Thoughts and Ramblings

General things I find of interest.

Fun with Flights

Well, I am now in Mountain View, CA, after some fun with the flights…

It started in College Station. The flight was supposed to leave at 2:02 or something like that. Everything was going fine until they told us the weather in Houston has delayed them an hour. Then, we got on the plan and were ready to leave around 3. Then they were told to delay another 20 minutes. Finally, we got underway around 3:20 or so, but didn’t land until 4:30. Why did it take so long? We flew in circles because the storm had still not left Houston. Anyway, once in Houston, everything went well. Tomorrow is the interview, so hopefully things will go well. I hope to see Jason tonight since he lives in the area…


Interviews and Scams

Well, MS has changed their mind… They want me to go to Silicon Valley instead of Seattle. I have to say, it is likely a much better place to go, so I am not really complaining. It was just interesting how they made the travel arrangements for me to go to Seattle before it all got straightened out. Interestingly enough, the trip to Seattle was supposed to be on a puddle jumper from CLL (College Station) to DFW, then direct to Seattle. The flight to Silicon Valley is the puddle jumper from CLL to IAH, and then direct to San Jose. Looks like a much better flight IMHO.


Spring Break

Well, spring break started off with moving offices…. I had a bit of confusion when it came down to which office I am to move in to. At first, I was supposed to move into 331C, which was at the very corner of the Computer Engineering Group’s new space. When I went to key control to get the key, they couldn’t find it. After some digging around, we found out that there was already two students in that office, so they had to find another one for me. So, then I was assigned 331E, a very large window office. Then they brought up the concern that if they hire a new faculty candidate, they would have to give him/her that room, and I would have to move again. Finally, I was assigned 331D, my final office, but there was a bunch of cubicle walls and other furniture in that room, so the movers had to move all of that out first. In the end, I got a slightly larger window office, but a worse view. At least I can tell when it is raining or not, so it is not a terrible loss. I am sure I will enjoy having more space though.


Screwy people?

Well, I had a nice time at my parents’ place. It was nice to get out of CS for a little while, and I did enjoy dad’s chocolate rum pie :)

I have noticed a tremendous number of access to this site trying to access sites other than this site. So, my solution, let them know quite concisely that they should go away:

Learn what DNS is and fix your computer!


Mail

People often ask my why I don’t check my snail-mail as often as they thing I should. So, in answer to that, here is the breakdown of what I get there:

  • 70% trash (including envelopes and the like)
  • 10% keep for records (bills and the like which I have already paid online)
  • 15% shred (Things like credit card applications, checks, etc.)
  • 5% actual important stuff

That breakdown should quite clearly demonstrate why I don’t check my snail-mail very often.