Blue Sparks

It’s been a week since we got back from the cottage. I’ve been right back into the grind, so it’s been tough to find the time to write about the experience. I’m sneaking this in at work (I was supposed to be in a meeting, but the other people didn’t show), so I’ll try to keep it short.

I definitely had a lot of fun. I got to go fishing every day we were there. The experience makes me want to get my own boat so I can go out on the lake any time I want! The first few days were a little frustrating while I was trying to fish, but I managed to find a few good spots for fishing. I didn’t catch a thing (besides Sunfish) for the first two days… I was beginning to reconsider my enjoyment of sport fishing. Finally on the third day Jackie and I caught a few Largemouth Bass. After that I had 3 days of angling fury, catching a ton of fish, including a 5+lb Largemouth! The luck dried up after that, but I was still satisfied.

Other activities included swimming (I cut my foot on a mussel shell, or a piece of glass), drinking, and napping. I was definitely into the drinking and napping. It made for a shorter lapse between the morning and evening fishing trips!

Our friends Kira and Mark came up on Wednesday. They added to the fun, since I was able to challenge someone other than Jackie to a game of Scrabble. We never really did get into the other board games or the deck of cards, but overall it was a fun time.

There were some car troubles on the way home. Kira and Mark’s truck broke down with a snapped belt. Unfortunately even after Mark and I changed the belt on the side of the highway, it turned out to be another problem. We had to wait a couple hours for CAA to show up. But everything did end up ok… eventually.

That’s really about it… if you want to take a look at the photos, they’re available online for your viewing.

Just got back from fishing in Matthew’s back pond a little while ago. I must say that little pond has some interesting things in it. Considering it’s an irrigation pond one wouldn’t expect it to hold stock such as Northern Pike and Bass! Well, if you thought that way you would be WRONG! Because this little pond is a goldmine! Bass, Perch, Pike… and even some Sunfish.

I wonder how much of it has strayed down the creek and decided to take up home there… I also wonder how much Matthew’s brother has stocked in the past from other lakes. Just don’t catch the turtles. They’re not as nice as the fish.

So, I finally got off my arse and downloaded some photos from the camera. Haven’t taken that many pictures this year.

The 2007 Gallery is now started. Only half-way into the year! And Jackie also has some new pictures in her Cakes/Flowers section. Including the wedding cake for my cousin Jill and her husband Nate. Another wedding cake she did for a class, and then just random flowers she’s done over the last while.

Check them out if you’re interested. I also took so photos of flowers, located in the 2007 area, but they’re just from our garden. I need to get some real wild flower pictures and that nice lens I was talking about a few weeks ago.

At 6am on a Sunday??

I was just looking through my digital photos to find a decent shot of myself when I ran across this photo which I have always loved. I actually use it as one half of my desktop (my other monitor has a picture of Jackie on it, even if she hates the photo).

Monarch Butterfly

I was able to take this shot with Jackie’s Digital Rebel XT and her father’s 200mm lens. Without the zoom I doubt I would have been able to get anywhere close to the butterfly. I really need to get a good lens like that for ourselves so I can take some more macro shots. I really enjoy taking pictures of flowers and nature, so a big zoon lens would come in handy.

Anyway, if you’re interested in more shots from this particular album they can be had here. The album does contain a lot of nice nature shots. We were up in Elora at the time, so we have some very nice shots of the gorge and river. I personally enjoy the rocks the best (if you exclude the butterfly that is).

HD-DVD (and possibly Blueray?) encryption has been cracked. Don’t stand for your data being encrypted. Rescue it.

Processing Key:
[list]
[*]09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
[/list]

Hehe. All I can think of is the horrible speech given by Joaquin Pheonix at the end of Gladiator while thinking that title.

It’s been a busy week so far, and it doesn’t seem like it going to stop any time soon. All my assignments are finished for my classes, and when I write my exams I’ll officially be halfway towards my degree. It sure does take a long time when you’re doing it part time.

On the topic of exams, I have to do those on Friday and Saturday. I have to find some time to study somewhere in between all the stuff. We’re doing a walk through of the house today, just to make sure everything is good to go. I have to go to Brampton tomorrow for a presentation on a new application I built. On Friday I have to fit in a meeting with the Lawyer, whom I need to call today to make the appointment with.

I’m sure lots of people lead more hectic schedules than this, but for myself this is highly unusual. I enjoy being a lazy arse. I like to work, come home, then relax/do school work. The last few weeks have been like this, but I can’t imagine it continuing. I’m going to go crazy!!!

I’ve classified this post as “Nerd Stuff” and there really is no other category it could fit in. Today, April 19th, is the official release day for Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn).

As far as Linux distributions go, Ubuntu is most definitely my favourite. I’ve tried my fair share, including Red Hat, SuSe and others, but nothing ever felt “right” until I got my hands on Ubuntu (I believe it was 5.10). Things were easy, things were simple, and things were familiar due to the FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software) applications I was already using.

But, I digress! I actually installed Feisty Fawn a little while ago during Beta. I have been quite impressed since the moment I installed it. No crazy screen issues like I had in Edgy, although I did get those resolved… eventually. And everything seemed to move a little bit quicker, something which I will not argue about.

One of the neatest features in Feisty is the inclusion of Compiz by default. This is a GUI effects library which is on par with Microsoft’s “Aero Glass” look with Windows Vista. Unfortunately I’ve got some issues with the package since it isn’t really designed for dual monitors, but it definitely has potential. Even though I can’t run it properly, what I have seen looks very good!

Anyway… I encourage anyone still sitting on the fence about Linux to at least give it a shot. You never know, you may like it!

No… I am not writing an entry about the television show. Although I do enjoy the show, it is definitely not something that is necessary to write about. At least by me.

As you may notice, it’s been over a month since my last posting. There are reasons for this. Mostly it’s been school. My courses allow 6 months for completion, but I have been attempting to compress them into 4 in order to stay on a schedule where I can complete 6 courses a year. With assignments and reading, it gets a little hectic.

The biggest reason has been that Jackie and I have been house shopping. We probably started looking shortly after my last post. The hunt didn’t go so well for the first little while. We really saw nothing we liked in our price range.

Eventually we came upon one which… wasn’t bad. I didn’t mind it, and Jackie got attached ( this is not uncommon ). We went back for a second look with our parents and they didn’t like it. My feelings were mixed, and with the others opinion I voted it down, much to the chagrin of Jackie.

Luckily, a few more houses came up in our range within a few days. There were some that were pretty digusting, but we came across one house that really got us thinking. We both fell in love. I came back again a few days later with our parents again, and the same feelings were there. As a bonus, everyone else liked it too.

So, the point of all of this I guess… is that we bought it. Feel free to browse the (low quality) pictures my mother took on her cell phone:

Click for more Pictures

I have recently been able to get a hold of some music from around 1996. This is music I haven’t listened to in many years, and even then I most likely didn’t have as much of an appreciation for it as I should have. Of note right now is the track “When This Is Over” by Canadian (woo, local!) artist Hayden (and his official site.)

Hayden’s not exactly a popular artist. I don’t think there’s anything negative about him, but his following is just small. Finding this music was definitely a task, but I was eventually able to dig it up. Most of the music is just as I remember it, but this one song… it hit me like a brick wall.

Maybe I was just not paying attention back when I was 16, but the track instantly brought back memories of a tragedy from 1995. And, after some research, I have most definitely turned up that “When This is Over” is written about Susan Smith drowning her two sons in the back of a car. It’s possible I just have more time to think about these things nowadays. It’s also possible I’m just a sappy idiot too.

Amazing what music can resurrect from the past, isn’t it?