I'm not getting much reading done at all, lately, which is no good, since I really need to finish and return the library book I have out. It's due on Monday! I hope I can get another renewal.
I have been keeping up with the daily readings for Mass, though. They're short enough that I know I can't make an excuse about not having time, and in general they're well-collected. I had been using the calendar at cathcal.org, but no longer. It was buggy and the authors kept ignoring my requests to help fix it. I just decided to look at their source for data. Lo and behold it had the /correct/ version of the data already available! I wonder if I should feel bad about admitting that Bruce is a better reader than a number of the readers at church. (Sciral Consistency is a good program for keeping track of whether I've done my reading.)
Today, I had my lunch with the ur-boss, which was fine. We didn't talk shop, for the most part, but we had a continuous and friendly conversation. The food was great (it always is, at the Olive Branch) and we both enjoyed it. A good lunch made for a good break from a mediocre day at work. With our only MCSE-type out of town for the week, the department manager and I have been been taking care of a lot of simple maintenance stuff. Not only that, but the "get data out of one incomprehensible system and into another incomprehensible system" task has come to the top of my list. I think I'll be spending several days on it, and this fills me with a nameless dread.
Step one: decypher the documentation on what shape the data must have for import.
Step two: unearth the needed data from the legacy system
Step three: attempt to munge the data, both by munging bizarre data formats* and reshaping it.
Step four: attempt to import it.
Step five: realize I misunderstood the goal and go back to step one.
* For example, OneWorld stores dates in Julian format. Or, so they claim. In fact, they store it in something like "YYMMDDD0" where YY is the number of years since the first loaded fiscal year. Today would be 06031050, assuming the first year was 1999.
I mean to go to confession in the next week. This should be an auspicious week to do so, and it's been more than ten years since I was last. I'm fairly daunted by the sheer amount of my life I that is available for discussion, and also by the fact that if there's any ritual beyond "forgive me father," I don't remember it.
Then again, if I'm seeking reconciliation after ten years, am I likely to get kicked out of the booth for forgetting to say "so say we all" at the right time?
Finally, I gave the pigs some sitting-on-my-chest time earlier, while I watched last night's West Wing. I continue to think that Wookie really might be pregnant after all. She seems to have nigiri-shaped things in her belly. I also worry about some of her breathing sounds. The vet said that Wookie had some teeth coming in at a serious angle, and that it could get in the way of her mouth working. I'm hoping she doesn't need anything clipped or otherwise mucked about with.
