this is the Pitts

Chirp!

2011-02-15T11:02:00.001+11:00

...just a quick post to mention I am toying with the microblogger Twitter at the moment....@ CessPitts.
Can't say whether I'll stick with it ..... see what happens...

Cecil

spitting image

2011-01-28T11:50:00.000+11:00

I had to laugh the other day when Jimmy Buffett "walked" ( OK fell!) off stage. The doctor who just happened to be at the concert and came to his aid was a Dr Gordian Fulde. He apparently escorted Buffett to hospital and treated him also. The funny bit is that I think he is the spitting image of Walter Bishop from the hit sci-fi show Fringe, which I am quite partial to watching....

So has anyone seen them in the same room together? ..... and how freaky would it be if you were a fan of Fringe and you woke up to see Dr Fulde looming over the top of you, ha ha ha....

Dr Fulde...

... and Walter:

...freaky

cecil

Apply yourself

2011-01-08T16:50:00.000+11:00

.....following on from the last post re. android apps. I can now list a few favourites:

games... angry birds, fruit ninja and anoduko ...yes I'm a bit of a Sudoku tragic, my last phone had a sudoku game and it was the most used game...

fun stuff... Flight Deck Artificial Horizon...uses the inbuilt accelerometer sensors to give an artificial horizon display... great fun in the car with the boyz, seeing how much "Bank and Pitch" we can create whilst cruising in the Forester. Another personal fun favourite is the iBeer free app. and the boyz get a "buzz" from one called Spark which turns the phone screen into something akin to a plasma ball where sparks follow your finger on the screen whilst the phone vibrates.

In terms of useful apps?... the WIFI analyser app gives a good graphical representation of the local WIFI access points, showing the signal strength and channel overlap etc. ...could prove handy if you are trying to pick the best channel to use at home if you live in a crowded WIFI area.... I find most AP's in my street/block are on channel 1 or 6 with at least 4 different ones visable on each at different places around the house, and I'm in "suburbia", hate to think what medium to high density housing is like !

cecil

Androids

2010-12-09T11:44:00.000+11:00

Ok, so I've finally got an android smartphone. A Nuvifone A50 to be precise, which has an inbuilt (satellite not mobile phone tower) GPS. This is great - as it mounts on the windscreen (mount supplied) and not only allows me to 'navigate' but take calls hands-free concurrently (the phone reception has to be better up there on the windscreen too I would suspect!). Much better than having the phone in your pocket or sitting in the console or sliding around the passenger seat .... other niceties are geotagging for pictures and videos taken with the inbuilt camera and with mobile internet you can get "google street view" from the GPS map screen.
I'm still exploring all the available 'apps' (so many to choose from ...) and will comment later on any particularly handy ones I come across.
Cecil

Tool bars

2010-07-09T18:16:00.000+10:00

Dilbert recently commented on people who crowd their browsers with useless toolbars at the expense of browser window space.

I still repair peoples computers from time to time and can't get over how many people do this! I suspect some are piggybacked onto some dodgey software download and the user is clueless as to how it got there or how to remove it. They are only more of a nuisance now we are being pushed into using you-beaut widescreen monitors that effectively give you less vertical space than your trusty old CRT monitor!
I hate 'em, don't use 'em, and if I find them on someones PC I'm fixing, I remove them! (No, I don't ask!) As far as I'm concerned they are a blight on the face of your browser and I treat them as you would any malware or virus......
Love your work Mr Adams

Our one eyed arab

2010-05-02T20:25:00.002+10:00

...Garfield (our ginger Persian cat) is recovering well after having his right eye surgically removed by the Vet, a result of an out of control lesion on his eye. The eye was removed Thursday week ago and the stitches will be removed Thursday this week. He is not impressed at having to wear a conical collar to stop him pawing at the stitches.... He really appreciates human intervention such as a scratch behind the ear where he can't reach! I think he's a bit frustrated at not being able to bath himself properly too...he bends around and starts to lick but realises he's just licking the cone! doh!
Not sure why he had the lesion, but we suspect the KGB!,..."Claude" our Russian Blue, as he does pick on Garfield a bit! They have been separated since the operation, only allowed near each other under direct supervision until Garfield is fully recovered.
....me thinks Garfield won't like the Vet ever again.... that's three "balls" he's had removed now!

*Update*

Garfield is doing really well. He was glad to get that cone collar off after two weeks of frustration at not being able to clean himself and bumping into stuff with it!
The fur is starting to grow back now and his eye socket now looks a bit like a teddy bear thats lost its button-eye. I suggested to the family we get the Vet to sew on a teddy bear eye but didn't get a good reception... I'm now thinking that I'll raid the Daycare craft cupboard and stick a "googly" eye on him ;-P

cecil

another company flogging my idea!

2010-04-15T13:29:00.002+10:00

...yet another "people power" generation copycat... this one will give you a free meal if you generate enough power on a cycling power generator.... see I wasn't mad, you could turn your Gym into a power generation enterprise!

From the ABC news website......

"A Danish hotel is pioneering a pedal-power electricity generation scheme it hopes will catch on in other countries.

The Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers, 15 minutes from the centre of the Danish capital and five minutes from Scandinavia's main airport, is installing two exercise bicycles hooked up to generators.
Guests will be invited to jump on and start pedalling - and if they produce enough electricity they will be given a free meal.
From June, they will be able to race against the 366-room hotel's solar panel system in a bid to produce the most electricity.
"Anyone producing 10 watt hours of electricity or more for the hotel will be given a locally produced complimentary meal encouraging guests to not only get fit but also reduce their carbon footprint and save electricity and money," the hotel said in a statement.
Hotel spokeswoman Frederikke Tommergaard said the free meal offer applied only to paying guests, not passers-by.
The value of the meal - any one of the main courses on the hotel restaurant or lobby bar's menu - is about 240 Danish crowns ($44), she said.
The electric bikes will be up and running from April 19 and the plan is to test the idea for a year with a view to expanding it to more Crowne Plaza hotels, part of the InterContinental Hotels Group."

cecil

new ubuntu out soon.....

2010-04-13T08:29:00.000+10:00

ubuntu 10.04 LTS 'Lucid Lynx' ...coming soon......

LTS (long term support) versions are supported for 3 years (desktop) and 5 years (server) whereas other releases are only supported for 18 months....

and then there were four . .

2010-04-09T20:04:00.000+10:00

Sadly we have lost another of our long lived pets, Jack the Budgerigar. He passed away around midday today after 12 well lived years. Not a bad knock for a budgie! Jack was Michael's pet that he got for his 1st birthday in 1998. He will be remembered for his cheeky wolf whistles, constant chatter (yes he talked), and in your face attitude when he wanted fresh seed or water...(he would hang upside down on the side of the cage and stare at you walking past so you would notice him!)

When he was a bit younger Jack would distinctly imitate our voices, ....and also the Teletubbies which used to be on every day out the back in the playroom where he lived.("Hello Tinky Winky"..etc.)
We're going to miss the little fella heaps.... 'night Jack

Cecil

Rogue app.

2010-03-30T16:43:00.001+11:00

Apologies to anyone who tried to access my "Vegemite and the Dark Side of the Moon" blog recently, seems the "asteroids" gadget (game) I had at the bottom of the page had turned nasty and was redirecting viewers to an advertising site. I checked the Blogger site and it is a "known problem" they are "working on".....

Thanks to Peter for alerting me to the issue!

cecil

stole my xxxx'n idea?

2010-03-11T22:07:00.000+11:00

There is an ad on tele currently that appears to have borrowed my musings regarding treadmill power production, see my blog entry 18th April 2009 . Admittedly they use a dog to generate the power for the teev instead of a "pothole" but still, same idea! ... perhaps I should point this out to them...I wonder if they'd send me a slab as compensation.... then again they probably wouldn't give a XXXX.. ;-)

cecil

RIP Bingo

2010-03-03T12:32:00.001+11:00

It is with a great sadness I have to inform of the passing of our oldest pet, Bingo.
Not totally unexpected considering her age (17 years) and her health was slowly declining.
We will miss her immensely.

Rest in Peace old girl.

Pardon?

2010-02-19T09:53:00.000+11:00

You'll have to speak up .... went to the AC/DC concert last night. . . My ears haven't recovered fully yet!!!

Talk about a powerhouse of a show! Angus Young (well he's got about 7 years on me so he'd be old, right?) was simply unbelievable. For a man (schoolboy) of his age to perform his "stage act" solidly for 2 hours ...and every second day on tour is just simply awe inspiring! I'd had a little heads up on his 20 minute guitar solo prior to going to the show which really didn't do it justice . .
..oh yes, and I'd guess by the amount of light, sound, guitars (let there be rock...sorry) that Energy Australia had to bring another turbine on-line, else the entire state's lights would probably have dimmed with each piece....
The staging and effects / props / lighting etc were world class . . . if you haven't seen their Black Ice tour show and you're a bit of an old headbanger like myself, do whatever it takes to get a ticket . . you wont be disappointed !!!!

The main support act, WolfMother, was well worth seeing too, and quite popular with the crowd...
. . . but the same can't be said for the first group Calling All Cars who insisted on sucking up to AC/DC every second song . . "once again we'd like to thank AC/DC for letting us play, we are really honoured for the privailage...etc" fair dinkum guys, we don't want to continually hear that BS...just play and let us hear what you can do!!!

..sorry? . . still can't hear you! ...

cecil

Lights out!

2010-02-15T20:31:00.001+11:00

Earth hour again approaches....
...time to spend an hour with the family in the dark (or candle light)

...hmmm has anyone looked at the birth rate to see if it spikes in December since this earth hour thing started?

update:... I've had a brief look at the birth statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and my first impression is that there is NO noticeable spike difference Dec/Jan since 2007 compared to the other months.. Perhaps everyone is playing cards/monopoly!

Queensland Education System Failure?

2010-02-12T10:10:00.000+11:00

....just received a pic sent via MMS from Macca who must be on holiday in Rockhampton....

.... apparently it's the other left!

Hey Kiso! hope you've got yer eye on what them banana-benders are teaching yer young'uns!!!!!

Cecil

Movember update

2010-01-28T16:02:00.000+11:00

...it's been nearly two months now since the Movember mens health fundraiser and today arrived on the doorstep a prize that I won through an associated site...the Schick Boonie MO-montage. (When I just checked the site was no longer up....)
I won a Schick Quatro Titanium Freestyle pack as my photo I uploaded won a weekly prize! ...no excuse for me looking like a scruff now!

The razor end is a 4 blade disposable with an extra blade for edging.....must be for gardeners!

The other end has an electric (battery) trimmer with adjustable comb.

also came with a 4 pack of spare blades and a small bottle of Shave Gel.

Not a bad pick up for just uploading a photo!

cecil

Not long now to the big Four Seven !

2009-11-28T12:11:00.000+11:00

Some of you may know I have this particular affinity with the number 47. This began many years ago when I was 19/20ish years old in the very early Eighties when I was living / working in Grafton. I was in a Rover Crew at the time and we were heading out one Friday evening on a weekend camping trip. I had taken on the responsibility of transporting one of the other crew members who was to say the least "a bit of a character". Being new to the area I commented to "Robo", didn't we cross that same creek a little while ago?....the reply that came back was "yeah, we cross that creek 47 times on this road!" "Forty Seven times eh!" I replied...This induced some humour for the rest of the trip as Robo had this number stuck in his head for some reason and it cropped up again at camp...It didn't take long for the whole crew to join in. We subsequently never let go of this number....quoting everything to the nearest 47 ie I'll be there in 47 mins or I worked 4.7 days this week..etc.....
Over time I started to notice how this number cropped up out of the blue in everyday life, in the news "47 killed in plane crash" ... " etc. even the 'average contents' listed on a matchbox mysteriously changed from 50 to 47 at one point!
Little things like glancing at the clock to check the time and noticing you have just happened to look at 9:47 etc...
Now, many years later, I still have this thing about 47...My favourite NRL team, I discovered, entered the competition in 1947! and I have joined the '47 society' on the internet, a group of similarly '47' obsessed humans whom also have noticed that it's not just any old number!...see this link too.
....and now I am on the brink of turning 47 years of age. I mean, this will be the big one! forget 50...this is the year of all years for me! So excuse me if I have a huge grin on my face on Tuesday...it means a lot to me to get to 47! and excuse me if I get even more obsessed with 47 this coming year as I'm sure I am going to notice it even more!

cecil

Different

2009-11-22T15:57:00.000+11:00

I changed the template for this blog....thought it needed a change.

I'm not restricted now by the fixed column size of the old template so my posts can now utilise more screen width :-{)

ceceel

Update on Holly

2009-11-20T18:27:00.002+11:00

...continuing on regarding our sick dog.
Since my last post about her condition I found some info regarding feeding hints for dogs with the same condition. We have been hand feeding her with some supplements , one being Nutrigel, a vitamin supplement in the form of a paste you squeeze out of a tube onto your finger and smear on her tongue.... she likes that one! and the other product is Biolac, which appears to be like baby formula for puppies (same look / smell) which we feed via syringe into the side of her mouth. She's not real keen on it but when it's squirted into your mouth when your owner has your nose pointed up at 45 degrees you have no option but to swallow it!
Then last night (Thursday) whilst I was at TAFE, Michelle offered her a couple of McDonalds burger patties (which she herself (Michelle) does not eat) and she (the dog) ate them!....after which Mikey gave her some tinned dog food which she also ate.
Looks like she has some appetite back, but she is still on the pills and still obviously has balance issues.
We're a lot happier here now! and hoping she keeps eating without us having to force feed her.
Cecil :-)

Vote Earth

2009-11-18T13:05:00.004+11:00

Earth Hour are running a campaign at the moment , counting down to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
Vote Earth and show you want action on climate change!

Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

ceceel

Sick as a Dog

2009-11-17T15:28:00.004+11:00

..not me! the dog!

Holly to be precise.
Friday morning noticed one of the dogs had vomited up their dinner from the night before...I assumed it was Holly as there was a thunder storm that night and she is terrified of them!...probably unsettled her a lot.
Friday afternoon we noted she was unsteady on her feet, seemingly not able to use her legs properly.
hmmm I thought, summer, vomit, loss of mobility....must be a tick!....of course I couldn't find one could I !
So off to the Vet....
They were initially thinking along the same lines as we were, but with a closer examination after they failed to find a tick, revealed she is suffering from "Geriatric Vestibular Disease"
Geriatric eh!, yeah well, at 14 human years she probably is geriatric in Dog years!
The vestibular disease affects the dog's sense of balance basically, ...according to the vet she feels like the world is spinning constantly, a bit like seasickness, hence the upset stomach and wobbly walk. (looks drunk!)...Her eyes flicked from side to side and her head was tilted most of the time.
Come Monday we had her back at the Vet as she hadn't eaten any food at all over the weekend but the other symptoms hadn't worsened , if anything seemed a little better.
She's had a cortisone injection which can sometimes increase their appetite (wouldn't hurt her as she's been a little arthritic anyway) and having "Vivitonin" pills twice a day to improve the blood circulation to the brain which may improve the function of the vestibular (balance) system and reduce the sick feeling hence making her feel like she can eat!
...so I'm looking on the web now for ideas to get some food into her stomach...I'm thinking liquid diet at this stage as she still drinks water (thankfully)
The reality is if she doesn't improve the best we can do is "make her comfortable" and make the "hard decision" when it's obviously too uncomfortable for her to go on!
....Of course we are all hoping she improves!

cecil :-(

Font

2009-11-11T10:54:00.002+11:00

I reloaded my Linux box yesterday with the latest ubuntu release. (from scratch so as to format the drive using the new ext4 filesystem)....so far so good.
But I just wanted to highlight my favourite extra fonts that I generally download after a fresh install.

First there is the obligatory "ttf-mscorefonts" for (my) 2 reasons:
-1. better look to websites...they often look better than with the standard ubuntu fonts as they were probably designed with these microsoft fonts in the first place.
-2. conformity to font requirements for my TAFE assignments. As some teachers are very specific!...(even though I use Open Office instead of M$ Office)

Secondly I like to grab a font package called ttf-aenigma which has 465 free fonts included...which are quite handy for when you are looking for something a bit different.

Both are available via the synaptic package manager.

ceceel

Multi Cultural (Pet) Society

2009-11-08T10:23:00.002+11:00

The Pets in our house currently outnumber the Humans and on top of that the majority are minorities!

The only true Aussie is Jack the Budgie. A bit off the wall is our Jack! with some quirky attention seeking ploys, like hanging upside down staring at you if he thinks his seed tray is a little low on tucker or giving you the chat if you don't cover his cage at night!

Bingo is a DSH Cat, lineage unknown but probably British or American....We like to think of her as our English Rose as she has poise, grace and beauty (and a beauty spot on her face) Has an annoying obsession with me....I can't sit anywhere without her wanting to claim my lap!

Garfield is a Persian Cat, our "mad arab" Iranian. He leaves "Bombs" around the house...particularly in Mike's room!!! (don't know exactly why he picks Mike!). Attitude cat with a Capital A.... Frowns a lot!..."Don't touch me!"...getting a cuddle is a rarity from this one!

Claude-Aspen is our Russian Blue Cat, ..obviously originally from Russia, acts like a KGB agent often slashing anyone who he doesn't like at the time (Human or Feline)...but all the same loves to snuggle up to Michelle (Mummy's Boy)

Holly, the Border Collie, originally from England / Scotland border area (Northumberland). The noisiest of the bunch, as she's going deaf in her old age and doesn't realise how loud she is actually barking ....(particlarly at 2am in the @#*!+$ morning ... and she can't hear you yelling at her to shut the @#!% up!)..maybe shes more Scottish...they're brash and loud aren't they?

Douglas, (who doesn't dig as much as Holly) is a (technically miniature) Poodle, popularly thought to be from France (but before the French "standardised" them, apparently from Germany.... no wonder he's so confused!). I don't doubt that Paris is covered in Dog Doo if Doug's toilet habits/placements are a guide.

so there you have it, a brief insight into our multicultural menagerie, ...it's a nuthouse!

ceceel

Movember

2009-11-02T13:58:00.005+11:00

I have joined my brother John in team Danger Mice to grow back my moustache to raise funds for Movember, the mens health fundraiser supporting Prostate Cancer and Mens Depression.

I shaved off my old mo around May this year, so I'm ready to grow it back (albeit for a month) for a damn good cause!

That old mo was with me for a long long time, and even though its been off for fiveish months, I'm still not used to the smooth top lip!

If you wish to support these worthy causes please follow the link:

http://au.movember.com/donate/your-details/member_id/266844/

Thanks and Cheers !

Geoffrey

Million Mark Reached

2009-11-01T12:15:00.005+11:00

For those following the Danger Mice Folding @ Home progress:
I was reliably informed by email (thanks Pete) that we have surpassed the Million Points milestone.
This is a fantastic achievement and a worthy contribution to the research being performed by Vijay Pande and the team at Stanford University through the Folding @ Home distributed computing program.

The Danger Mice Team welcome any friends and family to join our folding team.

Counting down again

2009-10-03T19:30:00.002+10:00

...doing my bit to spread the Linux word (again)

edit:- I downloaded it using the Transmission BitTorrent which worked a charm ... it's now sitting there seeding other downloads.... guess thats one way to help distribute ubuntu!




ceceel

GO EELS

2009-09-29T13:30:00.005+10:00

Gotta love the mid season turnaround in performance from my beloved rugby league football team the Parramatta Eels.
Like most other Eels fans, I was shaking my head in the first half of the season at their lack lustre performance and had accepted their then seemingly obvious route to being the wooden spooners of the comp.
But then, the side snapped into consciousness and pulled out seven straight wins to land them at eighth slot on the ladder and into the finals series...the mere fact they pulled off such a huge turnaround to get to the finals had restored my faith (and I was happy with that alone!) but they have now blasted their way into the Grand Final. What an Effort!

GO EELS ! !

Here are my "Eels Supporter"transportation shots.......

Blue and Gold of course!

...love the Plates!
('47 was their first year in the comp)

cecil

The NT has come to us!

2009-09-23T08:55:00.004+10:00

Woke up this morning to an eerie glow!

This first pic was taken by Jimmy D through the front door early this morning around 7:30am.
The other photos were taken about 8:45 this morning.....

Apparently it is dust being blown in on the westerly winds from the Northern Territory. Well that saves us a trip to the Red Centre now doesn't it? as it's now covering everything on the East Coast.

Drove the 'Potholes' to school to save their lungs; when I washed the windscreen before take off it created a mud flow!..... hmmm the car wash down the road is going to make a bundle after this blows over!

Contra?

2009-09-17T09:39:00.001+10:00

Is it wrong to wash your blood pressure medication down with a cup of coffee?

Arrrrrr !

2009-09-07T10:47:00.004+10:00

Arrrrr, ye scurvy blaggards ! don't be forgettin' Talk Like a Pirate Day this September 19th !

under the ton

2009-08-29T15:16:00.006+10:00

Just an update for those following my weight loss (probably just me, myself and i. lol)

On Friday morning, officially (on Tony's scales) I weighed in under 100kg . . . . 99kg on the nose! (hey..no smelly man jokes!!!) note: I started at 123kg.
Girth-wise I am now 101cm (down from 122cm).

Getting back down under 100kg was the initial goal. . . . The last few kgs have been tough, which means I'm going to have to be much stricter with myself over the next couple of months if I want to get down below 95. I think I'll have to set myself an award for getting to 90kg which is ultimately where I would like to be. I'm thinking along the lines of a pair of genuine Levi 501'$ which I really like, (fashion victim?) and which I've been way too big for for some time as nobody locally (that I've found) stocks them above a size 38"(97cm) (Don't they think us 'fat bastards' will buy them?)

Guess I'll be living on shakes for a while yet.....

Cecil

P.S. I signed up for Tony's Healthy Rewards Competition which has been a bit of an incentive to lose a bit each week. Who knows, I could end up winning a car! (yeah right!)

Claude-Aspen

2009-07-28T09:52:00.002+10:00

Just an update on the new cat.
His name as given by the Holiday Park he came from was "Aspen" after the company that owns the park (Aspen Parks)..... Nice enough I suppose, but we wanted to give him a more appropriate cats name. So as I always wanted to give the name Claude (clawed) to a cat we settled on that. (Also considered Patrick, as in 'Pat the cat').
Now because he was (sort of) used to the name Aspen we decided to give him the official title of Claude-Aspen, which sounds a bit wanky but it kind of suits him as he is a Russian Blue and he looks a bit regal.
There is also an added slant on the name, as we can call him Claude van Damn Cat! when he plays up!.....(after b grade 'actor' Jean Claude van Damme)

cecil

We're Back! (+1)

2009-07-22T14:24:00.002+10:00

Got home last night from an absolutely fantastic holiday up in the Whitsundays! and the news is we are expecting a new addition to the Pitts family......

well not brand new... you see, we have adopted a cat from the caravan park we stayed at! A lovely looking, rather overfed, grey cat that was destined for the pound. The park policy is strictly NO PETS and the stray had been hanging around for a month or so and they could not locate an owner. Miss Elle merely asked the staff the cats name, when she was told that it was destined for destruction as no-one had claimed it and the company boss was visiting the park in 2 weeks and it had to be gone by then!
We discussed the situation and decided to offer to adopt the cat on the proviso it was not microchipped/linked to an owner. We took the cat to a Vet at Cannonvale (near Airlie Beach) to see if had a microchip (which it didn't) and then had to purchase a cage suitable for the air flight....Several (read LOTS!) phone calls later Miss Elle had organised a ticket on Virgin to Brisbane where a company named "Dog Tainers" collected it and looked after it overnight before putting it on a Virgin flight to Newcastle today. Hopefully by this evening we will have it home!.....

The End

2009-06-25T15:50:00.001+10:00

Finished TAFE yesterday......YAY!!!!

I might see my results next week or the week after.......

cecil

Genetically Engineered Food

2009-06-11T13:57:00.003+10:00

I'm not a big fan of Genetically modified food...I really don't see why it's necessary. Some companies are developing foods that are resistant to stronger more dangerous pesticides...seems like that's the total opposite of organic foods which are better for human consumption.(albeit more expensive! there again you can't beat home grown.)

Anyway if you share a concern for the development /sale of GM/GE food you can sign a petition to have all GM food labeled as such....
cheers
Cecil

A Trivial Pursuit?

2009-05-22T12:30:00.003+10:00

Some would say that partaking in on line surveys is somewhat of a trivial pursuit. But today, participation with one of my "regular" online survey companies has paid off!
I am participating in a continued survey with regard to board games, the idea being is you play board games with your family over a four week period and answer the survey questions. One of the perks is that you get to choose a game which is then sent to you gratis!
Our game turned up today! - "Trivial Pursuit Family Edition, which has kids cards and adult cards.
... Looks like the perfect weather to stay in and play at the moment as well!

cecil

doing things backwards?

2009-04-27T08:43:00.002+10:00

I've come to the conclusion that I'm possibly losing weight at the wrong time of the year. Most people would probably try to lose weight to look good in the summer time...but here "down under" I started my weight loss program at the end of Summer heading into Autumn. We're just experiencing our first coldish weather for the year and I'm starting to wonder if a reduction in "insulation" going into winter is a good thing. I mean bears eat heaps, fatten themselves up and sleep through winter don't they? (not that we have bears here in Oz). In the northern hemisphere they "fatten up" things for Christmas Dinner in their winter. But here am I trying to shed the fat and the cold season is approaching. Shouldn't complain, being a coastal dweller it really does not get that cold here as technically we are in a "Sub Tropical" climate. The up side is we are taking a holiday in the winter up to the warmer latitudes, the Whitsundays region on the Great Barrier Reef...with any luck it might even be warm enough up there to go snorkeling etc....so a few inches off the waistline won't hurt! (Like most middle aged males I am under the delusion that I'm only a few push-ups away from being ripped like Mr Universe...LOL)

....reminds me, must go for a walk today

cecil

treadmill power generation

2009-04-18T16:33:00.004+10:00

Just did five k's on the treadmill as it's a bit damp outside today for my daily walk and was thinking...why don't we reverse the technology of the treadmill.....instead of it using power to move the belt for us to walk on why can't we use our legs to push the treadmill belt and generate power to put back into "the grid"!...same thing could work for exercise bikes! I might be a bit more inclined to jump on and sweat out a few k's if it meant I was cutting a few bucks off the power bill.......and get the kids into it....the "potholes" jump over each other here to get a go on the treadmill! "Sure Jimmy, you can watch Cartoon Network..but you provide the power for the TV!"

If the government is giving rebates for us all to install solar panels on our roofs and pump our excess juice back into "the grid" then surely they can cough up a few for us to buy power generating exercise gear...and it would help tackle the obesity epidemic / take some load off our health system....the benefits are enormous!.

And a Gym owner would become a small power plant owner!...not only would he save on his power bill.... he gets to charge his clients for the privilege of saving him money....cool! You could even target the "Green Set"..."Exercise at our Gym and save your life AND the planet!"

... I can feel a business venture coming on

cecil

Bits

2009-04-14T08:24:00.002+10:00

Had a blackout last night....ah Energy Australia strikes again!..
......anyway , this morning I had to re-boot the ADSL modem and noted the highest sync speed since changing to ADSL2 ...4918Kbps. Our "distance" from the exchange here when calculated by our downstream attenuation of 51db vs 13.81 db loss per km of copper wire is about 3.7 km's. I suspect I could achieve higher speeds using HSPA mobile technology!!!.
.......roll on the new "high speed" internet infrastructure Mr Rudd!!!! (Though from what I've read our new High Speed is outdated before we even get it.....typical!)

new ubuntu release

2009-04-02T13:01:00.004+11:00

The New Release for the Linux Operating System distribution Ubuntu is on the way:

the beta test version is available now.....

cecil

Shake it off!!!

2009-03-28T09:55:00.002+11:00

I've been a long time critic of the diet shake industry, but have succumbed to requests from the Princess Bride to join her in a quest to reduce our waistlines, and as have such embarked on a diet shake frenzy!
Now I have to admit...something had to be done...I had blown out to an all time high score of 123 kilos...(I was 115 the month before Christmas...what happened?). A simple walk to the school with the potholes and back had me completely puffed!
I've been "shaking" for a month now and have lost just over 10 "killergrams"...the walk to school and back is a breeze now by comparison and feel I need to extend my walks so I'll start coming home the long way next week.
I don't expect the rate of loss to continue, the next ten are going to be harder to lose I'm sure!
And d'you know what I crave the most?....Vegemite!!!! ...Struth it's hard making breakfast or lunches for the boyz and smelling the 'ol yeast extract!!.....I don't miss all the bread, pasta, rice and spuds etc. at all, and have a renewed love affair with salads and vegies...(I'm still not a big fruit eater).
....Keep on shakin'

Dangerous Rodents!

2009-03-24T20:17:00.004+11:00

The Pitts folding@home team has been relaunched by team founder Kiso under the new name Danger Mice. A new website is being constructed by Kiso and Miss Magoo with links to contributing team members pages. New members Keplerspeed and Emu legs are a welcome boost to the team numbers. Currently team Danger Mice have achieved over 158,000 points / 700+ workunits.

...Keep on Folding!

overcommitments

2009-03-23T19:37:00.003+11:00

Ah.... football season has hit with the force of a Mack truck this year! 2 of the potholes are playing, with one of them also junior reffing we are in for a big year of football. And trial games...don't get me started!
We have just come home from "Rocketman's" first trial he has another this coming weekend as well as reffing the new SSF (Small Side Football) trial games that "Herbie" is playing in. (also this weekend). Between now and then we have training on two different nights, and the other commitments like Tennis for the "D-Man" , Art class for "Rocketman" and "Herbies" swimming.
Barely time to scratch oneself......

which way is the wind blowing?

2009-02-19T14:20:00.002+11:00

....taken from todays Hunter area forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology website.

Forecast for Thursday
Isolated afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Local early fog patches. Light to moderate west to northwest winds tending southeast to northeast.

...that reads... west to northwest winds tending southeast to northeast......

so it's:

a) covering all bases
b) we have absolutely no idea...but there will be wind
c) all directions at once
d) all of the above

Serious Error

2009-01-23T09:44:00.001+11:00

...just logged into the Win XP box in the lounge room

up pops the 'ol "Your System has recovered from a serious error" message

so I thinks to myself "The system (windows) IS a serious error!!!"

....but then again I'm glad its not Vista

I'm going back to the Linux box now.....

Shaved Ham

2008-11-15T13:28:00.001+11:00

...well, theres nothing worse than buying a ham with bristles sticking out of it is there?

Movember

2008-11-06T08:58:00.004+11:00

Tis the MOnth to grow hair on ones top lip to support Mens Health issues....
Being a long time wearer of a mo I fully support any mans desire to foliate their upper oral real estate!
I've sponsored a couple of mates who are growing a mo to raise MOney.
So guys...keep MOtivated as it's a MOst worthy cause.

convenient?

2008-09-25T10:00:00.002+10:00

Great things cordless phones! you can walk around the house unencumbered by cords or get away from noisy co-habitants...
..BUT they are never close by or in the charging cradle when they ring!
You wander 'round the house following the ring desperately trying to find the bloody handset before the caller hangs up or the answering machine takes over the call...(doesn't help when you are half deaf in one ear and direction finding by sound is difficult!)
...and sometimes when you find the handset it's sitting within a metre of the second cordless handset, (also not in its charging base)....
Yep, damn fine invention that one!
(why is it that you can always remember where you put your mobile phone but not the home phone?)

CPI

2008-07-09T10:33:00.003+10:00

The workers are getting a 21 dollar pay rise! and the pundits are speculating it will push up inflation and the CPI etc....

Now I remember when I was a young lad, my pocket money was initially indexed to the price of a Matchbox Car, and when a little older to the price of an LP... :)

WOFTAM

2008-07-09T09:59:00.003+10:00

Laughed out loud when I read an article today stating microsoft is spending something like 300 million dollars on advertising for their Vista operating system, which they claim is working well now and is not as bad as everyone says it is......
I SAY
Microsoft...if Vista is that good, don´t waste your money on advertising. Release the Home Basic version for free instead. The resulting publicity would get better coverage than advertising, the resulting increase in user base would be quicker. You would then still profit from upgrades to the higher spec versions of Vista and sales of Office etc.... (assuming of course that people are happy with it)

For me?, I certainly would not pay for it, but would download a copy for free to try it again...(I tried out the release candidate).
...I´m not convinced that it works flawlessly yet, and I won´t take microsoft´s word for it!

Being Green (er)...and being ripped off by the power co.

2008-05-25T17:08:00.003+10:00

It's startling to note the drop in water usage in the first water bill we have received after installing our new front load washing machine.
Our average daily water usage has dropped by around 1/3 (35.9% down from the last bill and 32.8% from the same period last year)
We have also noted a slight drop in power consumption.

We are now policing the potholes shower times, encouraging them to use a 4 minute timer, and encouraging them to switch off lights when they leave a room, along with turning off more appliances at the wall and not letting the computers run overnight.

And then....
Another win we have had, which should cut our power bill a bit is with the energy co. Some time ago they changed the meters in our meter box to "time of day" meters (so called "smart metering"), that record power used according to the time of day and we are billed according to what time the power was used at either peak, shoulder or off peak rates...
Fair enough I thought, until I recently started to scrutinise the bills looking for ways to reduce our consumption / cost. The off peak hot water (controlled by them remotely) was being billed at "off peak" for the bulk of its use, but when the second "boost" element cut in during the day we were being billed at "shoulder" or "peak" rates..
I checked with our "sparky", who lives on the corner, to see if he could put a switch in the meter box to isolate the boost element circuit, at least that way I could stop the high power usage during the peak period, but alas I would have to ring the energy co. because the existing master switch was sealed....
Then I checked the energy co. website and it implied that when they change you to "smart metering" your off peak hot water should not be affected..hmmmmm....so, as I was previously only ever being charged off peak rates for boosted hot water during the day, I rang 'em...
Two weeks later they got back to me... "yes, you have been overcharged for your hot water"..turns out, not only were they charging me full rates for the "boost" usage during the day, the smart metering "off peak rate" they were charging for the hot water was dearer than what it should have been (should have remained on "off peak 1")...the end result is they had to go back to the date they changed the meters and reissue every bill at the correct rates...so now we have a big chunk of our latest bill credited back....cool!
So...check your bills if they have changed you to the new fangled metering!!!! it could pay off!
cecil

Straight ahead eh!

2008-04-16T08:46:00.005+10:00

I have been amused by the road markings on this roundabout for some time now. It is near Nelson Bay....according to the road markings as you approach (from bottom of picture) you can turn left or go straight ahead from the left lane, turn right or go straight ahead from the right lane....the thing is, ... straight ahead puts you into the trees!, as in reality, you can only go left or right ....gotta laugh!
note: there is a similar marking on the inside lane approaching from the right of the picture.

International Rescue?

2008-04-08T20:33:00.004+10:00

Was watching the news this morning and noticed these dudes in funny hats trying to stop the "pro Tibetan / anti Chinese Olympic Torch Relay" demonstrators.....

Thunderbirds are go.....! good to see they're out of retirement...

cecil

new Ubuntu coming soon

2008-04-06T13:28:00.003+10:00

I am eagerly awaiting the latest Ubuntu release.8.04.."Hardy Herron". I was going to completely rebuild the Linux box at the release of the last version, but opted to upgrade instead...this time I am going to do it, I swear!..
...the system as it stands now dual boots with windows Vista, which I have absolutely no interest in, as it's such a bloated piece of CRAP!...those I know, who have now gone from Vista to Vista SP1 are saying it is really no better than before....best left alone is my theory..perhaps it will die the death it deserves...and besides, it's wasting a perfectly good Hard Drive that can be deployed elsewhere!

So , again I say, Ubuntu rocks!, well worth a play with, it comes as a complete distribution with software included for most everything you need for day to day computing, and a huge on line repository of alternate software at your fingertips.......best of all..its FREE.

Scaredy Cat

2008-02-29T08:56:00.002+11:00

Our "Ginger" Persian Garfield, "the great Camellia Hunter", is scared of our new washing machine. Its funny really, as the old machine was way noisier, in fact it could be heard throughout the whole house and then some!....the new machine by comparison is whisper quiet...so why is he scared?
The different noises it does make may be of some concern to him, as he grew up from a kitten in the laundry with the old clunker and as such he may not be in his comfort zone now with the new intruder.....BUT the real scary bit seems to be that he can now see the clothes moving through the door, as the new unit is a front loader...he jumps a mile and cowers if he sees it move!....
One would assume he would get used to it fairly quickly but we've had it a few weeks now and he still doesn't like it!.....and doesn't like going near it when it's on....
Cecil

STOP PRESS! SANTA IN TRAIN WRECK !

2007-12-18T17:09:00.000+11:00

News Just to hand, Santa was found today trapped in the Locomotive Cabin of his Christmas Express Train.

SEND HELP!

Suspect caught on camera earlier ?

Internet scammer and my response....

2007-12-16T12:03:00.000+11:00

An internet scam got through the "filter" today so I read it and responded... as follows

From Mrs.Asiyah Ahmed Hassanal Bolkiah
Royal Family of King Haji Omar Ali Sadul Khairi
of Brunei Darussalam.

GOOD DAY,My dear, Please read very carefully, It is with tears that I am writing this message to you from a hospital bed far away from my home where I have no mother,father, sister , brother or any relative, in the mist of strangers with a diffrent language that I don't understand, imaging how painful it is being a cancer patient, Firstly let me introduce myself to you.

I am Mrs.Asiyah Ahmed Hassanal Bolkiah, a widow to Late Sheik Ahmed Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, I am 45years old and I have a son of 16years of age who is at the moment in Benin Republic and I am suffering from cancer of the lungs which I will soon undergo the operation, I want to also let you know that I am writing you this mail from a private hospital here where I am taking my part-time treatments, what will you do if your doctor come up and tell you that you have only few weeks to live? you can imagine the kind of pains I am going through.

My husband is the first Son to the last wife of King Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Sadul Khairi Waddien, the former Prime minister of Brunei Darussalam, the tiny oil-rich country on the Island in South-Eastern Asia,let me save your time by not amplifying my extended royal family history which has already been disseminated by the international media during the controversial dispute that erupted between my Husband and his step-brother, the sultan of Brunei H.M.Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah who is the present King/prime minister of Brunei.

As you may know from the international media, the sultan of Brunei accused my husband who is his step-brother for financial mismanagement and impropriety of US$14.8 billion dollars and this was as a result of the Asian Financial crisis that made my husband's company Amedeo Development Company that was inherited by my husband and government owned Brunei investment company to be declared bankrupt during his tenure in the office.
However my my husband was kept under house arrest by his own step brother, our bank accounts and private properties including a crude oil export refinery were later confiscated by the sultan and to worsen the whole thing, he has to assassinate my beloved husband and I was placed under house arrest by the sultan so that I will not tell the international community what has happened and that is where I developed this cancer of the lungs which is killing me now but I still believe that it is the will of God that life treat me this way.

To avoid further prosecution and sufferings from the sultan and his security operatives since I have lost my husband and I have my only child to keep me happy, I decided to leave my country Brunei to Benin Republic in West Africa where my husband has deposited the sum of ( US$15 Million Dollars) in a reputable bank but unfortunately for me this my illness has became worst and I have been placed at the hospital for medical attention here, so I am planing to fly to abroad for good medication and a perfect surgical operation because according to what my doctor told me that I may not live for more than a month without this operation,I am so scared about this because she has made me understand that I have only 20% chance to survive this surgery and for that reason, I want to make a future for my only son before undergoing this surgery so that even if I die on the process of this surgery, my son will be taken care of by you.

The reason why I am contacting you is to know if you can arrange for a better hospital over there so that I can come there for a better surgery and aslo to know if you can take care of my son when I will be undergoing this surgery, I have decided to give you this sum of (US$ 15 Milion) that I inherited from my late husband so that you can invest it in a very lucrative business in your country, we never can tell what will happen during the surgery, so that in case if anything happen to me during this operation, my son will have someone to take care of him and a business/funds to inherit for a good future or if this surgery goes well, I will have a business that I can use to take care of my only son.

Please note that this fund is lying with a reputable Bank here in Benin Republic of West Africa and as I am writing this message to you from a hospital Bed, I am not sure that I will survive this operation but even if I have to die, first I want to secure a future for my only son. You may ask yourself why am I saying all this but I believe you never experience this kind of problem either have you meet anyone in this kind of situation,have you ever use a lap-top in the hospital to write a letter to a stranger for help? from a foreign land where you have no father, mother or anyone who can help you? In the mist of people that speak entirely different language? when all the people you trust become the people after your life? well, you may not understand but I want you to take this more serious and urgently important.

All I WANT FROM YOU IS TO TAKE THE MONEY WITH MY SON AND INVEST IT SO THAT YOU CAN TAKE CARE OF MY SON IF I DID NOT SURVIVE THIS. please get back to me very fast so that I can tell you what to do because my days now is being numberred. May the peace of God be with you.

Regards,
Mrs.Asiyah Ahmed Hassanal Bolkiah

And my response....

Dear Asiyah

I am very sorry to hear of your illness, but unfortunately the medical system here in Australia is *overloaded*, and I would not recommend you come to this country for treatment. Australian citizens are dying in their hundreds waiting for a hospital bed for life saving operations. Perhaps if you were to make a sizable donation to one of the Australian Hospitals instead then you may have a better chance here! or better still try a country with a better run Health System....

Once again sorry to hear you are ill, and hope you get the operation you need. Good Luck!

Cecil

(Now, sometimes when (if) I respond to these things (and its always tongue in cheek) I get a reply (they don't get my sarcasm) so if I get a response to this I will post it.)

cheers Cecil

and here it is...

Dear Cecil,

Thank you having good interest to help me and my only son, first I will want to assure you that this transaction is 100% risk free and the fund in question belongs to me and my husband before my husband was killed by the King of my nation and after the killing of my beloved husband I escape from my country to Benin Republic where me and my husband deposited the fund in question.

The deposit document of this fund is made in my name and is still with me to prove my legitimate in this transaction I will make this document available to you as soon as I receive the bellow information from you.

1 Telephone and fax
2 Occupation or name of your company
3 Age/ Full Name
4 Home and office address

I will also like to inform you that according to the doctor my chance to survive after sugary is 50/50 and that is why I will want you to make sure my son Ali is well taking care of even if I did not make it after the sugary operation. Thank you for your understanding.

I await your reply with understanding

Mrs Asiyah Ahmed

hmmmm, seems we have forgotten how to spell surgery since our first email..... but then again a sugary operation may have something to do with diabetes?

....more

Dear Cecil may the paece of GOD ALLAH be with you,
Please i am directing this latter of reminder to you regarding the massage i sent to you on last sunday please comfirm to me if you received it as i have not heard from you since.
thanks
mrs.asiyah ahmed

Allah now? hmmm
....a latter? ....and a massage? (sounding more like Peter Sellers)

...perhaps I should give them some details....like
Cecil Pitts age 47
Internet Fraud Squad
and the Phone no of the local cop shop...he he !

(Q. if her Son is 16yrs old, why is she so worried about him?, He's probably more than capable of fending for himself!....struth! , they marry them off earlier than that over there don't they?)

Cecil

vehicle signage

2007-12-15T20:39:00.000+11:00

Signs on back of vehicles and what they could mean......

"Caution, May Reverse at any Time", ....truck owner cannot afford gearbox repairs?

"Caution, Vehicle Frequently Stopping", ....I need a mechanic!

"You are passing another Fox", ....Lindsay Fox bought underpowered trucks?

"If you cannot see my mirrors, I cannot see you" ....Like I check my mirrors, Ha!

There's bound to be more......

Jack is off his Perch?

2007-12-15T20:37:00.000+11:00

Mike's budgie, Jack, is getting on in years for a budgerigar. At around 9 1/2 years old, he is at the "average life expectancy" for a bird of his species.
Of late the 'ol bird has seemingly been losing his balance / grip occasionally, and getting in a right "flap" when trying to extricate himself from being stuck upside down between his feed tray and the cage! I've had to rescue him a couple of times, reaching in and freeing him from his predicament before he flapped himself into heart failure! As tame as he is , the poor old fart is still a bit wary of being handled and sits quietly for a while contemplating the proceedings just past...seemingly in shock..
How much of this can he take?....don't really know...
We have been preparing Mike for the inevitable, telling him he's had a good innings and he's getting old now, and one day he'll be dead in the bottom of his cage. (tell 'em straight I reckon!)
But I feel deep down he is a survivor and he may bat on for some years yet, as he recovered quite unexpectedly from a traumatic incident years ago that we all thought he wouldn't recover from, where he was "drying out" after a "bath" in his cage on the trampoline and one of the dogs got a bit curious and knocked it off to the ground and tried to maul him through the bars...he lost some of his larger wing feathers and was very subdued and quiet for weeks and weeks, but slowly he came back, got active again, and started talking to us again.
(14 or 15 years is not unheard of for a Budgie and the record is around 20)
If we are lucky he should see a few more yet....Go Jack!

Doing our bit for the hole in the ozozne layer.....

2007-12-09T22:22:00.000+11:00

Still another set of lights to go up yet..........

The other blog...

2007-12-08T19:50:00.000+11:00

I am going to try to do more regular updates on my Vegemite blog. "Vegemite and the Dark Side of the Moon", as it has been dormant for some time...any photos or input would be appreciated.

Cecil

The air in Japan?

2007-12-08T09:15:00.000+11:00

I was driving behind a Nissan Patrol the other day ( yeah, bad luck eh!) and noticed the sticker on the rear window "Genuine Nissan Air".....lovely thought...they must install a canister of air captured from some Japanese cherry orchard on a crisp spring morn and have a button somewhere so you can release it when the smog is just too much to bear.....
BUT
then i thought ...no it's probably a warning! those tyres have been filled with Japanese air at the factory in Japan so if you get a flat, you should probably call the EPA 'cause who knows what was in that air when it was pumped in! I mean we all know Horse Flu is rife over there, the wind could have been blowing from a racecourse over the Nissan factory that day and captured the Flu spores right into those tyres....
Thanks Nissan...how responsible of you!

Diet industry shake up

2007-11-23T10:12:00.000+11:00

Seems I've missed out on getting in on the ground floor of the "Pharmacy Weight Loss Program" boom...
I can't get over the number of different programs one can choose from, in fact if the idea of consuming the same 'ol diet shakes day in day out turns you off, there would have to be enough different ones out there now to be able to do a different "program" each day of the week....Variety!!!
I suspect the next step will be the fast food chains will align themselves with these brands, selling the diet shakes over the counter...so you can stay on your "program" when out 'n about... ;-p
Cecil

Vegetarian Persian

2007-11-18T09:37:00.000+11:00

Our Persian Cat, Garfield (aka Fluffy Nuts,.... yes, he answers to that name!) (Cruel aren't I!) has recently exhibited a very strange behavior.... When let outside a couple of times recently (He is an "indoors" cat) he has come back to the front door, very vocal, with a "prize". Not unusual for a cat you say..yes... except you see, his "treasure" is a dried up Camellia flower, all brown and crispy! I have not yet figured out why, but the obvious theory could be taste or texture? The first time he did it I just opened the door and he scampered past me, back to the cats retreat, the Laundry, and was very reluctant to release the dead flower, exactly the behavior shown by our current champion "mouser" Bingo when she has collared a rodent! On the theory side, another possibility may be he has seen a small skink lizard or bug disappear under the copious amounts of dropped flowers under one of our camellia bushes and just chomped into what he thought was his snack!

I don't think he's the brightest feline around, he still thinks he can catch the "Laser Pointer" light (which Bingo just totally ignores, she even gives you a "look" as if to say "yeah...its a light, so what!")
... and its not like he is a kitten anymore either at 3 yrs old!
All in all, I guess he's just another kooky pet in our menagerie! with his own odd-ball quirks and as such fits in well around here!!!
Cecil

Whether or not the moon affects the weather

2007-09-20T09:13:00.000+10:00

Heard an interview on 2NC radio yesterday with a bloke named Ken Ring who does long range weather forecasting based on the Moons Cycles/Phases.
His website is : http://www.predictweather.com/ .
I find what he has to say very interesting and will be following this theory with much interest. He apparently predicted the heavy rainfall we experienced here in June, in his 2007 almanac.
He also has a staunch anti-global warming stance and has lots of thoughts on the matter, an interesting read !

Cecil

Football (soccer ) Season over for 2 Potholes

2007-08-26T19:52:00.000+10:00

Our football season has now drawn to a late close (due to being delayed by the bad weather) with Mikes team making the finals but were eliminated in their second finals game on Saturday. Heath also has now finished his season after playing 2 Gala days on the last 2 Sundays.

Both parents are now fully over it for another year, and now we look forward to summer sport...

James has been going to Tennis lessons and will continue to do so as he is enjoying it a lot. Horse riding lessons will still be on the cards for the coming holidays also (equine influenza permitting ;-) )

Heath will probably be going back to swimming lessons this summer to increase his confidence in the water.

Mike looks like he will be doing indoor soccer with some of his mates and may sign up for junior cricket....

cecil

What a loooong long weekend!

2007-06-11T19:10:00.000+10:00

Well its been a very long drawn out Queens Birthday Long Weekend here at the Pitts house!
Newcastle and the Hunter Valley was hit with extremely bad weather last Friday resulting in a coal freighter, the "Pasha Bulker" being beached at one of Newcastles best beaches "Nobbys". Then the continuing worsening of the weather resulted in absolute havoc in the Hunter region with flash flooding, trees down, and countless power lines damaged. Then finally the inevitable major flooding as the river(s) try to cope with the massive rainfall we have had.
Our own experience has been the loss of power since the early hours of Saturday Morning (about 1:30-2:00 am) until it was finally restored to our suburb about twenty to five this afternoon(Monday). This brought about some challenges , but we managed to get by with candles and the trusty portable gas powered camping stove! (that I've had for over 25 years!)..and sponge baths as our hot water is normally electrically heated...

"Cabin Fever" as the locals dubbed it set in on Sunday so we set out to do some "rubbernecking" , checking out the Pasha Bulker and other storm damage around the area.

The Pasha Bulker aground at Nobbys Beach Newcastle

We also ate out at on Sunday after checking back at the house to find we were still blacked out!
The lack of power for 3 days certainly made the weekend drag out, especially with the "potholes" being without TV, Computer, Playstation etc... The good aspect (for the adults anyway) was the excellent radio coverage provided by the local ABC radio station 2NC, their continual coverage of the events of the weekend has been hugely appreciated by the residents of the Hunter region. Keeping us informed of all aspects of the aftermath of the big storms from rescues to the restoration of services and more...well done 2NC!
Perhaps the next long weekend we get will be less eventfull , we may even be able to enjoy it and relax!
Cheers
Cecil

Our Melbourne Trip

2007-05-20T18:37:00.000+10:00

A quick report on our short holiday in Melbourne....
We had a 4AM start from home to check in for our 6:10 JetStar flight out of Williamtown Airport. It was just a little foggy driving out there, but by "boarding time" the fog had rolled in big time!

The "announcement" advised that visibility was 400m and the pilot needed 800m for take off. When the sun started to rise there was promising evidence it was going to be burnt off, but cloud cover soon stopped that!....The boys (thankfully) handled the delay quite well and four hours after our scheduled time, we took to the skies. It was a smooth flight and we arrived in Melbourne at 11:15. From the airport we caught the Skybus to the city and a train to South Yarra where we stayed.

By the way, the fog delay wasn't our only transport dilemma . . . .

...whilst touring around the city on the Tourist Shuttle bus we came to a complete standstill at one of the stops due to the automatic doors malfunctioning! After the driver radioed for assistance / advice, to no avail, we abandoned ship and waited for the next shuttle to carry us on our way.

AND, whilst on our return journey on Puffing Billy, we came to a sudden screeching halt!...on sticking my head out the window I realised why....The Engine had disconnected from the carriages and was coming to a stop further up the track!! (According to our Conductor it hasn't happened before!...yeah sure! we believe you)

Some of the places we visited and things we did were:

Cooks Cottage / Garden (Mike recently studied Captain Cook at school and was keen to go here)Brighton Beach Huts ( I've always wanted to see these . . and yes that is hut no. 47 in EELS colours and all!)

Lots of Tram Rides, Old ones and New ones (James was keen on this)

Puffing Billy (we all enjoyed this)

Rialto Tower Observation Deck - - - - - - >

The Great Wall Exhibition at the Museum

Queen Victoria Markets

Federation Square

Our accommodation at Darling Towers was a bit substandard, (Modeled on Basils establishment?) a bit run down, with a few things not working properly like the burners on the gas stove and the clothes dryer didn't heat the air, and some of the electrical outlets/switches were very dodgy...AND for a non smoking appartment it just reeked of cigarettes!!...live and learn.... although on a positive note.. it was large enough for all of us with 2 bedrooms, kitchen and lounge room, 2 TV's with some Foxtel channels as well as free to air TV, and was only 1/2 a block from the station.

Melbourne did turn on its renowned poor weather, but we didn't let this ruin a good holiday, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay...

Cecil

ADSL2 exchange info

2007-05-01T08:08:00.000+10:00

Here is an interesting site for anyone interested in going to ADSL2+....(in Oz)

Open !

2007-04-30T21:23:00.000+10:00

Just got my latest Open Office . Org newsletter....
Couple of interesting reads caught my eye, the first being Michael Dell's personal use of Ubuntu Linux and the second being "Microsoft's Men in Black" article , with regard to lobbying politicians in Florida to reject the adoption of OO.o's open document standards in preference to Microsofts product.
The first is of particular interest to me as I have been a Ubuntu advocate for a while now, and with the CEO of Dell now using it personally we may soon see Dell PC's being shipped with this Operating System as an option? Ubuntu as I have stated previously, is an excellent Linux Distribution that has a level of refinement and simplicity of installation unmatched by other mainstream distros.. It just works, without fuss! and without needing intimate Linux knowledge to get it going.
...and the Men in Black...just typical of the monopolisation practices of Microsoft, and highlights part of my reasoning behind not wanting to pay for / reluctance to use its products. I'm more than happy with Open Office. It does all I want...and its FREE ! (and yes its compatible with Microsoft written documents so you can still exchange documents with your "non open source enlightened" friends)

Open source rules!

...lets blame global warming?

2007-04-05T18:55:00.000+10:00

The Weatherman said there would be showers in the Yeast!,... must've been a Brewers /Bakers warning!
then there's the "Graziers Alert"...look out for those rampant graziers!
and of course we cant forget the early morning Frogs...
;-)

Can't see the Forest(er) for the trees ?

2007-03-18T12:14:00.000+11:00

...well, it's just that i haven't taken a decent photo with the digital camera of my new car yet..so the image quality aint that good coz I took this photo with the mobile phone the day I picked it up ...and the shade from the tree makes it a bit hard to see the car well...I've enhanced the "fill lighting" with Picasa, so it's not too bad, but I'll post a better photo once I've got one

cecil

New Blogger?

2007-02-18T16:31:00.000+11:00

Finally switched over to the new blogger .....guess i'll have to see whats different about it...

cecil

Killer Joules

2007-02-16T13:15:00.000+11:00

I finally get the joke now...with that "Biggest Loser" show...
The host of the Australian version is "Ajay Rochester"
Rochester is a brand of Carburetor for car engines,... otherwise known as "Carbs"
Carbs are the bane of any dieter....

...Well...I thought it was funny anyway

Go west young man!

2007-01-30T15:46:00.000+11:00

The Princess Bride and I made a snap decision to venture out to Dubbo for a couple'a days to take the Potholes to the Western Plains Zoo....
We left in the wee hours at sunrise on a Monday and had a fairly good run out to Dubbo, stopping for morning tea at Dunedoo.
After luncheon we visited the Old Dubbo Gaol...Mick was fairly scared to walk through the cell buildings, but other than that we all enjoyed learning about the prison system of the early colonials.

We then ventured out to Traintasia, a little model railway hobby shop that has an impressive working model railway setup to look at. Jimmy D is train mad! and was very impressed!

On Tuesday we arrived at the gates at 9:05 am and made our way in for our first day at the zoo...
We elected to drive our car around the zoo, safari style, although one can ride a bike or hire an electric buggy...Most of the animals were out and about, despite the hot weather, which was adelight to all, and we managed to catch feeding time for a lot of them on the way around...

The best thing about this zoo, is it's designed so you can get uninterupted views of the animals in a more natural looking enclosure. We left the zoo after lunch and headed back to the caravan park so the "potholes" could have a swim, then had a rest before heading over to my Brothers place for a barbeque dinner with his family.

Wednesday was our biggest day, leaving early (6:20am) to be at the zoo for a guided early morning walk. This was recommended by John (my brother) and was well worthwhile as we went behind the scenes on the walk, guided by a zoo volunteer, who had heaps of stuff to talk to us about the animals etc on the way round!!...even hand fed the Giraffes!

The walk was topped off by a cooked breakfast at the zoo restaurant....and no, the captives are not on the menu!

After breaky we left the zoo, packed up at the caravan park and headed to Parkes to see "the Dish", well worth the effort to see, with a very nice visitor centre, and excellent cafe with fantastic blackberry jam scones....yum!..recommended!

We then proceeded home via Wellington and Gulgong, (the ten dollar note town), not that going that way really saved us any time but Michelle had never seen Gulgong and its really narrow streets....
In all a very educational few days, enjoyed by all....

Camping is intense.....well... in tents anyway!

2007-01-30T11:19:00.000+11:00

Took two of the potholes camping for their first time the other week. We borrowed a friends "big" tent as my 25 yr old A-frame hiking tent would not have been big enough...The elder of the two had been looking forward to a camping trip for yonks, but his 1 year younger sibling wasn't so keen and took a little encouragement ("you're going!").

I decided to take them to the Watagan Mountains, which are not too far from home, and have plenty of camping grounds to choose from. We set up camp in "The Pines " camping area, which was quite serene and appeared better kept than others nearby we looked at.
The boys were excited and couldn't wait to erect the tent, (we had put it up in the front yard days before as a trial run so we knew how it went together!) and we had it assembled in no time!
As it has been very dry I didn't expect there to be a lot of water in the creek, as was confirmed on our afternoon hike down to the swimming hole, with just a trickle of water flowing, so we continued our trek east for a while, enjoying the shady track through the forest. On our return the first sign of discontent was apparent...with..shock horror ..the Pit Toilet!.."I can't sit on that toilet! I'm scared I might fall in!" Mikey exclaimed "and it smells!"....It took several trips and some convincing to get "the job" done...oddly enough his younger brother had no real issues with the pit toilet!

Dinner was a fairly easy sausage sandwich affair cooked on the gas stove and dessert was chocolate pudding made in the drinking cups with cold milk from the esky. Yum! and a nice warm hot chocolate at suppertime....it was fairly cool at night up there!
The lads were itching for me to light the gas light, as they had never seen one before, and pestered me until sunset, when I finally felt it was dark enough to warrant ignition! They were heaps impressed by the light output and were happy that it shed enough light to make them feel safe from predators around the camp...lol:-) Mind you, were none too happy when I extinguished it to do some star gazing later in the night!!
They slept well in the tent (phew!) and I was only disturbed once in the night for a "tinkle"...
I woke around 7:30 am and they around 8am...Breaky was full on bacon n eggs n juice,... nothing like a cooked breakfast to kick start the day!
That morning we went on a hike of a few k's up to the picnic grounds and around in an arc following tracks and roads back to the campsite. "Jimmy" was not really impressed with all the walking and was ready to "go home" well before we arrived back at camp!
We packed up the tent and crammed all the gear back in the "family truckster" and headed off to take a leisurely route home looking at Boardinghouse Dam and some spectacular lookouts on our way back.
I think they'd do it again (they said they would) and next time I'll take them to the beach to camp and we'll take "Herbie" our five year old as well to see how he goes....

Holiday Motorists ! ( a breed of their own)

2006-12-29T16:42:00.000+11:00

The annual Silly Season on the roads has hit us...and out of hiding have come all the incompetent, got their licence at woolies, motorists...and the, "yeah, she'll be right for the trip" type who's car only putt-putts to work n back, who you invariably see ...broken down, hood up etc. with a clueless look of despair flagging down help..
.The run down the freeway has given the ol car a major coronary....
"you want me to go 110?....after all this time?... and I havent been over 70 for over a year?...you sure?...cough cough...what about my coolant that hasn't been changed for years! all these kids and luggage sure are heavy!!....and the sludge, er oil! or lack of it should I say!.. and why am I pulling to one side I hear you curse?...um..perhaps before you loaded me with a ton of people and accessories you should have checked my tyre pressure......
...and road rules? what are they...we're on holidays!, we're allowed to drive with no peripheral vision and no consideration for the other motorists, we have to get to our destination as quick as we can! there's last years record we have to beat!
You see them....bucket hats are a giveaway!, poorly levelled caravan hitching is another, drifting in and out of lanes without indicating, trying to u-turn to go back to the exit they missed...
A bloke has his work cut out, just keeping clear of these idiots to go somewhere to get his work done!
Can't wait for it to be over...I'm over it!

ho ho ho

2006-12-22T21:12:00.000+11:00

Christmas comes but once a year, and yes, my fridge is stocked with beer!

...Ahh, another year nearly over, and the potholes are quite exited at the impending visit of the Jolly Fat Man. ..no political correctness here...;-)
I tend to think the 8 and 9 year olds have it figured, but they will still happily sit on the old buggers knee for a photo. The youngest "Herbie" (5) ..well.....this was the first year he actually sat on Santa's knee and smiled, last year he frowned and sat off to the side, and previous years, the Princess Bride or Tim have had to sit in on the shoot just to get him to co-operate...mind you he's been a stubborn l'il bugger for a few years now, but his first year at infants school in Joeys (early learners) has improved his social participation mildly. (still some way to go here!).

All 3 got good school reports this year, which is a relief considering some of the discussions with the youngest pair's teachers over the year....|-( I mean, they aren't bad kids, .. we try not to stifle their individuality..we don't want them to all be the exact same product so to speak...but some teachers just don't seem to know how to cope with kids who are a little off centre to the "norm"..but other teachers can take their nuances and run with them for outstanding results...

Miss Elle has had a full on year with her "rent a toddler" (daycare) job and deserves a good break....as nice as some of the little tikes are, there always seems to be one having an off day or terrorising the others or sent to daycare with a contagious disease loosely disguised with panadol so the parent thinks they can get to work that day....(or worse still have a day off to themselves)

Tim (..our ex-pothole..now a fully fledged Pitts), appears to be making forward progress this year, with regular weekly visits for a chat over dinner..still hard to contact during daylight hours, he keeps a mainly nocturnal schedule of online gaming (World of Warcraft ), participating in "raids" as part of the "guild" he is a member of.

I've taken on some contract work that has been pretty full on in the weeks up to Christmas, which has been a bit of a shock to the system, seeing as though I haven't been out in the field on a daily basis for 12 months plus...

Well, here's to stuffing ourselves stupid over Chrissy, Watching the Yacht Race and Boxing Day Test, eating leftovers for a few more days, have a brief pause, drinking ourselves to oblivion on New Years Eve...and then tackling 2007.... YAY!!!

Contractural Obligation

2006-11-27T18:43:00.000+11:00

Just won some subcontract work for a major IT service provider...
Start an orientation on Thursday.
Should keep me busy, although, it is working in the same area of IT that I have spent my whole IT Career in, the Retail and Financial sectors, so I am very conversant, so to speak...
I'll still be doing the PC repair / upgrade and ADSL Sales side of my business as the sub-contract work is going to be in varying amounts, due to sharing the workload, for the equivalent of 6 months of the year, with another local sub-contractor.
Should get me out of the Princess Brides hair a bit more often!!!!

hasta la VISTA baby

2006-11-15T21:50:00.000+11:00

...sorry , couldn't think of any thing else or more appropriate to call this post.
I am currently exploring "windows vista", discovering its nuances etc. A necessary evil in my line of work as an IT tech.
I have installed it twice now, onto my trusty "testbed" PC, first time upgrading from XP Pro to Vista and then a performing a clean install...
hmmmmm, my initial recommendation....don't bother trying to upgrade...back up your files and start with a clean install...
Why?..While Vista managed the upgrade reasonably well, and no files were lost, it took a long long long time to do it! and the end result was a little sus. I did run the Vista ready program beforehand so i had some idea what to expect it would have a problem with both hardware and software wise. What I didn't count on was a few little driver errors that seemed to relate to hardware my PC just did not have!!!
I then tried a clean install and by comparison it was heaps quicker and the end result was much much better...no apparent issues (as yet!) ..other than it trying to "hibernate" my PC , which it did... but I could not wake it up.!!!....well yes I did...with a power reset.@#$%!!!..have to look into that one...I've dissabled that function temporarily..lol.

AND concurrently with all this, (dual booted) on the same box I have installed the latest Ubuntu Linux 6.10 (Edgy Eft), which by comparison has been blissfully simple and no-fuss.....say no more!

Hit em high, hit em low....again

2006-11-09T10:20:00.000+11:00

Back in May I had a stab at "low irritant" fly spray ......
Today it's "fast knockdown" fly spray....
What's the go with THAT!... Again I say, if the li'l bastards are annoying you, you don't want them to have a quick death....let 'em suffer I say!! ...a long, drawn out, painfull cessation of life will serve the buggers right for pestering you!
AND...how do they know you've gone and got the spray?????, I mean the minute you leave the room to get it and come back, THEY'VE GONE!!!!!, nowhere to be seen!!!! Damn annoying that!
I must be warped..but there is something amusing about that blowfly you just sprayed desperately trying to get out through the window, buzzing incessantly, banging its head continually on the glass etc..............lol............
I'll get you , you little b@st@rds!!!!

Rain

2006-11-06T09:44:00.000+11:00

Good to see some good soaking rain , the grass was looking a little worse for wear, and not growing anywhere near its usual spring rate. Can't complain about the lack of mowing though !!

of pills and ills

2006-10-19T19:42:00.000+10:00

The Doctor is changing my "Happy" medication...its been a while since they did it last time but apparently the effect of the pills I've been on (max dosage and all) tends to become a little ineffective after long term use....no crap! tell me something we hadn't sort of noticed here ourselves!
Oh well , I should probably be gratefull they are trying an alternative, I just hope I'm not too unbearable to live with while the new ones "kick in!"...

..oh yeah...and I'll still rattle more than the car! (Because of all the pills!!!)..lol

more power

2006-10-11T16:33:00.000+10:00

I just noticed this morning the blender has "more power" than our vacuum cleaner! ...admittedly the old electrolux is from the era when stuff was built to last a lifetime, so was probably a hot unit in its heyday...
perhaps i can convert the blender into one of those cyclonic vacuums..........

In Business !!....

2006-09-28T09:02:00.000+10:00

Well I did it....I got myself an ABN, so now I'm officially a "sole trader". I'm going to be fixing PC's, upgrading PC's, building / selling PC's, removing virii and mal/spyware, advising people on appropriate computer security and also selling broadband accounts and netcomm modems etc through eXetel as an agent.

My Advert

Current step is getting the word out there..have made my own business cards, have "tear-off" posters ready to go up at the shops and will have to investigate an ad in the "local rags".
Might look into a listing on the web through those business listing sites but not so sure on whether they are successful at generating business...besides which I have to make a web site for my business yet...next on the to do list.
As for a business name? at the moment I'm trading under my own name but I have the paperwork to register a name when I come up with something suitable...I have a couple on the short list but not 100% sure yet....
So if you know someone who could use my services.........

cheers
geoff

I know how they feel now!

2006-09-10T14:23:00.000+10:00

It has been said this week of Steve Irwins death, that children the globe over have felt his passing deeply, as he was a larger than life icon, seemingly immortal, idolised by the young ... well I must admit I was saddened by his passing but obviously not as much as some of the young'uns around here..I know of some kids who were too upset to go to school the following day after hearing the news...
But now after hearing of Peter Brocks passing I can truly relate to their feelings...I was a young lad when Brocky was in his heyday, and to me as a "car mad" boy he too was an invincible rolemodel. I remember fondly laying on the floor in front of the tele for hour after hour watching him race at "Bathurst", only leaving the room in the ad. breaks. I must admit I teared up when I saw the news article on Sky News, thinking this just cannot have happened!, not Brocky!, not"Peter Perfect"!, my most admired racing car driver of my youth!, my inspiration to be a good driver when I grew up.!!

Rest in Peace Steve and Peter, you will be sadly missed by all, may your legends live forever.

What Should I use then?

2006-09-07T10:56:00.000+10:00

I am sometimes asked by people about software for their PC, particularly people I have helped reload software for after suffering some form of attack from malware etc....and from the cost concsious user, who like me, don't have a lot of cash to waste on expensive software!
so I have pieced together my recommendations....

Geoff's Recommended FREE Software for your Windows PC

Whether you just want to stay with Windows or you just have to run a Windows box for particular software you need, or just want to steer clear of expensive (Microsft office) and dangerous (read Microsoft OE and IE) software on your windows PC, I recommend and use this software on the Windows Boxes here at home......

Mozilla Firefox, Browser. Open sourced browser, less vunerable to attack than Internet Explorer and is FREE

Mozilla Thunderbird, Email. Open sourced Email program. Does not automatically open your mail when it downloads (as does Outlook Express when preview pane is enabled) which gives you an opportunity to screen for junk etc, has goodies like a “learning” junk mail filter . it too is FREE

Open Office 2, Office package. Open sourced office suite, compatible with Microsoft Office file formats, but its FREE! and works well. Can export your documents in PDF format also.

Zone Alarm, Firewall, award winning , far superioir to windows firewall. Basic firewall version is FREE. (can upgrade for a cost to higher levels of protection.)

AVG Free, antivirus software. Excellent FREE antivirus software. Has email checking.

Adaware and or Spybot Search and Destroy, to find and help you control adware, malware, spyware etc

All this software is free and hence fully legal to run on your PC without having to pay licencing fees or upfront purchase costs, and they all do an excellent job!, Better still if you use Firefox, Thunderbird and Open Office, you will be far less exposed to common exploits aimed at Billy Gates (Microsoft) software.

other free utilities you may wish to try are...

The GIMP, image manipulation software, FREE

Picasa, photo management software from Google, FREE.

Nvu, web page creation software, FREE

Be Security Wise. Of course there is no substitute for being vigilant and taking a close watch on what you are downloading and opening. Always look for the original software publishers download site if possible as some third party download sites will often add their spyware and malware to the download. Running a good firewall will protect you not only from attempts to access your PC from the outside world, but also help stop any spyware you may have on your PC from sending data back out from your PC to the writers of the spyware. Keep your windows installation up to date with security patches....enable automatic updates if you have a legitimate windows installation.

cheers
and Happy Personal Computing
Geoff

Dads Day

2006-09-03T10:43:00.000+10:00

Well!... its just after 10:30 on Fathers Day, and do i feel spoilt!
Greeted in bed this morning by the "potholes" (pre-pubescent Pitts) with the sunday paper and a coffee, then a load of cards and pressies...."whacko!" as my old man used to say!
I share a love of dogs with my dad and my grandfather, having a Border Collie named Holly, now going on 11 human years old. (77 in dog years?) She can now support my favourite footy team the Eels with me as I got some Eels gear for her for Fathers Day. Holly the Collie now looks smart in her new Eels collar and ID tag, we can go for a walk with her new Eels Leash, can play frisbee with her new Eels dog frisbee...(She just loves playing frisbee and with balls) and have a feed from her new Eels dog bowl....Hmmm you don't think it was all meant for me?..perhaps the bowl is actually for me when I'm "in the doghouse" so to speak ;-)

After the pressies it was time for a good 'ol cooked breaky, bacon, eggs (sunny side up and runny please), mushroom, tomato, hash browns, toasted english muffins and a home made iced coffee......and finish reading the paper.

so far so good....an excellent morning! might go and have a cuppa now in my new Eels coffee cup i got as well...Happy Fathers Day!

BLACKHAWKS WIN THE GRAND FINAL!

2006-09-02T13:44:00.000+10:00

Yes they did it!, Mikes soccer team, the Warners Bay Blackhawks, have won the Grand Final today.
They are now both Premiers AND Grand Final Winners for then 2006 season.
It was another tight match against "Lake Macquarie" going into extra time after no result at the full time whistle....they then managed to score in the first 10 minutes of extra time coming out victors 1-nil.

CONGRATULATIONS ON AN EXCELLENT SEASON BOYS !!!!!

Many thanks and Top Marks to the boys coach Lee, who has taken the team ahead in their abilities "leaps and bounds" through this season.

My "Pothole" Mike with his Premiers Trophy and Grand Final Winners Medalion.

GO BLACKHAWKS

2006-08-21T20:48:00.000+10:00

My nine year old Pothole's soccer team
The Blackhawks
has blitzed its way through the local competition and won the Premiership, Major Semi Final and now will play in the Grand Final in a couple of weeks!

__W E L L__D O N E__B O Y S__!__

ADSL2+ speeds?

2006-08-16T10:10:00.000+10:00

looking at changing over to ADSL2+ in October as my ISP will be providing it from early Oct.?, so I have been doing my research on line speeds possible at my distance from the exchange..

using the formula attenuation in decibels/13.81 (13.81 db loss per km of telstra copper wire) where my line attenuation at the moment as reported by my modem is 51db, I'm approximately 3.7 km from the exchange as the electrons flow...

using my 51db figure...

here is a link to a site that gives you the graphical representation shown above...just feed it your attenuation figure if known.

here is a link to the oz-broadband speed test site

this all adds up to a theoretical speed around 5500k which is about 21 times faster than my 256k adsl1 connection now but only about a quarter of the speed someone living next door to the exchange will theoretically get...(up to 24000)

be interesting to see what i get in reality!

Hair (not the musical...more the lack of it!)

2006-08-15T20:23:00.000+10:00

Got the poops with my hair being a bit long last week so i got the clippers out and gave m'self a "number 4" ,...( just as well the potholes gave me a "Parra" beanie...it REALLY comes in handy on those cold days now!)...one of the mates online commented my msn mug shot looked like "chopper" ..lol

..Though my Princess Bride says "the difference between a good haircut and a bad one is about a week!"

Ubuntu to you too

2006-07-26T10:25:00.000+10:00

Yes, Ubuntu
I have of late been trying different Linux Distributions, and stumbled onto ubuntu linux courtesy of PC User magazine.
I must say I am impressed with this one ...
Apparently based on the ever reliable Debian, it is way ahead of most i've tried, with up to date software inclusions, excellent software management / download facilities and most importantly for me its GNOME desktop is not a windows desktop clone as so many other distro's are trying to be!

So far it is working extremely well with my hardware, an AMD Sempron based PC, built from leftover/scrounged bits n pieces. It is set up as a dual booted unit alongside Windows XP Pro (which hasn't been touched now for weeks!)
Samba was a cinch to set up and I have full network access to the other PC's in the house (all Windows boxes)
My only issue at the moment is tracking down a printer driver for my canon i350 printer, so i have to save my work i wish to print to one of the windows boxes then print it from there.

Next up on my list of distros to look at will probably be the recently released "Freespire" by Linspire..but it looks a bit windowsy...so I'm a bit reluctant to let Ubuntu go just yet......

cheers
Cecil

Scrap Heap?

2006-07-12T21:13:00.000+10:00

I'm starting to wonder if I'm "too old" to regain employment in my "trade"...considering the number of job apps that have led to nil lately ....seems maturity and experience counts for nought eh!...
.....have put myself back in the "job market" after taking some "time off for me"....seems self employment is the only viable option?...think I'll apply for an ABN and put some flyers out ;-)
...and see what happens.

Jimmy's Ankle

2006-06-06T21:30:00.000+10:00

One of our Potholes, Jimmy D, recently fractured a bone in his ankle.
A "chip" fracture, caused no less than by an overextension of one of the tendons connected to the ankle bone, reaching its limit and snapping a piece of bone off! This happened during a bad landing on the trampoline.

He has been 2 weeks "immobilised" in a "slab cast", but today it was removed after another x-ray, as the doctors at the Hospital were happy with the healing so far and their current philosophy with this type of injury to a child of his age is to let them walk on it fairly early on as long as the pain is not unbearable/unmanageable.
Here's to youth and quick healing!

Mum's the world

2006-05-15T09:09:00.000+10:00

The Potholes and I took Misselle to Hunter Valley Gardens for Mothers Day....

. ^ Michelle and all Her Boys at Hunter Valley Gardens

"Mum" has been wanting to see the Gardens for ages, (and "Dad" has never been allowed to forget it!) So this year for Mums Day a picnic there was planned. After a BIG cooked breakfast we set off to the Vinyards...It was a thoroughly enjoyable outing...even the "Teenager" attended... :-o ...which pleased her immensely.

At first the concern was that the kids would get bored, but that notion was soon disproved, as they had a ball with all the paths and observation platforms etc to explore. They really enjoyed Storybook Garden, The Border Garden, and the Waterfall Lookout area.

After our Picnic we then ventured to my sister Alison's house to wish my Mum a Happy Mothers Day, and also wish the Potholes cousin Caitlin a Happy Birthday!

Home for a quick tea and the boys crashed out in no time....just in time to watch one of her favourite shows on the teev!

low irritant?

2006-05-11T19:26:00.000+10:00

What the hey is low irritant insect spray about?... I mean, you're out to kill 'em, so who cares if you irritate them in the process!!!!!

When you think you are alone.....

2006-04-21T13:23:00.000+10:00

another theory ?.....sort of...it seems to work too well!
I'm talking about when you break wind..bottom burp so to speak..when you have been alone in a room for a while and you think it's safe to let a little one slip, (to equalise the pressure as you do!)....someone always apears out of nowhere!!!, before the evidence has disbursed! Of course nothing is said, but you both know what has happened....embarrasing? sometimes...
BUT.. i did find the theory usefull in my time as a field tech. You see quite often you would be left in a room to fix a piece of equipment and the person responsible to report back to when finished would dissapear into thin air elsewhere in the building. No amount of looking or waiting seems to find them but then I started using the "break wind and they shall come" theory. And by jove it had a higher than expected success rate...if not the staff member you were looking for at least someone would appear not long after "being summoned" who could track down the wayward associate for you.
Good to know Murphy can work in your favour!

I think I could be a Cruise Junkie!

2006-04-15T15:59:00.000+10:00

We're Back!
Yes from our 12 Day Cruise to Vanuatu....and boy what a GREAT HOLIDAY!
I have never eaten so much, drunk so much (grog), been entertained so much or seen so many sights, in such a short time. Never been anywhere more romantic as going on this cruise!!!!!!!!!!!!I certainly did not want this holiday to ever end!!
This was our 10th Anniversary present to each other, and we renewed our vows on board with the Captain. So I guess you would call it a "Second Honeymoon".
We cruised with friends Kathy and Frank , Kristine and Russell.
If you have never cruised, I strongly urge you to consider it. The staff on board are absolutely fabulous, friendly and all want you to enjoy your cruise so the service is first rate. The food is just laid on and on and on... and is top class tucker....There are Bars all over the ship, so the chronic alcho in all of us has no excuse not to be happy!(I think Russell still wins on the bar tab count!...undefeated champion?...look out next cruise Rus, Frank and I will try harder!)....There are entertainment shows nearly every night in the main lounge and live bands / dj's etc in other bars to cater to all tastes from hip hop to jazz , rock, crooners etc....Gambling in the Casino..."Miss Elle" was quite a champion on the Roulette table as was Kathy, her best friend who came cruising with us to witness our renewal of vows (Kathy was Michelles original Matron of Honour at our wedding)
The Islands we visited were a mixed bunch ranging from "westernised" to "original culture".
The best being Wala and Pentecost and the least favorite would be Luganvile.
We witnessed the "Land Diving" at Pentecost (from which modern day bungy jumping was derived) where the locals jump from a huge tower made of sticks with vines tied to their ankles! UNFKNBLVBL !!!!!
I sampled the traditional "Kava" drink at Wala, made from the root of some tree, makes your mouth go numb and tingly!!!! You could actually get to like it after a few I reckon! good stuff!!!
At Port Vila I went on the jetboat ride with Frank and did a guided pub crawl with Miss Elle in the afternoon....on an empty stomach as I'd missed lunch...and with extra free beers as some people who had booked the tour didn't show so the guide (who must have liked me..good on ya Helen!) gave me more than my fair share of the extra drinks!!!! plus a couple of Miss Elles as she didn't want to tank up at every stop....Needless to say I was fairly "wonky" by the time we got back to the ship!!!!
After our last port of call, Lifou, in the Loyalty Islands, we hit some heavy swell for about a day and a half on our return voyage to Sydney. This certainly sorted the landlubbers from those who had found their sea legs, with "convenience bags" at strategic locations around the ship and lots of "green faces". Michelle and I found it to be good fun and didn't get sick, but Kathy and Frank were a bit seedy for a while.....The rocking motion of the ship is actually quite comforting after a while and I'm sure it rocks you to sleep quicker than you would normally nod off!

So ...we are all keen for another cruise as soon as we can afford it....anyone interested?

Jay Leno has similar theory

2006-03-30T15:29:00.000+11:00

Jay Leno said the other night on his show that apparently pole dancers spin anti clockwise in the southern hemisphere (OZ), compared to clockwise in the US.......see, I'm not crazy!

note... see prev post "stuff" november 2005