Waiting for the game to begin.
Retirement
Today we retired the oldest pc in the house. It is so old it actually has a floppy drive and the usb ports were added via a card. Over the years it had memory upgrades from 512MB to 2GB, I think it was on it’s third hard drive and had seen XP, Vista and Windows 7 but there comes a time in every PCs life where its time is up and after 10 years faithful service today was the day.
When I bought the machine it was around $1200 and was cutting edge, complete with a 15″ crt monitor. The replacement I picked up today cost me $284.50. Sure, it’s far from the edge but it is more than adequate for the kids and the power in comparison to the old one is staggering.
It is all set up now, ready to go. I’ve given Bert and Phee their own log-ins and put a link to Angry Birds on their desktops. I wonder if this one will last for 10 years? I assume by then the kids will all have a laptop or tablet and be laughing at just how primitive their old man’s old tech is.
My Tweets For The Week
- MSNBC Just announced Osama Bin Laden is dead. #
- finished Knots And Crosses by Ian Rankin @beathhigh so book 1 down. http://amzn.to/liLeQK #Kindle #
- Just bought @Beathhigh 's 2nd Rebus novel – Hide and Seek – for the Kindle. #
- Surprising how little charge your laptop gets when you plug the power cord in to the phone socket for the day. #
- We've just had Vietnamese and now Bert and I are off to see Walking With Dinosaurs. #
- Walking With Dinosaurs was spectacular. Fantastic night out with my big boy. #
- Mrs @jentopia you officially rock! Thanks so much for the t-shirt, it's fantastic! #
- Called 'love' and 'sweetie' in the same sentence and I think she was younger then me. All I needed for the trifecta was 'darl'. #
- One minutes and 32 seconds. That's how long it took from searching for a book to having it ready to read on my @AmazonKindle. Not bad. #
- How novel, listening to the @BBCChrisHawkins breakfast show at breakfast time. @ClaireSlevin #
- Bert is going insane because I won't tell and he can't guess who is coming to dinner tonight. #
- Go the mighty Tigers, now, who are we defeating next week? (*ducks wife*) #
- Happy Mothers Day to my mum and mum's every where. #
- Sore big toes and sore wrist #oddachesandpains #
- Watching Channel 7 news, like @danielbowen's new look. #
- After the killer ending to last week's Who this week's pirate one was a bit of mess and overall rather 'meh'. #doctorwho #
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Dry
Daniel has gazumped once before (can’t remember what it was) so when I saw his post last week on I’m Not A Drinker I couldn’t believe he’d done it again. I’ve been meaning to write for ages on the same topic because over the past year I’ve all but given up drinking.
It started last February when on a whim i decided to do Feb Fast. I’d never been a real drinker, a couple of drinks, maybe a few on a Friday or Saturday night every now and then or joining Rae with a glass of something over dinner. This meant Feb Fast wasn’t too much of a stretch, although I did ‘break’ it to have one beer when we were out one day.
The end of February came and I was allowed to drink again, so I did, but it didn’t seem the same. I realised that all up, I really wasn’t enjoying what I was drinking. I found that wine, especially white, just smelled too strong. I also found that some times after having one beer I’d get grumpy and easily irritated and that I hadn’t enjoyed or liked the taste. This, of course, made me pause and wonder why I was spending so much on something I wasn’t getting any pleasure from. So I stopped.
I’m in now way an anti-drinker, it’s just that for me, now, it’s not something I want to do. One exception is champagne, I still enjoy that but that’s a once every couple of months drink. There are plus sides; we’re saving a bit of money on the beers I would buy and Rae now has a designated driver. I’m sure it’s probably better for my health too. Downside is I really need to find something else to order apart from a lemon, lime and bitters when we go out.
My Tweets For The Week
- Never fails to send shivers down the spine, 90,000 people and you could hear a pin drop. #
- Pretty foggy out there this morning. (@ Derrimut, Victoria) http://picplz.com/SqGL #
- Have decided to re-read all the @Beathhigh Rebus novels. This time in order and all on my @AmazonKindle. Knots and Crosses already under way #
- Roll On Summer, My New Shirt Courtesy Of Uncle Rob http://picplz.com/ST7T #
- 8.30. That's bed time for me. Hopefully this big will disappear overnight. #
- That should have been 'bug'. #
- Rae at work, Bert and Phee at school, Rita here for the kids. Everything back to normal. Sigh. #
- Giving @cldmgc another go. #
- "I" made "it" on to The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks: "cow" manure http://t.co/zFutl6g #
- Big Audio Dynamite live on 6 Music. #
- Crashing fast, this bug won't let go no matter how much I sleep. #
- Creme Brulee setting in the fridge, time for a good lie down. #
- 7.30, bed time. Brulee's went down well. #
- Bloody 'ell, forgot there is a game tonight. Footytips and then bed. #
- Never thought I'd say this but I'm really impressed with how helpful the ANZ bank support staff were this morning. #
- All I can hear is Mr Bean doing the wedding vows now. #
- Raw just asked when she was getting my troth. I thought that's why I went to that doctor last year… #
- Have to say there are some stunning shots in this coverage. #
- Just overheard Moo telling Henry to "suck it up princess". I blame her mother. #
- At the G. Not many here so why did I have to park in South Yarra? #
- Home after a great Tiger win. Go The Mighty Tigers. #
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Dad Day
Friday is a no-sitter day for me and today I decided to take the morning completely off instead of juggling the kids and work.
It was a perfect morning, which probably pushed me in to the decision, so we headed off to Williamstown for a little time by the sea. After parking in a bay and realising it was $3 an hour (!!!) we drove one block further on and began our time with a little stroll from the free parking area. We walked along the shops and stopped in a bakery. We took the spoils, along with a coffee, to the park where the kids sat and ate their cup cakes and bonus Easter egg.
Then there was a play on the fantastic playground and walk along the pier to see the boats and wave at mum working in the city. Moo suddenly realised she could see the water through the planks of the pier and couldn’t get back to dry land quick enough. We walked back to the car and headed off to Taco Bills for a special treat lunch of nachos and tacos. As soon as we pulled in to the car park Moo asked for hew own glass of punch. They know what they like.
Of course I couldn’t escape work completely. One call came through and it was important. Thanks to the wonder phone I could fire up a browser, log in to my control panel and solve the problem on the spot. A year or so ago and I would have had to have packed up and gone home to deal with it.
The nice days are running out now for a few months so we won’t get to do this again for a while. I know I’ll have to work over the weekend to make up for the morning off but it’s worth it. I wouldn’t swap working for myself for the world.
Bert
He seems to be growing bigger every day.
My Tweets For The Week
- Tempted to lock the office door and let the kids go Lord Of The Flies today. #
- Bert on his latest masterpiece : "The Easter bunny is doing poo, but the Easter bunny's poo is jelly beans": #
- That's one deck oiled, now for breakfast. #
- Not. Having. A. Good. Day. #
- Deck needs a second coat but no oil left. Bugger. #
- Too. Much. Meat. Must. Sleep. Now. #
- Beginning to panic that @danielbowen won't buy an Android http://www.danielbowen.com/2011/04/19/new-phone-poll Yes, panic. #
- Where in Melbourne can I recycle a couple of lap top batteries? #
- Hi @NearMap Why do you need my phone, address and birth date before I can look at a map? Seems a little over the top. #
- There's something about Lazy Town that makes it feel really creepy. #
- Put it off for as long as I can.Time to get some garding done. #
- Today's gardening music brought to you by @Guy_Garvey and Bob Geldof. #
- Ubuntu won't let me use my second monitor. Grrrr. #
- Wow. Bet no ones getting all the tips this round. #
- First Doctor Who of the season downloading, can't wait to watch it. #
- GO TIGERS! #
- Really enjoyed the first episode of the new Who season. #
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My Tweets For The Week
- Bonus Age delivery today, will make the most of it. #
- In a private beta for a very cool Android note taking app, appears to be exactly what I've been looking for. #
- No sign of sitter, positive I told her she was needed today. Going to make for an interesting day if she doesn't show. #
- Phew, just turned up. Apparently traffic was bad. #
- Not too proud to admit the slippers have made their first appearance for the year. #
- Just found out Rae's train trip took two hours this morning! Ouch. #
- In stationary heaven with my new @FieldNotesBrand kit that Rae just gave me. Now I just need a meeting to go to. #
- Bought a new toy from @Kogan two and a half hours ago using LivePrice. It's already $7 more expensive. New toy -http://goo.gl/b5Cu3 #
- ..you could have heard a pin drop as Tommy stopped and locked the door… #
- Really annoyed no torrential downpour predicted for tomorrow night. Guess I have to go. #
- Driving in to the footy tonight I saw a guy driving full speed looking at the laptop balanced on his lap. #
- Can someone please explain GetIt, page 46 of the Good Weekend today. How the hell is that 'cabaret'? Bare in a cat? Talk about obtuse. #
- Avanti @ Witchmount was fantastic. Entree, mains, desserts, coffee, drinks and service all amazing. First time there, won't be the last. #
- Running your own business seems like such a good idea until you have to work on afternoons as grand as this. #
- Doing your BAS is so much easier if your records are up to date. Who woulda thunk… #
- Mmmmm, Skippy tasted yummy tonight. #
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Take Note–This Is What (And Who) I Love
For someone with such abysmal handwriting it may seem odd but I love stationeary. I’m sure it goes back to the fact that dad had a stationary shop and to this day nothing makes me happier than walking in to a little office supplies shop and being hit by that wonderful smell of paper and pens. When you add computer stuff you can see why Officeworks is my idea of heaven on earth.
Today a couple of parcels arrived. The kids collected them and deposited on Rae’s desk so I didn’t see them until she got home. One of those parcels was a wonderful present for me; Rae had bought me The Kit from Field Notes Oh my, such wonderful note books and pencils. They look so good it’s going to be agony to open them. Of course Rae knows this and I received very firm instructions that they are to be opened and used or no more presents ever.