[crouton] Nathaniel Trost: The Literal Treadmill

[crouton at lists.powerblogs.com]

Posted by Nathaniel Trost:
The Literal Treadmill
http://crouton.powerblogs.com/archives/archive_2006_02_26-2006_03_04.shtml#=
1141442932


   Milestone Day. I=E2m sitting waiting on one more check-in and then I can
   pull the trigger on the build. It has been a relatively hectic last
   couple days due to the sheer number of testable items and deliverable
   bits to get in, check, double-check. I say relative in comparison to
   the norm of the past several months. In comparison to this time last
   year, it=E2s positively tranquil. Mind you, I am most certainly not
   complaining about the lack of waiting until 2AM to get the build
   finished and uploaded. Most certainly not.
   In addition to less stressful milestones I=E2m also thankful at the
   beginning acclimation of my body to renewed physical exertion. Last
   weekend I finally made the pilgrimage back to my local gym and began
   running again. For the past decade or so, running, on a treadmill, has
   been my only real form of physical fitness. Furthermore, I had slacked
   off and hadn=E2t actually run at all, much less in any kind of regular
   routine in, oh, let=E2s just say the past eighteen months. After
   embarrassingly brief sessions on Saturday and Sunday I could sum up my
   Monday and Tuesday as follows:
   Oof.
   I let myself recuperate for three days and did another session
   yesterday morning. Only minor ill effects have resulted for today.
   Hopefully from this point on, I can maintain an intended schedule of
   Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday. Running at a shameful speed and
   duration will continue for the near-term future.
   This means I am finally using the iPod nano I bought back in
   (November?) as an incentive to start running again. Pain, healthy
   cardio-vascular system, toy.
   Even if I=E2m not going to engage in wonton nostalgia by doing something
   silly like writing a C compiler from scratch for the 65816, I have
   decided to chronicle some of my remembrances, thoughts and feelings on
   a lot of the things that have shaped me or occupied large portions of
   my time, specifically the computers I have owned and used over the
   years and the software projects I=E2ve worked on. I think I can
   guarantee polarizing results, you will either find my tales really
   interesting or utterly boring. I aim to please.
   In other techno-news, I=E2m still resisting getting a new cell phone.
   I=E2ve had my current phone since 2001, which is cell-phone years means
   it=E2s like Methuselah with a rotary dial. Hell, I don=E2t even think it
   supports SMS. However, it=E2s simple, it=E2s durable and it works. The
   phone in question is a [1]Qualcomm QCP-2760. The problem of course, is
   that the battery no longer holds a charge very well. Trying to google
   for cell phone batteries is a classic case of too much information.
   Furthermore, trying to search on a popular yet long obsolete phone
   leads to many dead-ends. I can=E2t tell you how many sites listed
   batteries, yet the batteries they were talking about were the optional
   external clip-on that supplemented the internal battery. The places
   that had the external didn=E2t have the internal, and even the ones that
   listed the external didn=E2t have it in stock. Finally, I [2]found what
   I was looking for. However, I wasn=E2t exactly inspired with confidence
   by their rather draconian [3]terms of sale. So I figured it was a crap
   shoot, the cost of the battery was low enough that if it was a dud I
   wouldn=E2t be out much.
   I=E2ve attempted following the various conflicting instructions for
   initial charge/recharge (which strike me as odd for a Li-ion battery),
   but to no avail. My new battery seems to want to hold a charge even
   less than the old battery. I=E2m going to tinker with it some more this
   weekend but I=E2m not optimistic. Sigh.
   This weekend I=E2m going to attempt to defrost my freezer, which will be
   very very exciting due to the fact that it is about half ice by
   volume. This is the fault of aging freezer door seals letting moisture
   in. It=E2s an old fridge. The ice buildup is affecting the temperature
   in the main fridge which pushes it to crisis action status. The trick
   is going to be avoiding a flood of biblical proportions on my kitchen
   floor. I=E2m thinking creative use of garbage bags and duct tape. Sadly,
   I don=E2t have a digital camera to chronicle the insanity, but I=E2ll be
   sure to blog how to turns out.

References

   1. file://localhost/var/www/powerblogs/crouton/posts/%E2
   2. %E2http://www.aps-cellular-accessories.com/600mahbatfor.html%E2
   3. file://localhost/var/www/powerblogs/crouton/posts/%E2