Thursday, June 27, 2002. Entry #172

Today has been really frustrating for my entire department.

Every time we try to work in our content management system, something crashes it. According to the IT ninjas, something is making the server work harder and harder until it simply hangs. Normally, the work we do takes up about 20 per cent of its processing capabilities, but once we get going today something pushes it all the way up past 90 per cent in a matter of minutes. And then BOOM! The system hangs.

The ninjas have been unable to track down the problem, although they did just complete some changes to the system, so it's likely that's where the problem lies.

The content management system is my primary tool for working on the website, so I've been barely able to make any sort of progress today. Every time I get going, it craps out on me.

We're pushing back the deadline for our content 'push' tomorrow, which will give me some extra time to complete everything before it goes live. Which, all things considered, is good, because our writers and designers have been late in getting me their stuff. Much like I predicted yesterday.

I like to be productive. I like to work steady and get jobs accomplished. I'm fine if I have to change my tack a dozen times, as long as things get accomplished. And I can't get anything done today.

We had a nice evening last night over at Joel's, playing Magic in his nice, cool basement.

An evening with Ronja and Joel is always a pleasure, but it's extra nice to spend a night in a cool place, far away from the furnace we call an apartment.

It has been averaging around 27 degrees in here for the last week. Our cats are melting, the fish tank is nearing the vapor point, and the Tiny Dinosaur has taken to screaming all the time, just in the hope we'll squirt him with the water bottle to shut him up.

We have a fan in every room of the apartment, and we've started taking nightly cold showers again, just to cool off enough to sleep. The small fan in the bathroom which we've had for years has finally given up the ghost, and if I'm in for an extended sit, I have to drape a wet hand cloth over the back of my neck to avoid collapsing from heat prostration. I dread the day I'll be found passed out on the floor of the john with my pants around my ankles.

There's an image to haunt your dreams.

Getting an air conditioner is pretty much out of the question. The cheapest ones start at a couple hundred bucks, and we would also have to pay to modify the window screen to fit it. We do not have standard sized windows by any means. Portable air conditioners that do not have to go in the window start at around $800, and are WAY out of our league right now.

I heard the sound of thunder earlier, so I'm hoping a quick storm whipped through and took the edge off. (I have no idea, because I'm several hundred feet and a half-dozen doors from the nearest window.)

It's too hot to write any more. Have a good Thursday!

One Year Ago Today: I was still on hiatus, but in 1966 the first sci-fi soap opera, "Dark Shadows," premiered.

Mom Rating: 1.5 out of 5. Mom thinks I should beat the heat by coming out to the cabin sometimes this summer. I wish.

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