2006-10-05 @ 19:46

Twenty Bucks a Day

A while back, Pam and I went walking around Capitol Hill to watch people and just look at stuff. We ended up going to Frites to pick up some Belgian fries. While we were waiting in line I was talking to Pam about how I’m not a Rachael Ray fan, these three guys start talking to us about how they don’t like her either. At least I think that’s what they were talking about. I really couldn’t understand anything they said, so I just nodded like I understood. I was hoping that Pam could understand them so that I could ask her later. The only words I could understand was at one point one of the guys said “Pesto Handjob”. That was quit clear. After they left, I asked Pam about it, and she couldn’t understand them either, except for the “Pesto Handjob” part!!

Anyway, Rachael Ray is famous for this show called “$40 a day” where she goes to different cities and only spends $40 on food in one day. I want to try doing $20 a day and undercut Rachael Ray. Maybe food network would give me a job. I’ve already got a couple days planned where I only spend $20 on food, I just need to take photos when I do it. Just to give you a hint, one of my meals will be one of those street vendor hot dogs with cream cheese, sauerkraut, onions, and mustard, all wrapped in a slice of Hot Mama’s pizza.

Also, today I got a note from my landlord saying:

"All Notices (including but not limited to 3 day Notices to Vacate, 10 day Notice to Comply or Vacate and 20 Day Notice to Vacate) will be subject to a $40 fee"

WTF? Can they do that? Does that mean that if I tell them I’m moving out, they’ll charge me $40? And what is the fee for? I’m really irritated with my landlord. I need to get out of this building.

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2006-10-21 @ 12:02

RubyConf 2006 Lightning Talk

Here’s the code for my lightning talk. First my drb session: irb(main):001:0> DRbObject.new_with_uri("druby://localhost:9000").write('the best!', 'green') => 1 irb(main):002:0> ~~~

The Rails controller:

require 'drb'

class BetaBriteController < ApplicationController
  def index
    if params[:q]
      Thread.new(params[:q], params[:c]) { |q,c|
        obj = DRbObject.new_with_uri("druby://localhost:9000")
        obj.write(q, c || 'red')
      }
    end
  end
end
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2006-10-23 @ 16:46

Hitchhikers, Denver

Over the weekend, I was at RubyConf 2006 in Denver. On the way back to the airport, I saw the best road sign ever made. It said something to the effect of “This is a state prison. Please do not stop for hitchhikers”. I would’ve snapped a picture, but I was driving. If anyone can find a photo of that sign, please send it to me!

I gave a lightning talk presentation on my BetaBrite library where I controlled my LED sign. Basically, I had 5 minutes to show the thing off in front of 300 people! I had Ryan Davis hold the thing up, but somehow the sign got reset! I ended up letting the next person go while I got the damn thing working. Then I gave the presentation, and everything worked out much better.

My first slide had the name of my talk, along with my blog URL. Everyone thought the address was pretty funny, so now I’m scouring the web trying to find reviews. I think I’ve found my very first website review, and my most favorite review. It comes from OnRails, and says

despite the site url, can be viewed at work

That made me laugh. Thanks OnRails!

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