working from home
Feb. 18th, 2003 01:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cellioI'm working from home today, not because of the snow but because it's car-inspection time and public transit doesn't really serve the office's location very well even when buses aren't way off schedule due to weather. So last night I FTPed a bunch of stuff to an intermediate machine (and then retrieved it from home), because the CD burn crapped out a few minutes before finishing, after an hour (!), and I wasn't going to wait around to try again. The internet to the rescue. :-) (It was only about 200 meg; it shouldn't have taken an hour anyway.)
I took the car to the garage at about 8:30 and they gave the impression that they'd be looking at it soon (not many cars in the lot, either), but they haven't called yet. The last few years inspection has been an exercise in patching problems to eek out a few more years. Some year, the cost of repairs will exceed a reasonable annual fee for keeping the car, and I'll have to buy a new one. (That's why I'm doing this now, although the current inspection is good through March.) I'm hoping that's not for another few years, because I'm interested in the hybrids but don't want to be an early adopter. We'll see. (One of my requirements for a car, and this is harder now than it used to be, is being a hatchback. Nothing else I've driven comes close on visibility combined with carrying capacity. And no, I don't want a van; I want something small.)
This is the first car I bought new. I bought it 14 years ago. I guess I just can't wrap my brain around the mentality that says that you replace your car every 3-5 years. Car shopping is way too much trouble. And hey, my insurance costs are low, which I certainly factor into the "fix or dump?" evaluation every year at inspection time. And I've found a mechanic who understands my approach and doesn't try to sell me on unnecessary repairs (best I can tell, anyway).
Last night I shovelled a bunch more snow from the "driveway", but I was tired so I settled for producing something I could drive over, rather than completely clear. I had some trouble getting out this morning, though, so I shovelled a bunch more when I got back from dropping the car off. Last night I also shovelled a path from the road up to our front door, but didn't do the sidewalks along the rest of the property because I was tired and no one else on the block had either. Dani did a little shovelling but tired out quickly. I don't think of myself as being in particularly good shape, but judging from last night my endurance is much higher than his. Odd.
Still, I'm glad that someone came around this morning offering to exchange shovelling services for money. The sidewalk and walk in front are now clear. My back has been a little sore today, so I might not have been able to do it tonight.
And apropos of nothing, why must obfuscating a jar (Java) be such a royal pain? Hasn't anybody written a tool yet that'll crawl through your code looking for dynamic class references? We have spent way more time on this part of the release process than seems reasonable.
I took the car to the garage at about 8:30 and they gave the impression that they'd be looking at it soon (not many cars in the lot, either), but they haven't called yet. The last few years inspection has been an exercise in patching problems to eek out a few more years. Some year, the cost of repairs will exceed a reasonable annual fee for keeping the car, and I'll have to buy a new one. (That's why I'm doing this now, although the current inspection is good through March.) I'm hoping that's not for another few years, because I'm interested in the hybrids but don't want to be an early adopter. We'll see. (One of my requirements for a car, and this is harder now than it used to be, is being a hatchback. Nothing else I've driven comes close on visibility combined with carrying capacity. And no, I don't want a van; I want something small.)
This is the first car I bought new. I bought it 14 years ago. I guess I just can't wrap my brain around the mentality that says that you replace your car every 3-5 years. Car shopping is way too much trouble. And hey, my insurance costs are low, which I certainly factor into the "fix or dump?" evaluation every year at inspection time. And I've found a mechanic who understands my approach and doesn't try to sell me on unnecessary repairs (best I can tell, anyway).
Last night I shovelled a bunch more snow from the "driveway", but I was tired so I settled for producing something I could drive over, rather than completely clear. I had some trouble getting out this morning, though, so I shovelled a bunch more when I got back from dropping the car off. Last night I also shovelled a path from the road up to our front door, but didn't do the sidewalks along the rest of the property because I was tired and no one else on the block had either. Dani did a little shovelling but tired out quickly. I don't think of myself as being in particularly good shape, but judging from last night my endurance is much higher than his. Odd.
Still, I'm glad that someone came around this morning offering to exchange shovelling services for money. The sidewalk and walk in front are now clear. My back has been a little sore today, so I might not have been able to do it tonight.
And apropos of nothing, why must obfuscating a jar (Java) be such a royal pain? Hasn't anybody written a tool yet that'll crawl through your code looking for dynamic class references? We have spent way more time on this part of the release process than seems reasonable.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-18 11:57 am (UTC)Even if I could afford to buy new cars -- and to do so that often -- this would stop me from doing so. Too much trouble, on top of a "but the old one isn't used up yet!" mentality I got from my parents, and a feeling that to some extent cars are like bluejeans -- they have to wear a bit before they feel like they really fit comfortably (except that it's a purely emotional thing regarding cars, I think).
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-18 12:48 pm (UTC)Yeah, there's that, too. You pay a hefty premium by driving the car off the lot, which you'll never reclaim on a trade-in. I'm a cheakskate in somw ways (not all); my 14-year-old car is good enough, so why do I need a new one? It may be a decrepit little car that's seen better days, but y'know, it works and it's paid for. :-)
I respectfully disagree
Date: 2003-02-18 12:26 pm (UTC)During the winter, I almost always take the bus in to the office from Squirrel Hill (2 buses). I find it a comfortable 25-45 minutes that lets me space out, enjoy a coffee, and maybe get some reading done. In the summer I occasionally drive, but often I'll take a single bus and walk across the bridge.
As to weather related delays, it wasn't bad at all going to work this week. Last night however the 10:00pm 54C failed to show up returning to Oakland. I had to wait for the 10:30pm.
Re: I respectfully disagree
Date: 2003-02-18 12:43 pm (UTC)Re: I respectfully disagree
Date: 2003-02-20 05:54 am (UTC)I usually take those to the corner of Forbes & Craig to catch the 54C. This entails crossing Craig St to stand in front of the stop in front of the Kiva Han, a poorly marked stop. Some folks prefer to switch a couple of stops later at 5th & Tennyson since the 61/501/59U stop is the same as the 54C stop. The 54C lets you off on Carson.
Some schedules:
59u, 61{a,b,c} at Forbes & Murray (http://bus.maya.com/stop.py?showall=%3ai&stopuu=%7e011194dbfe528211d6984438e15d910344&dayopt=WEEK&city=Pittsburgh&buses=59u+61a+61c+61b)
501 at Forbes & Murray (http://bus.maya.com/stop.py?buses=All&dayopt=WEEK&send=Update&showall=501%3Ai&stopuu=%7E012a31340a528211d698447daf727b16d0&city=Pittsburgh)
54c at Craig & Forbes (http://bus.maya.com/stop.py?buses=All&dayopt=WEEK&send=Update&showall=501%3Ai&stopuu=%7E012a31340a528211d698447daf727b16d0&city=Pittsburgh)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-18 12:52 pm (UTC)My car didn't require anything special this year. I just know that if I had waited until March 28, they would have told me I needed a new engine or something. :-)
(To be fair, they did mention a couple things that will probably need attention in the next year, but they're ok now.)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-19 06:48 am (UTC)I liked Sir Apropos of Nothing, but haven't gotten to Woad to Wuin yet. ;-)
why must obfuscating a jar (Java) be such a royal pain? Hasn't anybody written a tool yet that'll crawl through your code looking for dynamic class references?
Have you looked at Dash-O?
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-19 07:44 am (UTC)Not before now. Thanks for the tip! This looks very promising.