afongen archive

Taking a break.

November 21, 2002

I don't know how people do it.

I've always been a pretty busy guy. Nothing compared to certain people, but it still hasn't always been easy. When I got married, I gave up being a full-time student while holding a full-time job, since I realized that the lack of sleep was making me a ~~rather unpleasant person~~outright frelling jerk. I needed to be able to devote time to Kiara.

Now I'm a dad. Wow. That takes some time and energy, both of which I'm sure will seem even more precious once I return to work on Monday after three weeks off. I've got to get my "spend countless hours just staring at Owen" in. So something's gotta go, and for now it's gonna be this blog. No, it's not like it's taken a lot of my time, but still.

I've been fortunate in that almost all the jobs that I've held for the last decade or so were closely aligned with my passions. When I was completely obsessed with the world of specialty coffee, I worked as a barista, then a coffee roaster. Awesome. When I wasn't working, I was almost certainly in a coffeehouse somewhere, or wishing that I were.

Now, again, I get paid to do exactly the same thing I do in my spare time: work on the web. How cool is that. Of course, it means the line between work and not-work is blurred quite a bit. When asked recently to outline how I spend my time at work, I listed almost no time at all for research and development because I do that almost exclusively off-hours. And I still don't feel like I can keep up.

I've just taken a look at my long-backed-up stack of reading, and I really need to tackle some of that. There's a whole season of Bablyon 5 on DVD to watch. There are little coding projects that I'd like to get back to. I've got to get some sleep for once in my life.

And of course, there's the kid. The real motivation. So while I spend some time figuriing out a new balance, I think I'll refrain from writing here. Otherwise my posts are going to sound even more inane than they have lately. Hopefully when I return — could be a few weeks, could be a couple months — I'll have a fresh focus.

Take it easy.

CSS Hints for IE 5

November 16, 2002

I know too few people who take Macs into consideration when designing. (On the other hand, I am too often guilty of paying inadequate attention to details in IE/Windows, an egregious, spiteful oversight.) So for those who aren't already reading the articles on Apple Developer Connection, you can read it elsewhere: Peter-Paul Koch's CSS Hints for Internet Explorer 5.

In general, the Mac version of Explorer is more strict in its standards compliance (and supports more of the standards) while the Windows version supports more Microsoft proprietary styles and JScript methods. And the Mac version is way ahead in terms of CSS support. For example, it supports position: fixed, something the Windows browser still hasn't been able to implement.
The Mac build of IE, like most browsers, has some bugs and idiosyncrasies that can trip up unaware developers.

Why I am so glad we're using cloth diapers

November 16, 2002

From a package of diaper pins:

Remember: Children are precious and no product replaces adult supervision.

Whew! Cuz otherwise:

K: Where's the baby?
S: Oh, I left him in a room with some diaper pins. He'll be fine.

or:

S: Where's the baby?
K: I pinned him to the wall with those new diaper pins. Good thing we're using cloth diapers!

It's a boy!

November 06, 2002

Owen Please join us in welcoming our baby boy, Owen Thomas Buchanan, born 10:18 p.m. on Monday, November 4, 2002.

Having arrived 5 weeks earlier than anyone expected, Owen further surprised us all by being a remarkably healthy weight of 6 pounds, 8 ounces, at 19 inches long. Tall. Whatever. He is a sleepy, quiet little guy, delighting us all.

The labor and delivery went well. Everyone's happy and healthy. And sleepy. I'm not sure how often I'll be posting over the next couple weeks. Things have sort of changed.