romej dot com - the feed still burns

WiFi dropping in OS X Lion

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:38:02 -0800

I have a late 2010 iMac. After upgrading to OS X Lion last year I started having issues with the WiFi reconnecting after I put the computer to sleep. I tried a lot of the suggestions I saw in forum posts to fix it but the problem persisted. I eventually sought out my router and ended up adjusting its DNS settings to use Google's Public DNS servers. My iMac was already using this but setting this on the router itself seems to have helped with my issues.

Spider buddy

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:22:24 -0800

Years ago we came home after a night out and parked outside the house. Michelle passed through a web on the way in and I quickly urged her don't worry, they usually aren't in the center. As we were pulling the web off she felt something. She lifted her arm from her side, from shadow into light. Sure enough a big black and yellow argiope was trekking across her bare forearm. Flip out ensued. Mostly she was annoyed that I was so sure nothing would be on her.

More recently Bingley came into the bathroom while she was getting ready. She noticed a leaf on his side and plucked it from his body to throw in the trash.

Then it started to move in her fingers.

She wiggled her hand but a bit of web made it stick to the fingertips for two seconds too long.

Last night she caught a small one in her glass of water. It made a raft out of its legs which was impressive. After asking if she picked it up by hand and placed it in the glass I took it outside and gently dumped it.

Cold Saturday

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:45:49 -0800

Just dropped Michelle off at the hospital for her 30-hour shift. The air around Augusta stinks this morning and dampens optimism (you can't take fresh-smelling mornings for granted here). Enjoyed some Krispy Kreme donuts for the first time in about a year though!

Bingley

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 07:16:51 -0700

How to fix a dripping faucet

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 07:05:46 -0700

The general idea is the same for any faucet model; water is slipping past a seal. At the very least you probably need to replace some rubber rings or seals in the handle assemblies. This Price Pfister model has cartridges that slide into each faucet body (one for hot flow, one for cold). Watch this video to see each step of the repair.

On call

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:45:20 -0700

I dropped Michelle off at the hospital before 6 today, like usual. The difference today is that she won't be coming back home until tomorrow around noon. Hopefully it'll go well for her. I imagine the sleeping quarters aren't any better than a hostel, and the fear of not waking up for a page has to take a toll on your ability to sleep.

Fitz and I are going to go stir crazy. I might cook him some dinner, tell him about my day, and watch a TV show with him on the couch.

The early days

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 05:45:18 -0700

Michelle's now on the wards. She just started her third rotation in surgery (ortho, urology, and now oncology). For the first time since our days at the Air Force, we're getting up around 5am. It's rough. Fitz stays in bed when we get up this early, occasionally lifting his head to look at us and then letting it fall back on the pillow with a soft thud.

I get to come home and make coffee and wake up at my own pace. Meanwhile, she's running between patient rooms, waking people up and asking how they're doing. Her white coat is eight pounds heavier than she'd like, so she shuffles up and down the halls, her little shoes tapping out a hurried rhythm. She loves working with the patients and seeing them go home.

As for me, I can usually have a good amount of work done before 9am. If I held myself to an 8-hour day, I could probably stop working around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. It's strange to think about it that way.

I usually keep working because I like it, but also because Michelle usually gets off sometime between 6 and 9pm. She's supposed to come home and study hard for several hours after that. The curriculum in med school reminds me of Aragorn's "I give hope to men. I keep none for myself." - the system is structured against giving time to sleep or eat or, you know, be healthy.

(we still go to the gym on days she gets out before 7pm, but this schedule is nothing like the first two years)

Third year started with anxiety. She was concerned about the rotations as anyone would be, but also awaiting Step 1 scores. You simply can't plan your life and career until you know your score, unfortunately.

The entire June pool of tests was held so that the NBME could make adjustments after some test changes. For some reason they released her scores (and everyone who took it towards the end of June) one very long week after everyone else in the batch.

On nights where there weren't many hours to sleep, the anxiety of waiting made sleep even more difficult. So the days were long.

When the release day rolled around - a week after others had come to terms with their scores and had thrown themselves into third year fully - I waited for her to send me news. I had a hard time focusing on work. Then she texted me.

I had some cupcakes waiting at home to celebrate her hard work, the results, and the close of the first half of med school. Observing this preparation process - which extends back over the past two years - has been a ride. I can't imagine actually going through it and I'm really proud of her. Some people go to extremes: no movies, no nights out, no time for the gym, no time to talk, blank stares when you mention the name of a TV show. She did well and we had fun doing it.

Reaching this point was something we talked about on evening walks around the neighborhood back in Crestview, nearly five years ago. Now we can get back to planning.

Running the Peachtree Road Race

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:36:48 -0700

Yesterday we ran the Peachtree Road Race for the first time. As Miley Cyrus says, it was pretty cool.

We signed up as a group and didn't submit any race times. As a result we were in the W starting group, set to start at 8:55 am.

We found plenty of parking near the Arts Center station (try the lots between 10th and 14th around W. Peachtree). We waited 20 minutes to pay at the parking meter then split a bagel at Einsteins.

There were a lot of police officers and Marta employees helping people figure things out. Marta was packed and I ended up resting my tired head on some guy's supremely hairy arm. Not really. It was there though and the bumps in the track brought the two things in close proximity. He doled out advice on not going through the water (blisters on your feet) and steering clear of Moe's (crowds getting t-shirts) and had been running it since '78.

We got off at Lenox station and walked.

The lines at the port-a-potties were deep. Even if you don't have to go when you see the toilets, hop in line. You'll have to go by the time it's your turn.

We met up with the W wave and someone holding a large STOP/WALK sign led us down Peachtree towards the starting line.

It's quite a walk; the race starts down by the American flag visible on the horizon.

While people around us squeezed power gels into their mouths, Michelle tidied her hydration of choice. I laughed but really wanted one during the second half of the race.

An announcer pumped us up as we neared the starting line and soon people were shuffling off.

Michelle yelled out asking where the Moe's shirts were when she ran past. That got some of the people behind her riled up and soon a few were demanding shirts. One guy fired and expletive.

Her Capri Sun didn't spill. Meanwhile, a little ways ahead, I was sloshing warm water all over my face trying to drink.

I enjoyed being cheered by the people on the sidewalk. It adds a lot to the event and helps you keep going when you're tired. Kids held out their hands to get high fives.

Towards the end of the race I realized people were recoiling when I went past. I must have looked ghastly.

An hour passes. Cups are grabbed awkwardly. Walkers are dodged, breathing is labored. Sweat doesn't cool as it should, too humid. The sun burns and the shade feels nice. You notice hills on Peachtree you don't even think about in your car.

Here's the finish area in Piedmont Park. I sat down desperate to cool off and waited for Michelle (not long). She came across looking much more composed than I did and headed straight for a banana. She ran knowing she'd be standing around in the hospital all day Tuesday. She posted a great time and was less sore than me the next day.

Here we are walking through the park back to the car. This was great.

You can search the 2011 Peachtree Road Race results if you know anyone that was in it. The finishers breakdown statistics are fun to look at too.

Moving

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:05:16 -0700

We're mostly settled in the house next door now. It was one of the easier moves we've ever done. Two Men and a Truck helped with the heavy stuff and I spent too much time (more than I estimated, anyway) ferrying smaller loads after they left.

Fitz has spent much of the past two years here in this house playing with Henry, so he knows it better than we do. He's still pretty nervous though after having seen his furniture go from one place to another. He watches me from the window when I run next door, afraid, apparently, that I'll just stay over there.

Michelle's been studying hard the past couple months and having a pretty good time doing it. After all the reading and quizzing and practice tests she'll take Step 1 tomorrow. I'm really proud of how much she's learned in the past two years. Medicine is heavily fact-based, so there's no getting around memorizing vast quantities of information. It's nearly the opposite of the kind of learning you're expected to do at Georgia Tech, so she's verily versatile.

It's weird how you settle into new routines. After classes and the NBME exams wrapped up six weeks ago, we committed to waking up early (Step 1 starts at 7am and we normally wake up at 7:40). TLC has been playing The Little Couple in the morning, so that's our go-to wake-up show. We're out of the house before the Today show starts.

Michelle spent most of the summer in one (well, a couple) of the small group rooms. Things worked out nicely and she was able to keep a room to herself the entire time. A couple weeks into studying they kicked her out of the room she had "decorated" (and cleaned) so that they could do some summer seminar. She moved three doors down and settled in.

She kept a small candied apple candle from Bath and Bodyworks in her room and had the best-smelling room. Food, dust, and who knows what else left some of the other rooms stale. I liked walking in with a bag of lunch and getting a breath of the Purell + candy combo.

After sitting for eight hours a day she wanted to stand. I found a door at Lowe's for $5 and brought that in along with two plastic crates so that she could have a big standing desk. We ate a few Mellow Mushroom pizzas standing at that.

I snuck Fitz into her room one day so he could see where she was going. He's a good dog and didn't try to get out of the backpack. It wasn't meant to carry him but he trusts in the choices we make for him. He poked his nose out as I neared her hallway to get a whiff of the surroundings.

In the afternoons when I went to pick her up I'd often bring him and let him run in the courtyard between Pav III and the parking deck. He started running to the sliding doors to wait. He's quick with things like that.

We've been eating a lot of Moe's (the new salsa has revived our interest) and pizza. In this new house, we're also cooking with gas again. We went a year without it (even during the winter months) and used space heaters. The AGL pass-through charge is a rip-off, keeping our bills last year at minimum $35 (event with near-zero gas usage).

One of my new favorite things is a Cuisinart espresso maker Michelle found for me on Foundary. It's sturdy and makes real espresso. It cost $20 more than the steam-pressure one I was going to buy last year.

I should mention that the tree in this yard recently fell across the fence into our old yard. Thankfully the car was moved from its usual spot, else it would have been crushed.

Inverted Friday

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 05:43:55 -0700

We had a buy-one-get-two Fandango deal that was nearing expiration. We put it to good use at the Regal Augusta Exchange, X-Men First Class at noon. It's hard for Michelle to take any time off, and she knows I love summer movies, so it was nice (much like my birthday). The nacho cheese machine was busted. Sad. We switched to another obscenely priced classic - popcorn - and didn't look back.

We had some delicious spicy chicken burritos afterward. Somebody in line was on fire for Jesus (his words) and was being encouraged to join some effort.