Week 07, 2001 ,Svenson

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12-02 to 18-02

 

 

 

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2001-02-12  ,  Monday      MMI-xxxxiii

397

Warm (9C), dry and overcast in the morning. Lasting well into the afternoon when it begins to rain softly. Soft or not it is wet and unwelcome.
Current temp is 15.7C in and 9.3C out.

I mentioned yesterday that I made apple-fritter (sliced of apple, coated with a special patter and fried) and that I ate too much of it. And I was not the only one.
The result is that we are suffering an epidemical outbreak of diarrhoea. The worst type I have ever had. Except my father, he only suffers mildly from it, but then he normally suffers from severe constipation. He didn't need hi medicine this time <g> (or should that be <seg>)
Anyway, I slept no more than five minutes last night. By noon normal body functions seemed to pick up again.
We all still think it tasted wonderful but I won't make it again anytime soon.

 

Ronny was back today. Slightly limping but that isn't bothersome while sitting at a computer. The biggest problem, and the main reason why he didn't come a week earlier, is that he has to commute about 380km (to and from) a day with a damaged right knee. That alone would be bad but than he has to go to physiotherapy so he has to leave early making car pooling impossible.
Well, he is back and, after the obligatory gossip exchange, firmly at work. Starting of with checking out the changes I made in Progress. I didn't break a thing, and my documentation was spot on, not too bad for a complete novice at Progress.

In between my toilet visits I finished the Code file cleanup program (prm008r in v8) and got that transferred to system test. and I almost finished adding the same code-file cleaning function to the Hierarchical Classification building program (prm008r in v9). There is a lot of difference between the v8 and the v9 versions of that program because the v9 came first and acts on files that don't exits in the v8 release.

Oh yes, I also finish a new file definition for Koen.

 

Just maybe, Linux is developing something like a business plan that is not entirely built on a hot air and sand mixture. Acording to www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/16811.html


When teflon us used in pans because it doesn't stick,
How do they get it fixed to the pan?

 

Kaptain's log. Kelshon, Guardian date 207.0043    

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2001-02-13  ,  Tuesday      MMI-xxxxiv

196

The day starts off overcast, dry and warm (7C) and stays that way until about noon. That's when the sun makes a re appearance after taking a few days off. So then we suffer brilliant sunshine with beautiful silver clouds.
Current temp is 17.2C in and 1.1C out.

We had a (long overdue) discussion about the validations built into TeleSales. There is not much need for change, just a few details mostly restricting the flexibility. We had made it to flexible (some necessary validation could be switched off causing trouble down the line). I do expect however that we will need to add extra (new) flexibility later on.
I worked on the changes and on te documentation for this.

And I made some changes to the file I build yesterday and then handed it over to Koen.

And I got more work than time.

And ...

 

How are they going to distinguish between normal click-trough pictures and advertisements. theregister.co.uk/content/6/16840.html
IMO worrying stuff if a third party is allowed to alter web pages.


When it takes 10 years to build a good reputation,
it will take 20 yeas to recover from that one mistake.

 

Kaptain's log. Kelshon, Guardian date 207.0044    

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2001-02-14  ,  Wednesday      MMI-xxxxv

356

After giving a good performance Yesterday the sun understandably sleeps in to day and only comes out of hiding in the afternoon. Just to play hide-and-seek with the clouds. Very annoying all that varying light intensity spilling trough the slits of the blinds.
Current temp is 14.3C in and 0.2C out.

After the discussion about the validations I trash about with the documentation till I get something presentable.

Before I can start on some of the program changes I got a request from Jan Geurts to help out with some problem in the TeleSales installation in France. Last year ( http://www.sjonsvenson.com/hist/200051.html#mm355 ) Wilbert passed some TeleSales task over to me. The first issue I should tackle then was a problem in ... France. We were going to do this together so he could show me how things were done. Halfway trough that session we had to stop because some other urgent problem came in.
Today I should pick that same problem up again, obviously nobody in France has been working on that stuff. So I get back to wilbert and we work on the problem.

Hey, the second time I leave work to admire that afterglow of a sunset.
Usually it is dark. Obviously the days are lengthening.

 

My father got a call from the hospital.
A few years back (1992 actually) he had an operation to have his right carotic artery scooped out because it was clogged up. Of course the left side was clogged up as well, a bit less so but still. They didn't do both at the same time. Now he will have that left side scooped out and 'repaired'.
They said they would warn about a week in advance about a date, of course they called somewhere around noon, telling him to be present 'tomorrow morning' for preliminary checks and surgery on Friday. Tomorrow morning however he must go to his kidney-dialysis so he cannot be there.
The operation is still on Friday but they will do the preliminaries a bit faster tomorrow afternoon.


Why don't you ever find cat food with mouse taste?

 

Kaptain's log. Kelshon, Guardian date 207.0045    

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2001-02-15  ,  Thursday      MMI-xxxxvi

473

Oeps, the car was frosted over thickly this morning. Just -2C but lots of mist. And adverse road conditions. Once the mist lifted we had sun, morn till eve, decorating a perfect blue sky. Culminating in a glorious sunset with thin bands of mist lifting slowly off the ground.
Current temp is 15.4C in and 1.5C out.

I didn't get my post out yesterday due to time outs. Congestion on the Super Highway I assume.

Did I mention France yesterday?
The French don't seem to have an 'application manager' assigned to the TeleSales project. The result is that nobody ever knows what has been done nor how things were done nor where things have been placed. No one is taking the responsibility.
All the steps required to install (and upgrade) TeleSales is explained in the manual. With precise direction about locations and names of files and directories and with required user/owner profiles and passwords.
They chose not to follow the manual (if they opened it at all). This of course results in problems where some steps were simply not executed (like the copying of the stddb data from the .zip file) or where some steps don't complete correctly (like where the installing user didn't have authority to add/update files in the install directory).

In order to provide support I had to use Microsoft NetMeeting. Which is quite a temperamental program to set up. Once it runs it keeps running (must have been relative recently acquired by M$ so they didn't have time to put too many bugs in <g> ).
I am new to NetMeeting and we don't have documentation for it so ... I wrote a narrow manual. (Narrow = only hitting the points we actually use.)

And I got a 'bug report' from Italy. They are currently using v7.08 but want to switch to v7.09. While checking the programs for changes they see a 'bug' in the Report to General Ledger program. It sounds like a bug but it is in some old code and the resultant fields has been used in a well tested new part. No errors were reported while testing that. So more time gets lost on investigating that.
Without getting a solution, so I know what's on the menu tomorrow.

 

Oh, I explained the hospital situation about my father yesterday.
Well, there was a change of plan. After all the preliminaries the main doctor passed by and told my father that Friday was overbooked so the operation would be on Monday. And, btw, no you cannot go home now because we already set you up for your kidney dialysis on Saturday. So now he spends three days in hospital, idle, lost. Just because the screw up one planning but keep rigidly to another planning.
Merits a Piffle at least.


Don't ascribe to malice, what you yourself have done wrong once.

 

Kaptain's log. Kelshon, Guardian date 207.0046    

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2001-02-16  ,  Friday      MMI-xxxxvii

473

A thin layer of ice again but at just 0C it doesn't pose a problem at all. While the ice was thin the mist was thick. Although. Once te sun's up and burning it too about ten minutes to get rid of the mist. In the afternoon the mist came back, in force, cutting visibility to a just over a hundred meters. And we got rain. Spooky that combination of mist and rain. Current temp is 13.4C in and 3.5C out.

I munched trough some more validations stuff and I hammered out a bit of documentation about the Italian 'problem'.
I am pretty sure the bug isn't one. The field they propose for filling is already passed to the general ledger while the field currently used isn't. It all looks like an inappropriate field name. Like calling a field 'accounting classification code' and then regularly putting the business unit in it.

 

If you thought M$ was a monopoly now, think again !
They are shooting high. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/16959.html . They may even hit hard against Linux that way, delaying its conquest of the desktop.
Right on the way to a real monopoly.
btw, check Bob's comments about it as well, he is a better commentator then me.

And Intel grabs some from the overclockers bag to get their P4 up to speed. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/3/16970.html . Early in the life cycle of that processor methinks.

 

The hospital situation changed again. They will not do the operation on Monday but on Wednesday. So my father is back home for his regular dialysis tomorrow. he goes back Sunday evening for another dialysis on Monday. On Tuesday he gets yet another dialysis. It is somewhat like a Thompsom TM deep clean of his internal systems. Only a bit more painful.
Then on Wednesday he gets the operation.


 

Kaptain's log. Kelshon, Guardian date 207.0047    

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2001-02-17  ,  Saturday      MMI-xxxxviii

267

Just misty and cool this morning. Later on the mist gets wetter and drizzly. Like rain that is unwilling to yield to gravity.
Current temp is 13.2C in and 2.1C out.

Shopping. Usually my father does the shopping for regulars on Friday but of course this week he didn't so I get to bring back the stuff. So in stead of my regular leisure walk trough town picking up wine and fruit I get to run the supermarket course, loading up on meat and vegetable.

I did pick up a pretty good piece of beef for roasting, with haricots. Best beef we have had for some time.

In the afternoon my brother comes by for swapping some wires connecting the electricity meter to the fuse box. We are ordering a new counter with different day and night meters. So I help him out with that. He also has to do some emergency repairs on the water supply to the washing machine.
And we shift some large concrete bars, delimiting the lawn in the garden. That lawn is more moss than grass so we are planning on re-laying the whole stuff next winter. We got to start work on the borders now and move on to the lawn itself later.

Oh, btw I just ordered a new car, another Fiat of course, to replace my five year old Ulysse. That has almost reached 300.000 km so it is pretty well ready for retirement.

So much for this being a rest day.


If a schizophrenic threatens with suicide,
can he be arrested for taking a hostage?

 

Kaptain's log. Kelshon, Guardian date 207.0048    

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2001-02-18  ,  Sunday      MMI-il

216

Nicely 0C, without ice when I get out to run at 5:45, with ice when I get back. One hour later still te ice is gone again, converted into some sort of low cloud or high mist. We don't get much in the way of sun. Just a typical Belgian grey day.
Current temp is 14.3C in and 3.0C out.

Running starts of rather bad with stiff legs (mainly the right one). Things gradually improve though and by the time I get back home, about an hour later, I am running quite relaxed.

I didn't really rest much yesterday so I catch up today.

I did a complete wipe of Aria and I reinstalled Linux. And I end up again without getting at the floppy drive. I am clue less here. I installed DOS and Win98 and both had no problem with the floppy. And Caldera eDesktop 4 is convinced the floppy is not readable. I had the same problem with Caitlan So I suspect the problem is Caldera related.
I have a Mandrake 7.1 CD somewhere hidden here, I'll try that next weekend.


If it freeze 0C today and they predict it will be "twice as cold" tomorrow,
what kind of weather will we get?

 

Kaptain's log. Kelshon, Guardian date 207.0049    

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Swijsen © 2001

A day you don't learn something new is a wasted day.