Revolutions

as in New Years Revolutions

In the comic strip, the young girl is doing her ' New Years Revolutions '
Mine. I'm better off - thinking about the topic and not saying anything.
Disappointment is disheartening < is that even allowed in English usage > a double negative

Its early and still dark, however, the forecast is for wet and 30 +. A damp New Years Eve for the city.

An Evolution

electronics in the house

We used the same i Phones for 6 yrs and the baby laptop was nursed along for 5 ( 3 yrs out of date at purchase ).
The Moto g5 ( this Oct ) was a marvel as I compared it to the i Phone 4s which isn't fair b/c we are talking 5 - 6 generations difference. Then M got her Samsung J3 which is a powerful little phone.
And we start, 2 generations old w/ these phones

The Chromebook was a quantum jump as well. Faster, more capable making. internet connections easy. The CB 11 ( Chromebook 11 ) starts in a blink. Once, I was familiar w/  the gestures and commands that you can use w/ the CB11 , the machine became something that I looked forward to using. < you may recall my angst at ' highlighting ' etc >
An i Pad or some tablet would be as fast. But I'm still old school and looking for the flexibility that the right ports for inputs brings.
To wit my ' tutor ' at the pub, was showing me  a peripheral w/ 4 inputs for HDMI, USB 3 and USB 3.1.
This CB11 comes w/ dual Type C ports which are faster than USB 3 by some ten times. As well, the Type C ports are interchangeable, thus you can charge from either side. And bonus w/ Type C there is no up or down - it fits always.
I was looking back and noticing how electronic life around here has changed.
However, next door w/ two 20 yr olds is that much further ahead of us. Every technological jump we make puts us at least a generation behind the kids next door.

The weather is winter, white on the ground and gray in the air - oh, and cold looking. 
Been out and now report "Not as bad as I thought but raw w/ an ugly wind up to no good ".

" Lord of the Silent Kingdom " by Glen Cook is my re-read for the 6 th time. I'm skipping parts that are dull. 
' Not one man in five hundred becomes aware of the conflict against the Tyranny of the Night. The incessant war between our world and the Instrumentalities of the Night ' paraphrased from the Introduction to LotSK. In reviews, Glen Cook, author, has been accused of jumping right in w/ little information on the characters or references to places and situations. This commentary amde me feel better b/c a few times ' I was like - Wow, did you skip a bit
or are pages stuck to-gether '

Quality is Good

my slippers are a hit, besides being ' outdoor wear '

The temperature did drop by 8 - 10 F overnight. And will stay there.
Dropping lower in 4 days

Did I say, Santa baby gave me a soda water maker.
Still figuring out the right amount of gas to inject.
But it is cool watching the sucker work.
Little things amuse little minds
hopefully the thrill will wear off
or not
We shall see said the Zen Master

BTW - I hated typing class b/c I sucked at it
however, to this day, I still type two handed and remember ( fingers not me ) the keys

Sun popped out to play after about 1P

Speaking of quality, James Taylor
what a segue, did you notice ?

His Christmas album includes ' in the Bleak Mid Winter '
I'm listening to the Choir of Kings College while I type this.
But JT is solid
Did I mention Art Garfunkel played JT on headphones prior to singing b/c he said JT had perfect pitch sound.

On the theme of quality ' Bleak Mid Winter ' is a poem by Christina Rossetti set to the music of Gustav Holst.

Quality is in the Eye

of the beholder

Xmas present for me as requested. Slippers.

This morning reading the tag attached, I read ' quality outdoor apparel made w/ innovative materials and technology '.
Oops and I wear slippers indoors usually. Good to know that I can take these puppies outdoors as well

Weather is blossoming in temperature and wetness.
We could pass 50 F this afternoon

Weather Boy

still not working. B/c I moved the sensor and it ahsn't synced yet w/ the house central command

Instead here is the CBC report as found online

19^°F

Feels like: 10

Mainly Clear

There will be significant wind chill all day to-day.

Sun ? We'll have to see.

Last night, my Cuz W showed off her Travels to the Galapagos coffee table book. The publisher uses the client's own photos interspersed w/ stock footage.

Overall, an unique and personal accounting of a expensive and quite luxurious trip.

OK, no more turkey for a while

That wind is chill, uncomfortable and penetrating. No sun, so far.

" When the rain is falling on your face
and the whole world is on your case
I will offer you a warm embrace
Just to feel my love "

Bob Dylan

In Hot Water

and glad

Mr Reliance did a smash up job on the hot water heater. Problem.... the hot water is hot like in hotter than before.
Repair dude may have set the temperature higher but I was watching and the LED lights were on medium. Or the regulator was fading and now we have the real hot water we were supposed to have.
See, not a real problem c.f. no hot water

We have one social obligation remaining. Turkey dinner to-day. 
We survived. Our duties are minimal but still these events must be met.
Temperature ? Don't know ' weather boy flaked out '
I'll check and let you know.
Notice, I can highlight, now. Success !

30 F

Feels like: 27

Mostly Cloudy

Visibility: 24.1 Km
Sunrise: 7:50 AM
Sunset: 4:46 PM

Wind: WSW 14 km/h
Humidity: 77%
Pressure: 103.1

That pressure reading is average pressure for here

The day threatened to bring snowy / slushy / who knows what but that lasted 10 minutes and the night was clear.
Turkey dinner was excellent. You see, my Cuz W hosted and our mothers ( sisters ) had the same recipe for stuffing. thus, it reminds of growing up.
BTW, M uses mom's stuffing recipe ( bless her heart )
just like having mommy around

So, This Is Christmas

the Pope called fro renewed appeasement for Palestinians and Jews

The streets are bare
the white colour didn't stay

Temperature will be seasonal normal or a tad cooler
Sun ? not likely

Nope, rays of sunshine battling thru the cloud cover
That was it folks
There was a ray of sunshine. My shower last night was lukewarm to warm-ish. The water heater showed no lights. Uh huh, you say. You're right.
The hot water heater shut down. Xmas eve.
I called and they promised a 8 - 1 appointment. And the guy came at 10:30. Fixed the gas regulator and left.
M said tip him big, we did !

Santa was good to me and I was good to Santa

Alright, I get it, I'm woefully out of date - not w/ the times
But ' Rent to Own Puppies ' ? The puppies are not things, they feel, we feel.

We are returning or exchanging 2 items, one each
thus not too bad

White - ish

Christmas

The snow fell, a little o/v night. The paved ground is beige mostly BUT the grass kept the snow.
The backyard is dark yet you can see the snow is a covering
Hoping for sun later b/c the snow will likely stay through the day to-morrow
Unfortunately, not tobogganing snow amounts

We are 38 F and not expecting a burst of heat
Tho'  Fri is on tap for 40 +

Afternoon revision. Day went from dull gray to lighter gray. And the snow barely survived the heat of 37 F. If replenished o/vnight there is still some hope.

I got out early to Walmart, although the parking lot was 75% occupied, my area on the east side was normal. I picked up bread and buns plus coleslaw and pineapple on sale 50 % off, headed for checkout to find, both cashiers busy w/ large buggy loads.
The express line for 1 - 12 items was walk up and go.
Beautii, my friends.
Ensconced w/ a Busch beer and the laptop accomplishing not much but pleased to do so.

The eve is coming. Our Christmas eve dinns is well established by now. Clam chowder, fresh bread, cheese, olives and wine or sparkly something.
Its a hard life but someone has to do it.
BTW, our Xmas Eve menu was established while we were still dating. Thus 32 yrs later, the same request gets filled every year.

It is Christmas Eve b/c I think it officially starts around 9 P or earlier in the central time zone ( kidding )

Thus, Merry Christmas

P.S. our water heater quit this afternoon before Xmas Eve

The Day Before the day before

I mean Dec 23

While exercising I'm watching, again ' the Theory of Everything '. I'm sure prompted no doubt as a segue to what I've been watching on TED Talks on YouTube which is the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and the Higgs Field and Higgs boson.
B/c the Higgs field is one step closer to the Grand Unifying Theory. One step closer to an imaginary world of multiple dimensions.
Talk about virtual. We are likely going to have to theorize and then dream dimensions.
Length, width, depth, time ( thats 4 )
and probably 20 more, at minimum

The day is going to be average temperatures for the season. However, the wind chill will be significant.
And its been gray all day - dim is the operative word.

Shop early, and get home, thats the ticket

And now the Eve of the Eve is here
Dark and cold

To-day was a chance for a white Christmas
and we got a sprinkle so far
pavement never was white

Coldrrrr

about a 6 degree drop in temperature

Day is gray

Yes colder but not bundle up cruel

Finished watching a bucket list video on YouTube
42 foods before you die
Comments ranged from ' close to NYC or Bangkok '
' gross ' b/c some items were 24 scoop sundae
                                               1.5 # beef rib
                                                ginormous steak

One item from Toronto : cheesy sushi

???????????/ for me  .... not so

OK on the topic my bucket list
1. Ribs from Kansas City
    my take is ' I'll be disappointed ' b/c I figure that I can do better at home......... even on a gas grill.
My bias says ' hot and fresh ' is best
treat the meat well and its good BBQ
you eat off the grill or whatever
juice drips down your chin
leave off the sauce
if your meat is good
no sauce needed unless you dip

2,  fresh beats anything no matter what you put on top

3. Recently, here in the city - I found a Rice / Noodle shop. Its similar to a Vietnamese ' Pho ' or noodle shop.
however, the broth / soup was to die for
some places advertise soya sauce based soup NOPE !
good stock, beef bones, cabbage etc thats soup
I'm very biased b/c my stock at home is boss
bones, coleslaw ( using it up, usually ) and boil ans let simmer ---- long ............ long
Basically, I'm spoiled

Yes, I'm going back
and back 
they don't speak a lot of English but what the ' hey '
they point really well


No a burger would never be on my bucket list
b/c its a burger
its not manna from heaven
its a burger
Crikey

Gourmet burger is an oxymoron
is a like ' Central Intelligence Agency '
you know its not any of those 2 words

Winter Time

at 2 PM to-day ?

Mild ish for Dec but dismal. Gray is the colour out there and mist and drizzle
And part sun for the mid-day w/ comfortable temperatures

Precip is Coming

We are relatively warm for winter. But rain / slush / sleet and who knows what are due over the next 2 days.

Rain is here, drizzle to start about 4P and then more water.
Clammy but not bundle up kind of cold.

Been listening to Pachelbel's Canon in D. What was the guy thinking ? I'll make a tune that God would like.
Well, he got it, right.

Winter Reprieve

or I think it is

Sun w/  a wind that doesn't seem too bad
Nice being out

And the big run to Xmas is evident. I drove past the entrance to Yorkdale Plaza, one of the mega plazas.
I was at the split Allen Rd South and Yorkdale Rd.
Cars couldn't turn onto Yorkdale Rd and thats not the plaza entrance but the ring road that takes you past the plaza entrance.

I wasn't going there. I was returning from the accountants. Canada Revenue has ( likely ) over billed us. And the accountant is trying to figure out where their numbers are coming from

Frigid for Me

a biting wind

Mostly sun after the morning but the wind made up for any joy the sun brought.

From the book title, I searched out the meaning or origin of the phrase ' under heaven '

Tianxia (Chinese: 天下) or All under Heaven is a Chinese term for an ancient Chinese cultural concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical realm of mortals, and later became associated with political sovereignty.

GGK used a Chinese 

Top of the Morning

or bottom

In my case, I haven't hit full stride yet. I can tell, b/c most everything is happening in slow motion

More later, after coffee

Weather is gray and 34 F

Coffee on board. My back is slightly strained. I'm thinking that I  changed one of my exercises from head and foot raise to  ' torso raises using a pilates ball '.
Time to cut back on the offender

Day got grayer
The wind is bitter cold, to-night

Canon in D or Pachelbels Canon
Before to-night I liked this piece almost everyone does
For the first time < I think > I heard an orchestra play Pachelbel's Canon in D
It is glorious

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

NO, its not bad

On Sunday, the Korner has Bloody Caesar special day
$4 a gourmet Caesar.

However, the garnish has diminished lately, to-day the garnish was non-existent

Still. I'm fine

Gray and then the sun popped out.

OMG, free speech is ugly
I was surfing on YT for Lady Caliph by Ennio Morricone. Went to  ' caliph lady horn '   ( for brass band covers )
Whats on the 'net is scary
Really scary
Scary like in ' what ? '

A year and 2 months ago, the neighbour died preceded by his wife. R was a paraplegic and had the house retrofitted for his wheelchair.
Since his death the house has been empty.
Years past, our house was the lonely orphan between neighbours who lit up their property for Xmas.
I mean polar bears, reindeer, Santa's sleigh, the whole shebang.
And last year as this, at Christmas the house next door did not light up.
This afternoon,  I went over w/ an extension cord and plugged in the LED icicles in the tree. The lower lights won't turn on but I managed to plug in the icicles.
A tribute to R and how he tried to make Xmas brighter

Cruise Control

or some semblance

Bearing in mind that cruising is also fraught w/ danger. I mean that we fulfilled the bulk of our social debt last night. The neighbours gathered here for appetizers and booze. Which is great cuz everyone walks home.
The Honda Ridgeline has Adaptive Cruise Control which translates into real world speak as  < so safe that its a pain the a** >
The big complaints are the sensors that drop your speed down if cars are detected at 10 car lengths.
Meaning in the actual scenario, a car dropping into your lane after passing will cause the ACC to slow your vehicle until that 11 car length distance is achieved. Safe but you the driver know that car ahead is accelerating or at least out pacing you and is no problem < yet >.
Our 3 rd party internet provider is TekSavvy. Recently, in a fit of something or other, I increased the data download speed package for $7 a month more.
The data feed sped up but seemed to balk at 10 Mb/s
In an effort to unblock, I tried a reset. The result was no internet feed.
The techs trouble shot the problem and I ended up w/ wireless feed but no hard wired connection.
To-day, following a further prompt from the boys of TS, I enabled LAN and got ethernet feed.
The upshot, data speed is up from 6.?? to 10.??? Mb and the screen pops alive.
Still shy of the 15 Mb which is maximum capacity
However, double is good and doable.

To quote Whitehorse the Cdn duo ' ooh, ooh Kicking Down Your Door '

Make way for the welcoming committee All smiles & handshakes for now They are screening refugees for authenticity The desparados keep their eyes on the ground Here comes the weight of suspicion Accusations growing like weeds Now the young men in their hand me down parkas Bartering these archaic dreams oooooh kicking down your door oooooh kicking down your door

the Charging Game

See, I do come up w/ some intriguing titles still

Yes, its Xmas and my Mastercard is getting a bit of a workout but I meant w/in our house, itself.
I laughed when I saw an ad for a charging centre for electronics in the home.
Not so much now, tho'
We got by a month or two ago w/ a wooden tea box converted into a cable cache plus a power bar. Occasionally, two electronic devices would be charging to-gether.
In the last 2 months both of us have new cell phones. I figured after 6 yrs it might be time to ' upgrade ' and the decision was timely.
M has her Kindle and the CB 11 is on board.
I'll be watching for a charging station on sale

And in hindsight < I'm good at hindsight > having the same model of phone was practical. We need two distinct adapters and compatible electrics.

Weather is grim looking but should hover around the mid 40 s during the day.
Long range has a 3 week spread of milder to seasonable and wetter going into the first week of JA. Brett Anderson sees the potential for a spear of cold dropping down out of the Arctic, mid January
Imagine cold in January, I guess he's right

the Saga of Download Speed

Crap !!

The download speed got to 9. ?? Mb/s and I reported to the techs at TekSavvy. The phoneline can carry 12 Mb but the modem is narowing the range
The solution to unblock the throttling, lets reset your modem.
The instructions filled 3 pages. I went through the pages and finished in 15 minutes.
TaDa - no internet.
Tried again
gave up
Called the TS techs
Sure I'll help you. 40 minutes later the CB11 is live but the Ethernet ( cabled ) laptop , NO !

The picture is 2 laptops, now running on WiFi and quite happy but no hard wired connection

Mr P at TS promised to call back to-morrow for a progress report.

but the speed did cross the 10 Mb barrier, barely.

Weather is raw but on the mild side.
Long range from Brett Anderson shows milder followed by seasonable and then wetter.

I once read an article in Scientific American, whoa, lets be careful here - I read the words and finished the 16 pages. Thank goodness there were diagrams. The title was ' Gauge Bosons, the Ties that Bind '. Love the title.
Well, to-day Brian Green during a TED Talk described String Theory in physics. Thank goodness he had a 3 D video show o help. So, I kinda got it - kinda. Thus, when we meet, you can start the conversation w/ ' how does string theory explain ..... '

And I was worried about Bosons.

Xmas songs

CBC is having a daily Xmas song challenge for best of Xmas

To-day, we heard Eartha Kitt doing ' Santa Baby ' from 1953
and Jose Feliciano doing his ' Felice Davidad '

I'm not voting on social media

Sun popped out and a little of everything will happen during the next 12 h

Sun is gone at 12:30 P

On the theme of Xmas songs, this technically isn't but close

' It was only a winter's tale

Just another winter's tale
And why should the world take notice
Of one more love that's failed?
It's a love that could never be
Though it meant a lot to you and me
On a world-wide scale we're just another winter's tale

From Blatt and Rice as sung by David Essex circa 1980 give or take a decade.

The way it is : the speed tests have been improving for the main laptop, still not at par for the service.

Checked the CB11, to find that it is as fast as the main laptop, except the main is direct cable to to laptop and CB11 is WiFi. CB11 is a superior machine to the main laptop.
A summary of results so far, has the speed of data transfer < download > double from two days earlier.
The target was 6. ? Mb/s to 15 ? give or take. Right now that number is close to 10.
And you can see the improvement

We started our round of Xmas activity, assuming that memorial services do not count.
M s  friend came by for lunch and gift exchange.

Friday, is the neighbour drop in evening.
Then Mon is a gift exchange again.

Aha, You Said

and again

I finished the Guy Gavriel Kay, ' Under Heaven ' novel. Beware the Tagurans even bearing gifts. The story begins when a Kitan princess is given as a peace offering to bind a treaty. Years later, having attained real status in Tagura she honours a deed by rewarding 250 heavenly horses called Sardians.
The deed is a semi - soldier / scholar / warrior who decides to bury 20 000 bodies left to rot after a great battle between Kitai and Tagura.
The gift is enough to get a man killed or almost killed 3 times.
Embroiled in the politics and treachery of the high court, our hero tries to live out his life ( as long as possible ).
And the origin of the name of the novel :
from two poems

" the nature of existence under heaven "

" the centre of the world under heaven "



A raw day and the weather boy is dressed coat , scarf and umbrella - Yep umbrella

I upped the speed on the internet from the provider and of course the speed dropped.

Closing in On

well, Xmas and New Years etc

When teaching, over-hearing the students always made me ponder life changes. The talk in the room was always ' what are you doing to-morrow night ' or ' are you going to Randy's Saturday, big party, you know '.
And as an adult you plan for Xmas or the summer but its months away. In fact, sometimes the student mode was so contagious that I'd blurt out to friends after      ' OK, we'll go to-morrow ' and receive a stunned look as in ' what, I meant, you know in the future '

The day is overcast and grim appearing but I am venturing forth w/ trepidation........
its dentist day, after all.
Escaped w/ a cleaning and the hygienist's bill which is hefty enough. Once, Dr P did the cleaning himself and the cost was 1/3 less.

Typing on my lap w/ CB11. An update, re: learning how to best use the Chromebook. I reported failure to launch on the topics of ' highlighting ' and ' drag and drop '.
I watched the videos on YouTube , < EZ PZ  > as the girl explained her method. I tried many times, carefully placing my fingers.
No dice. But to-day , A friend at the Korner, gave me a quick lesson on Chrome OS.
As I watched, he broke my touchpad. The pad bent down as he pushed on the bottom left corner then he dragged or highlighted.
The pad moved .... moved. Just like it was supposed to. They didn't tell me - did they tell you
Depress the corner to activate  < left click > and obviously  < right click >.

Thus, I can now fully use the Chrome OS.

How to feel inadequate, in 2 lessons

Dec 9 Entry

A cold ish day, w/ a touch of bitter wind. Sunshine for sure.

In the world, the French are in the streets protesting taxes, high costs and well, protesting.
And people are on the move, yet people are always on the move but the numbers are huge and getting huger - and this is everywhere.

I'm surfing the net on YouTube, concentrating on covers of ' Human Nature' by Procaro and Bettis ( made famous by M. Jackson ).
I'm trying to find non vocal covers b/c the instrumentals are calming and voices distracting

Timing is Everything

I used the lyrics / title ' Baby, Its cold outside ' for an intro, previously...

To - day in the TorStar, " Baby its Cold Outside ... ' was labelled a ' date rape song '

Eek !  I'm innocent

Our " Pep Boys " here in Canada, Canadian Tire has an advert based on testing Xmas lights in the rigours of the the North - like North in Latitude 80 degrees , kind of North.
The research team does Invasion of the Xmas lights on a house in, wait, Destruction Bay.....  what ? Where
Haven't a clue but you get it, up there, somewhere

Got me to thinking about names, as in Little Hearts Ease, Newfoundland
Summerland, B.C.
or North South Bulkwark, England ( nr London )

" Baby, Its Cold Outside

but its warm inside......

We'll have temperatures in the low 20 s to-day w/ 4 degree wind chill.
Rosy cheeks etc
Frozen mittens

Information on CB11, further details. A knock against the Dell 5190 was very average battery life.
Thus far, the CB11 has maintained a reasonable charge life. Recall that there is very little gaming done and little photo work.
BTW, one reviewer kept on about the low price and what could you expect. The list price is $ 600 and I took the discount to get my price $ 411. Not cheap.
$ 100 is cheap. $200 is sort of cheap.
Six bills is a decent price.

The sun is blazing trying to convince the day that its really warm but no dice.

" When the Snow Comes

a tumbling down "

Yepper, flurries and damp.

Truck in for maintenance, the ' B ' check up at $ 244.00
If I get to ' M ' service check I'll be broke

All done. Instead of a ride home - ' can we get you a loaner ? '
Yes. I drove both ways home and picking up.

Lesson learned. I paid a fortune for the truck. And there is a reason, the loaner Civic was OK but the truck is Boss. Increased comfort, visibility and solid feel.
and its a truck

Well, here I am typing in bed. I thought I'd fill out the detail on the CB11.
Yes, for my small hands the keyboard is perfect. Some reviewers commented that the key spacing is tight or at least a little close.
The touchpad is reputed to be a bit ' laggy ', however since my experience is based on the baby laptop, then this touchpad is equivalent at the least.
I did not buy the 2 in 1 version of this machine which costs more but and a big but you get a tablet option as the laptop folds over. And obviously a touch screen.

In my case if I need that kind of handiness or function, my Moto g5 is proving quite a decent Google device.

Now, of course, everything needs plugging in.
Plugs - Aha a neat topic for this CB11.
The sides each have USB 3 port and a USB C.
You know about USB 3 b/c that is the top of the line USB series unit or cable.
But Type C is a 3A and 40 W able port and given the correct mating cable can handle 40 Gb of data.
Actually, it all gets quite muddled in discussing USB s and cables. Matching ability is key here.
Furhtermore speed, functioning and overall ability all are factors.
To wit, data transfer at optimum works only if the sending and receiving units are equivalent and the cable has minimum capacity.
Here at home, our DSL ( phone line service ) is 7 Mb download and you guessed it way under data transfer speed for the Type C USB port on this machine.

new is Better

?

Of course, this CB11 comes to mind first.
The knocks against the CB11 that I bought. 
Pre - purchase reviewers mentioned a) poor speaker quality b) the bexel or edge around the screen was thick  c) the keys didn't have enough up / down travel < for comfort and a solid feel >
d) gaming was limited b/c raw memory / processor speed wasn't there

For me, CB11 is fast.
The key board is a little bigger than baby laptop and suits me. Typing is much easier even c.f. the big laptop.
The pad has no left / right click - its one finger < left > and two fingers < right > click.
As well, 2 fingers scroll the screen up / down. Unfortunately, someone is having a tough time remembering this feature.
This Dell 5190 comes with a claim that my CB11 will survive many drops of less than 3 ft. And is liquid resistant for spills under 8 oz -
yepper, cup of coffee mistake -> wipe and go.

I didn't tell you but this Dell 5190 is marketed as the students laptop.

Now, pre - purchase on YouTube, I watched and noted 10 hints on
tricks that your Chromebook could do.  I've yet to try any that I know of, and may have performed several already in learning the ropes on CB11.

Apparently, in reading through the 10 hints, someone didn't like ' smooth scrolling ' as mentioned above.
So far so good.

A note : over two days almost, I've discovered / learned what ' touch pad ' means.
I was using my finger tip to activate the pad, only to realize < duh > that you use the pad of your finger for touch.

Come on, is this in the rule book somewhere ??
Which rule book ?
Everybody knows but me, right !

Thus, being sick and stuck in bed is perfect for            ' acclimatising ' to the CB11. 
OR /
C- 3PO ? nope, can't make it work
Let's see Chromebook - Third Place Offering
R2D2, not a chance

Fails in life, you can add these a) haven't figured out ' highlighting  ' yet
b) drag and drop w/out a mouse or < left / right click keys >

I know - I know the whole world can do it

all About the

details

Why ? B/c, in the news the updated North American Free Trade deal is in the spotlight. And even w/ the showcase signing, yep ' Details are pending '
As well, our new city council is purportedly increasing relief housing for the homeless but ............ details are pending

Weather is damp and gray. Rain / ' slice ' ( sleet and ice ) over the last 14 h.

And in maintaining the integrity of this blog and full disclosure
we admit the following:
I take 500 mg krill oil and 1 000 mg salmon oil on alternate days
I use heat or ice on my left knee almost daily
I warm and treat my eyelids for Blepharitis - twice weekly
Details pending, here too.

Yes , it sounds as though I'm falling apart

Early Xmas b/c the Chromebook came 7 days early. I was standing in the driveway and Purolator pulled up and the guy handed over a package.
YES !

And its never easy. The ' Quick Start Guide ' says plug in and hit the power button. But the charge indicator says 56 % battery and the number won't go up.
On line, while searching for a fix - ' be sure to fully charge the battery prior to pressing the power button '
" well thanks Dell "  really helpful

BTW  that was the only instruction in the packaging

I did an on line search and found a boatload of advice. I  went w/     ' unplug the cable at the computer and re - connect '

It worked  TG

Now, its playtime on the CB11 ( its nickname ).

We shall see said the Zen Master
or/ " could be good, could be bad - we'll see "

not Complaining

much

The sun popped out. You never know how much you'll miss seeing the sun except when it hides for several days.
Reminds me of my aunt who hears a scream from upstairs. My cousin home from rainy misty Vancouver brings his girlfriend. My aunt goes upstairs to find the young girl staring out the window at full sunlight. How long since she seen the sun - 45 days.

sleepy Head

arises and goes ' OMG ! Is it that time

This event occurs at 9: 15 AM - now, 9:45 AM and he still says ' really, its that late '
Yessiree Bob

A productive day, actually, including shopping, decorating and carpentry.
Shopping at Canadian Tire ( Pep Boys w/ household goods ). The haul consisted of paper towels, toilet paper ( both bulk ), Xmas decorations and pest supplies.

The ' kaleidoscope LED lights are in addition to the first set - both on the garage over the door pointing up and down.
subtle but us

Carpentry meant shortening and ripping a kick board for the downstairs vanity. There was a leaky faucet ( split inside and replaced ) as well as the drain ( ' U ' part ) but there was a flood
and the particle board bloated up.
But in case the floor got wet and to prevent mildew, I tore out the old kickboard which was herculean in all. The guy used 2 inch nails to tack the kickboard, definitely overkill. The old board came out in pieces.
However, I had a unused kickboard that was saved about 20 years ago. The trick is that particle board doesn't rip easily which means length-wise cutting. As well, the particle board has a white plastic finish ( glued on ) that doesn't respond well to sawing.
Basically, its a mess when you're done.
Bonus though, one edge of the kickboard goes under the vanity floor, thus, it doesn't show 
TG !
I was saved

back to books

as gifts

A trend in gift giving is books, yes, paper products. 

Once, fifteen years ago, a TV wag claimed that 70 % of TV programs would be reality or cartoons.... I guffawed.
Obviously, he who laughs last, laughs best
not me
An ad last night for the upcoming ' Vintage Tech Hunters '. The premise, find and restore older electronic games and devices for profit. As in someone would have paid me for the old crap that I got rid off.
' Goes around, comes around'

Weather damp and raw ( appearing ) w/ temperature at 43 F AND 50 + to-morrow.

Chromebook has left the warehouse and is physically on the way
Woohooo !  

Sad. A second cousin bit the bullet at 42 yrs old. A low grade fever and headache for a short period and then overnight a catastrophic failure of everything.