September 9, 1994
Dear Everyone:
Spent last Saturday at “Livermore”, just as I had threatened, mapping
Versatile screens, while
"watching" such treasures as
El Dorado
and
Silverado
on the VCR.
I’d finished the screens by noon;
but, as long as I was already
there, I decided to set up the folders for my New and Improved
Filing System for my work files. This
consumed Aliens
and
Die Hard.
I still had
The Adventures
of Buckaroo Bonsai in reserve; but, having put in 10 hours
already, I decided to pack it in.
On Sunday, “Jeannie” and I went shopping for a new VCR for her.
Her old VCR had died, and the VCR
doctor had offered to fix it for $140 or buy it for $25, if she would
agree to throw in the remote control, which seemed to be the only part
he was really interested in. We
settled on a middle-of-the-line RCA with lots of bells and whistles,
such as VCRplus,
whether you wanted it or not. One
thing I especially like is a new feature that allows you to tell the
machine too fast-forward a set amount of tape and then begin playing.
(If I switched mine for hers, do
you think she'd notice?)
By the way, “Jeannie” has renamed her white cat from "Edison" to "Bear".
This is because of the new
behavior that the cat has begun to exhibit, to wit:
Leaning back against the wall in
a posture very reminiscent of a teddy bear, with both hind legs sticking
straight out. Damnedest thing
you've ever seen.
I spent much of Monday,
Labor Day, creating all those
Versatile
Screens in
WordPerfect. Since the
original Versatile programmer saved himself some time by re-using the same
format for many screens, I was able to do the same.
I could create a Screen, save it,
then rename it, make some changes and save it again under the new name.
I also save time by using "macros",
little mini-programs that you can set up to repeat the same keystrokes
many times. So, for instance, if
I want a horizontal line, I hold down the Alt-key and press "H", and
Ogden knows to print a horizontal line one character wide.
Alt-V means a vertical line.
Alt-J equals "→” And Alt-K makes
a ▓ (shaded box). This makes
things easier, provided you can remember all the macros you set up.
(Hint:
Type up and print a "cheat
sheet". Works for me.)
Even with all the shortcuts, Ogden and I still had quite a workout,
completing about 109 screens, with a little over a dozen still to go.
I might have finished all of them
if Blockbuster
hadn't had that 2-for-1 special. You
can't just listen to a
Van Damme
movie. If you do, you'll miss
most of the vicarious violence, not to mention the traditional
gratuitous nude scene. Monday
was, after all, a holiday.
On Tuesday, “Miranda” helped me to print all the simulated screens and
make copies for all the Team members so they could each draw and make
notes on their own set. While
this was going on, “Jerry” and I dragged Phineas, my San Francisco PC,
down the hall to the Conference Room. I
carried the keyboard and mouse, and let “Jerry” do the tower case and
monitor, the self-diagnosed
tendinitis in my elbow showing little inclination towards clearing
up on its own.
With the PC and Team assembled, printed screens in hand, we spent the
whole day going through Versatile
screens "like
Sherman through Georgia", trying this and that and at least getting
a start on documenting some of the procedures.
Except for me being dragged,
kicking and screaming, to a Billing meeting on Wednesday, and “Nelly”
being on vacation today, we spent many happy hours finding out "what
happens if we do this?"
A new server arrived yesterday, that we’ll use to test accessing
Versatile from distant places.
And we've been promised a
re-programmed bar code reader for a few weeks now.
We’re over the hill and picking
up speed fast.
Love, as always,
Pete
PS. Now that Summer is
"officially" over, “Jeannie” wishes to report that professional
firefighters definitely give the best barbecues and parties.
Public service message.
P.
| Previous | Next |