We got out of the office around 10:00 last night. Headed for Taco Bell for dinner and then home. Got to bed by around 1:30 a.m. Up again early today and at work by just past 8:00.

Today has been WILD. We had to take a break to run home, as sister Sue suzy_qp is picking up furniture we've given her, so she needed the alarm left off and the cats locked up. There's no way we can leave the cats locked up until whenever we finally get home today (???). And we hate leaving the alarm off -- it's just not safe.

Anyway, the afternoon will be setting all the computers back up again -- Marilyn mistressmarilyn and I will be doing that all alone (of course). (I'll do my IT-rant later on -- I don't have time for it now.)

I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL TODAY IS OVER.

Sue B. got us all Starbucks and lunch (lunch is waiting for us downtown when we finally leave here), to keep us going. Doesn't she ROCK (as always)???

Gotta run! Later!

It's around 8:30 p.m. -- and there's no end in sight.

Marilyn mistressmarilyn and I are here alone (surprise?) -- she's still packing up her stuff, and I'm working on the computers. Yes, still.

Paul has been AWESOME. He was here longer than anyone else (except us), and has offered to come by tomorrow, too. That would be great, as it seems like there are things that were neglected, even with all of our incredible organization.

Anyway, I need to get back at it, so maybe we won't be here 'til midnight! (Joking, joking. I think!)

I just had a filling come out on the right side of my mouth (an upper tooth). What a pain. I'll have to phone and see when my dentist can work me in...

Well, so far it doesn't hurt, so I guess it's not that big a deal.

And I'm done with the garbage and recycling, so that's a good thing.

I was just doing some Windows XP updates on Marilyn's mistressmarilyn computer, as I hadn't done them in ages. So after rebooting, the damn thing tries to set up auto downloading of updates. I turned it off on her computer because even when I had it set for 'download but don't install,' it was still installing things and screwing stuff up for her (a known issue, by the way).

Have I mentioned lately that I hate Microsoft?

(heh)

Anyway, I'm now going to play Zuma, before moving more furniture. I think I've earned some fun...

We just got home from the office and unpacked a bunch more stuff (boxes, etc.) that we needed to get out of there. The first part of the move -- which includes breaking down the computers -- happens tomorrow. I'll be at home in the morning to move furniture and prepare for the furniture that's coming home from the office -- then Marilyn mistressmarilyn will come home to get me and take me back to the office. Obviously I'm the lead on the computer break down. (Hell, if Ron doesn't show -- and I'm not counting on him at all -- I'll be doing it alone.)

We were the last there, again. Surprise! But we made some major headway in Marilyn's office. We were both feeling a little sad as we left. We've loved being in that building -- it's been a wonderful home for the festival! And we had some great years there, including our Centennial year. It is very sad to be leaving. I can easily recall when we moved into the building -- and remember moving Marilyn's furniture all around until we had it just the way we wanted it! (smile)

Now that we're home, I've already unpacked one box and will soon tackle others. I need to get started on the garbage and recycling (it's Wednesday night... sigh...), so I can get that monkey off my back as soon as possible!

I'll probably make us some dinner, too. We had lunch at 2:00, so we're both hungry now.

Tomorrow and Friday will be hugely busy days, so it would be nice to get some rest and get to bed at a decent hour tonight, if it works out that way. Hopefully I'll wake up with lots of energy tomorrow, because I'm going to need it!

I did finish the eBulletin today -- but I need to make a change for Carol tonight before sending it tomorrow morning. I probably won't do any more coding-type work for the rest of the month, as I'll be too tied up with IT stuff (plus we're supposed to have next week off, for the most part -- I'm really looking forward to that!).

The cats are very glad we're home. Clearly they missed us today! (Well, it is more than 12 hours later, after all!)

Time to get busy again. And Dad? It's raining out! (grin) Had to happen, considering it's garbage night!

Marilyn mistressmarilyn told me that our friend Norma went to her doctor to get the H1N1 vaccine. She's high risk, because she has no spleen. When she told the nurse that, they were in agreement, reasonably enough.

But when the nurse asked for her AGE and Norma told her she was 67, she was told she couldn't have it.

Excuse me?

She's disposable because of her 'advanced' age???

Her granddaughter (whom she helps care for frequently) has H1N1, and Norma is understandably concerned that she needs the vaccine. But I guess she won't be getting it.

In other flu-related news, a local mother of three died from H1N1 today...

Marilyn mistressmarilyn and I spent around 9 hours in the office on Sunday working on packing, etc. She was mostly working in her own office, while I was working in the IT Room. For her, there's a lot to tackle when you consider all the years she's worked there and how much stuff she needs to go through!

I'd already packed up most of the stuff in my own cube, but the IT Room is mine, too, so there's was a lot more to go through. Carol's husband Brian had kindly packed up all my spare keyboards and taken them over to storage for me -- besides emptying out my entire large cabinet so that I could sort through it all! What a guy. (He also took away a huge box of older keyboards so I wouldn't have to worry about them.) I'd never found the time to fully sort all the IT stuff, even though I had done it to some degree back in 2007 when I took over as IT Manager (the IT Room had been a disaster when I started in the role). But I got rid of paperwork dating back to the 1990's that were mostly certainly no longer needed -- and manuals, etc. for things like DOS applications, our old Small Business 2000 Server and so on. About time it all went out! The crazy part was needing to re-pack the various boxes of cables, as I didn't do it that well the first time around. But now it's all packed and ready to go, as hard as that is to believe!

We made three trips home to haul furniture we're keeping. We have 3 matching office chairs (on rollers, obviously, and with arms) to use for our home office. They're comfortable and adjustable, so that's cool -- and they match, which is very cool! We took one of the chairs that had been in there outside (it's green plastic). The two black leather chairs are going to sister Sue suzy_qp and her daughter Candy -- but are currently in the living room!

We brought home just a TON of (heavy) things, including a wooden file cabinet and boxes (and boxes and boxes) of things to store for now, including loads of files. Some stuff will go back when we're in the final space and some will stay here -- we'll know more after the first of the year. We need to hang Marilyn's bulletin board from her office (and happily have a spot for that!) and lots of artwork, too. It was funny to see us moving things around here at home to make room for everything! (yikes)

Anyway, we were DEAD BEAT last night when we finished (around 11:00 p.m. at the office -- and much later here at home). Lots of heavy lifting, but we knew there would be.

Today we went in and naturally I did mostly IT work, while Marilyn tackled other things. We supposed to only be doing move-related stuff, but it didn't work out that way, really. Anyway, we brought home another load, so that was good!

The darling red chair is now in Marilyn's bathroom at her vanity area -- the old chair is dumped (the Goodwill 'rejected' it). Soon to come home are two matching computer stations to replace our old desks, which should work out really well. We're paying movers to bring them, as they're heavy. That means I'll need to get our desks really cleared out and off to prepare, which I'll tackle tomorrow. Marilyn's sofa from her office is going in our living room, so a couple chairs there are going out (to sister Sue). I've no CLUE where we're putting her coffee table from her office at this point, but we'll reason it out. It's hard to believe how much more furniture we've got pegged for home, but it's all good, I'm sure!

I have an eBulletin to get out this week -- and some website work to do, too. Work goes on, move or no.

Next week we normally take off, but we're well aware we'll have to work. With the move happening this Friday, we'll need to tackle any issues that come up. Marilyn being in charge of the move is essential for that -- and me being IT, there's bound to be computer issues to resolve.

Anyway, we're both probably giving up on NaNoWriMo for this year. There's just no time or energy for it, I'm afraid. Writing remains a priority for us, but we need some relaxation and down time -- and NaNo is not that. Oh well, the nice thing about NaNo is that there's always next year! (smile)

Wednesday Marilyn, Hailey and I get trained on the new phone system! Almost everyone in the office is now able to use Remote Desktop. There are many good things to focus on.

I'm now off to play Zuma. Later we'll head for shopping at Freddies. Life is busy as hell, but it's good! (smile)

I read this book as a teen in grade school. It had a profound effect on my life, believe it or not. But I've never found it in the library since (I'm sure it's been out of print forever) -- and it never occurred to me to do a book search for it!

Here's a review of "The Loyal Grenvilles."

And it's available via Biblio.Com and others. (woo hoo)

Marilyn mistressmarilyn and I took a trip to Wal-Mart with sister Sue suzy_qp today to get oodles of things! We hadn't been grocery shopping in ages, but we also needed a bunch of other stuff, too.

The store was so hot we were DYING while shopping! A salesperson told me this was because Arkansas controls their heating unit (???) for them! When they hear a weather report of snow at 1,000 feet, they blast heat in the stores. How stupid is that???

Anyway, it was fun to hang with Sue, who we haven't seen much of recently. She even came in and saw how we've organized our home office (she was impressed) and had salsa and chips with us.

It was nice to sleep in and have a long nap later in the day, too. Tomorrow we're back to work, to get things packed for the move next Friday!

I adore Geoff (the new building owner). I've had many nice talks with him and think he's really the best guy. His staff is great, too. We're lucky to have them buying our (beloved) building -- and to be sharing space with all of them.

Anyway, it was another very long and very busy day. Marilyn mistressmarilyn and I didn't get home until 9:00 p.m.

I'm dead beat now, but hungry, so I'm fixing a Hormel meal. Then I'm off for a nap.

I needed to hack into a work computer (long story as to why, but that's neither here nor there), so I did a little research about this last night.

Yeah, I could have phoned our IT consultant for help, or called my buddy Donn, but I wanted to try it for myself, first.

I ended up using Windows Password Reset 7.0 -- and it worked like a charm!

The cost was $19.95, well worth the price in my book. (And using a consultant is far more, so...)

This software is created by PassKiller Software, Inc. When you go to 'About Us," they say the following:

"PassKiller Software, Inc. is a leading provider of password removal tools. Committed to delivering innovation, PassKiller Software prides itself on providing high-quality products and renowned customer service to its clients and strategic business partners. Our products' powerfulness and low prices will benefit all computer users in the home, SoHo and Business markets."

If you've ever lost your Administrator password to your computer, you know what a pain it is! So give it a try -- I'd never steer you wrong.

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I'm stubborn as hell. I didn't give up and I finally solved the problem. It took hours, but I did it. I'm so pleased right now I could almost explode! (heh)

I finally got Paul's new laptop back to where it can use Remote Desktop.

Anyway, that's a load off my mind. It's another one of those things that feels like an actual weight has been lifted off my body (and certainly that was true for the MAC users being able to Remote).

What a good deal! (woo hoo)

I'm watching the end of "Frasier" right now and messing with yet another laptop. (My work is never done -- right, Marilyn mistressmarilyn?) But I can actually go to bed any time I want, now.

Damn, life is good! (smile)

Today had some big wins, IT-wise. Two of my MAC users are now able to use Remote Desktop (and the final user should be ready by the first of next week at the latest). This is huge. It means I don't need to scramble to send home any equipment, because they can use their own MAC machines with no trouble.

I've known it was possible for ages and I've put in hours (and hours) of work on this in the past without success. Two years later I'm happy to know that anyone using a MAC will now have the same Remote Desktop access as PC users!

The other major win is that Jeff can now get email on his new blackberry. He's been remarkably patient while waiting for this, considering he's had the phone for over two months now!

I threw a lot of 'cyber' confetti today in celebration of these two wonderful occurrences. (smile)

Of course, with balance in the world, I had an annoying problem that I'm still trying to fix. I'll be trying to reason it out again now, after I finish this entry. But if I can't, I'll have to work on it again tomorrow. (sigh)

I had Paul's new laptop (that I worked on yesterday) working with Remote Desktop at one point. I was actually connected to his work computer from here at home with no issues. But then I decided to do two things -- I upgraded Internet Explorer to version 7 and I did has Windows Updates. Imagine my surprise this morning when we could no longer use RD! I'm sitting with Paul to show him how it works, and it's a no-go. I spent HOURS on it today (that I really didn't have to spare), and even had another IT person take a crack at it (but he couldn't reason it out, either). It kept me late at work, which certainly isn't fair for Marilyn mistressmarilyn, who has so much on her plate right now (and was sick last week).

Needless to say, I can get no help at the official Microsoft website (who can?), so I'm checking every other help site I can think of. (smile) I'll eventually solve this, I'm sure, but it would be nice not to have the issue in the first place. Thanks, Microsoft! (Have I mentioned lately how much I hate Microsoft? No? Right.)

In other news, I started working on packing in the IT Room, which is DAUNTING, to say the least. Brian (Carol's wonderful husband) was trying to help me, but really no one can, as I need to sort through things and only I can do that. I'm going to work on it again tomorrow, and maybe I'll get it a bit more under control!

My meeting with Tom and Charold went really well -- and Tom seems like a very good guy. The Band website is now officially in their hands, with me offering to help them out if need be, of course.

The new owners of our building are AWESOME people! I can't speak highly enough of them. It's truly a delight to be sharing space with them.

I guess that's it for today. Time to set up some more computers in my home office and get back to work!

I'm so dead beat right now -- and I have a sore throat and am cranky.

But Marilyn mistressmarilyn and I did split a beer when she finally got home from the office at 7:00. She told me she'd felt so lousy this morning she was thinking she wouldn't be able to go to work -- and then she's there late. Typical!

She, too, is worn out. It was her idea that we have a beer, which we've both earned today!

This was supposed to be my day to sleep in and take it easy, but I had IT work first thing this morning and then got in to do things and just stuck with it all day. I was still working when Marilyn got home.

It was a funny sight, with two laptops set up on the desk, another on a rolling stool, and our two desktops across the room. At one point I was literally working on all five computers at once! Now how much more IT related can you get?

I dropped my website jump drive and the outside case broke. I couldn't get it back together, so I had to transfer all the files to another jump. (sigh) I was pretty shook up at that point. And I had one of those flu headaches (still have a little one), so I was a mess at that point. The old website jump was blue and the new one is white (like my IT jump), so it's going to be confusing, I'm sure. (damn)

And I was hunting for one of the two PowerPoint jump drives (where we keep all of the many PowerPoints we've created), but I couldn't find either of them. Marilyn had one at work, but I've no clue where the other one is! I wanted to use them to test a PowerPoint on our new Presentation laptop to finish the process of setting it up... (I still need to do that, by the way, so I'm not done for the night!)

I can't wait to go take a nap and maybe read a little in my book...

And I've got a busy day (with meetings) set up for tomorrow, so I should try and get a decent night's rest if possible.

But don't get me wrong -- I do love my work! I'll be hauling three computers to work tomorrow, but it's all good! (smile)

Our expectations have really become ridiculous -- there's no doubt about it. We have a hard time realizing that you can't always reach someone right this minute, because of our technology. People do still need to be away from their cell phones and computers, after all!

And I'm as bad as everyone else. I admit it.

But it's okay to go to the bathroom, have a coffee break, go to lunch, be in a meeting (sans cell), be busy with a work-related project, be busy with a non-work-related project, go to the doctor, get your hair cut, take a nap, SLEEP and lots, lots more.

And it doesn't mean you're slacking off if you're not immediately available, even if many tend to perceive it as such!

We need to lower our expectations. I'm going to work on that, because I can't preach it if I don't practice it!

No wonder it's such a stressful world. Instead of appreciating the positive advantages of technology, we lose sight of the very human people who are behind all of it...

Yeah, yeah. I get so many newsletters via email that it's hard for me to keep up with all of them. But I need to keep up with IT-related subjects and with web-creation subjects, so...

I really enjoyed what Alan Norton shared today: 10 things I'd like to see in the next version of Windows

I haven't tried Windows 7 yet, but I'm actually anxious to do so. I've heard some really good things. However, Alan's number one suggested change still worries me! Here's what he says:

1: A smaller footprint

Let's get real-world for a moment. Vista and now Windows 7 have reached the size limit for dial-up users. The huge service packs and updates are the problem (Figure A). Millions are still using dial-up and downloading the updates following a clean reinstall can take days to complete.

Marilyn mistressmarilyn and I got home from work by 8:00 p.m., thankfully. I'm beat tonight.

I just got done making some website changes and doing some IT work. It's all good...

I didn't BEGIN to touch (pack) the IT Room today, even though that was one of my main goals. But I did get to meet with Pam (our new Staff member) and do a lot of other IT things, so whatever.

I'm running a temperature tonight (slightly over 100°). I just can't seem to totally shake the bug, but I don't care. I have work to do, so I'm going to do it!

Happily, my work tomorrow is here at home. I need to work on two new laptops, so that will take several hours.

Great news -- the MAC users Remote Desktop issue may have been solved at long (long) last. We'll know for sure on Thursday, but it looks really good! Wow, will that take care of a lot of IT headaches (and extra work) for me if it can happen...

I really need to work both Thursday and Friday. And we plan to go in on Sunday to pack up Marilyn's office. So there's a lot to do, but that's to be expected with the MOVE coming up next Friday (a week from this Friday).

I'm currently reading Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha," which is a fabulous read. (And I actually really liked the movie, for the record.) I should finish it soon.

Paul wants me to read "Spring Moon: a Novel of China," by Bette Bao Lord. I wasn't familiar with this title, but I had long ago read her novel Eighth Moon: The True Story of a Young Girl's Life in Communist China." I recall it made a strong impression on me -- of course, I was in grade school when I read it!

I need a nap (or just to go to bed). Soon, I think!

Both Marilyn and I talked to sister Sue suzy_qp today -- and she brought over some food to us after we got home tonight. She's still sick, too, by the way. Peter is still sick, too, but at work. Hailey seems okay and Christie seems better. Rich wasn't feeling well today and was sent home (poor guy). This damn flu sucks big time, that's all I know.

Marilyn mistressmarilyn just spent three hours working on her budgets here at home. I worked on my IT Manual and Phone System Manual part of that time -- and spent the rest of the time doing something that's pretty amazing for me, which was clearing off the desk in our home office.

I should have taken a 'before' photo, but didn't think to do that. Anyway, there's actually bare surface where we could work now. I've given us each a wire basket for folders and stuff. We plan to clean up more of the office soon, to get ready for when we're working together from home. The cyber office model is a good one, I think. I feel we can use that for our GREEN office mission, too, as every person who works from home is one less person on the roads driving to and from work (and so on).

Of course, as I've made clear forever, I've been doing work at home for years and years. It's actually the norm for me. I feel I'm probably more productive in many ways when doing work at home. (I take very few breaks, that's for sure.)

Well, Marilyn is playing Zuma (she's earned some game time) and I plan to, too, for a little bit. It's nearing midnight and we're back to work again tomorrow.

I can't wait until we get the office really organized and cleaned up.

And I can't wait until we get the WHOLE HOUSE organized and cleaned up, too! That's certainly our goal. But recent events have kept us either too busy or too sick to do much. But we're not going to give up on this, believe me.

Off to play Zuma now! (grin)

My 'old' flatscreen computer monitor here at home finally gave up the ghost. (sigh)

Anyway, I was forced to hook up a new (used, but nice) one to replace it.

I've been leaving the other one on 24/7 because otherwise it would blink for about 20 minutes before warming up (???) so that it stayed on. So it's going to be nice not to have to do that anymore!

When these monitors go out, they are gone -- and I suspect they have a pretty limited lifespan. But they certainly are nicer than the old monitors! I'm glad we have them -- both at home and at work!

I took some photos in Marilyn's mistressmarilyn office tonight while we were there. I want to share pics of my cube and her office. (I wish I'd taken some recent photos of my cube before packing it all away!) Hard to believe we're almost moved out of there!

Marilyn mistressmarilyn and I went to the new MOR furniture store out on Stark Street to look for a new lamp. We found one we like, but they didn't have anything in stock -- they were making people go to the Tigard store to pick up items. (yikes) An amusing moment was when the sales associate referred to the Tear-guard store. Another associate looked at him blankly before correcting the pronunciation to 'Tie-gerd' (which is how Tigard is actually pronounced). The first guy was from California and had no clue how to direct people to the other location here in Oregon. (I should have asked him to say Oregon, because most non-Oregonians can't pronounce the name! Don't get me started...)

Anyway, they have wonderful furniture at great prices. We saw a sofa and love seat set we liked, floor lamps we liked and more than one lamp. And we may have found a new recliner for me for the family room that was $200 (cheaper than the chairs we'd looked at over at IKEA). We'll go back later when they aren't quite as new -- unless we can get ourselves to drive to the Tigard store (not as convenient and far from where we'd like to go).

After that we went to the office to work. I needed to move Rich's computer and phone to the part of the bull pen that is still ours. The auditors will be using Rich's office for the next week or so, and as he's only in a few days between now and the move on November 20, it should work fine for him.

I was worried about the phone switch, as things had been moved around in the IT Room and the monitor for the phone system was sitting on the floor -- not easy to use from there! But I moved a bunch of (heavy) stuff around and got it back the way I needed it. And I carried his tower, etc. over to the new spot -- and unplugged and moved his phone -- and got him all set up again. Moving phones requires Server access and settings, so it's more complicated than just unplugging it and moving the phone. But I also needed to change the settings for not being on Daylight Saving Time, which hadn't been done yet, so it was all good.

Boy, IT requires a person to be a pack horse (mule?), I have to say. And to crawl on the floor and under desks all the time. (yikes) You'd think I'd be used to that by now, wouldn't you? (grin)

Marilyn had tons of emails to wade through -- and was getting ready to work on her budgets. Being off work for a week puts her way behind, but she'll be okay. She's truly amazing when it comes to work, so nothing keeps her down for long.

Geoff was there when we got there and working almost the entire time (he left right before us). I like him so much -- he's a really nice guy. He had the week from hell last week (he told me it was the second worst week of his entire life). He still can only receive and not send email (!!!), for example. And he had an encounter with a group of skinheads outside his home -- and a week later they came back and slashed the tires on his car and on the car of his girlfriend! (To the tune of $1,700, no less.) Plus he had sick kids at home -- and Julie (who he said is 50% of his operation) had her baby the day they moved in and has been out, which was totally unexpected. Poor Geoff!

We got Taco Bell on the way home and then watched some TV and had a nap. I got an email about one of the festival website accounts (we have others besides the main one), offering me a 'free' service. You'd think that I'd be pleased by that, but I was worked into a frenzy! The hosting service did this last year with two of my personal domains/websites -- and if you fail to later renew the PAID services, you're forced to republish your entire website! I absolutely don't want to end up with this issue for the festival website a year from now. Just skip giving me your so-called free service -- and don't f-up the site, please. I've got enough IT and website work without you adding to it, thanks. (sigh) Yeah, it got me going...

Marilyn seems to be feeling better, but I'm hoping she won't overdo. I'm still fighting the tail end of my own flu, so I know what I'm talking about.

And, no, I haven't started writing my NaNo story yet. I'm sure I'll get to it soon. (I'm not worried, as I know what can be done in a short period of time if necessary...)

I need to do my health insurance papers and get those in! There's always something...

Wow, and I thought this would be a short entry! (heh)

It's been raining like MAD today, with a lot of wind and nastiness. I'm glad we have a lot of oil, so we don't have to worry about that, as it's been rather chilly!

Marilyn mistressmarilyn and I have been watching a ton of TV and movies, as I've mentioned. Today we saw a couple of horror films (I don't recall the names right now).

At one point while Marilyn and I were watching TV downstairs, there was a HUGE CRASH upstairs! We both went running upstairs, and found the table lamp crashed to the floor and broken beyond repair. (It's been broken before, years ago when I was cleaning house. But it wasn't all that bad, so we fixed it and have used it ever since.) This lamp was one of the things we got for our living room when we first moved into our house, so we've had it over 10 years. Here are a few photos where you can see the lamp, which has a green shade, sitting on our end table near the sofa.







We weren't mad at the cats. It was clear one of them was up on the sofa or loveseat and got frightened by a gust of wind and caused the accident. We were just thankful both boys were okay! The floor lamp was also knocked over and leaning against the wall, but unbroken. As far as I could tell, nothing else got broken.

My cat artwork that Marilyn gave me was there on the table, so I was glad it wasn't damaged. But regardless, the cats weren't hurt -- and that's important. The lamp is just a thing, after all...

We're looking for a new lamp, but these are expensive -- and it's hard to make a choice, too. We did love the simple white lamp with the green leaf pattern and dark green shade. I haven't seen anything even remotely like it in the places we searched online...

I cleaned up the mess and am saving the parts for June june_bug_w, in case she wants it to make a lamp with (she's the crafty sort and does make lamps sometimes). So it's possible the only part that needs to be thrown out is the broken enamel.