Snow, Sisters and Seagate

The word of the week is vacation!

Jan 10 - Zoom Xoom?

As I wait this year to decide what phone I'm going to apply my Telus credit towards, I've been keeping my eye firmly on the tablet market. The limitations of the iPad don't appeal to me, so I've been watching the Android market, especially since CES has been going on this week. In particular, the Motorola Xoom was announced, a powerful dual-core 10.1” tablet... that has a freakin' barometer in it. Which means I could finally get real-time( and historical )tracking of atmospheric pressure trends locally, to help predict when my headaches would be imminent due to weather changes. Now that's using tech to make life easier, in my opinion. We'll have to see what the Xoom costs when it arrives though.

Jan 11 - Star Trek Tech News

Yes, Mr. Scott, it's true: scientists have come up with a new material that is stronger and lighter than steel... and it's glass. Can you say Transparent Aluminum? You know the next step is going to be clear hull sections for cruise ships, or clear bathtubs... the possibilities are endless. Depending on how expensive the process turns out to, you might see things made transparent that never could be before. Sure, it's not exciting news to some... but like cell phones, you may suddenly start seeing things using the new substance everywhere sooner than you think.

Jan 12 - Buh-bye Snow!

While the rest of the continent has been effectively snowed under this week, we've been getting rain here. Lots of rain, which is to be expected really – we have a small lake nearby, Lake Ida Anne, and there's an island in the middle. Well, there was at any rate... with all the rain, it's totally submerged, and there's some flooding elsewhere on Vancouver Island. Living as I do on the top of a mountain however, means I never have to worry about flooding, or earthslips, or a lot of things. Just getting down from here when the snow's thick and the ice is lurking is challenging though, so it has its bad points. Rain too.

Jan 13 - Sister Visits BC!

An early, early day today: out the door at 6am to head into Victoria( and beat the traffic logjam )to drop off my mother for a doctor's appointment( after breakfast at White Spot ). From there my dad and I went to the airport to pick up my sister! I haven't seen her since the summer, as she lives in Calgary, so it's a thrill to have her here. Especially since I'm on vacation next week and can actually spend some time with her... heck, even my dad has some days off so we can go and do things as a family – huzzah! Unfortunately I had to work today, so it wasn't quite family time yet... but we persevered: in the evening we watched How To Train Your Dragon which is about as fine a film as I've ever seen; even after a few viewings it still retains its charm, wit and perfect pacing. See it, if you haven't already, or watch it again if it's been awhile.

Jan 14 - Muppet Yuks

Back in the day, I had a long-running D&D campaign that I ran as a DM – it went for over four years, with many players( and characters )coming and going in that time. In fact, only one player and one character made it through right to the end: Zartan. Josh, you should be proud! Why do I mention this? Well, as a storyteller, I like to inject humour into my stories whenever possible( and appropriate )but it's not easy to be funny. Silly, yes... but consistently funny is hard. Which is why I found the following hilarious: Statler and Waldorf commenting on a D&D arena battle. Hold your sides before they split!

Jan 15 - The Seagate Saga continues ...

Ahhh.... my first day of vacation. Time to kick back, relax and... take my laptop into the shop. Well, pick it up from the shop today, that is. Having spent the week struggling with the replacement Seagate drive, I'd had it by Wed and brought it into Best Buy to see what their techs could do. Turns out they had a few methods I didn't( I asked and memorized them, of course )that brought it back to life. Which lasted until I got it home today and it wouldn't turn on. So back to Best Buy, where we pull the CMOS battery... and it still doesn't work. What's left to do? Call Seagate and ream them a few new ones( politely )over the phone and see if I can't wrangle a deal to get this piece of garbage out of my house without taking any more of a loss. It's been such a headache; I won't dwell further on the details, but I have a hundred better things to do than spend hours every week swapping hard drives...

Jan 16 - Family Sunday

A(n) (a)typical Sunday today: I made pancakes for my family for breakfast, the first time in over a year, as it's special to have ALL my immediate family here with me. The early part of the day was (un)surprisingly spent online, where four friends and I relived the 'glory days' of November 2010 playing Call of Duty: Black Ops together... and doing not so badly. Heck, one game I went 13-0 Kills/deaths – a new record for me! Late lunch over at the Bean with my sister, where we sat in front of the incredibly hot fireplace( gorgeous on a wet cold rainy day )and talked shop and other things. She's really loving her new laptop, one I picked up last week and spent many hours tweaking into the perfect setup for her – what are g33ky brothers for, if not for that? The evening was split between fixing a friend's computer that my sister brought with her and spending time with my fave family. And the cat.

I'm glad my vacation's finally here; I can really use the downtime, despite the laptop troubles. I'll be spending as much time as possible with my sister, as it's so rare that she's here for more than a day or two. Family - it's what it's all about.