Working At Roswell Park For Two Years
And frankly, I still love it. Today was my two year anniversary at Roswell. I probably would have quit 2 years ago if I had to go in at 8:30 every morning like the ad for the job had said. It almost made me not apply. Besides the fact that it is doing what I enjoy doing most, that it is extremely challenging, that it pays well and that the people are great - I think the flexible schedule is still the most important part for me.

I just don't function as well at 8:00am as I do at 10:00am no matter what time I go to bed. Maybe if we lived in a sunnier climate but getting up in the cold winter dark kills me. Check out this journal from my first day (e:paul,32382) and this day last year (e:paul,32845). On a side note I noticed I was complaining about my migraines here and had five in one month (e:paul,32844). Look how cell phone image shave changed - check out this journal from 12/05/04 (e:paul,31479)

Here, I would like to thank Del Reid (e:mrdeadlier) for choosing me as an employee and letting me come in later.

My only regret so far was not be able to convince (e:jim) that it was worth staying ;(

Insuring my health
I would much rather buy health assurance but its better than nothing. I got a doctor's appointment for tomorrow at 3:45PM!!

Community Blue!
I also went to the health benefits fair for my union today and I changed (e:matthew) and I's health insurance to Community Blue so we could just cut out all this referral crap. Did you know that you didn't need a referral with community blue in order to see a doctor.

Back To Talking about Work
Below are some of the web things I created and/or worked on during my time at roswell. In additional I did about 100 million other things which can't be shown as a pictures, such as fixing other code, setting up and administering servers, creating tons of reusable code for the team through surebert toolkit and framework, integrating with other systems and even creating multimedia CDs.

Surebert javascript toolkit which you guys know about - I designed this and coded the toolkit/site


An online signature program for captures users signatures on the web for extra security and verification.


Yroswell, a blogging site for generation Y kids who want to be in medicine or science when they grow up? This site took up a lot of time. It is similar to estrip but they made it difficult by consistently changing their mind about what it should do and how it should look. In its short life span they have already had me do two major redesigns of look and feature sets.

My only regret is that I couldn't have been in charge of the design and feature set of this. I think I could have done so much more by making a functional design that fed off of more live data and was more engaging, less reliant on images, no drop downs, better, more functional chat, more social networking fun, etc.

This is the front page. I seriously can't stand the top right area or the drop downs. I think the rest of it could work. But the chat and blog-a-thon buttons are so blah and the drops are not very useful.


And here is a look at the blogging part which I think was much better designed. (e:enknot) where are my users icons!


gather which you guys have seen was for sharing file. The new version will be part of the intranet which I am in charge of re-designing and programming as my next big task.


The employee evaluation system for all the employees in there million positions and unions. I did design this and program it.


A PHP backend Framework that uses a presentation gateway to communicate between front end surebert javascript and backend surebert php


A code sharing site for us to never use. designed and programmed


A dermatology skin viewer that lets you upload, manipulate (contrast, brightness, saturation) and notate right from the site. This is still on hold for some reason. Designed and programmed


I built a CMS that replaced a whole bunch of our hand coded satellite sites. Note - I did not design the look for some of these. - like Ride For Roswell and Carly's Club.

I have this horrible feeling I am going to die soon. Could be the return of the migraine or the non-stomach stomach pain or the shoulder pain or all of it combined. Feeling sick all the time is really, really bad. If this turns out to be some long term I feel like this for the rest of my life thing, I don't know if I can handle it.

It's like all this skeletal pain mixed with intestinal pain.

I can't figure it out. Nothing particular makes me sick when I eat. Actually, the eating part is good, as is after. It is the when I have not eaten part that is really bad. My intestines get all bloated and my stomach starts making crazy noises. Between that and the noise my neck/shouler make now - I sound so broken.

I have finally made a doctors appointment with my cousin who is a gastrointestinal specialist for next week. I wish it was tomorrow, but tomorrow I am busy with the dumbness that is my life. I decided to forgo the primary care physician with the hope he can suggest one. I seriously just can't wait anymore. I am sure that will mean the stupid health insurance will not cover my visit but maybe it will because I went to him before. If it doesn't I am going to switch to another company just out of spite.

What is it going to be? What, and how did I go from feeling relatively fine to totally broken so fast. Could it be a lack of Vitamin D from my almost zero sun exposure this year?

This is interesting . I guess I shoulod be fit considering I walk "30 minutes a day, five days a week" I don't feel fit.

I have all these pictures I want to post but I can't move my head around enough to go get the camera.

Still sitting in java class. I swear this is as procedural as it gets. I followed the instructions exactly.

package lab_04c;

/**
 *
 * @author visco
 */
public class Main {

    /**
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
       
        System.out.println("Student Score Grade");
         
        int[] scores = {76,91,80,55,71,98,70,88,69,60};
        String[] names = {
            "Suzie Q",
            "Peggy Forsnacht",
            "Boy George",
            "Flea",
            "Captain Hook",
            "Nelson Mandela",
            "he Might Thor",
            "Oedipa Maas",
            "Uncle Sam",
            "The Tick"};

        String[] grades = new String[scores.length];
        System.out.println("Name	Grade	Score");

        for(int x=0;x<scores.length;x++){
            
            int score = scores[x];
            String grade = "";
            
            if(score < 60){
                grade = "F";
            } else if (score < 70){
                grade = "D";
            } else if (score < 80){
                grade = "C";
            } else if (score < 90){
                grade = "B";
            } else {
                grade = "A";
            }
            grades[x] = grade;
            
            System.out.println(names[x]+"	"+score+"	"+grade);
            
        }
        
        String[] possibleGrades = {"A", "B", "C", "D", "F"};
        int[] frequency = {0,0,0,0,0};
        double total=0;
        
        Student: for(int student=0;student<scores.length;student++){
           Grades: for(int g=0;g<possibleGrades.length;g++){
               if(grades[student] == possibleGrades[g]){
                   frequency[g]++;
               }
           }
           
           total += scores[student];
        }
        
        System.out.println("
Statistics:");
       
        for(int g=0;g<possibleGrades.length;g++){
            System.out.println("Total "+possibleGrades[g]+"s: "+frequency[g]);
        } 

        System.out.println("
The mean score was : "+(total/scores.length));
    }

}

I was really surprised to get this AIM message from Zack Schneider today. I assume it was some auto-generated bullshit from facebook. I extra especially would not be interested in facebook considering the latest developments with privacy issues and it clear involvement in the excesses advertising world, puke -



I am probably never joining another keep track of my friend and keep a journal, picture gallery kind of thing ever again. If there is some feature I really need I will just make it for myself here or I don't really need it.

I made it this far and I really just don't see any reason to spread myself any thinner than I already am. Especially considering that I am not looking to network for a job or lover and there is no one I don't talk have contact with that I really am interested in ever talking to except maybe my friend Yvonne in Germany who I never manage to talk to.

No, bacteria did not eat my phone thank god because I love it. I am able to get 1360kbps on ATT's new HSPDA 3G network in Buffalo. Thats so fast.



I almost killed a bunch of people trackng my driving with the built in GPS. I guess that is why they have the don't use while driving warning.

I bought some bacteria for my stomach. We will see how that goes.


The company that makes my phone it HTC. I found this graphic on some forum. It eplains how I feel about my phone.

I went to Patrick Oneill Chiropractic on Bidwell in order to get my neck fixed as per my previous post. I just did it on a whim. I had never been to a chiropractor before and had no real idea of what it was going to be like. No one recommended him to me. I just saw the sign on his office.



It seems to have fixed my neck. Even the Chiropractor wouldn't believe it. Seriously, it made such a difference.

Here's the hitch. I went back today for a follow up and it didn't do anything new. Then he asked to schedule another appointment for next week but now I am feeling diminishing returns. So I ask myself, is going the first time like getting high the first time when you are a kid and then you always try to go back to that place but never can until you just give up or die. If that is the case then I would just quit now before I have to deal with years of chiropractic costs - not that it is very expensive.

$50 for the first appointment and $35 for follow-ups.

We ate at JP Bull Feathers in the basement for lunch. For some reason I never eat there, but it was quite tasty.


The elmwood sign almost blew off in the wind storm


I had to work so hard to not take it home. I left it up to whip off and kill some one. Which was really the moral choice?


This on is for (e:leetee) in regards to her comment on (e:paul,42336). Does my back look straighter?


I think I should just write in my journal more. It makes me happier. Thanks guys.

"85% of all Sudanese are below the absolute poverty level (which means their lives are in danger because they do not have enough money to provide food, water, and shelter for themselves)."

(e:ajay,42342), I can't believe that story either about the British teacher who was working in Sudan, and let her students name a class teddybear Muhammed. She is now in hiding under death threats from angry mobs learned her lesson about helping poor people in third world countries.

I think it is time we just give up hope on all the ones that have fundamentalist religions of any nature and poverty combined, which is about all of them. Its a hopeless case, I say let them all fight each other to death or eat themselves. Someday when everyone else is goin g to heaven, I am going to be judged for that statement.



I can't really believe it but I am really over the top sick of religious freaks getting all angry about stupid shit. It is a teddybear. I don't care what some crazy, obsessive compulsive person wrote down in a book ages ago and you believe - it is a freakin' teddybear and you people are whackos. Don't you have better things to worry about - like where your food is?

I am so angry about this I am about to rename Basra - muhammed in protest - an he is just a dirty, eat his own shit kind of beast.

Movies
I don't ever want to see another movie where they shoot children. I am over violent movies altogether really. I just don't want to see movies anymore. I hate movies. All of them.

Surebert 4.0
I released surebert 4.0 but the website still reflects the 3.21 version until I get a chance to update that. Right now it is at No one cares probably.

Death
Someone died but I am not going to talk about it until later... It is no one that you know.

Food
I went to Pho 99. I am not a big fan of asian food under $10 as it usually is substandard ingredients. Pho 99 usually tastes good. I mean, I like the lemon grass chicken but what are those chewy odd shaped bits that taste ok.

However, today the hair in my eggroll just kind of ruined it for me. I took a picture so everyone could want to vomit like I did. I guess I ate the other half of the hair. At least it was deep fried. I managed to make it all the way through lunch without telling everyone so that they weren't grossed out. It was really hard to do that.


Stomach
My stomach still hurts and is causing me a huge amount of stress.

Neck
My neck no longer hurts and I can turn it. Do I bother going back for my scheduled follow up at the chiropractor tomorrow? I have to say I feel great but am seriously a little scared to go back.

Lungs
I ran home in the freezing wind because of the news and my lunsg hurt for like 25 minutes afterwards. Don't run in freezing wind.

Drugs
I need some sort of anti-anxiety drug in high quantities right now. I am seriously about to have a nervous breakdown about nothing particular, which is not a fun feeling.

Time off
I have like 3 days left to take off 13+4 hours which is impossible with my workload. Great!

Haircut
Last night I cut my hair.
Before


I had this horrible zit/cut/scratch/infection on the back of my head that was seriously stressing me out so much that I shaved my head. Will it please get the fuck off of me now. Either that or consume me quickly and just end it. But let me tell you zit, that if I die, you die too.

At first I thought there were only a few white hairs


But then there were so many


After the haircut


Obligatory Paul is a cyborg with a new phone shot.


This is how I feel tonight


The fuckin' bridge
Is it going to be a signature bridge or a twin span. NO, because it is like 40 feet long so finish it already. Everytime I look at it, it makes me think abou tall the stupid things that never get completed. (e:jim) says it started on fire, and it is definately a bit crooked now. How hard can it be to either put it up or knock it down.

I am going to write a journal about my experience with Chiropractic but I am waiting until after my second appointment on Friday because the Chiropracter is hyperlocal and does not have a web presence so whatever I say is going to kind of define that for him.

So far it is going good but I don't want to speak too soon. I can at least turn my head without wanting to throw up. Really that is so much better.

Here are some pics with me and my new phone.





Last night I watched Star Trek on it in bed. The episode was a voyager episode but it had Diana Troy in it. When (e:matthew) caught me watching it he was so mad that I had cheated on him with Diana by watching her without him. I thought it was funny - I hope he wasn't really mad, he loves her.

It is the eve of surebert 4.0 I think depending on how I feel in the morning. I am on this new kick where I am refusing to program outside of work until I can not be sick but I find life really boring otherwise - at least in the winter.

Okay, I am off to see Mist. I am sure I will have something to say about it.