I’m tired and freezing! Let me tell you why:

I left work a bit after 6:30pm (started at 9am), having had a headache for a few hours by then, and when I got to the bus stop it said 6 minutes to the next bus. Great!

6 minutes went – the bus didn’t.

Next it said 20 minutes to the next bus. All right, I’ll wait.

20 minutes went – the bus still didn’t.

Next I decided to take any bus that would take me closer to home. I only had to wait for 4 minutes more.

The next problem was figuring out what next: It was around 7:15pm at this point. I wouldn’t make the train at 7:30 and the next one went at 8 (and then I’d have to stand on it for 7 minutes and walk for 10-15). I was also thinking about going to the very last stop of the bus I was on, which would’ve taken 30-40 minutes and then I would’ve had to wait for 15 minutes at worst (if I was lucky) for the next connecting bus or just walk straight home for 20-25 minutes (but do I have to mention I was freezing at this point).

Luckily right before the train station I realised I have several possible trains to get to a station where I could take a bus that should run at 10-15 minute intervals. I quickly checked the trains on my mobile and there was one going in 3 minutes, so I jumped out and ran to the train.

During the 4 minutes on the train I checked when the bus might be going next: 2-3 minutes after the train arrived. Excellent! Again, I jumped out and ran to the stop.

The bus was late — but only for about 7 minutes, so after a while I was at home. Home!

Boy, I feel like sleeping in tomorrow… (not going to happen) Well, at least it’s Friday then.

I’ve been quite busy — to put it mildly — at work for about a month now. It all escalated when I received a massive project to finish in half the time that was originally scheduled for it. That was because I received it a month late…

I’m usually good at forgetting the stressful work stuff outside of 9 to 5 (or 9 to 6/7 which is often the case) but when I’m extremely busy (“don’t know if I’m going to manage this” kind of busy) I find myself thinking about schedules when I’m trying to fall asleep. I suppose it’s not all bad since I often have good ideas then. (During the day I only have time to do not think.)

But last night I had apparently had enough: I dreamt about working! It was as if my hectic day continued all through the night. If that’s not a sign of proper stress I don’t know what is.

This story has a happy ending, though. Just this morning (perfect timing! Although I could’ve done without the dream…) I received a message letting me know that the schedule had been extended by a month. Finally!

I’ve been taking extra vitamins every morning in a fizzy tablet form since last autumn (I think I started just before I was leaving for Australia – in August). Not sure if it has done anything good but it can’t hurt. I haven’t had any long flu episodes but I can’t remember how I was before…

The other day I got to talking with some co-workers about fish oils and one said that she’s noticed a benefit in taking them. I’ve been thinking about trying some for a while so now I thought, why not?

The fish oil tablets contain vitamins A, D, and E. And the fizzy tablets fill the gaps nicely with vitamins B and C.

Now I’ll just have wait and see what the benefits are. Maybe it’ll enhance my memory.

Home sweet home, indeed. I’m getting so tired of this.

Last summer they started fixing things around the building according to what people had reported. (Well, except for my balcony.) One day I got a note that they’d be fixing my balcony door (I hadn’t reported it but I’m glad they caught there was something wrong with it).

After a while I got a note they’d be checking that the balcony door is ok now. Well, it wasn’t, so I got a second note that they’d be fixing it.

It was at the beginning of this winter, I believe, when I got a note that they’d be checking that the latest fix had fixed it. (It needs to be cold for a while to take the measurements or whatever.) Well, it hadn’t been fixed, so I got a third note that they’d be fixing it.

Last Friday I got a note saying that they’d check the door again on Monday. They checked it today and guess what — I got a note saying that they’re fixing it again, tomorrow!

Sigh. I’ve been living here soon for 2 years and I still have builders marching around my apartment when I’m not around.

Ever since I got my new computer my old one has been understandably neglected. It’s been such a hassle crawling under the table to switch the monitor cable back and forth that I’ve just left it be. (I do have 2 keyboards and 2 mice but not really space on the desk for all 4 peripherals.) At least I have an access to the files on my old computer so I’ve been able to move what I want over, but I still want to keep on playing with old Sullivan every now and then (I’m thinking of trying out Ubuntu on it).

One Saturday morning I was planning on going to the centre to look for a VGA+USB+audio switch so I looked at the websites of a couple of shops I thought could be promising. I’d been looking at this Aten CS-62U at a web store but the delivery estimate was 5-10 days and I figured I couldn’t wait that long; I’d rather go in a store and pick up a switch.

Well, the stores that I looked at didn’t seem to have what I was looking for, the weather was kinda cold, and I was feeling lazy after a rough week (work) so I decided to order the switch after all. The 5 days’ wait wasn’t too bad. I went to pick up the switch last night — after an hour of queuing — and picked up a fresh Nokia battery and Chronicles of Riddick Dark Athena while I was waiting.

This morning I hooked it up. The guide says to turn off all power from the computers, hook everything up and then turn on the computer(s). Well, I did that and nothing worked. I figured it was the same situation as when I’d hooked up my special keyboard and mouse for my very first start-up of the new computer — and the screen kept being black, and nothing lighted up on the keyboard and mouse. So, I plugged my keyboard, mouse, and screen directly to the computer and surfed to Aten’s site to look for a driver. None available. Isn’t this nice.

I read the manual a bit further and it mentions a hot-key for quickly switching between the ports (2 x Scroll Lock). I put everything back again (except for the screen), and pressed Scroll Lock twice. Lo and behold. It made the lovely little chime and started installing a driver. Phew.

I suppose pressing the Scroll Lock would’ve worked the first time around (without having to plug in the switch while the computer was running) but it was actually supposed to detect the computer that turns on first and switch to using that port. Oh well. Now it’s working and after adjusting the resolution back to 1280×1024 everything seems to look the same as before.

Welcome back Sullivan! (I haven’t tried this on it yet, though.)

Hello, my name is Angus. I’m an Aspire-ing entertainment centre. I enjoy FPSs, surfing, and occasionally wearing a skirt. I have a handsome brushed steel exterior and my innermost core is Phenomenal, if I may say so myself. I’m a bit of a softie (Win7 variety) but you better be on good terms with me since I never forget anything — everything’s stored in my gigantic memory and hard disk. (Technically, “giga” is too small a word to describe the disk, but I don’t want to brag.)

—

The first start-up was interesting — in addition to having a mild heart attack when the screen (my old one) wouldn’t work. I plugged out all extra peripherals, plugged in the mouse and the keyboard that came with the computer, and restarted a 2nd time. Thankfully, this time it worked!

I decided to go with Finnish Windows although I’m very comfortable with English. I may regret this later since it’s, of course, easier to look for info and help online when you know the English application names, menu options etc. During the first steps, one of the buttons was incorrectly labeled in French (Suivant, I suppose that’s “Next”). Tsk tsk. Who’s in charge of the localisations? It may’ve been Acer’s dialogue, actually, and not Windows. Having briefly visited Acer’s Finnish website, I think that’s exactly the case. The translation there is horrific.

There is a mysterious hidden compartment on top of the computer. It’s slightly bigger than a CD. I don’t know for what I’m supposed to use it but since I’m currently making a recovery DVD (requires 3), I may stash those in there. Luckily 3 DVDs were included in the package. (Sure, I have stacks of DVDs but it’s nice that they were considerate.)

Even the texts in this recovery disk program sound strange: “Tarkastamassa taustakuvaa”. Checking background image? Why would it do that? Maybe it’s supposed to mean “background checking image” (disk image). I have no idea.

This is a nicely silent computer. My previous ones (both Fujitsu Siemens) have been quite noisy. Possibly due to collected dust, and maybe even the power supply is to blame (Dad mentioned that my older computer (Simon) got better when they swapped the power supply. Good thing, too, that this is silent since I’m planning on keeping it on the desk instead of under.

(OK, I’m already regretting my language choice. Still, I’m convinced all the bad language is thanks to Acer, not Microsoft.)

Can’t decide whether I should start thinking about the migration right away or install Tomb Raider Underworld…

All work and no play makes Minna a dull girl…? I think I better check that TR:U installs properly since that’s the reason I got this machine. (Well, not exactly but it certainly accelerated the decision.)

Can’t believe it’s yet another new year. I’ve been very lazy in blogging lately but, frankly, there hasn’t been much to blog about. The autumn has gone by so fast.

I got Tomb Raider: Underworld for Christmas but my current computer has difficulty running it (I bet it’s the graphics card which is too old). My birthday is conveniently coming up so I thought I’d pamper myself to a new computer with Windows 7. (I just checked my blog; my current computer, Sullivan, is 4.5 years old!) I actually have quite a few games in store that I haven’t been able to play yet, e.g. Jericho and the newest Prince of Persia (haven’t tried it at all, but the minimum supported graphics card is newer than my current one).

Originally I was planning on getting a new computer once I knew the requirements for Alan Wake. Now that they’re not promising a PC version anymore, I can’t wait with the upgrade. If they end up making the game too demanding for my new PC, I’ll just have to get an Xbox 360 (which is the main platform for the game)

Maybe with the help of a new computer I can wait with my phone purchase a little longer, at least until they announce this year’s new models. I haven’t been able to decided between N900 and N97 so I’m hoping there’ll be a new phone about which I can make up my mind.

I baked a yummy big crumb coffee cake for Christmas. I made a filling from rhubarb and strawberries (drool) and as “dark brown sugar” I used muscovado which I happened to have in my cupboard. The cake seemed like a lot of work but I think most of that was because the muscovado was clumped up. I spent a long time trying to get the base of the crumb mixture (butter+sugar) smooth and ended up having it maybe too fluffy (sugar and butter will turn foamy after a while). It was very good after it had had time to set (i.e. the next day and after that). First I didn’t think so, but now I feel I could try it again some time (I just have to remember to de-clump the sugar) — after the last 8 pieces have gone from my freezer I had to freeze it, it would’ve been dangerous to keep it in the fridge…

I have a huuuge dilemma: I’m trying to decide which Nokia device to get next and I just can’t make up my mind this time!

There is the N97, the N900 (not available just yet), XpressMusic 5800 (getting kinda old ), and the upcoming X6 (no idea when it’s coming out), that have all caught my interest. And who knows about what’s coming out soon!

I would choose the N900 in a heartbeat because I’m very curious about Maemo, if only it had a radio and a multimedia message feature. (I don’t use either of them very much but they’d be useful to have.) The 5800 is the first touch screen device, released quite a while ago, so I figure the newer ones should have improved technology — and it has only a 3.2 megapixel camera which is what I have now in my 3-year-old phone (!). I think N97 would be my number one choice right now, but N900 is too close a second.

I must make up my mind though, since all these devices are around 600 euros each… (If I was rich I’d get the N900 and wait around for a bit to see if something amazing comes along and if not, get the N97.)

I think it’s the Australian radio channel Nova 96.9 that boasts with the slogan “never more than two ads in a row.” That’s great for a radio station.

I don’t really care for the two identical piles of advertisements I get in through my letterbox every so often. Either the paperboy has no clear strategy on how to deliver the mail in the building, or he’s left with one extra bunch because I live next to someone who has a “no ads, please” sticker on their door.

If only they delivered some great discount coupons but we don’t really get any of those. I may need to attach a sticker of my own: “No double ads, please”?

So often in life I feel like a stand-up comedian — for v-e-r-y s-l-o-w people. Hindsight is 20-20 and more often than not I think of a witty response when it’s too late.

Just today I was walking home from the grocery store, carrying a very heavy grocery back, feeling like my arm would fall of if I’m not quick enough. I walked by a stand offering Omega3 pills and there was a very persistent guy trying to get people to stop. He tried to get me to stop and said “please, stop for a while.” I kept walking and he kept trying. Lastly he said “there’s some omega3 for you. It’s healthy!” I walked on by.

Just an instant later I thought of what I should’ve said in response: “So is brisk walking!”

Sigh.