"Where have you been"?

Someone asked me where I went to, but unfortunately, I can't say that I went anywhere exotic or mysterious lately. I've been busy however. I recently purchased a laptop and am getting it configured to my liking...well, maybe not to my liking, since I bought it for my daughter who has been using a run-down P3 desktop for far too long. The P3 was on its last legs, with parts failing one by one. Its old DVD drive is dead and the failing memory is causing all kinds of problems there. The laptop I bought is not new, and shows that it still has power to spare. It's a Compaq V2000 which I picked up on ebay. It's a Celeron M, which now makes it the fastest computer in the house. My dream of owning a Core 2 Duo will sadly just have to stay a dream for now.

We had a bit of a crisis at home recently as well.
It seems that our fireplace/chimney has had enough of all the rain and storms we've been having here lately, and has decided to let some of the rain in on us for a change. That means that our living room floor has become a bit of a swamp this past week, and I've been scrambling to get the problem solved asap. Today the workmen were on site repairing the exterior, while I spent the last couple of days removing and replacing laminate flooring. What fun!
Most of the work is done now, but I'm waiting to see if we spring any more leaks before I totally complete the interior repairs. Mr. Chimney might still have some leaky surprises in store for us yet.

Blogging adventure

It can now be stated as a fact that now in 2007, there are more blogs online than there are Internet users. I myself have three blogs and am in the process of starting up a fourth one. I love surfing the net at random and discovering new blogs and I also enjoy the journey I take to find them. I visit several blogs on a regular basis, some of which I have added links to on this page. I recently started clicking on Links pages of various blogs and from there clicked on their links and so on. What a blogging adventure that can be. I discovered quite a few strange and quirky blogs during my online travels. Another way to find new blogs and make contacts with bloggers is via a site called MyBlogLog. I'll be adding to my links page as time goes on, and feel free to post your own link in the comments and I'll be sure to visit it as well. As for a photo today, since surfing for blogs is similar to window shopping at the mall, here's a shot of a couple going by a "hello kitty" type of store. I can almost read the mind of the guy as the woman slows down to check the shop out...

Rain, Reading and Refreshment

It's been a rainy weekend.









What better way to spend the day than a trip to the library.
My daughter convinced us to head downtown to the central branch, since it's been a while since we visited. The Vancouver library main branch is a unique structure. It's appearance is similar in design to the Roman coliseum. It's a great architectural masterpiece for the city. I love the design and the layout of the place. We spent the afternoon there and checked out several books before heading home.

We stopped off at Casa Gelato on the way home and treated ourselves to some delicious gelato which would have been a perfect way to chase away the rainy day blues, but we had no blues today. It was a great way to spend the day.









Our last stop was at a Japanese supermarket where we picked up some supplies including some sushi for my lunch at work tomorrow.

I've provided some links and some photos so that you can retrace my steps and spend a virtual day with me as well.
And you don't even need to bring your umbrella!
Enjoy your Gelato!

Linux 1 -- Microsoft 0

I've reinstalled Ubuntu about a dozen times in the last few days. Literally. With each new install and my experimentation, I find that I screw something up and have to reinstall. I also find that I learn a lot more in the process, so I don't mind all. I want to get a comfortable level of knowledge with Linux and also with the console. I do find that the installations go a lot smoother than it would if Windows was under the hood.
I've even installed Kubuntu now on my daughters computer in the hopes of minimizing our use of Windows. I don't think we'll be able to go cold turkey just yet, so both systems are dual boot for now. I'm still learning how to get everything operational, and I haven't attempted to hook up my camera yet, so no new photos to show you. Even the old ones I have are stored on the Windows partion, and I'm having too much fun with Linux to boot it.

Work and Play

I'm posting this from work at the moment. It's 4:06am which means that I'm working the night shift again. I really don't mind working graveyards that much. It's been exceptionally quiet tonight and hope it stays that way until 7am. This gives me a chance to update this blog!
I managed to screw up my home computer yesterday. I had recently installed Ubuntu Linux on the hard drive, because I've been meaning to test drive the software for quite some time now. Installation was a breeze and I had the system up and running in no time. I installed a few extras to enhance the features, and I even spent some time getting to know how to use the terminal to type in commands. The one part of the installation that didn't go smoothly, was that although my ATI graphics card was detected, I couldn't change the screen resolution higher than 1024x768. I spent some time trying to figure out how to correct this problem, and found others with similar grief. In the end, I found step by step instructions, along with a repository link for the files I'd need. All I ended up doing was killing the software. I was left staring at a blank screen.
Not all was lost however. After years of computer use, I've learned a trick or two. I turned off my computer and switched hard drive cables around. You see, before I installed Ubuntu, I had disconnected the hard drive with Windows XP on it. I installed Ubuntu on my 2nd hard drive. When the screen blanked, I just plugged the cable back in and my Windows XP loaded up just like it's always done. Now I have to figure out how to repair Ubuntu if I can, otherwise I'll have to reinstall it all over again. I liked the look and feel of it, and I'd like to give it more of a chance before I decide if I like it or Windows better. I may end up settling on a dual boot option, as my wife likes to use MS Excel and Word occasionally. She's never been as fond of Open source as I have.

Orange you photogenic

I haven't even turned on my camera for a week! Am I suffering from the winter blahs? I don't think so, but I can't say for sure. I just haven't been inspired to capture anything lately. The last photo I took was last weekend. My family went out to the local mall, because my wife and daughter were both getting eye exams. I brought the camera along just in case.
This juice store we popped into was overloading the orange colour sensors in my brain, and I pulled out my camera and fired off a shot while my daughter picked out a drink from their menu. The drink was just so-so, but I like the way the photo turned out.

Digg revisited

I've been visiting digg.com for some time now and love to find interesting and strange news/links on the web. I've found another site that's similar to digg, but offers me something that digg doesnt; a chance to win a prize. The site is called Digital Journal.
At first glance it looks similar to digg with topics submitted by members and others can post their comments on those topics.
Readers of my blog will remember that I won an MP4 player a while back, and I posted some photos of it here.
Since then, I've been entering online contests that I come across in the hopes that lightning does strike the same place twice. Well, Digital Journal is offering anyone a chance to win a prize of either an Xbox360 or a Dell Computer. Check out the site for more details, and watch out for that lightning.