I find it quite impressive that I managed to walk from the University to Buchanan Street without getting lost. I swear it really does seem to be that I am physically incapable when left to my own devices. Ok, going to Buchanan Street wasn't actually my initial intention. I was wandering to see if I came across the Kelvinbridge subway station, but having only been there once and then having to follow my brother who always seems to rush when in the outside world (unlike here where he does bugger all) so I didn't get a very good look around. I could have found it if I really wanted to as I'd recognised a street leading there earlier, but I can't say I was all that desperate, being rather bored. Then I found myself seeing signs declaring the area to be the West End, and then Charing Cross. And I came across a footbridge over the M8 and I was very tempted to just stand and watch traffic. But it was wet and I was hungry. So I just followed the street I was on until my brain said turn right, and I was on Sauchiehall street, and bam, there is the John Lewis store (that is the name right?) in front of me.
Why I went on that wander? Because there was absolutely nothing interesting going on that I could see at the Uni even although it was Freshers' Week. ::sigh:: I ended following the crowd and found myself among people waiting for the pass registration (the thing you need £30 for). Bah! I don't like parties or large crowds which most of Freshers' Week is likely to consist of, so I turned back and just had a wander around and got my barings of the area and then found myself wandering through streets I'd never seen and still ending up in a place I know (and I don't know much of Glasgow so I have to say it's quite impressive!). I did get to see a bit of the inside of the main University building and it looks really cool. All cathedral like with arches everywhere. Shame I won't be in that building much. I know where the Earth Science building is and the Maths building is (I think. I passed what I thought was it but the name plate seemed to be missing), and I presume the Environmental Science is in the Earth Science building. ::shrug:: But still, it should be fun just wandering down the various lanes and up and down steps between all the buildings. It's a nice area, if it weren't for all the cars. But then it is the centre of Glasgow so I can't really complain.
On another topic, I swear my brother is testing to see how long it takes before I end up cleaning the dishes. I'd done it on Sunday after my parents left, telling him that he could do it the next two days (after all, it was twice as many dishes with my parents being here). It is now Tuesday and he hasn't done a thing. I don't really mind the unhygienicness of it all. It's the fact we are running out of dishes. For tonight's meal I had to wash a plate (in cold water no less) to put it on. Oh, and yes! Note to self: Next time be careful with the oil. Overdoing it does not make meals taste good! It's a good thing I'm not trying to do complicated meals. I manage to go wrong with something pre-packaged that just needed frying. :S And also: Do not buy microwaveable beef caneloni. Does not taste nice. :S
One more thing... what was it? Oh yeah. My computer has taken on a new problem to get attention, damn baby that it is. Every so often it looses connection with the PCI hard drive card (or possibly one of the hard drives themselves, I've yet to work it out exactly) and it crashes the entire machine. Needless to say, it's extremely annoying. And now I don't know where I am in my reading of the archives of 'The Tao of Geek', a webcomic I've discovered recently. I like the characters. I especially like how the female characters get excited at the prospect of a hot geek. I can really associate with that! XD And it olds various forms of geek-dom too. Programming, gaming, anime... Plus, it has no regard for reality, which is even better. Here, I'll dump the link for it under the webcomics section ::should really clean out the dud and the dull links from here but always hates going through with it::
I guess that's it to talk about today. I'm going to go back to watching Zettai Shounen. For the opening and ending song (and the eye-catch in the middle), the atmosphere totally doesn't match, all full of autumn colours and mostly made up of conversations with very little action. Very good show though. I'm intrigued as to where it's going, as I haven't a clue. So I go watch. Ja!
Xilmin visited the elves at 09:12 p.m.
Monday, September 12, 2005
::believes it's a conspiracy for Adventure Quest to be full now that she's addicted to it:: Well, since I'm just waiting for my stomach to get hungry so I have lunch before venturing out to explore the area, I thought I'd come here and at least mention the hillwalk the other day. It was Pauline's last munro so it was a big gathering of people from the excess club and other friends that she met through hillwalking. I've never climbed a hill in such a large group. Saku was there too, so I was happy to have a buffer between people.
At the start, my lungs were rebelling. Apparently they still haven't fully recovered from being pushed to the limits at high altitudes in the Pyranees. Least they've improved since when I first came home from the cycling I've been doing. But the start at the hill was quite steep, to say the least, so it was no wonder I was finding it rather tough. But after a while, I brought out my Runrig tape (the only music for Highland walking) and the slope leveled off and I could lengthen my stride and really get somewhere... of course then we hit bog and so there was no way to keep a constant pace. It's the principle of the Highlands, if there is flat ground, it is wet ground. ::rolls eyes:: After a long pause at a 'loch' (closer to a pond really), we set off pretty much straight up. My lungs by that time had settled into easier breathing, which I was extremely grateful.
After that it was cloud walking. It was thin cloud, so I could still see relatively far (better than the last few times I've been in cloud). But it still had the same effect of silencing any sound more than 20 feet away, which usually freaks me out. I was quite alright with it this time. Once we reached the top, we totally embarrassed Pauline by using walking poles to create an arch for her to walk through to reach the top first. Then several bottles of champagne were opened (which I wasn't interested in) and cake was passed around (which I was).
The decent wasn't nearly as fun. I started off going quite fast but after a while, I wanted to take in more of the scenery and enjoy what would likely be my last hillwalk for some time. Of course as soon as I started thinking like that, my already slightly sore feet really started hurting. It was bareable enough over the boggy bits (where I got my feet completely soaked), but then we hit the last steep part. I'll put it bluntly. I was in agony. And it was not helped by the fact that the ground was not exactly secure. The stones on the path kept moving under me. I could feel my heart skipping a beat with every slip and then returning with an almighty thump when I stopped myself. And that happened a lot. By the time I reached level ground again, my face was flushed with the strain of it all. And I didn't even have any spare shoes to change in to (forgettful as ever), so over dinner, my feet became melded to the insides of my boots. Not pleasant.
Dinner was nice though. If only I could have eaten more of it, and if only my stomach hadn't then rebelled over having to deal with rich food. ::sigh::
But speaking of food, I need lunch. One thing I want to mention before I go. Last night was cold! Before I could get to sleep I had to pull on thermal trousers, jeans, fleece, dressing gown and two pairs of socks. Ok, by three in the morning I woke up too hot and took a layer off, but nonetheless, I couldn't have got to sleep without all that. I blame the wooden floor. No bedroom should be without carpet. What is the point of a floor that zaps out heat, and I don't feel comfortable with a floor I can't curl up if I'm feeling particularly exhausted and/or dead.
Anyway, lunch! Itadakimasu!
Xilmin visited the elves at 02:14 p.m.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
I'm just here to say I've moved into the flat in Glasgow now. It just doesn't feel like it. Perhaps I'll realise it properly after having spent the night here or having to make my own meal.
::comes back from looking up the university page on Freshers' Week:: Yeah, that was totally not informative at all. Other than knowing that the fair where all the clubs have stands out for everyone to browse around is on Wednesday and Thursday, it didn't tell me a thing. I presume there is something going on on Tuesday and Friday during the day, or is it just going to be like the leaflet made out and everyone taking it easy from being completely blown away from partying all night. ::sigh:: I've not met anyone yet and I already feel out of place. ::sweatdrop:: Nah, there'll be science geeks round somewhere. I shall just have to hunt them down. :)
It's weird looking out this window and seeing tall glittering buildings instead of seeing for miles into over a dull-lit landscape and on into the darkness beyond. Although I don't have a good view of the city yet as I'm currently facing the flats across the road. My brother has the room that I really want, with the better view over the river and the city beyond, but since he's not leaving for London for another week, and even then he hasn't got a flat yet so his stuff will be here for a while longer yet, I can't move in there yet. It's going to be a tough week. I've been saved his presence for four years but now I'm going to be induced to it again and it is not a pleasant prospect. I'm rather glad I had M.E. to be honest, because otherwise I'd have been forced to live with him for a whole two years. Oh that would have been torture. Perhaps I won't realise I've moved out until he leaves. Then my mind will be forced to realise this independance that it's refusing to acknowledge.
::looks around the room:: It's so big and yet I feel there isn't enough space for all my stuff. And I only brought the most urgent of things with me (like my favourite mangas and my entire Discworld collection). It's quite impressive how much stuff I had in my old room considering it was the side of a large broom cupboard. ::rolls eyes:: It's going to feel so weird sleeping near the floor in a large room. Even now it's strange being at the computer and not having my bed looming above me and the ladder to the right and the wall and window to the left. So much space! It's all very disconcerting. :S
::looks around for more comments on her move and can't think of anything:: Well, I'm in no rush to go to bed as I have no rush to get up tomorrow, therefore I'm going to go play Adventure Quest. It's an online RPG I found just a few days ago and it's the most addictive thing I've played in a while. I've always felt I was missing out on not playing RPGs and I was right. They've always seemed so confusing before. I'm so happy I found it and actually have a fair idea what I'm doing. XD
Xilmin visited the elves at 10:26 p.m.
Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Note to self: Do not play point-and-click horror games. Ever! You knew you wouldn't be able to deal with it, but it was even worse than you thought. ::whimper:: Pathetic coward.
P.S. Pack, you fool! You're moving on Sunday! ... I don't know why I bother. I know I'm just going to end up wandering back to those online games. Or possibly move on to webcomics. By the way, check this game out: The Goat in the Grey Fedora. It's an amusing detective point-and-click game. It's the best one I found all day. And yes, that is what I've been doing all day. Can't be helped. My dad has now banned me from downloading during weekends and working hours. Without downloads, my life feels empty so I was on the hunt for empty thrills. XD I should really have spent my time finishing installing things in Linux (it takes long enough... speaking of which, I don't seem to be able to watch videos in full screen in Linux because my video card is so up-to-date it doesn't know how to deal with it. That's a major disappointment. I see me using Windows quite a bit just for that. Well, I can live with that. If I can set up downloads accessable from either side, it won't really matter which I'm using. :) ) ... Alright alright alright, this is one long 'P.S.' so I'll finish up and see if I can actually do something productive (or at least not freak the living daylights out of me!)
Xilmin visited the elves at 07:52 p.m.
Saturday, September 3, 2005
I am here to declare one thing and one thing only: IT WOOOOOOORRRRRKKKKSSSSSSS!!! I am so close to a perfectly configured PC. It now boots from a floppy, and that's just fine because I can take that up to Glasgow with me. And I sorted out the sound driver nicely after only a very short internet search (the first ever time a Linux solution was easy to find!). And while the formatted of my hard drives didn't go as planned, with the bootable floppy that no longer matters. All that is left now is the installing of my programs into Linux, such as my video players and sorting out my graphics tablet (it was fun last time but it just has to be easier this time! ::crosses fingers::). Anyway, that and the finishing of the copying back from the USB drive to my hard drive shall wait 'til tomorrow. It's time for anime and sleep (if I can. I'm feeling very excited just now). Pani Poni Dash tonight, I think. :)
Xilmin visited the elves at 10:07 p.m.
Friday, September 2, 2005
I'm bored out of my mind so I'm here again to complain about the 5th Harry Potter book. For a while things seemed to be getting better. But Harry is really pissing me off. I'm expecting him to 'angst' any page now. Why can't someone just hit him over the head with a frying pan and lighten his eternally grumpy outlook on life? And Sirius just bugged me in that last chapter I read by acting like a spoiled brat when he couldn't get his way. I wish to gnaw the heads off every single one of these characters, (bar a few admittedly).
::sigh:: I'm going to be continuing this copying tomorrow. I can just tell. The 'actual anime' folder stalled at about 70% complete so now I'm having to go through every folder and they add up to what's on my hard drive so I know which to copy over. And it's as slow as ever. My Juuni Kokki folder itself took about 40 minutes and that's not even the entire series in there. :S It's on to My Hime just now, with 4 minutes to go...
::flicks the headphone wire to the side of the keyboard for the hundreth time since starting this:: I've finally given up beating my hi-fi up to get the other speaker working and have been reduced to the headphones. Could do with a longer wire... Well, I do have longer wire headphones... ::glances about her room:: somewhere... A room this small should not be able to have so much stuff in it and it most certainly shouldn't get so messy so easily. It admittedly isn't helped by the computer sticking out from under the desk with the case open (and my feet are rather restricted since my old PC is still here... don't know what I'm going to do with it...). But there is something reassuring about being able to see inside the PC while it's working. Although I do need to be careful not to kick it and I've a funny feeling there is a raisin in there somewhere from my supper last night. That may not help it work properly... :S
::squints frantically at the screen while she sets up the Speed Grapher copying:: Maybe it's just the lack of a decent long nights sleep but my eyes are refusing to focus properly. After about 2 feet things are getting blurry. Well, it's about time I need glasses, I suppose. My entire family needs them so it's just odd that I haven't for so long, particularly with such a geekish life, with my nose either pointed at a computer screen or in a book. I just dread going to get glasses. More money. :S I'm fine for now. Sleep will do me good. But the time I got my eyes checked when I was suffering from M.E. and we went to check my headaches weren't caused by straining my eyes too much, they did notice there was a slight blurryness at the smallest level of that letter chart, but they said it wasn't worth bothering about. It can't have got worse in just a few years, can it? Yeah, sure it can. But a decent night's sleep would help considerably, I'm sure. So tonight, early night. And I shall try and not listen to music for 2 and a half hours this time which totally defeats the point of the early night. If only my mind wasn't desperate to play mind games at night since it's been bored all day. :S
Well, after I've finished with the anime folder, which shouldn't be much longer now since I'm sure there aren't that many folders left to check ::crosses fingers:: that's enough of that and I'm off to Windows again to watch anime which will hopefully nullify my mind's activeness sufficiently to allow me to sleep enough. Can only hope. Well, I'm going to get pissed off with the book again because now I'm this far into the series, I refuse to give up. If I can get it out the way as quickly as possible, it's all the better. Itekimasu!
Xilmin visited the elves at 09:01 p.m.
Friday, September 2, 2005
::sigh:: What to do? What to do? Compy is busy copying stuff on to the newly formatted USB drive and is going at an excrutiatingly slow pace. I'm lucky if it goes over 3MB/s and I've got over 100GB to copy. But least now it's formatted for reiser, the files aren't disappearing. They'd better not in the time between formatting the original hard drive and the copying of files back on to it. I can't help but be concerned, but if it works once... Nah, it seems lately anything electronic that I touch can come up with weird and unexplainable quirks.
Anyway, since I can't watch anything or play any computer games other than very simple things like Mahjong Solitaire which can become very mind-numbing after a couple of rounds, I've started reading the 5th Harry Potter book. I don't know what it is, but something about how this is going so far is making me become even less appreciative of the characters. Even Sirius is bugging me a bit (but then even before the character that Saku went on about and the character I've been seeing when I read the books don't seem to match up - That's the case with several characters actually). The whole characterisation seems over the top, particularly Tonks. And to top it all, I'm really hating Harry right now. His moaning has got on my nerves just too much. The only character I really like is Mad-Eye Moody. That's not really much of a surprise to be honest. He's my sort of character, someone I can really understand - paranoia. XD I can only hope he's got a big role in this book and that things get a bit more bareable in terms of everyone else.
I just want to finish with the Harry Potter and move on to Myst. And then I desperately feel the need to read something science fiction for a change. I have several books I bought years ago that I never got around to reading so I can check them out (and I've got a mental list of possible ones to buy as well, although I should try and avoid that as much as possible considering how much money is disappearing these days). If only I had something else to do but I don't so I guess it's back to Harry Potter again. ::sigh:: I just wish the feeling I get from the books was a bit more constant. They can be really good and really bad, not quite at the same time but it can change within just a couple of pages.
Well, just started the copying of the 'actual anime' folder which contains 97.5GB of anime episodes. I copied that on to the other one before it started eating things and it took over 8 hours. Looks like it's going to take the same amount of time again. ::grimace:: Least I should be far into the Harry Potter book by then. Heh...
Xilmin visited the elves at 1:16 p.m.
Thursday, September 1, 2005
Well, I'm back again today. I've put in the order for the £250 hi-fi. Just got to wait for it to arrive. But I am now here to ask the usual question of WHYYYYYYY?????? I was trying to copy things on to the USB hard drive my dad is letting me borrow for the duration of getting this PC into some satisfactory working order. Of course it couldn't go simply. For some reason, the hard drive is eating my files. They're filling up the disk space and yet they aren't there, apparently. So about 40-50GB can't be accounted for. My dad's suspicion is it's to do with the format of the drive. He's going to change his other USB drive to reiser instead of fat32 and I'm going to try the copying again. With reiser, you can't view it in windows, but that's what the harddrive I'm copying from is formatted to so I suppose it doesn't make that much difference. And for one thing, reiser is so much more reliable if something goes wrong.
Anyway, while I wait for my dad to finish watching TV and format the USB drive, I thought I'd rant here. I've been contemplating what to do if this doesn't work (which I find all too likely). If I could somehow create a boot CD (since my dad isn't going to let me take his copy of Linux up to the flat) then I could keep my old drives and just have to rely on the CD to boot the PC properly. And after that, I'm moving on to USB drives. So much simpler to deal with. I had innitially thought I'd just sell the old drives and move on to USB entirely, but since selling them isn't likely to get me much, it's a waste of a perfectly good hard drive. I can live with the CD thing, I suppose. And if I'm getting irritated with it, it's easy enough just to disconnect 'em.
Bah I can't really be bothered blogging anymore. Just a couple of things I should mention. I had a fun meal with the clan at Ayr India, although I'm officially eating too much lately since I've put on half a stone. :S There was somethign else I was going to say but I've gone and forgotten it. Oh well. Oh and I've finished Goblet of Fire. Pretty good, actually. Movie should be good. Hmmm... Nothing else, I'm outta here.
Xilmin visited the elves at 07:48 p.m.
Thursday, September 1, 2005
I'm having difficultly decided so I thought I'd rant here to clear my mind. I'm finally getting around to buying myself the new digital radio hi-fi. I was even all set to going to the checkout to buy one, but it refused to accept my postcode for some unknown reason. I could have just gone straight to another site that is selling the same hi-fi for about a pound more, but having mentioned it to my dad and him commenting on the fact that it's quite dear (I hadn't fully realised until I'd said "£250" out loud), I went to have another look to see if I could find anything else. Depressingly it turns out it is possible to buy a hi-fi with digital radio and a tape deck in one. I'm now torn between all the nifty things you can do in the original one I was going to buy and my obsession with obsolete media types. I would automatically go buy one with a tape deck, but they're all so ugly I'm really put off. So basically it's come to the decision of:
A digital hi-fi with a tape deck, but very few other features and an ugly appearance
or
No tape deck but neat little abilities and a not too a shabby look
How am I supposed to decide between that? I did say I was going to give up tapes, but it's easier said than done. Doesn't help than on my tapes I've got copies of the mp3s I lost in the hard drive crash. If it was easy to get them back, I'd probably be more willing. It's just the anime soundtracks that I doubt I'll be able to find...
On the other hand, there are the nifty additions in the original hi-fi. For one, it can read ID3 tags in mp3 files, which is more than useful since I'll be filling up CDs with mp3s from a wide range and will never remember what they all are. Another thing it can do is pause and rewind the radio. I cannot stress who appealing that is. And there are a few other things that I could live without but are certainly interesting to consider using. Like the USB connection. And the "variable base boost relative to volume" with a separate bass and treble control. The main hi-fi in the sitting room has the bass and treble control thing and I really like having it on the odd times I actually use that thing. And the final bonus is 99 possible presets (compared to the average of 10-15 on other hi-fis). Admittedly I doubt I'll ever use that many but I never have much of an opertunity to browse digital radio, so how can I know for sure if I'll actually find more than 20 decent stations. Considering I like both classical and rock, with some folk music along with it, there are bound to be several stations I'll listen to depending on my mood.
But it all comes down to tapes and money. It would all be saved if I could record on to CD... Hmmm... I've had a possible concept to solve that. By connecting the headphone socket into the line-in on the PC, I could record straight on to an mp3 file. Ok, I usually don't have separate PC speakers and use the AUX socket in the hi-fi, but if I temporarily use the LCD screen speakers I could listen to what was playing and be able to record it. Yeah, that would work! And once the music is on mp3, if I want I could put it on to CD anyway. Ha! Brilliant! That's one problem sorted. Now, using that same method, I could record the music I lost that is on tapes on to mp3s with the old hi-fi. Admittedly low quality but I can always replace them if I ever get the proper mp3s. Yes. That's the way to solve it and give up tapes. I don't need no stinking tape deck! ::hangs head:: But £250?
Now to persuade myself in terms of money. I was all set up to part with it but I've been thrown off the idea. There are cheaper ones for about £100, but like I said, they're ugly. Although if I was just basing this decision I would have picked a £200 one that's just a load of white plastic-looking cubes which looked pretty cool. But it's the ID3 tags and the pause and rewind that makes me want to pay that extra £50. It don't look so good, but it's a bit more classy than the bland silver ones that most are. It's got a silver front but is otherwise wood finish. I'm just thrown off by the fact that it's really small. I've been working out with rulers. I'm probably too used to the big bulky thing I've got just now. I can't remember what the size of the desk in the flat in Glasgow is like, but no doubt a smaller hi-fi will be better. And as my brother likes to point out, I don't use the full ability of my current speakers so I don't really need big ones. I don't need loud music. I'm against loud noises in general. XD
::contemplates the £250. glances at her latest bank statement and takes into account the money spent on the PC and the student loan she'll be getting (£830). takes a last look at the image of the hi-fi and considers what it's going to be capable of::ALRIGHT! I'm buying it!
Xilmin visited the elves at 03:33 p.m.
Basics
Name: Xilmin Nerrar (might as well be when I'm on the net ;) ) Nick: Xi (I have more, plenty more!) Gender: Female Age: 19 Birthday: 1st Nov (gimme a pressie! :P ) Sign: Scorpio Home: Scotland E-mail:xilmin@coolgoose.co.uk
Favs
Food: Ketchup (or anything with ketchup! [I mean anything]) Drink: Irn Bru! Colour: Red, Blue, Yellow, White, Black, Green (depending on my mood) Time: Morning Season: Summer Activity: Computers, anime, drawing, writing, reading, dreaming and thinking Music: Anime/J-pop, Rock, Metal, Classical (anything but boy-bands and opera!) Author: Terry Pratchet Movie: Lord of the Rings, Matrix, Star Wars (there's loads more) TV show: Red Dwarf Anime: Jungle wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu, Jubei-chan, Full Metal Alchemist, Planetes, Bleach, Honey & Clover, My Hime, Azumanga Daioh, Kyou Kara Maou, Samurai 7, Konjiki no Gash Bell, Melody of Oblivion, Fruits Basket, Excel Saga, Hoshi no Koe, Figure 17, Samurai Champloo, Chrno Crusade, Read or Die, Full Metal Panic, Stellvia of the Universe, Shadow Skill, Macross Zero, Hyper Police, Matantei Loki Ragnarok(There are very few anime I don't like ;) ) Manga: Houshin Engi, Parfait Tic, Demon Diary, Koi wa Itsumo Arashi Youni, Koori no Mamono no Monogatari, Love Mode, Menkui, Sakende Yaruze, Soshite Haru no Tsuki, Eternal Sabbath, Tokko, Shin Angyo Onshi, Paradistar, My Name is Zushio, Apocripha, Midare Somenishi, Chrno Crusade Seiyuu: Okiayu Ryoutarou, Koyasu Takehito, Ishida Akira, Hoshi Souichirou, Hayami Sho, Miki Shinichirou, Matsumoto Yasunori, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Paku Romi, Sakurai Takahiro, Seki Tomokazu, Miyamoto Mitsuru, Inoue Kazuhiko, Morikubo Shoutarou, Midorikawa Hikaru, Yamaguchi Kappei, Seki Toshihiko
