Craig Given

Elsie Holmes

2008-09-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

Although it's been cooler than normal for August, Labor Day made up for it as the family and I headed out for a few hours of hiking at the Elsie Holmes Nature Park on this hot and steamy day. The kids played in the water and we spotted toads, turtles, snails, and several beautiful mushroom patches that looked like coral and flowers. We also spotted, but did not touch, several cow killers (aka velvet ants). We found wild muscadines which were quite delicious and which were drawing in the box turtles who were cleaning up the fallen fruit. About half way through our journey we also ran into Team Bear-Cat who joined us for the last leg as we headed up and out. I caught up on my geocaching for this park and picked up six more finds. One of which was a puzzle cache I'd solved two years ago on May 20, 2006 but never finished because we had to flee a hail storm back then. After four hours of hiking we quenched our thirst with soft drinks from Sonic and rewarded ourselves with a long hot shower.

Trivia Contest at FireBird

2008-08-27T00:12:00.004-05:00

Tuesday night, the payroll ERP analysts & PM team faced off against the ERP developer team (about nine people each). We met at the FireBird Rotisserie which holds regular trivia contests. While the main objective was to beat the developer team, there were about eight teams total competing. The developers were hoping for revenge after being beaten in the physical challenge at the last meet (bowling), which had happened before I was onboard. They were sorely disappointed at the end of the evening (we were there from 18:30 until about 21:00) as they were soundly trounced. Not only did we beat Mike’s team, we actually took first place overall and won the $50 gift certificate to FireBird, so it looks like a rematch may be in our future. And it looks like another busy tonight as well, since we’re staging Kronos Smart Views for an impending roll-out. The upside is that we get off early this Friday so everyone can get a head-start on their Labor Day weekend.

8/8/8 Not So Lucky

2008-08-17T21:25:00.003-05:00

Friday 08/08/08 is supposed to be lucky, but it ended roughly for me, although the week started fine. Susie, the kids, and one of their friends came down to Atlanta on Tuesday to stay overnight. Both our vehicles arrived nearly simultaneously at the apartment (about 5:30p) and after they unloaded we all headed to Ray's NY Pizza on Roswell Road. Harrison approved of the pizza and verified that it did taste as good as the Ray's Pizza he'd had in NYC last Thanksgiving. We supplemented our pizza with salads, a gyro, etc. and all of it was quite good and very affordable. Harrison also showed me his drivers license which he'd gotten earlier that day and told me about his driving test.

After dinner the kids decided that they didn't want to go shopping after all, and we went back to the apartment. They got a chance to swim in one the pools and later watched a movie on my computer. That took a bit of tweaking since the dialog wasn't coming out of the speakers, but was solved by switching to different play-back software (the fancy CyberLink DVD player failed while the included Windows Media Player worked). After getting the entertainment started I finished getting ready for the next day's work and headed to bed. Susie was worried that I might keep her awake coughing, because I'd begun having some sinus drainage at the end of the work day. While I didn't have any coughing, I did have trouble sleeping, but couldn't put my finger on the problem.

Wednesday morning I slipped out quietly so the family could sleep in, and I had breakfast at work. Although I still had sinus issues, they were minor and I didn't give them much thought. Sometime during the day Susie and the kids headed to the White Water swim park for most of the day. By their accounts the crowds and expense made it less enjoyable than previous visits. Although some of the county schools had already started, and others were starting soon, the park was unexpectedly packed full for a weekday. So at the end of the day they decided to head straight for Chattanooga rather than fight rush hour traffic for just a short visit with me back at the apartment (about 20 miles in the wrong direction).

Thursday my sinus irritation was still fairly low key, although the pressure was putting me into a bit of a fog and made concentration difficult. By the end of the day, however, I was in full misery. I couldn't figure out why I was feeling so exhausted even when the sinus pressure wasn't all that extreme. I had no appetite, and although not nauseous, my stomach was queasy enough that I skipped lunch, and dinner, and went straight to bed once I was home.

Thursday night I realized something was really wrong. My joints were aching, I couldn't sleep, and I woke up several times with a burning fever. Thankfully I already had Friday scheduled off, so I loaded up the van and headed to Chattanooga. I forced myself to eat a small breakfast (since I'd skipped the last two meals) and by the time I arrived in Tennessee I was feeling a little bit better. I had a light lunch with some friends before arriving home, and although I was feeling better, Susie confirmed that I still had a fever (it had dropped to 101.4 by that point).

Needless to say, I tried to rest up during that weekend. By Sunday evening I was almost back to normal, although over night it was a bit harder. By the time I laid down (or because of that) the drainage made it difficult to fall asleep. I also had an overnight heat flash where I woke up suddenly and had to sit in front of a fan until I cooled back off. It only happened once, and after that I slept pretty soundly. I've heard other people are having similar symptoms and I've heard that ragweed may be the culprit.

Susie and Kari also had a touch of the bug this weekend, although they may not be related. Kari had a throat infection, which may be strep. Susie had more of a virus with aching bones and queasy stomach, but hers had been earlier in the week while Kari's flared up Friday. Both are doing better, but everyone was pretty tired this weekend. Which is a shame considering how cool and nice it was (almost Fall-like). We did sit outside some and got to enjoy it a bit. Next week is mostly going to be nice as well (although Atlanta will probably get rain on a couple of those days).

Perks & Pain

2008-07-31T10:37:00.004-05:00

Today I finish out my first month at the new job, and I must say I love it. I really enjoy the perks here and there's nothing like free food to cheer anyone's mood. The department meeting included cake (for birthdays, anniversaries, etc.), small candy bars, and free soft drinks. For the employee orientation, they went one better and had both breakfast and lunch, with the latter including steak, chicken, and shrimp. The last meeting I attended was a training session that included milk and cookies, and it's hard to resist the soft, chewy Pecan Toffee Crunch cookies! And then there's the fresh fruit baskets at least weekly next to the coffee machines. Not all the best bits are free, but still appreciated. I haven't taken advantage of the car washes, but you can get a detailing for $25 while your car's in the parking garage. And being in the garage is great, since your car isn't scalding hot at the end of the day nor do you get wet on rainy days.

Of course to balance out the perks is a little bit of pain. The new environment is vastly more complex than my previous job, and there's so much I need to learn and learn quickly in order to be a full contributor. I'm finally beginning to gain traction and I've been able to be helpful in a few key incidents such as getting the Hawaiian payroll running after encountering some bad data. But it's not the technology that's the hard part, but learning the corporate environment and processes. Recently I was reading through some interface code and understanding the "what" wasn't the issue but the "why." I didn't feel too bad, though. After showing some the mysterious bits to some co-workers they were just as puzzled as well, so at least in that situation we were on equal footing. I feel like the moments where it's like drinking from a firehouse are beginning to diminish.

This month also included a birthday, and I began the celebrations by allowing myself to hit the snooze button when the alarm clock sounded. The down side was I only had time for a granola bar for breakfast. So to make up for that, at lunch I added a Pecan Toffee Crunch cookie to my plate, although it raised the price to $8.19. Most days lunch is under $7.00, so it's not too much of an extravagance. Even though the cafeteria is also run by Sodexho, the quality (and price) are higher than the last job, but I prefer quality so it's still a win.

For my birthday I'd planned on leaving on time instead of working late (I put in about 10 hours a day normally), but work conspired against me and I didn't head out for dinner until after 7PM. I headed first for the big computer store in Marietta so I could do some shopping before it closed. I was looking for a mousing platform, a small extension that clamps onto a desk when the desk is too small to also include room for the mouse. Although they have a big inventory, my hunt was in vain. About 9PM I headed for the final bit of celebration at the nearby Pappadeux's. I started with a small cup of crawfish bisque and then had my favorite: the shrimp brochette. It's blackened jumbo shrimp wrapped in bacon and stuffed with pepper-jack cheese and a scallion, served on a bed of dirty rice, and a cup of frothy lemon butter.

Decision Made

2008-06-30T11:20:00.004-05:00

After pouring over apartment listings for months, and narrowing down the list each iteration, I set out today to check out my final three options in order of preference. With Susie's prayers added to mine, I'm happy to report that my top choice was available and I filled out the application today. It looks like I will be staying within minutes of work at the Post Dunwoody Apartments in Sandy Springs. It's actually located on the same street as my new job, and only two miles from work. You can see a really detailed satellite view and my unit is in the SW corner, on the East side overlooking a Japanese Maple. When viewing the Google Map, you can activate Street View and get a virtual drive-by view taken this past winter.

Morning Rush Hour Analysis

2008-06-30T08:59:00.002-05:00

I think I’ve narrowed my hunt to three apartment complexes and I’ll be visiting each in order of preference. Since the leasing offices don’t open until 10AM I spent some time during rush hour checking the traffic flow from each property to my new job. There were no traffic problems, but morning rush hour isn’t nearly as bad as evening rush hour, so I’ll need to check again. While driving around and learning the neighborhood I stumbled across Ray’s NY Pizza. Harrison, while in Manhattan, had some Ray’s Pizza and said it was the best he’d ever tasted. I saw on the Food Channel that one key ingredient is the water, so when a NY pizzeria franchises they either ship their water from NY or process local water so it’s the same as if from NY. I wonder what Ray’s is doing? And speaking of pizza, the local Mellow Mushroom looked dead, but I couldn’t tell if it was actually closed or looked that way due to pizza not being a common breakfast item (outside of the home, that is) or because I had a poor view from the intersection.

On the Hunt

2008-06-29T14:31:00.000-05:00

I had a decent night’s sleep considering being in a strange bed. I’d stayed out until nightfall the night before checking out area apartments. The Dunwoody area is looking more promising than Saturday afternoon’s hunt. Most leasing offices won’t be open until 1PM today, so I spent the morning researching on sublets to visit first. Although I found over 40 listings, the sublet search wasn’t too profitable: the price was the same as renting an apartment, they only wanted female renters, they were only renting one room of their multi-room apartment (i.e., roommate), the timing was wrong (it was only for July or wouldn’t begin until September or was just for one month), the location was wrong (South of Atlanta outside 285!), they were for luxury apartments or condos costing $400 per DAY, etc. Of the few remaining that were even feasible, they were simply assuming the lease at the regular rental rate, so I might as well just get an apartment in the same complex for the year instead of just a couple of months. In that regards I’ve found one in the low 700’s which is a lot better than even the best hotel rate. About mid-day I was passing a Wal-Mart and dropped in to do some grocery shopping. Then it was back to the hotel to put stuff in the fridge, make a quick lunch, update this blog, and hit the road again looking for even better deals.

Atlanta Arrival

2008-06-28T17:54:00.005-05:00

I packed this morning and headed for Atlanta. I arrived before check-in, so I checked out the immediate area for any apartments not listed in my catalogs and also stumbled upon Publix, Walmart, Walgreens, and other essentials. There was a light rain for awhile, but everything was sunny and dry by the time I returned to the hotel and checked in. After unpacking, I discovered the TV didn’t work at all. That won’t be an issue, but what’s a real problem is that the internet is VERY slow and drops the connection sporadically, which is a disgrace considering they charge extra (albeit not a lot) for the service. I checked the speed and after four failed attempts, it finally stayed connected long enough to measure: just a tad faster (119kbps) than dial-up. I have a full, strong, steady wireless 802.11g signal, so that’s not the issue. I cannot use my email client, since their proxy blocks Thunderbird, so I’ll be forced to use a web-based client. Using their internet connection to research apartments is going to be a huge pain, and uploading photos for family and friends is going to be a hit-or-miss effort. The reliability and speed is so lousy that I did a quick check on what it would cost to get a Sprint or Verizon EVDO dongle, but a 5gig limit is pretty low for someone like me.

Accomodations
Where

Carving a Letterbox Stamp

2007-04-15T20:25:00.000-05:00

Here is a 38 second movie demonstrating the drawing, transferring, and carving a rubber stamp for letterboxing. Photographed with a Canon PowerShot S2 IS with intervalometer set at one minute intervals (covering a time period of 2 hours, 2 minutes)
WATCH

Totsie

2007-04-14T22:57:00.000-05:00

A Sonic customer left a puppy with all the accessories: leash, collar, food, bed, toy, and a copy of her current vet record. Kari was carhopping today despite the heavy afternoon downpour, and couldn’t resist. We were brainstorming names and I suggested Totsie in reference to Sonic’s famous tater tots. Wiki seems a bit blas� about the whole matter after he got a good sniff of the stranger.