::::: : the wood : davidrobins.net

Christmas 2007

News ·Wednesday December 26, 2007 @ 01:27 EST (link)

20071221: My connection to my home server is spotty; it looks like Whidbey Telecom is dropping packets (but that's just the last visible tracert hop (pre-long-filename Windows' name for the traceroute utility); current ping stats show 12% packet loss but wget is not even daring to show an ETA, our transfer speed is so poor. Watching downloaded Journeyman episodes (2, from the 17th and the 19th). Party at Anna's at around 1930 (arrived late); I drove the car and took Honey, Emily, and Julia and her boyfriend Joshua (Sabourin).

20071222: Hung out, watched second DVD of Charmed season 4, Stargate SG-1 season 9, etc. Were going to visit cousin David at his, Steve, and their random carpenter friend's place in Welland, but couldn't get a car. Lost connectivity to minas-tirith in the middle of the day; no ping, and traceroute died at Whidbey island telecom.

20071223: Went to Brockview morning (Brian Gunning's meaning of Christmas) and evening (Art Taylor's canal anecdotes, tried to teach Tim Heyhoe about f-stops and shutter speeds), hung out in between. Called our neighbors Andhi and Brett to turn our computers on; left message, but nothing yet. Borrowed Slaughterhouse Five (Vonnegut) from Julia and read it.

20071224: Shoveled snow to help Dad, he used the snowblower. Cousin David got called out to take care of snow (he does roofing for Tim Heyhoe), so couldnÂt visit him today either. Ate a Christmas tea (Anna and Drew came over, and (Sharon's) Michael was here), played Euchre, girls played Dutch Blitz; Michael and Drew won one set, we one the next, then Anna and Drew had to leave. Watched new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Johnny Depp). Set up the wireless network in the wee hours of the morning (WPA pre-shared key, for the first time); layered it on top of my parents' existing router (so we're on a 10.0.0.0/24 inside a 192.168.0.0/24 connected to the ISP, with 3 DHCP servers, including the ISP's).

Breakfast 20071225: Fixed D100 clock (was -4h from EST, -1h from PST; fixed to be current PST, moving +1h, so times between DST and leaving for Canada will need to be adjusted +1h). Got to sleep around 0430, up 1000; opened stockings at 1030 (see below). Breakfast, including mother's famous Cranberry Coffee Cake, began at around 1100. Christmas gifts begin at 1145 after Sharon finished showering (she had to go to work at 1300).

My gifts: Welcome to the Monkey House (Kurt Vonnegut) from Honey, Ocean's 13, and a $15 Wal-Mart gift card from gift exchange (Theo), Parker pen from my parents, and Pirates of the Caribbean III from my parents. Stocking: Ribena, apple, orange.
Honey's gifts: Andy Griffith (season 1) from my parents, candy, body lotion from me, Reba McEntire CD from my parents, We Are Marshall, $15 Wal-Mart gift card, candles and stuffed dog from gift exchange (Rebecca). Stocking: body wash, apple, orange.
We gave: gift exchange: (Theo) fleece sweater, (Julia) Animal Farm and The Bell Jar, (my dad) George Bernard Shaw BBC collection, Bluegrass revival CD, (my mom) Wok.

Gift opening over at around 1215. Called Honey's parents around 1300. Slept a little; dinner at 1700-1800, after Murray and George, Lois, and Carolyn arrived. Traditional turkey, cranberry sauce, home-made stuffing, sprouts, and carrots, with crackers at the end (dessert to follow later). 1930 back to the table for dessert (Christmas pudding and chocolates). We showered around 2015; writing here again at 2040, with dad talking to Theo about the gap theory. 2300, started A Christmas Carol (black and white, not the colorized version; Honey and I and dad); got something to eat at around 0000. Emily and Julia got cell phones (added to address list database).