A&R Closing DownjawaproMon 27/06/2011 08:33 PM
Angus and Robertson (bookshop) is closing down.
It's always sad to see a good bookshop close - but at least there are some bargains to be had in the process!
But the thing that really impressed me:
Calvin and Hobbes is classified as Non-Fiction!
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The Last Nexus Survivor....jawaproFri 24/06/2011 09:23 AM
Way way back in December of 2005 I blogged about my new LCD monitor.
http://www.headlessmoron.com/viewthread.php?postid=39
I’d gone to a Nexus LAN in Launceston, and as per normal, they had a Lucky Door Prize. It was Nexus Mayhem - which was the large End-of-Year LAN - so the prizes were heavily sponsored by some of the local IT shops.
I had my eye on a few 500G hard-drives. Or maybe they were only 200G - whatever, they were large for the time. But first prize was a Philips 17" LCD monitor.
Back in those days a lot of people still had CRTs. Looking around the LAN you’d see about half and half with LCDs. I still had my trusty CRT and had no plans to change it. In fact - I didn’t like the idea of changing - to me LCDs were pointless.
The way the Lucky Door prize worked this year was everyone got a few tickets as they walked in. During the night, Rayner (one of the admins) went up on stage and began reading numbers out. When one of your numbers was called, you went up and had to pop a balloon (of which there were hundreds). Inside the balloon was another ticket with a number - and that corresponded to the prize you got.
Most of the prizes were just bags with posters and things from computer shops. My first trip up got one of them.
So as I waited besides Trojen to see if I’d get another shot - I saw Hard-drive after hard-drive get claimed. That was what I really wanted - but there were still one or two on offer.
Behind me I heard someone tell his mate "Don’t go for the pink balloons - they’re gay" or something to that effect. This made me think - of course the guys (Nexus was about 95% male) wouldn’t go for pink - so if you wanted to drag the game out, you’d hide the good prizes in pink balloons! So if I wanted on of the better prizes (hard-drives) I should probably go for pink.
So with this new strategy, I waited for another of my numbers to come up - and sure enough it did.
Walked up on stage and found a pink balloon. Popped it - and grabbed the bit of paper and took it to Rayner to be checked. She got quite excited, but I didn’t quite as much. It was the monitor - not the harddrive. I was out of storage space and had a perfectly good CRT.
I was disappointed at the time - but it’s not like I complained. A free LCD wasn’t something to sniff at, but I did consider offering to swap it for one of the guys with the harddrives - but back in those days, LCDs were worth a fair bit, so I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it.
Over the next few months and years, the sheer reduction in desk footprint of the LCD won me over completely. And after I used it enough to trust it - I preferred the way the screen looked too. When I had to go back to a CRT occasionally I hated it.
I was a convert. LCDs from then on.
I ended up getting a wide-screen as a second monitor, and a cheap HP for a third (attached to my server), but my primary monitor has always been my trusty 17" Nexus Phillips.
That was - until a few weeks ago.
I was using the monitor - and it just died. No amount of cable fiddling was able to bring it back to life for more than a flicker.
Poor monitor - one of the last survivors of Nexus.
I really wanted another square (4:3 ratio) monitor - but these days they are had to find - and you really pay a premium for the ratio. So unless I wanted to spend bucketloads - I had to get a second widescreen.
Lo and behold - Catch of the Day sends me an email. Today’s Catch is a Phillips monitor. It’s widescreen, but it’s also cheap.
So I placed my order - and it should arrive in a few weeks.
It’ll be a sad day when I unplug the old one for the last time.
Sorry little buddy - you may be replaced, but you won’t be forgotten.
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Way to go Ryan!jawaproFri 24/06/2011 09:13 AM
Ryan took his awesome Love Boat model (seen in my posts from Brickvention) all the way to America to the BrickWorld convention over there.
And unbeknownst to him - the guy who played the captain in the Love Boat tv show decided to stop over for a visit.
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s3M8kIlVCY
That's the way Ryan - show them what us Aussies can do!
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Don't shop when you're tired.jawaproWed 22/06/2011 03:46 PM
It's a recipe for mistakes.
Mistake #1 - buying clothes (what was I thinking? But hey, they were cheap)
Mistake #2 - finding an XXL but grabbing the Small instead (I really thought I had the XXL until I went to try it on)
Mistake #3 - using the self service checkout (which leads to #4)
Mistake #4 - going home with the shop's coat-hangers and the beeper thing still attached to the shirt (which explains why it beeped at me as I left).
Got an exchange and the beeper removed today at lunch.
Note to self - don't shop when you're tired...
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Hit the Sand!jawaproWed 15/06/2011 09:00 AM
Ok - that’s not a good sign...
Yep - Oscar stalled in the middle of a puddle again. Fortunately I thought it might be deep enough to cause the mysterious cut-out, so I’d already attached the snatch strap just in case.
We’re thinking it might be the fuel pump shorting out.
Anyway - being a long weekend, we decided we’d celebrate the return to Tassie weather by driving through the fog to the beach. Yep - we’re back at Bellingham!
Chris had gotten a Rodeo ute as a 21st Birthday present while I was away. It isn’t actually his birthday yet - but that doesn’t stop him enjoying it :)
By the way - dropping your tyre pressures on sand is great - but I think Chris got a little over-excited when he dropped his to 2psi. He had to pump them up again before continuing.
For a stock vehicle - it’s actually quite impressive. It didn’t have the grunt to pull me out when I stalled though, so Dad had to do it in the Maverick. Sadly by that stage, my carpets were wet... again.
This was the wettest we’ve seen the Bridport to Bellingham run. Meant there were some new challenges with mud, but the sand itself was easier. We still found some nice dunes to play on.
I let Turkey drive Oscar most of the way. He hadn’t done any 4x4ing before - so quite enjoyed the opportunity to experience sand driving.
But it wasn’t always plain sailing. When I was still driving, Oscar blew a coolant line.
Isn’t it brilliant having a mechanic in your convoy!
And just to even up the score - Chris had to be towed twice. Once he bridged himself on a dune and needed a slight tug to get free, and above when he managed to get stuck in a small puddle.
But in reality, the only reason he got stuck was because he was deliberately making it difficult on himself.
The correct technique for cresting a dune.
The correct technique for driving through a dune.
This is what happens when you decide to go through a dune, not over it.
Two mechanic failures at my end, two tows for Chris, and the Maverick passed with flying colours. What an awesome weekend!
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