2009 — 16 January: Friday
The lure of a brief window of not-quite-too-foul-for-walking weather may yet get Mike and me out into the fresh air later today. Meanwhile, I have another picture of Christa as a relatively new mother back in Old Windsor in 1980:
She was a fantastic mother. Now back to the rebuilding and replumbing of the downstairs A/V system. Not quite time to say "G'night". We have (at 01:09) what you could say is first-stage ignition. That's to say, the surround sound speakers are all replumbed and I've been trying out the built-in FM tuner and its presets. All is well so far, but I think I shall call it a night. More detailed setup relies on screen displays, and I'm nowhere near having that back online yet. G'night. At 02:15, with the cassette deck, the Freeview box (that I use primarily as a radio tuner) and a bit of one of the two Freeview PVRs now plumbed in. I must say, I like what I've heard so far, though I doubt the neighbours appreciated the late-night blast of a 25-year-old cassette of the "Eroica" symphony... Still, one has to wind the wick up to "11" occasionally, don't you agree?
Resurfacing
It's 09:03 and rather dull-looking out there. But not actually watering at the moment. So a walk should be on the agenda ahead of what looks like a rotten batch of weather for the weekend. Better check my email... I have my marching orders, though we haven't actually decided quite where yet. See ya later.
Later
It's 16:52 and darkening quite fast. The rain earlier mostly managed to fall away from us, but it wasn't a photogenic day. Fresh air, though, was in plentiful supply. Some of the afternoon, after the walk, was spent extracting the BBC Radio 4 play from Mike's Humax PVR and converting the transmission stream file into several audio file formats to give Brian (who's currently swanning around in, or en route to Patagonia) a choice of listening options on his return. The ansaphone was flashing at me when I got back. It seems Junior will be here tonight to visit the dentist tomorrow. I have a legit excuse all prepared for not having answered the mobile this morning, however: it was (inaudible) in my rucksack on the back seat as I was driving out to our walking route.
A cuppa is freshly-brewed, and the rest of the A/V system re-assembly awaits my inattention. Need to declutter Junior's sleeping space first, of course.
I seem to have missed an annual Washington Post competition. Here's a taster:
[from] the Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply
a new definition.
Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly
R.I.P. John Mortimer and Andrew Wyeth
Another fine pair of chaps. John Mortimer was a superb writer, and Andrew Wyeth an interesting painter. And so the toll continues, heh? I adapted SWMBA (she who must be adored) from Mortimer's Rumpole character who referred to his fictional wife Hilda as SWMBO (she who must be obeyed). This, in turn, was taken (as far as I know) from H Rider Haggard's immortal She.
Half systems "go"
It's now 19:38 and I've been listening to the story about Gene Krupa while digesting the last of the inner man's latest batch of fuel. The left-hand stack of the A/V system is all back online. Yet to go back are the plasma screen's control box, a minidisc recorder, and... well, actually, I seem to have a couple of spare shelves! How the heck did that happen? I may just re-instate that Oppo DVD player, or maybe the original Humax PVR. The Onkyo amplifier, by the way, incorporates an FM tuner — a fact I'd managed to overlook. I haven't finished considering where to house the Ubuntu Media PC, but I'm now leaning (as it were) towards what was Christa's study for that. The wireless network does make things more flexible.
Right! Iteration one is now complete. The next cuppa is poised. The porch light is on for Junior. And it's 22:10. What's next, Mrs Landingham?