Tech

Remembrance

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Friday I worked from home again. This time I tried out the bedroom so I could watch more 7th Heaven in the background. I’ve made it to the seasons where I care less about the show because of all the added characters and less of the originals. And more repeats of themes. Not too weird considering many milestones are the same one kid after the other, but it does get old. Especially as the twins are kind of wooden and uninteresting. Ruthie and Simon were much more fun and alive at that age. Anyway, while that was fun for the background, the bedroom itself is not a handy work space, so that was once but never again 😀

When Nienke came home, she had brought Kim with her. So we had dinner together and then watched Frozen. I love Frozen <3

Yesterday was a busy, but good, day. Got a lot done while still feeling relaxed. Slept in, did some cleaning up, unpacked the dish washer. Then went for coffee at the Parents. I suggested we go to the cemetery to bring some flowers to grandma and grandpa. We’d been to the cemetery for my grandparents on Mom’s side recently, but it had been a while for the other side. And that grave gets a lot less visitors to begin with. They thought it was  good idea, so we decided to go later that day.

First, however, I went with Mom to the store to assist her in buying an Actifry and getting a mini vac for myself. Then I went home for lunch after which I repacked the dish washer and then went grocery shopping with Mom. After getting the groceries home, we went to the florist for a nice little bouquet to place at the grave.

Then the three of us went to Mensingeweer where we cleaned the head stone and placed the flowers. We walked around for a bit, where, as usual, my parents point out the various relatives and tell anecdotes about all these people I never met but am connected to, through time. I dig cemeteries.

The rest of the day I spent downloading, filing and archiving. Sorting out computer stuff can be so relaxing 🙂

Today was mainly more of the same. Slept in, watched a movie (Now You See Me, good film), downloaded and filed and archived some more, watched more 7th Heaven, did the administration and played iPad games. Good day 😀

 

Weekend

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Glorious weekend! Today I do very little except watch some movies or TV, read some, maybe play some games.

Yesterday was King’s Day so I took a stroll over the customary flea market. My first in this town. It was much bigger than I was used to in my previous town, so many kids trying to hawk their wares. I scored some nice bargains. Found a really good condition Settlers of Catan for €7,50 and a Charmed season 7 DVD box for €10 and a Lego game and book about cats to cut up (pretty pictures) for two or so euros together.

In the afternoon I went to the Parents as my aunt and cousin were visiting and I don’t get to see them often. It was nice catching up 🙂

I spent the evening on the sofa cutting up the book and watching Tabletop on the new TV. I’d set it up the night before and, as it’s a smart TV, it can do all kinds of nifty internet things like YouTube, Netflix and Spotify. So I connected all my accounts and even made it so that I can look for a YT video on my iPad and then play it on the TV 😀

Also on Friday, Mom and I went to the birthday of my second-cousin. I don’t always get to go as they are kids, still, and celebrate on the day itself, in daytime. Which is often when I work. But this week I’d switched my free afternoons enabling me to go. I’d made pretty envelopes before we went to put the gift money in. Not just one for the current celebrant, but also for the two we missed earlier this year. The birthday was much fun.

Seeing Things

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The TV came today! Fortunately the delivery address was set for my parents, as I had to work. After work, Nienke and I had to go to singing class first. My last time, at least for now. It was fun, we did Tears in Heaven together like we’d been practicing since last time. It went really well. Then, I got to choose what I wanted for my final song. I really wanted to do Let it Go. But I can’t make it in the female way anymore. And I can do it in a lower version, but I always sing with the song. And since I hadn’t practiced this with music only, the singing itself went quite badly. So we decided to do this one together as well, since Nienke had been singing Let it Go by herself for a while now. Together, it went much better, and it was a good way to end 🙂

Then we headed back to the Station to go home where we rode our bikes to my parents first so we could use them to help with the TV. Except, of course, these days flatscreens barely weigh anything. So in the end, I carried it home while Nienke walked our bikes. Once home, I installed it, and we gave it a test run. It is very, very pretty 😀

Yesterday was an unaccustomed long day. I changed my free afternoon for the week from Wednesday to Friday, so I had to work a full day. Afterward I went to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier with Nico. It was very awesome. This movie is sooooooo much better than part one. The after credits preview scene for Avengers: Age of Ultron was good, too!

Gathering of the Tribe

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Yesterday was Mom’s birthday. I brought her presents in the morning and then left again to go to Singing Class. I told my teacher I’m quitting singing for now. It frustrates too much, and I was never truly happy with the every two weeks frequency of the lessons (both time and money-wise).

In the afternoon I went back to the Parents for the birthday party. In a surprise move, I found there all my relatives from the other side of the country. I knew they were around since they were spreading my recently departed great-aunt Veri’s ashes. But they never confirmed if they were gonna come by for Mom’s birthday, so I wasn’t really expecting them. I only had a few minutes to catch up as they were leaving again (it’s a long drive back home for them). As usual, the party was great, it’s always good to see family again, especially on birthday gatherings. I went back home early in the evening as I have a cold and wanted to get an early night.

Ooh, I almost forgot! I bought a new TV Friday. Nienke’s TV in the living room is of good size, but our living room is bigger and it is sometimes troublesome to see small things well from the sofa’s. I settled on a nice 40″ Samsung Smart TV which will be delivered next Thursday.

Today was a nice relaxing day. Got up late, had an Easter brunch, then played games, and worked on my ticketstump scrapbook (a very basic one). While doing that, I listened to a Doctor Who audio book, which was fun. But it did reinforce that audio books really aren’t my thing. It doesn’t feel like a book, it takes more concentration just to stick with the story (as opposed to reading where it sort of happens automatically). I can’t just sit and listen so my hands always have to do something, which then distracts from the story. When reading, since I’m holding the book then, I don’t have that problem. I will however subject myself to it again, as there’s also an audio play of Romeo & Juliet with David Tennant I haven’t listened to yet.

I did a quick trip to the Parents to retrieve birthday leftovers, as we do each year, and once back home I had cake and finished Sorcery and Cecilia, which is a fun book.

Internets

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Back from Eva & Jarig’s. Eva texted during work, the internet that was supposed to be up today, wasn’t working. I tried troubleshooting via text, but that didn’t really work out. So I offered to come over and take a look. After work, Jarig picked me up at the station and we drove to their house. We ate first and then I took a look at their internet. It’s kinda really bad from a wiring perspective. Their place is huge; the dsl line entry point is in the main house. It has a crappily made connection to the modem from where there’s a cable running into the main kitchen. Where, as it turned out, had been an extra router. From that router, three more cables run further into the house-extension in the barn. On itself, cleverly done, were it not for the cables being old and crappy and covered up and/or running through walls. All in such a way that in the kitchen I couldn’t see which of the cables went where. After placing a router in the kitchen I plugged all the cables in went to the living room computer I’d set up last weekend and plugged that in. I then spent quite some time double checking cables and messing with settings to end up with a working cabled connection to the computer and a working wifi. Albeit a fairly bad signal as their living room is quite a ways from the main kitchen. After some more tea and playing a bit with Feije, Eva drove me back to the station. Fun day 🙂

 

Hnnnnngh…

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I am so completely dead. Went to the gym for the first time on Monday, and O. M. G… I was going for the half hour of Vario Sport, wherein you do something else every week. This first week of the new season it was mainly twenty thousand forms of hopping about. After doing that, I felt fairly good. And so I was easily convinced to stick around for the half hour of Tabata that follows on it directly. Tabata turned out to be a high intensity interval training where we did all kinds of exercises rapidly for about thirty seconds and then another and then another and another and a 30 second break and again a series of the same exercises. Combined this killed me sooooo dead.

I made it home afterward, fell down on the sofas and refused to get up until it was time for bed. Which was a bad idea in itself because…
The next day I could barely walk, my calves hurt sooooo bad 😀

After work I made a cheesecake for the team, from scratch, just like with Christmas dinner. Started a bit too late though, it was after midnight when I took the cake out of the oven… So late, that I didn’t get around to putting up the raspberry topping until the next morning before work.

After that it was quite the adventure to get the cake in the bike crate, it only just fit. It survived the bumps on the way to the train station as well as the ride to the city. Left the cake with the team leader for handing out during the daily meeting. At that point I was gone, though.

I had to grab the train back home right after finishing at one, to make it in time for the appointment for my second T shot. It went well, I tried to keep the leg even more relaxed than I did with the other for the first shot in the hope that this would be less painful and for a shorter time. I think it worked, as I only felt it for a day or two. The calves, though… Man, they’re still driving me nuts.

Also on Wednesday, my shiny, shiny iPad Air arrived. I went to check on my old iTunes account and all my old apps are still there. And, joy of all joys, all my progress in Magic Piano is still there as well as my more than 160 songs. I did spend some money on that back when I still had an iPhone, so nice to know it’s all still here.

During singing on Saturday I noticed some first subtle changes in my voice. It’s starting to get a bit scratchy a bit sooner. And then it didn’t help I was doing How You Remind Me 😀 Am very curious to see how this develops.

The rest of the day I dumped shit in the attic and I worked on the carpeting for the front hallway. Also had a nice evening with some friends coming over.

Today I did go to Pilates (I skipped body pump on Thursday) and that was great fun. I always liked Pilates back in Leicester, so I’m glad I went here, too. Spent the afternoon in relaxation watching Sherlock again as well as my new blu ray of Les Misérables. I love that movie <3

Packages

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Managed to find pretty bags (and within my price range) online. Ordered them, and they arrived the next day! I was much pleased. Got a Samsonite black backpack for the laptop and a grey Eastpak messenger bag to use for work. Now the red undivided messenger bag can be used for the gym.

Yesterday Nienke and I also exchanged the last of our St. Christnicholasmas presents. I’d gotten her a tenth Doctor screwdriver (and myself one, too :D), a magazine about the tenth Doctor and what was supposed to be a cardboard cutout of the tenth Doctor. However, the shop accidentally sent a Weeping Angel.

She got me this absolutely gorgeous, and delightfully tiny, Pagan/witchy tarot deck. It’s quite modern in theme, witches with computers and such, and really geared towards guidance along one’s personal Pagan path? I love it and am very curious to see if we click.

This morning I slept in, and then tore down the second Christmas tree. Oh, and Nienke’s bike was brought by the previous owner. It’s a pretty thing.

In the afternoon I went with the Parents to Zandeweer for Uncle Louw’s birthday. Spent most of the afternoon clearing out his computer 😀 He has the unfortunate habit of clicking on things he shouldn’t. After clearing the malware, fortunately no viruses, I installed Adblock and told him to stop clicking on things he damn well knows are ads and stuff. He said he would watch out. I expect to be doing this again next year 😀

Blog About Me [8/52] What’s Always In My Pocket/Bag

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On workdays, I carry a messenger bag. The zippered pockets outside are generally empty. Only the pocket on the flap holds a copy of my bus and train departure schedules both ways, just in case I need to look it up. Inside, the bag is divided in two. The back part holds my daily agenda/planner wherein I have my work schedule and other appointments, and whatever book is currently my train-book. Generally this is a thinner, easier read as I only get to read it for 15 to 20 minutes at a time so I need to be able to get in and out of it quickly. The front part holds my water bottle, my wallet, deodorant, and a little zippered bag/box thing that holds my earphones, thumb drive, locker key, a few pens, occasionally a couple tea bags and aspirin.

I also always carry my phone and keys to my house when I’m out and about. They tend to switch between being in my pockets or in my bag.

On free days, when I go places, I tend to just bring my work bag, but then without the planner, book and bag/box. And when I go light, all I bring is phone and keys with my debit card (and when necessary public transport card) in a pocket.

The Week in Review: 2012-10

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I’m grateful for the fairly quiet times at work that enabled me to take two extra days off so my one week off turned into a glorious week and a half.

I’m happy with my new tablet (a Qware pro 3, 10″). I ordered it online last week after I’d been to the Intertoys for the 7″ version for the third time and they still didn’t have it. This one was more expensive, but the added screen real estate makes it worth it. I spent the weekend loading it up with apps and am contemplating adding a custom rom to update it to Android 4 (it has 2.3 now). And, I’m blogging from the tablet now. Which is showing me one thing very clearly: I need to get a dictionary imported here somewhere because I spend way too much time correcting myself.

I was annoyed with the reflection essay I needed to write to finish the education track at work. I hate those sort of essays with a passion so when I finally sat down for it I spent two hours hatefully avoiding it and complaining about it ( 🙂 ) and then decided to go all the way in, over the top and all. So an hour later I had three pages with artfully inserted quotes and section headings and all that jazz.

I learned that I’d been playing my ukelele wrong (and slightly cheating here since this was actually yesterday and thus already week 11). Turns out I’d been counting my strings wrong. I started at the top (near my chest) with one and then went down, while in fact the top one is string four. So the c and d that play on the third string I was actually playing on the second. And the e, f and g that play on the second string I was playing on the third. No wonder the Frere Jacques sounded off. Got this fixed now so I’ll be spending this week getting the fingerings on the right strings under control, as well as practising the two beginner tunes on the next page: Frere Jacques and Mary Had a Little Lamb.

I discovered I still have some residual unresolved sort-of-jealous feelings about something (and yes being vague on purpose). I thought I worked through this, rationally I understand the choice, but feelings can be a bitch sometimes.

Weekend Ramblings

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I love weekends, sleeping in, late nights, doing random stuff, it’s the best.

Today I slept in, and got rudely awakened by the postman ringing the bell. He had the t-shirts I ordered from Jinx before New Year’s. Bad news? Customs decided to charge me an extra twenty in additional taxes for them. And not having any loose change in the house, and the postman being one without a mobile debit machine, we agreed he would drop it off at the post office.

Then I went back to bed.

Got up an hour or so later and spent a relaxing early afternoon hanging around on the internet. Then I went to the post office and picked up the package. All three shirts fit well and are good so that’s that. The only thing I still need to get now is the Ukelele. I mailed the store for an update on when it’ll be back in stock, but so far no answer yet.

I also played around with Excel. Using it at work a lot lately has made want to play with it at home too, especially with some of more fancy features besides just making tables. So I decided to create a spreadsheet for my financial administration so it has lots of Sum functions in it. I also used three sheets within the workbook, one for the income and expenses spreadsheet and the second for a quick overview of the totals along with a small table that the graph on the third sheet is using as source data. I love messing about like that. Figuring out the right functions for the cells that needed to do something than just adding shit up was fun to do. As was making the graph.

Nienke had to work today, and as she was on her way home she suggested we order in pizza. I thought that was an excellent idea so while she was waiting for the bus I ordered. It was delivered promptly at the requested time and, as usual, it was good stuff. I love the tiramisu that Buonissimo has 😀

Watched some Supernatural during dinner and am now watching The Nine Lives of Chloe King. I hadn’t watched it before, but I was intrigued. And since it only has ten episodes it’s an easy show to just cram in. Third episode has just ended but it’s a little too late to see more. I’m gonna go sleep in a little bit, my eyes are starting to protest. More tomorrow, if I have time.

I need to sleep in first, obviously 😀 And at the end of the afternoon I’m going over to Eva’s to play games with her, Jarig and Ingrid.

Bed now, though. Definitely bed.

In closing, the shirts I got: