I wonder you call the state of being “lost in a formatting fog?”That is, you tweak your document, preview it, tweak again, over and over, because there’s some little table, or footer, or logo — something that’s just not quite right. Suddenly you realize you are half way into lunch hour or a couple of hours have gone by. Perhaps I’ll call it liffness.”Or I’ve wasted two hours liffing.
A mission statement is defined as “a long, awkward sentence that demonstrates management’s inability to think clearly.”All good companies have one.
Bummer, first the local net last night and now the cable net tonight. I phoned Rogers' toll-free line and waited tens of minutes. By that time my cable modem had synced again. That seemed to last only as long as I talked to the “technical”guy. The cable modem lost sync, I phoned again, waiting more tens' of minutes. (While on hold I sorted choir music from last Christmas. Most of it had been sorted but there were a few late arrivals to file in.) Wouldn’t you know it? By the time the tech guy answered, the cable modem had synced again. I asked for a refund. It’s only a buck and a bit but at least this sends a message about the service or lack thereof. The service usually is pretty good but they shouldn’t be “fixing”things in the evenings. And why is it that “tech”guys have to be so condescending? Not all of us use Windoze at the cable modem. My router/firewall is a FreeBSD box with ntp precision timing. The log files clearly show when the cable internet is down.
My son told me the Internet was down. I went down to check the status of the FreeBSD router/firewall computer in the basement: behind the piles of unsorted or un-put-away choir music. The cable modem lights were OK, the network was slow with 21 computers on the cable segment according to arp -a. Two win2k boxes on the local network couldn’t get IP addresses via DHCP though I could see the traffic at the FreeBSD box. Turned out to be the hub — it had become a one-way device. Luckily I had another so I substituted. Our local net is up and running again.
Now that the days are shorter, I walk to the train station “by the dawn’s early light.”In the Credit River valley this morning a male deer crossed the river as I was walking across the bridge above. Despite the traffic, the deer appeared to have noticed my presence and looked up at me. It is hard to explain; but, seeing animals in the wild that you don’t normally see, seems to elevate your spirits for awhile.
I found a better dictionary and thesaurus website (IMHO) today:
Dictionary Search Search by Hyperdictionary.com 
There’s a weed called Dog Strangling Vine that’s apparently spreading to Ontario. Inquiring minds want to know what kind of dog gets strangled by this plant?
I maintain a small email alias list for our choir so that only me and the choir manager have to maintain a current list of everybody’s email addresses. Even though that alias address is pretty easy to remember, people still insist on adding to their email lists. Every once in a while, a PC gets infected and a virus starts replicating itself by sending copies to people on the mailing list. Today it’s the Swen virus — a particularly nasty one masquerading as a Microsoft update. Firstly Microsoft doesn’t send updates by email with exe attachments and secondly, you never open an exe attachment until you’ve virus scanned it. And then only after you’ve made sure your virus scanner is up-to-date.
- Bulbs
- Planted some spring bulbs with the bulb planter. It works OK except when I encountered the occasional tree root or rock. And my hand is sore from reefing down on the planter trying to get it through our clay soil. If it hadn’t rained a lot recently this task would have been impossible.
- Apples
- We picked Cortlands this afternoon at the Williams Orchard north of Milton. Police were directing traffic at Chudleigh’s on the way there but that “farm”is too expensive and we just wanted apples. Mr. Williams said the Cortland crop is the best he’s seen since the trees were small. We picked a bushel, ate several and had apple crisp for dessert tonight. We drove the country roads and dropped off some apples at my son’s place in rural Oakville. Of course we had to say hello to Cricket their young Golden Retriever. Now that they found out the dog has a food allergy she’s poopin’ solid again. She also seems to have even more energy and bounce. Today’s trick was fetching, most of the time, a frisbee.
- Run
- I haven’t been running during my (having a) cold spell. I ran a shorter distance, maybe 7km instead of 10. Seemed to take me the 10km time, though.
You just had to do things outside today. I prepared some bare patches, spread some compost, sprinkled grass seed and lightly watered the areas. Our area hasn’t had any rain since mid-August, but rain last week and Isabel’s contribution on Friday has made the soil suitable for lawn seeding. I went to Rona this afternoon and ended up buying a lot of spring bulbs, a Gardena bulb planter and a cultivator fork. I have been searching for the perfect long-handled cultivating fork — this seems to be it though I haven’t tried it yet. The bulb planter has a “quick release” feature. As I bought probably close to 150 bulbs including species daffodils, crocuses, and early tulips I hope this works. I want to naturalize the crocuses and daffodils on a small hill between our two houses. The tulips I’ll plant here and there in the gardens and out in the shrubbery in the park behind our backyard. As I was picking out bulbs I thought, though I enjoy flowers at all times of the year, I especially like them in the spring just after the snow has melted and it is almost warm enough to wear shorts again.
⇐ A view of the front court yard of Versailles at just after 9 o’clock in the morning. Already the temperature was over 30°C. In the roughly two and a half hours we were there the ambulance came at least three times to assist tourists overcome by the heat. The itinerant water sellers were everywhere in Paris and Versailles.
⇒ I took this shot from behind Apollo’s fountain. On the weekends the fountains are turned on. Otherwise the water needs to be conserved for the Versailles gardens. Le Roi employed a legion of gardeners. In the morning he might like to see orange and blue flowers while that afternoon his preference may have been white and red ones.
⇐ Apparently the King (Louis XIV) had a very regimented sort of day. At 10:00 a.m. everyone had to attend Mass in this chapel. The guide didn’t know at what time of day la merde du Roi took place (Just kidding!).
⇒ My wife and I pose in marble courtyard in front of le Palais de Versailles. She liked this picture so much she’s had copies made to sent out as cards to some friends and relatives. This trip was our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary present to ourselves.
Everyone else is talking about her — so why shouldn’t I? The east wind made that inline skate home a “breeze”this afternoon. Looks like all southern Ontario will get is lots of rain and some wind. Still, I closed the patio umbrella, tied up the BBQ cover and stacked the patio chairs. I must remember to close the windows to a crack before going to bed tonight.
In other news my cold is much better. I had a quite a sore throat on Monday night so I started taking zinc lozenges. By Tuesday afternoon the sore throat was almost gone. In fact I was able to sing well enough at choir practice on Tuesday night. However, now my nose was a running faucet. After a lousy sleep, I slept in and decided to work from home yesterday. I even took a nap and still went to bed early. Today, by the afternoon at work, my nose was much less drippy and my sinuses seem to have drained somewhat. Perhaps the zinc shortened the duration? Now I’m just hoping I don’t get that dry post-nasal drip cough that sometimes follows a cold.
According to the this article smooth “food”like gummy bears will pick up contamination from smooth floors almost instantly. You can’t assume the old “five second rule”that if its been there for less than five seconds it will be safe enough to eat. On the other hand, the researcher found most floors in the university where she did the study were “too clean”to do the experiments — there wasn’t enough E. Coli lying around. Me, I’ll continue to pick up the odd chip or popcorn kernel where I’ve dropped it at home but I’ll throw it out anywhere else. Home sweet germs!
It turns out the best views of Notre Dame are from the Seine River. I have taken a few shots here including the front, the “west”side view showing one of the rose windows from two distances, and the back. The back clearly shows the flying butresses, one of the singular features of Notre Dame.
“How do you remove an awful smell out of your microwave? I found a dead starfish on the beach and brought it home. It was very wet and I thought placing it in the microwave for a few minutes would help. The starfish exploded on my second attempt to dry it.''
As seen in Dave Barry’s column quoting from the homemaker-advice column called Ask Mrs. Oliver from the June 4 Eugene, Ore., Register-Guard
Are we the better for it? Well, at least we “broke the back”on some of the works we’ll be peforming at our Oct. 18 concert. I tried something new this year: usually I take antihistamines (AH) until the first frost to combat the family ragweed allergy. However, it usually gives me a dry mouth and singing, especially the higher pitches, are problematic. As our retreat was at the north end Lake Couchiching north of the typical “ragweed line”, I stopped taking the drug on Friday and today my voice was fine. I’ll probably take an AH tomorrow since I plan to be out cutting the lawn and doing some gardening. The weather was great today, sunny and not too hot. None of the music is really difficult but the choir won’t just be singing this time. There will be percussion, non-singing sounds, atonal melodies and irregular rhythms — bound to keep us “on our toes”throughout the concert.
Hmmm, only a month away and I haven’t started my events' listings. Our first concert of the season takes place on Oct 18. We’ll be retreating to OELC on Lake Couchiching this weekend in order to have an intense rehearsal of our commissioned piece by Timothy Sullivan among other works on the concert program.
“A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.''
Barnett Cocks
- Visit your local butcher and pay $30 to sit in the walk-in freezer for half an hour. Afterwards, burn two $50 dollar bills to warm up.
- Go to the nearest hockey rink and walk across the ice 20 times in your ski boots carrying two pairs of skis, accessory bag and poles. Pretend you are looking for your car.
- For ski boots simulation at home, put a pebble in each of your street shoes and tighten C-clamps around your toes.
- Buy a pair of gloves and immediately throw one away.
- Go to McDonald’s and insist on paying $6.50 for a hamburger. Be sure to wait in the longest line.
- Clip a lift ticket to the zipper of your jacket and ride a motorcycle fast enough to make the ticket lacerate your face.
- Drive slowly for five hours – anywhere – as long as it’s in a snowstorm and you’re following an 18 wheeler.
- Fill a blender with ice, hit the pulse button and let the spray blast your face. You’d almost believe you’re skiing in front of a snowmaker!
- Dress up in as many clothes as you can and then proceed to take them off because you have to go to the bathroom.
- Repeat all of the above every Saturday and Sunday.
Today it was choir practice and visiting my youngest brother to see their family including my roughly one week old nephew. Tomorrow it’s off to a horse show where my daughter-in-law takes her friend’s horse through its paces. The horse stables are just next door to where my son and daughter-in-law rent the upper floor of a former farm house. I hope he has some cold ones in the fridge.
Back to work on Monday, Oakville Choral Society practice on Tuesday, progress review meeting Wednesday, Bell’Arte Singers' retreat at Lake Couchiching on Friday and Saturday. Ack! Those lazy days of summer are over!
The Cathedral Singers of Ontario, version 2003, are split into two SATB sections. The Decani sit on the dean’s stall side of the quire. At Canterbury when facing the altar that is the right side. And the Cantoris section sits on the left side, on the Cantor’s side of the quire. I was part of the Cantoris. We sang the II or lower parts when there was eight part harmony required. The Decani sang the I parts. During Psalm chanting the two sections alternate verses except for the first two and the Gloria Patri.
Hmmm, I seem to have mislabelled the images themselves. I only just found out tonight that decani and cantoris have nothing whatsoever to do with left and right.
That’s how much it cost me to fix the futon frame. At a party some time (a long time?) ago my son and his friends exceeded the holding capacity of two of the rivets connecting the linkages on the futon frame. All I needed to fix the links was one 5/16”x 3/4”bolt and a 5/16”nut with nylon locknut insert and a 5/16”x 1 1/2”screw. Good as new: except for a gouge where the bent link had scraped the inside of the frame. Fortunately that part doesn’t show.
Leeds Castle has been called “the lovliest castle in the world.”I haven’t seen enough castle to comment but it is quite pretty. Worth the visit if you’re in the area. Buildings at the Leeds Castle site on two islands on an artificial lake on the River Len date from 857. Henry the VIII is perhaps its most famous inhabitent as he spent large amounts of money enlarging and fortifying the castle and made it his palace. Many of the post cards show this view—I noticed the swans swimming to shore so I waited to take this shot.
Much of the estate is surrounded by lovely gardens. We happen to like rose of sharon shrubs and this one was full bloom with flowers to match my wife’s top. Like the rest of our trip it was hot; hence, the shades and hats.
I have just wandered inside the castle grounds when my wife “happened” to take my picture. Some of our group tried to have lunch on the castle grounds under the shade of a tree; however, we were shewed out by the steward.
I don’t remember what this large-leaved plant is called nor does a google search reveal anything useful. I guess I could have written something down except that we hadn’t even reached the castle at this point. The castle has complete conference facilities and a golf course. I wonder if our next choir retreat should take place here?
- 2003-09-05: made thumbnails actually refer to the large images
“Roses are red, violets are blue, I’m a schizophrenic and so am I.''
Bill Murray as Bob Wiley in “What About Bob?''.
As seen in the Clean Laffs newsletter — Tuesday, September 2, 2003
We moved our younger son to a University of Windsor residence on Sunday. Despite the double cohort, the UofW people had things pretty well organized. His roommate was out at football practice but son says he’s OK. I can hardly wait 'til he gets Internet access at the end of the week (did I mention double cohort?). At least his phone was working so we talked a little while today.
Another nephew was born on the 29th, name of Alexander William Andrew. This will be quite a mouthful for my sister-in-law to say when she' angry at him. I have two middle names, too, but three less syllables to emphasize.
I’m not a skier but I appreciate hyperbole and exaggeration anytime: see #3, my personal favourite.
Seen in The Mouthpiece.