Sunday, December 5, 2004
I dreamt last night that I was given the task of helping to proctor an exam for the UCSF School of Pharmacy. The hallway at the exam location was crammed full of furniture and filing cabinets because the school had failed to plan adequately for space needs. In some places, there's only 5 inches left of hallway, so I squeeze through the small space to travel between the 2 rooms holding the exam. I notice that the filing cabinets have student files in them... and they're not locked! I am outraged but remember that information security worst practices are surprisingly common throughout the University, and so I don't bother to pursue the issue with anyone. I see the name Tina Carter on one of the files, and I wonder if it's Tina Carter from Adobe, but I don't bother to check because I don't think it's right (and somewhere the creators of FERPA are celebrating). Some filing cabinets are filled with ancient, yellowed, stained, or partially burned Christmas cards and other correspondence, and some of this also appears in secured bulletin boards nearby on the wall. Somehow I know it's all of sentimental value to Bob Day (or perhaps someone else, but most likely Bob Day) and that I will soon be asked to scan it all in for archiving. I've never been a proctor before, and no one gave me clear training for doing it, but I get most everything right. The one thing I forget is to bring a watch with me and there's no clock in the room (and I forgot to write down the time they started), so some of the students likely got extra time they shouldn't've. Forrest is one of the students still taking the exam (and getting extra time), but I don't remember anyone else specifically. And the dream ends there.—I woke up again at 6 this morning, groggy, perhaps another nap today sometime. I realize that Microsoft (or any mouse manufacturer) could program into a small percentage of their hardware that the mouse should stop working shortly after the warranty expires and no one would likely ever figure it out. I decide today ForecastFox is a winner even though it really didn't rain last night like the forecast had predicted. Now to introduce the office staff to it... Went to bed around 8:30 AM, woke up at 11:30 AM. We still have no food in the house, so Patrick and I go to Safeway on Taraval, stopping at Victor Bakery first for a quick bite of Chinese pork buns and American pastries. In Safeway we see again that they don't have Quaker Oatmeal—the slow version (not quick oats). They were out last time we came here, and we thought it was just a stocking fluke. We decide to not shop here and get groceries at the Safeway in Westlake. We drive to Daly City to pick up Patrick's replacement wireless mouse. At the Safeway in Westlake we discover that they too are out of the same oatmeal. This Safeway also has green-apple-flavored and mint-chocolate-flavored candy canes but none that are regular peppermint. We buy our other groceries. We get home and unpack. I set up Patrick's mouse and the Oyster docking station. It works as expected, and I discover from the Microsoft packaging that the mouse that broke is warranted for 3 years instead of just 1 like I thought, so I might try to send it in for repair or replacement. I wash the car by myself while Patrick works on his final paper for SLA. I go to buy gas and fill up air in the tires and get candy canes at Walgreens. I notice at Walgreens they too have the quick oats but not the slow oats. I guess I'll just have to buy them online. French-pressed coffee. I do the dishes and tidy up the place while Patrick continues to work on his paper. Shower. Shopping online—I kinda need a new warmest jacket. The jacket I have now is a ski jacket I got new for about $75 at the boy's department at REI Seattle in January 2000, so it's not only inappropriate for urban winters it's quite out of fashion. Didn't find anything that I really liked. I assembled the replacement server from the component pieces I had laid out over the past couple of days. This case matches the previous 2 I had, so I don't have to carry around an extra key—the locks match! Woo! It's ready to go, untested, but I can't put it in the rack yet. The rack needs to be reorganized, and until Patrick is done with class and Lodestar is live and gelled for a few days I can't tear everything apart as is required. This will be a project over my 2-week holiday break coming up starting December 18. Chatted online with BK.