June 2006

Work continues to be exciting. Ross started today and will be helping Jim out with the programming duties; more specifically, revamping the “NG Mag” portion of Newgrounds. The online magazine is something I know only what I learned by glancing at while laying out its submission forms. The interesting part is that it’ll likely be the first implementation of the new layout in terms of programming and sever interaction. Pretty soon I’ll know which parts of my layout (if any) need to be reworked, though hopefully it’s semantic enough and able to be implemented easily. There’s also the issue of having some javascript written in order for some of my CSS tricks to be a success, which makes me a bit nervous.

Until then, I’ll continue to find ways to relax. Tonight, a lot of us from the office will join a few other friends to see the Superman screening; throw in a pre-movie dinner at Bahama Breeze and this has the makings for one of the most relaxing yet exciting days ever.

Well, this post is safe for work; it’s the actual workplace that was a little unsafe today. No sense in rehashing the details, but Newgrounds HQ was robbed today. It could have gone much, much worse seeing as how no-one got hurt and the only thing taken was a highly-trackable Sonly PlayStation 2 (we were able to provide the cops with a serial number). The funny thing is that we just had our security system installed. It actually chimed when this scumbag entered the office. Needless to say, we’ve since made some small but key changes, no pun intended. The front door stays locked until we can install a camera and buzzer system, and I think we’re putting a rush on the new solid metal door. It’s a shame that we now have to treat the office like a fortress, but something like this is a rattling experience.

If any one of a dozen things were different on this otherwise normal Monday morning the whole affair could have been avoided. If Dia had to be at her new job at Motorola early and I was sitting at my desk an hour earlier, I would have turned around and been my usual nosy self…. Or if Tom had come to work an hour later and the door was still locked from when Josh came in, the great trespassing experiement would have never taken place…. Or if it hadn’t been raining and the tracks were crowded with the usual amount of rail workers, the scumbag would have been forced to walk along the street where the cop would have caught him dead to rights…. It’s one of those things everyone will be replaying in their minds for a long time.

On the other hand, someone could just as easily have gotten their teeth kicked, or worse, had the guy actually been confronted. Tom and Stamper explained it as just one of those surreal experiences that you just don’t expect to be happening, hence their hesitation, and it very well could have saved their lives. We’ll just have to kick ourselves while simultaneously counting our blessings.

At work last week I tried on a different hat, that of HVAC Repairman. I wasn’t going to get involved at first when I heard everyone gathered around a puddle of water in the fax room; I didn’t want yet another distraction keep me from toying with my code and also figured that they didn’t need yet another person throwing in their two cents.

My automatic assumption is always that I’m no smarter than anyone else I know, especially when it comes to playing Mr. Fixit. In this situation it started to dawn on me that there are different types of “smart” and that it would probably be a good time for me to poke around a little. Plus, I never could stay away from a good puzzle — part of me will still always be an engineer. As an added incentive, the temporary solution was to turn off the AC until a repairman could come out, which was starting to look like it would take a few days; and one thing that will always drive any type of engineer to action is a lack of comfort.

The water was obviously condensation from the air conditioner, that much I had overheard for half an hour. It was pooling in the ceiling ducts and dripping from a tiny hole in one of them. I asked Tom what changed on the roof (where the four units are located) since the last time the AC was used. Tom’s response was only that the roof was retarred — and therein lied the answer. I started poking around the units to see if they could have been lifted up while the sealant was applied or anything outlandish like that, and that’s when I noticed that the condensation drain on every unit was facing straight up. I gave the first one a quick twist and water, dirt, and even a few leaves came pouring out.

The drain on one of the two working units kept draining through its hose, but our problem child still had water bubbling out from all the wrong places. Tom came up with the idea of taking a few panels off and poking around inside, and that’s exactly what we did.

Tom fetched the tool kit, and after shutting off the unit we unscrewed two panels. Inside, we noticed that the insulating pad on the bottom was soaked through and through. Not knowing what this meant, we decided to open up the functioning AC and crank that puppy on. It seemed the only difference between the broken and working unit was the wet pad so I squished out enough water to make a few spill-overs. After throwing the panel back on we noticed water dripping from the pipe as it should have been all along. Seems as if just poking around and touching a few things did just the trick.

So, we saved the cost of hiring a certified HVAC repair guy and avoided being steamed right out of our office for the week. Pats on the back for Tom and me.