Yesterday until lunchtime I thought I would be allowed to enjoy a calm day. Far away from that!

Shortly after lunch - I have to confess that I didn’t had lunch, as for I was using these few minutes to dig into a problem of a friend - the whole day suddenly changed, with me being confronted with sitting about a lot of unexpected “paperwork” to do. All contract issues and a strategically project plan, I was trying to find out about all it’s issues and finally to solve them.

It is not, that I would in general not like such stuff, but I hate to do it out of a position of defense. You know these customers using each “even just possible” weakness of your plans for their own benefit?

It was already 6:30 pm when I stopped working on that stuff, by feeling more or less unhappy with myself and what I had archived until then.  Just the curiousity of such situations is, that I can’t gear down. My brain highly active just needs to focus to something else, not able to slow down.

So I decided to come back to this friends problem, which was about to integrate Google Maps into a commercial property renting software solution. I quickly had found a possibility to include individual pages and also the Google software API itself wasn’t a real challenge for me as for I had already worked with it before.

Just as always, things were not really self explaining and a short look into their documantation - all nice Flash based animations (very useless at the end) - brought no answer for my problem. What is that about today companies are not able to document their software anymore? Spending hugh effort to get/produce animated documantation clips while a short and pregnant programmers reference or API description would do instead?!

This was the moment when I switched finally in analyzing mode again, which is taking away the fingers from the keyboard and running my brain at 100% thinking about how this “clever programmer” could have written the interface.

Sure, I could have had a look at the source code instead … just this mostly ends up in hours reading through the code … and following my intention, I recognised just the front end interface of the application, was not willing to store the Java code, as the problem!

So a quick SQL insert statement was written in seconds, storing the few Google Java based API for calling their map,  directly within the corresponding database table of this commercial tool …. And it worked like a charm, showing a shiny and glowing map as wished!

This was the moment when I was finally able to relax …. With the well feeling of having really something archived today!

Every day could end that way! Couldn’t it?!

I’m aware that I’m in general and often a difficult person to deal with. I can be an angel (at least sometimes), but I also can be the devil in person! And excepting help from someone else - even asking for it a few years ago, would have being something out of question for me.

Now nearly one year ago about designing a web page I had to deal with a nasty issue I wasn’t able to fix instantly. About me trying to fix it, the publishing of the pages got delayed by the customer. Today being confronted with that issue again, I decided to asked a friend for help …. which I got! And perhaps there is still hope for me?!

Guess my friend did instantly know the answer, just handed over to me only the key to solve it, making it up to me to turn it in the lock! I needed a bit of playing and even asked back when I wasn’t able to see it instantly. At the end I solved it and I guess we both were happy … my friend about helping me out and I’m about finally being able to solve it myself!

Thats the way it works for me, thanks Matey …. thanks for helping me that thoughtful. Thats Tops!!

Yesterday we went to some botanical garden close by trying to catch as much sun as possible. During winter time here in northern hemisphere sun is rare and therefore high conditions like the actual, even when cold, has to be used best as possible. I was aware that there are also a few animals show in this park, but can you imagine how curious I felt when I heard the sound of a Macpie and seconds later a Kookaburra also.

Those who know me, might be aware that I lately was over at OZ. So hearing these birds yelling brought immediately back all the good feelings I had there and I recognized how much little things like odors and in that case sounds influences our feelings and moods … the little things makes the difference!

Guess I will stroll there now more frequently - now I know they have even birds from Australia there!!

I’m not sure you (the reader) are aware? Just for me I’m sure that I have a few archaic instincts which must be genetic coded very deep within me and when I act against then I start to feel uncomfortable.

The most obvious I have to deal with are for example, that whenever I enter a new room at a hotel or motel and I have to decide about which bed I will use for the night … however the room is arranged or looking alike … I choose the bed next to the door. Being force to use the other one for any reason, I can be sure that I don’t sleep well that night. Must be some inheritance I received from some ancient ancestor 50000 years ago always had felt scared sleeping in her/his cave. LOL

Today I was confronted again with another “curious” behavior of me. When I enter a room at home or at a friends I do already know, I immediately start to check and verify things there with my eyes. With a bride smile I call that myself “taking inventory”.

Entering my den today was right about the second, when my eyes recognized an unusual line running on the display of my fax telling me to load paper and press start again. So I directly filled up the paper slot and immediately the fax started to print out a fax which was received nearly a week earlier!!

My only excuse about … this passed week I was permanently running low on time  and perhaps I should ring the guy and apologize for not coming back to him earlier …. gulp!
Perhaps I should switch to some fax to email solution instead!

What are your archaic instincts? I’m happy to read about yours within your comment.

Late yesterday evening I got the urgent awaited feedback about Sophie. Although her surgery was delayed another day again on wednesday, it took finally place yesterday. And as her mum Colleen wrote me, Sophie is out of surgery now and is recovering in CCU (Critical Care Unit) at Sick Kids.

She required a pacemaker for a short time after the surgery, but things look okay now. Her colour looked excellent but of course she is hooked up to many IVs, a catheter, etc. And she still has 1-2 intense days ahead of her while she is still sedated and on a ventilator, etc.