A momentary panic

I had updated all the drivers on my netbook, rebooted, and ran the machine for at least an hour, with no problems. After I was done, it was shut down normally. Went to go boot back up, and all I got was the green power light, and a black screen.

Powered down, and tried again. Same thing.

10 deep breaths, went to other computer and logged on, and did some surfing. Turns out one of the needed driver updates twigged the bios, so I had to reflash it. I tell ya, they don't make finding the fixes easy.

All is well, Mini-Me is once again fully functional.

Oh well.. it had to end sometime

Aikidomayland is due home any minute now. I didn't get as much done as I had wanted to, but what I did get done was needed, and is a major improvement.

Got a bit of gardening work done too. Got a bag of Sheep Poo from Meegan. I had asked her why my lime tree was looking so peaked. Nitrogen level was too low. So, layered 4 cms of of SP into the pot. Then gave all my acidy plants some (tomatoes, chilies, etc) a goodly layer. Will water them tomorrow.

I have invented a new game for Ziggy

And she really likes it, and it's a way to keep her from gnawing on plastic (if she can find it)

She likes tissue paper, the kind glassware is packed in. Found out by accident, and her shredding it to confetti! I dragged one of her tease toys under the paper and she either snow plows after it (butt up in the air, front feet completely extended, paws spread out wide) or submarines under it.

Here she is playing in some. And who says Purple and Orange don't go together.

Strange feeling Saturday

I am such a creature of habit.Three computers I've had, all three look like clones of each other (desktop, software etc).

Saturdays are for Tai Chi and pillaging. Feels odd coming home from Tai Chi without pillaging. Gave me time to get more done before Aikidomayland gets back from Aikido Winter Camp.

With the help of Alan, I managed to nail down that it was, without any doubt now, the 2 Gig Corsair chip. Not a software conflict. Now it's a matter of waiting for it to arrive.

Overhaul, a little at a time

Poor Aikidomayland . He will come home from Aikido Camp, look around at the tidiness. And then I will say to him "If you can tell me what I threw away, I will admit we needed it." again

Argh and ok

Argh: my eyes were feeling much better... almost 100% back to normal. Until a lawn mowing service attacked a neighbors yard. *gropes around for eyedrops again*

Argh: ShadoutCarver had a severe allergy attack, and had to go see doc. She in on inhalers and steroids, but will be ok.

Ok: ShadoutCarver will be ok, and got to see her Un-grandon (I call her GranMa by proxy as her best friends just because grandparents)

Ok: Alan helped me overhaul kitchen cupboard/pantry. The last time that was done was exactly 2 days before I was admitted into the ER*, trying to claw my way up walls. Also cleared out the corner next to the stove top. Must educate Aikidomayland on the eating and living habits of pantry moths. One does not leave an open bag of pecans behind the spice rack. *sigh* Threw out so many things that were dated 2006*. Funny that.

Ok: Alan knows that the chances are pretty good that I am going to be stiff and sore from having to stay in a half bent over position for the 90 mins it took to sort, toss, scrub and re-orgainise the pantry. He is ok with that, and is helping out. He also passed 4 of his CISCO tests. Has 4 left to go.

Peace and quiet

Well, it's quiet here. Aikidomayland is away at an Aikido workshop in Margaret River, thereby answering my question of "How can I miss you, if you won't go away?"

Went pillaging today, shocking the heck out of the store keepers who are used to seeing us on Saturdays. Was funny explaining the same thing to the butcher, the chicken vendor, and the veggie market owner.

Went to the Fremantle Police station, and carefully, in small words, explained that my son was hit by a car, the police told us they would get in contact with us... and we have heard nothing at all. The very nice cadet at the desk went all out to find out all the information we needed. We have a form to file out, describing the accident, and as much detail about the schmuck that ran into Alan. The Cadet was rather surprised that the man who it Alan didn't give us any information, and that neither did the police on the scene. Well, regardless, we will fill out as much information as possible, as we know the police did fill out an incident report.

It was a dark and....peaceful night

Of course, Aikidomayland has sent me 3 text messages so far. And he is the one worried that I will be too dependent on him. Sorry, luv, but I am not one of those "I can't live without you." sorta gals. I managed to live without you for mumblty mumblty years, so a few nights alone isn't going to rattle my cage.

I am fairy certain that Ziggy, Keito and Loki are going to attempt to take over the bed, but with only one human in it, there will be plenty of room for all. Unless they all three decide to stretch out to their full lengths, including the tails straight out. If they do that, I will know they understand what sarcasm is.

Got some interesting Ebay-age today. I got a working vintage stainless steel percolator in perfect pristine condition. We seem to go through modern percolators at the rate of one every 1 to 3 years. (The Delonghi percolator lasted the longest, at over 3 years. And of course we can't find another one. Model discontinued. Of course it was discontinued. It was a good design and worked quite well.) I am betting that the older ones are better made, as my grandmother had one just like the one I got, and it was working even after she passes away. Chances are the person who bought it at her estate yard sale is still using it. Also replaced Alan's thumbdrive that got destroyed in the accident, and a few other household items.

I am such a nerd

Love my netbook, but using it can cause overheated lap, or ankles, and leaving it on the blanket can cause overheating, so I got this little gem for it.

Comes with 4 USB2 ports (I have a USB powered drive for data, ie photographs, letters, music, avi files, and other documents), and a small light. has a bit of storage under the mouse pad area on the right too.

Falling apart gate, 3rd thing on house repair list, done

Before. (and it looked worse from the back)

After.

Next on my list is the shade cloth running around two sides of the house. (Visible above the gate)

Most excellent

Just got phone call from Russell (aka Hire-A-Hubby). The parts of the fence and gate are put together, and he will be here tomorrow to install.

booRAH!

Amazing how much more sense Battlestar Galactica makes

When you watch it from the beginning, no missed episodes, no piss poor cut ins for commercial breaks, and not picking up where it left off prior to the commercial break.

There is the hindsight thing too.

But, I still agree with ShadoutCarver , and Jedi Nightwolf. The Galactica was the 'dying leader', not Roslyn.

It can be difficult to be 98.6 (or 37.5)

I headed by our bedroom yesterday, and I heard this squeak. I popped my head in, and heard "Help, I can't feel my legs." I walked to my side of the bed, and what I saw had me scampering out, getting my camera, and taking this shot.

Guess Ziggy found a good, consistantly warm spot to sleep.  And Aikidomayland  is too nice to move, as he told me he had been stuck in this position for over 20 minutes. *giggle*

Oh yeah, almost forgot

Made three sales on RedBubble yesterday. Definitely a weekend topper. :)

Gallery

Sunday

It was cool today, bordering on cold, enough to have to wear long sleeved shirt under T Shirt at the archery range today. Archery was a bit of a misery to me today. My right shoulder blade was hurting, and I don't know why. It just hurt, sometimes if I took a deep breath it would hurt even more. Maybe I sprained it(?).

Off to Foo Gwai for lunch. Pork Bun sacrifice to Akire-yta went off without a hitch. Got an odd look from someone at another table. *chuckle*

Came home and had a chat with Un-son, Robin's mom, Jean, about the tree that decided Mitosis was a good idea. Some of it fell over toward their yard. Have to get a tree lopper out here, remove the rest of the tree and to take down the dead wattle tree in the front. Get him to mulch em for us and spread it out in the front yard.

Office manager?

Ziggy, mistress of all she surveys.

A pillaging we went

After tai chi this morning. What surprised me is that we 'finished' learning the 108 different moves. That it's been 4 months already. We have graduated, and received a nifty blue T-shirt (just what I need, another shirt cut for a man's shape than a woman).

Aikidomayland is cooking a absolutely divine smelling green curry.

The issue with my left eye is persistent. I have gotten some more eye drops, as it seems if the eye is well lubricated, the blurry vision goes away. One of the tear ducts is a bit swollen because of allergies, so it's not keeping the eye 'teared up' enough. Might have to go seen an ophthalmologist if it doesn't clear up in about another week. Oh joy.

Maybe a bit of vanity

But I decided to update my default photo.

Not bad for an old broad. ;)

Storm damage so far

A tree decided to try mitosis... sort of, and split in half.

One end

The other end.

And the storm isn't over yet.

Fundies Say the Darnedest Things

[Question about the logic in light being created on the first day, but the sun being created on the fourth.]

The sun isn't the only source of light you know? Think of a cloudly day, there's light coming from somewhere.

fancier_rmv04, Yahoo! Answers 61 Comments [5/20/2009 3:01:04 PM]
Fundie Index: 40

WTF?! || meh

*facepalm* Makes me wonder if this person has to chant "In, Out, In, Out" to remember to breathe.

Eyes update

It's taken over a week, but the itching and redness has pretty much faded. I lucked out as the severe allergic reaction didn't flare into infection like it did a while back.

Ibuprofen with codeine helps with the itchy gritty feeling.  My only worry is the blurred vision in my left eye.  Optometrist  is hopeful that it's just due to the dry eyes because of the allergies. Will keep (no pun intended) an eye on it to see if it persists.

The Gap - Albany, Western Australia

The gap is a sheer drop to the waves crashing in far below, is an impressive sight, particularly during a winter storm, or any heavy weather.

I had to extend over the railing a bit to get a clear shot of the waves exploding on the granite cliffs. This is one of several photographs taken on a photoshoot road trip.

Lumix DMC-FZ30
Focal Length 14mm
35mm Focal Length 65
EXP 1/500 sec at f/8

Well, I was sort of right about what was causing the crashes

It did have something to do with the USB Webcam, but not the drivers or webcam itself. Plug the camera into one of the ports on the computer, no problem at all. However, if I use the USB Hub for the camera, BSOD. It seems the old USB hub and the camera just do not get along. It could be that either the port on the hub is bad, or that it's a USB 1 hub. Either way, easy enough to fix.. get a new hub.

Poor kitties. Loki came in this morning, pretty much soggy. He was so happy that I was wearing a terry cloth robe. Used the sleeves to dry him off. Then he insisted on checking the weather out the front door, only to find it just as wet and miserable.

Ziggy has been rather clingy, when not burrowed into the bottom of my costume rack. Poor kitty.

All fixed

Turns out it was a buggy webcam driver. Oy, such a small thing to cause such a problem.

Just one small thing

And it caused constant BSOD and memory core dump over and over. A program hung on installation. I ended up shutting down the computer normally before heading into dreamland. Now because of that, the darned thing kept having fatal errors and BSOD.

I had ERD Commander and between that and XP restore, I should be able to fix the problem.

Ziggy's favorite morning napping spot

95% Set up now

Acerchild is once again set up at the breakfast bar, with a USB hub, an external HD, USB HDTV dongle, and just about all the software installed now. I will be clearing the external drive of many things, as it was the 'old' one that I replaced with a 640 gig drive. The old one is a 250 gig drive, big enough for using as a data storage for the 'back up' computer. Once I cleared off all the Chuck, BSG, Dexter shows, I have 196 gigs free.

Ziggy is going nuts right now. It's the first time it has rained since we got her. I have the front door open and she is all agog. It's fun and funny watching her, as life as a pet is so much different than life in a cattery. Everything is brand new to her, even though she is going on 5 yrs old. :)

You know it's LiveJournal

When you keep getting Russian Spambots randomly adding you. 

That was nice

Heard from a very dear friend who had dropped off the radar for a while. Was wonderful talking to him, and getting caught up. I know his life has been pretty crazy, but I would send him emails, and other messages just to let him know he still had more than just fair weather friends. :) He said he appreciated it.

I didn't do it for that, though. I did it because I care.

But remember, I am mean, rotten, selfish and care for no one by myself.

Anyone buying that?.... anyone?.. anyone? Bueller?

Just about finished

Have installed Launch Manager, and Synaptics Touch pad drivers, and a few other Acer-Centric bits of software on AcerChild. I also had installed PCTools Firewall with Threatsense, and almost immediately started having problems with core memory dump and BSOD. Boot in safe mode, uninstalled Threatsense, and all is well again. Not too chuffed about relying on just Windows Firewall, so will keep the PCTools one running unless I have more problems.

Mega giggage transfer time down to 4 hours (plus a few minutes) but that is MicroSoft hours.

16 (or more) hours?

That is what Windows is reporting that it will take to transfer 239 gigs from one external hard drive to another. Shifting everything to a larger hd and will use the 'small' one for Acerchild. To speed things up, I decided to let AcerRacer just run with the transfer and use other computer to prevent slowdowns.

I took BunnyM's advice and just uninstalled all of McCafee Security Suite, since I don't use it, and it's just taking up space. There is also the habit that the software has of just deleting files it claims are viruses, and not allowing user (moi) to select what action to take.

Eyes are still a bit wonky, the left eye more than the right. If I keep the windows closed, the dry air, and pet fur make them itch. If I open the window, the cool fresh air soothes... for about 15 minutes, and then the pollen from the wattles and other trees get things itching again.

Tai Chi is scheduled for tonight. Want to go, but the last thing my eyes need is exposure to 6 or more different vile colognes/perfumes that the older women there seem to marinate themselves in. I so want to tell them that the 250ml bottle of scent they get is NOT a single dose bottle.

*sigh of relief*

Alan is off to TAFE again. His right knee is still a bit off, but he feels well enough to head on back with no prompting. It has only been a little over two weeks. I guess the young do heal fast.

That seemed to have helped

Taking some time off from the archery range was a good idea. I am still using eye drops for itching and dryness, but no where near as much.

Met Bunny_M at Foo Gwai with Aikidomayland . Much munching, and a triple porkbun sacrifice to Akire-yta! *urp*

Bunny_M followed us back so he could introduce himself to the three fuzzballs. Keito hid, like usual, Loki came out can claimed him, again as usual, and Ziggy watched him and deigned to let him touch her. I think they bonded over the ant that was on the rug (He pointed it out to her, and she stalked it)

Not going to archery today

Eyes are better, but still a bit twitchy. Last thing I need is a dose of pollen and fine dust.

Star Trek 11, that movie just rocked the house!

SPOILERS

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What I really liked is because of Nero getting sent through black hole, changing the timeline, making an alternate reality, it opens up new possibilities for Star Trek. I am so frigging grateful that Berman had nothing to do with this one.

Had a bit of very quiet whispering session with Aikidomayland as he kept saying at the beginning of the movie "I though his name was JAMES, not George." (*facepalm*) Once I gave him a 30 second synopsis, he finally stopped chattering.

Characters: Urban was great as McCoy. He had the attitude and behavior down perfectly. The southern twang needs some work. I still detected a bit of Kiwi accent in there, but as ShadoutCarver and I said "Better a generic American accent, than a bad southern one."

Quinto: fan-fucking-tastic as Spock. Even to the point of how he exploded and tried to throttle Kirk for insulting his Momma.

Ben Cross as Sarek.... well, he really wasn't a big presence so will wait. But I did like how he counseled Spock to NOT bury his anger about his mother being murdered.

Pine had the Kirk swagger down perfectly at the end. I liked how he was a delinquent as a kid, but how 'Pike' used that to his advantage. Greenwood as Pike was good choice too. Oh yeah, to all the people that say "There are no cliffs or canyons in Iowa!" it wasn't a canyon or cliff. It was a quarry, a mine.

Simon Peg: perfect Scotty. Ebullient and knows what he knows. Still wonder what happened to Admiral Archer's prize beagle. Here's hoping they fix that 'don't move' problem with the transporters.

Cho: Hand to hand combat training. When questioned by Kirk he replies "Fencing". Loved the 'omigodwearesogonnadie' look Kirk shoots him. Nice sword work there.

Small aside: Olsen, the guy space jumping with Kirk and Sulu to shut down the drill.... the one who get toasted by the drill. I guess you shouldn't space jump with a red suit, as beaming isn't the only danger if you are wearing a red suit.

Zoe Saldana: Great choice for Uhura. No nonsense, strong and very able to stand up for what she believes is right.

Anton Yelchin: *giggle* "Wictor Wictor". Perfect. Some things were left just the way they originally were.

Nimoy as Spock of Future tossed into the past: What can I say, but bravo. The meeting between Spock and younger Spock tied up the future and past wonderfully, and again, leaves opportunities for new Star Trek story lines.

Oh yeah, to all the people that say "There are no cliffs or canyons in Iowa!" it wasn't a canyon or cliff. It was a quarry, a mine.

Star Trek 11

Not going to spoil, or go into a detailed review, but I have to say this much. The movie RAWKED. Even Aikidomayland liked it! I was surprised that he did, as he tends to be a purist when it comes to Star Trek.

And, on advise of ShadoutCarver, we stayed until the very end of the credits. Was worth it.

Hoping to go to archery tomorrow, but not too sure. Eyes are still playing up, red and itchy. Last thing I need is to have them irritated more by dust and even more pollen.

Saturday night at the movies

Aikidomayland has finally taken me to see Star Trek (2009). We ended up getting here too early, so am taking the time to answer email, and to keep myself occupied. There isn't much to do at Garden City Hoyts unless you are interested in loud obnoxious kids and video games.

Went to one of our favorite 'hole in the wall' cafe for dinner. Hawker's Cafe makes the best Hor Fun.

Alan was really nice. He gave us two of his cinema tickets for tonight. I read the 'conditions' as we walked in. Can't be used after 5pm on Saturdays. Oh well, use them for another time, as they don't have an expiration date (they are supposed to but the person selling them to Meegan forgot to put a USE BY date.)

Oddness earlier today. Heard a cat fight somewhere out in the front yard. Keito, Loki and Ziggy all dashed to the center area of the house, all three at high alert. Guess they wanted to make sure their territory hadn't been invaded and if it had, they were ready to defend.

A quiet Friday night for me

Aikidomayland is going to a buddy's house for an RPG session. I am all for it. How else can I miss him if he doesn't go away?

As I pointed out to my friend..

I gave ShadoutCarver link to the Dreamwidth blog. She noticed it had a helluva resemblance to LJ. Yes, I am a creature of habit. I find something I like, and I stick with it. That and I do think that black text on a white background is easier to read.

Saw the optomitist today

Went to get my new contacts (yes, the close vision on one eye, distance on the other) and showed him how red my eyes have been. Related to him that my eyes get red and dry the day after I wear my contacts. He gave me some super duper eye moistening drops to use whether I am wearing contacts or glasses.

I also told him about the difficulty seeing clearly while wearing my glasses. He took a look, and agreed I do have dry eyes. He says both of the problems could very well due to allergy season. Oh fun.

Psssst!

Japester , thanks for the GMT conversion for me.

Do computers commune with each other?

Yesterday, I pretty much finished off installing software and updates on Acerchild, AcerRacer started acting up. Do computers get jealous when their users has the audacity to use a different machine? Tron, are you in there?

Now I am getting annoyed

Two weeks ago, Alan was hit by a car that ran a stop sign. A week ago, we called the police station to get a copy of the 'incident report'. We were told that someone there would get a hold of us. Still nothing, and trying to call them has resulted in nothing but a continuous busy signal. (For my US buddies and family, we have to call the 'non emergency number' to talk to someone.)

We can't proceed with recouping medical costs (medications, bandaging, out of pocket expenses for doctor's visits) and getting the e-bike replaced.

Ok, I admit, I am not annoyed. I am pissed off. The police seem to be better at setting up speed cameras then following up on someone almost getting run over. OH yeah, forgot. Someone getting run over doesn't line the coffers.

Just about finished with the refit

The refit of Acerhild is almost finished. All I have left to install are a few of my graphics programs and maybe the USB digital TV device and software. Will probably make a new partition though, separate program files from data files. Yeah, I think that is a good idea.

Oh yeah, copy my music over, too.

Yay for Tai Chi

Lavinia is a great instructor. I finally got a segment that has been tripping me up on the Saturday session. Not deriding David, but I have a feeling there are many repeat beginners in Dave's class so things are moved along faster than they should be for us 'real' beginners.

I can really feel it in my left ankle, going up to the knee on the side, the trouble spot. Here's hoping it's not just aches and pains, but will build up strength.

The Acer Family

Is once again complete.

I had a friend (H.T. to Ben!) swap out the dodgy hard drive, and install the OS, driver updates etc etc. Next it will be put on a card table with the USB hub plugged into it, and have the other programs needed installed.

Baa baaa baaa

Imported my LJ to Dreamwidth in with little or no fuss. Only allows 6 user icons, but hopefully that will change.

I have been wandering around Dreamwidth, and it's like what LJ used to be before it shifted to anyone could make a free blog. Not against anyone doing so, but the spam bots, the pornbots, the massively anal new rules and regs that showed up on a whim... well, the LJ admins will only have themselves to blame when paid users vamoose.

Well, that didn't take so long

Keito, Ziggy and Loki bunk down for the night.

Keito was snoozing, and then Ziggy jumped up. Keito chirped at her, and then laid back down. Shortly after she curled up, Loki came sauntering in, and hopped up. Ziggy squeaked at him in protest. He just looked at her, deliberately turned his back on her, groomed for a bit, and then curled up for a snooze.

Poor Aikidomayland . He has to wriggle his jammies out from under them.

We have only had Ziggy for a shade over 2 months. And yes, she is full grown, but tiny.

Grrrr

Idiots who make websites that have light gray text on a white background should be publicly flogged!

Primeval

This weeks episode .. well.. it ws too much like the late Michael Crichtons' 'Time Line".

This episode only had one redeeming moment. When Conner went to get Rex, he demanded it. Smarmy smart-assed kid said "You and what army?". Conner steps back and lo and behold, three armed soldiers. "Them, actually."

Other than that... meh.

Mother's day?

Sort of.

After archery today, we went to Subiaco to exchange my terry cloth robe for the right size. (Aikidomayland 's heart was in the right place, but sizes are kinda beyond his ken). We pulled into the car park, and went to the ticket machine only to find it out of order. I took photographs of the ticket station, just in case the parking patrol tried to lay a ticket on us.

We had some lunch, and saw t patrol going by, and Aikidomayland mentioned to them the station was out of order. They said they knew, and went their merry way. We were about a whopping 3 minutes behind them, only to see them writing a parking ticket for our f&cking car! Their excuse: parked facing the wrong direction. There WAS no direction. And we were parked the exact same way three other vehicles had been parked. She tried to say that if we pulled out and got into a head on collision, the council would have been liable. That is a load of bullshit. She also claimed she didn t 'see' any other cars facing the wrong direction. Funny thing is one of the pulled away while she was ticketing our car. I told Aikidomayland they were looking for any excuse to rake in parking fines, since anyone parked there could say they couldn't get a ticket from the machine.

Aikidomayland is going to fight the $50 fine. I would too.

Then headed over to An's house to take her out for coffee. Mostly just to get her out of the house for a while. Someone needs to sit her down and tell her that the "Today Tonight" show isn't gospel, and should be held suspect. It's not quite as bad as FOX news in the US, but it's a polite runner up.

Yay for the clout shoot!

Evrything was set up for the clout shoot. I feel as if I sort of cheated as I am the only barebow/longbow user, so will take first place again. On the down side, some moron wasn't listening when he was told to LOOK DOWN when walking, and snapped one of my arrow. I shot quite well, at 125 meters.

The joy of cooking

Went to Tai chi today. And the two particular moves I was worried about falling on my ass... well, just call me Cassandra. I told Aikidomayland I would, and he didn't believe me. Damned left leg just not cooperative. Going to go to the Monday and Wednesday classes to see if I can build up some stability in it.

Aikidomayland 's turn tonight (as he does just about every Saturday). This time, seafood curry, with a mint garnish. Oh my, was it great.

Seeing as we have been noshing on fish and seafood for almost a solid week, I will be making some chili. Have all the ingredients, and bonus, some fresh chilies from the garden.

Tomorrow there is supposed to be a clout shoot, and I am hoping it's actually going to happen.

Come over to the Dark Side! We have cookies!

After getting and seriously using the Acer Aspire One netbook, in place of my Pocket PC, and the glowing praises of it's superiority over the Pocket PC, a good friend of mine, ShadoutCarver, decided to get one.

Gonna walk her through removing or disabling the trial software, and unwanted programs (Office 2007, McAfee and a few others) , and how to use Daemon Lite Tools, so she can make image files of CDs  on her main computer, use a thumb drive to mount the image, and run them. (Yes, ShadoutCarver , it sounds more complicated than what it really is. And I will help.  :) ) Even if she has an external drive, it's too handy of a tool.

To Catch a Rainbow.

A small rainbow nestled in the palm of my hand.

I had taken the photograph, and it came out beautifully, But as this was a flight of fancy, catching a rainbow, I couldn’t leave the photo ‘as is’. Applied some filters, and some noise to make it more of an artwork than a photograph.

Result of putting some software through it's paces

I reported the error I kept getting, and could reproduce 100% of the time, to the software maker. I sent the crash file and the log file to him, and it turns out the problem is there, and it's for small resolution screens, like Netbooks. He is now working on it, and with the next release, that problem will be gone. I am one of the very few people who use this software on a netbook, so was happy to test, and give a review.

*nibble*

Chocolate needs no excuse.

Prototype page is active

I.P.A. Photographer webpage, first generation

Had to jog the grey cells

It's been a while since I have had to build a webpage from scratch. I would have had to go through all my installation archive CDs and DVDs, but the Stakka made that task a short one.

Found the software, a bit dated, but still very usable, and have been working on the website. I like making, and reading, webpages that are easy on the eyes, not overloaded with media or eyebending colors. It's looking good so far, but I will be rebuilding the Lightroom slide show. Or just changing the color scheme, and increasing the large thumbnail sizes.

I managed to get past the fear

I have an appointment with the optomitrist today, in about a half hour. I was rather scared about riding my e-scooter after what happened to Alan, seeing as the way to the optomotrist doesn't have a designated cycle lane. I have almost been sideswiped coming down Northlake Road once already.

Alan and I agree... if I get stopped and issued a fine, so be it. I would rather pay it, than get hit by an impatient driver.

Tonights menu

Stock pot full of seafood goodness.

Made 11 liters of New England style seafood chowder. Fresh barramundi, shrimp (prawns), and baby clams. Was thinking about tossing in some squid too, but I think the pot would have over flowed.

Did have a minor kitchen disaster, rectifiable. I turned my back on the stock pot for about 10 seconds to put my huge, heavy cutting board into the sink. Next thing I knew, the pot over boiled. I said many bad words, as all the fresh herbs were now on the stove top, rather than in the soup. Enter, stage left, one silicone scraper. Enter, stage right, sushi dish. Pretty much squeegee-ed the spilled out seasonings onto the dish, then back in the pot. I am so glad we have that glass top stove.

Also got in touch with Hire-A-Hubby. He is coming to get a deposit, and will commence on replacing that falling apart gate. I also have to show him where there is a bit of warping of the work he did last year. Don't want to wait until the front of the house needs a major repair again.

Ziggy, the bicious bicious huntwess!

Ziggy pounces on a wind up toy penguin. Manged to get her in mid leap, off the floor!

I'm not surprised

Alan had said on Friday that he would, accident be damned, definitely be going to TAFE on Monday! Yeah, ok.

Alarm went off this morning, I had my coffee, then went to go wake him up.

He groaned, tried to roll over and sit up, and got about 4 inches up before he groaned again, and said "I don't think so."

Anyone surprised? Anyone.... anyone?

Set the way back machine to 1994

Tonight, I had to cut my son's meat on his plate. Haven't had to do that since he was 6 yrs old.

It has come to my attention

That some people need a hobby.

That is all.

Yeah, like this makes perfect sense

Seems the reason the clout shoot keeps getting canceled is they can't find the clout equipment. Of course, they have only had 3 or 4 months to get everything ready. *sigh*

Went to Foo Gwai for light lunch. Pork Bun Sacrifice was performed to Aki-God . Picked up some squid 'to go' for Alan.

Clout shoot cancelled yet again

Not too sure why this time, but getting annoyed. Ended up bringing the wrong bow as I was planning on shooting clout not target shooting.

Finally got up the gumption

And went to the accident site, and took photographs. It hasn't rained, and there are 5 irregular stains on the road where Alan had been laid out. Kind of gave me a micro-freak out. More on that in a bit.

Alan is feeling much better. He is a bit 'hobbling around the house', but that's ok. If he needs pain meds, he asks and gets. None of that silly machismo crap Aikidomayland does (aka the suffering in not so much silence), and will take something if the pain is bad.

Back to the photographs

I will have to take another photograph of where he was coming down the hill, as some loose hair blew in front of the camera lens. But the others clearly show there is no obstruction of view, and you can see clearly up to the top of the hill. Yes, I know the accident was at night time, but the street lights there make it almost as bight as daytime there. And there is the clearly marked designated bike lane. As luck would have it, I even got photo of a bike rider coming down it! Too pic from inside our car, as Aikidomayland looked out, and you can still see up to the top of the hill.

Un-son, Robin came by to check on the 'stop sign'. Was nice visit. He said he can understand my 'hovering' right now.

I know this is irrational, and make no pretense otherwise, but I feel guilty that my son was hurt, that I wasn't there to prevent it, and can't 'make it all better'. And yes, I am very grateful that he is going to be ok, but for now, I will make sure he is ok, and all is taken care of for him until he feels back to normal, and hover... just a bit.

Alan updated

He is as stiff as an ironing board, ribs are aching, knees don't really want to bend, and he swears a blue streak when he changes the dressings on his knee, but he is going to be ok.

Was able to eat and didn't feel the slightest bit ill.

We called the police station to get a copy of the incident report, but were told the police will contact us. When we get that, chances are we ill have to find a lawyer. And that is where the fun will begin, right?

Some more Ziggy progress

I dumped a basket load of clean clothes from the dryer in the bed. Ziggy saw fit to 'make biscuits', re-arrange the laundry pile, and lay down on it.

Imagine my surprise when I spotted Loki and Ziggy napping together!

And then later, Aikidomayland taking a bit of a siesta too.

Not bad after a little over 2 months in her new forever home.