, blah, and blah) for the various conditions this work has to cover -- and since i love js so much, that part will be a joy too. but oh, the really reeeeeally hard part is over (crosses fingers) and for that, i am very, very happy. and pleased with myself. :-)

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

SMS = Smut Message Service

since some of my readers are nerds (passionate about learning), geeks (passionate for the arcane) and dorks (experience social stumblation), i thought i would pass this bit of knowledge along. and i should know, i used to work for a wireless company.

love,
TechnoSherpa

Saturday, October 14, 2006

may the thwarts be with you

today, nay, this week, has been a week of thwarting. most of it has been work-related but today, well, i had the thwartyness quintet. live and in person!

thwart#1
began my work saga at 730am. as posted earlier, i didn't get it completed by my scheduled departure time, and in fact, never did...from my POV. ultimately the movers came and i had to leave, taking my laptop with me, thus ending any attempt to work until monday (techincal issues).

while i was annoyed i couldn't finish, it was mitigated by the fact that a) i couldn't really do anything about this situation and b) i did get to have a little fun by meeting liz for lunch and some shopping at VF. hey, i HAD to leave work early!

thwart#2
i've been having a bra (sizing) crisis. since i was at the mall, i decided to look for a new one. seriously, so many stores, so few good options! finally, i found some ok ones at macy's, and was trying to decide between them. as i did this, i put on the bra i wore in today.

oh. that one feels sooooooo much better than all the other ones i tried on today. sigh. guess it's back to wallyworld for me, rock on.

incidentally, when i got home, i found out the delivery *did* complete, so my final thwart level for thwart#1 is only 50%. i reserve the right to up this if it turns out people were wrong about the delivery. :-p

thwart#3
again, since i was determined to have some fun tonight to make up for a difficult week, i planned to go out. to a queer comedy thing up in alameda. so i'm in the car, and immediately when i get on 680 (by my house) it's already backed up. hrm. i go 5 miles in about 15 minutes. i call 511. yeah guess what? the first 25 miles of your 40 mile trip has traffic going 5-15 mph. since i wouldn't have gotten to the event until way late, i bailed and came home. there's always something else, right?

thwart#4
decided to go to downtown san jose. thought there was a good movie playing at the camera 12, browse a bit, whatever. i get parked (WOW downtown gets packed friday nights!) at a garage, then head over to the theatre. yeah, i got the time wrong and no more showings tonight. in fact, there are no more shows. smooth. i noticed en route that most stores were closed so i head back to the car.

thwart#5
the car would not start. at all. i immediately called AAA for a jump. half hour? fine. meantime i go back to tell one of the attendants that i'll have to stay a bit longer, and will pay the extra afterwards.

another attendant, an older asian man, hops up: did you need a jump?
yes, that's why i called AAA.
oh, but you can call and cancel. i can do for you!
oh really?
yeah, i go get my car!

sure enough, there he was a few minutes later and we spent the next 10 minutes trying to get the car going. i do appreciate that someone was *trying* to look out for me... anyway, his guess was that it was either the starter, or the car was overheated (and indeed, it was very hot, considering) and i should try again in a while.

so i head back outside. saw a borders earlier, maybe that would be good. walk over...closed. wander a bit more...i'm getting hungry now. stopped in at mcdonalds for some offensively salty french fries. but still, it was a snack i needed. headed back towards the garage, trying to linger but not toooo much since it was nighttime, downtown, by myself. it's almost an hour later when i get to the car and try again.

no love. so, i called AAA again, and a VERY nice guy came and a) after examining the car, agreed it was probably the starter so b) towed it for me to the dealer and c) even called a cab for me en route, so that by the time we got to the dealership, i only had to wait 5 minutes, tops.

again, totally get that i have a little angel keeping watch over me, and am very grateful. but oh! the thwarting. and now, i get to look forward to spending money on the car. woooo. wasn't like i planned to meet min in portland for the last part of her trip or anything. :-p

ah well. things will work out, of course. they always do. but i am oh so glad it's the weekend. i hope this time weekend = an end to the kind of week i've had. cuz i need a big ol reset button.

Friday, October 13, 2006

that's me - lifeline material!

got an awesome test from dharma. much fun! for a geek like me of course.

Modern, Cool Nerd
56 % Nerd, 52% Geek, 26% Dork


For The Record:
A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.

Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)!


and now, for the best part. the suggested tests:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Professional Wrestling
Love & Sexuality
America/Politics

i mean seriously, how did they know? roll those 4 together and you've got me!

and now for my 2nd favorite part: I'm 99% geekier, nerdier and dorkier than people my age, according to them.

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on nerdiness
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on geekosity
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on dork points

one bubbles to rule them ALL!

i loooooove clearcase! so. much.

in this case, i suspect the problem is really servers on crack, rather than clearcase, but - it's such an easy target. but the last 24 hours have been all about dealing with a last minute bug (ebf) and in a final attempt to wrap up a most tedious and error-prone cycle, i got this:

Resume deliver
FROM: stream "me"
TO: stream "cracka stream"
Do you wish to continue with this deliver operation? [no] yes
Are you sure you want to complete this deliver operation? [no] yes [FFS! deliver already!]

FATAL ERROR:
Stream locked. User hmoore is not allowed to deliver to cracka stream.
Please contact Release Management or Dev leads for this project to get approval.
Aborting ...
Unable to complete deliver.

GRRRRRRRRRRR. i got unlocked, but now the redelivery attempt is just. sitting. there.

oh! and the best part is, i'm supposed to be OOO by noon. like ten minutes ago. because we are being moved, en masse, to the next building over.

make that, GRRRRRRRRRrreat.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

hold me back!

actually i hold back quite a bit. externally, anyway. what goes on in my head's another matter. thankfully there are no thought police...yet.

Your Lust Quotient: 70%

You are a very lustful person - and it sometimes gets the better of you!
You know how to hold back, but you hardly ever do.

me: 40% open

so, dharma and anyone else paying attention: yes, i was a little more open last night, at the shindig. that's why i bumped up my score 2 points. :-D

maybe it would've been more, but a) the event was so packed that it was hard to make small talk and b) not long after i got there, the started announcements and awards. so, a lot of listening going on.

but, i did talk briefly with a couple folks, and more importantly, met the woman who invited me. so i put in face time with the right person. :-)

incidentally i thought the event was (afterwards) at some kind of queer sports museum. well i'm checking again today and no, it was just a queer history museum, which is still cool, obviously. apparently right now they are running a sports exhibit and it was very nifty if small.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

in case you wondered

yes, min really did leave on her trip. not on sunday like planned, but monday...in the evening! i know, surprised me too. her 2 day trip is now 2.5 days. or should be -- theoretically she's staying near phoenix tonight, and the first "stop" on her trip is tucson.

so am i living the life of a carefree bachelorette? hardly. but, i did have fun tonight by going roller skating. once again, i came home exhausted but happy. however i'm happy to report there were NO falls - go me!

tomorrow i have an event to go to that could lead to an interesting job for me. anyone reading before tomorrow night - send me your social butterfly mojo! if you've met me in person, you know i need it. to paraphrase liz, once i get to know someone, then it's a matter of getting me to shut up. but i need to unlock that door a little early tomorrow. hopefully i will bring the key with me.

Monday, October 09, 2006

buy it now!


you know you want it. limited time offer!

anyone making their own hits? if so please provide linkage. me needs amusements!

Friday, October 06, 2006

i really could've gone my whole life without this

for the first time ever, i just got stung by a wasp. all i was doing was taking pearl out for a breather, thank you very much, during which she did not pee even though she made it very clear she needed to go outside. fine. i'm back at my desk working a few minutes later and i feel this odd itching in my lower back.

scratch. whatever.

then it comes back again a few seconds later. wtf?

scratch scratch HEY isn't there something under my shirtAAAACK!

jumped up, freaking pearl out entirely both from the noise and, since she was sitting on my shoulders, sudden movement since i'd ungracefully ejected her onto the chair (sliding off my back). i ran into the bathroom, took of my shirt, didn't see anything but was already feeling a sharp pain. after a moment i saw a bit of blood.

checked the rest of my clothes thoroughly for an insect (since at that point i didn't know what had gotten me), then when i was satisfied my clothes were abomination-free, headed back towards my desk. and 5 feet from the computer, there was my attacker, squirming on the floor.

STOMP.

apologies of sorts to all you insect lovers, but i had to do it.

then i picked him up and determined: wasp. just to be sure i googled for images. i know, i'm a geek, but hey! i've never been bitten by bee, wasp, hornet, whatever. i had to check what to do for the right type of sting!

now i'm about to get off the internet and move me, my slightly throbbing back, my ice pack and pearl to the couch for a few minutes. i'm done. :-p

Thursday, October 05, 2006

holy roller

here's my (almost) perfect blend of spirituality:

thinking cap required
and
irreverence

because yes. the whole 'is there more than just this life' thing is something i do take seriously. but then i don't, and i giggle.


this message brought to you by a moustache-less letter M and a very tired heather, preparing for min's trip that starts SUNDAY. sunday!

Monday, October 02, 2006

wow

and not a good wow. we just found out how much, or rather how little, min will get each month on disability. i shouldn't have been surprised i guess, since my dad is on it and gets around $700.

but when min saw the guy last week, he said it'd be $1-2k/month. instead, let's just say it's going to be less than that but more than my dad gets. and granted, that's totally better than nothing, but it still sucks to be getting so much less than she'd been told to expect.