11-28-09
Sun Nov 29, 2009 11:10:59 pm

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I had planned to spend the day with family, but I got a call in the morning from a coffee manufacturer/distributor. Their database server died. I attempted to assess the situation by phone and it was clear that not much could be done without an on-site visit. I usually reschedule or cancel things for this type of emergency, but it was not possible in this situation. I was required to attend a traditional celebration of my niece's first month of life. I informed the manager of my situation and she was understanding. All orders were being taken on paper and would be entered into the computer system later. How much later was uncertain. I did not know how long the ceremonies would last, nor what types of activities would be involved.

I loaded my backpack with many more tools than I needed, because I was uncertain of what was wrong with the server. There were error messages about the fan, but the usual procedures for bypassing that type of error did not work. The CD drive was also malfunctioning, but it was uncertain if this was related. I had around 40 pounds of equipment.

The designated meeting place for my group was my mother's home. I did not know how many people were going to be attending and I did not realize that there would be separate groups. We headed for the restaurant shortly after my arrival. I was expecting to go to the restaurant that we usually go to for celebrations, but we went to a different one. We went to the one that we visited after my father's funeral. I wonder if all future events will be at this restaurant. We have never returned to that other one since his death. I'm not sure if he ever worked there or if his death is the reason that we don't go there anymore. My mother does not discuss such matters.

We sat at the table for 20 minutes waiting for the rest of the participants to arrive. My mother ordered from the "Extra Fancy" menu. These are some of the dishes:


Shredded scallops with mushrooms


Conch with deep fried tofu and peas


Soy sauce marinated chicken with shrimp chips


Lobster with black bean sauce


Nobody ate this one. I am not sure why. My mother usually eats everything. She believes it's wasteful to spend money on food that is not eaten. I'm guessing it's very bad. My brother is culinarily adventurous and he did not sample this one.

There were several other dishes that I may post later.

At the end, we received fortune cookies. I decided to amuse myself by extracting the fortune without opening the wrapper and without imparting any damage to the cookie beyond splitting it in half.


That is my sister's hand holding it.

At the conclusion of the meal, I wanted to leave. I needed to go to work and I don't like spending a lot of time with family, but I could not leave yet. The whole group went to my mother's home. There were no additional ceremonies beyond the meal. They just sat around talking.


This is something I never expected to see. My brother and sister did not talk to each other for over 30 years. Also, my brother did not get married until he was 44.

I left at 4:45. Everyone else stayed several hours longer. I arrived in the office at 5:29pm. The server had one dead hard drive. It's a RAID5 array that should survive with a dead drive, but the array seemed to have become corrupt. The manager asked me some questions about the RAID configuration utility, revealing that she had explored it in depth. I think that she tried to rebuild the array with the wrong settings, causing all data to be erased. I restored data from backup onto a temporary server and modified the network settings on all workstations. I left the office at 9:30 feeling exceptionally tired.