Geek points.

Eliz IMd me midway through the day and then wasn't responding, so I figured I'd give her a call. The phone was busy. An hour later, the phone was still busy.

When it was ten minutes until I was planning to leave work and I still couldn't get through, I got creative.

• I ssh'd to my desktop at home.
  
• I set the volume high.
  
• I installed the Festival speech synthesizer.
  
• I figured out how to work it.
  
• I got an error because it couldn't find the sound interface it liked.
  
• I googled for a solution and found it (a config file that plays through an external program).
  
• I had the machine say "Dan is trying to call you but the phone is busy" three times.
  
• Eliz IMd me and asked me to turn the volume down.
  

"Ping! Ping! Ping!"

Geek points.

Eliz IMd me midway through the day and then wasn't responding, so I figured I'd give her a call. The phone was busy. An hour later, the phone was still busy.

When it was ten minutes until I was planning to leave work and I still couldn't get through, I got creative.

• I ssh'd to my desktop at home.
  
• I set the volume high.
  
• I installed the Festival speech synthesizer.
  
• I figured out how to work it.
  
• I got an error because it couldn't find the sound interface it liked.
  
• I googled for a solution and found it (a config file that plays through an external program).
  
• I had the machine say "Dan is trying to call you but the phone is busy" three times.
  
• Eliz IMd me and asked me to turn the volume down.
  

"Ping! Ping! Ping!"

Books

_Alcatraz and the Scrivener's Bones_, Brandon Sanderson (or so They want you to think.)


Book two of the Great Librarian Conspiracy Expose, in which our fearless and magically powerful unreliable narrator defeats the evil librarian threat. (Is it strictly an unreliable narrator when he tells you he's lying, and often throws in a few just for practice?) I'm afraid I want more.

Contains several ruthless jibes by the narrator against the author.

Books

_Alcatraz and the Scrivener's Bones_, Brandon Sanderson (or so They want you to think.)


Book two of the Great Librarian Conspiracy Expose, in which our fearless and magically powerful unreliable narrator defeats the evil librarian threat. (Is it strictly an unreliable narrator when he tells you he's lying, and often throws in a few just for practice?) I'm afraid I want more.

Contains several ruthless jibes by the narrator against the author.