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Category: buffalo

10/28/08 09:28 - 40ºF - ID#46381

Thermostat Poll

How high to you keep your thermostat? (I know you might not have yours on yet, but I'm talking in general during the winter.)

James only allows me to ever put it at 58 degrees. :)

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Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: games

10/27/08 05:36 - 43ºF - ID#46370

World of Warcraft

From McSweeney's:

I do not think I am, as you so eloquently screamed, "addicted to World of Warcraft." I have, however, made a number of unfortunate mistakes, for which I would like to apologize.



and ...

Also, what you stumbled upon me doing with that Level 64 blood elf in the back room of the Silvermoon City Inn was neither "sick and perverted" nor "cheating on you." We were role-playing. That I called you by her character's name later that evening was just a weird coincidence. I do not wish your body looked like that. You and I both know that it's physically impossible for humans to have those proportions, at least while retaining all of their internal organs.



ahem.... James!
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Permalink: World_of_Warcraft.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: bacon

10/27/08 12:58 - 42ºF - ID#46365

Baconaisse!

Is it a joke? Who knows!



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Words: 23
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: family

10/26/08 03:12 - 57ºF - ID#46350

Grandpa

My grandfather is not doing well, I am looking forward to when I go out to see everyone at Thanksgiving. Hopefully things stay stable until then. Lots of deaths in my life the past few years.

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(My grandpa and my Dad)
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Permalink: Grandpa.html
Words: 43
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: travel

10/25/08 11:45 - 51ºF - ID#46335

Snap Decisions

I idly was looking at airfares, thinking of going to see my family at Thanksgiving. They were all $800+, except I found a couple deals on Delta for $400. I had to snap that up since it's only going to get more ridiculous the closer we get to the holidays.

So my decision was made: home for the holidays! As much as home can be where my James is not, of course.

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Permalink: Snap_Decisions.html
Words: 72
Location: Buffalo, NY


10/25/08 03:55 - 54ºF - ID#46322

Wassup?

2008:



Original:



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Permalink: Wassup_.html
Words: 17
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: culture

10/25/08 02:47 - 54ºF - ID#46321

Equal Opportunity

An interesting essay by Will Wilkinson: which also keyed off some things that I've talked to James about recently, in his job search.

[W]hat little I know of economic sociology tells me that access to economic opportunities is deeply network-relative. -- Will Wilkinson



I find this to be very true. It's the adage that it's not what you know but who you know -- opportunities come through communication, not based on merit. Merit is what allows you to take advantage of the opportunity. You don't have a chance of showing off your skill unless you can talk to the right person.

At work the positions I've helped to hire for have been filled based on me knowing the people we were hiring. I vouched for and championed them because of their personalities and communication skills in addition to their technical chops. The thought of posting those jobs in public and hiring strangers off the street unnerved me greatly.

It's not a perfect system, but we'd only hire a programmer who doesn't come to us through either personal recommendation or by coming to the Ruby meetups we host only as a last resort. Hiring someone is a huge decision that can make or break a team, as I've seen from a few different sides.

It's a tough problem. There are people who are perfectly capable of careers that they can't get into because they don't know who to talk to. Networks limit choices, but also minimize risk and maximize chance of success, if you start out with the right mindset.

If you're looking for a job, don't look in the want ads, look for smokey back rooms and referrals :)

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Permalink: Equal_Opportunity.html
Words: 285
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: nature

10/25/08 11:55 - 53ºF - ID#46319

Green Thumb

I got a couple cute little house plants to take to work. They're all marked as tolerant of low light, so hopefully they'll do OK. I got a plant light just in case, but I'm not sure how to set it up so it won't put too much light on them. I think I'm going to set a timer so it lights them up for a couple hours every morning.

Does anyone have any recommendations on low light plants species to get? I'm always on the look out, and would love to fill my cube up :)

Also, does anyone know where I can by some simple, plain, but not ass ugly plant stands that would be neutral enough to look OK in an office? Target and Home Depot don't seem to sell them. Metal or wood is OK.
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Permalink: Green_Thumb.html
Words: 138
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: writing

10/23/08 10:56 - 38ºF - ID#46272

NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month -

You try to write a novel over the course of 30 days. Which seems insane, but if you do 10 pages a day that's a 300 page book. If you sign up on the site it's got some peer pressure social tools to encourage you to keep going.

I'm tempted to see what I can do... I'll journal my progress if I choose to participate.

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If you do sign up, please join the Buffalo region:

And add me as a buddy:
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Permalink: NaNoWriMo.html
Words: 106
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: internets

10/23/08 08:40 - 38ºF - ID#46268

Feed Reader Slaughter

I have been trying to follow the principle of 'inbox 0' (background: ). Basically, you get to zero messages in your inbox at least once per day. Ruthlessly, if need be. It forces you to decide if you're really going to need to respond to something, to really think about how you're going to spend your communication time.

For a few months I've been using that system, and found it incredibly useful. Then a week ago I realized that the tyranny of my mail has always paled in comparison to the beast that is my feed reader.

So, I went through my feed reader and deleted all the feeds that update daily or that are only momentarily useful. I'm down to 60 feeds from over 200. The 60 that are left are the ones that update occasionally, and have a very high signal to noise ratio.

It was taking about an hour or two every night to sift through them all and get to 0 unread. It feels nice to be able to do that in 5 or 10 minutes today. I am missing out on some really awesome random information, but the good stuff that I really need to know still finds its way to me.

The downside is fewer random interesting links to post into the (e:strip) chat.

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Permalink: Feed_Reader_Slaughter.html
Words: 221
Location: Buffalo, NY


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