The Mandelbear's Musings

Oh, good grief! An entire week... maybe I should just give up and post weekly. It's been a long month since last Saturday.

The big news was the bad news from Google: they don't want me. All my "cautious optimism" collapsed in a heap Thursday evening, leaving me to wonder how in hell I'm going to pay for the move, the house improvements, and Colleen's ferociously expensive meds. Two months of overlap between work and severance pay would have covered it.

I'm probably screwed. I have one set of interviews scheduled for Friday, but I've been letting the move (and the web :P) take most of my attention. I decided Thursday night that the move had better take all of it for now -- the movers come Wednesday.

*sigh*

I am getting the packing done, at least. A little belatedly; and I'm probably going to panic tomorrow night. The office still has seven boxes and a handful of flats to sort through, and the tools in the garage and bedroom need to be boxed. Gleep! We'll manage, though, because we have to.

"You do what you have to" is familiar, at least -- it was my mantra all through the year Dad was dying and I was flying back and forth to Florida to see him as often as I could. And again, the six months Colleen was in and out of hospitals and nursing homes and I burned through my sick time, most of my vacation time, and about 150% of my cope visiting and taking care of her.

I had help then, and I do now. Liz, Og, and Devon are awesome! And Colleen keeps assuring me "we'll make it." I hope so.

Lots of links. Many of them, unfortunately, are also bad news. Can't be helped.

0714 Sa
  * up 9:22; W=196.2; d, n, t
  * Trantor didn't come back from sleep; don't do that.
  @ What's happening to iGoogle? - Web Search Help Going away November, 2013
  @ Lawyer Who Argued For Citizens United Admits Elections Are Bought | Move to Amend
  @ STUDY: 40 Percent Of Homeless Youth Are LGBT, Family Rejection Is Leading Cause 
    f(Tessara Gabrielle Dudley) Tragic, but not surprising.
  * buy:  tape for Colleen's leg, pantsu
  @ Conservative Think Tank: Mess Is the GOP's Fault - Newt Gingrich, Grover
    Norquist slammed for radicalizing Washington f(Liz Gerds)
  * 10 file-sharing options: Dropbox, Google Drive and more - Computerworld 
    Personal Data Vaults Put You in Control of Your Data Online | PCWorld 
  @ Kenguru - The car you have all been waiting for The first ever
    electrically powered vehicle designed especially for wheelchair users will
    become available in the UK soon.   Not *exactly* what Colleen needs, but close.
  * boxed musk ox, padded with stuffies.
  * s4s: posted Woody and the Bastille
  @ Happy 100th birthday, Woody Guthrie! - Boing Boing 
  @ At 100, Woody Guthrie Still Resonates : NPR 
  @ Stackolee - Woody Guthrie - YouTube 
  * boxed manual shelf - threw in health care pamphlets, driver disks

0715 Su
  * up 8:40; W=197.2; d, n, t;
  @ Log of Smallship One - Interlude 
    "I've been saying for some years that the work-optional society is and has
     been the next logical step for humanity, and that it's being held back by
     the persistent notion that everyone has to have a job."
  @ 35 Questions Mitt Romney Must Answer About Bain Capital Before The Issue
    Can Go Away - Forbes @TheRealSpaf
  * finished + taped manual box; took out LR front shelf.
  * boxed WiFi, VoIP, MiniITX (Jetway and EPIA 500)
  * boxed Beast, Bombsight Bowl, and lotus glasses.  Used shredder bits for packing
  * boxed Stargate, empty miniITX case, SATA, eSATA, and adapter boxes
  * cleared and took down shelves in front of office window.  *light*
  * some work in garage.  Found a box of books for Colleen to sort.
  * finished box of case parts and related stuff.
  * boxed family/computer history
  * rip Westercon_2011 (-may- already have it), RDNA archives disk.
  * reprised dinner:  chili, beans+rice, cornbread
  % ended the evening sleepy and somewhat burned-out.

0716 Mo
  * up 7:30; W=197.0; d, n, t; exercise
    % Did my trapezius exercises for the first time in over a month.  Felt it.
  @ adobe/brackets code editor
    for and built in html, css, and javascript
  ! trying hard to be both optimistic about Google, and realistic about the
    possibility that they won't want me.  Mostly failing, and flailing.  Trying
    to tell myself that it's ok to concentrate on the move instead of the job
    search.  Not believing that, but not searching, either.
  @ theBits « littleBits Community +Kee Hinckley
    Little electronic components that hook together with magnets.  Cool!
  * 12:30 second shelving unit in garage cleared off and ready to disassemble.
    former contents mostly triaged.  12 boxes left to sort in garage.  Maybe 12 
    in the office.
  @ New Documents Could Prove Mitt Romney Committed A Felony @gridlore
  * the rackmount audio gear stows in one of the long tubs.  warts at one end,
    the card for the 1010 at the other (protected by the rack ears)
  * both of the long tubs in the office have now been sorted.  Mostly junk, of
    course.  May want to keep *one* SCSI cable set.
  @ Bikers Against Child Abuse make abuse victims feel safe 
  * 3:30 both garage storage units down; store/apt sorting in progress
  * 4:10 unused shelving, power strip out of rack
  * made appointment to get Honda serviced.  Tracked down + organized key fobs
  * 4:45 rack stuff in bottom of file cabinet.  About 4" of files and the empty
    pendaflex folders moved to catalog drawer; the rest recycled.
  @ Som Sabadell flashmob - YouTube "Ode to Joy" (archangelbeth) 
  @ Everything for Everyone -
    The Everything for Everyone Festival is a free, two-day music, art, and
    politics festival scheduled to take place in Seattle, Washington on August
    11th and 12th. @OccupySeattle
  @ Where The Hell Is Matt? APOD
  @ 100 Riffs (A Brief History of Rock N' Roll) on Vimeo (firecat)
  * 10:49 got through the media and other stuff on the shelf under the desk on
    the long wall.  Mostly obs. floppies and some ancient docs.  Kept stuff that
    needs secure destruction.
  * put the oldest Thinkpad on the orphan shelf.

  ~ 0716-20 OSCON returns to the Oregon Convention Center July 16-20, 2012.
    unemployed discount?  @ssavitzky Not officially but email
    [email protected] and see if you qualify for any other discounts 

0717 Tu
  * up 7:30; W=196.2; d, n
  * 9am bring in Honda for service - a little under $800 with front brakes,
    power steering and brake fluid flushes.
  @ solarbird | the post-scarcity model, part five: touring (part two)
  @ What may be the world's first cybernetic hate crime unfolds in French
    McDonald's (ysabetwordsmith) 
  @ On ball-jointed dolls and the dream of a geek supercontinent (ysabetwordsmith) 
  * contact Highline ER billing about Colleen's visit.
    need claim# and billing address or phone for SEA.  800-544-1965
    206-787-3017 Sarah Kern -> handled by Southwest.  Gave email addy
  * reorganized Kat's stuff and Comp Hist Museum stuff in garage 
  ~ buy:  newsprint -> Devon, Liz
  * take Colleen to 3:30 apt with Awsare
    Kaiser Campbell has WiFi now, but it's slow.
  * started reading War of the Worlds on my phone
  @ Washington State will enable voter registration via Facebook | Ars Technica 
  * boxed office misc and stray books
  * mounted Seagate external drive on nova:/media/archive.  Lost ij somehow,
    even after plugging it back in.  :(
  * Bath; out ~ 00:33

0718 We
  * up 7:30; W=196.2; d, n, t; load drugs; exercise
  * humira
  * boxed USB and ethernet cables, USB gadgets box
  * boxec power strips and squids
  * 1pm - triaged the pile of parts boxes etc in the garage.  No survivors.
    book ms put on the CHM pile, since it _is_ computer history.
  @ Free Landlord Rental Forms for Real Estate - EZ Landlord Forms
  @ California Rental/Lease Agreement (Residential) Form LawDepot.com $20
    online form -> this is probably the way to go.
  @ Lease Forms - Nolo $18
    downloadable form.
  * found/dumped an entire file box of magazines in the office
  * boxed cat5 cables and parts.
  * boxed SCSI and X10
  * gave the upstairs hallway machine to Harold Groot
  * (last) Avoid Avoiding group
  * buy:  magnesium supplement
  * buy:  plastic film dressing covers
  : rowanf showed up briefly for Wednesday
  * send back eAccept with revised bottom line (1036?) to Chipman
  % Andy says that the fact that I haven't heard back yet is a good sign.  I
    will try to continue to be optimistic.
  = Andrew pointed out that all moving expenses are deductible because they're
    work-related.  Floor and painting are deductible as rent-related (sched. E)
    Move-related stuff might include some car, hotel, and plane costs.  

0719 Th
  * up 7:45ish; d, n
  @ Is Facebook damaging your reputation with sneaky political posts? | ZDNet 
    f(Laura Davidson) "liked" pages auto-posting in your name
  @ Test Firefox OS on a desktop computer with new B2G nightly builds | Ars Technica 
  @ Court Rules Portland's Naked Traveler Is Protected By Law : NPR f(James Earley)
  * order doxazosin, lisinopril/HCTZ - new address!
  * order humira -> ready 07/23/12 (Monday)
  : YD had a fit when told that we'd be leaving 
  : savitzky.net has been down all afternoon
  * take Colleen to SSA.  Turns out she can't get medicare unless she's been
    getting disability payments for 2 years.
  * take Colleen to Kaiser.  Printing out prescriptions took them out of the
    system.  Recovery may be difficult.
  & bad news from Google.
    ! depressed.  scared.  Hopeless. 
  * jobs: re-ping Karise
  * print new "moving" cards
  * start color-coding:  green: Store, pink: Naomi, yellow: Kat
  % some nostalgia going through the old box from my Stanford days - letters to
    friends, pix from Al's wedding, ...  I've lost touch with so damned many
    people.  Do Not Like.

0720 Fr
  * up 7:50; W=196.2; d, n, t; 
  * sorting and shredding - mindless fun.  2.5 baskets' worth so far.
  : garbage bin full
  @ All Tor books are DRM free from today on - Boing Boing 
  : The kitchen has been packed up by people who have no clue as to what I
    actually use on a daily basis.  This is not surprising; they seem to have a
    strict "don't bother the bear" policy.  Which makes sense for them -- I am
    not easy to get along with right now.
  * closed out box of SCSI/X10
  * boxed G-Vox, Tascam soundcard, midi cables.
  -> Use milk/file crates for the van-load, since they don't pack well
  * pack the first of the milk crates, with thinkpads and external drive enc's
  @ Back To School Station | The 36th AVENUE f(Jen Carlson Midkiff)
  * crated thinkpads and external drive enclosures/docks
  * boxed music stands and mic stand accessories
  * finished/taped file box of cables and squids
  * covered/taped tub of rackmount audio (using cardboard from the bamboo)
  * took the yucky gooey handlebar grips off YD's bike
  * finished/taped file box of amps and headphones
  * had a stuffalanche in the office.  no fatalities.
  : a couple of unsorted boxes from the garage ended up by the back door.  Urk!
  ~ Consolidating (via Og) all of Kat's stuff in the house.
  @ Overfocus on tech skills could exclude the best candidates for jobs
  @ Saturday Morning Cartoons: “Pipe Dreams” | Tor.com live-action Animusic 
  * backed up /vv/{share,users,mm}, /etc, /home on archive (Seagate external 1.5T)
  * copied /vv/mm to iomega drive on whitewood (media server)