Thanks, Apple!

Two days ago my Mac refused to power up. Strange - it was charging just fine before! I was at work and it did not seem to be a problem with the wall outlet, so I checked when I got home and, sure enough, Jody's power brick worked to charge it up but mine was busted.

I was very fortunate to grab the last open Genius Bar slot this evening, where the Apple tech confirmed, "Your power adapter is non-functioning." And then he ran another test to make sure it was not the battery, his eyes flicking back and forth between my Mac and his. Mine is now out of warranty (it's from the first batch of aluminum 13" models they made in late 2008) but... Mr. Genius said, "I'm going to make an exception and give you a new power adapter."

Yay! Thanks, Apple! You made my day.

Scrivener Trial

I downloaded a copy of Scrivener from Literature & Latte and will be giving it a trial run on my aluminum 13" MacBook this month.

If I'm lucky, it will make it easier to make some headway on my single-chapter-long novel "Turned." Last night, I transferred the text from my Open Office file into Scrivener, which allows you to separate text into chapters and scenes. The look and feel is not too far away from iTunes, with a left-hand gutter called the 'binder' that can be turned on or off - this is where you can see the structure of your document. There's also a nifty 'corkboard' view which allows you to pin up virtual index cards with brief synopses of each chapter/scene, and makes it simple to view pieces of your work. Rearranging the pieces is easy with the Outline tool, which shows the synopsis and draft number along with the title of each section. When you're ready to see how the pieces fit together, you can either Export to a document or PDF format, or view a selection of your scenes as a continuous file within Scrivener.

There can be as few or as many chapters and scenes as you like, and each can be 'tagged' so you can keep track of which draft you're on, whether it's a scene or a concept, et cetera. In addition to text, Scrivener can be used to store all those bits of research any writer needs - photos, maps and other images, and other media such as music or video. So there's no need to have more than one program open, and everything flows together! I popped a photo into the Research 'binder' by drag-and-dropping it straight from iPhoto, and it let me resize the picture right there. Easy. And for less distraction, an annoyance second only to writers' block, there's a Full Screen Edit view that hides everything from your e-mail to the dashboard.

When I'm more familiar with Scrivener's capabilities, I'll give a more thorough review. For now, keep watching this space!

Random Memes - thanks Courtney!

I’m supposed to take the fourth picture from the fourth album in my pictures folder and post it - random, just the way I like it!

Ooooh, it's a good one, too. I don't have four albums up on Flickr yet (just got it recently) so I went to Facebook.


Mmmm cake! This photo was taken by my husband of only a few hours. We were waiting in the airport for our flight to San Francisco to begin our honeymoon! I barely got to eat at our reception so I had the catering staff pack me a little box of sandwiches and a little box of cake. And I was still wearing the dress I'd changed into mid-reception, with my tiara but no veil, which caused people to ask what I was all dressed up for. Ohhh my goodness, the cake was tasty. A friend made it for us; raspberry with vanilla cake was the layer you can see, and chocolate with hazelnut was the other. It was gorgeous, too.

_____________________________________________

Then, according to Courtney and Toni, I should grab the book nearest to me (which unfortunately I haven't started yet; I grabbed it from the lending library) and go to page 56. Then type the fifth line and the next two to five lines that follow.

OK, so this one is called A Perfect Match by Patricia Veryan - it's a Regency romance - because I need something light to take to the beach. Yes, beach. I know it's February  but I'm in Australia. Hmm. Well, this could present a problem. This particular copy seems to have its pages out of order. So I will choose a page at random, since I can't find 56 in its rightful place. Here we go, page 46.
"She kept her eyes downcast, her heart thumping so violently it was all she could do not to betray herself. How smug he sounded, doubtless gloating over how he had, as Lady Branden said, 'gulled' his trusting nephew!"

_______________________________________

And in case you haven't seen it yet, here is a reposting of the 25 Random Things meme that's been flooding Facebook. Just to keep things interesting, I'll change a couple things...

1. I make really awesome banana walnut chocolate chip loaf.
2. Our grandparents let Pam and I drink coffee when we were young. I still don't know if it was decaf or not.
3. I am a game snob - but really good games like LocoRoco, Ico, and LittleBigPlanet have managed to hold my attention.
4. I always wanted to be a figure skater, so I started ballroom dance in university and hoped I would love it - I do, but I need more time and money to practice.
5. I've never tried Red Bull or any other energy drink.
6. I kept rose petals from my first boyfriend until I got married.
7. It's been my dream to be a writer since I was very small, but I'm not sure I have the drive to do it right now.
8. I was accused of plaigirism at age 10.
9. I have seven email accounts.
10. Except for one haircolour-in-a-box no one noticed, I didn't dye my hair until I was 26.
11. I read The Hobbit for the first time in grade 7 - it was supposed to be something I read aloud with my dad, but he couldn't keep up with the weird names and all the characters, so I finished it on my own.
12. My Gramma used to knit sweaters when I was small, often matching ones for me & Pam - my favourite was either a turquoise one with a fuzzy angora panda, or one with a dinosaur that had stegosaurus spikes that stuck out.
13. Sometimes I get the urge to straighten racks or t-shirt piles in a store - and I haven't worked in clothing retail since 2003.
14. I always thought I'd be better at being on time when I was older. Sigh...I've improved (!) but I'm forever keeping people waiting.
15. I used to hoard my Halloween candy for months.
16. My favourite thing to eat is breakfast, particularly Eggs Benedict - but I rarely get up early enough to eat breakfast, so I am constantly at odds with my favourite meal of the day.
17. You can barely tell I've read a new book because I don't crack the binding or fold the pages or leave it open upside-down.
18. Laughing at peoples' mullets is one of the great, small joys of my life.
19. The Crazy Kitchen at the museum in Ottawa is stuck in my childhood memories as one of the best things ever.
20. I've traveled by plane on three holidays in my life: New Years Eve, Canada Day, and Christmas Eve.
21. I love my MacBook, possibly even more now that it's been through a tea-spillage disaster and survived - I've had its thermal paste replaced so the fan would run properly.
22. I couldn't begin to guess how many times I've seen The Princess Bride.
23. I was on the JV soccer team for one year in high school.
24. It scares me a little that I usually know what Jody means, even when he says something that doesn't come out right.
25. Three months is the longest I've ever been apart from my sister, until now.

It's beginning to look a lot like... summer???

It's midweek, and I am at home making pasta and spinach salad. I haven't quite gotten over the novelty of a gas stove, and am slowly learning how to use it without burning the food – and without flicking the gas on five times before it lights. I've got it down to two or three now! And because it's necessary to wash salad here, I got a salad spinner – and it's a ridiculous one. I don't have to turn or wind the salad manually; it has a “one-pull” that winds it up for me like a spinning top – and a single button to tell it to stop spinning! Ah, little things.
– Break for dinner –

Last night was our company's customer Christmas function. It turned out really well, and I was pleased with everything from how the décor looked to how the people enjoyed themselves to how I handled greeting people and making announcements with the microphone. I had help preparing, but since company events are part of my job description, I did a lot of work and was the “host” of the function. So it felt really good to see everything come together. Now I just have to do it all again next week in Melbourne! Jody and I and two other coworkers are flying there for a day and a night, along with our bosses, to attend the other main branch's party and to work with the Melbourne crew for a day. It will be good to meet people I've spoken to and emailed. I have already met one, JC, and he and I are getting along well – which is great since he's the lead marketing guy in Melbourne, so we'll be working together a lot.

Now that it's December I'm listening to Christmas music, and Ave Maria is playing – which reminds me of a funny story someone told me about their mother singing along to it in the kitchen, and this someone decided they would distract their mother from singing, for the betterment of the other people in the house. Nice going, you - you know who you are. Now I'll never be able to think of that song without thinking of your mother and her singing.

The other weird thing about Christmas music, and indeed Christmas in Australia in general; is that I keep hearing about fireplaces and snow and cocoa and popped corn – none of which are seasonal here. People still wear Santa hats and give out stickers with snowmen on them, but it's just not the same. It doesn't feel like Christmas is coming. Not that I'm complaining (though I might be in January or February; I hear it gets much hotter) because it's wonderful to finally feel like I'm getting a summer- but it is disconcerting. I hope my music will help me get in a holiday mood. And maybe some baking. Jody brought his favourite cookie sheets all the way here, only to find they're too large to fit in most ovens! So we have to find some smaller ones before we make cookies. Though he did bake delicious blueberry muffins yesterday, and bring them to work, where they disappeared like moustaches at the end of Movember.

I know, I know. This blog post is totally random. But I'm told that people miss my randomness.

I miss little things, like watching the bunnies at UVic. Going for coffee at Timmy's late at night. Watching the people riding the #6 bus. Being excited when Thrifty's actually has salmon and cream cheese sushi in stock. Thrifty's, in general. Sales at Reitman's and Suzy Shier. Snickering at high schoolers who think it's cool to hang out in Wal-Mart. Giggling uncontrollably when passing the Little Caesar's by Wo-Mo. (If you don't know, sorry – you're going to have to wonder.)

Walking along the breakwater. Spotting deer in peoples' yards. Planning to go to the mainland, then remembering what a pain the ferry + BC Transit is and scrapping the idea. Checking what's playing at the Roxy but never going for the double feature. Going to Cinecenta instead, because the theatre and the popcorn have much more interesting names. Calling someone I've just seen and talking for an hour. Calling someone else and talking almost entirely in pop culture references and inside jokes.

So, if anyone is planning to come and visit, I need more time to find cool places to take you. All I've got so far is Darling Harbour, two shopping districts, one semi-decent bookshop and an ice cream parlour. But oh my word, is the ice cream ever fantastic. Jody and I cheaped out on dinner one night and splurged on dessert. The place is called Passionflower, and all they do is gelato, ice cream and sorbet. With fruit. With brownies. With chocolate. With their signature passionfruit sauce. With practically anything decadent you could put with ice cream. And each creation has a name. Yes, it's expensive and yes, you'll try to tell yourself you should share – but you'll want one all to yourself.

There's a movie theatre near Passionflower, and I haven't been to the movies yet. Jody and I were waiting for our friend Mark (who used to work with Jody in Vic) to return from his vacation in Thailand – but he got waylaid because of the protesters that forced Bangkok Airport to close. He's back now, a week late, and he's tired but unharmed. So once he's over his exhaustion we're dragging him along to the new Bond flick. Like in South Africa, movies come out later here than in Canada, so I haven't seen Quantum of Solace, Australia, or Twilight – though it looks like I'll give Twilight a miss. Can't wait to see Bond, though – go Daniel Craig! Go Judi Dench! And then there's Hugh Jackman... Please, no spoilers.

As I have some time to myself this evening (Jody's at a conference downtown), I'm going to try to get in some beadwork. We finally have a level surface I can work on – the table and chairs we ordered from a rental place came yesterday, nearly a week later than planned. But it's here, and now we can eat like civilised people and I won't lose a pile of seed beads in the carpet.

Next up – a bookcase, an ironing board & iron, and a second living room chair. IKEA here we come! But really, the place we got is pretty nice, and it won't take much more to settle into it. Being so near to the office and downtown is a definite bonus, but we'll have to take care not to limit ourselves to two villages in all of Sydney.

My Macbook – which so far seems to have recovered from its cup of tea, aside from a tendency to get very hot – is telling me it is charged, so I'm going to put it to sleep and make some earrings. I'll post this in the morning when I get to the office. That's another little thing I miss – unlimited Internet at home!

Cash, Thongs and Haich-es

I've now been in Sydney a little more than a fortnight- 17 days. It's amazing how fast the time has gone, and how some things have radically changed while others are still plodding along. What has struck me the most, however, has been the little everyday things that are becoming part of my life here.

To begin: The company I am working for installs a fair bit of HP hardware, and all around the office I hear phone calls and discussions about Haich-P. Haich. It didn't really occur to me that the way someone pronounced a letter (such as our Zed and the U.S. equivalent Zee) would bother me that much, but seriously – hearing it as part of a brand name I'm accustomed to is jarring. And the woman who works at the desk the other side of the partition has a last name with two h's, which she often spells over the phone.

Then there's tomahto sauce, not ketchup. EFTPOS, not Debit (which I can only assume stands for Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale). The first thing I learned here was, “How you going?” and I am still trying to figure out the correct response. And my latest today is courtesy my office mate, who told me the proper phrase is, “Do you have two secs?” instead of “a minute.”
It's very rare to leave a tip. Cabdrivers don't always know where they are going. I like taking the train, but I have yet to ride the monorail. You generally can't transfer buses and you cannot take a return trip on your first fare. Sometimes you have to go downtown to get anywhere. And they're very fond of acronyms for places: QVB is Queen Victoria Building, CBD is Central Business District. It took me days to learn that Pde in Anzac Pde, a street, stands for Parade.
A regular coffee is 8 oz – I've seen a 12 oz as a large – and it's cheaper than water in many places. It's not often you'll find drip coffee, but cappuccinos, lattes and mochas are everywhere and very reasonable. (And I can drink the milk! No more soy!) I haven't had bad coffee yet, but then I have been frequenting nice coffee places and restaurants.

People here love their thongs. Although many women wear heels daily, a lot of them wear flip flops to their destination and then switch. A lot of the men wear thongs, too. But Jody bought a new pair of Keen sandals at the outlet mall on the weekend, and I only have the brown and pink ones that match my swimsuit – so we'll have to get some.
But first! We must get a flat – er, apartment - of our own so we have somewhere to keep our thongs, our haich-es and our sanity. It seems most flat-hunting is done on Saturday, but we've booked one appointment for Friday lunchtime (which is tomorrow for us; it's nearing 11pm Thursday as I blog) and another for Tuesday. Tuesday's is promising, but it's also our last shot before we have to leave Mark's and go to a hotel again. That reminds me, “unfurnished” does not mean it includes a fridge, and “laundry” sometimes means hookups only, or just a dryer – washing machines are easy to take when you move, so apparently it's pretty standard to just have a stove and dishwasher. We're really hoping for air conditioning because Jody's already too hot.

When Jody was away the other week and I was walking near our hotel, I happened by an Irish pub called Scruffy Murphy's. And it was playing, not pipes or horns or Celtic, but Ring of Fire. Johnny Cash, folks, in an Irish pub. And in case you were wondering what kind of cash I was talking about, I can mention the other one too. The money is colourful and has little clear windows in it. If you're coming to visit, though, make sure to bring a change purse – the coins are hefty. The $1 are larger in diameter than the $2, the 20 cents are bigger than a quarter, and the 50 cents are larger still! bigger than a toonie, I think! 5 and 10 cents are more sane. Supposedly there are 2 cent coins and no single pennies, but as most people round here, I haven't seen one.

Tonight I finally got a good view of the harbour; because Jody's boss was unable to attend, he passed his invitation to a cruise ship schmoozefest on to us. We enjoyed champagne with guava juice and canapes, some lovely live music and a little dancing, and a harbour tour. The tour, cleverly, ended just after sunset – so we should have some good pictures forthcoming. There were some very friendly people aboard, several of whom Jody will come into contact with as he is part of the FOSS4G planning committee. FOSS is a yearly conference taking place in Sydney in 2009; it was in Victoria fall 2007, so Jody's already had experience with it.

I'd love to write some more but I think for now I am going to have to call it a night. I am typing on my Eee to give my Mac a little more time to dry out, but it seems that it has miraculously recovered from its bath in Jody's tea three days ago. The Apple guys couldn't believe it. Still, unless my travel insurance happens to cover replacing it, my warranty is void because liquid damage isn't “normal” wear and tear – so this voids anything else that might go wrong later. That it is still working at all is impressive. Jody turned it upside down and removed its battery immediately, so that gave it a good chance of recovery – and we found the Leatherman and unscrewed the hard drive about ten minutes later. The mic and camera still work and the screen is fine – the only lasting damage seems to be the loss of functionality on the left-side Opt key, but since there's a second Opt key I'm not worried. Yay Mac!

Jody is playing on his PSP and seems to be on the last level of some Joan of Arc game where monsters are kicking his butt. He might be a while and I am tempted to keep writing. Oh,he has now gotten “Stage Cleared” so there might just be a cut scene left before the end. So I will say goodnight.