Java and broken Runtime.exec()
Oooh, Sun have pissed me off.
java.lang.Process.getInputStream() returns a InputStream. Internally on Linux this is really a FileInputStream, as they are file descriptors. So far so good -- I'd expect Sun to return the FileInputStream and if we want it buffered, we can wrap it in a BufferedInputStream just like the rest of the JDK. Return a simple object and allow flexibility by letting the users layer on top of it.
But nooo, that's sensible. Sun decided to return a BufferedInputStream. Which breaks when I want to send a single byte to the process, and get a single byte back. Bastards. This is incident ID 186623 with Sun, and I want to see progress dammit!
Note that Kaffe does The Right Thing and returns a FileInputStream...
Vicky's Last Exam
Last Friday (the 23rd) was Vicky's last exam -- what a day.
WAGN was doing engineering works that day, they advised people not go travel to London as there would only be four very slow trains an hour. I decided not to go in and work from home but obviously V had to go in, so we picked up a copy of the temporary timetable and made plans. She was up at 06:40, and down the station at 07:30. This is allowing plenty of time to get to London for her 10:00 exam even if the train was delayed. I got up, had a bath, and started to work...
At 10:10 the phone rung -- I was expecting a call from my boss this morning so I picked it up.
Ross: Hello?Obviously I was a little confused as to why Vicky was phoning me from inside her exam. It turns out that the train made good speed for the first few miles, quite empty as most people didn't go in, and about a minute past Harlow Mill stopped. The driver came on after a few minutes, telling everyone that they would be there for a while, there is a queue of trains up to the next station and a suspected broken track. His estimate of how long they would be waiting went up and up until 2 hours later the train pulled into Harlow Town station, normally an 8 minute journey from home. Vicky jumped off, called me, and tried to make alternative plans.
Vicky: Hi
Ross: Oh, hi darling.. Hang on! What are you doing phoning me!
My mission was to tell the university -- I managed to get hold of the examinations department but they wouldn't say any more than "tell her to come to room 140". Vicky didn't take her mobile phone with her so I had to wait for her to call back from a pay phone to pass the message on. Luckily she was thinking calmly and got a letter from the station stating what had happened. However she was two hours away from college on a good day, and the exam had started. The race was on to get to college as soon as possible!
Cue a replacement bus to Epping, Central line tube to Stratford, Jubilee line to Canada Water then East London line to New Cross, followed by a run along the road. She made it in for 12:05 and the procedures all kicked in -- write down what happened, we'll try and get you a seat in the next exam sitting, stay here until 14:30.
The exam actually went well.
In the meantime I spent most of the day worrying where she was, telling myself that no news is good news -- she is too busy to call as she storms across London. I got a call at 16:40, she had just finished her exam, and was going to come back home. I relaxed. Another call at 18:40, she was at Tottenham Hale and waiting for the last journey home. That is a 30 minute journey usually, add 10 minutes for the train to turn up etc -- I said I'd order a pizza to arrive about 15 minutes after she gets back.
What a optimistic fool I am.
At 20:30 Vicky finally makes it home after the train was stuck again. This time the driver even told everyone to get out, stretch their legs, and he'll tell them when the train is about to go again! We had arranged to go to the local pub at 20:30, so V ate the pizza (which had been sitting in the oven) and quickly changed while everyone arrived, then we went down the Castle and relaxed for the first time all day. The evening was good fun, saw my friends who I haven't seen for a while, had a few drinks and managed to borrow the boxed set of the Star Wars Trilogy.
