August 12, 2010
Dear Everyone:
The light at the end of the tunnel could be an
oncoming train.
I am close to finishing the last of the "lab
simulations" for the
document management system
Computer Based Training
(CBT). I'm already working
on the script for the voiceovers to go with the "click-and-see"
demonstrations. After that,
the only things left are the introduction (how to use this CBT),
assessment (20-something questions-and-answers that are already in place
from the existing CBT), and "aggregating" (combining all the modules
into a single file.) Then
testing and finally (whew!) loading it into Production.
But, not so fast.
Turns out the system people have been working on a big "release"
(i.e., fixed bugs, new functionality, extra bells-and-whistles), which
goes into effect next week.
And wouldn't you know, they made a change that is very small, in terms
of how things work, but which, nonetheless, means almost every
screen-shot will have to be replaced.
That will take some time.
But I have found that the more you do with this software, the
better you get at it. So I'm
not too concerned about it.
In other news...
That "release" I mentioned?
They have tons of testing that need to be done and they are short
on people. So they asked me
if I could pitch in and help.
Could I! One reason
I'm so familiar with their system is that I was one of the first
"volunteers" to run test scripts about eight years ago, when they first
started using the system. In
fact, many of the "lab simulations" that I've been creating in the CBT
software are based on the original test scripts from way back.
So between finishing the CBT and helping with the
testing, I'll be nice and busy for the next few weeks.
And it's all billable time.
On the home front...
A few weeks ago I decided that I wanted to do
something for our little feathered (and small furry) friends.
I thought I would get a
bird feeder and set it up, somehow, on my
patio. The first question:
Where to find a bird feeder?
Pet store, right?
I was sure that there was at least one in
San Ramon, although I
had no idea where it might be.
I toyed with the idea of using my phone to try and surf the
Internet, but did not have a lot of faith in it.
I figured I would head home after some shopping and look it up on
my computer.
Then I remembered where the store was.
I’d used it in the past when I was “cat-sitting” for “Jeannie”,
before I moved to my new place.
I found a nice, plastic feeder, designed to hang from a branch or
hook of some kind. And a bag
of bird seed.
Now there’s a rule in my neighborhood:
No poking holes of any kind into external surfaces.
It seems the development company that originally built the place
had little concern about dry rot and didn’t worry when their sprinkler
systems doused the outsides of some buildings several times per week.
20-something years later:
Dry rot. Big time.
The people who are running things now have spent a
lot of money fixing the problem and don’t want it to come back.
If you hammer a nail into one of the outside walls, it will
invalidate the warranty and possibly let dry rot start all over again.
So, no holes.
However, apparently someone, long before I bought
the place, put a really big nail, almost a spike, in the side of one of
the wooden pillars that hold up my upstairs neighbor’s deck.
It was there when I got here.
In fact, it clearly had been painted over by the company that
treated the dry rot.
And the bird feeder cable slipped over it quite
easily, only hanging slightly at a slant.
I filled it halfway with seed, discovering early the necessity of
covering up the holes in the bottom of the well, and hung it up.
Then I waited for developments.
Last weekend, I opened the blinds out onto the
patio. I quickly saw that a
lot of the birdseed was now on the floor of the patio.
It had been a bit windy of late, but I didn’t think it was enough
to send that much seed plummeting.
Sure enough, a bit later I looked up and a chickadee was landing
on the feeder.
He took some quick bites, knocking seed out in the
process, then flew into a nearby tree.
In a few minutes, he was back.
And he had friends.
As for the seed on the patio floor, the “ground crew” was taking care of
that. Larger birds, like
robins, who couldn’t land on the small perches of the feeder (especially
slanted against the pillar) were feasting away on sunflower seeds and
such.
Then a big, fluffy-tailed squirrel showed up on the
top of the patio fence. He
was eyeing the feeder, no doubt trying to figure out how he could jump
across to it, when he spotted the “lower seating”.
He didn’t even have to climb a tree, he could just run under the
fence.
This evening, when I got home, there wasn’t a scrap
of seed left on the patio.
This weekend, I’ll refill the feeder, remembering the importance of
covering the holes until it’s filled.
And we’ll all do it all over again.
Love, as always,
Pete
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