In what is swiftly becoming a regular weekly event, Colleen came over to our house after work to have dinner with us and watch West Wing. Only this time, when we asked what we should do for dinner, she volunteered to make stuffed shells.4 October 2001
The real word of the day today is BAH.
Matt got out of the shower this morning and told me that he hadn't been able to get any hot water. Warm, but not hot. Bah.
Those of you who've been with me for a while (or who have waded through the archives) may recall that when we first moved into this house, we had this problem where, first thing in the morning, the water coming out of our pipes was only tepid, and it drove me bonkers.
The more so because, even if we didn't run the water and force the water heater to refresh (which usually worked) by seven or 7:30 - the earliest the plumber would deign to show up - the water was hot. And he wouldn't really believe us that it hadn't been hot an hour earlier.
We solved that problem by turning up the temperature on the water heater to something scalding. Now the water stays hot all night.
Until this morning, when Matt told me that he'd only managed warm water for his shower. Bah!
I was irritable about this, but went to take a shower anyway - under the old system, about fifteen minutes after the first shower, the water would start to get hot again.
No dice. Not only was the water barely warm, it was getting cooler as it ran. I wasn't going to take a cold shower. Nope. Nopenopenope. I gave up and washed my face with tepid water, then got dressed. Bah!
Matt went out to the garage to look at the water heater. Water heaters don't have any lights or displays that let you know they're working. I guess they figure if you have hot water, you know it's working. He didn't see any obvious problems, like water leaking out, so he shrugged and came back inside. BAH!
I went out to look. (I acknowledged that it was pointless, but I was too irritable to sit still.) As I was looking at the perfectly normal-looking water heater, I happened to notice the breaker box.
Out of curiosity, I opened the box. I looked at the chart scrawled on the side, and found the double-switch that corresponds to the water heater. Now, breaker switches really come in two positions: ON and OFF. There's not a lot of grey area here.
But the water heater switch was in a sort of middle position. Weird. I pushed them towards ON. They sprang back. I tried again. Same thing. I blinked, and reported my findings to Matt.
Unable to leave anything alone, I went back out and flipped them to OFF. That worked the way I'd expected - a little resistance, and then a click! as they locked into place. I flipped them back to ON. Click! No mushy middle. Huhn.
So I expect, now that I'm awake enough to really analyze it, that for some reason the breaker tripped, so the hot water heater wasn't on to heat the water. Having reset the breaker, we should have hot water by the time we get home. Unless the breaker trips again, but in that case we'll know something's wrong and we should call someone to come and fix whatever it is.
BAH.
In what is swiftly becoming a regular weekly event, Colleen came over to our house after work to have dinner with us and watch West Wing. Only this time, when we asked what we should do for dinner, she volunteered to make stuffed shells.
Well, heck, I really like stuffed shells, but they're a lot of effort for just two people. But if Colleen was willing to put in the effort, I was more than willing to eat the darned things. So after a quick trip to the grocery store, she put on my "Don't Make Me Poison Your Food" apron, and I put on Matt's chef's hat, and we went to work.
Poor Colleen. She said a very foolish thing. She said, "I like cooking! Any time you guys are willing to buy groceries, I'm willing to cook!" Ha. She doesn't know what she's getting herself into, there...
Work sucks. I had this meeting yesterday morning with my supervisor (J), and one of our project managers (R) so I could demo what I'd done on my project so far. It went something like this:
Me: And see, when I scan in this barcode with the handheld computer (bleep!) it shows up over here on the server's database.
J: Shouldn't it also show up in that other table?
Me: The original program didn't. (I'm converting a pre-existing program to use some different communications software.)
J: I'm pretty sure it should.
Me: Well, the original doesn't. I can show you, if you want.
J: What about [Application X]?
Me: Ted just got the installer downloaded yesterday. We'll be installing it right after this meeting.
J: That's really important. We need that installed by the end of today.
Me: Right after this meeting, J.
J: And you'll document everything, right?
Me: That's what I'm supposed to be doing, yes.
J: By the end of today.
R: You know, this handheld isn't supported on our contract. Will this stuff work on the 7200 (a different handheld by the same company)?
Me: I don't know, I haven't tried it yet. (Thinking: Why the hell did you give me hardware to use that isn't supported by the damn contract?)
J: It should. They're both Windows CE.
Me: I can't think of a reason why it shouldn't work, but the two handhelds have different processors. I don't want to sign off on that until I've tested it.
J: You're so negative. I have a 7200 in my office.
R: Can we get a 7200 for you to use?
J: I have a 7200 in my office.
Me: Fine. Give me the 7200, and I'll load everything up and test it.
R: By the end of today.
Me: What?
R: I have to write a report in the morning on this, so I need to know by the end of today.
J: So you're going to work on that, and [Application X].
Me: Yes. Which one has priority?
J: What?
Me: If I can't finish them both today, which one has priority?
J: Do them both.
Sigh. I work in Dilbert's office. I swear it. J's hair gets pointier every time I see him.
And, naturally, neither one was finished by the end of the day. I'd made good progress on both, but spent most of the afternoon swapping e-mails with the tech support crew for [Application X] and the new communications software.
I have to give the tech support guys kudos. They answered my mail fast and frequently, and were willing to explain things I didn't understand without sounding like they thought I was a complete moron.
So this morning I'm back on the job. Jobs. Whatever. Without having had a shower, so I feel kind of scummy and itchy, even though one skipped shower really isn't all that big a deal.
BAH.
Word of the Day:
testimonial - 1: evidence, testimony; 2: a - a statement testifying to benefits received; b - a character reference, letter of recommendation; 3: an expression of appreciation, tribute
Song of the Day:
Walking On The Sun (Smash Mouth)
Current Projects:
- drawing
- Hall stuff
- garden