sharepoint comments edit

I’m sure you all remember the SharePoint Portal Server work that I was doing for several months in a row just a little bit ago. Well, that was part of the “Rapid Adoption Program” for Microsoft Office 2003. Today, in the mail, I got a plaque for my efforts:

Office 2003 RAP
Plaque

It says:

Microsoft Office Worldwide Office System Rapid Adoption Program Thank you for your outstanding contribution

I’m sure they printed like a million of these things, but I don’t care. Normally my reward for putting up with shit is… more shit. This time I got a plaque. (I’m still dealing with Portal Server, but the difference here is the recognition that I’m doing it.) I think that’s pretty cool.

(Oh, and it’s actually rectangular; it’s just the camera I used to take the picture has a bit of a fisheye to it.)

personal comments edit

Minor geek moment:

I’ve been working on this project at work where I want to read RSS (syndication) feeds and display them inside SharePoint Portal Server 2003. Thank goodness for RSS.NET. I was fearing I’d have to try to implement the RSS Bandit parser, and that’s just a little more than I was ready for.

Okay, enough of the geek moment. I may have to blog in more detail on that one later, though. I’m pleased with my work (it’s not done, but the stuff that is rocks), but most folks out there aren’t going to “get it.”

Sidetrack: A form just came through my cubicle and the shipping instructions on it said “Second Day Error.” Like that’s a new service FedEx offers or something - lose your package on the second day. No extra charge! Too funny.

I got my copy of the Alias Season 2 DVD set last night. Six discs this time. I’ll have stuff to watch while I’m on vacation at the end of this month. They have a $10 rebate offer where you get a refund for buying both Season 1 and Season 2 (which I did). Time to send away for that.

My mom called me up this morning because she was reminded of a funny childhood Christmas story about me. I guess they were sharing kid stories on the radio and she thought of it. Apparently when I was five years old I went to see Santa Claus at the mall. Santa was wearing a bad pair of rubber boots instead of the nice leather ones that quality Santas wear. When I got done, I came back to Mom and said, “That’s not the real Santa! Santa Claus doesn’t wear irrigation boots.”

She didn’t call that one in because most five year olds don’t know what irrigation boots are, so she didn’t think they’d believe her. I think it’s pretty damn funny, though.

I’ve been ripping all of my CDs into AAC (MP4) format so I can listen to them on my iPod. I’ve been working on it for a few weeks now and I’m only about halfway done. I’m doing it alphabetical by artist, and today I’m working on the end of the m’s. I’m glad I’m there, since that means most of my holiday music is done (love the Muppet holiday stuff!) so I can at least transfer that over to the iPod and get in the Christmas spirit.

I tried watching the Tracy Morgan Show last night and it sucks. I love Tracy Morgan on Saturday Night Live. I think he’s great. One of my favorite skits is “Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet.” But his new show is like… well, have you ever tried to watch The Cosby Show now that it’s been off the air for 10 years? It’s not funny. It’s predictable and tame. That’s what Tracy Morgan’s show is - predictable and tame. I suppose if I was sitting down with my kids and wanted something on prime time television that would be guaranteed safe for all of my kids, yeah, that’d be the show. But I’m not, so it’s not. Very unfortunate; I had high hopes.

playstation comments edit

I got an email just now telling me that my Playstation 2 is on the way home from the repair facility, and it has a 90 day warranty. Woohoo! I’ll be kicking up snow in SSX3 and shooting the bad guys in Time Crisis 3 in no time.

personal comments edit

It got busy yesterday, so I didn’t get to fill y’all in on my weekend. Let’s give the whole rundown, since it was a pretty decent weekend, all things considered.

Friday night… I don’t remember what was going on Friday. Oh, wait, I remember. Jenn and I went over to my parents’ house and watched Survivor. That show never fails to piss me off. The stupidity exhibited by the people on the island rivals something out of Lord Of The Flies. Then again, I have to remind myself that I see a lot of stuff - interviews, secret meetings, etc. - that the people participating in the show don’t see, so they can’t take that into account. Still pisses me off, though.

Saturday… ugh.

Saturday morning I got all of my chores done, which this week consisted primarily of vacuuming and dusting. I tried out the Swiffer Duster we got and it works pretty well.

At four we went to see Jenn’s dad get made the Master of his Masonic lodge. That was… interesting… I had anticipated it being a much more formal experience than it was, considering that he wore a tuxedo and top hat during it, but it was surprisingly casual. Almost too casual to hold any reverence for me, which is unfortunate, because I have a feeling this is a big deal. The part that really killed it for me was the music. Every time someone would stand up and walk to the front of the room to say something or get initiated into office, this guy in the corner with a Casio keyboard would play a bad rendition of a Christmas carol, like “Frosty the Snowman” or “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.” Every time he fired it up, I wondered why the organ grinder started playing and where the little dancing monkey was. It was pretty terrible. I guess the person who was supposed to play music was sick so if the carols weren’t there, there’d be no music at all. Somehow I think that would have been a better option.

Towards the end of the ceremony I started getting stomach cramps something awful and had to make a mad dash for the bathroom. I’m not sure what was going on there, but my stomach never really recovered; I went back to see the end of the ceremony and was ill the whole time.

We had a hockey game to be at by seven and since dinner was part of this thing, we convinced the people cooking to speed ours along. Dinner was prime rib, and I discovered something while eating it.

I don’t like prime rib.

The other option was ham, and I’m not a ham-eater, either, so after Jenn was done, we left and stopped at Burger King on the way to the game. Let me tell you how happy I was to get some real food in my stomach.

Got to the Winter Hawks game in time to see the Hawks come out and the game start. The Hawks played their asses off and beat the best team in our division six-to-two. We got free pizza (because we scored during the “Pizza Schmizza Magic Minute,” which means everyone gets a free slice from the local Pizza Schmizza) and free chalupas from Taco Bell (because we scored six points). There were more fights than I could count, and most of them were actually awesome fights. I even got to talk to the best fighter on our team, Robin Big Snake, after he got kicked out of the game for fighting (the locker room entry is right next to the men’s restroom, and I happen to be heading in there and saw him hanging around just outside the locker room, watching the game).

I need to get a Big Snake jersey. That guy rocks. I’m still stoked about how great that game was.

Sunday we went to see Bad Santa with a couple of friends of ours, Jason and Tracy. The whole point of that movie is that it’s so offensive - it’s everything Santa Claus should never be associated with. I thought it was hilarious, and a perfect role for Billy Bob Thornton. Jenn seemed to sit there mortified half the time, Tracy, I think, was actually offended, and I think Jason laughed at parts but didn’t think it was as funny as I did. Regardless, it was good to hang with them and see a funny movie.

Don’t take your kids to that one, though. Yow.

We finished off Sunday night by catching the latest episode of Alias, a show that continues to be on the top of my list.

Yesterday, the CIT group I work in got to go to lunch at the Portland Steak and Chop House as a reward for doing such a good job in the past… quarter? Year? Whatever. Free lunch, man. I got a New York Peppersteak and had tiramisu for dessert. It was pretty good, but after seeing the prices on the menu, I don’t know that it was worth the price. I suppose the point is moot since I didn’t pay for it, but I didn’t feel like the steak I ate was a $35 steak. Maybe I’m just not the food connoisseur I’d like to think I am.

blog comments edit

I’ve added a new category, Tech Support, to the categories on the site. Right now there’s only one article in it, but as I find solutions to technical problems I’m having that other people might be having, I’ll post ‘em in that category.