Quiet morning, with some good coffee, a sleeping dog, the laptop and the TV remote. Time to go and see how the rest of the world (sic) lives. Or, at least, those who get specialty programming on a weekend morning.
posted in education | Comments Off on After market afficionados | 278 words
Two dogs. A window on the world. People passing in the street. All that lacks is a translation of the the dialogue.
posted in music, technology | Comments Off on Setting up the iStudio | 252 words
Western society has a war on addictive products. Note that I did not employ the d___ word; there are others. As a recent adopter of iTech, might I request that we add a new one to the proscribed list: iTunes/iApps. Maudit (French for what ails the world) but it’s easy to say “Oh, that looks like fun! Only $1.99” and then wade into the swampy section of the iStore.
posted in humour | Comments Off on Need to just say no | 250 words
My life is proving to be circular. Forty years ago, I made a snap decision to enroll in summer school. The whole deal, including finding accommodations and transportation, in a very narrow window of opportunity. I did it, and set the lifeboat on a whole new course. Trivial pursuit question material. Anyhow.
posted in education | Comments Off on Locking in the summer plan | 255 words
My tendency to disambiguate (I LOVE that word) may have started with this phrase:
“My son!” one of the observers of the scene told me afterwards. “It were a wonnerful sight to see!”
posted in education | Comments Off on Never let the facts get in the way of the truth | 253 words
How do you handle leftover portions of food from your kitchen? Do you place the food on a plate, covered in a thin layer of plastic? Do you place the food in hermetically sealed plastic boxes, able to withstand the wind tunnel conditions of a modern frost-free refrigerator? Or do you convince the dog that he really does live in Paradise. Careful. The question is tricky, and the response laden with meaning. You could (unknowingly) be aligned with me, against me, or in the camp of the impartial observer.
posted in technology | Comments Off on TPE is similar to APE, only cheaper | 268 words
In the news, a woman in Ottawa has complained that the tax people wrongly took some of her money. In related news, that happens to just about everyone I know. The “victim” or “perpetrator” (all in your point of view) admits that she submitted paperwork that had errors. Songs in the key of life, anyone? I know, an easy to scoff story. Wouldn’t want it to happen to me, etc. Wait until someone slips the real news to this woman; unless she gets much, much richer, she’s going to have this kind of woe almost every year, from now until the year after she checks out. Sorry.
posted in pets, politics | Comments Off on The quietly optimistic dog | 274 words
Another taxing day over. The returns are in. In simplest terms, this is where”wow” gets rewritten, to “oww”. Yes, the salary looks promising, until you see the part that goes back to the source. I’m a public servant, and every cent I make is carefully filtered. Only the remains of a rich stream make it into my pail. Whole milk into skim.
posted in education | Comments Off on Turning wow into oww | 260 words
I have been very lucky. After watching a movie that used war as part of the plot line, it was a trigger for some reflection. As in, where I was at the age where too many have been thrown into the lion’s den.
posted in education | Comments Off on A simpler path | 262 words
About a year ago, we went to the Metropolis, for the fun of it. A chance to get out of the house, test our multilingualism and shop. A little. We’re not big shoppers. Along the way, after an afternoon of shopping for brass, I decided to add a MIDI controller to the facilities here. Even upscaled, when the price point was right.
posted in music, technology | Comments Off on On and off, MIDI style | 257 words
