Matt's Blog

Another whiteboard drawing by Darshan.

A few weeks ago I witnessed something unusual in the parking lot of one of the local Safeways.  I spotted a man in a jumpsuit walking around the parking lot with one of those big leaf-blowers on his back.  Realizing that there were no leaves in the parking lot to be blown, I had no choice but to investigate further.  I noticed he was pointing the end of the hose at puddles on the ground, as if attempting to blow the puddles from one spot to another across the concrete.

I was disturbed by this whole scene for a number of reasons:

1. He looked really stressed out by how hard it was to displace a puddle with a leaf-blower
2. Once he did manage to move a puddle it was still in the parking lot, just inches from where it originated
3. It was raining

Now maybe it’s just me… but it seems rather futile to be blowing puddles around in order to dry them out or clear the parking lot of wet spots when it is raining.  And not just a light drizzle.  Unable to make heads or tails of the situation, I decided to simply ignore it and do my grocery shopping.  I figured this guy was just crazy or had a thing for leaf-blowers or something.

Until this morning.

On my way to work today I saw two groundskeepers working outside of a house in some neighborhood in Kirkland.  They both had leaf-blowers in their arms.  They were blowing puddles from one end of the sidewalk to the other.  It was raining.

If anyone can explain this phenomenon to me, please help me out!  Perhaps there is just some strange tradition of puddle-blowing up here in the Seattle area?  Perhaps people love their leaf-blowers so much they need to use them year-round despite the 9-month rainy season up here?  Maybe I should buy a leaf-blower just so I can find out what the deal is.

Well, I finally got over my obsession with the Pasta Ya Gotcha craze.  After all, the same plate of pasta every Tuesday and Thursday was getting a little bit old.  In an effort to find something new and exciting to spice up my life (or at least my lunch hour), I have been working on creating what will for now be called “The Perfect Sandwich.”

Over the past few days I have narrowed down the main options quite a bit.  While I don’t want to give too much away, I have decided to go with the peppered turkey over the smoked or roasted turkey.

Today I experimented with spinach in place of lettuce.  I’m undecided on whether or not I should stick with the spinach.  On the one hand, the spinach adds a pleasant flavor that makes the sandwich taste healthier.  On the other hand, the lettuce… when fresh… adds a nice crispy crunch to the center.  I’ll have to think about this one a little longer.

In a few days – once I have finalized the contents of the sandwich and chosen an appropriate name – I will unveil my masterpiece so you all can enjoy The Perfect Sandwich.

Stay tuned!

This morning Microsoft announced the public release of some protocol documentation on MSDN… kind of neat to see something that I worked on posted on MSDN.  Okay, it really isn’t that exciting, but at least it will hold me over until we ship the next version of Office.  If you have nothing better to do, check out section 2.4.1 of the MS-IPFF document – I worked on bits and pieces of that.