SharePoint

12:43 < Teran> Whee I get to set up a test environment. Hmmm
12:43 < Teran> SQL, Exchange and what else should I set up
12:43 < Teran> sharepoint?
12:43 <@Sporks> friends don't let friends set up sharepoint
12:44 < Teran> Yeah but we work with a lot of sharepoint servers
12:44 < Teran> It's the new groupwise
12:44 < Teran> Which is like saying horseshit is the new dogshit

Lawn chair pilot flies with 105 balloons - Yahoo! News

Lawn chair pilot flies with 105 balloons - Yahoo! News

I'm so jealous.

11:27 <syd|> I loved anything that uses a BB gun as an ad hoc control surface
11:27 <syd|> if only the concorde had a pilot shooting BBs at the flaps it'd have been so much better

NPR : Former Member of Radical Islam Questions Faction

NPR : Former Member of Radical Islam Questions Faction

Amazing interview on NPR. Make sure to listen to the extended interview, and to read his editorial on The Observer

08:57 < Elliot> I need shoes with rollerskates in them
08:57 < Elliot> it's a trade off though
08:57 < Elliot> how cool would it be to roll around on them vs. how big a douche would I be for having shoes made for 6 year olds

Finally some good news from Brazil...

My parents moved to Brazil a while ago, trying to find work. I don't know if it's better or worse than Chile, to be honest. They've had a terrible time there, and part of my own stress these days comes from worrying about them, and sending them large (for me, anyway) chunks of money each paycheck. For a long while I was basically sending them my entire paycheck; right now, my sister and I are taking turns (we were both sending them money every month for some time). Every time I hear from them, my stomach turns and binds up, stressed and worried about what's gone wrong now.

Until two days ago, when I finally got some news that made me smile...I was chatting with my mom on Google Talk, listening to Joan Manuel Serrat, which of course always makes me think of my dad, and asked her how he's doing.

"He's doing great," she said, "right now he's in a class with five young men singing John Lennon's 'Imagine.'"

Years earlier, I remembered, he'd tutor young people who were preparing for their English university exams. He'd always have a unit on the Beatles.

His students always thought he was the best.

BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush spares Libby from jail term

BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush spares Libby from jail term

Complete and utter bullshit. The Administration is simply a disgrace.

I should add something: I'm not so naive to have thought that Libby was going to serve his sentence. This had pardon written all over it. But, in keeping with the way these things usually seem to happen, I expected it to be quiet and underhanded, not this blatant middle finger to, well, everyone. Being that Bush has, in fact, been giving America the finger for nearly eight years now, though, I should've known better.

[09:07] Spleen: in celebration of my impending success, i'm listening to 60's synth art-rock interpretations of modern classical pieces.
[09:08] Sporks: dammit.

[12:47] Spleen: i'm going to celebrate my victory over faxing software by listening to Iron Maiden. fyi.

Puppet safety concerns

Someone posted this on a board between the men's and women's bathrooms at work. It's probably a joke, but I hope it's serious--it's so much funnier if it is.

In case my phone picture is too blurry, it says:

"As a result of last week's incident, and due to growing safety concerns, puppets will no longer be allowed in the break area or bathrooms.

Thank you for your cooperation."

Quick RA update

So I have this whole long thing about my adventures in Oncology, but I can't seem to buckle down and actually write it. For the time being, I'll let you guys know that I'm doing ok; I think the Orencia is working. It's a little disconcerting because my doctor is out of the country for the rest of the month. So far so good, though. More later.

Up next: Orencia (part 2)

I don't know why I'm so freaked out about this, but I am. I guess because of the way it came about. Yes, I know I'm lucky to have a supportive husband, and insurance, and a good job, and all that. I really do know this. I'm still freaked out, which puts me in a cranky mood.

So, for the gory details. My infusion takes place tomorrow, over a couple of hours. Tonight, I'm supposed to take four times my usual prednisone dose; this will make it so I can't sleep, so I'm taking the day off tomorrow. Once at the hospital, they'll give me yet another dose of steroids, and then the medication itself, intravenously. This is the part that takes a couple of hours.

When I used to go in for Remicade, I'd bring my husband's laptop (I didn't have one of my own at the time) and watch a movie. My laptop right now is sort of huge, though, so I don't know if I'd be able to hold it long enough to watch anything. Also, I may be too exhausted; it wouldn't be too bad to just sleep through the whole thing.

I'm worried about having an allergic reaction. This is what happened with the Remicade; I was doing great on it, and then, out of nowhere, I had an allergic reaction--couldn't breathe. So that was that. If this happens again, there is, I think, one other alternative, and then we may be out of options again, until someone comes up with a new drug.

I want to be able to not have to carefully weigh the pros and cons of having a drink, because walking to the bathroom (not to mention sitting), is such terrible pain.

It seems stupid to have my husband come sit with me for hours just because I'm freaked out. I can't in good conscience ask him to just hang around and twiddle his thumbs for the whole day. Either this thing will work or it won't; either I'll have a reaction to it or I won't; there's nothing that his being there will change, I guess.

The drug itself is pretty scary--"it works by blocking the activity of T-cells". I suppose that's no scarier than anything else that screws with your immune system, but still, it's odd to have your doctor recommend this--my gut reaction was, "T-cells? Don't I, you know, need those? *flashbacks to Pedro going over his T-cell count in The Real World*" Of course, my last drug was TNF inhibitor--and I mean, why would you possibly need the stuff that fights tumors in your body.

Side effects are the usual: infections, increased cancer risk, etc etc.

I've spent long enough on this for now; we'll see how stuff goes tomorrow.

Up next: Orencia

So, I have been avoiding the topic as much as I can, but it's arthritis time. I've been in a pretty bad flare for the past month-plus. I don't have the energy to go into detail about all of that--you can browse through the archives if you're curious as to what that's like.

I've also been waiting to get approved for a new treatment. First, my doctor's office took their sweet time to get the approval process going. Apparently there is one single person in the whole rheumatology operation at my hospital who is capable of doing this. And she was out of the office for a few weeks, so it took about a month just to get this going; after she came back, I had to chase her down because no one was calling me (as promised), and then had some trouble getting my calls returned (I can only imagine how swamped she was if she's the only person handling this type of thing), which added another two weeks or so.

On Thursday, I had to leave work early because the pain was so bad. On Friday, I was barely able to walk in the morning, and spent most of the day laying in bed. Apparently some time Thursday afternoon, the Girl From Rheumatology (sounds like "Girl From Ipanema" in my head) called letting me know that I'd been approved and the OIC (Oncology and Infusion Center) would be calling me to make an appointment. OIC called twice on Friday, of course, and I didn't even notice it, what with being in a pain-induced haze most of the day--not that I'd be able to do anything about it, since I couldn't hold a phone or dial during business hours.

I returned their call today morning, and got bitched at for not answering.

You'd think that people dealing with patients suffering from cancer and other diseases disruptive enough that require, you know, poison to be pumped directly into their veins in order to function would be a little more understanding.

I would like to take this moment to deeply and sincerely apologize to every receptionist whose appointment-scheduling has been ever-so-slightly disrupted by my inability to overcome the agonizing pain that keeps me pinned to the bed so I can sprightly hop on over to the phone and answer by the second ring. I have been truly selfish and thoughtless.

After sheepishly taking my well-deserved talking-to by the OIC Star Scheduler, she informed me that since I hadn't called them back until today--and really, this is my fault, I should've had the oversight to add more business days in between Friday and Monday--, she had gone ahead and scheduled me for an infusion. On the eleventh. That is, the day after tomorrow.

I'm lucky enough to have understanding bosses and to work for a fairly nice company. I shudder to think of what happens to the other poor bastards with this disease when they suddenly have to block out three to four hours in the middle of the week in the middle of a workday on two days' notice.

One last, additional problem with this whole thing: this week, of all times, my rheumatologist is out on vacation. She had mentioned she wanted me to dose up on prednisone before the infusion, but I don't have the exact dose or instructions. OIC was unable to provide me with any special instructions from my doc; her office is consulting the on-call doctor. Additionally, there may be other stuff (more meds plus observation), since I had a nasty allergic reaction to an infusion in the past. Hopefully she wrote this down some place accessible to the other people in her office.

I'm pretty freaked out and not too happy at this point. Will write more later about the medication itself and some of the things that are freaking me out about that.

KUOW was reporting this morning that the man who shot a UW staff member was a British citizen in the country illegally.

Clearly, we must build a fence on the Atlantic.

Update time--
Glasses: the trapezoidification issue got a little better, but not much. I was being lazy about scheduling an appointment to get them fixed, but then yesterday morning my dogs decided to help me out by chewing my glassses up and breaking one of the lenses.

Cold: holy crap, I was sick with this BS for two weeks. Felt like death by the end, but I've been better this week, though I'm still sniffly from time to time. It's always a little stressful when I get sick every winter, because my immune system is not really up to par.

WoW: we've started poking our heads into Karazhan, which is fun. We're still hashing out guild/class numbers (hey look! we're recruiting!), but I'm looking forward to doing more stuff once we get this more settled down. And I'd just like to take this time to add my voice to the giant "WTF, Blizzard" being echoed by raiders everywhere.

This is the part where you non-WoWers can start to not care:

1) Lrn2math: before the expansion, WoW raids were 40- or 20-man affairs. After the expansion, new raids are 25-man. There is also one 10-man instance (Karazhan). You do the math. This is a nightmare for guild management. Also, Karazhan is where most guilds will spend the bulk of their time, because...

2) there is no "introductory" 25-man content. The two raids that were supposed to be entry-level content, are so unappealing and difficult that even the hardcore guilds (and I mean here, "average" hardcore, as opposed to guilds going for world-firsts, etc.) are either having trouble with them or have little incentive to even try them, because...

3) the risk vs. reward ratio is out of whack. You need massive consumables to beat fights that may have a large luck component, and the drops you get from these fights don't help you get away from the massive consumable use the next time you come back to fight the same guy.

Here's hoping that some of this gets fixed by the time we get there.

I'm sick!

But for once it's not the arthritis. I've got a nasty cold or flu or something that's making it feel like my brains have liquefied and are trying to come out my nose. It's all very bad. It's been about a week and finally I'm starting to feel better.

In other news, I finally got my glasses replaced, and since it's been so long since I wore them (and the prescription changed a little bit), everything looks off. I feel taller, and my monitor looks like /___\ instead of |___|. According to the people at my optometrist's office, it should wear off somewhere in between a few hours and a day or two, but until then, the monitor thing is driving me bonkers and making it pretty hard to work. Also, my husband amuses himself by pretending he's shorter or taller than he really is to try to trip me up.

Communication

The secret to a good marriage: communication.

[10:53] Sporks: I miss being able to drive myself places <<=(
[10:54] Sporks: I hate having to make you go everywhere with me
[10:55] MrSporks: <:(
[10:55] Sporks: it's not that I don't want your company but I hate not being able to
[10:55] MrSporks: i understand
[10:55] MrSporks: you think i'm fat.
[10:55] Sporks: exactly.

15:26 <Syd> I need to invent a heated hose, teach me how to mix electricity and water

And another thing...

A company we do business with is taking people in my office bowling.

Things You Do When You Go Bowling That I Can't Do:

• Tie shoes
• Hold a bowling ball (that is, I can't support the weight)
• Put fingers in bowling ball/grip bowling ball
• Swing arms beyond normal walking
• Walk at moderate-to-fast speed
• Bend down
• Push ball
• Sit on hard plastic chairs for any length of time
• Drink beer

In short, I'm not going.

In unrelated but more upbeat news, I finally got around to ordering Hagalo Usted Mismo. I can't wait to get it--it's coming overnight, but it's the weekend. Every time I hear a song from it on Pandora, I beat myself for taking so long to order it.

I feel like garbage. I'll try to keep the health stuff to a minimum, though. I may be starting a new RA treatment soon, since the Humira failed to do, well, anything. I'm also having a lot of trouble remembering to take my meds, which is unusual for me.

So, since I'm trying to make myself, you know, write stuff, and don't want to talk about feeling like garbage, WoW update time. I hit 70 last week; people are still sending me "grats" messages, and it always surprises me because it feels like it happened a long time ago. I've been working on getting various attunements/keys, because I'm going a little loopy from lack of raiding. I'm not having much luck getting into 5-man groups, though, which is discouraging. I'm a good rogue, but rogues have certain PvE issues which don't make them really desirable for 5-mans.

For starters: we take a lot of damage. We can't do damage from range, so we get smacked with all kinds of AoE attacks (both physical and magical), and our armor is only leather. We require a lot of healing. Also, on fights that require kiting a boss, it can be tricky to get enough face time with the mob to contribute significant DPS.

Our crowd control, sap, is currently the most reliable CC in the game--Blizzard removed the heartbeat resists, so it lasts the full duration. However, you can only apply it once, because it can only be applied from stealth and while a mob is not in combat. And for some reason, Blizzard has decided to start including packs of mobs that are already engaged in combat, thus rendering them unsappable. Not just one or two mobs in a pack, but the full pack--I shudder to think what these guys will do, un-CC-d, in heroic mode.

There are other significant issues for rogues in the expansion, but others have already covered them well and in detail, and nothing has come of it.

And last but not least--Blizzard's LFG interface is just bad. You can only look for groups for instances your level (so no going farming on an alt while monitoring LFG); you can only look for 3 groups at a time; you can't look while in a group (so if I decide to go run some lowbie friends through something to pass the time, it drops me); and last, but not least--so few people use it, you may see one or two people looking for an instance at any time. People find groups through a mishmosh of adhoc channels, general in-city chat, friends/guild lists instead.

Resolutions schmesolutions

I know, long time no post. It occurs to me that I have a lot of random stuff to comment on/write about, but I'm not sure what I want to become of this thing.

I've been keeping an online journal of sorts for about six years now, and it's gotten to the point where I've started worrying about what people reading it would think. My original intent was to be more open and it was important to me to be honest with what I was thinking, but now I worry. Do I want to move to be more anonymous (moving here off deadletter was a step in that direction), so that employers, etc., can't see this, or go the complete opposite, go back to my original intent, and stop trying to hide. I'm not sure yet.

For the time being, some updates of the prosaic: I have a job I like, for the most part. I work with my husband (same place, near each other, but not on the same team). My arthritis has been pretty bad the past few months. My family's been having some financial problems so I've been funneling my money to them. I've been pretty up and down in the depression front. Still living north of Seattle. My entertainment of choice is still WoW. I miss speaking Spanish sometimes--not any Spanish, mind you, but the butchered and funny Chilean Spanish.

I'm going to try to post a little more often while I figure out what to do about this thing--writing something will hopefully help me get out of my own head some.