4th
January
2008
One of the filler pieces on the news this evening pointed out that around here, we spend too long on our break at Christmas. Apparently, two weeks off from “productive activities” is not good for the economy. Other provinces get their noses back to the grindstone with a shorter delay. They’re more closely tuned to the global economy (or at t least that of our economic partners in the paradise south of here. To the purveyors of such patent nonsense, phooey!
Read the rest of this entry »
posted in economy |
24th
December
2007
When I climbed out of bed to find a coffee cup this morning, the thought that I’d watch two different rounds of swordfighting wasn’t on the horizon. We had rented videos last evening, but in the excitement of a pre pre-Christmas the viewing session had been put aside until the tree in the middle of the living room was fully decorated. Today, the early afternoon took us to the end of the world, with Jack Sparrow as the travel guide.
Read the rest of this entry »
posted in media, technology |
23rd
December
2007
Yogi (Berra, not Bear) said it best: It ain’t over ’til it’s over. The man did love apostrophes. But the truth is, this Christmas shopping depends on the calendar; until the 26th, we won’t be done. We returned to the mall, and it was still full, and I did purchase some IR LEDs and some LED lights and my “make a whiteboard for the fun of it” is one step closer. Now to find a soldering iron and some burnproofing for the fingertips.
Read the rest of this entry »
posted in economy |
22nd
December
2007
The weather forecast calls for rain, and I’m left with the feeling that I should worry. You see, we’ve been “blessed” with a lot of snow this last while, enough that the view out on the patio is blocked by accumulation. Now, I’m warned of heavy rainfall on the horizon, and it just might be that snow is a natural sponge. The rain falls, sinks in a few centimeters, then freezes. Instant ice pack. Will my world collapse around me sometime tomorrow?
Read the rest of this entry »
posted in media, Wx |
4th
December
2007
For anyone in the local area that feared a “green Christmas” (that most depressing of moments for a Nordic), you can rest easy. After all, when the ski centres are claiming that a storm breaks all their existing records, you can consider that the recent snowfall was sufficient.
Read the rest of this entry »
posted in environment, Wx |
26th
November
2007
The idea of change (in the computing world) doesn’t “cut it” where I spend my days. Open Source, Open Office, Open Minds (I made up the third one); all are actively discouraged. My own efforts to extend the reach of Firefox and Thunderbird and Gimp and a few others don’t seem to wet much pavement, although MySQL did sneak in through a back door. If these products were harder to use, or less dependable, I could accept it. The truth is stranger than fiction.
Read the rest of this entry »
posted in computing |
3rd
May
2007
Stirred on by a question from an old friend, I decided to finally take a look, in the techno-critical sense, at some of my first images from the new camera we purchased back at Christmas. A long time to wait, true; I will simply state that someone else has had the machine and continue merrily along.
Read the rest of this entry »
posted in media |
30th
December
2006
This movie review is a little late for the rest of the world, since the theatre run has been over for ages now and the DVD has been added to the Christmas stocking of at least one or two unfortunates (coal is worth a lot more in this energy-starved world). This evening, I had an intimate screening of the “Da Vinci Code” as part of an extended triple-header and at least the popcorn was cheap.
Read the rest of this entry »
posted in media |
25th
December
2006
With the Reveillon behind us, and a few hours of sleep to reset the body clock, the family is now ready for what Christmas is really concerned about. That is, the big meal at the end of the afternoon. With a couple of decades of experience as a cook instead of a tableplace, I’ve got the show under control.
Read the rest of this entry »
posted in health |
24th
December
2006
This is a tribute to the post-modern Christmas, in which the family remains important but the festivities are spread across a wider time period than my own culture provided. Not exactly twelve days (I hope) which requires a great deal of time and money, but rather that which a small family might aspire to.
Read the rest of this entry »
posted in environment |
