life Archives - Page 10 of 23

Vegetation

I really enjoy having plants in my apartment. However, I can never seem to keep them alive for very long. It’s not that I don’t want to, or that I purposefully forget, it’s just that life is busy, and the first thing on my mind is not watering them. Unfortunately, the only time I really remember is when they start to look like then need some TLC. Thankfully, the plants, I have now seem to be able to bounce back from that, but it definitely limits what I can keep.

Oh, and the lighting in our apartment is either non-existant, or it’s brutally hot. I wish I could find something to put in the kitchen window sills, but everything I’ve tried with so far has, essentially, been fried.

World Cup 2006 Coverage

What the hell is ABC thinking? Saturday, 11:30 PM CST, World Cup coverage (Ghana vs Czech Republic, awesome game), 1:00 PM CST some crappy ABC Kids show, 1:30 PM CST more World Cup Coverage (USA vs Italy).

Seriously, why the hell are they putting some awful kids show between the two FIFA games? Talk about losing viewers, especially when everyone’s trying to promote US Soccer.

LiveMeeting 2005

LiveMeeting 2005: when it works, it’s great, when it doesn’t, talk about horrible. I’m trying to listen to some TechEd webcasts, but I get no audio. The error message comes up and says it can’t download the codec that is used and I should click on “Web Help”. Where is this mysterious “Web Help” button? Also, why does it just not tell me what codec the audio stream is using so, well, I don’t know, go look for it?

Talk about annoying.

Drive Compression

Reason #1 why you DO NOT enable windows drive compression: uncompressing.

Just to leave this entry not so cryptic…

Windows compression is definitely not the way to go in any scenario. Between the speed hit, the little space you actually get, and how cheap hard drive space is now, there is no reason to use it.

Oh, did I mention how long it takes to uncompress a drive?

Office 2007 Beta 2

Office 2007 Beta 2 has been out for awhile, and I must say, I’m impressed. I really like the new layout in instead of the old file, edit, view, etc menu. It took awhile to get used to, but I think I’ve found where everything is now. I’m also digging the new, and probably temporary, default font, Calibri. Granted, any one using Office 2003 and earlier can’t see the font. The built in RSS feeds in Outlook and the To-Do bar is a nice addition too. Oh, and don’t forget the preview on the fly for things like color, font, and style changes. Very slick.

However, there are a few things I don’t like. I really don’t like how Outlook doesn’t use the same layout as word, excel, etc. If they’re going to change it one place, they really need to change it everywhere. It’s not like Outlook’s toolbars are that much radically different than Word’s either. Also, while the RSS feeds in outlook are nice, there are some serious downsides. The biggest of which is the inability to edit anything about the feeds, particularly the refresh time after you’ve added it. Plus, by default, when you add a feed, the update limit is taken from the publisher’s recommendation. Most sites, however, don’t publish this data so the feed will never update. So, when you add a feed, be sure to click the advanced button and uncheck the ‘Update Limit’ checkbox unless the provider has actually set the limit.

Speaking of which, I should probably look into how to do that with my RSS feed.

Walking to Work

Today is one of the reasons I walk to work when it’s nice out. 62 degrees out, mostly sunny, cool breeze coming from Lake Michigan. How can you not want to be outside? Actually, I walk to work even when it’s not so perfect. Basically, anything above 45 degrees and I’m hiking it. Granted, it is only a thirty minute walk.

Framing

I’d feel guilty not doing anything with all the pictures that I’ve taken and printed these last 7 weeks, so I’ve been trying to get information about framing. For what I’m wanting to do (a whole wall of framed pictures), custom framing is out of the question, but at the same point, I’d like something that looks half way professional.

So, tonight I’ve been looking at how exactly you go about framing yourself and different frames. So far, it doesn’t look too bad. The hardest part is apparently the mat board, but from what I’ve read, it doesn’t look that hard. And I figure it’d be a good skill to have if I keep taking pictures. It be good for gift giving too!

I’m basically looking for a nice, modern, black frame that’s on the cheap. I’ve found a few, but it’s so hard to really get an idea of how they look on the web, and I know I most likely won’t get as cheap of a price here in town. Oh, and then there’s the glass, many of the websites don’t send the glass, for obvious reasons.

Unfortunately, there are a few things I’d have to buy, and the above website only really talks about how to create the mat board. What about mounting and the like? This may require a trip to the library or an Amazon purchase, but I definitely think this is the way to go, especially with the number of prints I, already, have.

Photography Classes

Well, next week is my last week for Photo I Digital up at the Chicago Photography Center. However, classes for the next session actually start up next week too (week of June 5th). That’s right kids, if you want to learn how to take better pictures, or just how to use your SLR camera more effectively, you too can take classes. Heck, if you’re interested, I can even get you 10% off, just contact me for details.

The real delimma for me is to take Photo II or not. I think I’m going to, but the wallet is already feeling the hurt from the first one, plus the camera, plus the supplies. However, I definitely feel like I’ve improved over the 8 weeks, and I know I’ve learned a lot. Way more than I would’ve had I just bought a book and tried to do it on my own.

Summer is Here

Summer is most definitely here, and on the correct weekend no less! As I type this, it is 81 degrees outside with 55% humidity. Welcome to the midwest.

To kick off summer right, Erin and I went for a bike ride. It wasn’t that hard to convince her to go, especially since she just got her new bike. We started out in Lemont at Waterfall Glen, and then headed down to Lockport and did the I & M Canal trail between Lockport and Joliet. Grand total, probably ~20 miles. Not bad, especially since we put in ~20 miles earlier in the week.

So, I had never taken the I & M Canal trail that far South out of Lockport, which means I had never seen the old steel mill ruins (steel mill closed in the 1930’s) that are down near Joliet either. Talk about awesome. I definitely need to get my camera down there. Certain parts looked like a bombed out town, and the old locks that are still in the old part of the canal are awesome too. It’s interesting to see what it used to look like through various photographs, because it sure doesn’t look that way now.

Oh, and for all you Prison Break fans (Aaron), the trail goes right by the old Joliet state prison, which is the one in the show. Definitely need to get pictures of that too.

Crappy Day

I really hope that yesterday isn’t as awful as yesterday. It wasn’t even like I was that busy, it’s just the things that I was tasked with took about 5 hours too long for various reasons (piss-poor documentation, machine slowness from misc crap installed [production mind you], etc)

I was getting so angry that I actually had to go out for a walk to blow off steam before 2 late afternoon meetings.