morrowlife

Here’s the original prototype for the F-117. It turned out it didn’t have enough room to carry things like bombs, bullets, and fuel, so they scaled it up a little. Part of my famous Machinery series.

Lots going on, but nothing particularly interesting. But when did dullness ever stop me from discussing my deep thoughts?

So let’s have a look. I finally gave up on Ubuntu’s wretched Wifi handling. I tried the most recent two releases and neither one can do networking worth a darn (please excuse the bad language – I’m really angry here). They can’t handle fixed IP addresses. They can’t keep Wifi connected after a reboot without the user retyping his WPA password. They can’t reliably announce their presence on a network. And they behave differently every time you start the computer. I’ve had it.

And to top it off, the people who are kind enough to provide free Internet-based help are unfortunately not very helpful, as a general rule. With several notable exceptions, they’re either impatient to the point of nastiness or intentionally vague and incomplete in their explanations (as if to say “If you can’t figure the details out yourself, you’re not worthy of Linux”). Thanks for what little you’re willing to do guys, but don’t bother.

And I was so happy with Ubuntu Server’s performance. For one thing, it was three releases old. And for another, I did all my configuration via the text-based configuration files – as opposed to the constantly upgraded but never quite functional GUI-based config programs. Sigh.

So I bit the bullet and installed Windows 2000. It took a good four hours to install, update, load drivers, and configure. But it works right.

That was a pretty bitter pill to swallow. I’ve long been a pretty staunch Linux partisan and I’m still sold on it as a server, but it needs to do networking right, for crying out loud.

On the other hand, pretty much everything else worked right. I just couldn’t stay connected to the network.

Anyway. Loyal Reader Number One is working on configuration issues of his own. The new MacBook is working great, of course. But he went to download iWork ’08 this afternoon and discovered that Apple no longer offers it as a download, since they rolled iWork ’09 this week. I need to rip my disk when I get home tonight so he can copy it.

I wonder how people who just downloaded the software and then bought it online are supposed to reinstall.

Today’s good Apple news: Picasa is now available for OS X. I’m installing it tonight. Maybe LRN1 will want to install it and use Picasaweb to share his Mac unboxing pictures. Maybe.

That’s it for today. I’m planning to install the terabyte drive this evening. Wish me luck.

See you tomorrow.

Here’s Loyal Reader Number Two practicing for his aerobatics routine with the Blue Angels. I believe he’s one of their youngest members. Part of my famous Machinery series. Fortunately for LRN2, it’s not also part of my famous Statue series.

Things are really feeling like they’re Back to Normal. That’s a good thing, sort of. Christmas is definitely over, which is sad (with the possible exception of the decorations, which make me happy before The Big Day but grow tiresome afterward) because I enjoy the long vacation and being home with the family, but happy because I also enjoy normality and peace.

I guess I just need to work myself into a position where being home with the family is my normal state. Hmmm.

Speaking of Christmas decorations, we have an ongoing post-holiday phenomenon at our house. No matter how hard we look, we always end up missing a few things. We usually find them within a week or so and then have to rummage around in the garage to store the errant objects.

This year, we found Loyal Reader Number One’s stocking (overlooked in his room), our slightly sacrilegious door-hanger-pillow with the snowman nativity (on the pantry door), and the Christmas hand towel (on the oven door).

Which brings up an interesting question: What overlooked Christmas decorations have my Loyal Readers found and how long after Christmas have they found them? Comment, please. Maybe we should have a contest for the latest find – a lost Christmas decoration or something.

Great news! LRN1 reports that his new MacBook has arrived! When I last spoke with him, he had it in his hand. In the shipping carton, that is. It got there just before he had to head for class and then work. The plan was to go back to his dorm room this evening, open the biz, and bask in the warm glow of Apple goodness.

Wish I could be there. He has promised to take plenty of pictures. That ought to help ease my fanboy pain at least a little.

— Update later in the evening —
The computer is out, updates are being installed, LRN1 has a copy of Windows XP Professional to install via Bootcamp, the computer is cool, and everything is once again right with the world.

See you tomorrow.

Here’s another one of those extremely uncomfortable-looking statue pilots flying a two by four with wings. I’m just grateful they’ve now developed more comfortable airline seats. Part of both my famous statue and machinery series.

Great weekend. Loyal Reader Number One went back to Provo this morning. He’s already missed, of course. His flight was on time, his grandfather was there to pick him up, and he only missed his first class this morning. It’s all good. He called me this afternoon to let me know his new computer has already been shipped from Singapore(?) and is now in Alaska. I expect it will be there sometime this week.

Yes, we ordered him a new computer. It’s a 13 inch MacBook that ought to be pretty nice. LRN1 will use it until he leaves on his mission, after which it will revert to me. Take good care of it, LRN1!

LRN1’s old (and I mean old) laptop has finally gone too weird to use. The optical drive won’t read DVDs anymore, the wifi won’t work anymore, and the machine has started generating random errors. We haven’t given up on it – Loyal Reader Number Two has inherited it. He’s nursing it along quite nicely. And using a long ethernet cable. He’ll need to get a USB wifi dongle sometime soon.

I’m back to work. Sigh. We’re just as busy as ever, but it was a good day. I’d rather be sleeping in every morning, but it’s nice to get back into the routine.

Lots of new things happening at church, which will be described in detail next week.

I don’t know what to think of my exercise plan now. Apparently, even though thinking makes you fat (see last Friday’s post), it also makes you thin. I’m starting to wonder about these so-called “experts.”

The weight-gain epidemic does seem to be getting worse, though.

My new 1 terabyte disk and Larry-to-TV cable arrived today. The cable works great – the picture is big and clear. The disk will probably work great, as soon as I move a bunch of files around the network to make room for it.

Time for bed. More weekend news tomorrow. See you then.

Here’s the do-it-yourself chopper invented by the good folks at Hiller Aircraft. The idea was that it would be parachuted to a downed pilot in a big suitcase-type thing. The pilot would put it together in a matter of five minutes or so without any tools required, and fly it out to safety. It had a range of 50 miles and sounds like a great idea. The military showed interest, but ultimately didn’t buy it. Too bad. Picture taken at the Hiller Aviation Museum. Part of my famous Machinery and Statue series.

Extreme Short Shrift again today. It’s after 10:00 and I need to get to bed.

Didn’t do many of the things on my schedule. It rained, so the Sable and Ranger didn’t get washed. I never left the house other than my two-minute trip to the mailbox, so I also didn’t get the Sable’s oil changed. Need to try to get that done tomorrow. If it’s not nice out, the car washes simply won’t happen. There’s a little more cleaning up and putting things away that needs to happen, and I’m hoping to clean the guns we used at the shooting range a week or so ago. I’d also like to get a tiny bit of work done on the Suburban and the Miata. As I mentioned to Loyal Reader Number Three while he was here, owning more stuff just means you have more things broken at any given time. Sigh.

My snoring exercise program has run into a snag. It turns out thinking makes you fat. I’ll have to try to cut back a little. Either that or try snoring even more. Gotta drop those pounds.

I saw a great list of gadgets to buy. With hard times coming for lots of people, we need to start thinking about survival. These things seem like the bare essentials, don’t they?

And that’s it for the week. Loyal Reader Numbers Five, Six, and Twelve will be by tomorrow. Looking forward to it. See you on back-to-work Monday.

Here’s an old airplane that had a hard landing up in Alaska somewhere. If memory serves, nobody was hurt, but that was its last flight. In fact, I believe this is the highest this plane has gotten since. Photo taken at the Hiller Aviation Museum and part of my famous Machinery series.

Happy New Year! Quiet day around here. I finished my Bernard Goldberg book and started one called Using Your Digital Camera, by George Schaub. I had low expectations, but it’s actually been kind of interesting and even useful. Pretty much everything I’ve read in that genre previously was either way too elementary (“when you push the shutter button, a picture is taken”), marginally useful for only one brand of camera, hopefully out of date, or otherwise useless. Fortunately, hope springs eternal, so I tried this one. Moderately recommended.

We spent the evening playing Rage. We have some old Rage cards, but they were getting pretty raggedy. Loyal Readers Numbers Five, Six, and Twelve gave us a new deck for Christmas. The rules are slightly different from what we’re used to, which added a slightly new twist. Loyal Readers Numbers Four and One won the first and second games, respectively. After which we retired.

Watched a little bit of a football game this afternoon. Michigan State got creamed by Georgia or somebody. Fortunately, I didn’t really care much. Also watched a few Monks, all of which I had seen before, but all of which I enjoyed. Mostly. The 2008 Christmas show was weak, but I generally even enjoy their weak shows. I’ll be sad when that show jumps the shark.

Extreme Short Shrift tonight. It’s a little after 10:00, and I need to start getting up in the morning in preparation for Back To Work Day. So I’m quitting. See you tomorrow.