(no subject)

Monday morning, I showed up at the non-profit in Baltimore where I worked for thirteen years to fix a problem with their databases. It turns out that Michelle didn't have any trouble with the systems that I had created; a field had been removed from one of her screens, preventing her from processing invoices. I fixed that pretty quickly, once she had arrived, because nobody knew the password to her workstation. It took me no time at all to diagnose the problem and fix it once she logged in.

While I was waiting for her to arrive, I worked with Marta on the main system of databases. This system helped the organization manage over $25 million in HUD grants over about five years, including a small grants program to non-profits across the country using pass-through funds. Now it's used mainly for contact management, creating mailing labels and event management.

One of the cleverest things I created before quitting was a form letters function that allowed users to merge letters without exporting the data or logging in as the administrator to create a custom layout. The screen for that function was completely obliterated, so I rebuilt it.

I also demonstrated some features of a system that I had designed for the National Museum of Natural History, trying to drum up some more business for the future. She seemed interested in a number of projects, so we'll see if I get more work. I made as much in two hours as I make in two days at my current job!

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Monday evening I headed into DC to hook up with DM for the night. I walked with him to the laundry room while he did laundry, then he gave me a cornstarch massage, which was very nice. The cornstarch allowed his hands to glide over my body, but then I was able to get up and put on my clothes when it was time for dinner with his friends at the Cowboy Cafe. After dinner, we had Whittney and his partner Michael over for ice cream and visiting, sent them home, fooled around and went to bed.

Tuesday morning he made breakfast for us -- home-made waffles, a fruit shake and sausages. I don't usually eat breakfast, but it was very tasty! A fantastic visit!

Robyn, my boss, asked how I was when I rolled into work, so I shared my evening with him. "Wait," he said, "this is the same guy you were visiting before, right? Two visits? That's serious!"

"Actually, this was the third visit, and I got to visit with his friends!"

"Oooh! Better watch out!"

:-)

Vision, or lack thereof

I'm working from home today, because I needed to pick up some prescription refills. Normally, I get them filled during the weekend, but Ii was still in Silver Spring until sunday, so this is my first opportunity to take care of that.

For lunch, I headed downtown to deposit $100 in checks from Kirk and grab some lunch at Taco Bell. While I was in the neighborhood, I stopped by my neighborhood optician to see about getting an eye exam and order some new glasses. Big mistake.

As part of the exam, he dosed me with drops that make me unable to focus and dilate my pupils, making me practically blind. I had to call Robyn and tell him that I wouldn't be able to continue working today. My eyes look okay, saith the optometrist, but he thinks there might be some risk for glaucoma, so I'm going back for another test when I go to pick up my new glasses.

I put on my cheap paper sunglasses and headed out into the world. Being without my vision is a very distressing experience. I almost felt like crying. I stopped carefully at each crosswalk until I was sure that traffic was going my way, because I couldn't even make out the traffic lights or walk signals.

I had also planned to drop by the library to pick up A User's Guide to the Brain, and because I'm just that stubborn, I didn't let the temporary blindness stop me. Luckily, I had looked up the catalog number and wrote it down before I left, so I was able to ask someone at the desk to pull it down for me.

I've made it home without incident, and right now I'm thankful for my touch-typing skills and the red underline that my Mac puts under every world I'm misspelling so I can not even try to focus on what's on my laptop screen. :-)

I should have my vision back by 5 pm or so.

Blink. Peer.

I gave up and took a three hour nap and now I can see much better, although I don't think the drops are completely finished with me.

I also picked out new glasses, before I was rendered blind, and ordered them there. It will take about a week for them to be ready; we'll see if it's a good look for me. Otherwise, I'll get new lenses put in these frames and hold on to them for a while longer. I'll need a backup pair anyway.

As I was heading towards the optometrist, I spied a praying mantis on the sidewalk -- in downtown Baltimore. Pretty cool! I snapped a picture with my camera:



It was a pretty lovely day, until I let the evil optometrist squeeze onion juice in my eyes. :-\

Old photos

handlebear posted his high school photo in a recent entry, which made me realize that a) I have an old high school photo; and b) I have a scanner. I've actually been intending to scan these photos in for a quite a while, so why not share them here?
( Photos here )

I'd set this mood to 'nostalgic' except I ain't.