May 30: Photos

I've put up the first batch of photos on my Flickr page. Yay!

May 28: Scoootland

Hello, world. I'm in Scotland for a surprise trip to visit my Scottishes. I thought it'd be fun to surprise Victoria and Rachel, so I haven't mentioned it here. I flew out Saturday and spent most of yesterday adjusting to the time difference. Today, I am contentedly getting used to things. We went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum today, which was very neat. It's a beautiful Night at the Museum-esque sort of building with lots to see: wildlife, mummies, dinosaur skeletons, Monet paintings, a Spitfire airplane, and a gigantahuge pipe organ upon which an organist was playing various songs from Star Wars. It was great fun (and free).

Tonight, I'm taking the train up to Stirling to visit Alan & Isobel, coming back on Wednesday. After that, I don't really have too much planned out. This trip is as close as I get to being spontaneous.

Anyway, Brian and I are valiantly trying to configure a web cam on a computer here, so I'm off to go concentrate on that. See you soon.

May 25: Amazon makes me smile

I just got this cheerful email:
Greetings from Amazon.ca.

As someone who has pre-ordered “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,”
you are probably anxious to get your hands on the first copy off the
press. Great news — we've made special arrangements for Saturday,
July 21, delivery of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to guarantee
Release-Date Delivery at no additional cost!*

You don't have to do a thing--just sit back and wait for the book to
arrive on your doorstep on July 21.

Well, I'm clearly excited. Boy, I'm a nerd.

May 19: Johnny Mnemonic

Woot woot, my computer is back — and it works! Plus, as an added bonus, they gave me the broken cable they replaced. I have no idea why they do that (they did it when they replaced one of the speakers, too). On the one hand, it's sort of interesting to see what was done. On the other hand, what they heck am I supposed to do with it?

Anyway, I'm happily computing away my Saturday afternoon, loading up my iPod with new and old music and watching Johnny Mnemonic on Space. I vaguely remember seeing it back when it was new, but I didn't like it. Now, I'm really appreciating its kitschy 1990s view of what the near future would be like.

Things I love about the 21st century, as foreseen circa 1987-1997:
  • There are always fax machines.
  • AT&T makes all communications equipment.
  • All images on all displays are revealed using a wipe.
  • Displays arranged in portrait mode are very common.
  • All artificial intelligences will be female, tinted blue, and in desperate need of contrast adjustment.
In the event that you don't actually want to subject yourself to this horrendous movie, you can glimpse a few of these stereotypes in AT&T's*
(Yep, AT&T. It's sort of ironic that they not only made every device in the future, but also made a lot of commercials about that very future. Hrm...)
awesome “You Will” series of commercials from 1994. There's a montage of them on YouTube, and I love them. Best part? Tom Selleck*
(That's right, Magnum-fucking-PI!!! How can you not love him?)
does the narration.

May 11: *blink*

I went to check my email last night and discovered that my laptop was off. That's weird, since it always just sleeps. I turned it on and ... nothing. I let it charge for a few minutes and tried again, at which point it turned on, but instantly turned off if I moved it at all. Dangit.

So, I brought it over to Halifax with me this morning and dropped it off at the Halifax Mac Store to have them take a look at it. No word yet, but it seems like there's a loose connection or something. It's certainly inconvenient. The guy at the Halifax Mac Store said he'd let me know as soon as it was done, so I have no idea when that will be. It's sad. I seem to have more than my fair share of computer problems, which I continue to blame on weird electricity in our house. Anyway, wish me luck in getting it back speedily.

May 01: May Day, May Day (*unhappy plane noises*)

It's May! That's my favourite month ever, at least in terms of weather — yay! Sure, it's overcast and generally crummy outside right now, but by the end of the month it'll be sunshiney and I'll be insanely happy. May. Finally.

No excitement to speak of here, of course, except for the usual things: working and sleeping (okay, fine, and loafing). Last week, a new programmer/nerd started working with us. His name is Ben and he's a student worker who's going to be around for the summer. So far, he's a blast to have around and pretty helpful, and he's a Mac nerd, which only makes things better. Now I'm significantly less lonely in the office, and I have someone to talk about things like battery firmware updates with. Luxury. We're busily acclimatizing him to our crazy ways and trying to get him into Szechwan food. Wish us (or, perhaps more accurately, him) luck.

As for sleeping...well, sleeping goes well. No news there. What do you expect? I'm unconscious.

Anyway, I've got to go find myself something nutritious and delicious to eat, so until we meet again, I bid the world good day.