I change my mind, I hate winter.

Posted By: Adam 2 Comments
Winter used to be my favorite season. I love snowboarding and back when I was in Boy Scouts we went at least once a year. I even made attempts to go frequently while in college. It even remains my favorite winter activity after having fractured my wrist and hip on separate occasions.

But it's come to the point where the evils of winter outweigh the graces. Dry skin, early sunset (shorter days), and worst of all: STATIC ELECTRICITY.

Everything is on the war path with me. If my autopsy doesn't show that my cause of death was heart attack induced by static shock, I'll be very surprised. Well, I'll be dead, but you get the idea.

The worst is cars. All of them. Every time I get out of a car I get shocked when I touch the door to close it. Sometimes if I'm in and out of the car a lot in one day I'll get out and kick the door shut rather than touching it. And when I do work up the bravery to touch a car door, I wince right before my hand reaches it. Every time. I'm conditioned to. I've been working on touching the door with my knee first (for some reason knees are immune to static shock?) so I'm grounded first or whatever – and most of the time that works out decently. But sometimes, when it goes badly, I feel like one of the ridiculously bad contestants from the first week of "So You Think You Can Dance" trying to pull off some strange dance move and failing miserably.

Last night I got shocked touching the "start" button for the timer on our stove. My entire finger stung for a good 30 seconds.

Now mind you, I go out of my way to avoid static. I use two dryer sheets in every load of laundry, and I use Static Guard or spray myself with a little bit of water while getting dressed if I  feel particularly static-y.

Here's a list of other things that have shocked me so far this winter:
  • Kissing wifey (we now touch hands before kissing to avoid burning our lips off)
  • My cubicle at work
  • Door handles
  • The cat
  • The dishwasher
  • The vacuum
  • The conveyer belt at the grocery store checkout
  • Shopping carts
  • The ATM
  • The gas pump (this sounds very dangerous!)
So until I find a company willing to coat my body in rubber, I officially renounce winter as my favorite season. My new favorite season is spring.

Errors, errors, yay errors!

Posted By: Adam 0 Comments
Two in one day. (Gotta make up for yesterday, right?)

You may have been noticing some error messages popping up on the pages around these parts. Remember when I mentioned that I was in the process of switching over "from Access to SQL Server," and then when I messed up and uploaded a test file to the site without backing up the original – necessitating a quick shift to the new database? (You do? Wow! You're such a nerd!)

Well I lied. (Sorry!) It was unintentional, but I did. I actually migrated from Access to MySQL. I've been working with SQL Server a lot at work and got some wires crossed in my brain. Unfortunately, there appears to be a known issue between Coldfusion 5 and MySQL, where the connection to the database is dropped pretty frequently. Our web host refusing to upgrade to the latest version of CF isn't exactly making me all smiles either. If you do get errors, just refresh the page until they go away.

In the meantime, I really am working on migrating us to SQL Server. If only it were that easy. I've also got to install a web based DBMS since I'm an Apple-nerd these days and SQL Server doesn't have any (free-ish) DBMS software for OS X. But once I get past all of that, we should be good to go!

Until then, please refresh when you see errors and forgive me! :(

Italia!

Posted By: Adam 0 Comments
Just a reminder if you've been away for a few days: I'm still taking questions of all sorts, and you're still welcome to vote for my new (potentially emasculating) hobby. Anything in the name of interesting blogging!

Not that you hadn't already noticed, but I did it again! Woe is me. :(

I spent a bunch of time trying to think of what to write about yesterday and unfortunately the only thing I can think about when I'm not working is Italy; and I wasn't sure if I cold write anything about it yet. (I got clearance last night.)

On Sunday Mrs. T found an article in The Daily Local (that I'm not able to find on their website) about an airline that will be offering a limited number of round trip flights between JFK airport and Rome for $299 plus the government mandated $69 tax. It's a promotional deal, which is why there are only a limited number available. You've got to book on their website starting January 21, and you've got to leave between 4/21 and 5/8, and return by 5/13.

We've been talking about taking a vacation to Europe towards the end of this year or the beginning of next year, and this kind of just fell into our laps. We haven't decided yet if we're going, because we need to iron out the other logistical details (How do we get to JFK? Can we afford all of the other expenses? I don't have a passport yet!) – but it's a very distinct possibility.

Notice I didn't give you the link to the airlines website. I figure the story will be national news before 1/21, so chances are that all thousand of the round trip tickets will be sold on the first day. Finders Keepers!

Older Entries Newer Entries