Springy update thingy
In other news:
I took a moment to read back a little and realized that if you are bored and / or twisted enough to actually follow the events journalized in my journal then you're in need of help, er ... I mean ... entitled to an update:
My shelves are as complete as they are going to get. All that remains to do is anchor them to the wall and knowing me, I might just wait until the whole kittenkabooodle falls on an unsuspecting child to make that modification. Furthermore, I have decided that this will be the last time I ever build anything from pine in an effort to save money. My time is worth enough that, if and when I embark on another project, I want a result that has both material and intrinsic value. The next project will not be made from wood less noble than oak.
My new lappy never did come in. I only yelled at one person and I'm sad to say that he was probably just an answering service drone. I should feel bad, but I don't; he's getting paid so that people like me can vent! 9 weeks into the game, TigerDirect / Amazon reimbursed my money. In the game of mail order computer technology it's USPS / APO 2 : PP 0. Sooooo, the MSU basically convinced me to put off getting a lappy until I go to the US in July. I mean, furnishing computers for dishonest postal employees is fun and all, but it's not helping me much. I begrudgingly agreed. So I've added a new lappy and a wireless router to my to-get list for my trip to the land of the fat of the land.
I don't know if I told you or not, but awhile back, I did buy a new desktop. It was on double sale after Christmas so I took the plunge. It's an AMD 64 bit processor which has proven to be more of a hassle than it is cool (at least for now). It came with Windoze XP home but the OS is in French. That's workable, but I don't really want to use Windows as my primary OS anyway. All of the 64 bid distros for Linux have proved to be, as usual, not exactly up to snuff. I wish I was better at Linux because Debian seems to be the best but not the easiest solution to my needs. Fedora Core 3 has worked out to be something of a pain because, among other things, it won't mount an NTFS file system. Also, the Firefox binary for AMD 64 bit processors is not supported very well by Java and Macromedia. There's other stuff too. Suffice to say that by stepping up to the cutting edge of technology, I've taken a pretty significant step back technologically. Makes sense huh? I'm toying with the idea of trying out yet another Linux distro, but backing up my e-mail and other configurations is always such a hassle. On top of it all, I really don't have time for all this. I guess I just have to muddle through with Windows XP for a little while longer.
My Mom is here which is going as well as can be expected. That's all I really have to say about that. She bought me 'the Pink Panther' DVD box set for my birthday which is among the coolest gifts anyone has ever got me. Seeing my family is always something I approach with more than its fair share of foreboding but it's usually not so bad in the end. I just don't have much in common with my family which strikes me as very odd. I usually feel uncomfortable and I can't figure out if it's them or me or both but it wears on my nerves very quickly. She's mostly been lounging around and hanging out with the kids. I'm too busy to do anything with her but I think the visit is approximately the best-case scenario for both of us. Like I said before, I'm going to the U.S. for a whole month (!) in July.
My wife's couch project hasn't advanced much, but we've come to an agreement that we're not on a schedule. She's already working on two chairs and at this rate they won't be finished for at least a half a year more. She's not ready to take on more work so I have time to repair the 'carcass' a little bit at my leisure. Note to self: take pictures!
After this semester is over, I'll be taking a semester off. My trip to the U.S. falls smack-dab in the middle of midterms so rather than stress myself out on what promises to be a rather lengthy and already stressful quasi-vacation, I'm simply going to take a break. With the time left over (when I'm not in the U.S.) my plan is to take a couple of sailing lessons at a local lake, do some more woodwork, be a tourist in my new home, and generally improve the degree to which I am organized. If I have time left over, I'm going to improve my Linux skills and see if I can teach myself the basics of Latin. Oh! and play my guitar more! I almost forgot.
Being a Luthier is more and more on the back burner. My giant wedges of Acacia are still in the yard, out in the weather. They are looking more and more like firewood and less and less like a guitar every day.
Be excellent to each other!
I took a moment to read back a little and realized that if you are bored and / or twisted enough to actually follow the events journalized in my journal then you're in need of help, er ... I mean ... entitled to an update:
My shelves are as complete as they are going to get. All that remains to do is anchor them to the wall and knowing me, I might just wait until the whole kittenkabooodle falls on an unsuspecting child to make that modification. Furthermore, I have decided that this will be the last time I ever build anything from pine in an effort to save money. My time is worth enough that, if and when I embark on another project, I want a result that has both material and intrinsic value. The next project will not be made from wood less noble than oak.
My new lappy never did come in. I only yelled at one person and I'm sad to say that he was probably just an answering service drone. I should feel bad, but I don't; he's getting paid so that people like me can vent! 9 weeks into the game, TigerDirect / Amazon reimbursed my money. In the game of mail order computer technology it's USPS / APO 2 : PP 0. Sooooo, the MSU basically convinced me to put off getting a lappy until I go to the US in July. I mean, furnishing computers for dishonest postal employees is fun and all, but it's not helping me much. I begrudgingly agreed. So I've added a new lappy and a wireless router to my to-get list for my trip to the land of the fat of the land.
I don't know if I told you or not, but awhile back, I did buy a new desktop. It was on double sale after Christmas so I took the plunge. It's an AMD 64 bit processor which has proven to be more of a hassle than it is cool (at least for now). It came with Windoze XP home but the OS is in French. That's workable, but I don't really want to use Windows as my primary OS anyway. All of the 64 bid distros for Linux have proved to be, as usual, not exactly up to snuff. I wish I was better at Linux because Debian seems to be the best but not the easiest solution to my needs. Fedora Core 3 has worked out to be something of a pain because, among other things, it won't mount an NTFS file system. Also, the Firefox binary for AMD 64 bit processors is not supported very well by Java and Macromedia. There's other stuff too. Suffice to say that by stepping up to the cutting edge of technology, I've taken a pretty significant step back technologically. Makes sense huh? I'm toying with the idea of trying out yet another Linux distro, but backing up my e-mail and other configurations is always such a hassle. On top of it all, I really don't have time for all this. I guess I just have to muddle through with Windows XP for a little while longer.
My Mom is here which is going as well as can be expected. That's all I really have to say about that. She bought me 'the Pink Panther' DVD box set for my birthday which is among the coolest gifts anyone has ever got me. Seeing my family is always something I approach with more than its fair share of foreboding but it's usually not so bad in the end. I just don't have much in common with my family which strikes me as very odd. I usually feel uncomfortable and I can't figure out if it's them or me or both but it wears on my nerves very quickly. She's mostly been lounging around and hanging out with the kids. I'm too busy to do anything with her but I think the visit is approximately the best-case scenario for both of us. Like I said before, I'm going to the U.S. for a whole month (!) in July.
My wife's couch project hasn't advanced much, but we've come to an agreement that we're not on a schedule. She's already working on two chairs and at this rate they won't be finished for at least a half a year more. She's not ready to take on more work so I have time to repair the 'carcass' a little bit at my leisure. Note to self: take pictures!
After this semester is over, I'll be taking a semester off. My trip to the U.S. falls smack-dab in the middle of midterms so rather than stress myself out on what promises to be a rather lengthy and already stressful quasi-vacation, I'm simply going to take a break. With the time left over (when I'm not in the U.S.) my plan is to take a couple of sailing lessons at a local lake, do some more woodwork, be a tourist in my new home, and generally improve the degree to which I am organized. If I have time left over, I'm going to improve my Linux skills and see if I can teach myself the basics of Latin. Oh! and play my guitar more! I almost forgot.
Being a Luthier is more and more on the back burner. My giant wedges of Acacia are still in the yard, out in the weather. They are looking more and more like firewood and less and less like a guitar every day.
Be excellent to each other!