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Off to Vegas!
I’m munching pizza whilst getting ready to drive to that jewel in the desert – Vegas. Actually, we’re going to Red Rocks State Park, then I’m signed up for my friend Steve’s bachelor party at the Monte Carlo. Ted might come along. Much potential and few plans. (Ann says Ted says he’s not coming. I…
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Movie: Best In Show
I’m surprised there aren’t more movies that use dogs to comment on human beings. It can work SO well. Like Ammores Perros managed to use people’s relationships with their dogs dramatically, this movie excels at making fun of people through their dogs. What surprised me is how interesting the little spats people have are, no…
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Wagon Wheel
Matt and Sophie Heason, the couple from the UK we met in Joshua Tree three weeks ago, drop by our house on their way to LAX and the end of their tour. Since we saw them they have been to the Grand Canyon, Zion, Valley of Fire, Death Valley, Bishop, and the Needles. We take…
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Relation
does not exist ERROR: Relation 29384293 does not exist This is a PostgreSQL error, caused by me dropping an index while queries were running. Ever wondered if you can delete an index while it’s in use? Now I know.
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Movie: Five Easy Pieces
This movie lends itself to short, quippy descriptions. It’s a rejection of Hollywood glamour. A battle of the bands between Chopin and Tammy Wynette. A cynical advertisement for emigration to Alaska. An honest look at 70’s fashion. It came out the year after Midnight Cowboy, and has a similar feel and outlook, but falls a…
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Wagon Wheel Destruction
Walter is in the front area when I arrive, staring sadly at one of our favorite boulders. Someone has made a super-hot fire at the base of it, and the rock has crumbled away. The thin foothold that starts the best problem there is gone, and the face is black with soot. Inside the rock…
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Jeff Engle
Ann and I met Jeff and Karen climbing Come Sail Away in Joshua Tree. They seemed to have a hoboesque appreciation of life, and we met them again this last weekend for more good climbs. Jeff is a climbing guide, and took us to some excellent climbs we hadn’t done yet. Like me he’s also…
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deadlock detected
ERROR: deadlock detected This error is popping up in my PostgreSQL database server logs. It’s supposed to be pretty hard to get a deadlock, so we must have some good code out there. We have a routine that’s been hanging up lately that is the prime suspect, but it would be a job to find…
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Movie: Shanghai Triad
Visually and musically influenced by American gangster movies, this tale of a 1930’s gang in Shanghai made me wonder how much influence I was seeing from western films, and how much was actually present in China at that time. The story itself is not at all western. It moves slowly and thoughtfully, muting violence, examining…
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Dihedral Rock, Joshua Tree
Ted and I head out to hang Brownie on another hard route. The slick-walled dihedral just looks impossible from the bottom. Once I’m on it though, I seem to enter another realm of possibilites, and it feels good to squeeze the last drops of strength from my body. To my surprise I make it most…