computer whining
Aug. 3rd, 2006 10:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lauradi7dwA week or so ago we switched to fiber optic cable from the old reliable copper. New router, etc. Apparently information is still wafting through the air, but the retrofitted 8 (10?) year old Toshiba laptop I'd been using is unable to nab all the packets as they wing past. After a few days of pondering, I bought a new Acer laptop. It's supposed to be part of my education that I set things up by myself, but it's not going entirely well. I've always claimed that I'm hoping a day will come when such devices can be treated like any other simple appliance, but that's not true yet. I'm not asking for toaster simplicity, but how about microwave oven? No such luck. I managed to download Thunderbird without too much trouble, but while it is willing to receive my email, it won't let me send any. I'm sure I'm saving lots of time by not being able to look at Quicktime stuff or flash stuff or hear music, but sooner or later I should spend days downloading, I guess. I haven't even made a default home page yet, or chosen wallpaper, or figured out how to set the clock. I think I'm currently computing on Aukland time. The new screen seems too bright to me. I've been fondly remembering the days of green type on a black background, but I don't know how to look for such a retro thing.
I also had one of my occasional existential sewing crises today, when I spent much of the afternoon staring at fabric, trying to decide how big to cut a neck hole. I tend to be hesitant when sewing without a pattern anyway, and in this case I keep thinking of the maxim "If you're making a neck hole, your head is smaller than you think. If you're making a hood, your head is bigger than you think."
Weather news - at about 7 PM EST, it became cooler outside than in, whereas for much of the afternoon it was the other way around. It's still 88 degrees F in the dining room, warmer upstairs. Party to experience snow, I watched "The Family Stone" (not a terrific movie, but not as bad as I feared. In in interview, the actor who plays the gay deaf son who is in a biracial relationship spoke fondly of the director's committment to diversity, as opposed to thinking of himself as covering all the token characters in one, almost). It was cooling to see a Christmas flick while I was sitting in front of a Vornado fan, periodically leaving the room to dunk my head in cold water.
I also had one of my occasional existential sewing crises today, when I spent much of the afternoon staring at fabric, trying to decide how big to cut a neck hole. I tend to be hesitant when sewing without a pattern anyway, and in this case I keep thinking of the maxim "If you're making a neck hole, your head is smaller than you think. If you're making a hood, your head is bigger than you think."
Weather news - at about 7 PM EST, it became cooler outside than in, whereas for much of the afternoon it was the other way around. It's still 88 degrees F in the dining room, warmer upstairs. Party to experience snow, I watched "The Family Stone" (not a terrific movie, but not as bad as I feared. In in interview, the actor who plays the gay deaf son who is in a biracial relationship spoke fondly of the director's committment to diversity, as opposed to thinking of himself as covering all the token characters in one, almost). It was cooling to see a Christmas flick while I was sitting in front of a Vornado fan, periodically leaving the room to dunk my head in cold water.
