I watched this show on explosions last night. I love explosions, and it was pretty cool to see real life ones (even if they were on tv). real life explosions are way bigger than anything hollywood can do.
anyway. last night i dreamt that i was in a car with a bunch of people (family - there was someone like my cousin louise there). the car was full and we were driving down a small road. out the window i could see a rocket launch tower, and a rocket ready to go. it got up about a hundred meters and exploded. there was a small explosion first, which knocked the car off the road. i shouted to everyone to get away, and we tried to run, but a few seconds later another explosion blasted through the air.
next thing i remember is ambulances and doctors all around us. i'd been injured badly and was brought away to get fixed. i warn them that i don't want any drugs. next i remember, i'm up and looking for penelope_stone. i can't find her anywhere and i'm dead scared that she was killed in the explosion. i look around for ages - up the beach beside her house (not like it is in reality, the house was next to a road which curved around the shore - it was all flat, and there were loads of trees; it was a nice place). i get back to the house and look through all the rooms. not-quite-louise is there, and she's badly injured. i try to reassure her that she'll get better, and she's a bit talkative, but really scared.
after a while i remember that penelope_stone wasn't in the accident. she had to go to college and couldn't come on the trip with us. she's being held in college, because they don't want her getting in the way of a bunch of injured people.
it was odd, and not very nice.
31 December 2010
30 December 2010
Strange Day Today
Woah, it's snowing outside. That's unexpected. In a few minutes the ground went from ground coloured to white. The wind is strong, too - the snow is almost horizontal (it's at about 27°) and its zooming down the wash (i wonder does the wash itself help with making the wind faster).
I had a really wierd dream last night. I can only remember bits. davidnarby was in it. and my bike got put in an oven. i can't remember why, but there was a reason, and i expected everything to be fine - it was to fix a problem... melt grease maybe... expand metal... anyway. the tires melted and i was very upset, especially since my tires are only a month old.
I think i'm finally getting a hold on book 2. i have the three acts set (act 2 seems a bit short), there's a conflict (you'd be surprised, but it didn't really have any conflict before today), the outline has me excited. i know how it ends, but i need something to get me from the start of act 3 to the end of it. and it has to be adventuresome.
It stopped snowing again. I'm going to go now.
I had a really wierd dream last night. I can only remember bits. davidnarby was in it. and my bike got put in an oven. i can't remember why, but there was a reason, and i expected everything to be fine - it was to fix a problem... melt grease maybe... expand metal... anyway. the tires melted and i was very upset, especially since my tires are only a month old.
I think i'm finally getting a hold on book 2. i have the three acts set (act 2 seems a bit short), there's a conflict (you'd be surprised, but it didn't really have any conflict before today), the outline has me excited. i know how it ends, but i need something to get me from the start of act 3 to the end of it. and it has to be adventuresome.
It stopped snowing again. I'm going to go now.
29 December 2010
Snow Cycle
I want to post about my cycle, too, but cycles and airport security do not go together at all, so this gets its own post.
It was 0°C at 9am this morning. I wasn't really inspired to go out for a cycle. So I waited a bit and the temp went up to 2. Still cold. I was cold, I really didn't want to go outside. So I had the bright idea that if my body was a bit warmer going outside wouldn't be so bad. A quick google and a few seconds later I had a youtube of warm up exercises open.
Yep - I did warm up exercises for the first time ever going out for a cycle. I'm glad I did, too. It was freezing outside. The first minute of cycling was so cold. I was only wearing a long sleeve wicking top and I could feel the cold air hitting my chest. There's a long hill pretty much first thing once I get out of the 'estate' so that warmed me up nicely. I got cold again on the way down the other side of the hill, though. I couldn't feel my fingers.
Sort of half way around my circle (it's more of a very lob-sided pentangle) it started snowing. Just a flurry, but it was snow all the same. I sort of wondered what I was doing out for a cycle, but I didn't go out at all last week (it's amazing how the cold makes me want to stay inside), so I felt if I didn't force myself out today, I wouldn't go for a cycle until February.
I got home, and penelope_stone's warning about re-heat pains was loud in my memory. So I did some cool-down (aka warm your body up again after being so cold) exercises (using the same youtube as I did for warm ups). It may have helped? I still couldn't put the shower as warm as usual, and my core was still cold after the shower. It's still cold now (a little, only). I'm wearing fleece pants and warm socks and it's wonderful.
About the cold (my brain goes samui wa (寒さ)), it's set to get colder though January. It should start to warm up a bit in February, and should be lovely by April. Woo. Bring on the spring.
It was 0°C at 9am this morning. I wasn't really inspired to go out for a cycle. So I waited a bit and the temp went up to 2. Still cold. I was cold, I really didn't want to go outside. So I had the bright idea that if my body was a bit warmer going outside wouldn't be so bad. A quick google and a few seconds later I had a youtube of warm up exercises open.
Yep - I did warm up exercises for the first time ever going out for a cycle. I'm glad I did, too. It was freezing outside. The first minute of cycling was so cold. I was only wearing a long sleeve wicking top and I could feel the cold air hitting my chest. There's a long hill pretty much first thing once I get out of the 'estate' so that warmed me up nicely. I got cold again on the way down the other side of the hill, though. I couldn't feel my fingers.
Sort of half way around my circle (it's more of a very lob-sided pentangle) it started snowing. Just a flurry, but it was snow all the same. I sort of wondered what I was doing out for a cycle, but I didn't go out at all last week (it's amazing how the cold makes me want to stay inside), so I felt if I didn't force myself out today, I wouldn't go for a cycle until February.
I got home, and penelope_stone's warning about re-heat pains was loud in my memory. So I did some cool-down (aka warm your body up again after being so cold) exercises (using the same youtube as I did for warm ups). It may have helped? I still couldn't put the shower as warm as usual, and my core was still cold after the shower. It's still cold now (a little, only). I'm wearing fleece pants and warm socks and it's wonderful.
About the cold (my brain goes samui wa (寒さ)), it's set to get colder though January. It should start to warm up a bit in February, and should be lovely by April. Woo. Bring on the spring.
airport security
So, on the way home from Vegas, McCarran airport was sending every person through the full body xray machine. I've read up on these and I made a note to myself that if I had to go through one I would opt out. So I opted out. Now, I've read that opting out isn't that great because you get a full body pat down, but I figure the bruises from even the roughest pat down will heal, while the radiation from the xray will stick around.
Anyway. I opted out and the next thing i hear is 'female opt out' shouted across the security area. Not sure if they do this on purpose to make you feel bad, but I didn't let it affect me. Anything is better than radiation. I also think I was too tired to get worked up. So I was brought to a different area and a woman came over and explained exactly what she would do. She was polite, and caring in an 'I have a job to do' way. The pat down was fine. It didn't hurt, she was gentle and talked through the whole thing - 'I'm going down your back now. Now the legs,' etc. It was like a gentle, quick, full body massage.
So, on lordkilljoy's advice I'm posting this to let everyone know that the pat down wasn't that bad, for me anyway. And now that I've been through it once, I won't mind getting it done again.
Anyway. I opted out and the next thing i hear is 'female opt out' shouted across the security area. Not sure if they do this on purpose to make you feel bad, but I didn't let it affect me. Anything is better than radiation. I also think I was too tired to get worked up. So I was brought to a different area and a woman came over and explained exactly what she would do. She was polite, and caring in an 'I have a job to do' way. The pat down was fine. It didn't hurt, she was gentle and talked through the whole thing - 'I'm going down your back now. Now the legs,' etc. It was like a gentle, quick, full body massage.
So, on lordkilljoy's advice I'm posting this to let everyone know that the pat down wasn't that bad, for me anyway. And now that I've been through it once, I won't mind getting it done again.
27 December 2010
Christmas in Las Vegas
Christmas for me this year was totally different to any christmas i've ever had before. first off, it didn't feel like christmas, and second off, i spent it in vegas with lordkilljoy. Vegas is... bright, colourful, loud, amazing, ott, beautiful, seedy, silly - as lordkilljoy described it, it's a theme park for adults. so many of the hotels are designed around a theme - just like disneyland or something. in disneyland they have little cafes and snack bars that look like they should be in the jungle, or a tropical island, or a fantasy city - vegas is the exact same, except that, instead of selling burgers, pretzels, and sweets, they sell wine, beer, and top of the range meals.
i think the most impressive places were paris (pretty, pretty, pretty, nothing more needs to be said), the venetian (they have indoor canals, with gondolas), luxor (it's a pyramid, and the whole inside is hollow) and the bellagio (that place is like a palace - a real one).
what's really funny, too, is that it reminded me of glastonbury. i think the crowds had something to do with that, but it was also the lights, the atmosphere, everyone looking for a good time; it felt like a permanent festival with permanent gigs (all the hotels have acts that play every night - the same act every single night). it also reminded me of a cross between bangkok and hollywood boulevard. there are people dressed up as all sorts of mad characters, from superman to jack sparrow to angels and devils. but there are also people out trying to get you to go to their strip clubs and they slick flyers at you. not quite as bad as asia, and they were easy enough to ignore. at least they didn't chase after you.
we went to see Penn and Teller, two magicians. Their act was good. Some of the tricks were brilliant, and they alluded to how they were done, which made you wonder just how, exactly, it was done.
That's how we spent christmas night - we got a wonderful christmas dinner in Rio (where the show was on) of fish. I had tilapia and it was amazing. it had a parmesan crumb coating what was delicious.
we stayed at the mgm grand. it's massive, and one of the busiest places. it has a bar called centrifuge that does the most amazing cocktails. they have one (appletini) that tastes like a red apple. but what's amazing is that it tastes like a red apple with the skin on. what else is cool is that every hour, the bar staff jump up on the bar and do a little dance. it was funny.
we saw lions, too - acting like bored cats. their trainers were trying to interest them in toys and they weren't really going for it. we saw tigers, leopards, dolphins and a guest mouse. the mirage has a miniature zoo. what we didn't do was see a pirate fight or go on a rollercoaster. but we couldn't fit it all in. we did see the bellagio's fountain (during the day, but it was still impressive). what i wasn't expecting was the sound. shooting that much water into the air sounds like shooting a tiny cannon.
what else, what else... we went to lush yesterday. there's a lush in vegas. i was the happiest person ever. lordkilljoy bought me my christmas present there. i got two gift boxes (because it was after christmas, it was 2 for 1). now i have loads of yummy lush stuff and will have wonderful showers for the next year. I have (ready for the list?) happy hippy shower gel, ice blue soap, too drunk emotibomb, sandstone soap, each peach massage bar, whoosh shower jelly, snow globe soap and squeaky green shampoo. the emotibomb smells lovely (all of it smells lovely) and i don't want to use it, because it only lasts for one shower. i might use it to smell up my sock drawer or something... :P . i also got porridge soap as a sampler. it smells interesting.
i don't know what else to say. on the flight to vegas, we flew over the hoover dam. it is impressive, even going by at 200mph or whatever pre-landing speed is. leaving last night, we got to see the strip from the air. it's amazing - all the lights and all the shapes.
yea. so. i'm going to go now. have a shower and use all my lush things - maybe not all of them.
i think the most impressive places were paris (pretty, pretty, pretty, nothing more needs to be said), the venetian (they have indoor canals, with gondolas), luxor (it's a pyramid, and the whole inside is hollow) and the bellagio (that place is like a palace - a real one).
what's really funny, too, is that it reminded me of glastonbury. i think the crowds had something to do with that, but it was also the lights, the atmosphere, everyone looking for a good time; it felt like a permanent festival with permanent gigs (all the hotels have acts that play every night - the same act every single night). it also reminded me of a cross between bangkok and hollywood boulevard. there are people dressed up as all sorts of mad characters, from superman to jack sparrow to angels and devils. but there are also people out trying to get you to go to their strip clubs and they slick flyers at you. not quite as bad as asia, and they were easy enough to ignore. at least they didn't chase after you.
we went to see Penn and Teller, two magicians. Their act was good. Some of the tricks were brilliant, and they alluded to how they were done, which made you wonder just how, exactly, it was done.
That's how we spent christmas night - we got a wonderful christmas dinner in Rio (where the show was on) of fish. I had tilapia and it was amazing. it had a parmesan crumb coating what was delicious.
we stayed at the mgm grand. it's massive, and one of the busiest places. it has a bar called centrifuge that does the most amazing cocktails. they have one (appletini) that tastes like a red apple. but what's amazing is that it tastes like a red apple with the skin on. what else is cool is that every hour, the bar staff jump up on the bar and do a little dance. it was funny.
we saw lions, too - acting like bored cats. their trainers were trying to interest them in toys and they weren't really going for it. we saw tigers, leopards, dolphins and a guest mouse. the mirage has a miniature zoo. what we didn't do was see a pirate fight or go on a rollercoaster. but we couldn't fit it all in. we did see the bellagio's fountain (during the day, but it was still impressive). what i wasn't expecting was the sound. shooting that much water into the air sounds like shooting a tiny cannon.
what else, what else... we went to lush yesterday. there's a lush in vegas. i was the happiest person ever. lordkilljoy bought me my christmas present there. i got two gift boxes (because it was after christmas, it was 2 for 1). now i have loads of yummy lush stuff and will have wonderful showers for the next year. I have (ready for the list?) happy hippy shower gel, ice blue soap, too drunk emotibomb, sandstone soap, each peach massage bar, whoosh shower jelly, snow globe soap and squeaky green shampoo. the emotibomb smells lovely (all of it smells lovely) and i don't want to use it, because it only lasts for one shower. i might use it to smell up my sock drawer or something... :P . i also got porridge soap as a sampler. it smells interesting.
i don't know what else to say. on the flight to vegas, we flew over the hoover dam. it is impressive, even going by at 200mph or whatever pre-landing speed is. leaving last night, we got to see the strip from the air. it's amazing - all the lights and all the shapes.
yea. so. i'm going to go now. have a shower and use all my lush things - maybe not all of them.
21 December 2010
Solstice Eclipse
Happy Solstice everyone. I hope ye all enjoyed the lunar eclipse last night. You'd think a dessert would be the perfect place to see it, but no. it was cloudy here. fate does not want me seeing an eclipse, ever. I'll just have to wait 'til i'm 112 to catch the next one that happens on the solstice.
Anyway. Tomorrow, we will have 1 second's more light than we had today.
I don't really have much else to say.
Anyway. Tomorrow, we will have 1 second's more light than we had today.
I don't really have much else to say.
17 December 2010
word 2010
Oh my god. For all the cool features word 2010 has, i can't find anything. I'm so annoyed. I'm trying to edit my custom dictionary and i haven't a clue where it is. i asked word help and it's in the most obscure place ever. really, word? file -> help. no one in their right mind would think to look there. i am very disappointed with the dev team. why inspired you to put the options in the help section? it makes no sense. it was like ye just said, where should this go? we have a space here, let's just put it here. ahhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
16 December 2010
It's Raining
This is mad. Rain. I saw the clouds move in yesterday, and my first thought was, those look like rain clouds. Sure enough, everywhere is wet today. It's not really rain so much as a drizzle. I totally want to go out in it - I was out in the balcony just there and it's not really cold. And it smells lovely - like wet concrete. I thought that just happened because of heat, but it guess it's the dry more than the heat, because that's what it smells like outside.
So, other big news: we're off to Vegas for Christmas. We both decided it would be a bit depressing / just like any normal day to spend christmas here. And lordkilljoy had joked about christmas in Vegas ages ago. I guess jokes have a way of taking root and becoming reality. I'm excited though. Christmas is all about lights and spectacle and I don't think there's anywhere in the world that has more of that. We're staying at the MGM Grand - it's got lions (not sure if it has a real lion, but it's got massive metal ones).
So yea. I just wanted to update quickly.
So, other big news: we're off to Vegas for Christmas. We both decided it would be a bit depressing / just like any normal day to spend christmas here. And lordkilljoy had joked about christmas in Vegas ages ago. I guess jokes have a way of taking root and becoming reality. I'm excited though. Christmas is all about lights and spectacle and I don't think there's anywhere in the world that has more of that. We're staying at the MGM Grand - it's got lions (not sure if it has a real lion, but it's got massive metal ones).
So yea. I just wanted to update quickly.
14 December 2010
first cycle
I went out for my first cycle in Albuquerque. It was amazing. The temperature was 4°C, but it was similar to 16 in Ireland. I love cycling in the sunshine. As I neared home, I didn't want my cycle to end. But I told myself this is my first cycle at altitude and I didn't want to overdo it. But really, I felt fine. I did struggle up the hills a bit, but that's partly because I'm used to cycling on flat ground. I didn't run out of breath; but I was being careful. There's nothing worse than that my-lungs-can't-breathe-in-enough feeling. I saw two birds, ground birds, i think. They live in the hedges around here (when i say hedges, of course, i mean sand / pebbles with bits of dry-looking plants growing around them).
Yea. I haven't much else to say.
Yea. I haven't much else to say.
13 December 2010
bike's super healthy
So, instead of going and pumping up my tires, i just brought my bike for a service. it tuned out one of them was blown, anyway. so i got new, thorn resistant, tubes and they tightened all the wires and things. so my bike is perfect, and i didn't get to go out on it today. awh.
i will tomorrow, hopefully.
i had a fun video chat yesterday. got to see loads of family i wouldn't get to see, even in normal conditions.
i don't really have much else to say...
i will tomorrow, hopefully.
i had a fun video chat yesterday. got to see loads of family i wouldn't get to see, even in normal conditions.
i don't really have much else to say...
10 December 2010
XPS
My XPS arrived yesterday. I screamed and danced when the fedex man arrived with it. Everything about it is lovely, even the box was totally sexy - black, streamlined, elegant, beautiful. Much like the laptop itself.
It's amazingly fast. It's kinda funny, because ever since Dell announced the XPS line I've wanted one. And now I have one. I guess when they first came out, I made a secret promise to myself that my next PC would be and XPS. And here I am.
I spend last night sorting out itunes. I went from 4 to 10 without losing any playcounts or ratings. I did lose a few tracks, but hopefully I'll get them again. Sigur Ros was amongst those lost, so that will be my motivation to get them.
The first program I installed was Chrome. The second was Word. Then came im clients and social networking apps. That's about it. Dropbox, too. I must get photoshop, then I'll be mostly set. I haven't installed any games, yet. I think Fallout New Vegas will be the first. I'm not that bothered because I've got loads to play on the Xbox.
The speakers are amazing on this laptop. I'm listening to Takk (the only Sigur Ros album that made it) and it's like listening on proper speakers. Okay, the bass is a tiny bit less whelming, but still. It's not an issue. The keyboard is backlit - very funky. Even though i have my own (logitech) keyboard hooked up to it - to make typing easier and stave off strains and stuff. I'll have to take a picture of the set up. It's pretty cool. I have my desk, computer, mouse, random things for personality.
We're heading out tonight for dinner with a few people lordkilljoy works with. They are cooking, so I'm kind of looking forward for that.
I don't think I have much else to say. I got my nano all set up with itunes. It has lots of music now, which is good. I was getting a bit bored of the radio (they have about 5 songs).
Right so.
It's amazingly fast. It's kinda funny, because ever since Dell announced the XPS line I've wanted one. And now I have one. I guess when they first came out, I made a secret promise to myself that my next PC would be and XPS. And here I am.
I spend last night sorting out itunes. I went from 4 to 10 without losing any playcounts or ratings. I did lose a few tracks, but hopefully I'll get them again. Sigur Ros was amongst those lost, so that will be my motivation to get them.
The first program I installed was Chrome. The second was Word. Then came im clients and social networking apps. That's about it. Dropbox, too. I must get photoshop, then I'll be mostly set. I haven't installed any games, yet. I think Fallout New Vegas will be the first. I'm not that bothered because I've got loads to play on the Xbox.
The speakers are amazing on this laptop. I'm listening to Takk (the only Sigur Ros album that made it) and it's like listening on proper speakers. Okay, the bass is a tiny bit less whelming, but still. It's not an issue. The keyboard is backlit - very funky. Even though i have my own (logitech) keyboard hooked up to it - to make typing easier and stave off strains and stuff. I'll have to take a picture of the set up. It's pretty cool. I have my desk, computer, mouse, random things for personality.
We're heading out tonight for dinner with a few people lordkilljoy works with. They are cooking, so I'm kind of looking forward for that.
I don't think I have much else to say. I got my nano all set up with itunes. It has lots of music now, which is good. I was getting a bit bored of the radio (they have about 5 songs).
Right so.
09 December 2010
hat
do you remember last week, when i said i lost my hat? well, i couldn't live without it and i've ordered a new one from the company who make them :) i'm happy. i hope it gets here, though. the address had UK instead of US on it. i emailed them about it, but they didn't reply. i'm sure someone in the postal system will be good enough to change the k into an s...
i don't have much other news. i moved all the furniture in the apartment around today. i didn't like the way it was before, it wasn't cosy at all. and there wasn't room for my computer desk. i still amn't sure about the location i found for the desk, but the sitting room is vastly improved from the way it was. we'll see how lordkilljoy reacts when he gets home. i'm sure he'll like it.
it's wonderful to have my keyboard again. i love this keyboard. typing on it is so easy. i have my mouse too. mice are so much more efficient than a trackpad. i also shipped a temperature sensor / clock thing. so now i have a clock that tells me what time it is in ireland without having to do any addition. lazy, i know, but there you go.
right, i think that's mainly it.
i don't have much other news. i moved all the furniture in the apartment around today. i didn't like the way it was before, it wasn't cosy at all. and there wasn't room for my computer desk. i still amn't sure about the location i found for the desk, but the sitting room is vastly improved from the way it was. we'll see how lordkilljoy reacts when he gets home. i'm sure he'll like it.
it's wonderful to have my keyboard again. i love this keyboard. typing on it is so easy. i have my mouse too. mice are so much more efficient than a trackpad. i also shipped a temperature sensor / clock thing. so now i have a clock that tells me what time it is in ireland without having to do any addition. lazy, i know, but there you go.
right, i think that's mainly it.
08 December 2010
bikes
I just put two bikes together. I've never put a bike together before. I was sort of making a haymes of it, and then got the internet to help me. The first instruction was turn the bike upside down so it is resting on the saddle and handlebars. Sometimes my lack of common sence amazes me. I console myself by telling myself, if i was a d&d character, i'd have high int (intelligence) and low wis (wisdom). Yeay. But they went together easily after that.
Now the only problem is that my handlebars are loose and I don't have an allen key to tighten them with. And my tires are flat, practically falling off the wheels. I did lordkilljoy's bike too. So we'll have to bring them both for a service on the weekend. I just want to go for a cycle, though. Ah well.
Oh, yea. If you hadn't read between the lines, the fact that i had bikes to put together means our shipment arrived. so i have loads to sort out. i should do that now.
Now the only problem is that my handlebars are loose and I don't have an allen key to tighten them with. And my tires are flat, practically falling off the wheels. I did lordkilljoy's bike too. So we'll have to bring them both for a service on the weekend. I just want to go for a cycle, though. Ah well.
Oh, yea. If you hadn't read between the lines, the fact that i had bikes to put together means our shipment arrived. so i have loads to sort out. i should do that now.
07 December 2010
sea monkeys
i totally forgot to mention. i got some sea monkeys (closest relative is brine shrimp) the other day. they hatched on sunday morning. they are so cute - so far i've spotted about six if them - they are small as a bit of dust, i have to look really hard to see them. their 'tank' is set up like a martian landscape, it's cool. i can't wait until they get a bit bigger and i don't have to watch intently for half a minute to see them.
they kind of puff around in spurts, they make me think of little tug boats (i have no idea why, it's not like tug boats go in spurts). right at the moment they can't swim up more than a centimeter, or maybe it's a defense thing - predators can't get them if they are that close to the ground.
anyway, when they get a bit bigger i might try to get a few pics of them.
they kind of puff around in spurts, they make me think of little tug boats (i have no idea why, it's not like tug boats go in spurts). right at the moment they can't swim up more than a centimeter, or maybe it's a defense thing - predators can't get them if they are that close to the ground.
anyway, when they get a bit bigger i might try to get a few pics of them.
a trip to corrales
Woo, writing procrastination. I've been back writing 2 days now and already i'm on here writing in my journal instead of plotting book 2. well, i've hit a snag and i've been meaning to write in here since sunday, so it all works out.
we went to corrales on sunday afternoon. it's a five minute drive from our apartment. it's really weird actually, you drive along the main road and it's all built up and american looking. then you cross a street and go around a corner and all of a sudden you are in the country. there's this sign that says 'welcome to corrales village' and that's it. it's fields, trees and narrow roads from then on. corrales did not disappoint. the moment i learned we were moving to albuquerque, i went online to find the best place to live. after a few minutes research i centered on corrales. it's got adobe houses, farms, horses, greenhouses, grass, trees - all sun bleached and wind worn.
All our stuff should get here this week. I can't wait to have a variety of clothes to wear. I've had the same few tops for the last month and i'm a bit sick of them by now. I also can't wait to have my bike so I can go slightly farther afield than i can now. And I can do fun things like bring a picnic down to the river and stuff. whey.
we went to corrales on sunday afternoon. it's a five minute drive from our apartment. it's really weird actually, you drive along the main road and it's all built up and american looking. then you cross a street and go around a corner and all of a sudden you are in the country. there's this sign that says 'welcome to corrales village' and that's it. it's fields, trees and narrow roads from then on. corrales did not disappoint. the moment i learned we were moving to albuquerque, i went online to find the best place to live. after a few minutes research i centered on corrales. it's got adobe houses, farms, horses, greenhouses, grass, trees - all sun bleached and wind worn.
All our stuff should get here this week. I can't wait to have a variety of clothes to wear. I've had the same few tops for the last month and i'm a bit sick of them by now. I also can't wait to have my bike so I can go slightly farther afield than i can now. And I can do fun things like bring a picnic down to the river and stuff. whey.
01 December 2010
the drawbacks of living at altitude
water doesn't boil properly. i've got the slow cooker on (doing enchilada chicken) and it's boiling like a mad thing. slow cookers are meant to simmer gently, not boil like a mad thing. it's kind of annoying because there is a lot of steam coming from the food, so much that it is forcing it's way out under the lid. this means that the food will dry out and not cook properly. not to mention that the lid is clattering and spitting all over the place and making a dreadful racket. hmmmm.
I also want to add that our oven doesn't work properly either because of the altitude.
I also want to add that our oven doesn't work properly either because of the altitude.
pandora internet radio
there are definite benefits to living in america. access to stuff on the internet is one of the major ones. before pandora radio got blocked in ireland (around 2005, i think), i used listen to it a lot. it was one of the things i was looking forward to about getting here. and it hasn't disappointed.
pandora is very cool because it tags each song with things like 'electric rock instrumentation,' 'subtle use of paired vocal harmony,' 'repetitive melodic phrasing,' 'heavy syncopation,' and 'minor key tonality.' i have no idea what some of these mean (syncopation?) but it's cool, because it means that when i like a song it makes a note of that on my profile and uses the collected information from the songs i like to pick songs it thinks i will like in the future. it takes a little while to build up a proper profile of what you like, but once it does it is amazing.
it is choosing songs i have on my itunes, but the songs it chooses are my favorites from whatever album. for example, it just played a song by team sleep. the song was 'ever,' and that is my favourite team sleep song. and that wasn't a once off thing. it's done it with a perfect circle, muse, ian archer. and the songs i haven't heard before i generally like. it's great. and the awful thing is that you can't get it in ireland.
i bought a laptop today. it was a bit of hassle - getting the money through from ireland was a bit of a pain. first i had to reactivate my internet banking, then get all the details to transfer the money. transferring the money took 3 days, and today i finally got to order it. it's a dell xps 15 laptop. the 15 stands for 15", which should be a good size. it's an i5 processor, nvidia GT 420M 1GB gpu, 4gb ram, 500gb hd, backlit keyboard (which i'm a little excited about). it should be here by the 16th. yes, that is a terribly long wait, but at least i'll have it for christmas. and because it's coming up to christmas and dell want to encourage people to buy early or something, there was $50 off. so dell paid for the sales tax, excellent.
of course, once i get it i will be wiping the drive and reinstalling windows with just windows. i can't stand all the extra junk they put on new computers. i don't need an antivirus chosen for me, or any software to help me get online, or any other random program dell has decided i need. really, the xps systems are for advanced users, dell should know better.
pandora is very cool because it tags each song with things like 'electric rock instrumentation,' 'subtle use of paired vocal harmony,' 'repetitive melodic phrasing,' 'heavy syncopation,' and 'minor key tonality.' i have no idea what some of these mean (syncopation?) but it's cool, because it means that when i like a song it makes a note of that on my profile and uses the collected information from the songs i like to pick songs it thinks i will like in the future. it takes a little while to build up a proper profile of what you like, but once it does it is amazing.
it is choosing songs i have on my itunes, but the songs it chooses are my favorites from whatever album. for example, it just played a song by team sleep. the song was 'ever,' and that is my favourite team sleep song. and that wasn't a once off thing. it's done it with a perfect circle, muse, ian archer. and the songs i haven't heard before i generally like. it's great. and the awful thing is that you can't get it in ireland.
i bought a laptop today. it was a bit of hassle - getting the money through from ireland was a bit of a pain. first i had to reactivate my internet banking, then get all the details to transfer the money. transferring the money took 3 days, and today i finally got to order it. it's a dell xps 15 laptop. the 15 stands for 15", which should be a good size. it's an i5 processor, nvidia GT 420M 1GB gpu, 4gb ram, 500gb hd, backlit keyboard (which i'm a little excited about). it should be here by the 16th. yes, that is a terribly long wait, but at least i'll have it for christmas. and because it's coming up to christmas and dell want to encourage people to buy early or something, there was $50 off. so dell paid for the sales tax, excellent.
of course, once i get it i will be wiping the drive and reinstalling windows with just windows. i can't stand all the extra junk they put on new computers. i don't need an antivirus chosen for me, or any software to help me get online, or any other random program dell has decided i need. really, the xps systems are for advanced users, dell should know better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)