Author: ryan

Categories
Technology Travel Work

Tahoe, and server surgery

Last week I was sent to South Lake Tahoe for a work ‘summit’, where several peeps from SuperSweetCo were sent to plan the next release (and beyond) of the app. It was quite the adventure, and an exhausting few days that taxed both my ability to focus on 12+ hour work sessions, and to deal with the elevation (I suffered from symptoms similar to altitude sickness, the headaches were pretty nasty). Despite the cold nighttime temperatures, it was beautiful up there.

I arrived back in Portland Thursday afternoon, and spent Friday working until ~3am trying get caught up and fix bugs in my queue that had built up over the week.

Over the weekend, after doing some yard work, I had to perform some emergency Linux server surgery (for circusgeek.com). The server had been acting up over the past few months, but nothing specific had gone wrong. Over the weekend I rebooted a few times and every few cycles it wouldn’t boot up. After taking the case apart, I heard a ‘hissing’ whiny sound. After some part replacement (including the power supply) I discovered it was the motherboard that must have had a faulty capacitor. Fortunately I had a ‘spare parts’ machine in the garage I wasn’t using so I was able to replace the innards and boot it back up with everything intact. Linux has come a long way; I remember when I couldn’t swap out much hardware w/o a kernel rebuild. Long story short, the server was back up in a couple hours (with a slightly faster processor) and all is well. Crisis averted. And, it means I can continue to serve up this little-read blog. Hooray!

Also this weekend Kelly cooked up a delicious dinner out at my folks place for Mother’s Day. I also got to help my dad cut up some wood for an upcoming hunting trip of his, and play with my nephews (even the wee one, who’s just old enough now to play with in between pooping and crying sessions).

Categories
Beer Music Travel

Surprise Astoria weekend (with Decemberists show)

This weekend I surprised Kelly with a trip to Astoria. Before leaving all Kelly knew was that we were going out of town. Later I hinted that there would be “a show” but that was all I’d told her. Friday we left home (a bit past noon) and as I was driving she was guessing “we’re going to Seattle”, and when I didn’t drive north on I-5 she guessed “we’re going to Eugene?”. Once I drove over the Fremont bridge and started driving north on Highway 30 she correctly guessed that we were going to Astoria.

We arrived around 3pm, checked into our hotel, and then wandered around town for a bit (including having some nibbles at both Fort George and the Wet Dog).

That night, we went to the Liberty Theater and shortly after entering Kelly saw a poster (there was no obvious marquee) for the Decemberists benefit show for Jessica Schleif. This was a one-time show (the only scheduled Decemberists show for 2010 thus far) for a friend of the band who “recently suffered a tragedy that left her with unmanageable medical debt.” The show was a lot of fun. The opening act Michael Hurley was really really good, and the Decemberists were great as usual. It was a fun night.

Saturday, after checking out the Flavel House, we drove over the Astoria Megler bridge and went to Cape Disappointment (visiting an old lighthouse) and Fort Columbia. Today on the way home we stopped at a friends place for a fortuitously planned birthday gathering before heading home.

Loads of photos here.

Categories
Beer Entertainment General Humor Movies Television

(the rest of) May, and April (so far)

The past month and (almost) a half, quick style:

March 17th (St Patty’s Day): Spent the evening at Moon & Sixpence with friends. First time there for St. Patty’s Day and it was a lot of fun. Live Irish music played in one corner, and loads of friendly people, all in good spirits despite how crowded it was.

March 27th: Got a lot of yard work done, and was able to break out the BBQ and do my first grill of the season. Great day ’round the house.

April 8th: Went in for some oral surgery to fix up some gum disease I’d developed over the years of not seeing a dentist (brush your teeth kids, and go in for your regular cleanings!). This led to a week of stitches, and about two weeks of discomfort. I’m only now starting to feel back to normal. I have a photo of the stitches I took with my MacBook’s camera, but I won’t show it since it might make you feel a bit ill.

April 17th: Did some more yard work including my first lawn mowing of the season. The work I’d been doing over the previous few weeks, coupled with some unusually warm spring weather has resulted in fast lawn growth. I also picked up a keg of the delicious Irish ale Kilkenny (which has only been available in the States for about a year). This means Guinness has been supplanted. Mmm, beer.

Today: I managed to tackle some of my chore list: repaired my busted up front fence gate (which involved replacing a slat, some sanding, painting, re-hanging, etc), installed some much needed shelving in the utility room, replaced some burnt-out light bulbs both on the front porch and the kitchen, cleaned some windows, and cleaned up the garage. Good, productive day.

Other stuff: I continue watching Lost, Fringe, FlashForward, Stargate Universe, and Doctor Who, and have seen a few decent films including Empire, Up In The Air, and Franklyn.

I also learned of a blog that’s worth adding to your RSS reader: Sleep Talkin’ Man. It’s about this English man who talks in his sleep, and his wife records / jots down some of the nonsense he mutters, leading to some awesome quotes such as:

  • “I’m gonna have a great day…. Don’t you fuck it up.”
  • “Headstands are for girls only. When they wear skirts.”
  • “If I’m gonna be in charge, I need a cape. You can’t do the job without a cape. Take me to the cape tailor.”
Categories
Beer Music Work

Fancypants Fri, work Sat, yard Sun

Friday after work I joined Kelly for an Oregon Symphony event called ‘Party of Note‘ where people can hear small ensembles/quartets of Oregon Symphony performers play in a more relaxed setting. The one on Friday was held at a house in Portland’s west hills (where the upper echelon live) and this house was insane. It was like walking into an Italian-inspired palace, complete with columns, tapestries, wood-paneled dining rooms, chandeliers, and fancy furniture. It reminded me of visiting some of the palaces in Europe, only smaller. I was clearly out of place, having come from work in my usual jeans and shirt outfit, everyone else were dressed to the nines, sipping wine and nibbling hors d’oeurves. It was a bizarre experience, but the string quartet that played some Mozart and Hayden was great. Even Kelly said that the previous one she attended was much more casual, so hopefully (if I go again) it won’t be so stuffy. That said, I got to see how the other 1% live.

Yesterday I got up around 8am and spent the whole day and most of the night working, trying to put the finishing touches on some features I’m on the hook for. Kelly got me away long enough to take a nearly 5 mile walk though, so that was good. She also got me out to Moon & Sixpence for a couple pints of Kilkenny. Mmm.

Today I relaxed a bit, watched several episodes of this British comedy The Inbetweeners, and then got out and mowed my lawn (first time for the year), aerated the front and threw & watered a bunch of grass seed (in an attempt to revive the sad little strip of mostly mud).

Categories
General Music

Yardwork, and Midlake

After a long week of work, and my first Windows virus infection (long story short, keep your anti-virus up-to-date and Windows patched), I spent the day doing yardwork and went to see a band tonight.

The weather in Portland today was gorgeous (a sunny 65 degrees), so Kelly and I got out and continued to tidy up our yard; pruning shrubs, pulling weeds, and generally getting a jump start in the hopes that the rest of the spring and summer will be less upkeep and more kicking back and enjoying. Things are starting to look pretty good.

Tonight I joined some friends to see Midlake at the Wonder Ballroom. Midlake is something of a 70’s-inspired indie-folk-rock band that are perfect for chilling in the yard with a beer, or driving along a foggy coastal road. They have some really great tunes with some brilliant lyrics (though they also have some so-so tracks). I like ’em when I’m in a chill-out, introspective mood. Anyway, the show was really good, both because the band was good and the audience (a 21+ show) were polite and relaxed. That could have been due to weed (smelled some outside the venue), but all in all a good evening, and a good way to end a nice day in the sun.