Check-In Thread #81: From Tennessee To Canada

[Gary]

Today is the start of a rarity -- I'll be leaving the house on a weekend. I joined a local Meetup group that is conducting a coding camp on Sundays. One of my goals on my IDP (Individual Development Plan) for work is to pass the Microsoft C# Certified Developer Exam. I have two projects at work, currently written in Visual Basic, that I want to rewrite. I have my manager's blessing so long as the time is spent off the clock, which is not an issue for me. I made my intentions clear I want to be promoted to the next higher engineer level next year, which I was told is reasonable and shouldn't be an issue.

A few months ago, one of the mangers gave a presentation which showed us how to leverage the IDP. If the managers see we take the IDP seriously (for career growth and development) then they know how to redistribute assets for different projects. If we don't leverage the IDP, then the mangers will interpret that as indifference on the employee's part, and the employee will not be considered for new projects that come online. The summation: This place is what you make of it. If you don't want to exert the effort, then why should we be concerned with what you don't want to do? You (employee) need to prove that you deserve the promotion, the change in direction, or the additional responsibility.

Before that, I had a difficult time drafting my IDP, which the system would kick back as barely being 40% complete. After the presentation, I reworked my IDP which now has an 85% completion rating.

[Lupine]

Good morning, all.

Again, no special plans though I might wind up in town at some point. Might do some shopping since I'm in the area (save a trip back later).

RIP Adam West

I loved his Batman show when I was a kid.

^^ Yes, so did I. POW! BAM!

I watched the re-runs growing. Had a crunch on Batgirl.

After church today, we are going to my friend Debi's house to cook out and swim in her pool.

Have fun!

Addie's recital went well. Thankfully, her second number was 11 numbers after the intermission. I only stayed 3 hours,

Man, I remember going to my Niece's recitals. Those things are endless. I'm glad it went well.

I got roped into going to a recital by some friends. The college-age girls are the only thing that made the night tolerable.

I hear it's being panned by critics.

It looks awful, and not just because Tom Cruise is in it (no offense to your friend). It was one thing turning The Mummy into a Raiders clone, but turning it into a super-action, SFX-laden, Mission Impossible-style Summer blockbuster is just stupid. This is not a good way for Universal to jump start their "Universal Monsters" shared universe.

Nothing will ever compare to the Boris Karloff version.

[Madeliaette]

Madeliaette, it sounds like getting B out of the house did her some good.

it certainly does - and she used to go for a short walk or wheelchair ride EVERY day - tilmafter christmas and she suddenly stopped wanting to...finding it too cold or too windy or too much effort...mind you all those strawberries had an after effect that i was greeted with when i arrived this morning! i can eat 10 times as many as she ate and not be affected but.... never mind - she and her clothes are now all cleaned! i then trotted off to rustington - via sainsburys where i 'spent' my accumulated points and got a pair of jeans for free! i hit 2 other stores - one with a £1 off voucher and buy one get one half price offer running - and the other woith a free coffee/newsoppaper and cofee grounds! so a prtety good haul. i then hopped down the plot for around 1.5 hours work - a little watering/a small area dug over, but mostly cropping! came home with a shopping bag laden with free goodies - last of the broad beans, first of the garlic a humungous bag of gooseberries, medium bag strawbs, 3-4 strands spinach and a small bag raspberries. i now have to prepare them.... which additionally calls for a glass of wine, vooking dinner, going online, scented candle and sorting out stuff iun a multitasking evening!
hot weather gets me going too, Huggle - but i am equally busy with chore sin winter - as its too cold todo anything outside and bouncing about with a vac n mop keeps me wamr!

[Cayla]

I have another recital to go to next weekend.

I find that this time of year, I cannot sleep past 5:30am, where during the winter months, I do not want to wake up at 8am.
I'd much prefer to work outside than inside during the summer.

[Madeliaette]

yes the blackbird is my Lrm in summer too - but i can lie in bed and doze while he sings to me.....i dont have to roll out of bed til 6!

[jgc]

Howdy.

Took me a few minutes to catch up with the thread.

Cayla, I'm glad you had a good time at the game. And you have my sympathies on the dance recital. Been there, done that.

Hope you all are having a nice weekend.

[Madeliaette]

done the nstrawbs spinach and rasps....now about to start the gooses....may leave the beans til tom!

[Madeliaette]

now halfway thru the gooseberries....bottom shelf of freezer is FULL, top two are half full and 3/4 full.... gonna make gooseberry jam! well - try to....

[huggle]

Gooseberries are an excellent remedy against sleeplessness. (Their way for making up for causing you sleepless nights figuring out how to use them up if you have a huge harvest )
My mom used to make a pretty good and simple gooseberry cake: shortbread dough, gooseberries and a bit of sugar on top, baked, topped with stiffly beaten egg whites and sugar and then baked again till the meringue mass turns golden on the edges. (works also with red currants or rhubarb).


Gary, can you recommend a good visual basic tutorial for beginners? We have some software (a version of Arc GIS Pro) at my office that sometimes requests an input in that language and I'd like to get to a point where I needn't look up the respective commands online.

Seems to be IT day: I just tried to install the new Renext from scratch and got an error message that http input and output was disabled on my server. Unfortunately, that's hidden in one of the few spots I have no access to so I just filed an request with my host's helpdesk. I encountered the same error message months ago when I started working on the board but considered it a bug. However, it appears to be correct and is maybe connected to a server upgrade last September.
My old boards that run the very same software perform splendidly and don't show any error message (very likely because they were already there when the server settings were altered). So in the worst case I can always take a copy of one of these boards and simply modify it.
There's no software you can't cheat into doing what you want

[Madeliaette]

just finished preparing ALL the gooseberries... just the broad beans to go - and they can wait til tomorrow maybes. well i have a giant pan filled with most of todays gooseberry haul, Huggle - so am going to attempt gooseberry jam! i would rather make strawberry jam....but i might eat all the strawbs as they are to me what choc is to a certain scottydog!! pity i am not hungry after my dinner - or i could pig strawberries/raspberries now while jamming up the gooseberries....

[scottydog]

^^ Yes, so did I. POW! BAM!

I watched the re-runs growing. Had a crunch on Batgirl.

I had many crunches. POW!

For me it was Emma Peel. Yowzer!!

[RJDiogenes]

Good evening, everyone.

Today was a relaxing and somewhat productive day.

I managed to do a bit of gardening and cleaning yesterday. Gradually, the chaos receedes. Funny how ons energy levels depend on the season: when it's dark and cold I can't get myself to do anything but when there's sun I get into full spring cleaning mode.

Energy levels really do depend on the season. The heat of Summer drains my energy and makes me want to nap. Then the cool air and early nights of Fall are very relaxing and make me want to nap. Then the cold of Winter just makes me want to stay in a warm bed and nap. Finally, Spring comes along and the fresh air and flowery smells just put me right to sleep.

The summation: This place is what you make of it.

It's the same where I work. My bosses are always encouraging me to apply for promotions. I just want to hide away and do my job for a couple of years and retire.

I watched the re-runs growing. Had a crunch on Batgirl.

Yes, Yvonne Craig was amazing. She was on Star Trek once, too.

I got roped into going to a recital by some friends. The college-age girls are the only thing that made the night tolerable.

I can see how that would make a difference.

Nothing will ever compare to the Boris Karloff version.

You can't improve on perfection.

My old boards that run the very same software perform splendidly and don't show any error message (very likely because they were already there when the server settings were altered). So in the worst case I can always take a copy of one of these boards and simply modify it.

That's weird. Terran uses phpBB, too. Was the upgrade after that?

For me it was Emma Peel. Yowzer!!

They've been showing the old Avengers episodes on the Cozi Network lately. They've moved on to the Tara King episodes now, but I got the Emma Peel Megaset from Amazon.

[scottydog]

For me it was Emma Peel. Yowzer!!

I got the Emma Peel Megaset from Amazon.

Such a thing exists? I WANT, I WANT!

[RJDiogenes]

It exists, all right. And only twenty bucks. You can't go wrong.

[Gary]

Gooseberries are an excellent remedy against sleeplessness. (Their way for making up for causing you sleepless nights figuring out how to use them up if you have a huge harvest )
My mom used to make a pretty good and simple gooseberry cake: shortbread dough, gooseberries and a bit of sugar on top, baked, topped with stiffly beaten egg whites and sugar and then baked again till the meringue mass turns golden on the edges. (works also with red currants or rhubarb).


Gary, can you recommend a good visual basic tutorial for beginners? We have some software (a version of Arc GIS Pro) at my office that sometimes requests an input in that language and I'd like to get to a point where I needn't look up the respective commands online.

My friend, I can BURY you in links for learning development

http://www.tutorialsteacher.com/
http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/index.html
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/

These should help.