Robyn – Page 2 – St. Eutychus

An Apple a Day…

Recently I purchased my first Mac. I quickly discovered that the Mac vs PC discussion is a touchy subject for some people and found it very ironic when a heated debate arose on my facebook wall.

I purchased a Mac because they have the reputation of working. Everytime. I don’t care that you can’t play games on a Mac as well as you can on a PC. I don’t care that you can’t watch movies to a high standard. I don’t even like playing computer games or watching movies. I don’t even care that you can’t customise it. I don’t even know how to customise computers, and, after watching my husband “improve” his PC, I wouldn’t want him to even try and customise my Mac. All I want to do is turn on my computer, use the internet, word process and then get on with my merry life without having to spend half of the day encountering problems. If I have to pay a little more for this reliability, then it’s money well spent in my opinion.

I should say here that the intention of this post is not to highlight the validity of my purchase. Neither is it weigh into the debate on Mac vs PC. If you want to have that debate at the end of this post go ahead, just don’t expect me to join in. I actually just want to relay this morning’s computer related events that I found vaguely amusing.

Having awoken to a beautiful winter Townsville morning, I decided to try and chat to my parents via Google chat. Unfortunately they were having technology issues at their end (they’re PC people) so the conversation didn’t take place. Throughout this time, Nathan had been on the upstairs desktop (PC) for well over three hours, trying to get a sermon written and some other pieces of work done. Every 3-4 minutes he popped down to see me while his computer restarted. Apparently he was having some troubles. What can I say, he has a PC. Lunchtime rolled by and he joined me for some Indian curry before returning to the computer to try and get some work done. It was about this time that I stared to hear banging coming from upstairs. Things were not going so well. Graciously I offered to let him use my Mac so he could get the work done. He told me that he’d been intending to do this all morning, if only he could retrieve the work he’d started on the PC. I don’t know about you, but spending roughly four hours trying to open a document seems a little unproductive.

It’s now about an hour after the banging stopped and I haven’t seen or heard from him in awhile. I don’t know if this means the computer is working or if he’s found a book to read. Most likely the latter.

August 1, 2009

Reclaimed

He’s back. Thankfully he doesn’t stink too much.

The fishes are still fine and the turtles are back to their regular routines.

I realise that the weekend isn’t yet over but the opportunities to complete my task list are. So, here’s the report card I’ve written for myself.

1. Hijack Nathan’s blog. A

I briefly considered changing the passwords of his blog and holding them at ransom. That would have been fun – for me anyway. I’m sure some of you out there are looking forward to hearing less of me and more of Nathan. It’s been fun having some virtual friends over the weekend. Special mention goes to my sister and queenstuss for commenting. You made me feel special.

2. Master Greek E

Apparently eating Greek does not count towards learning Greek. This is a shame really, because we’re going to have some tonight. No time for Greek this weekend. I thought about it though.

3. Finish my 1^st grade violin book. C+

Technically I didn’t finish the book but I did make some great progress. And I got a compliment. Nathan’s really looking forward to his little concert.

4. Design an outdoor setting which I could possibly build. B

If the emphasis was on the design I completed the task well. However, I’ve decided that we don’t have the skills, tools or space to build something even as simple as a table. There’s not much you can build with a heat gun and screwdriver. I actually found a webpage with detailed building directions but I didn’t understand 80% of the jargon so I don’t think I’m quite ready for the task.

I love writing report cards.

May 17, 2009

Ninja Turtle Fish Killer

Our pets know me too well. It seems that they sensed Nathan’s absence and thought they’d have more chance surviving in the big wide world all on their own. If I had a video camera and some dramatic music there’s a good chance that the following recount would make the cut for Animal Rescue.

My students are the proud owners of two cute little clownfish named Coral & Reef, thanks to a visit from Mr Moorhead last term. They’ve been on an extend holiday at our house so that I could look after them over the holidays and on weekends until I could find an automatic fish feeder. Three days ago I bought the said feeder from a local pet store and set it up according to the directions. All going well so far. Over the subsequent few days I checked the tank carefully for excess food, of which there was none. Starting to think I’d solved the problem and could return the fish (and silence the nagging) I relaxed a little. Until yesterday. The feeder dumped an extremely large dose of food into the tank overnight which was now lying all over the sand, on the plants and had caused the water to turn a colour somewhat akin to apple juice. The poor little fish were not doing so well under these conditions. I started to panic. I’m sure most people would have, knowing that 27 little people were depending on you to keep their pets alive. Nobody likes a fish killer. My kids have already accused me of being a potential baby nemo killer by buying the wrong sized filter and that didn’t go down so well. I sprung into action, scooping out the fish and excess food, changing and filtering new water, and I began trying to ascertain the problem with the feeder. This process involved scraping out mushy fish food with my fingers and siphoning stinky water, neither of which took my fancy.

During this time, I thought I’d also feed our pet turtles, Frankie and Rosie. Frankie is by far the larger of the two, both in personality and size, and has had to separated from Rosie when he tried to kill her with a ninja death roll. We put the turtles in ice-cream containers for feeding so they don’t mess up the tank. In keeping with his Raphael persona, Frankie decided that he didn’t want to confined to the constraints of the feeding bucket and that leaping out of it, hitting the metal grate and landing the on the top of the buffet was a much better option. Not to be satisfied with the mediocre, Frankie started heading towards the edge of the buffet and a 75cm drop, which is a long way for a little turtle. He did this quite quickly as, contrary to popular perception, turtles are not slow. Thankfully I got there in time to stop him and return him to his tank. He gave me a good hard bite to show he was grateful for my efforts.

Now I have some much happier clownfish, a cranky turtle and fish food and stinky fish water all over my floor.

May 17, 2009

Audience of One

I’ve attacked my weekend task list with gusto*. Having successfully hijacked Nathan’s blog, I began violin practice.

Let’s just say that my violin isn’t the most exquisite of instruments. Nathan got it for $60 from oo.com.au and when I took to the highly esteemed violin teacher at school he suggested that I throw it out and get another one. Not wanting to waste a real bargain, I thought I’d get some practise under my belt before upgrading. I also know that a beginner violinist sounds a lot like cat claws on a tin roof or nails on a chalkboard so, coupled with a poor quality instrument, I don’t have a good combination going on. This in mind, all of my practise so far has been done while Nathan is at work, either on a Monday or if I got home earlier than he. So far, I’ve been a quite considerate learner, or, so I thought.

Shortly after I began playing this morning I heard a knock at the door. I quickly realised that all of my windows and doors were open (I usually shut them so nobody can hear me) so I thought it must be one of the neighbours coming to plead with me to stop. However, much to my surprise, it was a man from the unit diagonal from us who had come over tell me that my playing sounded “just wonderful” and that I should “keep up the great work”. My first ever compliment.

Quite chuffed with myself I returned to my playing, moving on from ‘Hot Cross Buns’ and ‘Ode to Joy’ to ‘Jingle Bells’. It’s then that I realise that, due to my ‘kindness’, I haven’t given Nathan much of a chance to hear me play. Never mind, I shall make up for lost time when he returns. Lucky boy.

*I tried to use this word on a child’s report card once. It got rejected. I was very disappointed.

May 16, 2009

Chaos

A large number of the men from Willows are roughing it on men’s camp this weekend. Last night I learnt that at such camps they “don’t need soap” and “probably won’t shower anyway”. Charming.

Nathan chose the optimal time to begin preparing for camp – 11pm the night before a 7am departure. This resulted in some difficulties arranging a few of the essential items he needed including a sleeping mat, crockery, toothpaste, a tent and a lift to camp. Thankfully he didn’t need to take his own food but the second thing that went into his bag was some freshly roasted coffee beans, a grinder and the stove top espresso maker. Even when camping there are a few luxuries one cannot go without.

During his mad scramble last night, I came to the conclusion that Nathan is probably not the most organised person that I know. At which point I began to wonder if women tend to be more organised than men. Probably not the question to ask Nathan at the time but I asked it anyway. And this led to a discussion. A long discussion. Very late at night. Which had no conclusion. We tried to come to some agreement by listing the couples in which the man is more organised but found this very difficult as sometimes perceptions are deceiving. What is true in your experience?

My theory is women are better able to multi-task and are more attentive to details which make them more capable of being organised. I haven’t yet found an argument to support that men are more capable of organisation.

May 16, 2009

Hijacked

Nathan has gone away this weekend to learn how to be a better husband. He’s left me at home, alone and sick. Does anybody else see the irony in this?

I’ve given myself a somewhat ambitious task list to complete over the weekend despite my absent husband and ill health.

1. Hijack Nathan’s blog.

I think I can successfully tick this one off. Off to a good start.

2. Master Greek. At least the first page of vocab anyway.

This one I think I’ll struggle with. I’ve been sporadically learning them for the past few weeks now and they are sticking in my brain very well.

3. Finish my 1^st grade violin book.

I haven’t played my violin for at least 6 months because I broke the rosin. Having replaced this yesterday I’m ready for another shot.

4. Design an outdoor setting which I could possibly build.

So I know that this one is far too ambitious but I thought I’d do some research away. Maybe Dad will be able to help…

My intention is to give you an update by the end of the weekend.

May 16, 2009

Evolution of a Nerd

My first post on this blog highlights my ongoing descent into nerdhood. While I don’t have the bespectacled (yet), triple-chinned, past-eating figure as described here, I have taken some healthy steps in the direction of becoming a nerd.

1. Blogging. To the readers who have ‘tuned in’ (sorry I don’t know what the web equivalent is) hoping for some of Nathan’s regular rants, my apologies. You got me. Some of you might think this is an improvement but let me assure you that I have much less creativity than my much more linguistically apt other half.

2. Study. Nathan and I have embarked upon a year of “pseudo study”, in which we’re learning Greek, going through the Westminster Confession and reading Calvin’s Institutes. Nathan is also preaching once a month and I’m sure that other opportunities will present themselves throughout the year.

As for Greek I’ve found it less tiresome than I’d anticipated. I actually like it. Bring on the Greek. Some days I catch myself at work wishing I was at home studying. Point in case for nerdish behaviour.

3. Glasses. Recently I’ve found myself asking my children to write bigger in their workbooks. I’ve also been looking at the dots on the tops of the Greek letters and wondering why the author was too lazy to write them properly. I’ve been getting headaches if I study for more than half an hour. I’m pretty good with reasoning and logic so I knew it was time for a visit to the optometrist.

Thankfully the news was good. I have two relatively minor problems which weren’t real concerns, however, as they were causing me trouble studying we decided to invest in a pair of specs. I don’t want glasses and I don’t like them. Nathan assures me that he thinks I’ll look great in glasses but I’m not so sure he’s telling me the truth. We’ll wait and see.

4. I use Chrome. Google Chrome that is. I didn’t even know that using Chrome was a sign of nerdhood but apparently it is.

Despite embracing these facets of nerdhood be assured that I won’t start playing World of Warcraft, develop poor hygiene or start talking about RAM any time soon.

A much further developed species than I.

March 2, 2009

Introducing

While playing around with WordPress I’ve created a new account here at nathanintownsville.com – for my lovely wife. Robyn. I don’t know how often she’ll post. If ever. She said she might. But at the very least it’s nice she’s got that option.

February 7, 2009