I've been home sick four days with a cough/low grade fever/congestion/sore throat thing. Last night I slept well for the first time since I got ill, and I feel, comparatively, great.
I haven't cooked anything to speak of since I moved. This morning I thought "I'll make waffles!" The recipe called for melted butter: I have no microwave. Milk: I have none. Baking powder: haven't gotten any since the move. Vanilla: ditto. Substitution time!
Melted butter: canola oil. Milk: mix plain non-fat yogurt with water. Baking powder: mix baking soda with an acidic ingredient - lemon juice. (Amusingly, the following two statements are in the same paragraph on the Arm & Hammer web site: "you may not substitute ... Baking Soda for baking powder in a recipe. ... To make the equivalent of 1 teaspoon baking powder, mix 5/8 teaspoons of cream of tartar with 1/4 teaspoon ... Baking Soda." Well, I have no cream of tartar, but the point is to get acid to react with the sodium bicarbonate, so lemon juice will do.) Vanilla: skipped it.
Lastly, my waffle iron is really more about making those delicate heart shaped cookies than it is about waffles -- I can never get my waffles airy enough.
Wouldn't you know it? These were the best waffles I've ever made. Great texture, nice flavor.
I'm settling into my new job, and I am having a ball. I'm working on a prototype of the "next generation discovery environment." Basically, it's long since past time to give library users better tools to find the information they need. Of course, others have already been working on this, so I'm building on existing tools. This means quick success! Woo hoo! The prototype isn't public yet, so I can't show it to you. I can tell you it's cool to once again work for a library with over five million items.
I've been biking to work every day. There's no where to park near my office anyway. And it's about as fast to walk to the free Stanford bus at the University Ave Caltrain station as it is to bike in. I need to get the appropriate gear for rainy weather ... before next October or so. Read it and weep, you Ithacans!
Shindy cat has LOVED having me home. I, however, am going batty for company.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
ya gotta love this town
After work today, I went to the independent bookstore (which is a stones throw from the public library). I wanted to get some guide books for ideas of what to do and where to go. One for hiking/biking; I got my "mid peninsula biking map" from Stanford transportation, and I ordered the san francisco bay trail maps online. But it's nice to have some places a short drive away.
I also figured I would get a book telling about interesting places to go, places to eat, etc. I looked through the shelves carefully. Lots of books on visiting San Francisco: large sections devoted to hotels, how to get around, etc. Some books on doing things cheaply ... but mostly focused on the city itself, no surprise. I had narrowed it down to two possibilities when I saw a slim book I had missed on previous passes: Get Lost! The cool guide to San Francisco by Claudia Lehan.
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
I already know about the Cartoon Art Museum; I've been there twice. (I read about it in some guide book years ago.) But: Antique Vibrator Museum? Camera Obscura and Holograph Gallery? (warning - music:) Musee Mecanique? Tour of the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company? And ... not my thing, but ... Tattoo Art Museum? Ya gotta love this town.
Kabuki Springs and Spa anyone? The Wave Organ?
and especially for Susan: Midnight Rollers Friday Night Skate
What can I say, but ya gotta love this town?
I also figured I would get a book telling about interesting places to go, places to eat, etc. I looked through the shelves carefully. Lots of books on visiting San Francisco: large sections devoted to hotels, how to get around, etc. Some books on doing things cheaply ... but mostly focused on the city itself, no surprise. I had narrowed it down to two possibilities when I saw a slim book I had missed on previous passes: Get Lost! The cool guide to San Francisco by Claudia Lehan.
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
I already know about the Cartoon Art Museum; I've been there twice. (I read about it in some guide book years ago.) But: Antique Vibrator Museum? Camera Obscura and Holograph Gallery? (warning - music:) Musee Mecanique? Tour of the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company? And ... not my thing, but ... Tattoo Art Museum? Ya gotta love this town.
Kabuki Springs and Spa anyone? The Wave Organ?
and especially for Susan: Midnight Rollers Friday Night Skate
What can I say, but ya gotta love this town?
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
catchup, windows, whizzy ATMs, stores
Okay, I've been remiss. My possessions arrived about a week after I got here. The movers were great, but they kept running into snags. They had to drop a small load off in Sacramento on Sat morning ... but then they couldn't because they couldn't bring the large truck to that location. So they were going to deliver on Monday after they did the Sacramento gig ... but then they couldn't because they had a fuel line leaking gas on to their engine and they needed to get it fixed ASAP. (This gave me visions of my possessions charred to a crisp.) I couldn't take delivery on Tuesday because I had an all day retreat for the job I wasn't starting until the following Monday. So Wednesday was the day they delivered. All went well. I even got a really nice dolly out of the deal ... cause they left it behind by mistake. So far, no damage. They were really kind in letting me change my mind on placement of a few pieces, too.
Let me tell you, I was really grateful for the loan of a nice air mattress and some bedding for those 5 nights ... but I was delighted to sleep in a bed again. Delilah seemed happy when the apartment was empty, but Shindy was depressed. After my stuff came, Shindy became lively again, and Delilah needed a little time to readjust. My possessions weighed in at exactly three tons: 6000 pounds. And of course, there's the inevitable pile of "why did I move THIS out here?" to give away. It's a small pile after my weeding in Ithaca, move to Colorado and weeding in Colorado. But there's always one of those piles after you unpack.
Unpacking with a daily trip to my office for my not-yet-started job for an internet fix. Then, on March 24, ta da! The big day. My new job.
It's only in the last couple of days that I've gotten my feet under me. I've been working on loading up a Stanford VuFind implementation so folks here can evaluate it as a "Next Generation Discovery Interface." That means a way to search for stuff that is much better than simply putting the old card catalogs online and allowing keyword searching. Something closer to Google or Amazon or Netflix or Del.icio.us or Flickr or ... Now that I'm making progress with it, it's fun to fiddle.
Plus, I got through most of the initiation rites. A class on sexual harassment, er, how to prevent it. 3/4 of a day getting an introduction to Stanford and an overview of the benefits. Getting equipment for my office. Getting an ID, keys, etc. I'm still waiting for my Stanford phone and for Stanford DSL. But I'm mostly settled.
It finally occurred to me that I should pay for internet at home while waiting for the (free to me) Stanford DSL. So I signed up for a 6 month intro deal with comcast (no cable, just internet). I'll be really honked off if Stanford doesn't provide my DSL within 6 months.
A few notes on interesting things out here:
ATMs: The Wells Fargo ATMs let you deposit checks without a deposit slip or envelope. The machines scan the checks and do the amounts and all that. Come to think of it ... did I endorse the check I deposited on Monday??
windows: I was horrified by the single pane metal windows in my apartment. Then I remembered: "It's California. It doesn't matter much because it doesn't get cold here."
leisure time: I was horrified to be invited to spend a gorgeous Saturday indoors until I remembered: it's always gorgeous here. It's not a sin to stay indoors on a gorgeous day from time to time.
CostCo: one of those wholesale places where you're a member. Everything from ipods to flat screen tvs to broccoli to bread to shrimp to saline solution. Mostly in large quantities.
Trader Joes: I think they're all about cutting out the middle man. They have an eclectic mix of goods ... close to a normal grocery store, but missing stuff. My first missed item: bouillon.
Made it to the public library nearby; got my card; already borrowing books and movies. Still need to navigate Stanford Libraries, where I work for goodness sake. The main library is the next building over from mine; I hear there's a tunnel. Because people can't brave the perfect weather outdoors??
Let me tell you, I was really grateful for the loan of a nice air mattress and some bedding for those 5 nights ... but I was delighted to sleep in a bed again. Delilah seemed happy when the apartment was empty, but Shindy was depressed. After my stuff came, Shindy became lively again, and Delilah needed a little time to readjust. My possessions weighed in at exactly three tons: 6000 pounds. And of course, there's the inevitable pile of "why did I move THIS out here?" to give away. It's a small pile after my weeding in Ithaca, move to Colorado and weeding in Colorado. But there's always one of those piles after you unpack.
Unpacking with a daily trip to my office for my not-yet-started job for an internet fix. Then, on March 24, ta da! The big day. My new job.
It's only in the last couple of days that I've gotten my feet under me. I've been working on loading up a Stanford VuFind implementation so folks here can evaluate it as a "Next Generation Discovery Interface." That means a way to search for stuff that is much better than simply putting the old card catalogs online and allowing keyword searching. Something closer to Google or Amazon or Netflix or Del.icio.us or Flickr or ... Now that I'm making progress with it, it's fun to fiddle.
Plus, I got through most of the initiation rites. A class on sexual harassment, er, how to prevent it. 3/4 of a day getting an introduction to Stanford and an overview of the benefits. Getting equipment for my office. Getting an ID, keys, etc. I'm still waiting for my Stanford phone and for Stanford DSL. But I'm mostly settled.
It finally occurred to me that I should pay for internet at home while waiting for the (free to me) Stanford DSL. So I signed up for a 6 month intro deal with comcast (no cable, just internet). I'll be really honked off if Stanford doesn't provide my DSL within 6 months.
A few notes on interesting things out here:
ATMs: The Wells Fargo ATMs let you deposit checks without a deposit slip or envelope. The machines scan the checks and do the amounts and all that. Come to think of it ... did I endorse the check I deposited on Monday??
windows: I was horrified by the single pane metal windows in my apartment. Then I remembered: "It's California. It doesn't matter much because it doesn't get cold here."
leisure time: I was horrified to be invited to spend a gorgeous Saturday indoors until I remembered: it's always gorgeous here. It's not a sin to stay indoors on a gorgeous day from time to time.
CostCo: one of those wholesale places where you're a member. Everything from ipods to flat screen tvs to broccoli to bread to shrimp to saline solution. Mostly in large quantities.
Trader Joes: I think they're all about cutting out the middle man. They have an eclectic mix of goods ... close to a normal grocery store, but missing stuff. My first missed item: bouillon.
Made it to the public library nearby; got my card; already borrowing books and movies. Still need to navigate Stanford Libraries, where I work for goodness sake. The main library is the next building over from mine; I hear there's a tunnel. Because people can't brave the perfect weather outdoors??
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