Forced break

[susandennis]

The system my pages are built on is going down for an hour for some kind of upgrade. That means I can't work! Isn't that cool? So I'm going to post this and then download the latest security bandaid and then have some dinner and maybe just take the rest of the day off.

I'm not exactly joining the bandwagon here but I am hitching a ride for a bit cause I enjoy reading this in other folks' journals. And fair's fair, I think.

1. Name: Susan Dennis (that will come as a shock to many, I'm sure)

2. Age: 59

3. Location: Seattle, WA

4. Occupation: Web producer. I work for Resources Online and all of the work I've done for the past few years has been on various projects for Microsoft. I work at home, in my living room.

5. Partner?: None

6. Kids: NFW

7. Brothers/Sisters: One brother who owns Friendly Computers of Georgetown, TX and a sister whom I choose not to have in my life.

8. Pets: Betty who is about 7 and Travis who is about 1. They are cats.

9. I knit teddy bears and give them away. I watch TV a whole lot. I work. I have a really lovely life for which I am profoundly grateful every day.

10. Parents? My father died in 1999 and my Mom who provided many a wonderful entry in this journal died in 2005.

I skipped some and tailored others. Want to add some? Feel free. I'll answer whatever you want to know.

Comments

[davmoo.livejournal.com]

Come to think of it, I do have a question.

What tools do you use to create those web pages?

(I use a simple text editor, but I also don't do complex pages.)

[susandennis]

Well, it kind of depends on the site/pages... mostly I use Visual Studio. All the pages are xml. I have a plugin thing that validates my code against their xslt's. This current project is using a very annoying proprietary home built InfoPath form.

When I have html bits of those pages and/or my own pages, I use FrontPage cause I can never remember the tricky bits and am a real light weight with style sheets. I don't use the design tab of FrontPage but do use the split window so I can check my code as I go. I tried converting to Expression but never could get used to it. Old dog, new tricks, yada yada

[davmoo.livejournal.com]

Duh! I should have guessed you'd be using VS...eating your own (Microsoft's) dogfood and all that.

And the old dog/new tricks thing is why I still use Notepad (Windows) or vi (Linux)...when I learned HTML there were no fancy editors, and that's what I'm used to. The down side is it does make some things rather tedious, especially when you need to make the same change in 14 different pages and such like that.

[susandennis]

Yep. That's exactly why all my personal stuff is all in FrontPage - edited and published via FP. I'm no sufferer.

[artisanal_xara]

What was the question for #9?

What is one thing you miss most from your past? Favorite house, favorite pet, favorite city, etc. I'm guessing it was neither your sister nor your husband. ;-)

[susandennis]

I don't remember the #9 question - something about 5 things you do or something.

What do I miss from my past? What an interesting question. And your guess about my husband and sister is correct. Actually, I can't think of anything. I had a great condo in Charlotte, but I wouldn't want it back. Seattle is my favorite city. I guess maybe if I were to consider miss as in I wish I had it now, I'd have to go with my friend, John. He died about 3 years ago and I do miss his company and his friendship and his counsel. And my Mom, of course.

Interesting question. I may be back with another answer after I think about it some more...

[artisanal_xara]

Gosh, has it been 3 years since John died? It doesn't seem that long ago. And I miss your Mom too. Every once in a while I think about your "Mom Reports" and how much I enjoyed them.

It's funny how quickly time passes in LJ land. Another friend said something about 7 years ago when... and I was stunned that I had known her that long. We go through a lot together on this little website.

[susandennis]

That is so true. Do you know that you were the genesis of all my teddy bears? It was Spring and you posted instructions to that cute little garter stitch bear...

I made one and then set out to find a pattern that would give me a bigger bear... that was about 300 bears ago!

One day I'll be bummed because Charlie's LJ will be friends only so his Mom's friends won't read it. :)

[mixter11nm.livejournal.com]

Did your mom live close to you in proximity? It sounds as though you had a good relationship with her.

[susandennis]

3,000 miles away and that's what let us have a great relationship. She lived in Charleston, SC. When my Dad died, she and I got very close - over the internet. We swapped emails all day every day and she's why I set up the webcams. She lived in a retirement home and then moved to assisted living - all the while keeping her broadband connection. It gave us an intimacy we would have never had otherwise. I treasure those last 6 years. She died after a semi gradual decline in March of 2005.

(My mantra during those years - when she would make me nuts which was a lot was - 3000 miles/3 time zones/thankyoujesus! It appears a lot in this journal during those years.)