Christmas with Pugs

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They don't quite get it ...

Merry Christmas

It's still Christmas morning, but so far the day is going very well.

A bunch of cool DVDs, some camera equipment and some toys found there way to me from Santa's sack, along with an xBox messenger and a couple of office toys.

Dancer got some nice kitchen porn, custom chocolates, wine and a few toys too.

So now we've got some Christmas movies on the TV, we've both called our families, we have a glass of nice red wine each, and pretty soon we'll be cooking up our Christmas pheasant.

The gifts are under the tree

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It's nearly Christmas!

Brutus helps wrap

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Why I learned to love Apple MKII

That G5 iMac we left with Apple on Saturday?

I ran over to pick it up today - brand new power supply.

Due to the wonders of Apple Care, this hasn't cost me anything.

Why I learned to love Apple

Back in May 2005 we bought an iMac G5. This machine has basically been turned on ever since.

A week ago, it started to shut down unexpectedly. A couple of days ago it shut down entirely, and wouldn't boot back up.

So today we took it to the Geniuses at the Mac store. Without so much as a query or a challenge, they took the machine off us, checked it in, ordered a new power supply, and it should be ready some time next week.

While there, they also switched the battery on my 18 month old Macbook out for a brand new one, as mine wasn't holding as much charge as it used to. No challenges, no fuss.

Not a single penny was spent during the trip (well, we bought a new keyboard for the iMac, but it didn't *need* one).

Apple are an awesome consumer experience.

Why Boston can't cope in snow

Yesterdays snow storm was pretty damned terrible. Record breaking levels of snow falling in a short amount of time, offices and businesses all closing at almost the same time, late response by city / state officials.

But it's done with, and no one got hurt.

Now read this article:

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2007/12/14/snowy_standstill/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Front+Page

The name calling and finger pointing is hysterical - officials saying it would have been nice if it had snowed a bit later? Huh?! It would have been nice if it hadn't snowed at all!

Snow plows couldn't move either, so of course you weren't going to have nice clean roads. Last snow plow I looked at was a bit bigger than a car, so if I'm not getting into a spot, neither is he.

People. Are. Stupid.

Snow!

10 to 12 inches of snow fell yesterday.

At lunch we drove up the highway to a mexican place, clear skies. We walked out to 2 inches and the highway in gridlock.

Got back to the office and Dancer took her car home at 2pm. I left at 2:45pm.

To say it was busy is a massive understatement - it was gridlock *EVERYWHERE* with 2 inchs of snow falling each hour.

Cars, trucks, plows all skidding around.

I got home at 8pm.
Dancer got home at 9pm.

I had to blow the knee high snow off the drive before I could even get off the road.


Today?

Clear skies, clear roads, warm and sunny. Well, 40f feels warm.

It's the office party tonight - while it's on-site, it's not cheesy, they bring in a professional company who sets up a bunch of gambling tables and everyone is given free "money" to play with all night. Last year there was kareoke, this year there is a DJ.

Catered food, open bar, people dress up.

We've booked a room in the hotel over the road for the night, so we can both enjoy some drinks and not worry about the hour drive back home - our friend is staying over with the dogs.

Tomorrow we've got to hit the mall in the morning and take our iMac back to the Apple store - it's power supply died recently, and it doesn't boot up any more - considering it's out iTunes / music server for the house, this is a problem! Happily, everything is on an external drive if it is dead.

Then we get home, grab some shopping, because an even bigger storm is supposed to be hitting us on Saturday night. More snow, just what we need. We're not going anywhere on Sunday!

The Golden Compass

I went to watch The Golden Compass this afternoon - all on my own, as Dancer is on a work trip for a couple of days.

If you aren't familiar, The Golden Compass is based off the first book of Phillip Pullmans fantastic trilogy, "His Dark Materials".

I've been thinking about my reaction to the movie, initially I was quite happy with how they handled it, but after letting it sink in for the afternoon, I'm not so happy.

The story it is trying to tell is very, very fast paced. They cover huge amounts of geography, emotion, character building - somehow, the movie manages to lose that. It isn't until they meet the Ice Bears that you give a damn about Lyra, and her friend that she goes to great lengths to rescue is entirely forgettable.

The visual effects are stunning - but almost to the point of overwhelming the story. The balloon that Lee flies in is, in my mind from the books, of the style of a hot air balloon, but in the movies it becomes this flying ship kind of thing - the vehicles they use don't fit my interpretation of the world either.

So I think, after the movie is over and I've digested it, I'm a little dissapointed in the handling - apparantly the guy who directed American Pie was the director here, which is a very odd choice, but would explain a lot of the problem.

I hope they make enough money to finish up the trilogy - and I hope it improves - but so far, this isn't going to be the Harry Potter franchise replacement they thought it would - just like Eragon before it.

Gmail as my email client

Since getting my Blackberry, I've been getting tons and tons of spam. It makes sense as my email is filtered for spam at the client level, which was Thunderbird on my Mac.

Because the email is sent to the Blackberry before I download it on the Mac, no filtering.

When my Mum was here, I noticed she was downloading her other email accounts into her gmail account, and reading everything there.

Thinking about it a bit more, it made sense.

So I hooked my blackberry up to my gmail account, added my other two main email accounts into gmail, and have been running that way for a while now. Gmail spam filters take care of the junk quickly, and I pull clean emails into my Blackberry.

The gmail client for blackberry is good, but not has handy as the push email features of the blackberry itself, so I'm using that.

Good bye Thunderbird, I'm entirely online now.

Assassins Creed Intro

My parents bought me a copy of Assasins Creed for the xBox 360 for an early Christmas gift this year - and the game has impressed me so much, I wanted to write a bit of an informal introduction.

Firstly - this is out for the PS3 too - I understand the PS3 has slightly better framerates than the 360, but there are also reports of game glitches that aren't on the 360 - regardless of the lower frame rate, this game looks absolutely stunning, and is absolutely smooth. Easily one of the most impressive games, visually, even Mum was suprised by the quality of the graphics. The video you see here is the introduction, and appart from some slightly different camera angles, you're near as dammit viewing the actual game engine.

Right up front, the story line will suprise you. I hadn't read into the game at all, and was quite taken aback when it started - it isn't set in the past at all, but set in some alternate present, or near future. Very unique, quite innovative and a little bit wierd at first.

The game itself has the kind of storyline that will bring you back for more - tons of little side quests, tons of things you can collect, but don't get in the way of the main story line if you can't be bothered. I've knocked off 5 or so of the main quests already, and haven't explored half of what I can.

I had some problems with the control at first - the way you enter fight mode and attack / defend wasn't quite clicking with me - but now I'm counterattacking with the best :)

The cities you are wandering are very good looking - considering you can climb almost anywhere, it never feels like there are "obvious" climb points that seem unnatural to the city - everything flows nicely.

Out of 10 stars, I'd go with a 9 - there are some things that are a little *too* contrived - the monks you can blend in with never move until you blend - the citizens you save from beatings stay in one place and get beaten until you rescue them.

Apart from those, and they are minor, this is a fantastic game I've not been able to put down.

Scared pug

I need one of these ...

Is this what Yoda has been reduced too?

Since there will be no more Star Wars movies, even aliens have to pay the rent!

Preparing for the snow

It's that time of year - the Winter Weather Advisories come in, the snow starts falling. This afternoon the neighborhood rang to the tune of snowblowers being gassed up and tested out. Our new neighbors took delivery of a new blower, so they must be in the same boat we were last year, first year they need it - they were bright enough to buy it before the snow, we had to dig out to go get ours :)

My warm gear is ready, our blower is waiting - I put salt down on the drive tonight and got the trash out before it got too bad to drag the bins out.

It's pretty out there, all dark and snowy with all the lights outside the houses :)

Visits

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks!

We had some wonderful house guests in my parents, and Dancers aunt - we celebrated ThanksGiving, closely followed by a really pleasant Christmas celebration - I scored a couple of xBox 360 games (Mass Effect and Assassins Creed) that will keep me amused for quite some time!

My parents head back home a couple of days ago, and rather than it giving us time to relax, work has ramped up on the insanity levels. I've been busier than ever this last few weeks, and my boss seems to be taking notice now, which is good news for me, as they have their eyes on someone to step in and help. Nothing concrete on that yet, but we'll see.

This weekend is already planned out. Saturday I'm doing nothing. Sunday I'm watching Dancer do nothing (she's working Saturday). Thats it. Nothing. Grocery shopping will be done tonight on our way home from work.

The weather for Saturday is supposed to be a balmy, warm 20f all day, with the weather for Sunday looking to be several inches of snow. I'm glad my parents made it out when they did!

I'm rediscovering my enjoyment of British stand up comedians, and today I'm happily wearing my Billy Connolly T Shirt I was bought from his recent tour my family went to - no one in the office gets it :)

Back to the grind stone.

Turkey road block

This year we ordered a turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas lunches. We've always hit the local supermarkets before, and bought the pre-packed junk ones.

This year we decided to order one, and we saw an article on Bobs Turkey farm, in Lancaster MA.

So today we headed out into the first snow of the year (dropping an inch or so), crawled down Route 2, navigating around the recent spin out of cars (3 of them had spun seconds before we got there, and were trying to turn around), and headed over to Bobs.

When we got there, we lost it. We were both laughing our pants off. There was a traffic jam right outside the farm. They were lining up to get in. This place has 10,000 Turkeys to sell this Thanksgiving, and they have 15 or so parking spots. It was absolutely hysterical watching the police who were trying to navigate traffic properly standing around in snow and playing musical parking spots with the Turkey Farm customers!

We got in and out, and now have a 14lb, freshly butchered Turkey ready for dinner on Thursday :)

Now for some food and cooking, before heading out to get my parents from Logan airport tonight - their flight has been screwed up and they are now flying through Chicago, from Manchester England to get to Boston. Thanks American Airlines, fuckers!

Incoming visitors

For the last few days we've been cleaning :) The house looks lovely now, but we busted ass to get it that way - on top of cleaning the whole place from top to bottom, we did a bunch of routine stuff too. The car needed it's 15,000 mile service, the dogs needed to go to the groomers, the studio needed some curtains put up over the mirrored wall, the basement desperately needed a sweep.

So it's been a lot of hard work.

Thanksgiving is coming - I have no particular attachment to it as a holiday, but it's the American Christmas, and the time of year to take some vacation from work, and this year, we'll be spending some time with our family, both my parents, and Dancers aunt will be here. I am very much looking forward to this holiday!

One day of work, then vacation for a week.

We have a big Thanksgiving dinner planned - including a farm fresh Turkey for the first time - normally we get a packaged bird, but this year, in the countryside, screw it, we're getting a fresh one :) It's a big one too, should be enough :D

So after a long day cleaning, we're sitting down, snoozing, cuddling pugs and watching some DVDs that make us laugh.

Redecorated spare room

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From a room with a cheap shelf, and a twin sized futon, into this.

Weekend so far

Friday night was my performance for the Gala for Michael Baxter, who is a well-known bellydance photographer. It wasn't my best performance (you can see it here under the Videos section. It was tough to go straight from work and go into Dancer mode. Up until Friday, I'd either been immersed in dance (either in the retreat or workshops) or had the day to chill. That was really, really tough. It was also the first time I was really with high-caliber dancers not in a class setting. These folks I'd never met before, nor was it in a teaching session. Still, while not my best, it wasn't my worst either.

Saturday I had to work. I wanted to have some time to prep for today, but sadly that didn't happen. I was pretty down about work and it sucking my life away, but after talking to my Geek I felt much better about things. Thanks, hon.

I got a very early night on Saturday night, as I had to be up at 4:30 today for the photoshoot. Ok, I have to say this up-front. First, I have a whole new respect for models, like Tyra Banks, and second, all the hours spent watching America's Next Top Model came in damned handy!! When they went through the facial expressions and the vowels, I actually got it.

It was a blast! I had the best time doing the shoot. Michael was extremely patient and easy to work with (and when he discovered I was also a geek, he had a whole new level of respect for me. He's also an editor for Linux magazine, among other geek endeavors.) Aazura was also wonderful. They complemented me on how quick I picked up and how well I responded to direction. I know there were some great shots and I can't wait to get the DVD of he photos.

We went and saw Elizabeth tonight. It was awesome!! I'm so happy I saw it in the cinema. I saw the first one in the cinema and wanted to keep the tradition. We're thinking of going to see Nightmare Before Christmas later.

Deifinitely a lovely weekend.

T Mobile retains two customers

Dancer and I have been with T Mobile for almost 4 years now. *Almost*.

Here in the US, cellphone contracts run for two years. To get the full discount on a new phone, you need two years tenure. Which sucks, as we are two months away from our second renewal preiod, and my Motorola Razr shit the bed, when it's screen stopped working, making it very tricky to, you know, use it.

So we went into the store. We knew which handset we wanted to go with (the Blackberry Curve, one each), and I knew how much it would cost if I was renewing at the two year mark.

The store was unyielding, and quoted us $100, per phone, more than I knew it should be. So we walked out. A quick trip to AT&T to price up iPhones and contracts, then I called T Mobile direct. Their Support team was at least honest, they have no flexibility in the system, and can't change the price. Customer care could though, so I hopped over.

There I dealt with a very nice woman, who immediately quoted me the price I wanted to hear, talked through the plans clearly, and even made recommendations where I could drop some services I'd been paying for, but not using at all.

So now two Blackberry Curves (8320's) in Titanium are on their way, our plan now covers full internet access and we couldn't be happier with T Mobile. Good job!

Indiana gives me migraines

I just got back from a business trip to Indiana, which was pretty much a waste of my time, but thats the way it goes.

When you travel to other cities for business, finding somewhere to eat is always a chore. You kind of want to eat at a place you wouldn't find anywhere else, and see a bit of the local culture, for what it's worth, but your on a tight timetable, need to be alert the next day, so you tend to gravitate more towards the known entities.

Now I see why. Monday night was a fairly average, but nice enough, dinner at Outback, a national chain. We knew what to expect, and got it.

Tuesday night, we got adventurous, and hit up a local, highly recommended, Irish pub. Not just any, but one that had been carved out and constructed in Ireland, then shipped over, and put back together by Irish workmen, apparently.

I ordered fish and chips. How could you go wrong with that right?

I was asked if I wanted 1/2 or 1 full pound - not sure of what, I went with the pound. It's all getting expensed, right?
The chips were American chips - ie Crisps. Not quite the kind you get in a bag, but not what I expected.
The fish - I got a full pound of deep fried fish. More fry than fish. It was dry, unappetizing and I managed half of one. Barely touched the chips.

By the end of the meal, I had a headache. By the time I got to my hotel, I had a migraine for the first time in 10 years or so.

Not much fun in Indiana. I was passed out by 9pm, and slept all night.

On the road again

Two days in Indianapolis for the Geek this week. Flew in today, and so far since I got here, it's done nothing but rain. Hard.

I picked up my colleague and we went for food at Outback, now back at my hotel in front of the computer. It's wet wet wet out there.

My rental car this turn is a Subaru Forrester, which I have to say hasn't impressed me immensely. I'm sure that would be different if it was snowing, but it's not.

Bringing my own in car GPS system has been a godsend on this trip already - because it has real time traffic updating, it prevented me from taking the direct route to the hotel, which would have landed me slap bang in the middle of a 10 mile tailback, and 40 minute delays.

About to fireup the slingbox and chill with a diet soda. Night all!

Time in Vermont

The below video clips were taken in Vermont last weekend, during our anniversary weekend.

We love Yankee Candle

One of those odd places you'd not normally expect to have a good time is Yankee Candle in Western Mass.

It's their flagship store - but not just any store. They sell all kinds of things there, from kids toys, to gourmet food. Candles to wind chimes. We tend to go nuts when we go in.

Our good friend, J, is up from New York this weekend, so we took her to Yankee Candle. While there, we indulged. Last time, we went loved the Department 56 stuff. We talked about how we would love to start a collection of it, as our Christmas "Thing".

So today, we picked up a few things from the Dickens Collection and set them up on a table in our dining room. Eventually, I'll get some photos.

M came out too, and we watched Transformers, and enjoyed some beer.

Life is good.

Now in Rancho Cordova

Back on the road again. It's been incredibly busy at casa des Dancer et Geek. After the Rochester trip, we took a nice long weekend up in Vermont. Now this had two roles. There was a dance workshop on the Saturday and Sunday that I wanted to attend, and it was our anniversary weekend. I decided we should make a trip of it, and looked for pet friendly places so we could take the puggies. D graciously took care of the bun bun for us.

It was such a nice time. We got to decompress a bit, chill out and relax for a few days. We not only got to have the puppies, but there was a kitchenette too so I didn't have to stress food. We still went out for an anniversary meal. We went to the New England Culinary Institute's teaching restaurant there. Come on, admit it, you would've too. To see the faces of the students with my allergy list?? :D

The meal was beautiful. They did a great job, but also kept the allergy card for future training/teaching.

We went to the Green Mountain visitor center which was like going to Mecca for me. LOVED LOVED LOVED it. Lost of interesting displays and things to see. And yes, lots to buy. We bought some shirts, some coffee, and believe me, I could've spent a whole lot more there. I want a job there as a coffee taster/sourcer. :)

The workshop was really good, though very tiring. Between being laid up and traveling, I haven't been able to practice as much as I would like, and I was rusty. Also wore out very quickly - it was only a 5 hour class, with an hour break! I also performed that night. It was a public performance, and I have to say, it went really well. I didn't so much forget my routine as I had "mechanical issues" (started to get tangled up in the veil) so I swirled it and let it glide off my back. Geek said for all the world it looked planned. :D Hopefully Geek will get the pics up soon

The Sunday class was also 4 hours. Not quite as much fun. When I heard "choreography class" I thought the meaning was "here's some tips on creating a choreography". Nope. It was "Here's a new dance I've created, let's learn it together!" It's a good piece, but not entirely my style. Still, there was some new steps in there I didn't know and I can sort of see where she was going with it. I could see adapting it maybe, or just playing with it at home just for the practice in turns and barrel turns.

Also on the dance front, I have *another* public performance on the 26th of October up in Arlington. It's a gala show for Michael Baxter, who is a renown bellydance photographer. I'm going to be doing a shoot with him on Sunday for a couple of hours to get some professional posed shots, and he will also be taking pictures of the show, so I'll also have professional performance photos. I'm pretty excited about this. If anyone wants to come see me (and other dancers) shoot me an email or message and I can get you the specifics.

Now, as to why I'm in Rancho Cordova, I'm doing another presentation. It's to a government/public sector group I believe. I'm not sure who all my audience will be, but hopefully it will be a good crowd. I'm pretty confident in this particular presentation, as it's one of the "template" ones we use, and add/subtract to tailor to the crowd. It's another "quick" trip, I got in today and leave tomorrow right after the presentation. I don't usually mind these quick ones, but I sometimes wonder if they are worth the money it costs to send me out here.

On a side note, I forgot my GPS, so I had to rent a car with one. I gots a Ford Mustang! Yes, my tits just grew several cup sizes. So not only do I get to be here on a short trip, I get to pretend to have a mid-life crisis by driving in a red mustang.

When I get back tomorrow, there will be a lovely houseguest waiting for me. Our friend Janice is coming to see us!! It's been way too long. I really can't wait and am seriously looking forward to seeing her again and catching up.

I suppose I should consider getting some stuff done before bed here. Like set up my wake up call. ;) And clear off the bed of my stuff so I can sleep. At least I did remember to bring food, and they had a mini fridge all set up. BTW Geek, I wasn't so much hungry as thirsty I found out. Half a liter of water later, I feel much more human.

Downtime in Vermont

Dancer and I bailed out of the house on Thursday and hit the road to Vermont - we're staying at a lovely motel just outside of Montpelier, with the puggies, and having a fine time.

Yes, we have the internet and a laptop, but no blackberry, cellphones don't get signal.

We've rented a room with a kitchenette that is pet friendly, the views from the front of the hotel are stunning. Unfortunately the weather isn't holding out yet, and it's been wet and gray, so no pictures or video. To be honest though, we're both having a huge amount of fun doing *nothing* for once. The TV is on, we've both got books and we're napping the evenings away.

Today we went into Montpelier itself, with the pugs in tow. It's a small town, and has the feel of a bit of a hippy town. Only 4 chain stores on the high street (2 banks, 1 grocery store, 1 pharmacy), but tons of little craft stores, second hand book stores, the New England Culinary Institute has a couple of restaurants, a bakery.

After that we headed over to Bragg Farm who produce their own maple produce, picking up a 1/2 gallon jug of medium grade A maple syrup for my parents, and some other touristy stuff.

We headed back to the motel, dropped off the exhausted boys in the room, then made a pilgrimage to the Green Mountain Coffee head store - we both love coffee (Dancer is a huge coffee snob!), and have a Keurig machine these days. We browsed their museum, then bought some fun things from their store, before sitting down and enjoying a nice cup in their cafe.

Dancer is going to a dance class and performance tomorrow, so I've got the boys all to myself. I'm going to head to either the Harpoon brewery head office, or to an event they are hosting at an Olde English style pub, which is closer. If the weather holds off, I think I'll head to some of the walks around here too.

Although high on my list of things to go and see, if I can get a break in the weather, is the Dog Chapel. Oh yes. Worship the dog.

I DID IT!

I had my first ever public performance tonight. It went pretty well. I forgot all of my choreography as soon as I walked out there, but just went with the music, smiled, and played with the crowd. I know I was the only one to use the whole stage and try to involve the audience and make them care. I didn't fall on my ass and the applause was more than the polite patter, so I must've done something right.

I'm just glad I got that first one out of the way. Geek was great!! He came along with me and took tons of pics of all the dancers. He was really great to have there for the moral support.

Mundane update

Obviously, I'm back from Vienna. The flights back were fairly uneventful, and being in the middle of the plane meant I didn't get as sick as I did going over. This week has been mostly playing catch-up at work.

I started a new Wednesday class, which I went to last night. However, life has intervened and I'm going to miss 3 of the 6. :( I'm going to miss 4 of my other class sessions. Work has suddenly exploded with speaking trips, both for me and my boss. We're going to spend most of October out of the office.

Next week, I'm in Rochester NY, then I get back for a few days, then we're taking a trip to Vermont for a dance workshop/anniversary outing. I get back for a day, then I'm in Rancho Cordova for a few days, then I'm back then off to Atlanta for two days. My frequent flyer card is certainly getting a workout. :)

November is looking busy on the dance front. I've got a couple of shows I'm going to, and there's rumors of a BellyDance Superstars workshop being offered that I'd like to go to. Hopefully work will be a bit more quiet. :)

Good Times

I did end up going for the social drinks, which was good, as I ran into the BIG boss and the company owner. So I was seen Tuesday. Wednesday I went out with a bunch of the work folks and had a great time. Thursday was the Gala Dinner.
The Gala Dinner was the best time. We all (with a few exceptions) dress up to the nines (as in total black tie is what most folks did. I did formal but not too formal. My wedding dress wouldn't have been out of place here) and had a really nice dinner. The food (at least for me) was really good. My only complaint was for the appetizer they sent out a salad with only olive oil, no vinegar, and the olive oil was off. The rest was great. Much alcohol was consumed. They had a full on Viennese waltz demo. Now what that is is think Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austin style dancing. That's what they did. It was so beautiful. The women were dressed in such gorgeous white dresses that were all satin and simple and the guys were in gloves and full tuxes with tails.

There was much gambling. I traded dance lessons with a co-worker. He gave me a waltz lesson, I gave lessons on turns. He's a semi-pro ballroom dancer so that was hugely fun to get a lesson with him. None of us were ready for the party to stop even though it was 1:30. A bunch of us staggered to bed at 3:30 but believe me, they were still going.

Today was the conference close. I ate, and then went out for a wander with a bunch of random folks from the conference. Now, these were all industry big-wigs, and here I am hanging out with them as equals. We walked around for a bit, but then they went to a bar. I was desparate to see some of the city, so I left. I stumbled onto the horse and carriage depot, so I went around the city for 90 minutes in the horse and carriage while he showed me some of Vienna's landmarks. I saw the Imperial Palace, Parliament, the City Hall (which was amazing at night), some gorgeous architecture, churches and statues, the home of Mozart, the second restaruant ever, the first coffee house and other toursit stuff. I had a blast. I met up with some work folk to go out to the bars. Eventually I came back here to chill out. I brought up some wine, and have been taking some time for myself.

Who knows? Maybe I'll get to go to next year's in Ottawa.

It turned out to be a good trip. I've met some great people, folks who are industry leaders. They know who I am and seemed to like me and all said hope to see me next year.

Tomorrow, I get to go home.

Team Fortress 2

I don't get excited about games very often, but if I'm reading this review right, Team Fortress 2 is coming to the xBox 360.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=83375&page=1

Team Fortress Classic is a game I played the hell out of. I loved that game. Sitting up late at night playing on a modem link, then playing in a friends living room at an impromptu LAN party with my keyboard on my knees.

It was because of TFC that I started a LAN party publicly, I just couldn't wait. The game rocked.

But I eventually grew out of it, and gaming. I stopped playing PC games a few years ago, with the exception of World of Warcraft.

Now Team Fortress 2 is coming. It looks great (not at all "gritty" or "realistic", which has been a huge turn off for me). Reviews sound like it's going to be fun to play, fun to learn, and, more importantly, I may be able to rocket jump again!

Can't wait!

Is it Saturday yet?

Ok, I'm so ready to leave. I'm sick to death of being here, having to hide in the hotel room due to pain and having to watch out for more glutening. This sucks more than you can imagine. The "best" bit is knowing I get to repeat the joy of the excruciating 9 hour flight back home. Yippee fucking do.

I met up with my coworkers for lunch. I thought we'd be going just downstairs, but it turns out they wanted to go to the cheaper end of town for food. Which meant I couldn't go. I felt like the kid sister where all the older siblings get to go out and I have to stay home. I did eat (alone) at the hotel restaurant. I had rack of lamb with a balsamic reduction with a side of sauted veggies. The veggies were *swimming* in oil. Ew. But other than that, the meal was tasty, but still. I'm fucking sick of this albatross around my neck. Food is about sustenance but what happens when it's a prison? Try this experiment. Now, my allergies are as follows: No grain (bread, wheat, semolina, rye, etc), corn, rice, soy, eggs, dairy, tree nuts, and peanuts.

Now, think of a place you usually go to eat. You don't usually put a lot of thought into where you go, right? You just go. So, think of a place. Got it? Now...

Italian is ruled out completely. Most places are either pasta based (semolina/wheat based) or have brick ovens for pizza (I'm in the 5% with the airbourne aspect)

Chinese? Nope. Soy sauce has both wheat and soy in it. And rice. So that tends to rule out Japanese/sushi as well. Thai? You might have a snowball's chance there, but they are still a bit tough to come by.

Obviously, all fast food is out, as well as delis. WHy delis? Many cold cuts are cured with wheat or milk based products. So you have to watch out for those.

Mexican? Nope. No corn.

Vegetarian, right? Nope. Soy.

Steakhouse. Yep, if you can find one that understands cross-contamination, and will pan fry the steak or cover the grill in foil to keep it safe for you. Oh and no fries, because the fryers aren't dedicated to just french fries, but usually do multitasking for all fried foods.

See how it works? The next time you go out, really look at the menu. Would you be able to eat there if you were me? I end up on trips having usually two choices - eat at the high end, but safe place, or live on chocolate and gluten-free cookies til I get home again. Sound fun?

I honestly think the worst part is the social aspect. Like today, I couldn't go with them. Cheaper places usually simply can't accommodate me. Cooks don't know about allergen safety or cross-contamination. They just bang out whatever they've been told from corporate on their menus. No thought, no room for change. A few places have been revolutionary by offering gluten free menus, but it's still not widespread.

I read several gluten free blogs, and while I love how they say how freeing it's been to be healthy and eat well, I just don't see it. I see prison bars. To be fair, they don't have the list I do. They only have to avoid gluten.

I'm off, but needed to get this rant off my chest.

Stranger in a Strange Land

Have I mentioned how strange it is to be in a place where English is not a primary language? Signs are in German, the language you hear is primarily German. It's very odd. Now I'm not saying that as "They should speaks English, dammit!!" Just simply voicing some regret that I can't speak their language. I was sitting at breakfast watching people stream past the windows going about their daily lives and wondering what they were doing/thinking/saying. What was their story? And mostly, why weren't they at work. ;)

No idea what I want to do today. I'm still very cranky and ouchie from yesterday's poisoning and it's grey and gloomy here. I'd say I'd curl up with a good book, but I didn't bring any. Usually I don't read, but I also didn't take into account getting ill. I have DVDs to sustain me though. :)

I also learned that Nescafe Gold instant "coffee" is NOT gluten free over here. Won't do that again. Fortunately I didn't drink much, as to me, instant is not coffee.

I've found Celiac Hell...

and it's Vienna.

I'm here in Vienna for a business trip. I left a day early so I could see some if it before work starts. Nope, didn't happen. Turns out United, in their quest to improve the "vomit comet" experience (otherwise known as airline food), they've "upscaled" their menu. And that means fresh bread being heated up in the galley. Now for most folks, this isn't an issue, but a) I'm one of the 5% who is prone to airbourne gluten and b) I was in the rear of the plane. Nine hours is a long damn time to fly in that kind of pain, let me tell you. So today was just resting.

The Austrians love their bread here. It's as much a part of their life as beer and coffee. People have been shocked, dismayed and appalled that I can't eat bread. They even asked why I didn't bring my own from home. :) Or if I had contacted them a week in advance, they would've. They can't entirely wrap their brain around it, but they have been more than accommodating. They have a hotel restaurant called S'Park. When I checked in, they talked to the chef, who has the list written in the kitchen. All I have to do is tell them who I am (Or like this evening, the tattoos gave it away I think and they knew right away who I was) and the chef sorts me out.

For lunch, the meal was uninspired, but a solid choice. He played it safe. I went with veal (medium) and salted veggies, that I think were boiled. Very tasty, if a little ho-hum. The veal was just a touch over-cooked, but was still very moist. The itty, itty micro carrots were a bit silly. He likes his baby veg. The rest was carrots, what appeared to be yellow carrots, and broccoli. Dinner was grilled turbot with cep (porcinis) and potato hash for lack of a better word. Very tasty stuff.

I've noticed prices over here are insane!!! Nine euros for a bloody bottle of water?! I don't want to risk anymore digestive malfunction, so I'd rather pay than drink the tap water, but still... OUCH.

RIP Colin Mcrae

One of my favourite sporting celebrities died in a helicopter crash last night. He was piloting the copter, and his 5 year old son was also onboard.

I started playing the Colin Mcrae series of computer games back in 95 on my PC, and started idly following the World Rally Championship afterwards. His personality made it fun to watch, and sucked me right in.

Now it's 2007, and I've been playing DiRT for the last couple of months (it's not badged "Colin Mcraes DiRT" here, just DiRT", and I guess it's going to be the last one with his name attached now. Thankfully it's really good.

With all the focus on cheating in F1, this is news the motor sport's community wasn't prepared for, as if you ever could. Best wishes go to Colin's wife, who has just lost a husband and her son.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/15/ncopter215.xml

Colin McRae, with his flamboyant driving style, brought such excitement to the off-road sport that the former plumber's name has become synonymous with the sport.

Born into a successful Scottish motor-racing dynasty, McRae became Britain's first World Rally Champion, clinching the title in 1995.

At the age of just 27, he was the youngest world rally champion.

Gym

Would you imagine that I was in the gym at 6:15am this morning? *Monday* morning?

It felt great too. I'm hoping I can keep it up a few times a week.

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12oz Filet Minons done on the grill, fresh salad with rasberry dressing on one and blue cheese on the other.

Perfec'

1/2 cup of kosher salt
1/2 cup of *finely* ground peppercorns
1/2 cup of garlic powder
1/4 cup of onion powder

mix together really really well.

Rub into two 12oz filets, throw on the grill.

Oh yeah.

Lolcatz

Lolcatz

Bravo Apple

NBC (Battlestar Galactica, The Office, Heroes etc) has had a deal with Apple for their shows to be re-broadcast on iTunes for the last year or more. Apple has always charged $1.99 an episode, making it a great alternative to missed episodes, and I've used it like this before.

NBC realized they could make more money, so they wanted to bump the price, per episode, to $5.99.

When the story broke this morning it was looking like they wouldn't agree, and the contract in December would expire.

It sounds like the negotiations were already ended. Apple just announced that they would be terminating all NBC shows before they started their new seasons instead. Basically, tomorrow.

Apple may not be the bastions for consumer rights that some Apple fanboys make them out to be for this, but it was a pretty ballsy move, and sends the message to other media companies that to get your stuff on iTunes, the biggest, and from my experience and my opinion, best, online media distrbution out there, you need to play by *their* rules, and not make up your own.

No one will buy NBC shows from another network - instead we will go back to "Life before iTunes" and pull them from bit torrents. NBC will get squat for that.

The sky at night

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I took the dogs out the other night before heading to bed, and the moon was so bright, I didn't need my torch. I stood there admiring the night sky for a few minutes, then remembered my Rebel XTI, tripod and remote, sitting in the living room.

Could of minutes later, I was back outside, tripod setup, camera in automatic / no flash mode and snapping these.

Click through to see more from the set - these have turned out to be fantastic desktop background photos for my Mac and work machines!

Mechanical

Put a broken computer in front of me, and it's pretty clear to me whats wrong with it, what can be done to fix it, and I'll get it done for you.

Put a broken piece of software that I'm familiar with, and I'll do the same.

Put a broken engine, or something mechanical in front of me, and I'll just stare at you blankly. I'm not much of a mechanically minded person.

It's why I bought extended warranties for both my cars. It's why I still drive to the dealership for their service every 5000 miles or so (of course, their prices are competitive, they are very personable and have yet to give me cause for complaint, which is why I go back).

When I bought my ride on mower (a John Deere LA120), for some reason I never really thought about servicing or mechanical mainenance. I didn't when I bought my push mower, and it's doing just fine. But of course, a $2000 mower is a little different.

So when the LCD on the mower starts yelling "service! service!" I figure, how hard can it be?

Hard, apparantly. Checking the service manuals out, and reading around, it's not something for the non mechanical to take much part in. oil changes, blade sharpening, belt and bolt tightening.

So I gave the nice guys at John Deere a call, and they do me a good price on a service plan - a couple of on site servicings in a year, and an extra year on my warrantie. Can't argue with that! Now I just need to remember to park it under the deck on the day they come, so I don't have to give them access to the garage.

Wish I could justify a cart for it now.

Vicks and the NFL

The NFL has announced that they will be suspending, permanently, including any and all monies, the monster that is Michael Vicks.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20429109/

For those in the UK, Michael Vicks is an American football player who was on a $130 million contract. He was sponsored by companies like Nike.

He was also funding a dog fighting ring that was operating on his property. This was the kind of illegal dog fighting ring that would hang or slaughter the dogs that didn't fight enough. That would put hungry, savaged pitbulls against little dogs with their throats slit.

He tried to deny it, but the evidence was hugely overwhelming so he switched to a plea bargain saying he only bankrolled them, and wasn't actually involved. This was enough for Nike and the NFL and he has been cut off. His old team has been freed to go after him for the $50+ million they paid in bonuses.

On Monday he goes back to court to be sentenced, currently thought to be between 1 and 5 years in prison.

It won't be long enough.

Happy night

It was a happy evening in the Geek household last night as the familiar voice of Clarkson and co finally got broadcast over the american airwaves.

Top Gear is now in the line up for BBC America, unedited and in proper season order.

Top Gear has been on before, Discovery Channel showed a couple of episodes. However, Jeremy isn't particularly American friendly, seeing how he despises every motor vehicle made over here, and uses words like "boot" and "petrol". Damn him.

As a result Discovery never really got behind it, and subtitled it to death when it was on - all references to pounds were subtitled with the dollar amount for example.

So BBC America finally stepped up and brought it over as part of their recent revamp. Gone are endless Benny Hill repeats and in come Top Gear and several other shows I've never heard of before. Hotel Babylon? Jekyll? MI-5? No clue if they are any good or not. I can't say I was impressed by the recent airing of Robin Hood, but damn, it's not Benny Hill!

Bravo BBC America.

Long weekend for the geek

I've booked Friday off work - it'll just be me, as Dancer has less vacation time than me. I need to get someone in to check out the boiler, as it had problems that were never really fully resolved, and I need to mow the lawn.

We're off to Boston on Saturday I hope, should be a fun, but long day.

Things pretty much carry on as normal - Buddy turned 3, we've booked a hotel for our 2nd wedding anniversary. Time ticks on!

Speaking of iMacs

Dancer just put 2gig of memory in ours - it's much happier being an itunes server now!

I also just did a wiring job in my car. When I bought it, I wanted to get the upgraded rear view mirror - one with Homelink included, and auto dimming. Unfortunately at the time I couldn't get it as part of the package I wanted.

So I bought a used one from a very reputable guy on ebay, for less than half what Toyota wanted. I also installed it myself, meaning I did my first wiring job in my car. Made a few mistakes, learnt a few lessons, but everything is working as intended. I now have Homelink, auto dimming mirror and a compass built into it, and it's really neat too.

Tomorrow I have Circuit City hard wire my radar detector in, making that another clean installation.

New iMacs

We have an iMac G5, 17inch, 1.6ghz, and it's been an awesome machine - from the days of it being Dancers main computer, where it held it's own in World of Warcraft, to today when it sits under the kitchen cabinets and acts as an iTunes server, sending almost 100gig of music to the laptops, the stream server in our bedroom, the xBox 360 (via Connect360) in the living room. It's also the main recipe machine for Dancers Macgourmet, and in general is one of the most useful computers I've ever owned.





Apple just released the next major update to the iMac range - they got slimmer, more powerful, bigger screened and a hell of a lot more powerful.





I'm not in the market for a new machine, but these things are so nice, I'm tempted all over again :D





I do think the iMac is probably one of the nicest desktop machines you could buy these days - it will run Windows or OSX, it's powerful enough for many games (although PCs still have the gaming crown), but if it's anything like the iMac we bought two years ago, it will be rock solid, be able to be left switched on forever, and you will never have a day of trouble with it.





It's also a damned good looking machine :)

Bachelor life

Dancer has been away for the last few days at a 4 day long dance retreat, so I've been home alone and living life as a bachelor. Microwave meals and dvds have been prominent :)

Today though, I slept in late, waking up at 10am, got some shopping done, and thats when a migraine hit. I've not had one in a long, long time, but I was feeling sick, my eyes were watering. So I went back to bed for a few hours which the puggies loved, and woke up nice and refreshed again.

So now I'm working through my season 1 box set of Carnivale, which has been sitting on the shelf for too long, drinking some Amstel light. Much happier.

My shared items

I read a lot of blogs, and like most people, I use a feed aggregator to do it. This used to be Bloglines, but I switched to Google Reader as it has more features.

One of these is the ability to "share" items on my feed list that are interesting or fun. It creates an almost blog like website with them listed, and if you look over on the right, there is a small view into these. Enjoy!

The English invade!

I'm a member of a British expats forum, and while I don't post there a lot, there are sometimes some interesting threads. Recently someone posted looking for people who lived in Western Massachusetts, which happens to be the are I lived in.

So I responded, we exchanged a couple of private messages and set a date.

So last night saw myself, and two other English blokes, they brought their wives (mine was busy), one of whom was American, one German.

We sat down in The Peoples Pint in Greenfield, MA and we had some of their lovely micro brew beers. We chatted, we exchanged immigration stories and situations, we discussed how much we have changed by living here, wether that is our accents, our lifestyles.

We're hoping more people can join us next time, as it was a fun time. I also got to buy a real, honest to god round of drinks for the first time in over 4 years, which was rather amusing.

It's been a long week, we're both looking forward to being in bed before midnight, and not up before 7 for a change! I know I'm starting to run on fumes.

I know I shouldn't be suprised that Fedex actually sucks, but they do.

I placed an order from Woot.com. Actually, two orders within a couple of days. I screwed up and had my old profile in place, so they had my shipped address as my old office building.

My phone rang early one morning, it was the local Fedex depot, they got a package and they couldn't find my company in that building, where would I like it delivered. I gave them the new address, and it was in my grubby little mitts the next day.

At the time, I let them know there was a second package coming to the same invalid address, and she promised a note would be left redirecting it.

It didn't work. Last Tuesday they called to tell me they couldn't deliver, they got the new address again. According to their website they then proceeded to try to deliver it to the same wrong address on Thursday, Friday *and* Saturday. I just tried to call them to chase them up today and spent *30* minutes in their voice activated, voice driven system, that doesn't recognize my English accent.

So infuriating!

Still it should be with me tomorrow. Except I'm out of the office. Grr.

Fedex = muppets

Now thats entertainment

I had a much needed day off work yesterday, so I did a big job that I've been wanting to do for some time.

I re-organized my home theater setup.

Now, I don't have a hugely expensive setup, nor is it professional quality, but each of the components I researched what would be best within my budget at the time, and bought wisely.

I have a 46" Sharp Aquos LCD TV, which sounds big, but it fits the room well. It's got a great picture, with rich colors.

Directly below it I have a Yamaha 5:1 Dolby Digital audio receiver that drives the speakers that came with it. It's subwoofer lives right underneath.

I have now moved all the components into a seperate tower next to it, instead of scattered all over the place.

On the bottom rung, I have a Sony DVD player, which upscales regular DVDs to nearly HD quality, outputting 1080i. It is connected to the TV over HDMI and the receiver over Digital Coaxial.

Above that I now have a series 3 HD Tivo DVR, which I love love love. This outputs to the TV over HDMI, filling up the HDMI inputs, and to the receiver over Digital Optical for full digital sound.

Above that, and raised high and off the ground for best WiFi signal is my xBox 360. It connects to the TV by component HD cables, and uses the last Digital Optical port on the receiver to output it's sound.

Lastly, on the very top, is the Nintendo Wii, it used a regular RCA connection into the TV for both video and audio as it needs neither surround sound, nor high definition.

Primarily I wanted to get the Tivo in, as I was using a digital cable box and a series 2 Tivo before. Comcast are coming out tomorrow to provide me with two cable cards so I will get full digital dual tuner goodness into my Tivo by the weekend.

Secondarily I wanted to get my xBox and Wii off the ground and higher up, due to them living under the TV, they had a lot of inteference between them and my wireless access point, and neither had good network reception. The Wii is fantastic for browsing the internet, especially YouTube on the big screen, but when you have to wait for the video to buffer, it gets old quick.

Thirdly, and analy, I wanted to organize my cables. Having so many video, audio and power cables in one place, it gets very mess very quickly. I had picked up some cable pipes for organization from BJs a while back, and this gave me the chance to sort them out. So now you only see 3 black pipes between the component stack and the TV, which is a dramatic improvement over the mass of wires, cables and connections that were there before!

Sorry for the geek out entry, this is why I'm called "Geek" though ;)

Master class - they weren't kidding!!

Tonight I had a class with the person making my costume. She was offering a Master Udulation class. (think wavy dance moves) Holy crap!! I knew none of what she was showing. I felt very out of my league, but I soldiered on and tried to do the best I could. I also tried to absorb as much as possible. I tried to write down everything I could remember so I can keep trying to learn to do these moves. There were so many people too. At least 30 people, mostly young women, but there were a few people who were my age or a bit older.

It made it worthwhile when someone came up to me after and told me how beautifully I moved. I thought I sucked and everyone else was doing amazing!! :D

The studio was gorgeous. It was HUGE with lots of mirrors on one wall. However, it was HOT. No AC in there. BUT... They had an amazing boutique in there. I had to padlock the credit card, otherwise I would've melted it. They also had some gorgeous line drawings of people dancing. I sort of wish I'd picked up one, but I really want to have photos up in the studio.

I would really like to take some classes from Shadia. I could definitely learn a huge amount from her. Oh, and my costume is almost to the fitting stage. :D I can't wait!

I am so going to feel this in the morning.

Weekend

I've ran the ride on mower over the land, and it's all looking good and short and nice. The smell of cut grass was in the air.

Right now, I have some hand cut yukon gold potatoes in the frier, with some gorgeous burger paties all seasoned up on the grill. Dancer is watching the TV, fresh from her trip to Vancouver.

I have a Sam Light on the go, and the pugs are sleeping.

Life is very very good.

mobile

Work have provided me with a blackberry. Game over.

As important as religion

This is a debate that rages amongst certain circles. The uninitiated don't understand, and the experienced whince. Large sums of money ride on the choice.

Series 3 Tivo or Comcast HD DVR.

It's the struggle I'm having deciding between the two, and the emotions that rage across the internet when you research this, trying to make an objective choice. I don't believe there is a single objective choice out there on the subject - its all down to your home theatre background and beliefs :)

My background

I have a regular Comcast cable subscription, and a perfectly functional Series 2 Tivo, with life time subscription. This means the only money I pay out monthly is for my programming. I love Tivo. It changed the way I watch TV infinitely. I love the interface, I love the company, I love the hardware and it's functionality.

I have TivoToGo on my server, downloading my favourite programs automatically, although it can be a bit picky and crash occasionally.

However, I have a 46inch HDTV. I have an upscaling DVD player. I have an xBox 360 playing in hi-def.

Obviously, I'm not making the most of my setup by running a regular Comcast Cable connection. I need HD cable. Thats not a hard choice either, a regular upgrade to HD is only a few dollars a month, plus a small call out fee.

The issue is the DVR. Tivo, or Comcast.

The Series 3 Tivo is an awesome piece of machinery. Dual tuners, plenty of drive space for me. HD recording. I'd love my TivoToGo, and it wouldn't talk with my series 2 Tivo, but I could forgive that. What I can't forgive is the $500 -$700 price tag. OUCH.

Comcast DVR though - thats only $15 a month, which is a much nicer number. It is also dual tuner, and also records in HD, despite it apparantly not having much drive space. It's the interface I'm cautious of. People who like it, haven't used a Tivo. People who hate it, have used a Tivo.

Is it worth the risk to go for the Comcast box, save some money, but lose my beloved Tivo menus, options and sound effects? Or should I save my pennies. I could wait for the rumoured Series 3 Lite, or the Tivo interface on Comcast options coming in the future, but neither have a date, neither are pending, and both could be terrible. Plus I have no patience.

Like I said, religious debates - Tivo or Comcast, Comcast or Tivo.

Mowing

My new mower arrived yesterday on the back of a flat bed truck. The weather was great, I took the day off work, got my bike out of storage and did 5 miles on that, then played with the ride on.

It's a lot of fun, it did the land in about 45 minutes, instead of the 4 hours it took me when I was pushing a small mower. I need to pick up a small trailer for it so I can haul crud around next!

Today - shopping!

New shineys

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After a pretty rough day or two, we both needed some retail therapy. As a result, I brought this home for Dancer - she needed the pickme up!

Once home, I also ordered myself a new toy

Should be delivered shortly.

A *very* good day

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Today has been a very good day indeed.

The picture above is my new car. Traded in my Scion xB for it. I'll blog more about the experience later, as it was nothing but positive.

Tomorrow is my Mums birthday, so some flowers were sent and they arrived today! Mum was my first call on my bluetooth connection to my new car as a result :)

Hopefully the rain tomorrow has forecast won't be too bad, and we can get some driving and photography in!

Memorial Day Weekend

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It's a three day weekend, and it's going to be a great one.

I heard from the car dealership, and my Camry is now sitting on their lot, waiting for me to get to them at 2pm tomorrow to pick it up.

We have a couple of friends over who will be staying with us this weekend, and it's nice having the company :) The weather is great, the garden will get some mowing done to it tomorrow.

Happy Birthday on Sunday to my Mum, who is presently without internet! Congratulations to my brother, who ran the Manchester marathon recently!

Up and down

We've been having a roller coaster week.

I'm still waiting on my car, it was due today, but these things aren't always science.

We received news today that our annual bonuses were the maximum possible, and getting paid in the next paycheck, which is a month shorter than we normally expect, and we've never had the 100% of our bonus before (the goals to get it are always high, so we don't expect to get it normally).

Not only did we do well enough to get a full bonus, but we were also sent an Amex gift card with a few hundred on it, which was fantastic, a bonus bonus if you will.

But the ups came with the downs. I've been very quiet this week. Too quiet. I've been getting bored, and trying to find ideas of things to occupy my time. Dancer has also had a rough week, but we pull through these things well together with each other.

We're looking forward to a fun weekend, it's three days off work and we have friends coming over. We've got no plans other than hang out, potter around the homestead and clean the lawn up.

It can't get here soon enough!

New car?

I put a deposit down on a 2007 Toyota Camry today. I'm fed up of my teeth rattling on the way to work and back, and having to shout over the radio to anyone in the car (if the radio is down, the engine noise drowns it out).

The specific model I ordered was a Camry SE V6, with moonroof, leather, heaters in the seat and mirrors and the upgraded stereo. If we're going to be doing 100 miles a day in it, we may as well enjoy it!

It doesn't arrive at the dealership until next week, so I've not had chance to get a good look at it yet, but I drove a 4 cylinder version in Miami over the last few days, and have test driven both the V6 and 4cyl, so I know what I'm expecting.

Mine will be black exterior, with black leather interior.

On the road

I'm back in Miami again for work, which isn't so bad.

Travelling on these short, two day trips is kind of fun. I actually find I like waiting at airports, and if I get chance, I take my time before the flight and get there a couple of hours early. I enjoy spending time with my book, or a dvd, people watching and just mooching around with my own company.

Of course, it could get dull if I did it too much, but right now I'm averaging about 2 trips a month, and thats perfectly find by me.

I'm in a nice hotel, I've got a nice rental car, and I'm going to grab my book and go and find the hotel bar to get something to drink and something to eat before hitting the sack.

Best video. Ever.

Hard drives

Like most IT pro's, you will likely remember the days when hard drives were pricey, and buying multiple gigs or megs was a big deal.

Today I came home with two external USB drives, 320gig each, for $99 a pop. It's a silly silly price.

It also means I can now archive my 7gig and growing iPhoto library on another machine, and I can start building good backups of my movies when I pull them off my camera.

The other drive will hang on the iMac and become a backup drive for the network.

Yankee Candle

After hearing all the stories from my parents and I, Dancer really wanted to go to the Yankee Candle store, and I really wanted to take her.

So we did.




The first section is taken in just one of the many rooms they have, dedicated to different Christmas items and themes. The last section was taken in their Kitchen and Home area, with bookshelves full of books from your favourite Food Network stars!

Two weeks with the family

My parents came to visit over the last two weeks, as you can see from the Wii photos below. I always love having them stay, and it's always hard to drive off from the airport after I leave them to catch their flight home.

But my life is here, and I love it :)

Spring is definitely arrived. The days are warm and bright again. I'm now starting to think about watering and managing my lawn. We had two pear trees planted in front of our house yesterday by the building company, and rumour has it they will be laying a sidewalk down the road too, which will make the development look much better, and a lot less like the building site it does right now.

Things go on, and go well.

New Wii at home

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We got a Wii!

We were in Walmart to pick up some random stuff, and walked past the games section, they had two Wiis sitting in there!

So one came home.

My parents are loving the boxing and bowling games, and man, it's a work out! I never expected to sweat from games playing!

Should be a blast at our party on Saturday.

New dance update

I've started planning for the next class performance coming up in a few weeks. I've been totally stoked as I had another private lesson, but this time it was to start prepping a routine (like a professional dance routine) and to get familiar with the rhythms I'll be hearing over and over. Once I get familiar with the rhythms, I'll be able to dance to almost anything. And I also now know the set-up of a basic routine - A beginning/Intro, an upbeat piece, a chiftitelli, drum solo, another chiftitelli to the final piece. Sounds easy enough, right? ;) So a routine would generally about 20-30 minutes. At least that's what we're shooting for.

I also ordered some new costume pieces which should be nice, as well as sent off my deposit/parts needed for the custom costume being made for me.

I was looking around and found a couple of troupes that were auditioning. It would be great to audition and make it. Someday, definitely!!

Nice weather!

Finally nice weather.

I'm sitting in an easy chair on my deck, with a Wachusett Summer ale in my drinks holder, next to the grill that has 4 filet mignons and a wrap full of baby carrots roasting.

My parents and wife are chilling out, and the weather is nice and lovely.

Yay spring!!

Snow and ice in April

It's so nice knowing the weather is predictable.

For example, if you assume that the worst will happen. It will. If you assume it's going to be unseasonably cold and miserable every day, you will not be dissapointed.

We woke up this morning to nice powdery snow coming down. Mike is out here, and he decided to stay on and ride it out. It got heavier and heavier. Now it's "raining". I say "raining" because it's actually ice ... I stuck my face out of the door earlier to be soaked and beaten by the weather, nice.

But this should be it. Should be. My parents are getting here on Wednesday, so it's quite likely to be horrendous and miserable :)

I've been busy this weekend ... we've had a bunch of stuff we've been putting off in the house, and finally we were in a position to get it done. We now have some nice blinds in our family room (the sheer curtains up before gave no privacy at all) on the road facing side (this also hides our TV from view!). I got some blinds up in all three bathrooms (we've never bothered, as they all face the garden, and there is never anyone back there) and we got curtains up in the back bedroom we now use as the main bedroom. We also got the dogs to the groomers, so they smell nice and don't rip your flesh off with sharp claws.

I've also spent time cleaning up the place ...we are finding that the "Mr Clean Magic Erasers" are awesome for removing puppy paw prints from the walls under the windows :D

Some mopping of puppy pee stains on the tile needs to be done next.

Performance

My first public performance was tonight. Public as in a routine to be performed for the class. ;)

It went fantastic. I danced to Lee Coulter's "Booty Voodoo" (appropriate, no?). I have to say, I nailed it. I had my red costume with black and silver hip scarf and black and silver veil. It looked great. I have been playing iwth this track for a little while but seriously put something together two days ago. My routine totally went with the music. There was no stopping or anything that didn't look like it didn't fit. I did have a few fluffs, mostly my feet slipping on the newly waxed floor. :) The other girls in the class were really impressed because no one had even thought of dancing to anything "modern" or just not bellydance music. It was great seeing L going "wow" while he was drumming, and my teacher watching every move.

I'm riding an endorphin rush like you wouldn't believe right now. :D

Thursdays weather forecast?

32f

*sigh*

Getting out of a funk

It's very easy to delay and procrastinate around here :) Watching TV and playing with the puppies is much more fun than doing other things.

However, things do need to be done.

• So today I booked my car in for a service.
• I booked an appointment for the dogs to go to the groomers for a cleaning, trimming and pampering before their grandhumans get here.
• Dancer booked in for an appointment with a chiropractor to find out if she needs her bones cracked.
• She also called a local vets so we could get the guys in, up to date on shots and jabs, and called our old vets asking for their records to be faxed over.

I'm trying hard to get my mind back into the mindset of getting back into the gym, which is not only something I really enjoyed, but something I need so I can justify the ice cream and treats :)

Weekend

The weekend will be over early for me, as I head into the office tomorrow (Sunday) for an overtime shift. Fortunately, it's been a short week, due to me spending 3 days on a customer site Wed through Fri.

Today we've both had a blast, although it's been tiring. Dancer went to meet with someone in Boston, which was over an hours drive from here. On our way home we stopped at the Outback for convenient gluten free food, then we went shopping.

First, we signed up for a membership of the oddly named "BJs" which is a wholesale grocery store of sorts. They sell everything from fresh meat and veg to TVs, garden furniture, and bulk items.

So we picked up a few bulk goods, sodas, cleaning supplies ... stuff we normally by in smaller quantities from regular stores for more. We also bought the biggest damn dogbed for the pugs that you have ever seen. It's awesome.

We then ran around looking at chairs and small LCD TVs, but didn't but either :)

Tiring, busy busy day.

!!!!?!?!?!?

It's April 5th.

I've just been outside with my snow blower.

WTF!!!!

SNOW! APRIL! NO! Wrong!

Another driving session

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Went out again today with the camera, this time with my friend D and his daughter. We drove on the Mohawk Trail for a while, and stopped 4 seperate times to take pictures.

Dancer was working today, but yesterday we made up for her being on the road all week and working on the same weekend by almost finishing up her studio ... we bought some curtains, shelves, lamps, tables. We need to figure out some kind of seating in there, so thats next on the list.

We also finally picked up some curtains for the back bedroom my parents will be using when they come out. We've not had anyone stay in it for any long period of time, so there has been no rush, but we do need them. Now I just need to hang them! We also did some shopping at Home Depot ... I finally picked up a big outdoor brush so I could get all the salt and sand out of the garage now it's not going to snow again (*right?*).

I've got a powerful urge to follow the footsteps of an ex workmate and get a motorbike this summer. The roads around here are perfect for riding, and when you have bright sunny days like today, winding down a window in your car just doesn't quite do anything for me.

We also almost bought a Nintendo Wii today, but Walmart had sold all their systems. Bummer.

Town centre

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This is right in the centre of our town, and I've barely given it any thought until today when I was driving around with the camera?

Day out

I have a nice day out of the office today, one day after my birthday. So far, so good!

I'm catching up on my stored episodes of Battlestar Gallactica, which should help the Tivo some, it's been getting a bit full recently. I've got plans after this to grab my camera bag and go for a drive in the midday sun, it's bright and sunny out there, if a little cold in temperature today.

It's a nice day so far.

Weekend cooking

Every other weekend, or more often sometimes, we spend a day in the kitchen cooking.

This isn't just cooking up a quick meal, or anything like that, but serious levels of preparation, shopping, trashing out and cooking up.

As you may know, Dancer has many intolerances and allergies, which makes eating out tricky. Not only that, but eating out is expensive, less healthy and less convenient during a work week. So we cook up enough food so that we can take both lunch and dinner to the office.

Today we were marinating chicken breasts, pan frying potatoes, we had halibut, steaks, home made tomato basil soup, stew, mushroom soups, home made gluten free bread.

We started the first chop at about 2pm today, and packed away the last container about 10pm today.

This is what the interior of our fridge / freezer looks like after that kind of damage!



It's hard work, but frankly I love spending the time with Dancer in the kitchen, we put on a few movies (6 hours of the BCC adaption of Pride and Prejudice this time around!) and we usually get through a bottle of wine (to drink)

And we're set for the week. No more cooking now for another two weeks (we have a couple of things to finish up this turn though)

Poor grill

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After yesterdays lovely, warm weather, and us breaking out the grill, it only seems right that we get snow overnight.

It's MARCH, people! Snow should stop by now!

Grilling

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Quick, simple, snow still on the group, but it's time for the grill to be unearthed again!

Pet food recall

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/20/national/main2587087.shtml

As many as one in six animals died in tests of suspect dog and cat food by the manufacturer last month after complaints the products were poisoning pets around the country,

This is quite horrific, and we personally know of at least two people - one who's cat died, the other was seriously ill and ran up over $3k worth of vet bills. Both of them fed their cats foods that are listed on the recall list.

We are lucky, our guys only eat dry food, and while the company is affected, the specific food we have is not.

If you have cats or dogs, please go and check your food against the recall list, just to be sure.

I love my Craftsman

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One hour, 50ft of driveway, 5.5hp of snowblowing power.

Snow be gone!

More on that weather!

New Englanders love their weather as much as the Brits.

On Wednesday, it was nearly 70f recorded by our office. We were in tshirts, shorts, windows were down, shades on.

Driving home tonight we have severe winter weather warnings. 6 - 12 inches of snow over night. 3 hour drive home from work with accidents everywhere. Sleet and rain tomorrow that is likely to freeze overnight, and thaw, causing floods during the days.

Dogs won't go out, I've just cleared the driveway, as we nearly didn't make it down after our drive home, and that would have sucked!

We're planning on a nice, cuddly, warm Saturday in!

Time for your close up!

Brutus

My new camera arrived, and we got some great pictures of the puggies!

Pain

Oh man. I woke up in the worst pain today. All of my muscles felt like they were on fire, especially my back. It hurt to touch, even lightly. It was one of those "I could've laid there and cry" moments and would've if I had thought it would help. I've only had that level of sensitivity a few times and it's not pleasant. It started last night when the muscles in my chest started spasming, and would ease up. If I were more paranoid, I'd think heart attack, but I could tell it was muscular.

I tried stretching this morning (didn't help) and the shower really sucked. I'm praying for the painkillers to kick in, or for someone to shoot me, whichever comes first. Because I'm telling you right now, this pain needs to go away. I'm at work flinching if something touches my back or my arms, that includes air from a fan. If it wasn't for the static, I'd leave my fleece on just for padding. Ouch!!

I've been in one of my moods with the Celiacs again. It sucks that I can't just get a birthday cake or just go out to eat, but rather it still takes all this planning and hassle. I did compensate a bit by making some brownies, but still, I miss the days of just being able to DO things and EAT things without all the hassle and bother that goes with it some days. Even so, the brownies rocked. :)

On a happy note, yesterday was Brutus' birthday!! He's 4 now! I can hardly believe it. So I made doggie cookies last night for them. They seemed happy enough wtih it. ;) They also got a nice walk yesterday afternoon, and tons of cuddle time. I think Brutus had a good birthday.

Home today

I'm working from home today so the guy can come on out and fix the window in the car. Once it's patched up, I'll go find a good car wash place with hoovers and suck all the glass out and wash the car up. By the time Dancer gets home tonight, it should be clean, shiny and good as new.

Today I also read that iRobot have made a roomba just for pets. This, along with their awesome looking scooba, are both high on my "I want" list. We already have a Discovery model, but it's wheels locked up and I'm working with their Support group to get it fixed up hopefully! If I can get it working again, they do upgrades for Pet owners which certainly doesn't suck (groan)!

Back to laundry, puppy cuddling and work.

Pancakes

Who doesn't love pancakes? A big stack of fluffy pancakes with butter running down the sides and covered in maple syrup. Or maybe covered with a fruit sauce and whipped cream?

I love pancakes. Always did. However, with Celiacs pancakes as I know them are a thing of the past. No more flour, egg or butter means most of the pancake ingredients are gone. I did attempt gluten-free pancakes before but this was before we worked out the dairy and the eggs. Those were pretty good. The last attempt I did with G.F pancakes minus the egg and milk ended in disaster. The batter was way too thin and didn't hold together enough to even cook. We were still in the old apartment when I did that.

Here recently I've been craving bread products, mainly croissants. Call me weird, but I miss breakfast sandwiches. Today, I wanted pancakes. So while my Geek went and got some stuff at the supermarket I set to work in the kitchen. Remembering what went wrong the last time, I decided to add a bit more of the egg replacement, guar gum and xantham gum. It looked great until I added the liquid. It was insanely thick!! I'm talking dough consistency! I decided to go ahead with it anyway and see what happens.

I scopped the "batter" into the pan with two spoons and waited a few minutes, then flipped and squashed them down so they were flat. They turned out really tasty, though the flavor of the dough was a bit flat. Needed a pinch of salt. In lieu of butter and syrup, we used Geek's favorite - lemon juice and sugar. Yum! So I'm happy it worked out as well as it did. I'll keep tweaking this one, but it's easy to deal with too thick than too thin batter. I just need to throttle back on the xantham gum or use guar exclusively. I'm sure Geek won't mind being my guinea pig. :)

300

D and I went to see 300 last night on premier night at the local dive movies.

Awesome movie! The visuals, cinematography and effects were stunning and beautiful. Some of the battles and action scenes were so well done, some of the best I've seen, and I definitely enjoyed and appreciated them.

The story line was as thick as my pug. Just not much too it, beyond the obvious main line, the back stories and development were thin on the ground, but everything else made up for that!

I'll be going with Dancer next week, it's her Birthday and she needs treating to a night at the movies :)

The bad with the good

It always happens, you have a good run, lots of nice and fun and rewarding experiences and things happen to you and your loved ones.

Then something bad happens. That happened today. Not too bad though, fortunately.

Normally, we take my car to the office, but this morning I knew it needed gas, and we were tight for time, so we took Dancers. It had the GPS on the dashboard mount, and mine didn't. We parked in our usual spot at the office.

At lunch I went out with a friend for lunch, Dancer stayed. We came back and parked in our usual place again, around 1:30pm.

When we left to go to the dance class, I noticed that there was glass on the ground. And no glass in our passenger window. Nor was their a GPS on the dashboard mount, nor a dashboard mount. Or cable.

So yeah, someone smashed and grabbed. I called 911, they came out very quickly and promptly and I filed a report ... obviously nothing will happen and no one would be found, but I wanted it for the insurance report.

Unfortunately, the glass repair company can't come out until Monday, so we found some clear plastic and taped the window up. Fortunately my friend had driven himself in, and not come in with us like normal, so he drove Dancer home (missing her class, unfortunately!) and I had a cold, loud drive home with tarp on the window. It's in the garage now, safely home, and I'll work remotely on Monday to get it fixed up.

Hopefully thats all the bad we face this time around!

New hobby

I love taking photographs, I always have done. I've never really had the chance to sit down and learn the technology or jargon behind it, and develop the skills to consistently take good photographs though. It's a bit hard to learn this stuff on a point and shoot digital :)

So as an early birthday present from my wonderful wife, I've just purchased a new digital camera. It was actually a bundle of a new camera and two lenses.

The camera is a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi, and it's coming with two lenses:

- EF-S 18-55mm II
- EF-S 75-300mm III




I also ordered a high speed compact flash card, and reader at the same time.

Now I just can't wait for it to arrive so I can get to use it!

Interestingly, shipping got delayed due to security checks ... both the vendor and American Express called me to confirm it's a real order, from a real customer with a real credit card. I imagine cameras are favourite purchases of people with stolen cards, so I definitely don't mind them double checking!

Cold week

It's been cold here.

I mean *cold*. Cars don't want to start, dogs don't want to pee and humans don't want to walk around in it. In the mornings there are usually several dog walkers going past our house, but not the last few days.

The snow has frozen solid. I can walk on the top of a few inches of snow in my slippers and not leave footprints.

The automatic sliding door on the front of our office building won't slide properly, it's that cold. Neither would the sliding hatch on the drive through window this morning when I picked up my coffee. Even the gas pumps are slower.

Nights I've been to the gym, I have to take great care to dry my hair before I leave, it will freeze solid on the walk back to the car. Same in the morning after a shower.

I just wanted to give you an idea of how cold it is. I've never felt cold like this in the UK, never. Outside, right now, is 24f (-4c), and it feels comfortably warm, and I didn't take my coat with me. Thats how cold it has been.

So what does the extended forecast for next week predict? Almost 60f on some days (15c).

Got to love that New England weather! After this week, that will be tropical.