Hyundai Sonata V6 biting the dust

My car would not start last Monday, so I took the excuse to call in sick, since I had been sick that weekend why not just be extra sure I don't spread it? So this Monday rolls around and yet again, my car would not start, so I worked from home and charged up the battery with Rebecca's handy car battery charger, seriously it is like I married Checker Auto, she had an air compressor, this girl even had a FLOOR JACK! So Tuesday, after a full 24 hours of charging, turn the key and rapid clicking, car no start. So I set the charger to start mode and was able to get the old girl going, basically gave myself a jump. I drove to work thinking, should I just take it in to a mechanic or live with the uncertainty each time I turn the key, "Will she start?"

I guess I am cheap and just do not want to spend money on the thing, so I have not taken it in yet. I also have little faith that mechanics will actually fix anything; this is based on past experience getting spark plug wires replaced and then taking it back in for the same issue, minutes later... and the other time I took it in, they could not duplicate the problem. Sounds like computer tech support, almost. When I get the money set aside, I would like to fix the following on my car:

• rear driver-side automatic window mechanism
  
• front passenger-side window mechanism
• odometer (broke at 100,000)
• Middle storage box lid/armrest repair
• airbag light
• squeaking breaks
• cd player
  
• oh and it won't start reliably

Then wash it, sell it to someone else, ???, buy a Honda! Considering how much can go wrong on a car, I guess I have got off easy.

My pic has a beard but I don't

Who knew beards could come in so many variations. Some of these styles so need to become popular again, I really can't pick a favorite.

Much more info than you need can be found here.

Slow Javascript

I have a J2EE AJAX web application with 1000's of DOM elements. As a result, simply running a document.getElementById() in javascript can take IE7 over a minute to return back the object, also since their is so much dojo javascript loaded, even calling a method for an onClick, takes seconds for the browser to find the method and start executing the code. What I have been spending days on is trying to figure out a way to give the user some sort of clue that their click was received and is processing, some kind of instantaneous feedback. The AJAX application has loading objects that are shown for ansynchronous (slow) operations but even the loading window can take several seconds to finally get displayed. After trying several approaches I found something that I think works really well and would like to share.
In the onClick of a link that needs to do some heavy processing the webapplication would call a method like this:

onClick="setCurrentTaskOutcome('name','favwebcomic')"


Problem is, it takes the browser too long to even find the 'setCurrentTaskOutcome' method, the browser appears hung while the click event is slowly processed by IE. So putting more code in the setCurrentTaskOutcome function to alert the user would not help with the user feedback issue because they would still have to wait until the function was located and executed by the browser before any feedback would get presented.
My solution is:

onClick="confirm('Set User Params ?') != 0 ? setCurrentTaskOutcome('name','favwebcomic') : void(0);"


Now the browser will instantaneously prompt the user to confirm the operation, if they cancel the operation is not performed, if they confirm, then they at least now know the browser is processing their request instead of it just appearing hung.

To break it down, the confirm javascript function will return non-zero if they click ok, so the

confirm('Set User Params ?') != 0

Is a confirm window dialog and test to see if they click ok wrapped into one.
I use the tertiary operator '?' to perform the task if they clicked ok, or nothing if they clicked cancel.

This works in both IE and Firefox. However, IE7 was the only browser that seems to suffer from performance and responsiveness issues for this web application. IE7 is the required browser for the employees of the company that will use this, so I can't just tell them to use Firefox. What needs to start happening is if you work for a company that requires you to use IE, or maybe even makes using Firefox, Safari or Opera difficult for you (because they have IE7 specific web apps), find a new job. Life is too short to live with IE7.

Why not do it myself?

Here is your answer. I would not recommend doing taxes yourself with computer software unless you are a 1040EZ teenager with a single W2 from a part time job. Rebecca and I tried the software approach once, then took the whole thing into a pro and got $500 more refunded (that is including the fee we paid them to do it for us).

You can have H&R Block talk to the IRS if their is a question, you can even have H&R block guarantee their work and pay the IRS fine if their was a typing mistake. Try this, get your taxes all ready to file with TurboTax, then take it all in to H&R block and have them do it again. I bet they will find stuff you missed (or were unaware of) and your larger refund will more than pay for their fee. You might want to bring in the previous two years of tax documents as well, so they can make amended filings for the stuff you missed on those filings.

All that being said, their are some things I would rather do myself. Some people would rather crawl under a car and change their oil because they don't trust Jiffy Lube. I am not like that, I love that someone will take $25 to crawl under my car and change my oil. I smile as I pay that person to do it and appreciate that it is not me on the ground under a dirty car. If I was sued, I would not plan on defending myself in court, I would hire a pro who is familiar with the laws and regulations to defend me.

Sometimes you are much better off getting a Dell or Apple than trying to piece a system together yourself. You are better off letting a pro handle the selection of the hardware and software. I built my computer because I was able to do so cheaper and wanted more control over the components put in it than if I just grabbed a Dell. Also, if I make a mistake building the computer, it is unlikely I will go to jail or have to stand trial in Federal court because of that mistake. I am not a tax expert and so I think it is much better to just accept that and allow a pro to do it for me, than try to do it myself and risk making an expensive mistake that could put me in court or prison or cause me to owe hefty fines.

So here's a question, why would you do complex taxes with computer software?

IRS and Taxes

Rebecca and I did our taxes, we have used H&R Block for them for several years. We started at 2:30pm and didn't finish until 5:30pm. H&R Block will not accept appointments before Feb 15th, or something like that, so we had to wait for 20 minutes to sit with a professional tax consultant. These tax experts seem to have pretty big egos. I guess working with people who don't understand US tax laws or even W2 statements and being treated as know-it-alls from February through April every year can go to your head. It is always fun to ask them if they are a CPA; their ego gets a little bruising when they have to answer no. Of course if they were a CPA, it would be doubtful that they would chose to work at H&R block doing my taxes, that would be like charity work for a CPA.



What bugs me is every time I do my taxes at H&R block (at least for the past 6 YEARS of doing my taxes with them) is this scenario. A tax question comes up, and I could get the answer if I had an internet connection and computer, but NO all I have is a stack of papers. This year, for instance, I forgot to print off a document for the taxes, and so Rebecca had to drive home, while I waited with Eleanor in the office. What did she do when she got home you may wonder? What did she spend 20 minutes of fossil fuel on to get from the house? Why she drove for 20 minutes (round trip) to LOG ON TO THE INTERNET! Eleanor will be laughing at this in 20 years, that is right Eleanor back in '08 we used to have to drive to a computer to get on the Internet. For Eleanor that will seem like what riding a horse to mail a letter is to us today! Hugely inconvenient. Especially given that in 20 years their won't be any fossil fuel left, BECAUSE WE ARE DRIVING AROUND TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET. It's Not Stupid... It's Advanced



I could go on about how I took 3 hours to do the taxes, even after Rebecca spent hours at home getting documents organized so it would go "quick". I could go on about how tax documents are still being printed off on paper and mailed out and how wasteful that is in a world of email. I could talk about the complex tax laws in the US, how most middle and lower income earners pay more than they should for the only reason that the laws are too complex and poorly explained to be utilized by the people they were intended to help. I could complain that the only candidates that would overhaul the tax laws in the US will never obtain a nomination or even last through super Tuesday before disappearing into obscurity. I could, but instead I will post another photo of Eleanor.

J2EE App Server startup error in VM

When I am re-starting a proprietary J2EE app server (which requires Java 1.4.x). I periodically get this critical Java VM error:

# HotSpot Virtual Machine Error, Internal Error
# Please report this error at
# http://java.sun.com/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi
#
# Java VM: Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (1.4.2_03-b02 mixed mode)
#
# Error ID: 43113F32554E54494D45110E4350500308
#
# Problematic Thread: prio=2 tid=0x00a59768 nid=0x590 runnable
#

Heap at VM Abort:
Heap
 def new generation   total 36480K, used 31516K [0x10010000, 0x127a0000, 0x14ed0000)
  eden space 32448K,  971244656sed [0x10010000, 0x11ed7240, 0x11fc0000)
  from space 4032K,   01244656sed [0x11fc0000, 0x11fc0000, 0x123b0000)
  to   space 4032K,   01244656sed [0x123b0000, 0x123b0000, 0x127a0000)
 tenured generation   total 483968K, used 43490K [0x14ed0000, 0x32770000, 0x50010000)
   the space 483968K,   81244656sed [0x14ed0000, 0x17948a20, 0x17948c00, 0x32770000)
 compacting perm gen  total 35072K, used 34831K [0x50010000, 0x52250000, 0x56010000)
   the space 35072K,  991244656sed [0x50010000, 0x52213e60, 0x52214000, 0x52250000)
Dynamo exited abnormally.  For troubleshooting information go to the URL:
  http://www.atg.com/support
Press any key to continue . . .

I can get it very consistently when I restart the application multiple times rapidly. This is running under Windows 2003 Enterprise Server SP2. Googling for "Error ID: 43113F32554E54494D45110E435050030" gives me nothing. I read something about array initialization being a place to check. Since this is not 100% consistent, I am sure it will be a nightmare to really determine the actual cause and create a fix for it. Thankfully I don't think there is a problem with the 2007.1 release of the ATG Service platform, because they have moved away from the Dynamo Application Server and just use JBOSS, or WEBLOGIC as the app server. Also I think you can use Java 1.5 rather that 1.4. I suspect this is a problem in the DAS code (or the Java 1.4 VM) that only seems to occur when restarting DAS frequently. Some businesses heavily use the legacy 2006.3 version with the DAS app server, so it will continue to be an issue whenever I need to work in this environment and restart the app server.

I get impatient with these app servers, it takes long enough to start without having to wait a little extra time between restarts, just to ensure the app server does not crash.

Sick...

I was sick to my stomach all during the XBOX360 gaming on Saturday. Lots of quality junk food, completely untouched. Linc even had a special Mexican coke, the kind with actual cane sugar not HFCS for me to try. Needless to say I could not bring myself to try it. It is a good thing too because at around 6:00, I tossed him the XBOX360 controller and blamo, puked in the toilet. I would have hated to refund a delicious beverage such as that. I am kind of noisy when I puke, so I am pretty sure that is why the basement was empty once I finished. I felt 100% better after and went home. On the way home my body was shaking fiercely from the cold and it was nice to get home to a nice warm bath and bed. Being sick when you are married is so much better than being sick when single. It was so nice to have Rebecca around to bring me medicine and blankets and to chat with. She is a great nurse. I ate Rumbi Island grill rice bowl for lunch and so that is what came up later; Rebecca was shocked when I ate some of the leftovers today. I don't know why but throwing it up did not turn me off from having it again. If I had thought it was from something I ate it would be a different story. So here is a free tag line advertisement for them:

"Rumbi Island Grill, so good you can vomit and still want more."


Yeah I doubt they will use it, but you never know.