I'm a cat person. It has my great fortune to be owned by two wonderful yet totally different animals.
The first was Brio (1982-1999) , a classic Sealpoint Siamese. Brio was the smartest , noisiest, most intelligent four-footed bundle of love I will ever know. To this day , as I lie on the couch watching TV, I still expect to see this great old cat climb onto the sofa, and stretch out full length on my legs to sleep. The day we had to send Brio to the Bright Cattery in the Sky was one of the saddest days of my life.
A few days later, when I returned to the Vet to pay Brio's final bill, I spotted Sammy in a cage in the reception room. He was an energetic 6 month old stray kitten whom some kind soul had brought to the Vet. Sammy is likely a Russian Blue, with the soft gray silver tipped coat. He's a lot quieter breed of cat, but he has a wonderful deep full-throated purr that makes his whole body shake. He's become a regal looking adult male, but deep down he's just a cuddly old lap cat.
Did I mention I'm a cat person?
Monday, December 29, 2008
Moved to Blogspot
Because I've had some issues with publishing posts on my own ISP's hosting service, I've had to move this blog to Blogspot as the host.
The new web address will be http://almontage.blogspot.com
I deleted the old blog on my ISP so the former link is now dead. Sorry about that, but I think I was running out of space over there.
A few of my earliest posts have also disappeared but they remain on my Facebook notes so I may republish them when I get a chance.
The new web address will be http://almontage.blogspot.com
I deleted the old blog on my ISP so the former link is now dead. Sorry about that, but I think I was running out of space over there.
A few of my earliest posts have also disappeared but they remain on my Facebook notes so I may republish them when I get a chance.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Waiting Game
The crib has been assembled, the baby clothes are in the bureau, the books are in the bookshelf and the nursery room is ready.
My daughter has a couple more days of work and then she's off on her maternity leave.
Now it's the waiting game, and I'm sure she's anxious to get the show on the road.
I know her mother and I were feeling that way the last few days of September in 1977. As I took Maria to the hospital on Oct 2, I remember thinking - well this is going to be a special day for all of us - and it was.
Let's just hope Teddy doesn't make us wait too much longer.
My daughter has a couple more days of work and then she's off on her maternity leave.
Now it's the waiting game, and I'm sure she's anxious to get the show on the road.
I know her mother and I were feeling that way the last few days of September in 1977. As I took Maria to the hospital on Oct 2, I remember thinking - well this is going to be a special day for all of us - and it was.
Let's just hope Teddy doesn't make us wait too much longer.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Hope for My Grandson
For better or worse, I am rapidly approaching the 62nd anniversary of my appearance on Planet Earth. My father is dead, and my mother's mind is fading so I can't say for sure what my parents were hoping for me in November 1946. However I suspect it wasn't much different than any other young parents of the day.
The world had just come through a Great Depression and the Second Great War of the 20th Century. Things had been pretty bad, and my parents had to be hoping for a better life ahead.
I'm sure my wife's parents had the same hope for her three years later, and they hoped big-time when they immigrated to Canada from Italy in 1956. Things had to be better for the kids.
And they were. Maria and I came from humble beginnings but we always had enough to eat and wear growing up, plus we had the opportunity to get a good education. As a result we had long and satisfying careers, saved our money and are enjoying a comfortable retirement so far. We've had our ups and downs but nobody would deny we had a better chance in life than our parents did.
When Sarah was born in 1977 the world was still under the spectre of Nuclear War, there was stagflation in the economy, uncertainty about the future of Canada. Yet as young parents we had hopes for her, hopes she would have a better life than we did. Certainly we were able to give her more opportunities for learning and travel, and provide her with a few more luxuries than we had as children. She did us proud - went further in school than we did, has excelled in her choice of career, married a fine young man, and now is expecting our grandson.
And what of their hopes for him? The world is now facing the threat of terror, the possibility of another Depression, the depletion of resources, Climate Change...the list goes on and seems to deny the possibility of a better life than his parents and grandparents have had. Yet babies continue to be born, young parents continue to hope.
Perhaps a better life is in the cards for our young grandson to be. He should have all the opportunities for learning and development as an individual as his grandparents and parents have enjoyed. Beyond that is a lot of hope and prayer - prayer that he'll grow up to be a kind, loving and life affirming person and leave the world a better place for his being in it.
The world had just come through a Great Depression and the Second Great War of the 20th Century. Things had been pretty bad, and my parents had to be hoping for a better life ahead.
I'm sure my wife's parents had the same hope for her three years later, and they hoped big-time when they immigrated to Canada from Italy in 1956. Things had to be better for the kids.
And they were. Maria and I came from humble beginnings but we always had enough to eat and wear growing up, plus we had the opportunity to get a good education. As a result we had long and satisfying careers, saved our money and are enjoying a comfortable retirement so far. We've had our ups and downs but nobody would deny we had a better chance in life than our parents did.
When Sarah was born in 1977 the world was still under the spectre of Nuclear War, there was stagflation in the economy, uncertainty about the future of Canada. Yet as young parents we had hopes for her, hopes she would have a better life than we did. Certainly we were able to give her more opportunities for learning and travel, and provide her with a few more luxuries than we had as children. She did us proud - went further in school than we did, has excelled in her choice of career, married a fine young man, and now is expecting our grandson.
And what of their hopes for him? The world is now facing the threat of terror, the possibility of another Depression, the depletion of resources, Climate Change...the list goes on and seems to deny the possibility of a better life than his parents and grandparents have had. Yet babies continue to be born, young parents continue to hope.
Perhaps a better life is in the cards for our young grandson to be. He should have all the opportunities for learning and development as an individual as his grandparents and parents have enjoyed. Beyond that is a lot of hope and prayer - prayer that he'll grow up to be a kind, loving and life affirming person and leave the world a better place for his being in it.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Closing Windows - Not Yet
Although I'm still a long way from being a Linux guru, I have progressed steadily in knowledge to the point where I feel comfortable using it as my primary computer operating system. In fact my newest desktop is Linux only.
My experiences with Microsoft Vista on my neighbor's new Compaq desktop have led me to conclude I don't want to have Vista on any machine of mine - ever. For a while I was thinking that maybe I'd dump Windows completely and go over to Linux cold turkey as it were. But I decided it isn't time to do that - yet.
I don't use Internet Explorer or Outlook Express. Firefox and Thunderbird Mail work great and they are basically the same in Linux or Windows XP. So the online experience is the same with both systems.
Windows XP runs fine on the older hardware I have it installed on (upgraded Dell Dimension 4100 from 2001.) XP will be supported with another Service Pack and with security updates until 2014. I don't care about eye candy and desktop glitz. In fact I have XP looking like Windows 2000 right now. There's no rush to get rid of it.
There are a few things that I still prefer to do with XP, frankly:
(1) Income tax. Quick Tax is Windows only. I could use Quicken's online service or Ufile I suppose, but I prefer having the software on my local machine.
(2) ACDSee photo management software. It's still the best, and I'd have to see if it works under WINE emulation in Linux. Not sure, but it's fine in Windows XP.
(3) Slide scanning. My old Minolta Scan Dual II can be made to work in Linux but it's designed for XP. Its software will never, ever run in Vista though.
(4) Roboform. The best password manager in the world. I'd really miss it if I went to Linux only.
In conclusion, I'd say that God willing I'm going to explore every opportunity to do things the Linux way over the next six-odd years. When XP finally is no longer supported, or I can't keep it running on my old Dell, then it'll be Linux time. Any new machine will never run a Microsoft O/S. Trust me.
My experiences with Microsoft Vista on my neighbor's new Compaq desktop have led me to conclude I don't want to have Vista on any machine of mine - ever. For a while I was thinking that maybe I'd dump Windows completely and go over to Linux cold turkey as it were. But I decided it isn't time to do that - yet.
I don't use Internet Explorer or Outlook Express. Firefox and Thunderbird Mail work great and they are basically the same in Linux or Windows XP. So the online experience is the same with both systems.
Windows XP runs fine on the older hardware I have it installed on (upgraded Dell Dimension 4100 from 2001.) XP will be supported with another Service Pack and with security updates until 2014. I don't care about eye candy and desktop glitz. In fact I have XP looking like Windows 2000 right now. There's no rush to get rid of it.
There are a few things that I still prefer to do with XP, frankly:
(1) Income tax. Quick Tax is Windows only. I could use Quicken's online service or Ufile I suppose, but I prefer having the software on my local machine.
(2) ACDSee photo management software. It's still the best, and I'd have to see if it works under WINE emulation in Linux. Not sure, but it's fine in Windows XP.
(3) Slide scanning. My old Minolta Scan Dual II can be made to work in Linux but it's designed for XP. Its software will never, ever run in Vista though.
(4) Roboform. The best password manager in the world. I'd really miss it if I went to Linux only.
In conclusion, I'd say that God willing I'm going to explore every opportunity to do things the Linux way over the next six-odd years. When XP finally is no longer supported, or I can't keep it running on my old Dell, then it'll be Linux time. Any new machine will never run a Microsoft O/S. Trust me.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Vista Free Computing
I had a couple of totally new computing experiences earlier this month.
I bought my first clone computer after 25 years - everything else I've ever had has been branded (for better or worse.) Also I got my new desktop with no operating system at all.
After a never ending sequence of Linux junkers I wanted to see what my favorite O/S would do with a modern system.
So I headed down to Everbest Computer in Nepean and they built me a new box - AMD X2 4600+, 2 GB RAM, DVD-ROM, Western Digital 320 GB Hard Drive, ATI X1250 Integrated Graphics. What's even better was they didn't insist on any Microsoft Tax - no Vista or XP installed as part of the package. Without that bloatware I saved about $400, brought it home and installed Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon myself.
Now I have a great new system that just flies...I knew Linux was good on middle aged hardware but I never expected it to be as great as it is on relatively state of the art machinery. So I am now officially Vista Free for the foreseeable future.
I bought my first clone computer after 25 years - everything else I've ever had has been branded (for better or worse.) Also I got my new desktop with no operating system at all.
After a never ending sequence of Linux junkers I wanted to see what my favorite O/S would do with a modern system.
So I headed down to Everbest Computer in Nepean and they built me a new box - AMD X2 4600+, 2 GB RAM, DVD-ROM, Western Digital 320 GB Hard Drive, ATI X1250 Integrated Graphics. What's even better was they didn't insist on any Microsoft Tax - no Vista or XP installed as part of the package. Without that bloatware I saved about $400, brought it home and installed Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon myself.
Now I have a great new system that just flies...I knew Linux was good on middle aged hardware but I never expected it to be as great as it is on relatively state of the art machinery. So I am now officially Vista Free for the foreseeable future.
Adios Old Friend
We said good-bye to an old friend a couple of weeks ago.
Our 1995 Dodge Neon gave up the ghost after 13 years, 150,000 km and countless trips in and around Georgetown and lately Ottawa.
We had noticed a smell of gasoline in the garage and then when I took the Neon out for a drive there was a trail of gas on the road behind me. This is not a good thing.
Having been warned about a rusty gas tank last summer, I expected something dire. The Arnprior Chrysler service dept. informed me that in addition to the leaking gas, I had rotting brake lines, and bad front end steering components. The total bill to fix it was about 5 times what the Neon was worth. We could not justify it at the age of the car.
So one of the most fun-filled and at the same time exasperating cars I've ever owned had its plates removed and went to the wrecker.
In its heyday it went like a rocket, cornered like a snake on sandpaper. At the same time it was noisy, had a poorly designed 3 speed transmission, rode like a lumber wagon and had the worst wind noise I've ever seen - thanks for those frameless windows, Chrysler!
I fixed the A/C twice, had the inevitable head gasket repair, tire replacement and various computer glitches an old car will give you. But I loved the old beast.
The Neon's spot in our garage is now occupied by a Jeep Compass - very smooth, great view of the road, sophisticated continuous variable transmission - a delight to drive. But I still get a lump in my throat when I go out there and get in.
Our 1995 Dodge Neon gave up the ghost after 13 years, 150,000 km and countless trips in and around Georgetown and lately Ottawa.
We had noticed a smell of gasoline in the garage and then when I took the Neon out for a drive there was a trail of gas on the road behind me. This is not a good thing.
Having been warned about a rusty gas tank last summer, I expected something dire. The Arnprior Chrysler service dept. informed me that in addition to the leaking gas, I had rotting brake lines, and bad front end steering components. The total bill to fix it was about 5 times what the Neon was worth. We could not justify it at the age of the car.
So one of the most fun-filled and at the same time exasperating cars I've ever owned had its plates removed and went to the wrecker.
In its heyday it went like a rocket, cornered like a snake on sandpaper. At the same time it was noisy, had a poorly designed 3 speed transmission, rode like a lumber wagon and had the worst wind noise I've ever seen - thanks for those frameless windows, Chrysler!
I fixed the A/C twice, had the inevitable head gasket repair, tire replacement and various computer glitches an old car will give you. But I loved the old beast.
The Neon's spot in our garage is now occupied by a Jeep Compass - very smooth, great view of the road, sophisticated continuous variable transmission - a delight to drive. But I still get a lump in my throat when I go out there and get in.
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