I have had my fingers on the keyboard - “nose to the grindstone” for the last two weeks and am loving it! I finally have a bit of a handle on Visual Studio/.NET/C# (C Sharp) and the other development tools being used in the current project for UCLA. I am a consultant-programmer for a department of UCLA …since 1991.

Programming has always involved a constant re-educating and adding of new skills but every so often things take what feels like a quantum leap. The learning curve this round has seemed particularly steep. I took a look at the timesheets I submit with my invoices for the last several months - a lot of research, testing, reading, i.e. not much coding. There were days when I struggled to get a few lines of code to work and when it did it was more dumb luck than knowing what I was doing.

Currently there is another programmer and our “boss” at UCLA that make up the team working on the prototype for the new version of software. I have not been alone in the struggle to understand the new paradigm. We use a product called “Go to Meeting” (GTM) to work together. GTM allows us to connect via the internet and any one of us can be the “presenter” - showing our screen to the others. GTM handles the phone conferencing also. This “show and tell” as well as a bit of team coding enabled us to “divide and conquer” - each of us dealing with a piece of the puzzle and then sharing what we learned. It has been fun, interesting, frustrating and annoying all at the same time but now that it is coming together - all worthwhile!

I have not suddenly become a .NET expert, but I have written some code in the last two weeks…code that I understand, that I know why it works! And just as we are close to having the prototype ready for the “boss” to demo to his “boss”… a new couple of tools are close to being released. Tools that will solve some problems: XAML (”zamel”) and Silverlight. I am NOT afraid! XAML particularly is the programmers’ answer to HTML. Silverlight brings it all together in .NET. It is an exciting time to be a programmer even given the constant feeling that there is too much to learn.

But, today - on this Friday - I am grateful for the last two weeks - for the opportunity to learn and do something which is fun, challenging and oh, pays the mortgage! I am also very grateful for the team I work with - nice people - professional, interesting, caring - a great team! Still… T.G.I.F. - a good day today and then the weekend to play.

Just in case your eyes have glazed over because you don’t know and don’t care what .NET or XAML is…Bob shares your sentiments…

3:30 p.m. - it’s done…the server was down from approximately 1:55 to 3:30 p.m. MDT. If you tried to get here and could not - wasn’t your problem.

My hosting company has let me know that the specific server which hosts “From the Front Porch” is failing…before it fails completely they will move everything to a brand new server. They tell me there will be a 30-45 minute period of time when everything will be offline. This will happen sometime today.

Generally, a server failure happens gradually and they would start noticing and do a changeover on a weekend night with a lot of advanced notice. Apparently, this server is all of a sudden showing a dramatic number of errors and to avoid a complete outage that would require recovery from backup and more downtime, they decided on a short notice, short outage scenario. Works for me!

I’m home - in one piece…more tomorrow as I’m spent.

My host server was down most of today - according to tech support, all is now well…

It stopped snowing and the sun came out but the wind continues to howl and gust at the 35-40 mph range. I took a run into town in the Jeep to see how the interstate felt and get groceries and decided to hold over and leave tomorrow (Sunday) with Billings, Montana for Sunday night’s destination.

The technology available for looking at everything involved with RV travel is extensive and getting better all the time and I use it to make things as easy as possible.

For weather:

I look at NOAA…

…and read the forecast discussion where the meteorologists discuss the models, the conditions and how they come to their conclusions.

I subscribe to Weather.com Gold which lets me customize my screen and select up to 10 cities. I like the 10 city thing for looking at the forecast weather along my travel path for several days.

Another subscription online service I like is “The Next Exit Online”. The online version allows me to choose a State and then an Interstate. The services available at each exit are described. Fuel stops that are RV accessible are highlighted in red.

I save the screen captures for my route, print out the doc and highlight exits and fuel stops. The sheets are easy to pick up and see the next rest area when I need a break. The listing sorts the exit amenties by the side of the interstate - so easy to see ahead of time if the service is on “my” side of the interstate. The RV fuel stops are very helpful - although the Winnebago is not huge as far as Class A Motorhomes go, I am still 53 feet long and the tow mechanism for the Jeep does not allow for backing up. I can’t get in - or more importantly OUT of every gas station.

Saving my favorite for last…the GPS system. I use a DeLorme Earthmate LT GPS receiver that connects via USB to my notebook computer. DeLorme’s Street Atlas Software on the computer does all of the computation from the receiver satellite info to plot position on the Street Atlas Software screen.

The receiver “hangs” on the windshield.

The notebook rides on the dash at an angle I can see at a glance.

The software allows me to set a start point, a finish point and I can adjust the route with “via” points. The navigation screen is split into several sections. Two map sections show a close up and a zoomed out view - and a green arrow shows my current position. The lower sections shows the mileage until the next turn as well as a description of what the next turn is: Exit 28 South on I-90 ramp for example. A section to the right shows the mileage to destination. There is voice direction also - the voice activates as a turn is approaching. The newest version of the software is particularly helpful in cities where it also gives lane information such as “stay in the right lane”.

GPS systems are not infallible so I look at everything - especially city routes - on paper as well. But it is a great tool for driving a big rig in unfamiliar places and navigating to the rural rv parks that I prefer.

Karl thinks it is all pretty boring…

His 2nd favorite nap spot - behind the bed and the back wall…

Well, sadly, “From the Front Porch” did not receive enough nominations to be a finalist in any category…maybe next year!!!

BUT… 2 of my most favorite blogs are in the finals and if you enjoy either, please go and vote - or just go and see if a blog that YOU like is a finalist and vote for that blog.

The 8th Annual Blog Awards to vote - Please VOTE if you love blogs and any of the finalists!

My absolute favorites Confessions of a Pioneer Woman (http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/)   and The Pioneer Woman Cooks  (http://www.thepioneerwomancooks.com/ ) - both by the same author - are finalists in Best Writing and Best Food Blog respectively.

Have fun and if you love reading blogs, check some of the nominees’ blogs.