Journal Entries
InterNaJoPoMo2: Damn and blast them all to hell
Posted Nov 2, 2011
It's 7.17 am. I've got a Very Important Meeting at 11am, much preparation to do before then, and I'm sitting on h2g2 starting threads about reverse smileys because I find a bit of early morning procrastination useful on days that are destined to be crazy.
Now I find that Ed has started a Very Interesting Thread on swearing within the community and I don't quite have enough time to do that justice. And not only is it a VIT, it's one that's not going to be stressful to read and partake of. Which is a change. It's h2g2 getting back into its groove and no doubt there will be some serious backlog by the time I get to read again later today.
The VIM is with a woman from the government department who pays my income. She is an Actual Good Person, but works in one of the most dysfunctional systems I've come across. Unfortunately what the means for me is that I spend a massively disproportionate amount of time on unnecessary bureaucratic processes, and very necessary fixes to unnecessary bureaucratic processes.
Damn and blast them all to hell is the phrase I use when really you just have to damn and blast them all to hell. Not sure who Them is exactly, but I'm sure They're responsible in someway for the state of the world and my life today.
(Heavy white cat was outside the bedroom window again this morning, and it wasn't raining. Something will have to be done).
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Latest reply: Nov 2, 2011
Cat
Posted Nov 1, 2011
I've been lying in bed listening to the rain and letting my mind run round the backyard to see if there's anything outside getting wet that shouldn't be (two loads of washing is all I can think of, which will be a relief if that's all there is). The rain is such a blessing at this end of the world, and I'm one of those that rarely complains about when and where it falls as long as it keeps the food growing.
I get up and start looking for some clean clothes. Ah, that's why I've been saying 'do the washing kea' for four days in a row 
I manage to find something to wear, even if a little odd, while contemplating putting on a load in the machine while there is heavy rain outside. I pull back the curtains, and sitting on a box staring at me is a cat. It's the heavy white cat that I see occasionally on my morning walks and that lives a couple of blocks and several dog properties away from here. It's always happy to see me when I walk past.
Heavy white cat has been sleeping on the folded rug on the box outside the bedroom window. It's such an obvious place for a cat to sleep out the rain but I've not seen this one or any of the other neighbourhood cats on this part of the porch before. In fact I've never seen this cat here at all before.
I go to open the sliding door and immediately see what's going to happen here. Heavy white cat has been sitting waiting, planning its ingress past the hapless, still half asleep kea. That's perhaps a little unfair, but it certainly figures out the advantages pretty bloody quick. I step out the door and close it hastily behind me. The morning is bright with wet light, thick dark clouds on the hills, the sky above clear and every tree dripping tiny, shiny jewels. Pretty cool possie, cat!
It starts in on the purring and the rubbing while I pat it, like I'm its long lost friend. The vibe I get is 'my people have gone off and left me and there's not enough food or company at home, purr, purr, I'm actually a lovely cat'. My mind flashes to, yes I will say good morning, but no you're not coming in, and if you've been abandoned then the very nice and helpful vets will try and rehome you but at your age it's unlikely to happen. Instant death. Ah, one of those mornings.
I manage to get inside again without the cat and find myself in front of the computer. I've been meaning to take part in the h2g2 journal month (can never remember the proper name for the month but will try to by the end) and people were kind enough to tell me what to write about when I asked, so here's the cat story. It's a cheat as it's already the 2nd of November here, but there are many advantages to living at the start of the world. I might write about those too.
(In case you are worried, I doubt that the cat has been abandoned, but I am curious as to how it found its way to my porch).
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Latest reply: Nov 1, 2011
I only just found out about Robbie Stamp
Posted Oct 25, 2011
He's gone walkabout 
A87680398
Discuss this Journal entry [9]
Latest reply: Oct 25, 2011
What should I write?
Posted Oct 25, 2011
I'm thinking about joining NaJoPoMo/the h2g2 Nation’s Journal Posting Month: A87709062
I've been enjoying Ivan's considered journals this week. Not that I've got that kind of writing in me at the moment, but I thought it could be a fun thing to be involved in. And that if anyone enjoys anything I write, let me know what kind of things so I can talk about them some more 
Discuss this Journal entry [10]
Latest reply: Oct 25, 2011
Things I love about my new mac...
Posted Oct 22, 2011
The screen is wonderful! I was worried that its shininess would bother me, but it's so much better than the matt one on the old machine. I do have to be careful about light and placement but that was true for the matt screen too, only for different reasons.
Safari has this thing called Top Sites, which is a visual page that shows me a picture of all the webpages I am visiting most often and I can set ones I want to appear there. When I open a new tab, the page appears and I just click on the image I want to open. This existed on my old mac but I never used it. The bigger screen makes a difference.
Having a 17" screen is very good for me in terms of reducing the amount of scrolling I have to do when reading lots of text (had a 15" before).
It looks beautiful.
It's quiet, very quiet.
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Latest reply: Oct 22, 2011
kea ~ Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small, unregarded but very well read blue and white website
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