Penguin Non Grata

Monday, February 9, 2009

Picture(s) of the day:

Just a garage? No, this is SO MUCH MORE than just a garage… This is the Park Street garage. With USC’s parking situation getting worse semester by semester as new building projects take parking away, this garage has been my saving grace. It may cost a couple of bucks to park there, but it saves me from wasting gas circling the coliseum lots like a buzzard…

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Picture(s) of the day:

Today we found the source of Hammy’s energy.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Picture(s) Videos of the day:

No pictures today! I had to go to school today to observe a session of the Create IT Computer Camp. It’s a camp for a select group of high schoolers that my major (along with BCBS) put on. Dr. Norris gave a presentation about new technologies, and he did a great job of integrating videos into it. I really enjoyed the session, and am glad that I chose that one to observe. Afterwards, I went to Monterrey’s with some school friends… Good Times! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture until after we left. I really need to get better at this! I guess I have about 10 more months to work on it.

Here are some of the videos from the presentation:

Intel’s Vision of the Future:

Photosynth:

Car tech =  way cool. Here’s a piece CNET did on the VW Gypsy Interface:

Google Latitude: Good for friends, bad for stalking…

Prometeus - The Media Revolution:

And, the closing video of the presentation. Here is… The Future:

February 6, 2009

Picture(s) of the day:

It’s Friday! Which means… geekery at Brit and Bens (aka - Battlestar Galactica). Taj kept us entertained for a while. First he tried to squeeze Brittney into the corner of the couch:

And later, when Brittney went to the bathroom he stole her seat. So… she sat on him. It didn’t even phase him… Matter of fact, I’m not even sure he realizes his momma is sitting on top of him. I love how Taj makes Brit look like a child in this picture… granted, Brit is a small girl, but he is a big pup!

February 5, 2009

Picture(s) of the day:

I had a test in my accounting class today, which means that I got out of class earlier than normal. Which means that for the first time in a while I actually walked out into sunlight… well, maybe not, but at least I got to watch the sun go down!

February 4, 2009

Picture(s) of the day:

This is what the smokers at work look like when it’s 19 degrees and windy out. So pitiful… In this pic we have (l-r) Kristen, Stephanie, Carissa, and Wendy.
Note to those who are from cooler climates: South Carolinians don’t see 19 degrees very often.

February 3, 2009

What did I do today?

• Well, I got up this morning around 9:30… ate some lucky charms on the couch in my PJ’s. That was nice. Then school, then home, then school again…
• The cable guys came out today (again) to attempt (again) to figure out why our internet is soooo sloooow. I mean, dial up slow. And we have road runner. Yeah, not acceptable. This has been going on for a while. We’re dropping packets, the speed is here one minute, gone the next. It’s aggravating. The guys that came out today were very nice and helpful though, so I’m feeling good about it. They seem to think it’s something with the line. *fingers crossed*

Picture(s) of the day:

Here’s a pic of the speedtest from this morning… yep, that says our download speed is 193 kbps. 193 kbps!!! Since we have road runner (the middle tier), our download speed should be in the range of 5,000 to 7,000 kbps.

February 2, 2009

What did I do today?

• Work in the morning, schoooool at night. A day full of awesome.
• Started learning SQL: select statements. I know it was just the first day, but… first impression: love it.

Picture(s) of the day:

I didn’t take a picture earlier in the day… so we have a few shots of Alan and I. I figured if I’m going to rely on him to save the day, the least I could do is include myself!

Shot #1… not quite there:

Shot #2… here we are!!

Special note to Stuck/Mookie/Ben: Alan sacrificed for you… and now you are not the only one on the blog with a “special” face! You can thank him later.

Oh, what a week! I’ve been super busy with school stuff, and had a little lapse in the “2009 in pictures” project. Something had to give…

So now we have a multi-day post… here goes nothing!

January 29, 2009

What did I do today?

• Thursday, Oh Thursday… The entire network was down at work and I was sent home at 9:30 am. It was a little irritating, until I remembered that I could just connect from home and get some hours in. Duh. So on the way home from school I dropped by the office and picked up some reports to work.
• Then after my evening class, the fun began! I finished up my homework for my Project class. This assignment was no fun… and I ended up working on it non-stop that night. How hard was I working? Well, I realized I hadn’t eaten dinner at 10:30. I finally finished up and went on to bed.

Picture(s) of the day:

Me Working. Hammy Helping. He’s good at proofreading.

January 30, 2009

What did I do today?

• Finally, Friday after such a strange week! I worked all day. Brittney and I decided to cancel the weekly Galactica viewing because end of month was really rough this time around… It was better for her to just get some sleep. It worked out okay, because Alan had made plans to go to Travis and LaDonna’s house. We headed that way after work, had some pizza with them, watched a movie (Disaster Movie… truly a disaster!), played guitar hero and then came home.

Picture(s) of the day:

Today, the official Hammy fan club was formed. To celebrate the moment… Kristen and Stephanie did their best Hammy impersonations. Awesome.

Alan is popular with Travis and LaDonna’s pups (Abbie, Coco, and Isabelle)… especially when he has chocolate chip cookies!

January 31, 2009

What did I do today?

• Saturday was, once again, time for schoolwork. This is really getting old… but I gotta do what I gotta do, right?
• We did go out to dinner with Travis and LaDonna. We were supposed to go out to Jillians that night, but I was SOOO tired and ended up passing out and sleeping through the outing. Alan, LaDonna and Travis went for an hour or so and seemed to have a good time. Note to LaDonna and Travis: I am SO SORRY for being lame.

Picture(s) of the day:

This picture is really not good… but if you could see what I saw, you’d see one bright star in the midst of a bunch of dim ones. Alan and I were sitting on the porch Saturday evening and I told him how when I see that star it reminds me of life, and how there’s always that one person who shines so bright, while all the others are in the background doing their thing. Then I told him that the star is starting to piss me off because it’s stealing the thunder of all the other little stars… whom had become almost invisible due to the contrast between the night sky and the brightness of the thunder-stealing star. He just laughed… and then told me I was his bright star. It was another “you had to be there” moment… but it was cute. Aaaand, this is the only picture I have of the day. So you’ll just have to deal. K? k.

February 2, 2009

What did I do today?

• Let’s see… Oh yeah, that’s right. Schoolwork. What is happenning to my life??? Where did it go? My day was filled with a class diagram, looking at computer training options for senior citizens, studying accounting, looking up charities… It’s exhausing.
• I was SUPPOSED to go change Pixel’s litter and visit with her… but that didn’t happen (Sorry Mom!! I’ll get there soon.) I miss her more and more each day. Just the little things, like her jumping up on the bed in the middle of the night, sitting on top of the couch purring away. I’m so worried that during her little stay at Grandma’s she will forget who her mommy is. The house is on the market for two more months… It’s going to be a loooong two months.
• Watched the superbowl… well, the superbowl was on while I was finishing up some assignments. I listened to the game, checked the score every once in a while, and paid more attention to the commercials than anything else. My favorite was the Bridgestone commercial with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. I mean, how could you go wrong with Mr. Potato Head?

Picture(s) of the day:

Wow, it’s almost like Joe Nameth and the Lombardi trophy are in my living room! Or not.

It’s not a picture, but here’s the Potato Head commercial. Love it!

January 28, 2009

What did I do today?

• Work, then school. The system was down most of the morning at work… so people were being forced to do busy work. Not fun. Fortunately, I had some stuff to do on the Intranet page to keep me busy.
• Spent most of the evening working on the MS Project homework. I don’t know if it’s me or Project that is not working right. It’s probably me… but I just can’t get this thing the way I want it! So frustrated.
• It was “Bring your Hammy to work day” today. Okay, I know, it doesn’t exist… but he really wanted to see where mommy worked. And he told me that he would really LOVE to meet that nice lady Kristen (who is now known as Aunt Krusty to the Hamm-inator). The photo documentary of the day is below.

Picture(s) of the day:

Hammy is all ready to go to work!

And then he spied on Bill from my office window most of the morning:

After lunch, he got to spend some time with Aunt Krusty at her desk:

He made a few phone calls on her cell phone:

And put himself in her inbox:

Later, they took a self portrait:

And then Hammy sent some faxes for her (such a gentlemanhamster!):

By then it was almost time to go to school, but he told Aunt Krusty he would make some copies before he left. Hammy thinks nothing is more fun that copies! Well except his ball!

Whew!! What a long day that was… And now, some relaxing on the couch with Dad: