Out to breakfast at Tasi Café this morning. For once, we were very disappointed. Even though business was slow, my egg was over-cooked, the croissant was under-baked and looked to be a product of Pillsbury, the fruit salad looked to be a week old, and the challah bread used for Devon's french toast was at least as old. Hopefully, this isn't a harbinger of things to come. Devon and I always have trouble with our Favorite Places going downhill. Would hate that to be the case with Tasi.

Devon then dropped me off home, while she went shopping. I had an appointment up at school at 1:00, after which we shared a sandwich at Panera Bread (not too bad), and then headed across the street to watch Quantum of Solace. While some of my classmates weren't that crazy about it, Devon and I both enjoyed it.

Back home, I spent the evening working on the weblog. Ran into all kinds of small issues and didn't make it very far.

Spent most of the day ripping this weblog apart looking for a bug (data in <pre> elements were not being properly escaped, which did ugly things to the pages). As it turns out, while digging through some ugly code I decided that a more thorough rewrite was needed. That was a mistake---it turned out to be a big job and I didn't get that much into it. Spent more time digging through old and nasty custom python modules trying to figure out what connected to what than I did cleaning up the code. The weblog had never been converted to the new code base, so that was the first step. Managed to get the page to render easy enough, though it required much of the page to be rewritten, then moved on to the pager and menu systems (which happened to be pretty clean, so it was mostly cut-and-paste). Have some touch-ups to do, then have to move on to the edit/post/files management functions.

It seems I am just beginning to waste my break away.

I did manage to solve a couple minor annoyances today at least. First, I finally figured out why the "Windows" key wasn't working as a menu shortcut in Xfce. Apparently, there is a bug in the shortcut-editing interface that tacks on Super to the command when you are setting it up. Managed to fix this by going into the configuration file, ~/.config/xfce4/shortcuts/custom, and manually fixing it. You would think that someone would have caught this bug immediately. What use is a GUI interface if it doesn't work? For reference, the contents of my simple custom configuration is below---the offending line is commented out with the corrected line just below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<shortcuts-theme name="custom">
        <shortcut command="aumix -v+10" keys="XF86AudioRaiseVolume"/>
        <shortcut command="aumix -v-10" keys="XF86AudioLowerVolume"/>
        <shortcut command="aumix -v0" keys="XF86AudioMute"/>
<!--    <shortcut command="xfdesktop --menu" keys="Super+Super_L"/> -->
        <shortcut command="xfdesktop --menu" keys="Super_L"/>
        <shortcut command="xfhelp4" keys="Alt+F1"/>
        <shortcut command="xflock4" keys="Control+Alt+Delete"/>
        <shortcut command="xfrun4" keys="Alt+F2"/>
        <shortcut command="xkill" keys="Control+Alt+Escape"/>
</shortcuts-theme>

Second, finally solved my non-mounting USB thumbdrive issue in Xfce. It apparently had nothing to do with Xfce. After some time messing with Xfce, HAL, and D-BUS, most of which have decided the XML format is the way to go for configuration files (what, may I ask is the point in using a complicated XML format for configuration files that are often not more than a few dozen lines long?), I finally decided to test a different drive. It worked perfectly. Decided it must has something to do with the drive. Rebooted to Microsoft "Windows" and reformatted both drives---this seems to have solved the problem.

Also finished installing GNOME on Sofie (laptop), Crichton, and Penelope (Devon's system). Not sure it was worth it, except for the games. Also took 6+ hours to compile OpenOffice. What happened to the FreeBSD packages?

Didn't get much else completed around the house. Managed to get a shade hung up over the back door, which is mostly glass. Also watched a movie, V for Vendetta, in the evening with Devon. First time I've sat in front of a TV for that long in some time. Couldn't sit still.

Did some work around the house today and continued to install and reinstall software on the three computers. Not too many hold-ups in that area, just takes a long time.

When Devon got home, we ate the enchiladas I had put together earlier. They turned out well, though they weren't overly exciting. Owen did get a bit of a shock when he decided to eat an habanero seed that fell off the cutting board and onto the floor. He ran away, shaking his head and shivering. But, surprisingly, it seems he recovered in just a few minutes and was back into the kitchen begging for more.

Later, we headed back to Target to pick up the photos, finally. We then spent the evening printing out labels with OpenOffice and installing and configuring the computers. Didn't run into any major problems, though auto-mounting of USB drives doesn't seem to be working on my system. It's not a huge deal, since I can mount them manually, but it can be annoying. Decided to install GNOME on Crichton to see if auto-mounting works outside of the Xfce environment.

Didn't get a whole lot done today. Got up late again, and fooled around with the computers some. Decided in the evening to begin my reinstall of Crichton (my workstation), which was suffering from an under-sized root partition. When I moved to the FreeBSD 7.X branch, I kept my old partition layout that included a 256MB root partition. Seems that is inadequate for building a new kernel. I found this out the hard way when I managed to fill up the partition several times, crashing the system twice before figuring it out. I set the new root to 1GB to be on the safe side. Also began updating and cleaning up Devon's computer as well as the laptop.

When Devon got home, we headed over to Target again to get some photos printed. But, for some unknown reason, the photo center was closed. No regular hours were provided, so it's hard to tell whether it was because it's Sunday or if there was some other reason.

Started slow-cooking some beef for enchiladas I plan to put together tomorrow.

It was long. It's over. I survived. But it wasn't pretty. Below is a quick summary of what went on during the terms.

Classes

As I probably mentioned previously, this term's coursework was all about methodology. I took an introductory statistics course, along with political science research design and a comparative methods course. The latter two were quite similar in content, some of the readings even overlapped, but they each provided their own perspective. The stats and comparative methods courses were both on Monday and Wednesdays, while research design was in the morning on Fridays. I spent 5-6 days a week in my office---I usually got there at 9:30 am and left around 4:00 pm. On the days I had class, I either got to school early or left later.

Overall, I really enjoyed the term, though the workload was brutal. Skipping lunch most days caused me to lose 5-7 pounds, though somehow I managed to lay off the coffee for most of the term (went decaf late in the summer, which helped). Midterms were rough, but finals were hell. I spent (this is no exaggeration) more than 18 hours each of the last three days (Wed. 10--Fri. 12) in the office trying to finish the midterm for research methods. It was a "take home" final consisting of three questions covering three different articles. They were standard critique questions, but there were difficult. I wrote around 26 pages. The stats final was on that Tuesday, while I complete a research design paper on Monday---they topic was land reform in post-communist states.

Other happenings

There isn't a whole lot to report that happened over the last few months. I think this pretty much sums it up:

• While I was busy with class, Devon did her usual: work + a bit of crafting. Her blog is probably a better place to check up on what she's been up to.
• I received an honorable mention in a photo contest on TrustedReviews. You can access the photo here: TR November Photo Contest. My photo is the second one down, the butterfly, and was taken during our trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory on August 9. As soon as I get the uploading system finished on the gallery, I'll get some more photos uploaded and linked here. (Update: image below.)
  
• Thanksgiving dinner turned out great again, something else I will hopefully post soon. We spent the evening at a classmate's (Emily) place for dessert, beverages, and games. Was a good time. (Update: images below. The first is of our completed Thanksgiving dinner---no vegetables!---and the second is the dessert Devon made to take over to Emily's.)
  
  
• We also had the unfortunate experience of eating at Marcella's for a department function. It was loud, busy, service was mediocre, food was often cold, always flavorless, and expensive.

A day of rest

Got up late today, around 9:30. First time in a while that I could sleep in that late. Around 11:30 Devon and I headed to Lunch at Café Corner. Devon had been there with Jen some time during the term. We shared Reuben and Fig and Prosciutto sandwiches. They were some of the best food I've had in Columbus. A really great lunch.

We then headed to Starbucks, World Market, Target, and Barnes & Noble for some Christmas shopping. Was a moderately successful trip, though it was very busy. I usually don't like shopping---not at all---but it was nice to get out of the house. Not sure if I've been into Target since we got here in August.

Can home and I worked on the computer a bit, but then decided to take a nap. Woke up with about 45 minutes to get ready for dinner out with Matt and Marisa. We went to Cuco's Taqueria (it appears their site was either hijacked or exploited, so I won't link it). Another great meal---the sangria and guacamole were excellent and the tacos were quite authentic---though I wish they had a bit more spice to them. We then headed to Matt and Marisa's place for some drinks and to play a game. We also watched a DVD of their trip to Italy that Matt had made. He did a very good job---something I should think about doing.

Classes began today, and with all of the extra activities, it was a long one. It all began with an 8:00 am breakfast (coffee and bagels) at the department. Basically only my cohort showed up---I was expecting more. Then it was to stats class, which lasted from 9:30 to 11:15 am or so. The spent the mid-afternoon working on stats homework, and then it was off to my comparative class from 3:30 to around 4:30 pm. We then had a new student reception from then until 6:30 or at the faculty club. It was then home to work on some homework.

From this point forward, I don't expect I'll be updating this diary much. I'll try to catch up on anything interesting that happens in the interim during the winter break. Really, there won't be much to comment on anyway---I won't have much of a life outside my coursework.

Classes begin tomorrow. Spent the day working on the file upload section of the Johnson Reid admin site. In the end, ended up with an interface that looks good, it just doesn't actually function. Working on a more efficient way to do the uploading. I've been reading a bit on the issue, have a couple websites bookmarked that deal with the issue, but my function isn't quite working. It's also preventing file uploading on the gallery and here on the weblog. This will all just have to wait.

Since it was my last night of freedom, Devon and I headed to Rossi for dinner. I had my heart set on a good burger, and we had heard the place had one of the best in town. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to the hype---not at all. I can only think of one way to describe it: an over-sized, over-priced Wendy's burger. I'm not exaggerating, either. The cheese and pickle was exactly the same as those found on fast-food burgers (they must shop with Sysco). I will given them credit for the bun, though. It was pretty good. Other than the food, the atmosphere was ok, though you can tell the place is playing to the `trendy' crowd and not to food lovers (a chilled beer glass?---you would think an upscale joint would know better), and the service was good. Overall, tough, it was a real disappointment. We won't be going back any time soon.

Just a lot of fiddling with the Johnson Reid site today. Had to get clean up the directory system---it wasn't handling empty user data very well. That wasn't too hard, just took some time to make it look decent. Also redesigned the admin interface a bit to make it easier to navigate. It was a bit clunky before. Doesn't look like I'll get this finished in before class begins. May just have to put it off 'til winter break.

Another day working on the Johnson Reid site. Managed to finish up most of the management components, but am still trying to figure out how to do a couple things. Did get a page revision system in place. That looks like it may work pretty well. Still have to get the file upload feature in place and have several other touch-ups to take care of. Not sure if this will be done in time.

I only have until next Wednesday to finish up my work for Johnson Reid, so I spent the whole day working on the web management system. I made some decent progress, but I think it's going to be a close call in terms of getting everything done. I don't expect to have any spare time once class starts.

Last day of math camp. Spent the day going over double integration along with some more general review of integration.

In the afternoon, I drove Nyron to the airport---he was off to Las Vegas for his brother's wedding. Later, William (our prof) took us out to drinks at Barley's. As much of our cohort doesn't drink or was otherwise busy, only three of us came along with our spouses/partners (Travis with his wife Melissa, and Emily with Brian, her fiance). We had a good time, though I wish some of the others could have made it. The beer was pretty good, I spent my time thoroughly inspecting the pale ale, but we didn't get anything to eat (which given my experience during my visit in the spring, was probably a good idea).

After the group broke up, Devon and I headed over to Bono Pizza. It was excellent, and with 3 small pizzas costing only $20, it was very much worth it. It was also a beautiful night, making the necessity of dining alfresco quite pleasant (Bono doesn't have indoor seating, though the owners said it was coming soon). It was then back home for a quiet evening.

Day nine of math camp. Spent the day doing integration, but not much else. It's certainly good to have an review of integration by parts and substitution. Those were two things I was never particularly good at---too few set rules and too much of a heuristic process, a serious math weakness of mine.

Day eight of math camp. Covered more optimization, along with a quick introduction to Hessian matrices, and constrained optimization. Other than that, just came home and did my problem set.