Monday, October 31, 2005

Concert

Sarah Slean will play a solo concert on the 15th of November in Winnipeg at Westminster United. I'll be there, I have to to stay young.

I'm a fan of the stripped down concert. Ray Bonneville was the last concert I attended that was pretty plain as far as the band went. I bought the Rough Luck recording when Ray was at WCC last time.

Now if I could just get to see Kelly Joe Phelps in the same type of setting I'd know this was heaven. I bought Shine Eyed Mr. Zen and I play it a lot. Great guitarist. Great soul.



TEN COMMANDMENTS: The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a Courthouse:

You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians! It creates a hostile work environment! George Carlin.
Cheers!

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Sunday run

A fun run today. I was tired after a night of entertaining. I was scheduled for a more intense run at a shorter distance, but decided to scale back and hopefully avoid a crash.

I ran five miles. Two slow at LSD pace of 11:34 min/mile or 7:19 min/km, then two miles aiming at a ten minute mile. The first mile was close at min/mile10:02 or 6:14 min/km. The second mile I was having trouble slowing down. I do this when I'm tired and it frequently gets me into trouble. 9:28 min/mile or 5:53 min/km

I was out there for 55 minutes then had a big stretch. I was comfortable in shorts and a tee shirt again today. What a fall we've had!

The two mile warm up enabled me to run most of the first faster mile about 10 to 15 heart beats a minute slower than if I didn't warm up well. Sure makes me wonder how I'm best to warm up to run a race. The pace was very comfortable when I could keep to it!

Estevan Model Engineers Show.

I love to go to this show.  If my life was less chaotic I might
actually get there more often.  Maurice phoned to give me shit after
this year's show again!  He's such a funny guy.  Talented beyond reason
with a lathe, mill and any welding set up known to man, but not so
skilled with the broader social thang.  





Kelly just sent the link to the new photos.  Hope someone else enjoys them as much as I do.  





Next year!  Like I'm going to take time to hunt next week if I blow myself up trying.  





Actually it won't be too tough.  Not a whole lot of the week is mine. 
I have a date in St. Pierre first thing Monday with my ADHD coach. 
Tuesday I take a buddy to surgery to clean up what the router did to
the end of his finger, then haul his butt home.  Wednesday first thing,
I'll entertain the electrician here to clear up the mast mount on the
shop and then finish off the soffit and remaining scraps of siding.





Somewhere in there John wants to hunt and work on the heating system. 
I bought a slough of fussy bits for plumbing it all this morning.  All that
remains is an automatic air release valve and fittings to make the job
complete.  I hope!



We are losing our treasured old fashioned hardware store in St.
Malo.  Robert wants to retire!  Can you imagine the
nerve!  hehh

He's a peach and deserves every inch of the rest that's coming to
him.  I will hope the stock of that amazing place is retained
locally by some miracle.
 I feel like a bag of hammers.







I don't know how I'm going to make a stab at a 7.25km run tomorrow at a 6:20 min/km pace.







Got the Subaru home in one piece after a mouse nibbled coolant hose
spewed green blood everywhere.  Although once I was a couple of kms
into the run, the smell of something about to burst into flames was
quite strong.  I pondered whether it was electrical or mechanical all
the way home.  I had become convinced it was emanating from inside the
car, but no.  When I got out of the car at home, it was clear very
quickly where the hot spot was.  I quickly parked the car away from
hydro lines and all burnable terrain and structure.







The left front brake cylinder must be seized solid.  It looked a little warm.  Yes there was smoke.







The hose replacements was a dance of the devil.  There are parts of me
that abore cars and their repair.  It's always a battle of tools and
the ones you don't have to do the job easily.  Even if you have the
tools it seems as if it's still more difficult to do much of anything. 
I must have spent an hour trying to put on a simple 10cm piece of 10mm
hose and get the clamps done up.  My legs took a beating trying to prop
my body in just the right contortions to bloody my knuckles
repeatedly. 







Then it was onto the asparagus patch.  It's been taken over with grass
and weeds for years and today I was not going to rest until it had
submitted to my will.  I don't suppose the patch was much more than a
meter and a half square when all was accounted for.  Again it took a
much bigger chunk out of my available resources to claw back the root
stock and plant it into rows clean of the weeds.  I could not believe
the root bound proliferation of asparagus root under all that weedage. 








For years we've had a measly output from that patch and heaven only
knows why!  There was enough root stock in that bundle to plant two
long rows of it.  Now to keep it clean and fed through next year! 
Tomorrow the garlic gets the business and that will be it for
the garden this year.  I'm so grateful the fall has been nice enough to
let me get through all that mess from our horrendously wet spring and
summer.

Friday, October 28, 2005

ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE

ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE

ALIENATIION PRODUCES ECCENTRICS OR REVOLUTIONARIES

AN ELITE IS INEVITABLE

ANGER OR HATE CAN BE A USEFUL MOTIVATING FORCE

ANY SURPLUS IS IMMORAL

DISGUST IS THE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE TO MOST SITUATIONS

EVERYONE'S WORK IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT

EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE DESERVE SPECIAL CONCESSIONS

FAITHFULLNESS IS A SOCIAL NOT A BIOLOGICAL LAW

FREEDOM IS A LUXURY NOT A NECESSITY

GOVERNMENT IS A BURDEN ON THE PEOPLE

HUMANISM IS OBLOLETE

HUMOR IS A RELEASE

INHERITANCE MUST BE ABOLISHED

KILLING IS UNAVOIDABLE BUT IS NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF

LABOR IS A LIFE-DESTROYING ACTIVITY

MONEY CREATES TASTE

MORALS ARE FOR LITTLE PEOPLE

MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT FIT TO RULE THEMSELVES

MOSTLY YOU SHOULD MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

MUCH WAS DECIDED BEFORE YOU WERE BORN

MURDER HAS ITS SEXUAL SIDE

PAIN CAN BE A VERY POSITIVE THING

PEOPLE NUTS IF TYEY THINK THEY CONTROL THEIR LIVES

PEOPLE WHO DON'T WORK WITH THEIR HANDS ARE PARASITES

PEOPLE WON'T BEHAVE IF TEY HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE

PRIVATE PROPERTY CREATED CRIME

ROMANTIC LOVE WAS INVENTED TO MANIPULATE WOMEN

SELFISHNESS IS THE MOST BASIC MOTIVATION

SEX DIFFERENCES ARE HERE TO STAY

STARVATION IS NATURE'S WAY

STUPID PEOPLE SHOULDN'T BREED

TECHNOLOGY WILL MAKE OR BREAK US

THE FAMILY IS LIVING ON BORROWED TIME

THE LAND BELONGS TO NO ONE

TIMIDITY IS LAUGHABLE

TORTURE IS BARBARIC

YOU ARE GUILELESS IN YOUR DREAMS

YOU MUST REMEMBER YOU HAVE FREEDOME OF CHOICE.



    FIRST IMPRESSIONS  Walker Art Center 4 June - 10 September 1989

Thursday, October 27, 2005

lean machine

This is the calf that brought Sir Lance to all those victories.  Now that's lean!


Lost in Senkiw

Sometimes I loath ADHD. I've misplaced my PDA. That's a pain to anyone I'm sure, but to me with my limited memory, it's a brutal loss of context. I have the back up on the PC, but transition is not a strength and now I'm in need of a changing of the guard to maintain another method of keeping ideas and dates from slipping from view. Grrr

It was finally a place of ease and usefulness. Now, I'll have to start again. Maybe those bluetooth dongles for the wireless home network could see some action and justify a new PDA? :D

Child Resiliency

On resiliency and children.







This topic is an ongoing discussion around here.  Our youngest is ADHD
like me and I was raised with only dictatorial and authoritarian
models.  I've had to change gears a couple of times.  Fortunately I had
two more resilient daughters to practise on before our youngest ADHD
came to the fore.



 



The latest bedside reading and where the conversation lies just now is Hold on to your Kids by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate.



Here is a review of the book.



Another commentary.




========







Pierrette wrote:



Kids have to bond to an adult to develop properly. For different
reasons, many kids do not anymore - left to watch TV, parents too busy,
dysfunctional families etc., and because humans are programmed to
attach, they do so to peers. This is like the blind leading the blind,
and they do not have the mentors that allow them to mature properly.
That is why, the bond between parent and child is more important than
the chores. That does not mean letting the child get away with things
though. It means being a model of what we want our child to become.







========







If I didn't want to look like the blind leading the blind, I had to
learn to change some of the models I had as my default settings for
parenting.  My definition of spiritual growth is the degree I'm willing
to diminish my ego. 



Ever leaping sideways through the vaults of the meta web of my mind.  

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Thinking with the little head

Ebay is a treasure trove.  Then sometimes it's just a source for humour.



Check out this ebay item for a chuckle.  The comments below are a hoot.




Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Toronto Marathon Death

Another guy died this year at the Toronto Marathon. The couch potatoes
seem to be using this as some kind of touch stone to ensure the chips
and pop are less fearsome when it comes to health than running.




I enjoyed this article that helps with the reality check.

Four months to go

4.5 miles @ 9:43 min/mile pace // 7.242048km @ 6:02 min/km pace

Half mile splits
4.53.88
5.03.34
4.54.00
4.54.53
4.30.61
4.51.03
5.00.16
4.49.
4.48

Not an easy or pleasant run. 91% of max. over 44 minutes. My legs were much better this morning after a good long stretch last night and a solid nights sleep helped too. They are complaining a bit now, but they'll live. They still go where I tell them. Once it gets beyond that, I'll be asking advise.

A stunningly beautiful fall day here. My thoughts were with the maniacs in the east bracing for Wilma. Batten the hatches.

I doubt whether I've fully recovered from Saturdays sprinting football extravaganza, but I'll know tomorrow better where I'm at. The grumpies are a brutal reflection of over training for me. Here's hoping it's held in check.

So it begins. This week marks the beginning of four months of training. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I know I will push to try and maintain my exertion on the limits of my ability to recover. Hopefully I won't lose my way, but I think it's inevitable given that I'm so new to the game.

I'll follow John Stanton's program for a 2 hour half marathon, but if that's too much, I'll just do as much as I can and try and stay away from injury while remaining strong and healthy.

Run Rabbit Run

I had several friends from the maniac's board running a marathon in Detroit this past weekend.  I found this bit of radioactive trivia
interesting.  With google maps sometimes showing such incredible
detail, I just know the new fancy stuff the military must have would be
spectacular.  

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Toilet bowl

I'm going to break my neck. I just know it.

================

Toilet Bowl IV

Date: October 22, 2005

Kickoff: 3:00 pm

Place: Field behind Acadia High School (two blocks east of Pembina on Killarney)

The leaves have fallen, but the mighty have not…

The epic battle continues between the Toilet Ducks and the Toilet Ducks in what has been a noteworthy year in the Toilet Duck Football League. Edbom and Jablonski, recovering from past injuries, are ready to prove themselves able once again…a fresh crop of new blood threatens to usurp the coveted starting positions of the increasingly lethargic veterans…and Bradley—well, he is still a nice guy.

Many changes have been made over this last year to this venerate football league including the induction of flags to quell the rash of broken bodies over the last few years. When General Manager Tyler Wereha was asked what he thought of the new non-tackle system he replied "unbelievable" and "bones break all the time--get over it" and concluded with a "frick."

All are invited to play, noting that despite the use of flags, the chance of injury is still astronomical. Interested players must contact GM Wereha to get on the roster. An audience is always more fun, so all are cordially invited to come and cheer on their favourite team.

Be on the field for 2:30 pm for warm up and team selection. All are invited across the street to 316-1 Greyfriars Road for eats and beer after the victory. A 24 of Bud will be awarded to the winning team (so it’s no lose!).

It would be great to see the whole team again...don't worry about your play--we're all out of shape and will probably lick the proverbial torba, but Kevin and Mark will be there make our pathetic play look good. Really good. Kevin and Mark suck.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Running away

I'm running up a storm. I've decided to enter my first race and a brutal one it will be. It's at the end of February and the program I'll use to train for it will be 16 weeks, which means I get to train for it through the brunt of the winter. I've begun playing with the "2 hour" half marathon program and it may be a bit much.

Today I clocked some fast (for me) miles while working, on average, at 90% of my heart rate maximum. 4.5 miles in 41 minutes. It sounds so slow, but after all the slow miles I've clocked laying down a base aerobic fitness level this past 12 months, I'm all fired up about adding the speed work.

The last time I added speed work I crashed and burned up. It took me a month to pull out of it. So it's off to beddies for this old fart.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Reading

"The Double" - José Saramago

I used to read a major bit of literature once a week! Now I'm years into Linux and non fiction has ruled my life for the last half dozen years or so.

Fortunatly Mum left behind some gems. I started "The Double" this weekend and I think it's going to be a treat.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Self doubt

   
           
           
        Borges and I








The other one, the one called Borges, is the one things happen to.  I
walk through the streets of Buenos Aires and stop for a moment, perhaps
mechanically now, to look at the arch of an entrance hall and the
grillwork on the gate;  I know of Borges from the mail and see his name
on a list of professors or in a biographical dictionary.  I like
hourglasses, maps, eighteenth-century typography, the taste of coffee
and the prose of Stevenson;  He shares these preferences, but in a vain
way that turns them into the attributes of an actor.  It would be an
exaggeration to say that ours is a hostile relationship;  I live, let
myself go on living, so that Borges may contrive his literature, and
this literature justifies me.  It is no effort for me to confess that
he has achieved some valid pages, but those pages cannot save me,
perhaps because what is good belongs to no one, not even to him, but
rather to the language and to tradition.  Besides, I am destined to
perish, definitively, and only some instant of myself can survive in
him.  Little by little, I am giving over everything to him, though I am
quite aware of his perverse custom of falsifying and magnifying
things.  Spinoza knew that all things long to persist in their being;
the stone eternally wants to be a stone and the tiger a tiger.  I shall
remain in Borges, not in myself (if it is true that I am someone), but
I recognise myself less in his books than in many others or in the
laborious strumming of a guitar.  Years ago I tried to free myself from
him and went from the mythologies of the suburbs to the games with time
and infinity, but those games belong to Borges now and I shall have to
imagine other things.  thus my life is a flight and I lose everything
and everything belongs to oblivion, or to him. 



     I do not know which of us has written this page.




Jorge Luis Borges

Translated by J. E. I.






==================





This piece is from a favourite collection of Borges, "Labyrinths". 
Like Latin rythm and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of
Solitude", this story speaks to me of the very core of this human's
condition with passion and a strong life force.




I had a long discussion with a great many tears involved with a teen
this week surrounding the nature of self doubt.  I'm so lucky to have
young people in my life that can remind me of what's important to
growing up.  When that process is finished, I'll be dead.  Hopefully
that can be combined with the time when my heart no longer beats.




"Jesus, please don't save me till I die" - 

Murray McLauchlan



Friday, October 14, 2005

teach your children well

I got to talking about parenting the other day in the chat room at addforums.com. I had recently learnt a point about children in trouble or "at risk", that I now believe to be very important in making a way through the mine field of growing up a lot easier for these kids. It was suggested I post some more details surrounding those ideas and here it is. However I am a student not a teacher in this approach.

In short, it is very influential to have the child well bonded to at least one caring adult.

My wife and I have been focused on the principles of 'child resiliency' for a while now and we like the changes.

It means that I have to learn a lot of behaviours that are contrary to how I would normally behave. It's not an easy transition for me but it is having a very good influence on our own sometimes difficult adhd eleven year old.

A google search for 'child resilience' or 'child resiliency' will show a large number of links to add to the snippets I've included below.

The comments about mimicking, tone of voice, being positive, and checking put downs are all things I struggle to get beyond. It's shameful to say these things, but I recognise that it what was normal for my Dad and likely his Dad before him and it was normal for me. Buck stopping is not easy, but something I'm obviously hungry to change always.
ian

p.s. - As I write this there is a piece on my beloved CBC Radio One where a writer is making the point I'm trying to make here, but in relation to daycare agenda. Her point was that the most important feature for any child's life in daycare is whether or not there is at least one caring adult with which the child will be able to create a meaningful bond. The other side of the argument was promoting the importance of academic oriented tasks in daycares.

I expect this whole topic will eventually become forefront in the minds of all involved in early child development but I believe it is just as valid in helping teens and adults. Resiliency in all of us is an admirable goal.

Oct. 31/04
http://www.nacoa.net/walk.htm

Bonding and Attachment

While accurate, age-appropriate information and skill building help COAs immeasurably, perhaps the most important gift is the bonding and attachment children attain in healthy relationships with others. As a result of broken promises, harsh words, and the threat of abuse, children in many alcoholic families learn the "Don't Trust" mantra all too well; silence and isolation can become constant companions. In their book The Resilient Self, Drs. Sybil and Steven Wolin describe "Relationships" as an integral part of the Resilience Mandala. In her research, Werner noted that resilient COAs often had a nurturing adult in their lives.

Building trust is a process, not an event; time is the key. Simply caring about a child is all that it takes to start. Listening, regular time together, playing with, validating, respecting, and empowering a youngster will build a positive connection, for children don't care about how much adults know until they know how much adults care.

As bonding grows, a nurturing adult's words take on added meaning and significance as the youngster deeply considers the source. A child may hear accurate information about alcoholism in a brand new way. Moreover, a kid can build upon his or her strengths and resilience as a result of the conscious modeling provided by that caring adult. There simply can't be resilient children unless resilient adults lead the way. Whether we have children of our own or not, many of us can become a nurturing adult in a young child's life. A youngster desperately in need of such an alliance is very close by.


http://www.cwresource.org/hotTopics.../attachment.htm
Resilience: An individual’s competence and successful adaptation, or “bounce back,” following exposure to significant adversity and stressful life events. Vulnerability is the susceptibility to negative developmental outcomes under high-risk conditions.


This from "Strategies for Behavioural Concerns" for school counsellors. This was published by the Manitoba Government and these are only excerpts that I've chosen from this paper. I have changed some all 'student' entries to be 'children' instead.

"The number one indicator of successfor a child is: A good relationship with a caring adult"

Common Behaviours...
- Apathetic procrastination/dismissal of work
- Defiance/aggression
- Apathetic withdrawal
- Tardiness/notebook and textbooks unavailable
- Taunting/misdirection of others
- Learned helplessness/no homework
- Rudeness/personal verbal attacks
- Rule breaking - particularly remaining seated, on-task and quiet

Principles to Remember
- Accept the underlying reasons for the behaviour - brain differences
- respect and accept the characteristics of the child
- Spend time developing a personal relationship
- Search for meaning in what the behaviours are trying to communicate
- Teach the child how to respond to situations
- Recognize and build on the child's strengths
- ** Avoid put downs and power struggles
- "Try differently, not harder". Change gears and try again
- Be flexable in you approach and planning
- Celebrate small successes

The Conflict Struggle

1 - Power struggles occur as a result of a progression of cause and effect events beginning with the troubled child's fragile self-image and feelings of stress and culminating in adult reaction to the child's behaviour.

2 - During the phases of the power struggle, adults often imitate the troubled child's behaviour.

3 - Troubled children have difficulty understanding the reality of the care and support of the therapeutic environment and, as a result often continue to manipulate and intimidate adults.

4 - The Conflict Cycle can be utilized as a model for understanding the dynamics of a specific power struggle in order to avoid escalating of the conflict.

Strategies

- Post rules in simple, short, positive way
- Provide immediate feedback for positive behaviour
- Model behaviour
- Increase supervision and consistent reminders from all care givers regarding appropriate behaviour

Prevention, Intervention and Postvention

>> Prevention activities are strategies that are used with children before the behaviour becomes a major issue.

- Developing and teaching behaviour rules
- Positive versus punitive approaches
- Teaching social skills
- Teaching conflict resolution skills
- teaching anger management

Intervention

>> Intervention activities are those activities or strategies that are used when difficult behaviour has become an issue.

- Reinforcement schedules
- Quiet time
- Daily communication
- Contracts
- Self-monitoring
- Support group
- After-school programs
- Family group conferencing
- Developmental intervention programs
- WEVAS
- Non-violent crisis intervention
- Alternate work areas
- Mentoring programs
- Restitution

Preventing Behaviour Problems

>> Promote the development of responsibility

- Utilize special jobs or privileges as a reward for responsible behaviour
- Encourage children to monitor and correct their own behaviour
- Provide opportunities for success
- Encourage children to work as part of a team

Utilize interventions involving physical space

- Designate an area for 'calming down'
- Provide special seating arrangements
- Maintain close proximity to students who show inappropriate behaviour
- Honour personal space of the child
- Remove distracting objects from children

Take care with verbal communication.

- Utilize a supportive language tone
- Avoid language that is overly authoritative or condescending
- Utilize a rate and rhythm of speech that is even and smooth
- Deliver warning and reminders in a calm manner

Preventing Behaviour Problems

>> Utilize a positive approach to behaviour.

- Utilize a reward system (often verbal) for good behaviour
- Communicate with children using positive language
- Provide individual notes to children
- Provide positive feedback

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

football

A beautiful afternoon to watch the blue and gold kick the pride out of the lions.




Saturday, October 8, 2005

life in the fast lane

You have to love kids.  Oh hang on!  That one is mine!



Gratitude is the attitude.  She could have grown up to challenge this guy for top position I suppose. 



 

Friday, October 7, 2005

Wednesday, October 5, 2005

Boo's run

Upcoming Events:
Girl Guides Trick or Treat Run - October 29th
Santa Shuffle - December 3rd
Resolution Run - January 1, 2006
You can register for these events online at www.runningroom.com or at the store with cash(no debit) or cheque.

Hmmm... should I? I'd love to have a bunch of other excuses, but after today I'm not so sure that's where all the fun is. Late last week in the hall at school, Boo was trying to talk Kim into running in the cross country running meet at Rosisle today. Kim thinks she's a sprint specialist and couldn't comprehend running 3 kilometers. The last time Boo ran competitively it was a disaster. In her earlier grades she placed last with only the severely handicapped autistic girl finishing behind her.

Today she got over that. I've been running a bit and it's been wearing off in positive ways all round. I couldn't be more pleased. Bonnie ran as our only representative in the senior girls. She was one of the younger in the crew. She can run again next year in the same category. Out of a field of 48 she placed 23rd. She ran a very intelligent race. She's been thinking!

It was a cold day. Breezy and overcast with the temperature only small single digits above the freezing mark. It's been a great and warm fall, but today was a bit of a reality check. Many of the kids were over dressed and under warmed up. By that I mean that they didn't bother to run a warm up prior to starting and many wore too many clothes to run in.

I didn't notice, but Bonnie took off 15 minutes before race time and did a slow 10 minute warm up. When I caught site of her at the starting line to take her gear, she was all flushed and centred. What a treat. She looked all of the grown up woman she'll be and more. Nothing like fresh air, good skin and a steady confidence to bring out the best in a girl. < insert proud Papa >

I had been dropping seeds of what I had hoped would be wisdom in her ear for several days and she obviously took what she needed and molded it to her needs. She started strong and didn't let up. She'd done no training, but if you know Boo at all you know she's not a couch potato.

By the time I saw her again she had run all but 200 meters of the 3km's and she was seriously considering that she didn't have anything left to get the last little bit of the race behind her. I think she had surprised herself. Apparently she reconsidered when someone behind her tried to make a bit to over take her in the last hundred meters. It looked like death would be a privalage, rather than giving up her spot. What a great bit of fun to watch her do so well.

She had balanced herself perfectly. She didn't go out so hot that she wasn't able to be at a good pace coming in the stretch for home and she still had enough left to fend off any challenge to her position at the end. A little retching at the line is acceptable I think. :D She's a keener when it comes to going hard, that's for sure. The treat was that some thought had gone into her race and not just blind effort that so seldom had reaped rewards for her. This time she cashed in. An expertly run race. Now... if I can just introduce the concept of preporation.

Well done Bonnie.

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

distractions much?

      
eating is love
brought to you by the geek factor at isLove Generator







Next on the fedora front may be getting my dvb card up and running. Computer as tv receiver!

fall

I don't ever remember the fall colours being so vibrant.  Some of
it looks like it's on fire.  Today will probably be the last of it
though.  The weather has turned cool and damp, so I went out as
the rain started and took these shots of the trees around the house. 



I was losing light quickly so the exposure times were really slow and thus, the lack of sharp detail. 



I love Glen Gould.









I've been pounding away slowly making Fedora Core 4 comply with my
wishes.  I think Fedora Core 4 is harder to install than Redhat
6.2 was when I first stumbled my way through my first attempts at
running Linux.  The new (to me) SELinux

leaves me shaking my head. 



I have maybe always been good at posing questions, but if you were new
to Linux and not aqainted with how to search out beyond your current
boundaries, it would be very tough to get all the bells and whistles
working I think.  Mp3 support, java, NTFS support, codecs for
media players and such all would be almost impossible for a winduhs
user to fall into and succeed.  I guess that's what an "install
fest" is for.  Wish I'd had one.



I found a couple of guides that were really helpful.  The first is by Stanley Finely and the other I used extensively was by Mauriat Miranda.




Sunday, October 2, 2005

pool guy on the lamb

Another huge day of physical labour. The images of the project have been updated.



We got to put water in the damn thing today. It'll be a couple of days
before the water is up to the inlets, but I do believe it's over. Today
a big crew showed up to help handle the liner. It was a warm day for
this time of year and that helped keep the vinyl from becoming too
stiff. Although John had kept it warm in the house and then in the car
during transport to try and help that along.



It was too nice a day for most people to be interested in working too
hard, so after the company left John and I moved the half yard of
material that had been augured out to sink the sump culvert, the yard
of sand that was left and then a half yard of gravel. We cut out a
bunch of volunteer oak from around the well and dressed up the
surrounding area with the sand and gravel.




Here's hoping I've got something left to go for a run with tomorrow.
Those are big days, but John's pretty easy to work with. He laughs
easily and that makes the difference.