Looks as if our ‘new’ GPS (a TomTom Start Classic) has reached ‘end of life’ for its lifetime updates. I tried downloading new maps and the app kept restarting with ‘critical update required’. Every time it restarted it gave me the same message (and showed updates available but not accessible in the window behind). I finally found a notice that this model is no longer supported and a suggestion that I look at newer models.

I’m unsurprised by the slightly screwy definition of ‘lifetime’ that TomTom uses but not happy. Lifetime to them is defined as ‘until we decide to drop support’ so the lifetime could end at any time.

I’m seriously considering looking at cell phone mounts and options to use my phone directly as a GPS. The newer TomTom GPS devices cost around $150.00 and use phone data for traffic information so I’m not at all sure that they’re a good match for our needs going forward.

…and we slide down into the cold, dark part of the year…

Alyssa is home (and has been since before XMas and will be until the New Year rolls in). Her boyfriend Jonathan visited over XMas and he’s delightful.

We spent XMas eve at my sister’s house with most of the rest of my siblings and their families (Mark is in Colorado but texted in 🙂 ). Seems as if everyone is doing pretty well to very well. I’m delighted that things are looking good as we begin 2017.

The Christmas decorations have officially been taken down and the tree is on the porch, waiting to be hauled into the woods for its final disposition. This has never been my favorite part of the year as the joy and excitement of Christmas ebbs and there is only New Years before we hit the cold and dark months of January and February. Spring seems far away and it is time to huddle together and do things that don’t involve the outdoors (no skiers here really).

I am looking forward to moving some of my technical sandbox projects forward. I’m putting together the database definitions for the file management tool I’ve had in the works for some time now. I’ve got the VR system up and running in the basement and now need to hit the OpenGL books to start writing code. I have the office in some semblance of order and the Intuos tablet ready to practice some drawing. Plenty to do (aside from work which is plenty busy).

I’ll be off work until next Tuesday as KMC has the whole week between XMas and New Years off this year. Lys is home so I don’t know how much technical stuff will get done (but then I’d rather spend family time while I can). She’ll be heading back to Great Lakes and hold pending C school on the second.

Just read the section of the Chronicles of Amber where Corwin is scribing a new pattern to memories of Paris and chestnut blossoms in spring. A wonderful passage that brings back memories of when I first read it back in high school.

Reading MySQL docs to put the next round of design details in place for the file archive management tool I’ve had on the back burner for some time now…this to be coded in C# as I’m about to be deeply involved in a C# based project at work starting next week.

…while a build runs…my publish to FB/LinkedIn/Twitter has not been working reliably for a while now. I reconnected everything and I’m posting this to check whether things are back in order…with a bonus dose of angry penguin…

I’m sitting here reading C# documentation and watching an installer run so here’s a pretty picture from Disney World…