Friday, September 19, 2003

Skipped breakfast again. Printed out something for Joel to laugh at. Got to the bus 66 stop at 30th and Vicente at 8:50 AM. There was a bus there already with its blinkers on and a yellow block under the right rear tire. The driver, an older black man with a tight ponytail, was sitting in the back of the bus with the front door closed. He was smoking a cigarette. Why does he have to stink up the bus for everyone like that? Consequently the 8:50 AM bus didn't leave on time. Another bus showed up about 10 minutes later and I got to work around 9:20 AM. Checked backup issue—it's finishing earlier now, but there are still some strange variances I can't yet account for. Must go digging through the backup catalogs to find the answer to the problem. I look and see folders called "System Volume Information" with folders named Restore followed by cryptic registry key numbers—they contain over 800 MB of files (why?), so I omit those from future backups to see if that resolves the problem. Continue installing software onto Mike's computer. Read up on Win XP optimization tips from Black Viper. Mike's computer is an old 450 MHz—"it's all I can give ya, Cap'n!"—so it will need as many optimization tips as we can get. Lunch with Joel and Ena and Melissa at the Student Luncheon in MU Gym: burritos and soda. Watched the students partake in silly contests for prizes: pill (Skittle) counting, mummy wrapping (with toilet paper), and marshmallow mouth-stuffing. Sent out listserv member reviews for student organizations. Hand-edited the ASSP officers and class officers listservs myself. Installed MS Office XP on Mike's computer. I only have to optimize and then set up remote assistant and then it's all done! Started making a map in Adobe Illustrator of our office in U-12 for Mike R—he needs a map of data and phone faceplates and ip addresses. Did some VPN research. Dinner at You See Sushi with Patrick and Melissa. Went to Cole Hall Cinema's grand reopening. Every so often UCSF turns our largest Parnassus classroom into Cole Hall Cinema. Patrick and I went once before, but the sound was really awful. In their reopening tonight, they promised surround sound and a new DVD player and other state-of-the-art equipment. Tonight's film was Chicago, which Patrick and I only saw part of because our DVD drive at home malfunctioned when we rented the film. I thought it was a lot of fun and Patrick did, too, but he didn't think it should have won as many Oscars as it did. Melissa kept apologizing for intruding on our "date" but it was quite enjoyable to have her company. At home, Patrick and I set up his Oyster and wireless keyboard and mouse in an attempt to resolve his frequent neck and back pain. Set up was pretty easy and all is working as expected. Hooray! Coded the second and final drama piece. Now just need to proof it, then break it up into sections which the author already did for me. Last things for Lodestar: the 2 featured pieces and the home page and Issue 7 will be all wrapped up. Just in time, too!