RAMEN REVISITED

I had ramen for dinner last night. If you’ve been following along, you know that ramen frequently gives me the poops. This was the first time I’ve had ramen in over a year, so I was a bit apprehensive. My dining companion knew about my history with ramen so she was totally understanding that I would not linger long after dinner.

I ordered a fairly standard ramen with pork broth, bbq pork, an egg, and delicious noodles. It was very tasty and I ate it all up in short order. Once my meal was done however, I stayed for a polite amount of time before paying and going straight home. I didn’t experience any problems on the way back and felt quite satisfied actually. About an hour after eating and while I was at home, I felt a need to pass gas, which resulted in a large movement of air. I was afraid this was signaling something more sinister to come but surprisingly the rest of the evening was uneventful.

This was the first time I’ve had ramen in about two years that did not result in explosive and urgent poops. Did I just get lucky? Dare I try testing fate again? Ramen is pretty tasty, so maybe it’s worth the risk.

SHADE REVISITED

Yesterday at work I raised the shades on the window next to my desk slightly, just enough so I could see the soccer field and some of the sky. My co-worker didn’t lower them again and she didn’t mention anything about it. I think we may have reached a compromise here.

SHADE

About a week ago we had a big team move at work. People moved desks as we re-organized to accommodate more people on the team. Luckily, I did not have to move as I love my current desk. It offers privacy and a window view. Also, my desk isn’t connected to another desk, so there’s no sharing of space.

The people around me did shuffle around. The guy behind me had to move and in his place another engineer took his desk. The new occupant moved her stuff in and then, without warning, lowered the opaque shade on our shared window. I can only guess she did that so there isn’t any extra light shining on her monitors. Well, if that’s the case, I can see my monitors fine and the guy that sat there before was fine with it too. I essentially don’t have a window anymore and our area is noticeably more dreary.

Not wanting to be a dick, I didn’t raise it back up without discussing it with her. It does suck that I can’t see outside anymore. It’s a great view too. I have a view of the entire soccer field plus the mountains in the distance. In the winter, I can see the snow-capped peaks, it’s amazing.

Surely we can come to some compromise. Who doesn’t like a desk with a view?

BOBBY LEE

I’m not a dude that really goes out to concerts but I will get tickets to go see comedians. Bobby Lee is in Vancouver next weekend for a few shows and I have tickets for one of them. I saw him do a set in Los Angeles last June and he was great. I’m looking forward to seeing him again.

OLD TEXTS

So I didn’t bother transferring my old text messages to my new phone. I will eventually do that but I haven’t so far because Android doesn’t have an easy to way to do that currently. It’s really curious actually. There are many third-party apps that can do it for you but as part of the native migration process, texts are included oddly.

I have to download and install such an app on my old phone, back up the texts to an archive, and then save the archive to my computer or the cloud. Then on my new phone, download the same app, then get access to the archive and then extract the old messages to the right place. It’s tedious but I kinda want my old messages.

NEW PHONE

My new phone arrived in the mail today as I got it shipped to where I work. I had to pay a reasonable amount of duty and taxes. Everything arrived as promised in a box that was sealed. This was advertised as a new phone and indeed it was. With the migration features in Android, it was pretty simple to get my new phone up and running. The setup process allows you to hold your old phone back to back to your new phone and it transfers a whole bunch of information directly. After that, it just automates the process of downloading the apps from your old phone to your new one.

I left it to do its thing. During lunch there were a few minor tweaks I still had to do like choosing the screen brightness and ringtones. One thing I could not do was put my SIM card in right away. Since my old phone is from four years ago, it used a micro SIM and most new phones now use the nano size. I had to wait until after work to get to the appropriate mobile network store to get a new and proper SIM card.

Overall, this phone is the best phone I’ve ever owned, at least on paper. It’s got all the bells and whistles, even if it’s slightly taller than my old phone. It’s not perfect however. It doesn’t have an LED notification light, which is probably my biggest gripe about this phone. It relies on a low power on-screen notification cluster to let you know if you’ve got messages or other things you’ve missed. Also, the back and sides of the phone are made from a super smooth and super slippery aluminum. Just about every review mentions it. It can be easily dropped. Many have suggested getting a case but I’m going to look for some thin grip tape that I can put on some strategic areas to give it some more grab.

Let’s hope this phone lasts another four years like my Nexus 5 did.

‘TIS THE SEASON

I’m still sick and this weekend didn’t seem to do anything to make my cold go away. My sinuses now hurt if I walk too fast or take a heavier step. I hope they’re not getting infected.

It’s no consolation but it seems like a lot of people are sick now too. A close friend and co-worker is ill. People in the elevator with me in my building are sniffling and coughing. Don’t get me started about public transit. Lots of sick people there.

If I had to guess, I’m gonna start feeling better by Friday.

SICK DAY

I stayed home today instead of going to work. I wasn’t in any condition to be at my desk, trying to write code. I mainly spent the day eating and sleeping. The cold is getting worse as my sinuses are more stuffy and my nose is more runny. I also feel a cough developing. It feels like one of those colds that will take a while to get rid of.

I’m going to try to go to work tomorrow. It’s a Friday, so it might be ok for me to leave a bit earlier if I need to.