i.have.a.very.bad.headache.

The kind that spread to your neck, shoulders, and back. Unfortunately, I am stuck at work for a while longer. I have to test these adhesive samples at the unbelievably slow speed of a 1/4 inch per minute. The test I am running involves bonding two pieces of metal, with a 3 inch long surface, together; and then peeling them apart and evaluating the strength. Usually we test these much faster (at least 2 inches per minute), because 1. you get better results at faster speeds, and 2. nobody wants to sit around waiting for the dumb things to be done...when we have a whole specification to meet...that means LOTS of replicates to test. I have to keep an eye on the machine incase of any errors. Each test is taking TWENTY-ONE MINUTES. This test normally is only like 2 minutes!

I suppose my head might feel better if I hadn't stayed at my mom's until after 1 am troubleshooting and tech supporting her computer. I did manage to greatly improve the machine's functionality. For some reason the thing was running at 100% CPU usage all the time (svchost.exe problem). This made EVERYTHING so slow. It is much better thanks to some nerding by me. This included repairing (or turning on...I don't know why it wasn't functioning) windows firewall, repeated windows update (and restarts) until it didn't seem to want to update anymore; updating virus definitions in McAfee and scanning; adding a secondary free virus scanner, updating, and scanning; downloading and running two different registry checker programs; and downloading FreeRAM XP PRO (which seems to work pretty well). Now things are running quickly...but still somewhat buggy. She said this morning she keeps getting messages she doesn't understand. It is so hard for me to make her PC work right without constantly monitoring it. I don't think she ever checks to make sure that windows update has run recently or that the virus scan actually scans once a week like it is scheduled to. Then everything piles up and I get 4 hours of mess to fix. I do kind of enjoy doing it though...it is like solving a puzzle. Maybe I should have gone into computers instead of chemistry.

I have to go out tonight to get together with two friends and a bunch of other people I worked with 4-5 years ago at the Olive Garden. I don't feel like socializing with people I barely know and haven't talked to in almost 5 years. This is all because one friend decided a week and a half ago that she "needed a change" and will be moving to Florida this Friday. Friend 2 and I were shocked...and a bit miffed about the short notice...but we decided that we had to get together before she left. Then we decided to try to throw together a last minute reunion from the OG. Friends 1 and 2 both worked there a bit after I quit...so they are closer with other employees who worked at the same time than I am. Whatever, oh well...I only have to go for 2 hours or so...and it might surprise me and turn out to be fun...if I can get this headache to go away.