Nest thermostat - more work than a regular programmable thermostat

Am I lazy? I got a nest thermostat, and to program it you have to set the temperature morning+night for a week for it to "learn". My old programmable I only had to set the schedule for once, it was way easier... I'm too lazy to set it every day, and keep waking up in the middle of the night because it's still 70 degrees.

I'd go back, but 1) it should get better and 2) Nest is really pretty, and every other thermostat is absolutely hideous.

Anyone else get a nest?

Quotes from a (bad) rambling book: A heartbreaking work of Staggering Genius

When I was in high school and an undergrad in college, I would find a passage in a book that really spoke to me in a special way. Something that I swore was written just for me. I'd read it to someone, and they'd say 'heh', and not be that interested. I dare you:
"This is obscene. How dare we be standing around,t alking about nothing, not running in one huge mass of people, running at something, something huge, knocking it over? Why do we all bother coming out, gathering her in numbers like this, without starting fires, tearing things down? How dare we not lock the doors and replace the white bulbs with red and commence with the massive orgy, the joyous mingling of a thousand arms, legs, breasts" - page 134
I love the poetic-ness, the feeling that there must be something bigger, some grander purpose to socialization. That feeling you get when the conversation is just a bit too dull, and you're like "why am I here?" When you're looking at the girls and wishing you had the nerve to say something, the wit to think of something clever that would make them love you, that would make the whole room recognize your genius. OK, well maybe a bit less ego-centric than that, but one giant shared-love experience, that we're all ok. We all crave that attention, that acceptance, isn't that what an orgy represents anyways? One giant community fulfillment?
In case you couldn't tell, I've been thinking a lot lately about what makes a community, and why we bother finding or joining one. I'm not sure that I ever really have - certainly friends, and groups of friends, but never neighbors in a very real way, or any other physical or ideological grouping. I yearn for that grander purpose to start fires and tear things down - I had a taste of it in the WTO protests in Seattle 1999.
Yes, it's been awhile. Welcome back, Kevin.

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Poetry?

business walk number way game area letter plan work trade move concern practice feel method study technique line field skill device hang touch design career address symbol mission mystery score talent shift technology strategy drama blind scheme representation wit plot science projection mechanism demonstration capability occupation map competence drawing profession chart diagram dodge script sphere cubism maneuver domain characterization province tactic discipline pursuit imagery illustration social science fetch realization racket realism mechanics craft readiness conspiracy modernism notation expertise flair rendering cunning rendition printing specialization specialty knack

Or, do you write

Short Stories?

choreography vocation contrivance trick wile subterfuge portrayal neoclassicism expedient red herring savvy arena artifice sharpness line of work stratagem traditionalism deceit romanticism subtlety know-how ology walk of life stealth delineation coup photomontage imaging cleverness careerism resourcefulness suppleness abstractionism feint artistry proficiency

Frustrations on having the world change under you.

The last 6 months have been a blur. I've:

adopted css

learned ruby

decided I really *hate* perl, despite having big one of it's largest supporters in the past

become obsessed with rubyonrails

learned design (by following 37signals websites across the net, among others).

I'm tired! And my brain is somewhat fried. I've lost some of my confidence I had before, but I'm very confident that things are moving in the right direction. Having so much change so fast is difficult (i.e. I really thought THAT code was BEAUTIFUL before? Argh!)

And I'm realizing that none of these things I've learned are a silver bullet (to pull a term from the Mythical Man Month). Designing a complex site is still a pain in the butt. And 'porting' code I've written over the last 5 years is a huge, painful project.

Still, I'm excited for the future. I just need to catch my breath, and not be so hard on myself when things take longer than I want. Optimism can be a curse when you end up pushing yourself too hard!

Gus, the wildebeast of champions, relaxes in the summer grass. He's integral to the spring part of the blog.

2:50 pm. Eating a late lunch and there's a knock on the door.

Its comcast - apparently, *I'd left my cable box unplugged too long*

WTF! I mean, its my power, I can turn it off if I want to. Apparently the big brother machine phones home every so often to break all the companies privacy laws or something.

I think i'm going to unplug it again, and make the assholes come back out here again. Honestly, I can't believe these guys actually make money. Geez.

Had enough yet? Here's the catch - I'm IN A HOTEL! There's a hotel guy following him around to make sure he doesn't steal things, and he just rolls his eyes when I give him the 'WTF' look :P

So I'm starting a blog :) I've never done anything like this before, and aren't even sure about the differences between one and a diary, and further aren't sure I like the idea of others watching my life unfold. Its pretty boring, at least the parts I could write about. Lots of programming :)

Maybe it will get me thinking more and writing poetry though, so here's to hoping!