Rob is heading to the Chicago 'burbs this weekend. Since we are not often released from captivity, this is a good chance for us to head downtown for some beverages and food. If anyone else is interested in an impromptu web-geek meet-up in the Chicago area, let me know. I'm thinking of Elephant & Castle, Saturday night around 6pm for dinner. Not sure where we'll go from there yet. Suggestions?

§487 · August 6, 2008 · Life · 3 comments ·


While I was posting posting my own fail story, a bunch of Twitter residents decided to start riffing on the phrase 'EPIC FAIL' (maybe as a result of this article?). I'm not sure who started it, but I thought I'd paste in the relevant tweets from the people I follow:

§482 · July 24, 2008 · Life · 1 comment · Tags: ,


I just checked for a friend on train ticket prices from the Detroit Area to Chicago. $70 each way, $140 round trip. That does not compute. If he were to drive, I'm going to estimate it would cost $80 in gas - and he'd have the convenience of having a car once he's here. The airlines give me $160 with taxes and fees included, at a quarter of the trip time.

I love taking the train, but in this case it seems that it just doesn't make economical sense. Especially for more than one person. I wonder why...

§481 · July 23, 2008 · Life · 5 comments · Tags:


Thank you. Note to self: Next time I need to build Boost, this is what I should do while experimenting:

bjam --build-dir=c:/boost-build/ --toolset=msvc-8.0 --build-type=complete

That builds all combinations of release/debug and dynamic/static libraries. Cost: Roughly 2 GB disk space.

§480 · July 16, 2008 · Life · 2 comments · Tags: ,


Candace: what are you planning to grow?

As of today, I've got two of my 4'x4' boxes planted with vertical trellises and chicken wire cages. So far I've planted:

  • 9 Beans
  • 16 Beets
  • 9 Broccoli
  • 3 Cabbage
  • 2 Jalapeño
  • 4 Lettuce
  • 13 Onions
  • 5 Peas
  • 9 Radishes
  • 4 Spinach
  • 3 Summer Squash
  • 4 Swiss Chard
  • 2 Watermelon
  • 3 Zucchini

One tomato plant purchased (still indoors), need a couple more. Pumpkins to be started in a few weeks in time for October. We also purchased 4 dwarf fruit trees this year: 2 apple, one peach, one plum. I don't expect any yield this year, but you never know.

This year is the first year we're being serious about it - and surprise (to me), it's a hell of a lot of work!

But I did solve the problem of making a cage that fits a box with a vertical trellis. I made a 4'x4'x18" goalie net of wood and chicken wire. Then I tied chicken wire around the other side of the trellis so that the net and the trellis fit together to form a cage (with a one-inch gap for vining plants to grow up). It looks like it will work.

§463 · May 21, 2008 · Life · 1 comment · Tags: