An unproductive day.
Went to my Dad's to have a shower but hopefully the water should be sorted out sometime this week so things can get back to normal.
Made the interesting discovery that one of the people I sold a job lot of HP palmtops to has relisted them individually for considerably more than I sold them for. Oh well. I'm using Ebay as a way to get rid of the stuff I don't need without trashing it, and I don't think the items are worth what he's asking to be honest.
Just sold the Toughbook CF-18 as it still had quite a fair bit of value and just wasn't getting used. It was a nice little machine but it was a case where the rugged design made using it a bit of a pain. So there we go. Still lots more I can get rid of though.
Car goes in for the MOT on Wednesday. I know it needs work but I'm really hoping it's not too much.
Planning on a Berlin trip in August, so hope the car goes OK so I can start sorting that out.
Monday, 31 May 2010
Sunday, 30 May 2010
Thud
Last week was fairly dull with the exception of Thursday where I went to a Japanese restaurant in the evening with some colleagues from work. It was in Liverpool and was pretty good, definitely something new. The Japanese do like their seafood though so much of the menu wasn't for me, but I did really enjoy what I had. The journey back was a pain though due to a power failure on the Merseyrail line and so it was a bit convoluted.
Not done much this weekend, been a bit lazy really. Had another go at the garden today and shoveled two wheelbarrow loads of mud out of an old spring so once again tired and scratched.
Still no water. Situation becoming rather desperate. The problem is a combination of the spring running low and the pipe that collects the water not being in the right place to collect the little that is still flowing. It needs much work. Our neighbour is going to help sort it but not till the middle of next week. We may yet have to investigate the possibility of being connected to mains water, although I'm not sure it's a viable idea.
Just finished Thud in the Discworld reread. It's definitely one of the best Pratchett books I think, just the right combination of humour and a good serious plot that keeps going all the way through.
Not done much this weekend, been a bit lazy really. Had another go at the garden today and shoveled two wheelbarrow loads of mud out of an old spring so once again tired and scratched.
Still no water. Situation becoming rather desperate. The problem is a combination of the spring running low and the pipe that collects the water not being in the right place to collect the little that is still flowing. It needs much work. Our neighbour is going to help sort it but not till the middle of next week. We may yet have to investigate the possibility of being connected to mains water, although I'm not sure it's a viable idea.
Just finished Thud in the Discworld reread. It's definitely one of the best Pratchett books I think, just the right combination of humour and a good serious plot that keeps going all the way through.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Chatroulette
OK, the idea is cool, but when I had a look, basically all you get is alot of people looking bored, adverts for other sites that have copied the idea, and an awful lot of guys showing you their naughty bits.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Monday, 24 May 2010
I like blue LEDs
The little northbridge fan in the Atom server started to make a loud noise, having finally worn out, so I had to kludge it with a spare until the replacement fan turned up. It's made by a company called Scythe and has the somewhat odd name of Ultra-Kaze, but it is much quiet than the old one ever was, and has four pretty blue LEDs in it. So that's nice. I managed to install it without shutting it all down. While it's one physical machine, it's running ESXi with a few virtual machines and restarting them all is a pain.
One of the VMs has been crunching away at Folding @ Home for a few months now and is ranked 370,046 out of 1,415,485 contributors. The Atom isn't the best CPU for this but it is very low power, using 8w if both cores are maxed out, although the F@H VM is only using one core. The board does have a power hungry chipset though and it's got two 3.5" hard drives, so I'm guessing it's probably using about 100w.
It's been a long day, tired now. Took the dog for a walk after work in the beautiful sunshine, and then had a nice long go on Red Dead Redemption with Will again, which was fun. It works really well I think.
Sold another batch of Psions, this time they went for £140 which was pretty good, so packaged them up today ready to be posted tomorrow.
One of the VMs has been crunching away at Folding @ Home for a few months now and is ranked 370,046 out of 1,415,485 contributors. The Atom isn't the best CPU for this but it is very low power, using 8w if both cores are maxed out, although the F@H VM is only using one core. The board does have a power hungry chipset though and it's got two 3.5" hard drives, so I'm guessing it's probably using about 100w.
It's been a long day, tired now. Took the dog for a walk after work in the beautiful sunshine, and then had a nice long go on Red Dead Redemption with Will again, which was fun. It works really well I think.
Sold another batch of Psions, this time they went for £140 which was pretty good, so packaged them up today ready to be posted tomorrow.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Why
Still hot. Decided to get rid of some stupid plant that's been left to grow huge over the years, one of many that my Mum planted and never bothered to keep under control. It took hours and left me exhausted, sunburnt, covered in scratches and with a damaged finger that hurts if I try to play bass. And it barely shows, that's what hacks me off.
Water running low, need some days of rain to replenish it and a good storm to clear the air.
Touchy and irritable today, probably due to heat. Deliberately not playing games or doing anything that might annoy me, and listening to Hypocrisy, a band that I have to be in a particular kind of mood to enjoy.
Water running low, need some days of rain to replenish it and a good storm to clear the air.
Touchy and irritable today, probably due to heat. Deliberately not playing games or doing anything that might annoy me, and listening to Hypocrisy, a band that I have to be in a particular kind of mood to enjoy.
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Heat
It's bloody warm.
Red Dead Redemption is good fun, bought it on a whim last night, not realising it was the day of release. It really is Grand Theft Horse, but that's not a bad thing except I kept trying to do handbrake turns on the horse the first few times I rode one.
Had a good time in Free Roam with Will this morning, and it led to another classic gaming moment. We had stolen a wagon with two horses and decided to see what would happen if we drove it off a cliff. Expecting to perish on impact, we were suprised to find that while the wagon disintegrated and the horses died, we were left standing on the ground, unhurt, confronted by some hapless Xbox Live player who had been minding his own business, only to have us literally drop out of the sky on top of him. It was very funny.
Not done much else today. Posted the latest Ebay sale and luxuriated in the working air conditioning in the Focus while driving to and from town. It's not the first car I've had with air conditioning, but it's the first one where it actually worked.
Red Dead Redemption is good fun, bought it on a whim last night, not realising it was the day of release. It really is Grand Theft Horse, but that's not a bad thing except I kept trying to do handbrake turns on the horse the first few times I rode one.
Had a good time in Free Roam with Will this morning, and it led to another classic gaming moment. We had stolen a wagon with two horses and decided to see what would happen if we drove it off a cliff. Expecting to perish on impact, we were suprised to find that while the wagon disintegrated and the horses died, we were left standing on the ground, unhurt, confronted by some hapless Xbox Live player who had been minding his own business, only to have us literally drop out of the sky on top of him. It was very funny.
Not done much else today. Posted the latest Ebay sale and luxuriated in the working air conditioning in the Focus while driving to and from town. It's not the first car I've had with air conditioning, but it's the first one where it actually worked.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Arsebiscuits
Got my job count in work down to 5. Five. I can't think when it last got that low, perhaps around 2007? Uneasy now, there must be a catch. So I've spent the last couple of days helping out other people with their workloads.
Got tomorrow off. Hope the weather is OK.
In a weird state of mind at the moment. One of those moods where I worry about how other people perceive me, and whether I'm a good person or not and if I'm a twat but don't realise it. Not a good place.
This is very cool, Mermaid Arcade by Cyfuno.
Got tomorrow off. Hope the weather is OK.
In a weird state of mind at the moment. One of those moods where I worry about how other people perceive me, and whether I'm a good person or not and if I'm a twat but don't realise it. Not a good place.
This is very cool, Mermaid Arcade by Cyfuno.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Ultra-meh
Work isn't so bad at the moment. My job count is the lowest it has been for well over a year, and I finally seem to have a grip on things. That just causes the paranoia to rise though - usually this is the cue for a shitload of work to suddenly appear with no notice. Oh well, I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
I got my passport back after they rejected the first photos. The replacement ones were done by a guy in Denbigh with a real camera, and are much better quality than the machine ones. Not the best photos though but hey, you can tell it's me.
Took the dog for a walk and then gave him a bath, which he hates. I'm not sure if there's anything more pathetic than a wet and bedraggled greyhound except a cat that just fell in a pond.
Finished the first season of The Big Bang Theory, which is quite decent. I have to admit I found it got a bit of a struggle after a few episodes, but it is good fun and lots of in jokes for the geeky types.
Ebay sales continue, last batch of Psion Series 3as are about to go. I won't miss them - does anyone really need 25 of the things? I've kept a good one though for the documents and programs I created on my original one, getting on for 15 years ago now.
I got my passport back after they rejected the first photos. The replacement ones were done by a guy in Denbigh with a real camera, and are much better quality than the machine ones. Not the best photos though but hey, you can tell it's me.
Took the dog for a walk and then gave him a bath, which he hates. I'm not sure if there's anything more pathetic than a wet and bedraggled greyhound except a cat that just fell in a pond.
Finished the first season of The Big Bang Theory, which is quite decent. I have to admit I found it got a bit of a struggle after a few episodes, but it is good fun and lots of in jokes for the geeky types.
Ebay sales continue, last batch of Psion Series 3as are about to go. I won't miss them - does anyone really need 25 of the things? I've kept a good one though for the documents and programs I created on my original one, getting on for 15 years ago now.
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Fire!
A more productive day, took a load of old crap to the tip, had an epic bonfire of other crap, fired up the old strimmer and had a go at the garden and did some other stuff. So don't feel quite so useless this evening. Still didn't eat very well though and need to get exercising again.
Saturday, 15 May 2010
Bleh
Not been a particularly good day. Couldn't get motivated to do anything so slobbed about in front of the Xbox with snacks. Now feel very fat and guilty.
A relatively uneventful week, although badminton on Thursday was great. The Evil One was there, but fortunately there was the right amount of people there so that Rob, Em and I ended up playing constantly with another woman who is closer to our age. We had some great games, and a hysterical rally where we just smashed it back and forth for several shots until I slammed it into the net, at which point we all cried with laughter. Not sure quite why it was so funny but it was.
Listed some more stuff on Ebay. My Psion collection is dwindling rapidly, and it's something of an odd feeling to be getting rid of something that I once considered so important. But times change and now I look back and wonder why those things meant so much. Odd. But hopefully a good thing.
Tired of fuel prices going up. The Focus is now costing more to fill up than the Discovery did when I first got it, which seems a little mad. It's not that great on fuel either. The MOT comes up on the 2nd July and it's going to need a fair bit of work, although I've known that for a while so I think I'm relatively prepared.
I was planning to go back to Berlin in June but decided I can't because of the car, but hopefully looking to go in July or August, and possibly September when the marathon is. Haven't done much German for a while, need to keep up with it.
A relatively uneventful week, although badminton on Thursday was great. The Evil One was there, but fortunately there was the right amount of people there so that Rob, Em and I ended up playing constantly with another woman who is closer to our age. We had some great games, and a hysterical rally where we just smashed it back and forth for several shots until I slammed it into the net, at which point we all cried with laughter. Not sure quite why it was so funny but it was.
Listed some more stuff on Ebay. My Psion collection is dwindling rapidly, and it's something of an odd feeling to be getting rid of something that I once considered so important. But times change and now I look back and wonder why those things meant so much. Odd. But hopefully a good thing.
Tired of fuel prices going up. The Focus is now costing more to fill up than the Discovery did when I first got it, which seems a little mad. It's not that great on fuel either. The MOT comes up on the 2nd July and it's going to need a fair bit of work, although I've known that for a while so I think I'm relatively prepared.
I was planning to go back to Berlin in June but decided I can't because of the car, but hopefully looking to go in July or August, and possibly September when the marathon is. Haven't done much German for a while, need to keep up with it.
Monday, 10 May 2010
32 today
Had a good weekend, Saturday was spent not doing much and Sunday was spent at Andy's with the gang, rugby and pizza aplenty.
32nd birthday today, scary. Didn't do much really until the evening when I went out with my parents for a meal in a place at the top of Colwyn Bay. Really nice too. My Dad got me one of those nice guitar racks that holds 7 instruments, so at last I have the basses safe and organised and not just leaning up against whatever is handy at the time.
32nd birthday today, scary. Didn't do much really until the evening when I went out with my parents for a meal in a place at the top of Colwyn Bay. Really nice too. My Dad got me one of those nice guitar racks that holds 7 instruments, so at last I have the basses safe and organised and not just leaning up against whatever is handy at the time.
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Feck
Didn't sleep well, had chips for lunch, so tired and fat this evenig. Not going to badminton, going to watch a DVD and read.
Bleh.
Bleh.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Ancient tech
Finally got the battered Latitude D800 running properly. I frankensteined it from three broken machines and stripped it down twice to clean it up and regunk the heatsinks, and to replace the keyboard with a German one. Once the absolute high-end of Dell's Latitude line, it has a 1.7ghz Pentium M, 512mb RAM, a 40gb hard drive and a slot-loading DVD-RW drive mounted in the original removable drive housing. The screen however is something special, a 15.4" widescreen panel with a bonkers 1920x1200 resolution, more commonly found on 24" monitors. With XP at default settings, text is ludicrously small, but very sharp. I can see how these screens cause some controversy as you can get a lot of things on the screen, but everything is so small it can strain your eyes.
The D800 has had a troubled history, first I tried Windows 7 in German, which worked to a degree but I didn't have a license. I then got Vista running on it in German, which was NOT good for the machine at all so I put Ubuntu 9.10 on it, in German. That ran quite well and handled all the hardware OK, but then I needed Windows software, so I put Windows 7 on it again in English but again was hit by a lack of a license key. I tried Ubuntu 10.04 which unusually failed to display properly, and finally put XP on it, which seems the best fit for the hardware. I'd like to get more RAM and a bigger hard drive for it, but not a priority right now. It's currently running some German tuition software on English XP. It's nice to have the German keyboard but having a German OS just adds complication at this point.
Was watching some of the Hitler parodies but kept hearing words I understood which distracted me.
Took the dog for a walk and ate reasonably OK today but I still feel like a lazy fat bastard. Need to get to the gym ASAP.
The D800 has had a troubled history, first I tried Windows 7 in German, which worked to a degree but I didn't have a license. I then got Vista running on it in German, which was NOT good for the machine at all so I put Ubuntu 9.10 on it, in German. That ran quite well and handled all the hardware OK, but then I needed Windows software, so I put Windows 7 on it again in English but again was hit by a lack of a license key. I tried Ubuntu 10.04 which unusually failed to display properly, and finally put XP on it, which seems the best fit for the hardware. I'd like to get more RAM and a bigger hard drive for it, but not a priority right now. It's currently running some German tuition software on English XP. It's nice to have the German keyboard but having a German OS just adds complication at this point.
Was watching some of the Hitler parodies but kept hearing words I understood which distracted me.
Took the dog for a walk and ate reasonably OK today but I still feel like a lazy fat bastard. Need to get to the gym ASAP.
Monday, 3 May 2010
Bank Holiday
Friday night = Iron Man 2 with guys from work, preceded by Italian food. Pretty good film, and quite enjoyable.
Saturday = Spent the day with my Dad, chillaxing and just hanging out and did some work on the car.
Sunday = Left 4 Dead session in the morning with Will and Rob online, which was good fun as always and a great laugh. After that took the dog for a walk near Bontuchel and picked up a couple of geocaches.
Today = Another Left 4 Dead session in the morning, then followed by an epic walk with Will and Sarah along the river from Rhuddlan to Rhyl, picking up several geocaches, watching the mini trains and then heading back down the river to have a meal at Table Table. Also watched the first half of the last Doctor Who episode which was quite good.
Other stuff - watched a rather disturbing German language film called Antibodies (or Antikörper) which is sort of a thriller heavily influenced by Silence of the Lambs. Actually quite good, although not sure how much it would stand up a repeat viewing. Got another one called Anatomy to watch which has Franka Potente in it, and have ordered another one which Tom Twyker did just before Run Lola Run, which sounds interesting.
Saturday = Spent the day with my Dad, chillaxing and just hanging out and did some work on the car.
Sunday = Left 4 Dead session in the morning with Will and Rob online, which was good fun as always and a great laugh. After that took the dog for a walk near Bontuchel and picked up a couple of geocaches.
Today = Another Left 4 Dead session in the morning, then followed by an epic walk with Will and Sarah along the river from Rhuddlan to Rhyl, picking up several geocaches, watching the mini trains and then heading back down the river to have a meal at Table Table. Also watched the first half of the last Doctor Who episode which was quite good.
Other stuff - watched a rather disturbing German language film called Antibodies (or Antikörper) which is sort of a thriller heavily influenced by Silence of the Lambs. Actually quite good, although not sure how much it would stand up a repeat viewing. Got another one called Anatomy to watch which has Franka Potente in it, and have ordered another one which Tom Twyker did just before Run Lola Run, which sounds interesting.
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