::::: : the wood : davidrobins.net

My name is David Robins: Christian, lead developer (resume), writer, photographer, runner, libertarian (voluntaryist), and student.

This is also my son David Geoffrey Robins' site.

Luke Williams: goodbye and good luck

News, Work, School ·Friday September 12, 2008 @ 01:57 EDT (link)

20080910: Early am: trying to log in to work to submit some changes (co-authoring object model), but I'm waiting for automated test results to come back. I don't see the results in my (web-based) email, so I log in, which is a lot of fun in itself: first I have to get the highly-finnicky Microsoft IT Connection Manager to work (see previous rants 1 2 3), then I have to go to the internal tools site and run a debug script which magically fixes some machine Kerberos tickets so I can terminal serve to my machines, but that doesn’t quite work so I have to connect to the REDMOND domain and (and reboot; see previous #3), re-run the magic debug scripts, and then remote desktop appears to work.

Remote desktop is also highly finnicky: for one of my machines, when the login prompt shows up, it grays out and tries to use the smart card, which hums for a bit and must be canceled or it fails and logs me out. Then it shows a normal password prompt, except that it ignores the first password (but if you hit enter it logs you out, so I have to type some random characters to get it to fail), and only then do I get to log in. Wow. Is Windows a heap of crap or what? Modular design and standards (open or not), people. Software architecture, do you speak it?

Anyway. I log into DROBINS5, my newest development box, and check the automated test system, but it's down for maintenance. Never fear, though: they expect it to be back at midnight. Good luck with that, since it's 0033 now, but why should I be surprised, they couldn't stick to a deadline last time either. Must be the dreaded patch Tuesday that I've heard about.

Checked in during the day; the tests passed except for some OfficeArt failures that should be unrelated to my changes (knock wood).

Luke Williams' farewell party was today; a group gathered in the kitchen for cake and a few songs from Luke, which is fitting since he's heading out into the world to make music. He was my office mate way back when I started (in 36\3157); some of us once filled his side of the office with red Microsoft logo cups1,2 while he was on vacation. After a stint in Word, he went over to WAC (Web Access Companions, online versions of popular Office programs). Luke has a blog.

1 There's no problem revealing LW is Luke Williams now since he no longer works there and time has passed; I try to keep current co-workers' full names off my site for their privacy and mine, and also to keep my site off web searches for their names.

2 The cups are now earth-friendly green, and can no longer be used in the microwave; I usually take two since they conduct heat rather than insulate, which probably negates any individual environmental savings from the switch.

Went to PMP orientation today; headed out at 1730; it went 1830-1937 (Professor Ladner talked about his new Accessibility course, and then the rest was just going over stuff that was already on the web site and we could and should have done ourselves, so it was somewhat slow going); I left the school 2145 (after talking to Dr. Rispoli some and looking around), arrived home about 2220, not bad, considering getting there just from Redmond took about 45 minutes.

20080911: Costco; bought Logitech Harmony (620) remote. Setup program is pretty crap, but it manages to work (and did find my existing remotes). It's crappy because it gratuitously (as in more than just to fetch updates) talks to a web site, which becomes a problem later. Also got an 8Gb USB stick and a(nother) 4Gb CF card, since they'd sent us a coupon (ditto for the remote; coupons work).

Reasons I am voting Democrat

Political ·Thursday September 11, 2008 @ 22:36 EDT (link)

·
requiescat in pace
·

I'm voting Democratic because…
—Posted to CLAMS; found here.

I keep leftovers longer than that

News, Political, Guns ·Tuesday September 9, 2008 @ 23:52 EDT (link)

From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate. That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working. After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World, and fill the shoes of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, JFK and Ronald Reagan. 143 days. I keep leftovers in my refrigerator longer than that.
— Columnist Cheri Jacobus

Cost of living, Q3 2008: Tennessee was lowest, West Virginia #21, Washington #36, and California came in dead last (#50, DC not included). Site didn't include details about unemployment rates, income means and standard deviations, or education levels.

20080831: Passport arrived in mail; good thing I didn't put a rush on it; the lady at the King County court said it probably wouldn't have arrived any faster, it cost more, and we managed to make do without it.

20080901: Hung around the house, put stuff away, did laundry, watched Hook on TV.

20080902: Back to work; catching up on emails (half a day, easily), trying to get a working build, the usual ramp-up stuff after a break. Mowed the lawn.

20080904: Twit time! WA 432 XVE, tan-colored Toyota 4Runner SUV, cut off on WA-520 going home (1805).

20080905: Various Galco holsters arrived in the mail: EMP concealed carry (Royal Guard RG212) and open carry (Cop Slide CSL 212B), and Glock open carry (CSL 224B). The fit well and are comfortable. Definitely need the thick carry belt I got from the gun show (nice guy that makes them and can do adjustments on-site); a regular belt wouldn't hold up.

20080909: Early am: working on Myth box games: mouse was non-functioning, but turned out to be wireless sync (needed to press the button on the receiver which makes it go into Cylon scanning mode, then the button on the bottom of the mouse to make it sync up). Then everything else was fine; ZSNES really needs a mouse, there are things that can't be set with a keyboard. Re-configured the controller, and all was good; NEStopia was still fine. Rebooted once with no sound, though, but alsamixer fixed that up. Evening: cleaned Glock; Honey's math book arrived from Amazon (already got the telephone interface for my Olympus digital recorder (TP-7), extra Nikon D300 battery (EN-EL3e; it won't take the same ones as the D100 since the new batteries provide a remaining charge readout, although the D100 can use the new ones; pretty silly, it should take the old ones and just not provide new functionality), and some widescreen DVDs).

Books finished: Asterix at the Olympic Games, Sons of Fortune.

DVDs finished: Ocean's Twelve, The Peacemaker, The Recruit, Blue Planet: Seas of Life, Battlestar Galactica: Season One.

Alaska #8: Relatives; safely home

News, Photography ·Sunday August 31, 2008 @ 14:55 EDT (link)

20080830: (Williams Lake, BC to Abbortsford: 296 miles.)


We left the Vanderburghs at 0912; the power was still out. We stopped at Tim Horton's 0927-0937 to get donuts, and again for gas at Lac La Hache. Since my battery had run out on the way up, we stopped at 108 Mile House ranch to get photos 1035-1049.


We reached Boston Bar at 1324, got gas, changed; radio indicated one of the tunnels was closed (truck wreck Sailor Bar) but it was open to alternating traffic when we got there; good thing: there aren't really any alternate routes to highway 1 (the Trans-Canada). It took us 40 minutes to get past (1330-1410, passed the truck at 1351). At 1437 we got to the Flood-Hope Road exit on highway 1 West out of Hope, and at 1525 we drove into visitor parking at my Uncle John and Aunt Sharon Sutherland's condominium complex.

We had a good talk, and they gave us a great dinner, and took us for a walk at the the nearby monastery (St. Clare's, in Mission).

20080831: (Abbotsford, BC to Duvall, WA: 113 miles.) We left in the morning at 1016, waited at the border at Sumas at 1020-1045 (again, no problems, just a queue), and arrived back home at 1325.

Total distance driven: 5644 miles (9083 kilometers).

Books finished: Polgara the Sorceress.

Alaska #7: Mile 0; Jasper National Park; Alberta

News, Bad Drivers, Photography ·Friday August 29, 2008 @ 22:39 EDT (link)

20080828: (Fort St. John, BC to Jasper, AB: 370 miles.) Up at 0910 and had breakfast at a small restaurant next to the Best Western at 0948 (the hotel gave us discount coupons). We looked at the map and decided to take the opportunity to drive through Alberta, specifically through Jasper National Park, which is north of and contiguous with Banff, which I'd been to when I was working in BC several years back. My Uncle John (Sutherland) had emailed us directions to their place and we printed it (no charge) at the hotel Internet station. We left the hotel at 1122 and arrived at Dawson Creek visitor center at 1234. I spared you the photo of the giant beaver (it was next to the lamps pictured below; squint and you can see it in the reflections).


Dawson Creek is, as the photos indicate, mile 0 of the Alaska highway (BC-97 in BC, YT-1, AK-2). We missed it on the way there, since we took a slightly different route (highway 29); when we reached it, we had driven the entire length of the highway. We picked up some maple syrup for the Vanderburghs at the gift shop; not a great choice, but the selection was uninspiring.

At 1308 we left Dawson Creek heading towards Grande Prairie, AB via BC-2, arriving at the visitor center at 1450. We tried to reserve a site at Jasper National Park, but the parks system doesn't take same day reservations. At 1526 we pressed on heading for Jasper on AB-40 via Grande Cache.


Construction at Smoky River, 1719-1722; got gas in Grande Cache. We met up with highway 16 and turned southwest heading into Jasper National Park (and back towards BC; a small part of the park, including part of the highway 16 corridor, is in BC). At 1941 we arrived at our campsite in the park; fortunately were able to get one without a reservation: site C36 at Pocahontas. We cooked stew and coffee, and bought firewood and had a fire; it was a nice night, only rained a little while we were sleeping. The site was possibly the nicest all trip, although the one in Fort St. John was nice too and the wood was delivered (but the ground was gravel instead of dirt).

20080829: (Jasper, AB to Williams Lake, BC: 339 miles.) We got up at 0730, and finished breakfast at 0900; we drove up to the Miette hot springs (0922-1013). It's a very nice facility, $6/each I believe, with showers, and in-ground pools in which to enjoy the springs.

There were goats and big-horned sheep by the roadside; I stopped to take pictures of course; we were done taking pictures at 1058; we stopped at 1300 to try to call the Vanderburghs (to say we were running late), but nobody was home. Got gas again in Jasper.


We played some passing games with a twit in a silver Hyundai driving through the park at about 1625; AB EEJ 080; Honey would pass him, then he'd speed up and pass her, then he'd drive slowly again and she'd pass him, etc. What a pinhead; pick a speed already.


The scenery through the park was beautiful even though it was a bit overcast. There were several stops and detours in the park that I wanted to make, but we just didn't have the time. It started raining heavily at 1633 near Clearwater, BC; we stopped at 1700 in Little Fort to phone the Vanderburghs to let them know we'd be late. At 1805 we arrived at the junction of BC-97 and 24 (the 24 is a fairly short and slow east-west road) and headed north to Williams Lake (doubling back, since there isn't a more northern route). Since we knew we'd missed dinner (1800) we stopped at McDonald's in Williams Lake (1915) and got to my aunt and uncle's at 1938. Their children were there for a bit. We watched the Olympics with them until the power went out; we went to sleep fairly early, at 2239.


Alaska #6: Leaving; little sleep; NWT; Forts Nelson and St. John

News, Photography ·Wednesday August 27, 2008 @ 22:19 EDT (link)

20080825: (Fairbanks, AK to Whitehorse, YT: 592 miles.) The return trip officially begins. It's a fairly straight shot southeast from Fairbanks to Whitehorse. We got up at 0750, showered, had breakfast with the Hernings at 0830, and headed into town at 0949. I took a photo of the sign on the way out (1157). Ran into a construction delay (1330-1344), stopped for gas in Tok at 1543 ($4.699/gallon, which seems obscene as I'm writing this in December, when prices are at around $2.50). More construction 1620-1634, 1648-1654. Went uneventfully through customs at 1930, and got to Destruction Bay, Yukon at 2149 (back on Yukon time, i.e. PST). Stopped again for gas near Haines Junction at about 2330.

Knowing the state of Whitehorse lodgings (rare, expensive, and decidedly average), we decided to keep driving through the night; we stopped at a Tim Horton's in Whitehorse at 0119, sat down and had coffee and donuts, and left at 0148. Speaking of donuts, at one of the small towns we came through, there was a cardboard cutout of a police cruiser at the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) outposts, with glow in the dark decals.


20080826: (Whitehorse, YT to Fort Nelson, BC: 591 miles, plus 170 miles round trip detour to NWT.) We slept 0450-0730 at a rest area and then again 0853-0912. At 1010 we got to the Watson Lake visitor center, got gas again at Petro Canada, and stopped again to rest at Old Mile 585 rest area (1132-1325). Short stops in a car don't replace a night of sleep very well.

At 1400 we stopped for lunch, reheating the last of the great Thai curry from Fairbanks with our camp stove. Gassed up again at 1800 in Toad River; stopped and fixed coffee (with the camp percolator) 1920-2030.

On the way back I wanted to drive into the Northwest Territories, just to say we'd been there; we didn't want to take the on the way up, but going back we took the Liard Highway (BC-77) and drove to the NWT and back, about 85 miles each way. It's not a great road: pitch dark, no lights, no road lines, 110 km/h (about 70 mph), lots of potholes and (signed) gravelly areas, and the occasional big truck oncoming. There wasn't much to see when we got there: I got a photo of the sign then we headed back, getting back to the Alaska Highway at 1227.


20080827: (Fort Nelson, BC to Fort St. John, BC: 236 miles.) Got gas at 0100 in Fort Nelson; slept 0338-0606, drove a little more, slept 0710-1021; arrived in Fort St. John, got gas again, reached the info center at noon, and registered at the Best Western. Ate at McDonald's, back to the hotel at 1320, and called Uncle Alan and Aunt Shirley in Williams Lake and Uncle John and Aunt Sharon in Abbotsford, to let them know when we'd be there. It was nice to sleep in a hotel for a night (and use their whirlpool/sauna).




Alaska #5: Countryside, Hernings, UAF museum

News ·Sunday August 24, 2008 @ 22:25 EDT (link)

20080824: (Denali National Park, AK, to Fairbanks, AK: 130 miles.) As I said, it was cold, so we got up very early: before 0600, and we were packed at 0630. The tent was a little damp, so we'll need to dry it later. We slept an hour by the roadside at about 1100. We found a chapel, Countryside Bible Chapel, and attended services there until 1330. Their numbers were few but their hearts were open; we had several offers to come for dinner and even stay overnight. We took up Bill Herning and his wife on their offer, and went out to a Chinese buffer (Mayflower) with them 1400-1455; we insisted on paying since they were letting us stay the night.

We had to run some errands: our first stop was to return to Beaver Sports to return our stove that melted. I wasn't sure how they'd take it, or even if they'd accuse us of damaging it on purpose, but they were very accommodating: they too were surprised that a Snow Peak stove would bend like that (our other stove is Snow Peak too, an older model but still sold, and we've never had any trouble with it); they gave us a full refund. We picked up some camping plates and cups there and some more fuel.They have excellent selection and service and I would highly recommend their Fairbanks store to anyone going up that way.

We stopped for gas at Safeway then headed out to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) museum. We spent most of the afternoon there, looking at various artwork: paint and sculpture, and the huge Alaska Room with history and natural wonders of Alaska exhibited. Alaska has many amazing artists in all sorts of media, and natural wonders abound.

We left UAF at 1920 and headed to the Hernings' place, which wasn't far from the church. I took the opportunity to clean out the car, and we did laundry, until 2036. We read the Our Daily Bread together; we tried to call Whitehorse to book a hotel, but didn't have much luck. Slept @ 2230.

Alaska #4: Denali, Mount McKinley, ice on the tent

News, Photography ·Saturday August 23, 2008 @ 22:44 EDT (link)

20080823: (Fairbanks, AK, to Denali National Park: 130 miles.) Up 0830; had coffee in the room; checked out 1029. Got an oil change at Jiffy Lube, since we'd put a lot of miles on the car going up here and didn't want any trouble going to Denali or on the way back. Headed out for Denali National Park at 1102.

Arrived at the Park at 1430, registered and got a campsite (Savage River site 21, the furthest-in "car camping" campground). We reheated our Thai food for lunch; the supports on the new Snow Peak stove we'd picked up in Fairbanks warped while we were cooking (still managed to heat up both our pots, but titanium's really not supposed to do that). We had our tent up and sleeping bags set up by 1620, and went driving: we drove out to Savage River, and walked most of the Savage River Loop trail; Honey hurt her ankle half way. The scenery was beautiful:


Later we drove out to the park entrance, and made various stops for pictures. We weren't the only ones: there was a lot of slow and stopped traffic on the park highway. Most people used the regular cutouts to stop and take pictures, but one twit decided he was so important that he'd just park in the middle of the road.


When we got to the store at the park entrance, they had no firewood (so we bought chocolate instead). We saw a West Virginia licensed purple van, but never made contact. Arrived back at our campground at 1928, and drove back to the store at 2028 to see if they'd gotten any firewood in, but they still hadn't. Saw a lot of moose driving back; back at the site 2221, went to sleep, coldest night of the whole trip, ice on the tent in the morning.

Alaska #3: Fairbanks: UAF, Three Bears, Pike's

News ·Friday August 22, 2008 @ 22:57 EDT (link)

20080821: (Deadman's Lake, AK to Fairbanks, AK: 259 miles.) It was too rainy for a fire, so we skipped breakfast, broke camp, and left at 0911. Second construction of the day (first didn't require us to stop, just follow a pilot car) was at 1112-1117; 47 miles of construction with patches of mud. Stopped 1105-1235 at the Tok Alaska Public Lands visitor center, and booked a night (22nd) at Pike's Waterfront Lodge. Stopped 1317-1358 at a parking area near the Chief River to cook some ramen on our stove, but it was too windy to get the water to a boil; probably used half a fuel canister trying. Stopped for gas at 1600 and reached the end of the Alaska Highway, where it becomes the Richardson Highway. More construction 1620-1623. We did manage to cook some lunch in a sheltered picnic spot at Big Delta State Historical Park (1545-1612), and then had to wait for another pilot car (1612-1634). Got a great photo out of the window of trees in fog while waiting.

We arrived at the Fairbanks visitor center at 1825 and spent about an hour there looking at brochures and using the computers to check and reply to email. The visitor center is on 1st Avenue, but parking is across the Chena River, which seems more convenient for thieves than for tourists.


We found a place to eat (Siam Thai, had curry, very good), finished there at 2036 and drove out to a Bed and Breakfast that we'd reserved earlier: Three Bears (rightmost photo above shows a roofed picnic area with our green cabin in back). It was nice; the cabins were quite close together, and a bit untidy-looking, but they were comfortable and the owner was friendly, and a Christian; she even knew of the assemblies we were looking to attend Sunday.

20080822: (Fairbanks, AK.) Up at 0820, got ready; the owner gave us breakfast (waffles with fruit, bacon, and coffee) at 0900 on the porch of the main house; we left 1016.

The temperature as we drove by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) was 104°F. We stopped in to look around (I like looking around at universities; Honey not so much). We checked email at the library, walked to the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center, but had missed the tour,


We stopped at Beaver Sports at 1344 in town to buy an extra stove (so we could both reheat our Thai food) and fuel for both stoves (Snow Peak fuel, both Snow Peak stoves), 2 cups and bowls (they had better camping flatware than we'd brought); we stopped at a used bookstore nearby too (found some Dragonlance books we were looking for), and looked for gun stores in the Yellow Pages. We went over to Pike's Waterfront Lodge and unpacked at 1530, and found a chapel for Sunday: Country Bible Chapel on Old Chena Hot Springs Road.

We ate at Pike's Landing, next to the Lodge; had steak for an early anniversary dinner. I wasn't that impressed (for one, I asked for medium, and it was well done; for another, the steak wasn't that great), but we got an acceptable Champagne, and Honey enjoyed her steak. If we're in town again we'll try the Pump House. Later (2130) we got some ice cream at the hotel.

Alaska #2: Willam's Lake, BC to Yukon and Alaska

News, Photography ·Wednesday August 20, 2008 @ 23:47 EDT (link)

20080818: (William's Lake, BC to Charlie Lake, BC: 424 miles.) Up at 0730, had breakfast with Alan and Shirley, leaving at 0903, heading east on H-20 back to H-97N. We got to Prince George at 1240, stopping for lunch and gas and to call our agent, heading on at 1500. Here we hit our first construction delay, fortunately only 5 minutes. Stopped briefly in Chetwynd to get some soft drinks for the cooler; there we turned north on H-29, meeting back at H-97 (now the Alaska Highway; it starts in Dawson Creek, which we visited on the way back) at Charlie Lake. We went south a little way on H-97 to go into Fort St. John for gas, stopping for about half an hour (1825-1855) at their info center to ssh to my server, check email, and look at campgrounds. We decided to camp at Charlie Lake Provincial Park campground (arriving 1058, site #37); the rates were reasonable and the sites were clean, although they were gravel and not dirt, and a little exposed. Our stove fuel ran out, but we were done cooking for the night so we planned to pick up a refill when we could.

20080819: (Charlie Lake, BC to Watson Lake, YT: 547 miles.) Up 0800, packing and getting breakfast (generally cold cereal and hot drinks: tea or coffee). 62°F in the morning, going down to 47°F at 1150 near Buckinghorse River; 1244 drove through Prophet River, looking for fuel and not finding any. Fortunately we tried to keep at or above half a tank, since we expected fuel stations to frequently be few and far between on the Alaska Highway. 1322-1328, construction wait (56°F) and escorted by our first pilot car (no good reason; it wasn't dusty or difficult); 1345-1347, another wait. Gas at 1400 in Fort Nelson ($1.529/L, or $5.79/gal.), and we stopped for lunch at Subway and at the info center, heading on at 1450. Stopped at a scenic overlook 1536-1541; more construction 1622-1628, 1710-1713 (and pilot car); stopped at 1849 in Liard River for gas, heading on at 1905. We saw several moose and buffalo off to the side of this section of the highway. We reached Watson Lake at 2102, stopped for gas again at 2131, looked for hotels, didn't find any, and decided to drive on to Whitehorse through the night.

20080820: (Watson Lake, YT to Deadman's Lake, AK: 600 miles.) At 0148 we entered Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon: color us unimpressed. We searched, but there was no room at the inns, except for the "Family Inn" on 4th, which was overpriced and marginal at best (I'd have certainly felt better if Canada had thought to include a right to keep and bear arms in their constitution). We took a room at 0236; full rate even though we had to be out by 1100. We stayed up until the deadline, too, sleeping until 1000 and then showering etc. and calling our agent from the lobby pay phone (we'd promised to check in daily, not that it ended up doing any good).

We also had to call our bank: they were sporadically denying my debit card, since it was being used so far from where we lived: they did fix it for us, after getting a raft of personal identifying information. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that: on the one hand, it's good if it does put an early stop to use of stolen cards; on the other hand, it does nothing if the card is used in the area in which it's stolen. If we have to tell our bank when and where we're going on vacation, it's a privacy violation. Unfortunately I don't think it's possible to opt out of this "protection"; if one could, then it would be acceptable; otherwise, it's a bit looming and Big Brother.

We left Tim Horton's in Whitehorse at 1124, got gas, and headed on, sleeping briefly at a rest area. At 1330-1350 we walked the "Spruce Beetle Trail" at the same rest area, and learned why so many of the trees were brown and dead-looking. More construction with a pilot car at 1449; gas. We started running into frost heaves, or hillocks in the road caused by underground frost, at 1630. They didn't impact driving too much. More construction 1734, got gas in Beaver Creek at 1828, and got out our passports. We stopped at the Alaska sign and border flags and monument 1854-1859; pretty dull day for pictures (got some on the way back).

At Alaska customs 1901; waited in line about 15 minutes, then told we had to dump our firewood (we'd bought more than we needed at Charlie Lake) in Canada; done that at 1920, no problems crossing after that, despite most of my documents being at the U.S. passport office. Stopped in at the first info center (for Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, which we were driving through) at 1937, but it was closed. Various stops for pictures culminated in picking a campsite at Deadman's Lake, a free campground on the Refuge, at 2035. Little bit of rain, but not too much for cooking; met a nice couple from Fairbanks, which might have been what convinced me to change our plans to go there instead of Anchorage (also, Anchorage was a fair bit farther). Slept 0004, up 0800 (Alaska time, as are all times until we leave the state).

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