titansphere.com

I don’t get impressed easily by technology; rather, I’m in the habit of expecting “more” flawlessly, seamlessly, and instantaneously. Wolfram|Alpha impresses me and I can’t wait to use it.

I feel really good about today! I have been resting my leg after the break scare, and it’s finally feeling good enough to be active again. It’s a good thing, too, because I need it.

After 3 long months of sparse activity, I got up around 9:30 this morning and went to the local elementary school track to run for 30 minutes. Since I have an anti-runner’s body (big bones, thick legs – especially in the thighs, awkward limbs), I’m pretty pleased to have made it that long. My goal is to be able to run for an hour and make at least 4 miles. I know this sounds ridiculous – four miles in an hour could be done crawling backwards – but I have neither speed nor endurance and have been likened to a camel when I run. I’m the one in the back looking like I’m exerting the most effort and getting nowhere. My fastest mile ever was 9:15 and I felt like the wind that day.

I also weeded my flower beds, winterized my rose bushes, and planted some Crocus and Tulip bulbs in preparation for spring 2009. Oregon hasn’t been nearly as cold as it was this time last year, so the time is still ripe for planting. I also intend to get my lily bulbs in the ground soon too. INFO WANTED: If anyone has any ideas as to a pretty shade plant that vines or grows tall and skinny, I would love to hear it. I have a very small rectangle of dirt between my sidewalk and my fence on the north side of our house that needs something other than weeds. Ooooh, perhaps something that could vine up and over utilizing trellises to make a partially covered walkway. Flowers or colored leaves would be nice but aren’t necessary. Oh, and non-poisonous to pets (and humans).

Awesome, one more thing down. Plus, I got some gaming in, too. Played some Madden ‘09 and Rock Band 2. I’m now almost exclusively playing Expert on lead guitar. I’m usually in the 4-star range on middle difficulty songs, but I’m working my way toward 5-star. We are going to have it at our company Christmas party, so I have to make sure I look good!

In November 2001 I started working with a program called FileMaker Pro (version unknown). It’s a database program with a GUI interface to make the “databasing” part more user-friendly. I barely knew what a database was, and I certainly hadn’t figured out why it was better than an Excel spreadsheet. It was one of my first jobs at WITS Production to figure out how to create a bird catalog, if my memory serves. No, no no…it was a skulls project for the Biology Dept. I failed miserably and went about my way in graphic design (and computer science).

In November 2008 I am the database guru at Highland. I am currently retooling our old system into something much more comprehensive, also in a little program called FileMaker Pro (version 5 & 5.5 – VERY old). So far I’ve built two more databases and interweaved them into the current system and I’m prepared to make a third. If I get to finish my vision, we will be able to accurately portray

1. How much each label costs to print.
2. What materials are needed for each label.
3. Where those materials are located.
4. When the last time a customer ordered a specific product.
5. When the last time a customer’s labels have been printed.

Oh, and btw, I can also use MySQL and PHP to interface databases on the web.

My salary should be double what it is. But hey, for now…”free” education.

Well, I’ve signed up for daily blogging again. I’m glad, though not as excited as I was last year, but hoping that once I get into the groove and meet new bloggers and old friends that that excitement will pick up. This summer I REALLY slacked off, as it seemed many did in my online circle. Now that we’re back to wintry weather – it’s been raining today – and hot chocolate I hope to be blogging more often.

Check in often as I will be posting at least one post each day for the month of November.

I’m geeking out in a whole new way: garden tracking with myfolia.com. Somehow I’ve combined two nearly opposite passions of mine – computers and gardening. Hey, at least I’m not pasty white or dying of skin cancer!

Myfolia.com is a social networking website for gardeners around the globe. Perhaps I’ll meet someone really cool, but for now, I just like that I can track all my plants in gardens and keep all of the specific names of each plant straight. Furthermore, I’d like to start composting and rainwater harvesting (why should I pay the city to water my plants?) and I’ve joined the group where I hope to learn from others’ experience and mistakes.

Soooo, if you’re interested in gardening, keeping track of plants, or just meeting fellow green-thumbs from around the globe, join us!

My Handsome graduated this Saturday, June 14, 2008, from Western Oregon University. He scored a 2.95 GPA with a Bachelor of Arts in Information Systems (i.e. computer networks, hardware, security, etc.) and a minor in German. Essentially he is the hardware guy and I’m the software girl; we make a great team!

Congratulations!

So I’ve been very very busy lately, which is why my posts have been infrequent and brief. Apologies. I’m in the thick of two websites that challenge my PHP knowledge and skills. The weather’s been nice so I’ve been outside weeding and washing my new car. I’ve got chiropractor and massage appointments, softball games 2x/week, etc. and so forth. Just so busy. Not a moment to spare.

Hopefully soon I’ll be back to regular posts. Until then, cheers!

So here I am on this cloudy Sunday: I have two monitors, two computers, two keyboards, and two mice on one desk at my geeky little fingertips. On one I’ve got Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, in which I’m messing around with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 with the intention of writing some software linking a C# GUI application to relational databases. The other is my research lackey…using the internet to hunt down questions to my answers answers to my questions, database related or otherwise (i.e. Q: what vines to plant on the shady side of my house. A: climbing hydrangea). And of course my email is open too.

Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to Me! Happy Birthday to Meeee-eeee! I’ve got a new PC!

My birthday is just before Christmas, but with my holiday travel and then the online order, I only just got it today. Its a new HP Tablet Laptop and I love it so far!

Specs for the geeks:

• Turion 2.10 GHz processor
• 2 GB RAM
• Vista Home Premium OS
• 140 GB Hard Drive

Tonight is the End Of Semester party. Eric and Sean finished their fall semester and we bought a big bottle of Captain Morgan’s Private St0ck to celebrate. Its working well. And Guitar Heroes…we are rockin’ fools.

But we’re about to watch Superbad, so later!