I didn't understand what this meant until recently.
I've been tired before. I've had some times where I've been exhausted. Seventy-two hours on the job will do that. Insane tactical medicine evolutions will tax you as well.
I've always measured how tired I was by my ability to keep going, should I absolutely have to. Sure, I've been sick. I've been tired, but push comes to shove, I can still get my butt in gear.
A couple of weeks ago, I just got sick. It started out pretty subtle, no big deal. A little abdominal pain and some GI symptoms. Then it accelerated like a bullet, and just chopped my legs out from under me.
I was exhausted, and sore. Muscle and body aches plagued me in waves, as did this incredible lethargy. People who know me, know that I'm typically pretty gung-ho, and type A. I'm always doing something. Hell, when I'm not feeling well, I typically get involved with a project to keep my mind off of things.
Not this time. It was an effort just to sit up, and at times I'd just collapse in on myself, I was so tired.
It did give me new understanding though. I can better appreciate when a patient tells me they're so tired that it's an effort just to get water.
Hydration and eating were a constant issue for me. I just couldn't get the energy to keep going to the fridge, and I had no desire to eat (To the tune of 15lbs of weight loss).
All this, and we really didn't know what was going on. Sure, we had the symptoms pinned down pretty well (I really like my doc and her medical team, they cut right to the chase), but the differential diagnoses were legion.
This was really bizarre to me. Sure I knew the process in the back of my head, but I've never personally experienced that. When I've been sick before, it's been a sore throat, or the flu, or pneumonia (all of which were child's play compared to this). This time, I was just sick, really bad, and I had no idea what the real cause was.
I had occasional fevers that seemed to only underline that I was sick. I went whole days without them (I think). I actually got work done with the fevers. I wrote several hundred lines of code to get the basis of one of my projects done. Probably at the cost of a day's rest
A couple of weeks into it, I had a mini-freak out. What if this was forever? What if I'd gotten some bizarre chronic condition that wasn't going to go away? Holy crap! I still didn't know what was wrong with me! Three weeks?!
Wiser heads prevailed, and I was talked down from my lethargic hysterics. I'm really thankful for my family, and especially my girlfriend, Angel. She was incredibly helpful in keeping me fed and watered. Pretty much like one of the animals, actually. At least I felt that way at times. It was pretty depressing at times, but mostly incredibly comforting.
Thankfully, my panic only lasted about two days. At that point I went the whole day without having one of those bouts of exhaustion. The next day, I felt practically energetic. My joints weren't really hurting, and I felt like I could do things.
I wanted to get back to work. Bad. Real bad.
Three weeks was a really long time to be away from the department, and three weeks of cabin fever had jumped on me like a rabid elephant.
Turns out it takes more to get back to work than to call in sick. I spent three days on the phone trying to arrange a return to work. Drove me crazy. A week later, and I'm still making phone calls. GRRRR
But I am thankful now for the increased understanding. I never really contemplated being that exhausted, that lethargic, that out of it. I get it now.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
100MB Went Fast
I've got 5MB left, and I think I recycle on the 14th. I've been deliberately trying to reduce my 3G usage, to stretch it out, but I think this is the last day.
Not bad, but not great. When finances pick up, I think I'm going to have to try one of the paid packages (I think the next step is 20GB, a huge change).
I'm still loving this little laptop, and it has occupied a niche in my life. It's become my quick "go-to" laptop, when I need information, notes, recipes, etc. It's almost always within reach, very quick for these applications, and easy to use (I'm still having problems with the right-click, though).
I'm trying to figure out how you know when to publicly talk about a project, or try to develop it for a business. There's so much open source work being done out there, but I have so many bills to pay....
Not bad, but not great. When finances pick up, I think I'm going to have to try one of the paid packages (I think the next step is 20GB, a huge change).
I'm still loving this little laptop, and it has occupied a niche in my life. It's become my quick "go-to" laptop, when I need information, notes, recipes, etc. It's almost always within reach, very quick for these applications, and easy to use (I'm still having problems with the right-click, though).
I'm trying to figure out how you know when to publicly talk about a project, or try to develop it for a business. There's so much open source work being done out there, but I have so many bills to pay....
Monday, December 27, 2010
Chrome saves a puppy!
We're driving to AT's house on Christmas Eve for dinner (awesome dinner), and Angel and I spied a basset hound wandering around on a busy road. Never mind that we have three dogs in the car already (two freakin' out, and one passed out), we belt out a u-turn, and check the pooch out.
He's shivering, but otherwise looks ok. He immediately stopped to look at me, and came when I called to him. The second any proximity was established, his tail starts going fast enough to whip cream. Cold as he is, he sits down, and looks at me with those mournful basset hound eyes. His tag reads "Capone" and a Florida phone number.
After several attempts at the phone number (can't be completed as dialed, not available, etc), we decide to load him into the car (we're 5 minutes from AT's), and figure it out there (I don't like hanging out on the side of busy roads. That's a place people die).
We get to AT's, and everyone is already there, including Lizard's big dog, Adam. Adam is a very nice dog, once he is willing to get to know you. Before then, he comes off as a pretty aggressive puppy. We're bringing our three dogs in, Capone, and Adam's already there. Top it off with AT's two cats... It's a lot to ask.
But this is why I love my family. I walked in, leaving Angel in the car to tend to the animals, an explained what's going on. No hesitation, no questions, nothing, just a "Bring him in, we'll figure it out".
So in we troop. Four dogs, and a quick snag of the Cr-48 (AT's internet can be spotty, and I just don't have time to troubleshoot it). Within seconds, Angel is pulling up local animal hospitals (to check Capone for an RFID tag), and we're calling them. Being Christmas Eve evening, we're not getting any success. Then she's pulling up the local police non-emergency number. They advise us to call the animal shelter (but we didn't get their number). Again, the Chrome-Book is there in a flash, getting us the animal shelter's number. I get on the phone with them, and they dispatch an officer to come get the little guy.
The Cr-48 didn't do anything that another laptop couldn't have done. Well, except all of the searches and interactions were performed by someone completely naive to the system. And the fact that we had anywhere internet helped. No, what made it cool was that it was the right tool at the time. We probably had half a dozen laptops at the dinner, but this was the one we grabbed.
Of course, it happened so fast, we didn't think to snap a picture of Capone.... grrrr
He's shivering, but otherwise looks ok. He immediately stopped to look at me, and came when I called to him. The second any proximity was established, his tail starts going fast enough to whip cream. Cold as he is, he sits down, and looks at me with those mournful basset hound eyes. His tag reads "Capone" and a Florida phone number.
After several attempts at the phone number (can't be completed as dialed, not available, etc), we decide to load him into the car (we're 5 minutes from AT's), and figure it out there (I don't like hanging out on the side of busy roads. That's a place people die).
We get to AT's, and everyone is already there, including Lizard's big dog, Adam. Adam is a very nice dog, once he is willing to get to know you. Before then, he comes off as a pretty aggressive puppy. We're bringing our three dogs in, Capone, and Adam's already there. Top it off with AT's two cats... It's a lot to ask.
But this is why I love my family. I walked in, leaving Angel in the car to tend to the animals, an explained what's going on. No hesitation, no questions, nothing, just a "Bring him in, we'll figure it out".
So in we troop. Four dogs, and a quick snag of the Cr-48 (AT's internet can be spotty, and I just don't have time to troubleshoot it). Within seconds, Angel is pulling up local animal hospitals (to check Capone for an RFID tag), and we're calling them. Being Christmas Eve evening, we're not getting any success. Then she's pulling up the local police non-emergency number. They advise us to call the animal shelter (but we didn't get their number). Again, the Chrome-Book is there in a flash, getting us the animal shelter's number. I get on the phone with them, and they dispatch an officer to come get the little guy.
The Cr-48 didn't do anything that another laptop couldn't have done. Well, except all of the searches and interactions were performed by someone completely naive to the system. And the fact that we had anywhere internet helped. No, what made it cool was that it was the right tool at the time. We probably had half a dozen laptops at the dinner, but this was the one we grabbed.
Of course, it happened so fast, we didn't think to snap a picture of Capone.... grrrr
Thursday, December 23, 2010
How long does 100MB last?
It looks like it's going to be less than three days.
I just got a quick little pop-up in the lower right corner, telling me that I've used 49 of my 100MB.
I'm not complaining, at all. In fact, I'd like to commend Verizon and Google for this unobtrusive notification. No surprises, no difficult to find usage summary. This is a far change from the typical wireless service that I've seen, where companies appear to work hard to surprise you with overages.
So, I need to tone down my playing around with this thing, and try to use it for real projects and work. I can do that.
I just got a quick little pop-up in the lower right corner, telling me that I've used 49 of my 100MB.
I'm not complaining, at all. In fact, I'd like to commend Verizon and Google for this unobtrusive notification. No surprises, no difficult to find usage summary. This is a far change from the typical wireless service that I've seen, where companies appear to work hard to surprise you with overages.
So, I need to tone down my playing around with this thing, and try to use it for real projects and work. I can do that.
Changed my mind
After showing off the Cr-48, and taking an evening to think about it, I can think of an ideal customer for this system: businesses.
Buy a bunch of laptops, all completely identical, all capable of providing business functions, anywhere, anytime. Set the system up so that the entire computer experience is archived on the web (or your proprietary network). Keep your personal computer IT support costs to a bare minimum.
I'm trying to see what there is not to like.
As a business machine, this thing could be killer. It's going to run into problems when dealing with ultra-proprietary or confidential information, but I'm going to bet that Google is considering that.
It's going to run into problems when dealing with business specific software packages. Again, I'm going to bet that Google is examining this problem (Google Citrix?).
The Google collaborative apps have been a little cumbersome (Google Wave was hard to use, no matter how often we tried to get into it), but their online office package is incredibly easy to share with others. I think the tough nut there is remote, real-time collaboration.
The more I consider it, the more the idea of equipping a mobile business force with these systems is appealing.
And then it's not. I'm an IT consultant on the side (lately, WAY on the side). I need people to come to me with computer problems. This would do away with my tech support costs.
Hey, Google, any chance you're looking for a troubleshooter?
Buy a bunch of laptops, all completely identical, all capable of providing business functions, anywhere, anytime. Set the system up so that the entire computer experience is archived on the web (or your proprietary network). Keep your personal computer IT support costs to a bare minimum.
I'm trying to see what there is not to like.
As a business machine, this thing could be killer. It's going to run into problems when dealing with ultra-proprietary or confidential information, but I'm going to bet that Google is considering that.
It's going to run into problems when dealing with business specific software packages. Again, I'm going to bet that Google is examining this problem (Google Citrix?).
The Google collaborative apps have been a little cumbersome (Google Wave was hard to use, no matter how often we tried to get into it), but their online office package is incredibly easy to share with others. I think the tough nut there is remote, real-time collaboration.
The more I consider it, the more the idea of equipping a mobile business force with these systems is appealing.
And then it's not. I'm an IT consultant on the side (lately, WAY on the side). I need people to come to me with computer problems. This would do away with my tech support costs.
Hey, Google, any chance you're looking for a troubleshooter?
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Free data service through Verizon Wireless
The Cr-48 comes with 100MB of free data service, per month, for two years, from VZW. I activated it today, with no problems. It took about five minutes, during which time I furnished my personal information, including a credit card. I don't really have an objection to the credit card. It establishes my identity with the company, and it provides insurance/assurance to them that I won't run amok.
So, I'm on the subway blogger. Bizarre. Not something I ever really considered, and the sound of it makes me want to punch my hipster alter-ego in the face.
Still, I feel that Google provided me with this great piece of tech and great opportunity, I should keep a log of how it's going and impacting my life (and it is a great piece of tech).
So far, I'm really liking this thing. The Cr-48 is not going to replace my primary computer. Right now, it won't replace my primary laptop. However, I frequently have two laptops in tow, One for work, and another to "work from". That second laptop is currently a mini-netbook. I think as an experiment, for the next couple of months, I'll be leaving that on the shelf.
The Cr-48 always has internet access. I can pull down notes, web pages, technical documents (I haven't tried PDF's yet. The lack of PDF capability is a definite e-reader killer. If your e-reader doesn't have it, I won't buy it), run a couple of programs on it, and use it to check a couple of things.
Speaking of programs: Google! Please figure out how to let us run and code Python programs on these things (The Cr-48 and the Android OS). You'll see more amateurs (like me) flocking to the platform because we can make it do what we want.
The 100MB a month is interesting. It's a very limited connection to the net (you can buy more, but I'm broke as hell). You're not going to be playing any of the latest and greatest video games on this thing, but then again, the Cr-48 isn't capable of playing the latest and greatest video games (In fact, as of this post, the Cr-48 is having trouble playing a couple of the games in their app store).
But like I said, the Cr-48 is not going to replace your primary computer. It's going to be sitting there next to you at home while you're fragging your friends. A quiet little chat window will pop up when your other friends are trying to figure out if you want to come out to dinner with them (or which server you're on, so they can join in). It's going to let you check your email when the round is over. It's going to go with you when you leave the house to jump on the bus to go to work.
Let's see how far I can stretch those 100MB.
I'd like to have a bar on my browser, that shows how far I've used my data allotment, versus the time left in the month. Something tiny and out of the way.
Ok, a couple of dings: I still haven't gotten used to the double-fingered right-click. I'm still working on that.
The screen needs to open just a little bit further. Curled up with this laptop can be difficult in some positions, and this laptop begs to be curled up with. Light, and lap friendly.
In that same vein (this is not a ding, but I direction I want to see this go), I really want to somehow flip the screen around, and have a tablet option with this computer. This thing just screams "usability", and I think that would be an addition I would pay extra for.
The system really bogs down if you have multiple tabs open. For an attention deficit disorder guy, like me, this can be annoying. However, you really don't need to have 15 tabs open. Finish what you started, then go play Steambirds (excellent game).
I'm having trouble with the touchpad at times. I love it, but it seems that the cursor jumps around a bit at times. It seems that this is happening more when I'm tired, which makes me think user error. It also doesn't help that one of my fingers is in a massive metal splint, which probably has a near field effect on the trackpad.
I still haven't figured out what the SD card slot is for. I tried loading music onto it, but nothing.
Oh yeah, music. The currently offered music player, mSpot (I think) needs work. Generating a playlist on it was a pretty painful operation (to the point that I gave up, and pulled out my laptop to play music while I was working). Google, please figure out a way to make this a local app.
Big bonuses, and things I like:
The keyboard is just stellar. Engineers, please take note: This is how to do it
The battery life is incredible. On 3g, it's saying that I have close to eight hours remaining on the charge.
Instant on OS, that seems to remember everything that I was doing.
Easy help feature.
I love the documentation that came with this thing. Two pages. I read them start to finish, back to front, and I'm saving them to show to people.
ok, here's my stop. Gotta go
So, I'm on the subway blogger. Bizarre. Not something I ever really considered, and the sound of it makes me want to punch my hipster alter-ego in the face.
Still, I feel that Google provided me with this great piece of tech and great opportunity, I should keep a log of how it's going and impacting my life (and it is a great piece of tech).
So far, I'm really liking this thing. The Cr-48 is not going to replace my primary computer. Right now, it won't replace my primary laptop. However, I frequently have two laptops in tow, One for work, and another to "work from". That second laptop is currently a mini-netbook. I think as an experiment, for the next couple of months, I'll be leaving that on the shelf.
The Cr-48 always has internet access. I can pull down notes, web pages, technical documents (I haven't tried PDF's yet. The lack of PDF capability is a definite e-reader killer. If your e-reader doesn't have it, I won't buy it), run a couple of programs on it, and use it to check a couple of things.
Speaking of programs: Google! Please figure out how to let us run and code Python programs on these things (The Cr-48 and the Android OS). You'll see more amateurs (like me) flocking to the platform because we can make it do what we want.
The 100MB a month is interesting. It's a very limited connection to the net (you can buy more, but I'm broke as hell). You're not going to be playing any of the latest and greatest video games on this thing, but then again, the Cr-48 isn't capable of playing the latest and greatest video games (In fact, as of this post, the Cr-48 is having trouble playing a couple of the games in their app store).
But like I said, the Cr-48 is not going to replace your primary computer. It's going to be sitting there next to you at home while you're fragging your friends. A quiet little chat window will pop up when your other friends are trying to figure out if you want to come out to dinner with them (or which server you're on, so they can join in). It's going to let you check your email when the round is over. It's going to go with you when you leave the house to jump on the bus to go to work.
Let's see how far I can stretch those 100MB.
I'd like to have a bar on my browser, that shows how far I've used my data allotment, versus the time left in the month. Something tiny and out of the way.
Ok, a couple of dings: I still haven't gotten used to the double-fingered right-click. I'm still working on that.
The screen needs to open just a little bit further. Curled up with this laptop can be difficult in some positions, and this laptop begs to be curled up with. Light, and lap friendly.
In that same vein (this is not a ding, but I direction I want to see this go), I really want to somehow flip the screen around, and have a tablet option with this computer. This thing just screams "usability", and I think that would be an addition I would pay extra for.
The system really bogs down if you have multiple tabs open. For an attention deficit disorder guy, like me, this can be annoying. However, you really don't need to have 15 tabs open. Finish what you started, then go play Steambirds (excellent game).
I'm having trouble with the touchpad at times. I love it, but it seems that the cursor jumps around a bit at times. It seems that this is happening more when I'm tired, which makes me think user error. It also doesn't help that one of my fingers is in a massive metal splint, which probably has a near field effect on the trackpad.
I still haven't figured out what the SD card slot is for. I tried loading music onto it, but nothing.
Oh yeah, music. The currently offered music player, mSpot (I think) needs work. Generating a playlist on it was a pretty painful operation (to the point that I gave up, and pulled out my laptop to play music while I was working). Google, please figure out a way to make this a local app.
Big bonuses, and things I like:
The keyboard is just stellar. Engineers, please take note: This is how to do it
The battery life is incredible. On 3g, it's saying that I have close to eight hours remaining on the charge.
Instant on OS, that seems to remember everything that I was doing.
Easy help feature.
I love the documentation that came with this thing. Two pages. I read them start to finish, back to front, and I'm saving them to show to people.
ok, here's my stop. Gotta go
Puppy time!
So, this is Ruffian (Ruff for short. He's barked at his name a couple of times now. Really, really cute).
As I said before, he's a Christmas gift from Angel, and he came a little early (about 5 days early) so that we could try to get him settled before the chaos of Christmas (whether we can pull that off is another story).
A puppy for Christmas... I thought this was the coolest gift I'd get, by far. Then my parents called last night, and just blew me away. They're getting me very nice pet insurance for the little guy. OK, maybe it's not as cool as the puppy (Chicken and Egg problem here), but it's incredibly thoughtful, and massively contributive (does that construction work?) towards the epic puppy coolness.
I was blown away. Very blown away. Like "Dust in my eyes, and kinda choking me" kind of way. Even more so, because I was looking at VPI's website that morning, and trying to figure out how to get the pet insurance thing to happen with my budget. It wasn't a question of not doing it (I'm that idiot that will run back into the burning building for the dog. You read about them in the newspaper and think "What an idiot, it's just a dog). I was just going to be stretched to do it.
Actually, that's really not true. I could have gotten him some basic coverage for just $20. I could do that. That's us eating ramen noodles two more times a month, but I knew I wanted more than just basic coverage.
Awesome job, Mom and Pop. And one of those gifts that I'll be thanking you for continuously.
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