Since my loved ones frequently enjoy a good laugh at my expense, I might as well toss a snicker-worthy tidbit your way.
I told you that we went to visit Lorna and Dave on the weekend, and I told you that it was cold out, but that we still bundled up and went for a walk. I think I even told you that I wore long johns.
What I didn't tell you is that I left them (the lj's) behind. I can try to tell you that it was an act of kindness to help keep Dave or Lorna warm, but they have their own warmer-thingies, and probably only want to handle mine while wearing those hand-c0nd0m-latex-thingies.
I didn't tell you this in the previous post. I didn't tell you because I didn't know. But after I received a very funny ransom note from Lorna, I did know. Apparently, Lorna has joined the throngs who enjoy a chuckle over AC's absentmindedness.
Of course, my kin were kind enough to remind me of the time that I left a goodly number of apparel-ish items at a hotel after a conference. There was a suit, which I sort of remembered when they brought it up, but they also claimed that there was underwear and socks and such. The suit had been left hanging in the cupboard, but Cuppa says that the other items were found on the floor behind a chair.
But you know, I cannot be held totally responsible for that particular breakdown. It all began when four male teachers were booked into one hotel room with two beds. Pity AC, who could picture himself hugging his bedmate (so to speak) in his sleep, and therefore decided that his best bet was to sleep on the floor. Fortunately, he manage that because he was still young of body as this happened quite a long time ago.
Come the next night, another room was made available when several speakers who had finished their presentations went home early. Of course, this only happened at bedtime, so I grabbed what things I could think of and scurried off to my new digs. Of course, I never thought to go back to the old room and looking around before checking out the next day. I really think that under the circumstances such a tiny oversight is quite understandable.
So, really: leaving my underwear behind only twice in more than six decades really isn't so bad. Please tell me that you agree.
PS: We'll soon be off to cottage country and abysmal internet service for a few days. I would be surprised if I am able to post or even read your posts for awhile.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
On The Hill
On a fine frosty Friday we were visiting blogger Lorna and Dave. They live cheek-by-jowl with downtown Ottawa and Parliament Hill. Actually it wasn't Friday, but Saturday isn't alliterative with fine and frosty.
Although temperatures were near the Fahrenheit zero and were aided and abetted by a cold wind, these four seemingly silly Canuckleheads decided that it was a perfect day for a walk. In point of fact, it was nearly perfect because we were all so bundled that we felt no pain.
We decided that since we were in the neighbourhood, we should see if we could go inside the Parliament buildings and ascend the Peace Tower. The photo (below) shows the tower the other three walking toward it. Actually it only shows two as Cuppa was mostly behind the tree.
At the door (more or less), Cuppa snapped me with the fluorescent couple. I was sceptical that one could just walk up to the centre of government on a whim on a cold Saturday and request admission, but after a quick security scan we were on our way up the elevator to the Peace Tower lookout. I think that's pretty neat. O Canada, eh?
Looking north, we see the roof of the library, the Ottawa River, and the province of Quebec.
The library is quite beautiful both within and also without as this closer shot of the roof might suggest.
I thought some of my America friends might like to see the US embassy (outlined). I presume it's functional inside as it's not exactly stunning from the outside. Note the long shadows cast by the Parliament Buildings, due to low afternoon sun plus the fact these buildings are on a bit of a hill.
The next photo looks down on the south side where I've outlined the people in circles (for scale) and a snow message in the rectangle. If you click on the photo, you should be able to see the larger words, Spinach, and Sweden. Why? I have no idea.
After our fine little outing, we headed back to the warmth and hospitality of Lorna and Dave's condo. We were treated to fine food, drink and fellowship. We played a game of Boggle after dinner, where Dave proved he was much smarter than the rest of us. In fact, he may have scored more points that we other three of us combined.
PS: This is Lorna's blog, and here is my post of our first meeting this past summer.
Although temperatures were near the Fahrenheit zero and were aided and abetted by a cold wind, these four seemingly silly Canuckleheads decided that it was a perfect day for a walk. In point of fact, it was nearly perfect because we were all so bundled that we felt no pain.
We decided that since we were in the neighbourhood, we should see if we could go inside the Parliament buildings and ascend the Peace Tower. The photo (below) shows the tower the other three walking toward it. Actually it only shows two as Cuppa was mostly behind the tree.
At the door (more or less), Cuppa snapped me with the fluorescent couple. I was sceptical that one could just walk up to the centre of government on a whim on a cold Saturday and request admission, but after a quick security scan we were on our way up the elevator to the Peace Tower lookout. I think that's pretty neat. O Canada, eh?
Looking north, we see the roof of the library, the Ottawa River, and the province of Quebec.
The library is quite beautiful both within and also without as this closer shot of the roof might suggest.
I thought some of my America friends might like to see the US embassy (outlined). I presume it's functional inside as it's not exactly stunning from the outside. Note the long shadows cast by the Parliament Buildings, due to low afternoon sun plus the fact these buildings are on a bit of a hill.
The next photo looks down on the south side where I've outlined the people in circles (for scale) and a snow message in the rectangle. If you click on the photo, you should be able to see the larger words, Spinach, and Sweden. Why? I have no idea.
After our fine little outing, we headed back to the warmth and hospitality of Lorna and Dave's condo. We were treated to fine food, drink and fellowship. We played a game of Boggle after dinner, where Dave proved he was much smarter than the rest of us. In fact, he may have scored more points that we other three of us combined.
PS: This is Lorna's blog, and here is my post of our first meeting this past summer.
Friday, January 08, 2010
We Really Have Come a Long Way
An ad from 1977: $1495 for 64k of RAM.
From the 80's: a PC Jr with 128k for ~$1300.
My first machine, an Atari 800 with 48k of RAM, was purchased in the early 80's. It came with a cassette drive, and my monitor was an old TV. I remember that it took the cassette player 4 minutes to load a 16k game like Pac Man or Donkey Kong but I thought it was quite wonderful. Eventually, I was able to upgrade from the cassette by purchasing a single-sided, floppy disk drive for somewhere in the neighbourhood of $400 - $500 (the prices had come down to that). The great thing about that disk drive was that it included a printer port, which otherwise would have cost an additional $100 or so. I used that machine to learn how to word process and to work with spread sheets and used both in my teaching. Although we soon changed to photo copiers, schools were still using those old ditto machines back then, and I would run the masters through my trusty nine pin, dot matrix printer, which was also very expensive, and my days of writing my teaching aids by hand were history.
I think my first MS-DOS machine (before Windows 3.1, which I later installed on it) had 4 megs of RAM and a hard drive of 100 megs and cost around $2000, probably in the early nineties. In retrospect, one of the funniest things, in a way, that I ever heard was said in our staff room several months after that purchase. A teacher had bought an even newer and more powerful machine and declared that he would never have to buy another computer. Apparently, he was quite wrong, and I didn't need to feel jealous. I pretty well knew how wrong he was at the time, but I confess to still feeling slight pangs of envy.
The several computers that came after that one also cost in the neighbourhood of $2000. By comparison, my newest baby is a 64 bit machine with quad core processor, 8 gigs of RAM, a terabyte HD, a 22" monitor and costs a fair bit less than two grand. Unfortunately, in four years time, it too will be a clunker.
From the 80's: a PC Jr with 128k for ~$1300.
My first machine, an Atari 800 with 48k of RAM, was purchased in the early 80's. It came with a cassette drive, and my monitor was an old TV. I remember that it took the cassette player 4 minutes to load a 16k game like Pac Man or Donkey Kong but I thought it was quite wonderful. Eventually, I was able to upgrade from the cassette by purchasing a single-sided, floppy disk drive for somewhere in the neighbourhood of $400 - $500 (the prices had come down to that). The great thing about that disk drive was that it included a printer port, which otherwise would have cost an additional $100 or so. I used that machine to learn how to word process and to work with spread sheets and used both in my teaching. Although we soon changed to photo copiers, schools were still using those old ditto machines back then, and I would run the masters through my trusty nine pin, dot matrix printer, which was also very expensive, and my days of writing my teaching aids by hand were history.
I think my first MS-DOS machine (before Windows 3.1, which I later installed on it) had 4 megs of RAM and a hard drive of 100 megs and cost around $2000, probably in the early nineties. In retrospect, one of the funniest things, in a way, that I ever heard was said in our staff room several months after that purchase. A teacher had bought an even newer and more powerful machine and declared that he would never have to buy another computer. Apparently, he was quite wrong, and I didn't need to feel jealous. I pretty well knew how wrong he was at the time, but I confess to still feeling slight pangs of envy.
The several computers that came after that one also cost in the neighbourhood of $2000. By comparison, my newest baby is a 64 bit machine with quad core processor, 8 gigs of RAM, a terabyte HD, a 22" monitor and costs a fair bit less than two grand. Unfortunately, in four years time, it too will be a clunker.
Note: Ads found at Vintage Ad Browser
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Through The Glass Dimly
It never rains but it pours, or so the saying goes. There have been a number of related expenses since upgrading to the new computer, the latest being a new scanner. I have an old, fairly decent one, but it doesn't talk to Windows 7 terribly well. Even then, on my old computer, it wasn't able to cope with most of my slides, which I would like to digitize. The majority of these, from the seventies, aren't in very good shape; they're quite dark, and the old scanner resisted working with them.
I was gifted with a new little, dedicated slide scanner for Christmas. It worked, but I wasn't totally happy with it: neither the software not the results. So, yesterday, I returned it to Blacks and ended up at Henrys looking for a replacement. Somewhat surprisingly to me, I was pointed to flatbed scanners, and, even more surprisingly, I purchased one. I am finding that it will scan my slides, and although the results are problematic, I am usually able to salvage something. Like this one.
It's my dad, and I just used my fingers and toes to figure out that he in the picture and I at my computer right now are of a very similar age, probably within a year or at most two. But here's why I'm really posting this photo: the magnifying glass in his lap by the newspaper, the famous magnifying glass.
For as long as I can remember this "glass" has been around. If I have my stories straight, my maternal grandmothers used it, so it's at least 60 years old. At least!
In turn, both my parents used it. Not long before Mom passed on, she greatly amused us by proclaiming that she should get a new one because "They wear out, you know," for so it seemed that way to her dimming eyes. We still chuckle over her conclusion.
Now, Cuppa and I find ourselves using it from time to time to read the fine print, particularly on medications. Just two days ago, I was straining to determine just how many decongestants I should take and how often. After much squinting, even with the magnifying glass, we believe that it's "one or two tablets every four hours to maximum of six per day."
I think my magnifying glass is wearing out.
Meanwhile, it's now being used to some degree by the fifth generation of Grandma and hr descendants as Nikki Dee is quite prone to latching onto it when she's visiting. Looking at Buppa's enlarged facial features must work for her, however, as she hasn't complained that it's wearing out and needs to be replaced.
I was gifted with a new little, dedicated slide scanner for Christmas. It worked, but I wasn't totally happy with it: neither the software not the results. So, yesterday, I returned it to Blacks and ended up at Henrys looking for a replacement. Somewhat surprisingly to me, I was pointed to flatbed scanners, and, even more surprisingly, I purchased one. I am finding that it will scan my slides, and although the results are problematic, I am usually able to salvage something. Like this one.
It's my dad, and I just used my fingers and toes to figure out that he in the picture and I at my computer right now are of a very similar age, probably within a year or at most two. But here's why I'm really posting this photo: the magnifying glass in his lap by the newspaper, the famous magnifying glass.
For as long as I can remember this "glass" has been around. If I have my stories straight, my maternal grandmothers used it, so it's at least 60 years old. At least!
In turn, both my parents used it. Not long before Mom passed on, she greatly amused us by proclaiming that she should get a new one because "They wear out, you know," for so it seemed that way to her dimming eyes. We still chuckle over her conclusion.
Now, Cuppa and I find ourselves using it from time to time to read the fine print, particularly on medications. Just two days ago, I was straining to determine just how many decongestants I should take and how often. After much squinting, even with the magnifying glass, we believe that it's "one or two tablets every four hours to maximum of six per day."
I think my magnifying glass is wearing out.
Meanwhile, it's now being used to some degree by the fifth generation of Grandma and hr descendants as Nikki Dee is quite prone to latching onto it when she's visiting. Looking at Buppa's enlarged facial features must work for her, however, as she hasn't complained that it's wearing out and needs to be replaced.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
I'll Ramble Ifn I Wanna
Four o'clock and all is ... Well, well ... I don't know if it's exactly well. I mean it is four o'clock, and I am up, and I don't really wannabe.
I slept lightly ... very lightly for a few hours ... in three different places: my reclining easy chair, the guest bed (which is now more like my bed), our bed, and back to the guest bed. Eventually, the waking, tossing and turning frustrates me, and I get up with a cuss word or two.
I console myself with a snack (no wonder he's fat, Momma) partly because it seems to change things, change the rhythm of one of those nights. (Why can't I spell rhythm after 62 years? It's one of those words that won't stick. I can usually get it if I really concentrate, but who can concentrate tonight?) So I eat my bowl of corn flakes, nibble a chip or two (as if someone can just nibble a chip or two), grab a caffeine-free Diet Coke (which I simply call a Caf although you'd think a Caf would have Caf but that's just a Diet. Sometimes, we just go by Gold or Silver instead of Caf and Diet but we hardly ever have that classic or Red stuff around here.)
I peruse Reader for stuff to read, but most sane people don't post in the middle of the night, so there's not much joy to be had there. Oh, Bernie is sick (poor thing) and Garnetrose has had issues with sewage and daughter being sick, but that's it. Even the over-the-pond-ers such as Jinksy have yet to post. So, I decide to write my own stream of consciousness with lots of parentheses and ellipses and stuff. Good ole stuff. Before I originally went to bed I did read a bit from The Jesus Dynasty. Did you know that there is a lost year in Jesus life in scripture? It was the year after he was baptized by John the Baptist or John the Baptizer? There's nothing about that year in the gospels. It is thought by author James Tabor, at least, that Jesus spent that year baptizing like his cousin but further south than John. (You see, he does read books too, my dear.)
I'm using Word. I always just type right in Blogger, but I'm using Word tonight (he's such a rebel). My word, my Word is new. Got the 2007 Home/Student version (with Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote, whatever the heck that is) on sale. Got it, so I might as well use it (he said fearing that if he had to type until he was sleepy, it might be a very long blog post -- a war and peace post, perhaps).
Ifn's I stop now and find a spot to lay me 'ead, I wonders ifn I might sleep. Maybe I'll tri (which means try in one of my tri sleeping spots).
I slept lightly ... very lightly for a few hours ... in three different places: my reclining easy chair, the guest bed (which is now more like my bed), our bed, and back to the guest bed. Eventually, the waking, tossing and turning frustrates me, and I get up with a cuss word or two.
I console myself with a snack (no wonder he's fat, Momma) partly because it seems to change things, change the rhythm of one of those nights. (Why can't I spell rhythm after 62 years? It's one of those words that won't stick. I can usually get it if I really concentrate, but who can concentrate tonight?) So I eat my bowl of corn flakes, nibble a chip or two (as if someone can just nibble a chip or two), grab a caffeine-free Diet Coke (which I simply call a Caf although you'd think a Caf would have Caf but that's just a Diet. Sometimes, we just go by Gold or Silver instead of Caf and Diet but we hardly ever have that classic or Red stuff around here.)
I peruse Reader for stuff to read, but most sane people don't post in the middle of the night, so there's not much joy to be had there. Oh, Bernie is sick (poor thing) and Garnetrose has had issues with sewage and daughter being sick, but that's it. Even the over-the-pond-ers such as Jinksy have yet to post. So, I decide to write my own stream of consciousness with lots of parentheses and ellipses and stuff. Good ole stuff. Before I originally went to bed I did read a bit from The Jesus Dynasty. Did you know that there is a lost year in Jesus life in scripture? It was the year after he was baptized by John the Baptist or John the Baptizer? There's nothing about that year in the gospels. It is thought by author James Tabor, at least, that Jesus spent that year baptizing like his cousin but further south than John. (You see, he does read books too, my dear.)
I'm using Word. I always just type right in Blogger, but I'm using Word tonight (he's such a rebel). My word, my Word is new. Got the 2007 Home/Student version (with Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote, whatever the heck that is) on sale. Got it, so I might as well use it (he said fearing that if he had to type until he was sleepy, it might be a very long blog post -- a war and peace post, perhaps).
Ifn's I stop now and find a spot to lay me 'ead, I wonders ifn I might sleep. Maybe I'll tri (which means try in one of my tri sleeping spots).
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Winter Living
We have fairly long and cold winters here in the Ottawa region, so it's really best to make peace with that fact and embrace the weather as best one can. To that end, Cuppa and I gave the kids a sleigh for Christmas. Nikki Dee was the first, and so far the only grand, to try it out. With Buppa as the horse and even attempting to sing Jingle Bells to the bonnie wee lass, out we went the other day. As the picture tells, Nikki Dee was quite content to ride whilst Buppa Horse pulled her back and forth and forth and back.
As my bald pate might reveal, it was relatively warm on Friday, but yesterday and today were bitter, with the low temperatures being aided and abetted by a harsh, north wind. Nevertheless, we stopped by Canadian Tire to get her a little snow shovel so she could help Buppa clear the driveway. It was even colder when we finally got around to our shovelling in the evening, but we all bundled up and felt better for the outing. She didn't quite grasp the concept of shovelling onto the pile and not off the pile, but that's okay.
Then, she'd put some snow into my shovel and I'd fling it into the air to great cries of excitement.
Cuppa took some dark an grainy video clips of our work session.
After shovelling, Buppa Horse was called back into action. We had a decent video clip that got lost somehow, so pictures will have to do.
We had another frosty session this morning before lunch. The kid had got up at the unearthly hour of six o'clock and was tired but fought a morning attempt to have her nap. So, we decided that another session in the cold followed by lunch might do the trick. It did; she napped for an hour and a half after lunch.
Cuppa got into the spirit of things too. The lady can shovel it with the best of them, I tell ya.
I also have a video of Cuppa shovelling, but this is me taking pity on you ...
As my bald pate might reveal, it was relatively warm on Friday, but yesterday and today were bitter, with the low temperatures being aided and abetted by a harsh, north wind. Nevertheless, we stopped by Canadian Tire to get her a little snow shovel so she could help Buppa clear the driveway. It was even colder when we finally got around to our shovelling in the evening, but we all bundled up and felt better for the outing. She didn't quite grasp the concept of shovelling onto the pile and not off the pile, but that's okay.
Then, she'd put some snow into my shovel and I'd fling it into the air to great cries of excitement.
Cuppa took some dark an grainy video clips of our work session.
After shovelling, Buppa Horse was called back into action. We had a decent video clip that got lost somehow, so pictures will have to do.
We had another frosty session this morning before lunch. The kid had got up at the unearthly hour of six o'clock and was tired but fought a morning attempt to have her nap. So, we decided that another session in the cold followed by lunch might do the trick. It did; she napped for an hour and a half after lunch.
Cuppa got into the spirit of things too. The lady can shovel it with the best of them, I tell ya.
I also have a video of Cuppa shovelling, but this is me taking pity on you ...
Friday, January 01, 2010
Still Running Behind
Update: Added Christmas Day slideshow.
Silly Me! I am reading all sorts of you posting about New Years, and I'm still stuck on Christmas — not even Christmas really but the Eve thereof. Sheesh! You see, yesterday, I uploaded the final (for now) program, Photo Story that I wanted to install on my computer, and then I couldn't resist trying it out.
I have been impressed by the slideshows of Explorer as well as others and, therefore, been inspired to improve my own output. I think Photo Story has helped me to do that. I've been aware of this free (for those running legitimate versions of Windows) program from Microsoft for some time, but decided not to burden my old computer with yet another program.
Of no interest to anyone but family, here it is. Let's see if I can create a Christmas Day slideshow next.
Silly Me! I am reading all sorts of you posting about New Years, and I'm still stuck on Christmas — not even Christmas really but the Eve thereof. Sheesh! You see, yesterday, I uploaded the final (for now) program, Photo Story that I wanted to install on my computer, and then I couldn't resist trying it out.
I have been impressed by the slideshows of Explorer as well as others and, therefore, been inspired to improve my own output. I think Photo Story has helped me to do that. I've been aware of this free (for those running legitimate versions of Windows) program from Microsoft for some time, but decided not to burden my old computer with yet another program.
Of no interest to anyone but family, here it is. Let's see if I can create a Christmas Day slideshow next.
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