Tools vs Toys

Yesterday, I saw someone selling Bamboo Fun, Medium sized for an extremely reasonable price. After months of frustration with my old Graphire 3, I decided to get one. Got it home, uninstalled the Graphire, installed the Bamboo.

Turns out I was right, there was something not quite right between the Graphire and my main computer. I am beginning to wonder if my purchase curse had struck when I got the Graphire (no matter what I get, if I select it from the shelf/group/display, the first one is *always faulty*. Friends and family thought this was a joke until they saw it in action.) but I had medical issues that kept me from using it (eye infection, and two months after that, spinal problem).

Probably, but either way it's been resolved. So, I played around with the Bamboo, to get familiar with it, and am amazed at the quality and sensitivity of it. I just did a few scribbles, doodles and random lines to see how the controls worked. Then I did a few simple line drawings. Nothing major, but I wanted to see just how well it performed.

I see this definitely going to my photography "Tools" list.

The Ladies of SciFi, SupaNova 2008

Jewel Staite, aka Kaylee in "FireFly" and Dr. Jennifer Keller in "Stargate: Atlantis"

Kandyse McClure aka Officer Anastasia Dualla in "Battlestar Galactica"

The first lady of SciFi, Nichelle Nichols, aka the indefatigable "Lt. Uhura" of Star Trek. When I grow up, I want to be just like her!

Jewel and Kandyse say g'bye.

I had a lot of fun there. I really went to see Nichelle, as the last time I had gotten to speak to her there was a 19 in front of the year. She is ever a lady of grace.

A Vertical View

One of the  Perth Towers, Full Moon , foggy night causing a double halo effect round the the full moon.

*Grumble*

I like 10HD. I really do. But do they have to keep repeating the same things over and over and over and over and over and over and over?

Loki is most miffed

Pouring rain outside of ALL the doors. It must be my fault. That nose wrinkled in disgust and laser look shot my way speaks volumes.

*dusting flour off my apron*

Yes, I have an apron.

What? You expected frills?

Moving on.

With the onset of cooler weather, baking has become a more common activity. Today, I made about a dozen small apple turnovers. aikidomayland and Alan were most appreciative of a homemade 'zert. Let's see if their appreciation extends to one of them doing the dishes tonight. >:)

Meme

via Drhoz

Based on the lj interests lists of those who share my more unusual interests, the interests suggestion meme thinks I might be interested in
1. steven brust score: 7
2. emma bull score: 5
3. ballroom dance score: 4
4. steven erikson score: 4
5. guardians of the flame score: 4
6. iaido score: 4
7. andre norton score: 4
8. b5 score: 4
9. cheapass games score: 4
10. diane duane score: 4
11. megaliths score: 3
12. princeton score: 3
13. patricia c. wrede score: 3
14. sword making score: 3
15. tanith lee score: 3
16. patricia wrede score: 3
17. tribal costuming score: 3
18. robert a. heinlein score: 3
19. tony hillerman score: 3
20. deryni score: 3

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4 kittens, 1 roll of toilet paper

Silly Kittens

Well that didn't take long

Fanatical Fundies have crawled out of the woodwork, quoting passages from their neatly trimmed to fit bibles, proving that George Carlins' death was Wrath of God for mocking religion and mocking God. Fundies aren't the majority. Just the noisiest.

I made a statement: "Your God took almost 50 yrs to punish George for his irreverence? His aim is worse than Star Wars storm troopers."

I think I heard their widdle bwains impwode.

Most people found him funny.

I checked the numbers again, another 10k people, and the averages are still the same.

hey

Hey, akire-yta!

Reference to a post you did a while ago. *snrk*

more cat pictures

Nooooooo!

Grammy-winning comedian George Carlin has died, The Associated Press reports.

Comedian George Carlin dead at age 71
6/23/2008, 1:53 a.m. CDT
The Associated Press         

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — A publicist for George Carlin says the legendary comedian has died of heart failure at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif.

Jeff Abraham says Carlin went into St. John's Hospital on Sunday afternoon, complaining of chest pain. Carlin died at 5:55 p.m. PDT. He was 71.

And there was much comraderie

Went to archery today, and was prepared to ignore DimJim and his ranting. As luck would have it, he was busy with a new group of beginners. Brought both of my hunnish bows, so D'Arcy could try one out. He wants to buy the 'spare'. I am amenable.

Went to Foo Gwai, where we met up with  Japester, Dormant Dragon, Kae-dash and Ryan.  Great conversation over excellent nosh. What was amazing was a 6 way pork bun sacrifice to akire-yta!  We then sampled all the 'zerts. Yum.  Have to get together more often.

Sent Ryan an email listing PC tweaks to speed up his computer. If he isn't computer saavy it won't matter, because I laid it out in easy step by step instructions. Geeks rule.

Got some good news, got some bad news and thens some more good news

aikidomayland, at my insistance, finally made appointment for a stress test, and some blood work.  

The stress test was ok. His blood pressure was a mite bit high, but still within 'normal' range. Even though they increased the degree of incline on the treadmill, his heart rate would not go above 180. But he didn't get short of breath. Tester said he was in great shape, very fit.

Today we saw Dr N.  to discuss the results of aikidomayland's blood tests. BG is very good, thyroid is very good, kidneys working fine, Uric acid up a bit, but the men in his family are predisposed to it, and it sometimes develops into gout if precautions not taken. Doesn't mean he will get it, but he had the trait.  HDLs were low end of average(1.7).

His LDLs. Even Dr N's eyebrows shot up when he read the results. 7.9. Normal range is 4.4. Hells bells even mine is only 4.8  With his diet and exercise/activity level and level of fitness, he should have been 3.x. This 7.9 is beyond shocking. Dr N told him it's not diet related. He knows what we eat, as I gave him a detailed list back when I was being diagnosed with thyroid problems. I even fessed up about Magnum Mini's for dessert every once in a while.  Dr N said with aikidomayland diet, and exercise regime, it had to be genetic quirk causing enzyme problem in the liver. This is pretty much a given, considering Pop's medical history and his cause of death.

The good news is that by taking one small tablet a day (gotten after the appointment and taken upon arriving at home), a fish oil capsule will control it. Dr N said he was lucky that I pestered him to get some tests done when I did. If he had let this go and go for years, he would be candidate for either a stint, or bypass surgery in his future, if he didn't fall over of a heart attack.

Dr N had to lecture aikidomayland about it, because he was thinking take meds for 3 months, and then quit. He was informed that it would be a permanent feature, unless somewhere down the road new treatments are found.

Catching your pet with odd facial expressions.

Loki just started yawning. *snrk*

"I am not amused."

Let me 'splain. No, would take too long. Let me sum up.

Good news is my friend who was in danger of losing his job because of psycho manager is still employed. Seems after he snapped and yelled back at her, and was told he wasn't to come back on the premises until the 'performance review', the psycho manager locked herself in her office and cried for two hours straight. At the review, she admitted she mishandled the situation and was at fault for the dust up. But (you knew that was coming) he now has a 'final warning' write up. At least he can look for work while not worrying about paying the bills.

Went to the gym last night. Some gym bunnies were reading magazines, yakking, and socialising on the recumbent bikes. So, I stupidly decided, instead of waiting, to try the rowing machine again. Bad move. After 10 reps, it felt as if the scar tissue had torn. Oh ouch. Bunnies finally left, flouncing and retouching their make up, and I got to use the bike. Was only able to do half my usual time on it. Did manage to do full work out with weight machines.

Why won't people *read*?

New release of Firefox version 3 web browser. When you go to the download page, it tells you to back up your profile first, as a safety precaution, and that many, if not all, of your current addons that work with FFv2 will not work with version FFv3. It is because the writers of the addons want to wait for the final release before making any changes. The way around this (as i have posted time and time again) is to make sure the Nightly Tester addon is installed, so you can force FFv3 to use the current addons.

There have been dozens of "Whine whine, Firefox isn't working! My addons aren't working!"

I have posted again and again, get Nightly Tester, make them compatible, and then wait for updates. Does anyone read or pay attention?

Legendary dancer Cyd Charisse dies

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Cyd Charisse, the long-legged Texas beauty who danced with the Ballet Russe as a teenager and starred in MGM musicals with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, died Tuesday. She was 86.

MMmmmm warm

5 Fuji apples just  sitting on the counter.  Rummage in cupboards. Got all the proper ingredients.

Now, there is 8 freshly baked apple turnovers... errr 7 *urp*.

Effects guru Stan Winston dies at 62

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Hollywood special-effects maestro Stan Winston has died at age 62.

The Oscar-winning visual effects artist died at his home Sunday evening surrounded by family after a seven-year struggle with multiple myeloma, according to a representative from Stan Winston Studio.

Winston won visual effects Oscars for 1986's "Aliens," 1992's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and 1993's "Jurassic Park."

Winston is survived by his wife, Karen, a son, daughter, brother and four grandchildren.

It's not just a fluke

Loki still likes to "Kuddle his Kow" when he sleeps.

Sitting in the luxury of lap

What a load of BS

A good friend of mine is probably going to lose his job.

Why? Because the manager of where he works is borderline psychotic. She didn't like how he handled a customer, so she started reaming him on the sales floor, with customers looking on. He put up with it for as long as he could and then he snapped and yelled back.

Her screaming and yelling at the "little people" aka staff other than her is a common occurrence. You can't even say hello or good morning to her without her yelling at you for screaming at her and to leave her alone.

So, after years of being verbally abused by her, he snapped. Now his job is on the line.

Woo hoo?

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

h.t. to drhoz

Tech Toys Revisited

Instead of dremelling the front of the stand, I decided to get a USB adaptor for the current headset I have. I blame migraine wanna be for not thinking of that first.

Tech Toy

I got one of the Logitech ALTO laptop stands. I like not having to look down all the time when using it, and the room it frees up. What is odd though, is using a regular keyboard again. I have gotten so used to the slightly curved laptop keyboard, that I keep mistying every few words. I'm sure I will get used to it though.

Still feels weird.

Edit: Small glitch. My audio jacks are on the front edge of the laptop. Will have to get small dremel and put some holes in the front of the stand so I can use headphones.

Not a good day

Went to the gym last night, and did more than usual on the bike. Over 30 minutes this time around. Now that I found out the reason I was having such a problem with it was due to foot straps being too tight I have improved my time on the bike each time I go to the gym.  Extra weight on the weight machines too.

But today, while pillaging (aka grocery shopping) it was all I could do to finish it. I am quite sure if I had 100% of the feeling in my left leg it would have been hurting like hell. My back was spasming in a way that was telling me my left leg wasn't working quite right, and the right side of my back, and right leg were were protesting in full voice at having to take up the slack.

Then was the fun of putting things away. *wince* Have taken pain meds, something I have been trying to not do.  I really don't like giving in, but sometimes you just have to.

I am a firm believer in the wisdom of Groucho Marx

"Thirteen at a table is unlucky only when the hostess has only twelve chops."

A time capsule in a magazine

Omni Magazine, 1993

Work out

Went to the gym tonight. Did pretty well right until some guy who didn't realise that being a bit stinky at the gym is ok so he came marinated in LYNX (rhymes with stinks). *gasp wheeze* All hail Ventylin. Two quick draws on the inhaler and my lungs unlocked.

Pushed up the mini leg press up to 120 kgs with 2 legs, 60kgs with one, and did ok. Pushed all the other weight machines up 10 kgs. One of them I had to roll it back to the 'regular' weight.

Tired, dinner cooking, early night, I think.

Herb garden

Table top model

Front pot: Sweet basil and Bush basil
Left Pot: Coriander and Thyme
Right pot: Marjoram and Tarragon.

After constant fighting of snails I decided to do a table top herb garden. The table is under the overhang for now, as the weather was a bit wild, and I didn't want the new seedlings to get pounded by hard rain. Will be arranging the pots in a triangle, and put another taller pot in the center of them.

Also, tending them will keep the back ache from gardening away. And can move the garden around as needed.

Kinda down

Life goes on and the pain of someone gone gets pushed to the wayside. But it's only temporary. For some reason Pop's death is hitting hard today. Probably has to do with photography, and all the things I wanted to discuss with him and show him.

I hate dreary days. Not just the rain, but flat grey skies, dreary.

Not surprised.

-29 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

h.t. to purrdence

Zee guttarhz.. zey are CLEEEEAR!

Hire-A-Hubby Russell, and co worker Stubby cleaned and repaired the gutters. Not only that, they got rid of the leaves all around the carport and front door too. 8 garbage bags of leaves. He asked how many years it had been since they were cleared. I told him 6 months. He will come back tail end of November for another cleaning, and if they are that full again, we will be scheduled for cleaning every 4 months, instead of twice a year.

Have the estimates on the other home repairs. aikidomayland is a bit miffed at the price of repairs, but between less than $1000 to fix the problem vs 10k to remodel the front of the house if it's not done is a no brainer.

Time Slip, part 3

Here is aikidomayland as a small child sitting on the wishing well in King's Park. Take note of the palm tree to the right, and small gum trees to the left.

Fast forward to 2008, and here he is on the same well, minus the wrought iron frame. He, the gum trees and the palm tree have grown quite a bit.

Time slip, part 2

These two photographs really who how much Perth, Kings Park and hubby has changed in 30+ years

1974-ish

2008

Not only did the palm tree grow, but so did the city!

We are going to do the shoot again due the harsh lighting. There was a lot of harsh glare, so we are going to repeat it, but earlier in the day.

Time slip

30+ years ago, aikidomaylandhad some photos taken of him in Kings' Park, Perth. He wanted to get "updated" photographs to show now Perth and the park has changed.

Here's a sample:

aikidomayland, 30+ yrs ago, Swan River behind him

aikidomayland today, Swan River behind him.

You can see how much Perth and the park has changed. In my opinion, Hubby is still as cute now as he was then. :)

Lol-Loki-cat

Is there anything better

on a cold rainy day than a diagonally cut, warm grilled cheese sammich and a cup of soup for lunch?

Is quiet.. is good

aikidomayland is away at 'aikido camp'. There are some shodans to be graded.

Rain was insane today. Graham showed up to do some yard work, and go a lot done. Then the deluge hit, and I told him even though he was wearing wet weather gear, there was a difference between diligence and drowning and it was time to bag it. Front yard looks pretty good. Only things left to do is shift the bird of paradise plant, and to take the dracenea, which Graham says is still alive regardless of lack of leaves/fronds, out of the pot and put it in the ground. He said he will be back in 2 weeks to finish the back yard.