Humdrum - 8.11.12

I got a lot of work done on my program today.  I got to the point where I could test a section of it.  Does it work?  Yes.  Am I surprised?  No.
I fixed a "bug" in my server program that caused problems because the version of Internet Explorer 8 distributed in Sweden uploads files differently than the rest of the world's Internet Explorer 8.  That's the world of internet development in a nutshell for you.
It rained today, and it was dark when I got out of the office.  I did my laundry, and the previous user of the laundry machine somehow removed their laundry 20 minutes before the cycle was over, so after I put my clothes and soap in I had to wait for it to "rinse" and spin before I could start.
When I got home, my roommate got mad at me for spilling on the stove he just cleaned.  What did I spill on the stove?  Distilled water.  I wonder how his day was.
I am completely unfazed and happy.  I've got a great weekend before me.

Institutionalization - 7.11.12

Today I got my program to the point where I can start testing it.  It's typically bad form to work on a program for several days without testing it, but I've done it before and I'll probably do it again.
After work I went to institute in Hamburg.  Sometimes I wonder why I spend several hours in the train just to go to institute, but the Hamburg institute is really amazing, as most of them are.  Today's topic: what is heaven like?  It's simple theological question, but it's quite hard to answer.
I rode the train back home.  I got home late, but I did some reading in the train about the development of the mathematical definitions of the lunar month (which has nothing to do with the paper I'm writing).  Those Muslims preserved and developed a lot of math through the dark ages.  And I also read about the computer revolution (which fits quite nicely into my paper).

Wahlkampf fast vorbei - 6.11.12

At work I took another tech support call.  It's remarkably like taking tech support calls in America.  You ask them questions to ask what they did wrong, and if they could answer them informatively they wouldn't be calling tech support.  You end up having them email you an example, you fix the example, and you email it back with an explanation.  In America, however, it's the person on the other end of the line who has a thick foreign accent and limited vocabulary; in Germany that's me.
Today in my German class we covered der/die/das gender determination rules and their exceptions.  I was shocked to find out that the phrase I thought I heard the most from 2009-2011 (by a factor of about 10) is grammatically incorrect.  "Keine Interesse" should indeed be "kein Interesse" because it's das Interesse, even though Interesse ends with an 'e'.
The election is a hot topic here, too.  Almost every European I've ever talked to likes Obama.  My Pakistani roommate says that almost every Pakistani he's talked to hopes that Romney will win the election.  My classmate from Afghanistan doesn't care who wins.  I'm kind of excited to see who wins, but I won't lose sleep tonight.  I voted several weeks ago.

Whole Grains = Healthy, Right? - 5.11.12

I got an incredible amount of work done today on the Fraunhofer project.  Sometimes I think the most productive thing I do as a programmer is take a few days and don't program.  It helps to get a fresh look at a problem, especially when reorganizing large programs.

Ralf is gone for a few days, so I answered the phone a few times.  It's kind of scary to be trying to understand people's technological problems over the phone in German, which is hard enough in English.  One I solved right away.  I told two people just to email Ralf.

It was raining this morning when I went to work, and when 5:00 PM came around it was pitch black.  I face the prospect of only seeing the sun a handful of times the rest of the time I'm here.  But don't worry, I'm far from depressed.  I rediscovered my favorite cereal: Nougat Bits.  Imagine the chocolatiest cereal you could possibly eat while watching cartoons on a Saturday.  Now fill each piece with Nutella.  There, now you have what I'm going to eat for breakfast tomorrow morning.  I tried something similar in America one time, but it didn't compare.

Passah - 4.11.12

I went to church this morning by bus.  The Elders' quorum went to a small room for our lesson.  There was one empty chair.  Someone mentioned that it's like the Passover.  Elijah didn't come, but about halfway through the lesson a guy whom the missionaries had invited came!
It was a nice day, so I walked home from the bus stop.  I made myself a nice lunch.  I discovered that canola honey tastes really good on Leibniz butter cookies.  I watched a little TV, which is pro-Obama news coverage of the election on almost every channel.  I did some reading.
I'm really excited to go to work tomorrow and get something done after I've been home sick all weekend.

Technologiegeschichte - 3.11.12

I'm feeling better, but I'm still sick, and that capstone paper doesn't write itself, so I spent about 90% of the day reading books about technology in Germany, taking notes, and writing my paper.  It's over halfway done!

Krank - 2.11.12

I'm still sick. It's just a cold so I'm not going to die, but it's not much fun, either. So while my body fixes itself, I took the day to read and write for my German capstone paper. I got a lot done, but I still have a LONG way to go. I watched the German news for a few minutes with my roommate (that's all he ever does). It seems like the entire eastern United States has been destroyed.

I figured I'd write something interesting, even though it has nothing to do with anything:
In the USA, if you dig a hole straight down, where will it go? China? Nope. The USA is in the northern hemisphere, and if you dig a hole straight down through the center of the earth, it will go through to the southern hemisphere, around Australia. To dig a hole to China, which is also in the northern hemisphere, you would have to dig a diagonal hole a little under 45° down to the north. Don't believe me? Go dig a hole to Australia.