I am definitely solar powered. It was a dark, grey, cold, and wet winter. Some days I do not even realize how much so until the sun comes out. The past two weeks have given me an opportunity to catch up on some sleep, catch up on chores around home, and generally have a little fun and time for me. I had a great time in Boston last weekend despite the rain. Then I came home to a very unproductive grey day at home on Tuesday. Finally on Wed the sun came out and since then I have actually been very productive.
Around the house, I got some old bulbs in the ground that should have gone in around Christmas. Many were soft and unlikely to ever come up but at least half of them have a chance. I finally mounted the hangers in the basement for some of my tools and my skates and tennis rackets. I also turned over a piece of ground for some mums and emptied out the planters in the front yard. In the home office and leading to stress reduction, I finished my taxes, sent out some invoices, and got some checks deposited. Finally, I have mostly caught up on laundry, dishes, and other house cleaning including a trip to the convenience center to take out the recycling.
For me, I saw the UNC Tar Heel Women's Basketball team off to the NCAA tournament and took photos, went for a trail ride, and got a layer of hair off my shedding animals - all in addition to some extra sleep. I am having an urge for a road trip at the moment though. Probably because a friend of the family has been blogging about a road trip from Minneapolis to Arizona and back. They started last week with a stop in Iowa, headed for Spring Training, and were at the Grand Canyon today.
On the technical front, I renewed my efforts with the Fedora Release Notes and User Guide for the next release, paid some attention to the Desktop Help Summit and the Fedora Marketing FAD, and downloaded the alpha media for both Fedora and Ubuntu.
I am particularly proud of a couple of other accomplishments on my Fedora 12 laptop. I should not be surprised at all at how easy it all worked out, but I finally took a few minutes to get my internal wireless adapter working and I also finally got the all-access.cbssports.com sites to play the audio of the women's basketball games using moonlight. I'll be able to listen at home to the very late game tonight instead of going out and I am listening to the "early" game for that location right now - it is making me really appreciate how good we have it in the announcing category with the Tar Heel Sports Network! Brad and Jan are GREAT!
-SML
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Oh me, oh my.
Lordy, Lordy;
my best friend just turned 40!!!
Otherwise known as 22 with 18 years experience.
Growing old is mandatory, well, it beats the alternative anyway.
Growing up is optional.
To A: Have a happy one!
-SML
my best friend just turned 40!!!
Otherwise known as 22 with 18 years experience.
Growing old is mandatory, well, it beats the alternative anyway.
Growing up is optional.
To A: Have a happy one!
-SML
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Up next: the Runner Up
I have been aware of Ignite events for a bit but I didn't realize that they had started in my area. Apparently last week was the second one for IngiteRaleigh and was a huge success. There was also a local TEDx event yesterday. Someday I may make it to one of these events.
But what surprised me, as I discovered after the fact about these events, was the "Try these other events" section that pointed to FizzledDurham. Apparently if you submitted a talk to IgniteRaleigh and were not chosen, you can sign up to present that talk at FizzledDurham. I know that there are many more worthy talks submitted to Ignite events than time allows - even at only 5 minutes per talk - but still, I think I would feel like presenting at a Fizzled event would be at best an "also ran" honor. Maybe because of the name.
-SML
But what surprised me, as I discovered after the fact about these events, was the "Try these other events" section that pointed to FizzledDurham. Apparently if you submitted a talk to IgniteRaleigh and were not chosen, you can sign up to present that talk at FizzledDurham. I know that there are many more worthy talks submitted to Ignite events than time allows - even at only 5 minutes per talk - but still, I think I would feel like presenting at a Fizzled event would be at best an "also ran" honor. Maybe because of the name.
-SML
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Check off another one.
I have updated my travel map adding the Falls Church, VA Zpizza and the Annapolis, MD Whole Foods. Both visited for the first time in the past month.
View the map on the right hand side of my blog or directly.
-SML
View the map on the right hand side of my blog or directly.
-SML
Monday, March 1, 2010
A Long February
It has been a very cold and wet and snowy February in NC.
The above ph
oto is from Feb 13th - the third weekend in a row that snow fell in the Carolinas. It was not a lot of snow (left) and definitely one of the more mild storms of this win
ter, but there is still some left on the last day of the month (right) - and a chance of more this week.
The squirrel also thought it was excessively cold and moved into the bluebird house this winter. He likes to lie flat on the top, looking down over the edge at the ground.
On the other hand, there are signs of spring.
The above ph
oto is from Feb 13th - the third weekend in a row that snow fell in the Carolinas. It was not a lot of snow (left) and definitely one of the more mild storms of this win
ter, but there is still some left on the last day of the month (right) - and a chance of more this week.
The squirrel also thought it was excessively cold and moved into the bluebird house this winter. He likes to lie flat on the top, looking down over the edge at the ground.
On the other hand, there are signs of spring.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Go (Geek) Girls!
Thanks to Paul for pointing out this:
Cassidy: Geek Girls Make a Point at Linux Conference
(I have not met these young ladies but I have worked with their dads.)
-SML
Cassidy: Geek Girls Make a Point at Linux Conference
(I have not met these young ladies but I have worked with their dads.)
-SML
Friday, February 12, 2010
One tough woman
Dorothy Lillian Lauber, Aug 20, 1913 - Feb 3, 2010
My Grandmother.
Always a strong women, she was the mother of three very different boys - all much taller than her. Until a few weeks before her 96th birthday she lived on her own and had never been in ICU. She lived alone in a condo near town for years after my Grandfather passed and then moved into an apartment in one of those retirement communities with different levels of care. Home care and Hospice allowed her to stay in that apartment to the end.
She passed both the vision test and the driving test to renew her drivers license a few years ago then decided on her own the next winter that she was done driving. My Uncles live in town and took her to appointments and shopping and such after that. She was a wonderful quilter and from what I heard very good at bridge. When I was little, she and I would play double solitaire. In the last few month she didn't have the energy to go to the bridge group meetings or the eye sight to do any more quilting though with a bright light she could still read the newspaper.
My Grandmother is the only relative that I have any real family history for. There is a reference to a book Down the Road to Yesterday, A History of Springfield, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia by Mary F. (Fletcher) Kendrick. Published: 1941. Working up the tree: Dorothy (McGrath) married Joseph Lauber and was the daughter of Cora (Durling) and Bernard McGrath. Cora was the daughter of Matilda (McNayr) and George Durling. Matilda was the daughter of William Sucliffe McNayr who was the son of Boyd McNayr. Boyd was born near Glasgow, Scotland in 1778. His father was an officer in the King's Service and planned to move his family from Glasgow, Scotland to Nova Scotia but died at sea when Boyd was about 8 years old. Boyd eventually made it to Nova Scotia and later married Rachel Beal who's ancestry has its own site.
In October I helped my Grandmother clean out the closet and sort through the last of the sewing and quilting books and tools to give away or donate to a fundraiser. I came across a pincushion that I made for her when I was young and the instructions for a quilt she had made for me. I also found her high school and college year books along with a couple of college text books. I got to hear a few more stories of her younger days such as early morning swims in Lake Winnipesaukee. She said she wouldn't need the Christmas cards from the bottom shelf. It turned out she could have sent some but by then even reading was hard and she wouldn't have been able to really sign them, let alone provide a note. It was a long wait at the end. She is at peace at last.
-SML
My Grandmother.
Always a strong women, she was the mother of three very different boys - all much taller than her. Until a few weeks before her 96th birthday she lived on her own and had never been in ICU. She lived alone in a condo near town for years after my Grandfather passed and then moved into an apartment in one of those retirement communities with different levels of care. Home care and Hospice allowed her to stay in that apartment to the end.
She passed both the vision test and the driving test to renew her drivers license a few years ago then decided on her own the next winter that she was done driving. My Uncles live in town and took her to appointments and shopping and such after that. She was a wonderful quilter and from what I heard very good at bridge. When I was little, she and I would play double solitaire. In the last few month she didn't have the energy to go to the bridge group meetings or the eye sight to do any more quilting though with a bright light she could still read the newspaper.
My Grandmother is the only relative that I have any real family history for. There is a reference to a book Down the Road to Yesterday, A History of Springfield, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia by Mary F. (Fletcher) Kendrick. Published: 1941. Working up the tree: Dorothy (McGrath) married Joseph Lauber and was the daughter of Cora (Durling) and Bernard McGrath. Cora was the daughter of Matilda (McNayr) and George Durling. Matilda was the daughter of William Sucliffe McNayr who was the son of Boyd McNayr. Boyd was born near Glasgow, Scotland in 1778. His father was an officer in the King's Service and planned to move his family from Glasgow, Scotland to Nova Scotia but died at sea when Boyd was about 8 years old. Boyd eventually made it to Nova Scotia and later married Rachel Beal who's ancestry has its own site.
In October I helped my Grandmother clean out the closet and sort through the last of the sewing and quilting books and tools to give away or donate to a fundraiser. I came across a pincushion that I made for her when I was young and the instructions for a quilt she had made for me. I also found her high school and college year books along with a couple of college text books. I got to hear a few more stories of her younger days such as early morning swims in Lake Winnipesaukee. She said she wouldn't need the Christmas cards from the bottom shelf. It turned out she could have sent some but by then even reading was hard and she wouldn't have been able to really sign them, let alone provide a note. It was a long wait at the end. She is at peace at last.
-SML
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)