life with the furry and feathered crew

Computers ! My head hurts from banging it on the wall.

Sheesh, computers are just about the worst time-sink there is. I had a keyboard (wireless) that I loved. Unfortunately the mouse died. It was wireless but was mechanical, not optical. In an attempt one morning to clean it, the insides popped out and couldn't be put back together again. Sigh. I must admit that this was already my 2d identical keyboard/mouse combo as the keyboard died on the first one and Geikie had taken a chunk out of the mouse wheel as well.

Okay, so Terry went to the store and came back with a Microsoft wireless keyboard / optical mouse combo. This was what I had requested, so I eagerly plugged it all in and away I went. Weeeelllll, no matter where I put the RF communicator, I kept getting irritating messages that either the mouse signal quality or the keyboard signal quality was too low. GRRRRRR. My recourse was to turn the damn notification off. But then the mouse just didn't work well some of the time. So what was a poor user to do? Get another mouse/keyboard of course.

First brand -- AOpen; second brand -- Microsoft; third brand -- Logitech. Cool. Except that now my mouse scrolling wouldn't work because I have my computers linked through a KVM switch (keyboard, video, mouse switch device for you non-geek readers). Of course I found out that emulating the mouse functions is not very good through KVM switches and many others had similar frustrating experiences. It's entirely brand dependent --- both on the KVM switch and the mouse brands. And on top of that, the keyboard buttons for all the extra special functions (which I don't use much) are totally mis-mapped. Press the "email" button and the "favorites" list pops up. AARRRGGGHHHH.

Some users and the help at both Logitech and Microsoft suggested unloading the specialty device drivers and using the old tried and true PS/2 compatible mouse drivers. Smile. OK. Load up the generic drivers and now a program I use a lot won't work properly. Now I'm tearing my hair out, screeching the primal scream.

So what am I doing today? Re-installing the Microsoft keyboard and mouse. I surrender. UNCLE !!!!!!

Anniversary

Today is Terry's and my anniversary. It's been 1 year since we committed to a life together. To celebrate we are going out to a swank steak and meat restaurant. Taking along our finest bottle of shiraz.

Where have all my socks gone?

I'm in deep danger of ending up with many single, unmatched socks. Especially in the morning as I'm watching the news I see a dog with a sock in her mouth sneaking by. This morning there were TWO socks in the living room. And they weren't a pair either. OK. So I pick them up and go in the bedroom to get dressed. My helper comes along and starts the other sock game. It's called... tug on the sock that Carol is trying to put on her foot and better yet, bite her foot too. Somehow I manage to get my socks on without too much damage to my foot and then the next game starts. Keep Carol from tying her shoelaces by tugging on the ends and biting her hands. I don't know how I ever get finished dressing in the morning.

Stand Up ? Place Taken by Guess Who

The instant either Terry or I stand up, Jarah rushes in to take our seat.

The Eco-Friendly Paper Shredder

We wasted our money on an electric paper shredder. Yesterday, we discovered that we already had an enivonmentally-friendly, ecologically-friendly, bio-efficient paper shredder in our midst. Only it is a little slow.

I inserted the edge of a piece of paper between the bars of Geikie's cage. The paper was drawn into the cage. The paper shredder then headed across the floor of the cage and climbed up to the shredding station with the paper firmly clutched in his beak. At the station, he proceeded to shred it into pieces small enough that no one would be able to reassemble it. In fact, it fell to the tray underneath his cage and now serves as paper to soak up his droppings. Fantastic! The paper was automatically recycled. We calculated that he could probably shred 4 pieces of A4 paper in an hour. So if the load isn't great, then Geikie is clearly the environmentally sound choice.

What a week

This has been a tiring week. Glad it's over, even though I didn't get everything done. I was 3 pages from finishing editing a paper when Jarah decided my day was over. Thanks Jarah.

Earlier today I did my first ever seminar by video. Because I got sick after my last trip to Oz, I couldn't travel to Colombia for a talk at the Cassava Biotechnology Network International meeting. It wasn't too sad actually as my talk was the very last one of a 5-day meeting. There usually aren't very many people left by then.

I decided this week to try taking Jarah to agility classes. She has lots of energy and is very responsive. A good candidate for agility.

Jarah is not perfect

I've been accused of having a dog that walks on water. This is absolutely not true. Jarah has many faults. To name a few:

- she noses through the bathroom trash (this morning I found her chewing on a discarded toothbrush)
- she sheds white hair on my black clothes
- she expects pets when we're sitting on the toilet
- she'll turn up her nose at her dinner but wolfs down geikie's food he's thrown on the floor
- she's too cute

Did I Hear Right ?

On the (alleged) news, the reader said that Bush has sent several investigators to Iraq to gather evidence to convict Hussein of war crimes. Nothing like a foregone conclusion in a court of law.

Another Movie Review: Monster

After a several week hiatus, we went to the noon-time showing of Monster. For those that don't know, it's the story of a serial killer in Florida back around 1990 (?). Lee was a highway hooker who fell in love with a young lesbian. While earning some money for the two of them, Lee is raped and kills her raper. From this turning point in her life she goes on to kill and rob another 6 or so of her johns -- men she views as rapists. Lee and her lover are opposites in how they grew up, seemingly some of the attraction for each other. They are both loners and outcasts, so cling to each other for support. The lover ultimately betrays Lee, which made me sad for Lee. Lee is played by Charlize Theron, who won and deserved the Oscar for this role.

Now we have problems

Geikie not only laughs like me, now he barks like Jarah.