This Is The Goo I've Got – Page 25 – Colliding hadrons in my underpants since 2002

Gardening Stunt 2007

The blackberries are already thriving

Post author By pete
Post date 2008-01-07
4 Comments on The blackberries are already thriving

*This is a companion piece to a similarly-themed article on Karen’s site which, all things being equal, should be published at roughly the same time.*

We’re getting an allotment!

My role in this project is very much as hired muscle. I think it’s going to be up to me to do all the digging and clearing and other manual labour. Hopefully this means that Karen will be the Weed Queen and keep all of that stuff in check.

Since uniting with Karen, I don’t really do much cooking, it’s true. I’m not a completely incapable cook, and if she went away for a while I am sure that I’d be able to pick up where I left off. But in the absence of such a situation, we have a mutually beneficial arrangement. I haven’t had to do much cooking for the last 3 years, and she has rarely had to touch a vacuum cleaner. I mop floors, do all the car admin, get the TV license, take the bin bags out on Mondays, trim the ivy, make the bed and keep her WordPress installation up to date, she does the laundry and grocery shopping. We’re both happy with the division of labour.

So when it comes to deciding what to grow at the allotment, I have to defer to her. And if she asks me what I think we should do, I’ll give her my ideas (Hey! How about we plant everything *diagonally*?!?!?! ((yes, I really did make this suggestion)) ) and she’ll smile politely, somewhat condescendingly, and ignore my stupid ideas. Because, truth be told, I’m like the three year old with a plastic hammer who is “helping” his dad to put up a fence.

But what I do know for certain is that we need a shed. A huge great big shed, mounted on stilts, in case it rains.

Tags allotment

Daily

Post author By
Post date 2008-01-03
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Create a separate home partition in Ubuntu

“This guide is for creating a separate /home partition if you already installed Ubuntu without a /home partition”

Daily

Post author By
Post date 2008-01-01
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12/26/07 02:19 PM

The NoScript extension for Firefox is what we call a “must-have”, but it has a very annoying habit of directing you to their website after each update. This comment on Life Hacker explains how to disable this.
Feature: Slim Down and Speed Up Linux

Ubuntu has six virtual terminals enabled by default – this article includes instructions on how to disable most of them.

About Me Stunt 2007

New Year’s Resolutions

*This is a companion piece to a similarly-themed article on Karen’s site which, all things being equal, should be published at roughly the same time.*

I seem to have developed a very agreeable system. I’ve had it in place for a few years. I start writing my New Years Resolutions in the first week of January, and continue to quietly append to the list until somewhere around summer. Then, in October, I write a blog post revealing what they were, and how successful I’ve been ([2006] [2007]).

My first New Years Resolution for 2008 is therefore to continue to use this system.

*Next week’s stunt post will be on the subject of our new allotment – look out for it on Monday.*

Tags resolutions

Daily

Post author By
Post date 2007-12-30
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Changing the Default File Manager in Gnome

Nautilus can be a little bit sluggish sometimes. You may wish to try Thunar instead.

Gardening

The decline of Snappy

Regular readers will be familiar with Snappy, the venus fly trap that I have been nurturing for the last two years.

This afternoon, Karen and I were in the conservatory, pouring wormery juice onto the plants therein. She looked out into the garden.

“Is that Snappy’s pot, out there on the table?”

I followed her line of sight.

Oh God no. Please, no. Shit.

Snappy must have been out there for a few weeks, because he was well and truly drowned. Now, I know that they can survive underwater for months at a time, but we’ve also had a few frosts in recent weeks, which can’t have done him any good. He’s not looking well. Not at all. I think that this is the end.

Tags snappy, venus fly trap, VFT

Computing Music Stunt 2007

What I want for Christmas

Post author By pete
Post date 2007-12-24
No Comments on What I want for Christmas

*This is a companion piece to a similarly-themed article on Karen’s site which, all things being equal, should be published at roughly the same time.*

I’d quite like a new hard drive for my computer. It currently contains a 40GB drive and an 80GB drive, and what with photographs and MP3s and occasional TV shows, I often find myself running out of space.

*UPDATE: Didn’t get a hard drive, so I ordered myself one on the 27th. I decided to go for a 250GB Seagate Barracuda.*

I also need some new slippers. I have made frequent announcements to this end, and I think I can be pretty certain that someone will have heard my call. My current pair were from the market, and within weeks the seams had given way and my toes were pointing out the front. I tried to patch them up, but it was only a temporary fix. I’ll miss the ventilated slippers, in a way. I enjoyed those moments when I was making coffee in the kitchen, minding my own business, only to be startled by small fingers tickling my toes. I’d look down, and there would be Bernard, seemingly unperturbed by the aroma. Perhaps there wasn’t even an aroma to be perturbed by. Another perk of ventilated slippers.

*UPDATE: Yeah, I got slippers. Two pairs.*

I want to rediscover my love of music. Over the last few years I’ve found myself listening to music less and less, and songs that once filled me with emotion are now leaving me cold. My CD collection is dull and uninspiring, and for the most part, I can’t be bothered to go to the effort of picking out something to listen to. My finger traverses the spines, every case that my finger bumps over seems to contain something pointless and unappealing. I reach the end of the row, and repeat the exercise on the shelf below. Once upon a time, music was a core part of who I was. Now, it’s just a neglected category on a blog.

*UPDATE: I’m enjoying Norfolk & Western and Of Montreal. I’ve also managed to get the radio in the car working again.*

I also wouldn’t feel too violated if aliens came down and fixed the leaky gutter outside the front door.

*Next week’s stunt post will be on the subject of New Years Resolutions – look out for it on Monday.*

Photos

It’s great when you tessellate

Post author By pete
Post date 2007-12-23
No Comments on It’s great when you tessellate

it's great when you tessellate

Chairs that can fit together like this are the awesome. These chairs are almost as old as me. Once upon a time, I used them as components in a dining table fort complex. And one day, I hope that Bernard will use them in a dining table fort complex too.