The Plentiful Vintage

I am very tired right now. I woke up an 4 am and couldn't get back to sleep. Blech. I'd gone to bed at 10, so I did get some sleep. I don't understand why this only happens to me on weekends. On week days I always manage to sleep till the alarm goes off.

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So first I went into work and spent about four hours wrangling computers in the server closet. We have two servers that are meant to be rack mounted, but until today they never have been. The problem is that while our rack cabinet is deep enough to hold them, it is not deep enough to contain the rails they ride in. The rails are about an inch longer than the rack cabinet is deep. I would have to remove the rear door of the cabinet so the rails could stick out the back. The problem is that, like the cabinet's front door, the rear door has a lock, the key to which has apparently vanished from the face of the earth. I have the key to the front door, but it doesn't work in the back. So I wound up having to remove one of the cabinet's side panels, and then unscrewing the lock mechanism from the latch from behind.*

* The annoying thing about all this is that removing the side panels was a piece of cake since they're fastened with only four screws screwed in from the outside of the cabinet. Really makes you wonder how useful those locks are in the first place.

Once I got the rear door removed, and the rails and servers installed, I also had to remove the front door of the cabinet. The space is so tight that if I closed the door, it would press up against the fronts of the two servers, blocking the vents through which the cooling fans draw fresh air.**

** If I ever find the guy who sold us this cabinet, there are going to be words... and possibly the use of a baseball bat.

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I stopped at the Davisville Library on the way home, and while checking out a book there was informed that a book I'd requested was waiting for me over at the main library in Wickford, so I drove over there, too. Afterward I headed home, had lunch, and then drove down to the bike path to take a ride. Once I got there I remembered*** that I'd taken the bike out of the truck earlier in the week so there'd be room in back to haul some trash away, and that the bike was just then sitting in my living room. So I drove back home, got the bike loaded, and then drove back to the bike path. Sigh.

*** After looking in the back and seeing it wasn't there.

I did nineteen miles at just under 15 mph, a remarkably good time considering I hadn't ridden since last weekend. Right now my legs are probably stronger than they've ever been in my life. My times have been really fast for the last couple of months. I even hit an all time high of 15.5 mph on a ride about a month ago.

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After the ride, I mowed the lawn, probably for the last time this year. At least that's what I'm hoping. After I finished I let the engine run until it used up the remaining gas in its tank so that it'd be ready for winter storage.

Now to take a handful of ibuprofen and head to bed.

Gonna be a long day, even apart from the time change. I woke up at 3:30 (EDT) and never did fall back to sleep. Finally got up around 4:15 or so. Flipped on the computer, and then remembered the time change and that I hadn't changed the clocks, and that it was actually 3:15. It's now approaching 6 AM (EST), and I've already had breakfast and have been fiddling on the computer for two and a half hours or so. Sigh. The one day of the year designed for sleeping in, and my body decides to have none of it.

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Life has been sporadic around here. Posting has been sporadic because there hasn't been much to talk about, so I haven't. I've been working on one project that wound up being way more complicated than I intended, but it is now in the home stretch... I think...

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Yesterday was kind of a weird day. Very warm for October, in the seventies, and wicked windy. I had the windows open all day. Fortunately for the event, the rain held off until after 10 PM or so.

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The first batch of trick-or-treaters showed up around 5:45. What was odd was that usually the kids who show up that early are the really little ones. These girls were all 10-11 or so. Then nothing till almost 6:30. Between 6:30 and 7:00 I got six or seven clumps, then nothing after that. I kept the porch lights on till 7:30, then went and made dinner. Got 26 kids overall, which I thought was light, until I read last year's entry. Last year I got 27, and several of those were older kids around 8:00. There was really only one clump of older kids this year, and they asked for canned goods for the food pantry.

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My end of the street was kind of barren for the kids last night. Of my immediate neighbors, only the neighbor to the left was giving out treats. My neighbor to the right wasn't home. Neither was anyone at home directly across the street (which is another story, as it may or may not be vacant), and of the two houses on either side of that one, one had the lights on but no one home in a major breach of Halloween etiquette, and the other folks were home, but with the lights out.

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I am not quite sure what the deal is with the house across the street. It was sold around six years ago, and a college-age woman moved in. A bit later, a guy about the same age moved in as well, but it became pretty clear that he was more likely her brother than a boyfriend. Then she apparently moved out, and he continued to live there, and eventually a couple of other guys moved in. Then one night a U-Haul truck pulled up, they all moved out, and the house was vacant for a few months. Then the people who actually owned the house showed up (because clearly the kids didn't) and started either finishing or renovating the basement (it's a raised ranch). Then the young woman moved back in for awhile (by this time I'd pretty much come to the conclusion that the kids must be the children of the actual owners) then moved out, then back in again, and occasionally the brother would be there, too, although now he was living downstairs while the sister lived upstairs. This has gone on for six years, with little rhyme or reason to the schedule that I can deduce. Meanwhile, the father (who apparently is a contractor) and brother refurbished the exterior, and did other improvements. The last iteration had both sister and brother living there, along with the brother's girlfriend/SO/spouse?. Then a few months ago the sister was gone, with the brother and now pregnant SO still living in the basement. Then about a month and a half ago they moved out, too. The house was vacant again until last weekend, when I noticed the sister's Jeep in the driveway. It was in and out all week, but it's gone again this weekend.

I'm living across the street from a guest house. Must be nice.

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My riding schedule was sporadic all summer. Thanks especially to all the rain we had this year, I never did get a good schedule. It wasn't until the first week of October that I managed to string rides on three consecutive days together. Still, I've managed to get past 1300 miles for the year, and with another 23 miles or so I'll have my second best total ever. It's nowhere near what I did last year, but there's still a couple of months left.

...got me up again at 4:30*. I stuck a foam plug in my ear, buried my other ear in the pillow, and briefly fell back asleep until 5:00. Then it started raining, which quieted the birds somewhat but brought it's own form of noise, and my back started complaining, and I was up for good. Now I have coffee.

* A couple of weeks ago I purposely got up before dawn to look at the Venus-Mars conjunction, and the racket outside was incredible. It's one thing to hear it solely from the direction of the single open window in my bedroom, and quite another to be out in the open in a neighborhood surrounded by evil thicket. It was a very Tippi Hedren moment.

It was the same story yesterday, albeit without the rain. I just don't get it. I don't have this problem on weekdays. Just on days when I don't set the alarm, apparently. When I do set the alarm, I may briefly wake up in the vicinity of dawn, but then I roll over and go back to sleep until it goes off at 6:25. And then I hit the snooze button and sleep for another nine minutes. Stoopid brain.

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Here's another terrific Posnanski post, this one on the battle between writers and editors.

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Andruw Jones feels he was disrespected by the Dodgers, especially owner Frank McCourt, last season.

"He wasn't standing behind me, I think," Jones said, adding that if McCourt had shown him more respect, "I almost definitely would be part of the L.A. Dodgers right now."

This from a man who signed a contract for $36 million dollars, then showed up massively overweight and out of shape for spring training. Who batted .158, with an OPS+ of 34. OPS+ is on-base pct. plus slugging pct. normalized for ballpark effects. An OPS+ of 100 is average. Jones's OPS+ last year was one of the worst in baseball history. There are a lot of pitchers who have had better seasons with the bat. And the only reason it was even that high was because he did manage to walk every ten plate appearances or so.

The Dodgers dumped Andruw in the off-season, but are still on the hook for the rest of the $36M. Jones hooked on with the Rangers, showed up to camp in shape, and his OPS+ currently sits at 125. I'm with McCourt on this one. Andruw deserves whatever lack of respect can be heaped upon him. He basically defrauded the organization of $36M. I haven't disliked a former Dodger player so much since Darryl Strawberry decided to put his salary up his nose.

So, no Andruw, you wouldn't still be part of the Dodgers. The Dodgers currently have not one, but four outfielders better than you. Even Juan Pierre is a better player than you. Say what you will about his failings as a hitter, when he got sent to the bench last season he didn't sulk, he just made sure he stayed prepared for when he was needed.

Woke up at 4:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. It was too warm under the covers, too cold outside 'em, and I just couldn't let go of a whole jumble of thoughts. Plus, I must've slept on my neck funny, because it hurts. I finally caved and got up. I did go to bed by ten last night, and fell asleep not long after, so that's part of it. Still, I don't understand why I have so much trouble staying asleep on weekends and days when I don't have to get up, and yet always sleep right up until the alarm on work days. Anyway, here I am.

Probably just as well. Lots to do this weekend. Still four more batches of truffles to make, and then I have to dip all of them. Christmas shopping is done as far as I can tell. Over the years I've kept a spreadsheet of my gift lists. It served as both a checklist for the current year, and a way of making sure I didn't give the same present two years in a row. I'm pretty sure I added to it last year, but I can't find that version, and it's been bugging me. It's like there's a hole in my memories. Not that it makes much difference, because most of the adults are getting the same thing this time around, but there's the principle of the thing.

On the plus side, I don't have to be back at work until January 2.

I wonder if the Dunkies up the road is open yet?

eta: Did the best of both worlds. Coffee from Dunkin and doughnuts from Allie's.