Wednesday, August 3, 2005

Breakfast: a white nectarine, a banana. Met with Susie, Heather, and Sarah to discuss HTML e-mail mailings process. I learned a lot and got to see the address database they work with. Heather and Sarah do an admirable job with the database, ensuring that the data is clean and very well aware of the process and problems. I am impressed. Tried to figure out the "registering CALs" process that Jacqui said I had to do, but the phone number she gave me was a tiresome Microsoft phone jail and I couldn't get it to work. I decided that I really didn't need to do as Jacqui said unless I needed to use Terminal Server or Terminal Services, which I'm not using. Made corrections for one of our HTML e-mail templates, sent them all to Cindy for review. Lunch at Golden Rice Bowl (415-731-8110, 1030 Irving St) with Joel. This restaurant had formerly been called Beijing on Irving before a recent remodel and slight change of menu. It's nicer, but not exactly nice. Colorful lanterns now line parts of the ceiling, but although the lanterns are Asian, they aren't traditionally Chinese. The fabric has Chinese symbols, but the shape (a kind of teardrop) is from India or some other region—weird. Joel just for laughs calls this place Golden Shower Rice Bowl. While we ate we had to endure a man eating with his family while he talked VERY LOUDLY ON HIS CELLPHONE and fussed over his children to behave and take photos of their meal. Joel's fortune: You have a keen sense of humor and love a good time. My fortune: Happiness is often a rebound from hard work. On our way back we stopped at Starbucks so I could get a wake-up drink (double tall mocha), and Joel chatted with a sidewalk woman who was working minimum wage to beg for money for environmental causes. Back at work, Joel and I tried to figure out the problem he reported a while ago where IE changes from small to medium sized fonts without explanation. I had found some spyware and removed it, but that didn't seem to fix the problem. I can't suggest anything else now except to reformat and reinstall Windows and everything else. This is ironic, because I need to do this for my own work computer because IE (stupid IE) won't permit cookies even though I've configured it to permit cookies. Fixed a small problem with our supplemental application changing text "Please type or print your name..." to "Please type your name..." so that people don't get the idea that they can fill out the form longhand. Ordered a new printer for Joel. The HP LaserJet 5 he's been using for the past few years is probably 7 or 8 years old (if not older) and I think 2 years ago I had said it was on its last legs. We're replacing it with a Dell 1100 which turns out to be a lot less expensive than an equivalent HP 1020 or 1022 particularly with respect to service and support. HP only seems to offer a 1-year warranty. Dell's printers come default with 2 years, and adding a 3rd year is only $10 more. How can I resist? I set up the order and put paperwork in Cindy's inbox to approve. Filed digital paperwork with La'Trece for reimbursement of web hosting I paid for on my own credit card. Chatted with Chris about rafting and paddling techniques and the J stroke. Set up shared calendaring and delegation for the shared OSACA calendar. Dinner at home with Patrick: hot pastrami and swiss sandwich, chicken noodle soup, tater tots. Watched some Simpsons episodes. Archived documents to PDF.