Performance Zen

Author: spierzchala

  • So you think you're getting a better deal…

    Landed in the US on a one-day business trip today. The family is enjoying Christmas with the grandparents in Victoria, BC, and I need to work remotely to cover the time.

    I flew into Seattle for a one-day trip, with my brand-new Advanced Parole documents. Figured it would be speedy.

    90 minutes later, they let someone who has gone through a number of security checks and other body scans into the US.

    Have to wonder what people from other countries have to go through.

    Technorati Tags: Green Card, Advanced Parole, immigration, strip search, body cavity

  • Fingerprints and Pictures. Big Morning in Boston

    This morning we dragged the family out of bed at a ridiculous hour for an adventure into downtown Boston.

    It was a big day in the Green Card Process: We were off to get fingerprinted and have our pictures taken. This is a big step, as we can now be cross-referenced against all of the major security databases to verify whether we are criminals or not.

    However, the biggest step came about 10 days ago when we got our Advanced Parole documents.

    For those of you who have managed to avoid this happy process, an Advanced Parole document is a document that states that I have the rights and privileges of a Green Card holder, but I am on double-secret probation.

    The other big deal with this is that I can take on contract work, and ZenWife can get a job if she so desires.

    Our fortunes may be looking up?

    Technorati Tags: Green Card, USCIS, Advanced Parole, Immigration

  • Cyber Monday: Tiger Direct today's victim

    This morning, Tiger Direct effectively imploded.

    tiger-direct-cyber-monday-nov262007

    Bad day.

    UPDATE: Looks like they found the solution to their problem.

    tiger-direct-cyber-monday-nov262007-2

  • Black Friday: Sears

    Today’s biggest victim of Black Friday appears to be Sears

    sears-blackfriday-nov232007

    Sears measurement data for the last 8 hours can be found here.

    UPDATE: It gets worse for Sears.

    sears-blackfriday-sitedown-nov232007

  • GrabPERF: Black Friday Begins Early

    Look ma: Macy’s is already too busy.

    Yeah. Let the fun begin.

  • Off to…Columbus?

    Ok, for my birthday (November 14), I am going to Columbus, OH.

    Could be worse.

    Couldn’t it?

    Technorati Tags:
    Columbus, Ohio, birthday, 39, travel

  • mon.itor.us Outage

    mon.itor.us, a service which also provides free Web performance measurement services, appears to be having a wee problem.

    mon.itor.us-nov052007

    The most recent GrabPERF data on this site is available here. The issue may be corrected by the time you look at the data.

    I don’t wish suffering like this on anyone. GrabPERF had it’s own 3-4 day outage a few months ago. It’s just sad to see when monitoring services go down.

  • Larry. To hell with them all. Elect Larry.

    I am a sucker for dogs.

    It’s pretty much a global statement. Ok, excluding genetic freaks that appear on the arms of Paris Hilton and ladies who lunch.

    However, the rule is: the goofier the dog, the better.

    ZenWife and I use the laugh factor when selecting our dogs. If we see the dog, and it makes us laugh, we take it. That’s how we ended up with Wiggles, the Damnation Hound (Half Basset, Half Dalmatian).

    Well, I have met my Dream Dog. Meet Larry.

    You can see a LOT more of Larry here.

  • The best times on a business trip…

    Part of the problem with making a lot of East to West trips across the US is that the flights back are a nightmare for timing. You either lose most of a day or have to take a red-eye.

    Well, taking the red-eye has only one advantage: you get to camp in the airline lounge and get some work done that you have been too tired/jetlagged to deal with.

    I am in the United Red Carpet Lounge. It is 18:33 PDT, and my flight boards at 22:00 PDT. I have been here since 15:00 PDT. I have caught up with a client project, completed my (dreaded) weekly timesheet, booked accommodation for my Columbus, OH trip, and tidied up an analysis script that I use to process client measurement data.

    Seems odd that this is the most productive time of the week.

    This trip is a 48-hour turnaround from Boston to LA to finish up the project for a large client. The first half was handled by some colleagues, and was detailed here.

    Then, when I get home, I have to go to NYC (Long Island City actually) for the day on Monday. And, as I mentioned above, Columbus which is set for the middle of the month.

    Compared to some jet-setters out there, this is nothing. But I travelled so much between August 15 and November 15 that I went from 2,000 miles on United to well into Premier (24,000+ miles). This trip makes the fourth cross-country trip in 2.5 months. Not bad for a homebody.

    I have three more hours. Think I will sit back and watch Trois Couleurs: Blanc.

  • Unwanted Windows Live Weather Alerts

    We got ZenWife a new T-Mobile cell a few weeks back. But it came with an unwanted and expensive feature: every morning at 11:00, she receives a weather update from Windows Live Alerts.

    Apparently the previous owner of the number had these alerts programmed. And of course, there is no way to shut them off because we have no clue who this person is/was.

    If anyone out there from the Windows Live team or the T-Mobile support team can try and help us, it would be very much appreciated.

    Technorati Tags: , , , , ,