Thursday, August 17, 2006
I forgot to mention yesterday that my Panda Express fortune said, "Plan to have some fun," which amused me because I immediately thought, "Well didn't I just have some fun?" but although fun also means noodles to me Patrick tells me I have it wrong and that fun in Chinese means (I think) rice, or in the context in which I learned it—rice noodles. When I arrived at work this morning my computer wouldn't connect to a variety of things properly. Sophos wouldn't update and Outlook wouldn't connect. I walk over to James's office and his computer is the same. I check in with Cindy and she hasn't even bothered trying things anymore—she's just waiting for someone to fix it. I restart my computer, try to get an IP and instead get a 169.254 address. My 8:00 AM appointment shows up at this time. A student needs help setting up Outlook. We go over it and I have her running in a few minutes. (She can connect through wireless.) I return to the network problem. The 169.254 IP is bad news. I call the help desk to report the problem. No one answers, so I leave a message. Within a few minutes, Heather calls back to say that construction on a nearby floor has broken connectivity for certain subnets and we're in one of them. She'll call back to report when the problem is resolved. There's not a lot me or my unit can do when this happens. They can't even connect to the server where all their documents are stored. I resort to dusting and tidying my office and continuing my archiving of data to DVD. Betty-ann—one of our most celebrated faculty members—has declared today Scarf Day. She arrives to hand out free scarves that she made while watching TV. She says she makes about one every hour. (They're on the thin side, but nonetheless the results are amazing.) Every one was different and she chooses really interesting, sometimes outlandish yarns. I take photos with the office camera. Around 10:00 AM Heather reports that the network problem is resolved. Apple followup. Helped Laura M find a photo of the dean. Data gathering for Barbara S. Updated a listserv for Joyce. Minor edits to the orientation materials. Lunch with Cindy and Melissa at You See Sushi. Melissa is back from a 2-month trip to Japan following her first year of law school. We all enjoyed catching up on her activities, and Cindy really grilled her on all the student affairs and curriculum administrata. Joel wouldn't join us saying I've been mean to him but I honestly don't know why he thinks that and of course he won't say. The Apple deal is finally confirmed fixed, so I announce to our students and give the committee a heads up that they can announce as well. Helped entering student BS with a question about computer purchasing. Responded to Claire's question about ps numbers. Minor admissions web page update for James. Checked in with Albert H about our cdrom duping. Downloaded and uploaded photos of the scarves. Followup with a potential captioner. Dinner at home by myself: leftover noodles. Downloaded and uploaded photos. Vacuumed. Cut my hair. Washed dishes. Weight training: crunch, leg lift, tricep kickback, front raise, wrist curl, reverse wrist curl. Late meal: two turkey burgers with swiss, lettuce, and tomato.