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Sep. 25th, 2006 08:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonlady7At 8 am sharp Z went upstairs and began work again.
He's put in 14 hours since 5pm on Friday.
He's got a lot done: he did a quick demo yesterday and said, "I know it doesn't look like much, but those categories there on the left, I didn't type those in, those are pulled live from the database." Which I am smart enough to know is actually quite something. He then explained the fourteen or fifteen steps that were now required to update the database, and the additional steps required to convert said database from database format to the format that they print in the paper and put up on the website (two separate formats, I might mention). The process often doesn't work right, he says, because of user error: and that is not because the user is incompetent, but rather because the process is nearly impossible. Hence the urgency of him finally just getting this done, because they're so short-staffed that they don't have time to be wasting the few people they have left in hours of converting things into other things.
Part of it is selfish, of course: when he started, the website was sort of, er, minimal, and so maintaining it didn't take long. Now it's cool, so everyone looks at it, so all the boss-types want more stuff on it, so it now takes most of Z's time to keep the website updated-- using processes that could be automated. Hence, having no time to write this sort of program during work hours, because it takes him most of his time just to keep up. Hence the extra time needed. Once he's got this program up and running, hell, he won't need to go into work at all. (Just kidding. Sigh.)
The downside to his industriousness is that he is in the attic and is making all kinds of crazy noises up there, and it is taking every ounce of self-control I have not to storm up there and yell "WOULD YOU QUIT BANGING AROUND". But he has been so cheerful I would not want to jeopardize the mood. He will settle down, and I will not go crazy.
Last night, by the way, I did another restaurant review. I had completely forgotten, but when I came home on Friday there were two envelopes with the review letters in them sitting there waiting for me, and I said "oh goody!" and moved them out of the way and promptly forgot about them until I had dozed off yesterday afternoon. Whereupon I said, "I ought to do one tonight!" and did. Which was fun.
There was one bad moment during the review. The restaurant in question, a brew pub, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Actually their anniversary celebration was from September 11th-17th.
So on the menu, they had their home-brewed beers listed. Oktoberfest, a Weiss beer, the usual lager or something, an oatmeal stout (de rigeur for breweries around here), and... Anniversary Ale 9/11.
"How weird," I said, "to have a beer celebrating 9/11."
But I drank it, since it was a specialty, and I was reviewing a brew pub.
It was hoppy and with flavors of caramel, the waitress said, giving the standard spiel.
It tasted like smoke.
It tasted like![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
neopanda's hair smelled when I embraced him, when I came to visit him in TriBeCa on 4th Oct 2001.
I sat there and had a flashback and freaked quietly out, and said, "can I use the word 'Disturbing' in a review?"
"No," Z said. "Drink your beer."
So we had carrot cake instead, and I figured out what the Anniversary was referring to, and chilled out. It wasn't unpleasant-tasting, it just tasted, well, kind of bitter and smoky and good Lord what a bad marketing idea, except of course they weren't thinking of that at all.
So that's not going in the review. Just had to get that out of my system.
Have just made Z coffee and reheated pancackes and brought them up to him. He has nearly worked 16 hours, which is 2 days off. They seemed not to object to his explanation that he would be taking comp time later. Which proves that they are smart. So he has promised that we will hang out and do fun things.
This weekend was actually pretty fun regardless, but today I think I'm going to be left on my own to face the massive backlog of Things To Do-- such as one of those grocery shopping trips where you have to buy everything you normally stock up on and buy once or twice a year. (Paper towels, toilet paper, cases of pop, peanut butter, tuna fish, etc.) Our stocks on all the random supplies are suddenly real low. It doesn't help that we've been sort of not grocery shopping lately.
Non-sequitur: I wonder if someday when I'm a famous author I'll still keep this blog and still be as boring?
Probably.
And the gossip columnists will have no jobs. 'Live at eleven: Local celebrity author goes grocery shopping for toilet paper!'
would the tabloids go out of business if Paris Hilton just kept her own blog, and posted her own nude photos there? Or would it be a case of it being freely available so noone wants it? That'll be my defense, as a celebrity: there's no mystery so nobody will ever bother me because everyone already knows.
Right, back to work.
He's put in 14 hours since 5pm on Friday.
He's got a lot done: he did a quick demo yesterday and said, "I know it doesn't look like much, but those categories there on the left, I didn't type those in, those are pulled live from the database." Which I am smart enough to know is actually quite something. He then explained the fourteen or fifteen steps that were now required to update the database, and the additional steps required to convert said database from database format to the format that they print in the paper and put up on the website (two separate formats, I might mention). The process often doesn't work right, he says, because of user error: and that is not because the user is incompetent, but rather because the process is nearly impossible. Hence the urgency of him finally just getting this done, because they're so short-staffed that they don't have time to be wasting the few people they have left in hours of converting things into other things.
Part of it is selfish, of course: when he started, the website was sort of, er, minimal, and so maintaining it didn't take long. Now it's cool, so everyone looks at it, so all the boss-types want more stuff on it, so it now takes most of Z's time to keep the website updated-- using processes that could be automated. Hence, having no time to write this sort of program during work hours, because it takes him most of his time just to keep up. Hence the extra time needed. Once he's got this program up and running, hell, he won't need to go into work at all. (Just kidding. Sigh.)
The downside to his industriousness is that he is in the attic and is making all kinds of crazy noises up there, and it is taking every ounce of self-control I have not to storm up there and yell "WOULD YOU QUIT BANGING AROUND". But he has been so cheerful I would not want to jeopardize the mood. He will settle down, and I will not go crazy.
Last night, by the way, I did another restaurant review. I had completely forgotten, but when I came home on Friday there were two envelopes with the review letters in them sitting there waiting for me, and I said "oh goody!" and moved them out of the way and promptly forgot about them until I had dozed off yesterday afternoon. Whereupon I said, "I ought to do one tonight!" and did. Which was fun.
There was one bad moment during the review. The restaurant in question, a brew pub, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Actually their anniversary celebration was from September 11th-17th.
So on the menu, they had their home-brewed beers listed. Oktoberfest, a Weiss beer, the usual lager or something, an oatmeal stout (de rigeur for breweries around here), and... Anniversary Ale 9/11.
"How weird," I said, "to have a beer celebrating 9/11."
But I drank it, since it was a specialty, and I was reviewing a brew pub.
It was hoppy and with flavors of caramel, the waitress said, giving the standard spiel.
It tasted like smoke.
It tasted like
neopanda's hair smelled when I embraced him, when I came to visit him in TriBeCa on 4th Oct 2001.I sat there and had a flashback and freaked quietly out, and said, "can I use the word 'Disturbing' in a review?"
"No," Z said. "Drink your beer."
So we had carrot cake instead, and I figured out what the Anniversary was referring to, and chilled out. It wasn't unpleasant-tasting, it just tasted, well, kind of bitter and smoky and good Lord what a bad marketing idea, except of course they weren't thinking of that at all.
So that's not going in the review. Just had to get that out of my system.
Have just made Z coffee and reheated pancackes and brought them up to him. He has nearly worked 16 hours, which is 2 days off. They seemed not to object to his explanation that he would be taking comp time later. Which proves that they are smart. So he has promised that we will hang out and do fun things.
This weekend was actually pretty fun regardless, but today I think I'm going to be left on my own to face the massive backlog of Things To Do-- such as one of those grocery shopping trips where you have to buy everything you normally stock up on and buy once or twice a year. (Paper towels, toilet paper, cases of pop, peanut butter, tuna fish, etc.) Our stocks on all the random supplies are suddenly real low. It doesn't help that we've been sort of not grocery shopping lately.
Non-sequitur: I wonder if someday when I'm a famous author I'll still keep this blog and still be as boring?
Probably.
And the gossip columnists will have no jobs. 'Live at eleven: Local celebrity author goes grocery shopping for toilet paper!'
would the tabloids go out of business if Paris Hilton just kept her own blog, and posted her own nude photos there? Or would it be a case of it being freely available so noone wants it? That'll be my defense, as a celebrity: there's no mystery so nobody will ever bother me because everyone already knows.
Right, back to work.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-09-25 01:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-25 01:35 pm (UTC)But he tends to talk about interesting things. While I tend to talk about, you know, grocery shopping, and drinking beer.
I suppose celebrities lead more interesting lives because they must do something that they're famous for. But still. I think I should make a resolution to still keep a really damn mundane blog when I'm a superstar.
Although even though I'm non-famous a surprising number of people do read this.
I should pontificate on why that is, why we are so compelled to read about what one another ate for lunch, but that would be too interesting. ;)