New phone day

Yesterday, after almost three years of the same phones, Jeannette and I upgraded our cell phones.

Initially, I was thinking that for this upgrade iteration I would switch to an Android phone (not that I am altogether an Android fan).  Thanks to Jeannette's desire to maintain the same brand, a desire on my part that we have the same hardware, an appreciation of the advantages of now changing systems, and lower than expected prices we ended up with much newer version of the same type of phone we already have.

Now that we're about 15 hours into our new phones and most of the key settings have been selected I think it is safe to say that we are both happy with the function of our new machines.  Of course, I'm not necessarily as pleased with technological/legal/moral implications of this decision.  Maybe in two years time (or more - if the hardware lasts/continues to be functional) I'll finally move away from this technology provider?

But, damn, they've done a very good job of making that a difficult decision to make.

Cameron - 10
Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes 602

-Though cloudy, today wasn't a particularly cool day.  Since our sudden and unexpectedly resilient snowfall of a few days ago I expect full-blown winter to arrive with each dawn.  When I leave the house and discover winter hasn't yet arrived I'm both pleased and disappointed.

-The arrival of winter would be even more welcome if our fireplace was fully functional.  At the moment the chimney is in need of a serious cleaning.  Until we have it cleaned we won't be able to determine if it's safe to use, and if not how much work might be required to make it so.  While I'd really like to have a fully functional fireplace this is likely something that will have to wait until at least next year.

-We went on a somewhat lengthy shopping trip this afternoon.  As usual, once we're out on our weekend shopping trips we keep remembering additional items that we've been meaning to buy.  Also, at least this normally happens, we tend to forget a handful of items necessitating future trips.  Fortunately, the items that we forgot today weren't so important that we'll have to head out today or even tomorrow.

-My 'smart' phone, or at least its operating system, has been behaving somewhat erratically for the past few weeks.  It seems that the major update has really negatively impacted the operational capacity of the phone - despite the fact that this was presumably exactly the opposite of what the developers intended with the new update.  Anyway, it's definitely been a frustrating way to waste a few hours.

-Now that we're a few weeks into fall the sun has started setting not long after I return home from work.  While this is to be expected, the transition has been happening a little more quickly than I expected.  It won't be long before my walks to and from work will occur mostly in the dark.

-A few days ago I combined a few ingredients and made some pea soup.  I'm continually amazed at how simple, yet tasty, pea soup can be.  Maybe even more impressive, is that the stuff seems to keep getting better in the following days.

-Turns out homeownership is definitely time-consuming.  This weekend I had the pleasure of spending a fair bit of time installing a single board above one of our basement windows.  Not only will this board be used to hang a blind, it will also improve our house's security as it will also prevent one of our windows from easily being pushed in from the outside.  While I'm not pleased at how long this project took, I am pleased with the results.

New Ubuntu installs

In the past month or so I've installed Ubuntu on three computers: Rebecca's old laptop, my new laptop and my desktop at school. Overall I was quite pleased the with install process and the final result.

All the installs were performed using a USB flash drive. I started with Rebecca's old laptop and I used all 40 gigs for Ubuntu, removing Windows from the machine. I caused some trouble for myself by partially disabling the wireless on Windows, which I then had to go back and fix at an inopportune time which cost me some minutes. I also tried at first to use a flash drive that wasn't fast enough, which cost me about an hour. The good news is that the laptop is now much more usable than it had been, both in terms of hard drive space and the resources required to run the OS on a minute-to-minute basis.

The other two installs were different in that they were dual-boot installs (ie. the Windows OS was left functioning). These took a little more internet research and a little guidance from an officemate but went as smoothly as was reasonable.

I'm now using Ubuntu almost exclusively at work and home. As I go on I hope to notice productivity increases from easier access to some programs.

Score

Cameron 34

Neil 25

I've been waiting a long time for this

Today I finally downloaded an easy-to-use animated .gif making program. No longer will I have to scour the web looking for free services that allow me litte creative control over my .gifs.



As you can see, I am already putting my time and this program to good use.

Maybe part of the problem is that animated .gifs lend themselves easily to triviality. I will have to find a way of finding a more useful application for this powerful technology.

Score
Cameron 37
Neil 0

Appel Mack

A few years ago a library school classmate of my put an Apple sticker on her PC. The effect was quite impressive, from a distance it really looked like a Mac.

This morning I happened across some similar stickers in my room. I gave to Neil and Rebecca and suggested that they put them on their Dells so that they can up their respective cool factors.

Much to my surprise Neil and Rebecca were quite easily convinced to put one of the stickers on the oldest of their Dells.

Amazingly, we didn't have to wait a long time for someone to mistake Rebecca's old clunker for a Mac. When Jeannette came over a few minutes ago she almost immediately saw the computer and wondered who was visiting. Success.


Score
Cameron 36
Neil 0

The times have changed

I am presently in the midst of reading Governing From the Centre by Donald Savoie. Just a few minutes ago I came upon a section of the book that deals with Cabinet briefings and how they are conducted. Savoie noted that in many cases decks of slides, or 'decks' were the preferred mechanism for conducing such presentations. Savoie then goes on to include a very 1990s era statement on page 133:

Finance officials report that their minister, Paul Martin, has now taken decks to a new level. He prefers to brief Cabinet with power points rather than a simple deck. Power points are developed through the aid of the most modern computer techniques involving colour, large print, small print, and other forms of visual enhancement. The more substantive aspects of power points are captured in just a few words and, according to officials, do not lend themselves to in-depth policy disuccsions. They are, in the words of one, ‘overheads with panache, a kind of Disney production.’

I wish I could remember when PowerPoint seemed newfangled and technologically advanced. And, sadly, it seems that the characterization hat PowerPoint presentations have more 'panache' may have been a little too hopeful.

A Few Quick Notes 452

-Though today was somewhat overcast, it really wasn't all that bad of a day. Actually, I found today to be quite relaxing and pleasant.

-We have had an unusually large volume of mouse related activity recently. This is rather unfortunate as it is both distracting and time-consuming. Recently, Neil and I had to move and re-arrange most of our bulk foods so that they are now all in large plastic containers.

Hopefully the level of activity that we are experiencing presently isn't a sign of worse to come once things actually start to get cold and autumnal.

-Tonight, while I was sitting at my desk studying, I heard someone yell "Hey, get your hands off that or I'll call the cops right now." Unfortunately, I don't know what they were talking about or how the situation was resolved.

-Today, as a gift, I received a 4 GB flash drive from the Globe and Mail. Unfortunately, the flash drive doesn't seem to fit in my computer's USB ports.

-An uncle of ours will be arriving, via cruise ship, tomorrow for a single-day visit. As of yet I don't exactly know what we will be doing. Unfortunately, it look as though the weather won't likely be cooperating.

-I made good progress reading today, something I am sure that you all wanted to hear.

-We have had a strange burst in traffic at Montifax recently. I suspect that our recent involvement in Empire Avenue and our Hurricane Earl coverage are the main drivers of this sudden surge.

A Few Quick Notes 312

-Today was a pretty nice day. My sense of things is that it was about 20 degrees and sunny in the downtown area for most of the day. It seems that things are forecast to be a little cooler and less pleasant for the rest of the week.

-A few days ago I removed the scarlet runner beans from my bedroom because they were showing signs of spider mite infestation. Though I didn't see any signs of mites, I also removed the two bean plants that were in my window.

Today I saw some specks on the corn plants that may be spider mites so I took most of the plants in my window outside for a quick wash with insecticidal soap. I will probably repeat this process again in a few days, whether I see signs of growth or not.

Unfortunately, while doing a little more reading I learned a little more about how unfortunate and difficult a spider mite infestation is to deal with. It seems that they are a particularly difficult pest to eradicate. One of the problems is that they have not natural predators inside human dwellings (aside from humans), and are apparently shockingly resistant to pesticides. Hopefully my dousing with soap and trips outside will work as I really am somewhat fond of these plants. It would be great if it was just a little warmer so that I could leave them outside around the clock.

-The up side of this all is that I was encouraged to harvest some of the thyme I have been growing since the fall. The idea of the harvest was that with a smaller plant the spider mites would be unable to use it to move from to plant.

The thyme is now hanging and drying in my bedroom. Presumably in some number of weeks I will be able to collect the dried thyme and add it to our previously existing stash. Given this abundance of thyme I really should start trying to find ways to use it a little more.

-It seems that I will be attending a Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni dinner in a few day. I really don't know what to expect, aside a talk from Gwynne Dyer and a meal. Apparently the post-talk question and answer session is to be moderated by the Chancellor of the university, Rick Hillier. I guess the idea is to allow Memorial graduates to get to know other graduates in the region, so I presumably should ready myself for networking and polite conversation related activities.

Another thing is need to work on is business attire, which is what I am supposed to wear to the event. Hopefully I own something that can pass as business attire. I am starting to think that maybe I should have brought my suit and dress shoes with me to Halifax.

-Moments ago when I was trying to type 'shoes' I accidently typed 'shews.' I guess some of my childhood spelling problems are still present. Though now that I think about it I don't know if switching to phonetic spellings was my common approach to spelling errors, I will have to check with my parents.

Such mistakes confirm my feelings towards spell-checking programs. I really don't know how I would have managed to make it through university without such programs. Presumably my functional vocabulary would have been much smaller, and my syntax more convoluted so that the same opinions could be expressed with a smaller number of words.

Don't scream if you have this bag on your head

Earlier today Rebecca received a new laptop computer. Once it had been unpacked and turned on Neil showed me the bag in which the computer was packed. The symbol on the bag was not quite what I expected. Instead of warning people against putting the bag on their head, they seem to be discouraging screaming once the bag is on the head (because, where else would you place a plastic bag). Not that any of us plan on putting the bag over our heads, but we will be sure to try not to scream (as the directed by the bag).

A Few Quick Notes 233

-Today has been beautiful so far. Hopefully this weather will manage to hold for the next several days.

-While at the grocery store yesterday afternoon I noticed that they were experiencing a celery shortage, it seems as though they were out of regular celery. When I went to their competitor I found that the situation wasn't much better. While they had celery in the second store it was some of the worst celery that I have ever seen. Much of the celery was yellow instead of green and just generally unappetizing. Unfortunately, as I really wanted celery I was forced to settle for a distinctly sub-par option.

-For the past few weeks I have not been able to motivate myself to read recreationally (aside from newspapers). A few days ago I was listening to an interview on The Sound of Young America with Chip Kidd and realized that we had one of the authors book at our apartment. Almost as soon as I located the book I started reading it and am now almost done. It is great to be reading recreationally again. My next problem will be to find something to read once I am done with this book.


-Several more of my beans have sprouted. While dealing with the newly sprouted plants I decided that I would like one of the pots in my room. This means that I can now spend my time watching my beans grow instead of doing work. The picture is of the variety of plants are presently in my window (left to right: banana plant, aloe droplets, corn, thyme, yellow beans, bay tree).

-Last night we had chicken rice soup for dinner. In a divergence from my normal pattern, the pieces of meat were actually large enough to identify as meat, and there was more than one piece per bowl. Though I might be biased, I thought it was pretty passable.

-Google Analytics seems to be showing an increase in search activity for our blog in the past few days. Not exactly sure what is causing the surge in interest or why it all seems to be because of people finding us through web searches.

-On Thursday night the fire alarm in our building sounded at about 11:00. Once we had gathered things like our pass-ports we made our way outside. Within a few minutes a few fire trucks arrived to check out the building. Fortunately, nothing was on fire and we were able to head back in. Though as this was taking place Neil and Rebecca decided to go to Video Difference to rent a movie. I quickly decided to tag along (though only after I dropped off my belongings).


-Last night, while trying to work on a project I started to play around with some of the features associated with my computer's built-in camera. The following is one of the ways I was busy wasting my time.

A Few Quick Notes 190

-Today, like yesterday, is not as nice a day as I would have liked. Instead of having sun and clear skies we are back to fog and rain. This deterioration in physical beauty seems to have caused the temperatures to have dropped by about 10 degrees, presumably just because mother nature likes to kick people when they are down.

-At some point yesterday afternoon I decided to bake some bread. When I eventually got around to rounding up the necessary ingredients I found out that I was going to be a little short on the fats side of things.

Fortunately a quick trip to the store put me back on track (and also reminded me that we were short on oats).

As I started collecting the flours and grains I learned that we had some kind of multi grain flour. As I had never seen this used before I thought that I would give it a try and see how it worked. One noticeable difference is that the bread has more visible grains than before (even though I have tended to use many non-flour ingredients).

Eventually we ended up with 8 grainy loaves. Unfortunately, as is commonly the case, I had no interest in tasting the bread once it came out of the oven. Luckily, my father was able to taste the bread and seems to have given it a basing grade.

-Yesterday evening I received an email that suggested that I wasn't fully/properly registered for my ultimate team this summer. While this may be the case (though I did complete the online registration) they seem to have received my money and also placed my name on the team list. I am not sure how these two things occurred without my full-fledged registration.

-It seems that we are either entering wedding or now completely in the middle of wedding season. My parents will be attending a wedding this afternoon while I have one to attend in a few weeks. It seems that I know of at least one or two other couples who will also be getting married this summer.

What I don't quite understand is why so many of my acquaintances are getting married this particular summer, and why I haven't experience so many weddings in past summers. On the other hand, this could just be the beginning of a multi-year trend among members of my peer group (as we are entering the marrying age).

-My laptop is painfully slow.

-Last weekend I was able to remove a bookcase from the area between my desk and my bed. My room now feels much more open. What I am now wondering is why I didn't work on this issue as early as last summer (when the bookcase mysteriously appeared in my room).

-As usual, this morning I made my way over to Georgetown bakery to buy a dozen bagels. Unlike recent trips, I was not accompanied by my sister, who is at Guide camp. Though her absence meant that I had to do everything myself I would still classify the trip as a success.

A Few Quick Notes 175

-It seems that the pleasant weather of yesterday was not meant to last. By this morning the skies were grey, and by about 11:00 AM rain had started to fall. Not surprisingly, the temperatures also seem to have dropped noticeably.

-Last night, while downtown, I managed to go to two notable George Street bars for the first time. First my friend Greg and I visited Trapper John's because Greg's brother Chris was performing. After a beer we moved down the street to the Sundance/Beer Market complex of bars. Eventually we made it into the Sundance proper.

Not surprisingly, I don't think that I will turn out to be much of a regular at either of these two bars. While the Sundance seemed to be satisfying its customers, it didn't seem to be providing an atmosphere that I found in any way appealing or tempting.

I also found it strange that at both locations I recognized very few of the patrons. It seems that at most St. John's bars I visit I tend to run into at least a few people that I know or recognize. I guess it is quite possible that I am a little out of touch with the current customer base, or that most of my peer group has left the region.

-For the first time in a few years I have been using my 2001 iMac. Under normal circumstances one might thing that a computer of such an age would be less than ideal. The only thing that makes it tolerable is that my newer laptop has been pretty slow these past few months. If I use them both simultaneously, as I am doing now, I can manage to make better use of my time than if I only used one of the computers and was forced to wait for the various processing functions to take place.

The other fringe benefit of the iMac is that the built in speakers are of a much higher quality than those available on my laptop. This means that I can use my computer as a jukebox, which is surely a slightly lower order purpose than was originally intended by the designers.

-I keep meaning to head to the QEII library to do some preparatory reading for my upcoming course of study. It seems that I just don't ever quite have the motivation to make it up there. Eventually I will have to do this, and sooner really would be better than later. Presumably I should also email my supervisor-to-be to get some suggested readings. Again, sooner rather than later would be better.

-Yesterday, while conducting a major junk removal operation in my closet, I found a certificate affirming my Texas residency. It seems that all one needs to do to be a resident of Texas is write that one has the intent of some day moving to Texas, and then visit the state on an annual basis.

As I haven't even visited the state once I presume that my residency status has lapsed, but that it could be renewed by another written commitment. Unfortunately, I don't think that I will be able to honestly write such a statement at this time.

-I feel that this post may be slightly more scatter-brained than most. Hopefully it is at least marginally coherent. Maybe if Neil decided to post now and again he could provide some content that is slightly less muddled.

Sint Maarten: Day 4

While my father was at school to give his second lecture, I was busy doing our laundry.

I quickly learned why they charged $4.00 a load for laundry, which is because they only have commercial washers, each of which is able to hold two or more normal loads. These washers seem to be able to take about twice the load that a typical washer is capable of handling. Fortunately, the driers are also commercial size and therefore able to handle in a single load the same quantity of laundry that can be washed by the washers.

One thing that I noticed while I was transferring the laundry from the washer to the drier was that I managed to forget a number of my own clothing items. Most notably, I forgot to wash my swimming costume and the shirt that I have been wearing to the beach (likely the two dirtiest items of clothing in my possession). I was able to remember all of the other key pieces of laundry.

The only problem, that I have noticed so far, is that one pair of my fathers pants came out completely covered in lint. Though I tried to shake them off I wasn’t really able to make much progress and they are still pretty bad looking. Hopefully he knows how the stuff without an additional washing, or he doesn’t need them until they can be washed again.

After my father’s school related activities, and then a quick lunch, we went on the hunt for diving fins. After checking at a diving shop we ended up making a purchase at the same place where we had previously purchased a mask and snorkel. The main deciding factor was that the fins at the latter shop were adjustable, making them usable by a wider number of people.

With fins in hand we went back to Baie Rouge, the location we scouted the previous day. The waves, which had been sizeable yesterday, were quite reasonable today. Without much trouble we made our way around the rocky out cropping and towards the intended destination. The only problem that we had was that we couldn’t really tell when we were at the spot as the water was loaded with so much sand that visibility was significantly reduced. After a fair test and a bit of drift and watching we returned to the beach having seen a few fish, though many less than we expected.

After another Carib from Gus’s Beach Bar we made our way back to Mullet Beach where we again strapped on our flipped and masks and entered the water. Immediately we noticed an appreciable difference between the visibilities at the two sites, with the latter being much better. We soon were both able to see all kinds of fish, both larger and more colourful than during previous outings. Furthermore, the water was of a more uniform temperature, meaning fewer cold spots to contend with while drifting along.

As Mullet Beach is within walking distance, and as it is pretty good snorkeling, it is likely that we will be back here at least a few more times before we head off.

The major problem posed by visits to the beaches seem to be the resulting sand problem. Unlike when visiting sandy beaches at lakes, this sand seems to go everywhere and then want to stay. Even after a shower and a shampooing of my hair my head is still quite covered in sand. The most effective removal method I have yet come across is to brush my hair with the narrowly spaced tines of my comb. With each stroke I am able to remove some number of grains of sand, though never all of them.

Another problem, though much less troublesome, is that while swimming in the ocean one tends to have salt water in their mouth. While this is not the end of the world it is certainly less than pleasant. Fortunately, this problem can be easily rectified by the drinking of a beer or two.

******

While I am able to get some internet access each day it seems that we might still be some time away from having full internet access at our apartment.

The sudden departure of the IT guy and the appearance of a new class have likely slowed down movement on this front. The only good news, from our perspective, is that just when we arrived a few days ago so too did an IT consultant. Hopefully her presence will mean the smooth transition from one regime to another.

******

We were both quite hungry by the time we made it back to our apartment after our trip to two beaches and a number of commercial outlets. Fortunately, we were able to relatively quickly prepare a meal from groceries that we purchased a day or so ago.

While the meal that we did end up preparing was nothing fancy, it was satisfying. Each of us had a pork chop along with white rice, boiled and buttered carrots, and brocoflower (some kind of broccoli/cauliflower vegetable). For desert my father had a tangerine while had another helping of rice along with two brocoflower sprigs.

It is likely that we will kill off most of our remaining vegetables tomorrow, necessitating another trip to the grocery store. The positive aspect of this is that we will have a very satisfactory lunch and the chance to select a new range of groceries from the store (and maybe even visit a new grocery store).

******

As we just finished a relatively satisfactory meal and are now completing various computorological errands it is likely that we will keep things quiet for the rest of the evening. Ideally, this might mean that we play a game or two of rummy and sit on the balcony drinking Caribs straight from the bottle.

Sint Maarten: Day 3

After a breakfast of some scrambled eggs and toast my father went to the main building to give his first lecture. While my father was working I stayed at home and read, an activity I find quite pleasant.

While out walking this morning I spotted several lizards along the side of the road. The first that saw was so small that I first thought it might have been a grasshopper (or some local equivalent). Only on closer inspection was I able to confirm that it was actually an inch and a half long lizard. Shortly thereafter I saw several other brown lizards, all about six to eight inches long. For the most part, these lizards, in attempting to flee from me, drew attention to themselves. One of them, fortunately, stayed still long enough for me to get a picture.

----------------------------------------

Since our arrival we had been hoping to make operative our apartment’s internet connection. As we arrived on a holiday weekend we were aware that there would likely be a delay of several days, but we both imagined that by some point on Monday would be would able email and Skype from the comfort of our fourth floor apartment.

It seems that at some point this weekend the resident IT specialist at the university decided to quit, and subsequently left the island. Not only does this mean that we likely won’t be online in the coming days, but that all but two computers at the school are offline. Surprisingly, though it may have been a catalyst for the staff member’s untimely departure, there is an external IT consultant on campus for the coming weeks. Hopefully her presence will help get things back on track in the very near future.

Until then it is likely that we will have to take advantage of a casino based internet connection that we spotted last night while dining.

A Few Quick Notes 172

-Today has been quite pleasant. While the temperature would definitely be considered warm, I would not go so far as to say it has been oppressive. Possibly the most important aspect of the weather has been the fairly persistent breeze that has helped to keep things quite comfortable.

-Several days ago, just after I posted several videos of the scene before the recent Montreal Hockey Riot, I was the Canada-based YouTube contributor with the 66th most viewed content for the day. One of the videos was viewed more than 2000 times in just over a day. What is funniest about all of this is that the videos that I would consider the best are among the least viewed of the batch, while those that are close to unwatchable are the most viewed.

-Today I managed to make some coffee that was drinkable. This is good as I wasn’t able to find a place to buy prepared coffee and it also is a cost saving measure. Maybe I will be able to transfer my newly acquire skills back to Newfoundland, though I think this is highly unlikely.

-While walking next to a golf course today I was only a few feet away from being bonking on the head by a falling coconut. While it is likely that such an occurrence would make a good story, it is certainly a story that I am quite willing to live without.

-On Saturday, while on a lay over in Dulles, my father and I were talking about features, or lack thereof, of the airport. The general consensus seemed to be that there wasn’t anything all that special about the airport. Though my father did point out that unlike most major American airports, it did have a bird.

I turned around and saw that there was in fact a small bird perched on one of the signs. Shortly after we turned around to look at it, and certainly before I had a chance to pull out my camera, it flew away.

I know wonder if the bird is a permanent resident of the airport, or if it was just a short-term visitor. I guess if other people travel through the airport they could keep an eye out for the bird and let me know if they too see it.

-While traveling I started a new George Saunders book. So far, though I have only read about three of the stories, I have been quite impressed with the content, which is both funny and insightful.

-So far I seem to have continued my recently acquire habit of eating less than I should. Hopefully I will be able to rectify the problem shortly. The likely impediment to this situation is that the grocery options in Sint Marteen are much less impressive than I would have imagined. It seems that much of the food, even the tropical fruits, are imported rather than grown locally.

-Sorry for the posting shortage of these past few days. Though I didn’t have all that much on my plate I didn’t seem to find the time for communication.

It should also be noted, for purposes of full disclosure, that my watching of the TV series The Wire took much of my time and energy and was likely in part responsible for my lack of posting and emailing. Hopefully I will be able to divide my coming days that allow me to sight-see, post, email, and read (and maybe even eat and sleep).

-The computer and software that I am using are quite old and don’t seem to interact very well with Blogger or Gmail. This means that there may be problems with some of these posts, particularly the tags. Sorry if this causes any problems. Hopefully I will be on my own computer, or my father’s, in the coming days.

A Few Quick Notes 101

-Today has been a very strange day in St. John’s. I awoke to a blue sky and what looked like a beautiful day. By about 10:00 I was certain that it was going to pour. By 12:00 it was dry and even more beautiful than earlier in the morning. A few minutes later it was raining, though still bright and sunny. Now it is relatively clear and dry. The only constant throughout the day was wind, which was unrelenting.

-I don’t have a bun in the oven, but I do have two loaves of bread there. Three have been completed and there are 5 more to go.

Not only have I made a significantly larger batch of bread than last week, I have also do this with less freezer space. I am sure that I will be able to figure something out.

-This afternoon my sister and I cleaned my laptop keyboard with cotton swabs and window cleaner. While it doesn’t have the typed on feel, it does look much more presentable. I think it is now clean enough that I won’t be embarrassed when I open it in front of people who are not family members.

-Leaves are finally visible on most trees, though only in a few cases fully formed. I guess the next step is for these newly formed leaves to be consumed by elm span worms.