My goodness, I am busy recently, not crazy busy, but well, busy... Leon's schedule does effect me, also, and he worked 72.75 hours this week. (Boeing weeks start on Friday for some reason that alludes me.) There is talk now of putting him on third shift - the midnight to 7 shift. I think we can do it. But its going to be a rough ride.

I am losing weight. I am down to 166 (our scales.) the Doctor's scales would probably weigh me in the 173 + or - range. I don't look slim but I am slimmer than I was. I am healthier, also - I am not going to be diabetic - my blood sugar went down and I would bet you it will be well into a normal range the more weight I lose. Even my cholesterol and blood pressure are showing signs of improvement - so its worth the attention to food; writing in a journal, extra exercise  and self control I am practicing are all well worth the effort.  January was a 'bear' in many ways including weight loss. It took me all month to lose just 6 lbs. - most of last year I lost weight at the rate of 10 pounds per month --- from September to December - I lost of majority of the weight I've lost so far. December was slow, also, but I did things that caused it to be so.. like, well, celebrating Christmas! I am hoping once it warms up I will be more willing to take long walks and even work in the yard and will return to my 10 lbs. a month average. I would like to stablize at 125 or there-abouts sometime in August.

I am learning how to use the Ubuntu Operating system "Gusty Gnome" - but it's going to take a good year to know enough to make it make sense for me. I like it plenty and would encourage anyone with the time and desire to learn to try it - there are many fine books out there. My favorite being "Ubuntu for Non-Geeks" second edition by Richard Grant. It's designed to get you started and even has Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) as a Free CD in the back of the book. That is the version/release of Ubuntu just prior to mine... soon - sometime in the spring, I think the next release/edition/update of Ubuntu will be available. I understand it will be called "Hardy Heron" - every six months a new release of the operating system is offered for free on the net.

I am also learning the Python computer language. Here is the main website that I am using.
I would suggest that you just take the lessons a page at a time... and try to read some and talk to a friend that already programs Python, if you are lucky enough to have one.. I am - and he's my sweet husband so its even better but I don't feel like I have really mastered anything yet. I am just slowly running through the lessons. One a day.

There are a lot of open source programs on the net that run on Ubuntu (open source means that you could, if you know how to, get into the code of the program and change it.) - there are also some programs that are owned in the traditional sense but are also free - its worth the searching to find what is good and some of it is excellent. Here is a list :
Open Office. (speaks for itself. It is a package of four programs: writer,spreadsheet database,Presentation,  including a small drawing program.)

Picasa - Well if you don't know what it is you must be Rip Van Wrinkle !

Gimp - a picture manipulation, retouching program. I had it on my XP OS and it works just fine, though I have never mastered it as well as I would like.

Frozen Bubble - a cute program that is rather like Dynomite or perhaps 'Break out' used to be The games on Ubuntu tend to be rather dinky (is that a word?) so its down right impressive.

Mozilla Firefox is my web browser.

Thunderbird is my email program

There is a professional grade publisher that I am very impressed with, though, honestly I have just played with it. Scribus is the name of this gem, and NO I don't know hardly anything about it.except it looks impressive.

I've found two programs that do mostly what I want them to do though I have not mastered either yet... One is  Gourmet Recipe Manager.

And the other is gtypist -yep, a typing program. This one is a bit hairy ... I haven't even opened it up successfully, yet. I need to read the instructions and carefully proceed.

There are a few absolutes in this little adventure : You really need to know more about computers to use Ubuntu than you do MS products. It isn't all done for you - Its the difference between being an infant and your Mommy puts the food in your mouth and you eat it (Microsoft products) and then, later, you learn to sit at a table and use a spoon and fork - a Linux Ubuntu system. It pays to know a few basic Linux commands because it a lot easier to work form 'terminal' to get programs to load, sometimes, especially stubborn ones than it is to work from the user interface - GNU. Games are not so hot on Ubuntu. They aren't so fancy and are more reminiscent of the first games I saw 25 - even 30 years ago - there are a few some very good games. One bit of good news is that Java games on the net seem to have no problem running on Ubuntu - I've done it for various games and it seems to work. Ubuntu is a work in progress... thousands of people are working world wide to make it a free, open operating system. There is Microsoft - which is getting more and more expensive in both hard disk space and money as the years fly by... and their products are impressive .. and there is Ubuntu and Linux - for free for those of us who don't want a mother or the expense of Microsoft's products.

 There is (also)  a program called "Wine" that is supposed to be interface between Microsoft programs and Ubuntu but so far it seems that it is rather limited, but I am not even sure HOW limited and, well, honestly - I am not even sure I have gotten to work properly.  I have yet to really understand it. Lastly, It pays to want to learn - to be willing to read a book or two and to have a massive amount of patience while you are learning. I never thought I would see Leon admit ignorance but he is actually learning as much as I am. It's actually FUN!


Here is a big, big surprise : I've begun writing, again ! Like so many,  the great American novel rests on my bottom book shelf - the problem is that its only half written. I've been writing it (OH, MY!!!!!) since 1982. Go ahead, laugh, I've heard it all before. I do enjoy writing - its just it scares me to death to express myself - my upbringing in the dark halls of Roman Catholicism suppressed my natural proclivities to a large degree. Be silent, be little, don't stand out or get in our way - we are the important ones - you are just a little girl.... (growl .. ) I realize now, how utterly squashed and silenced I really am - It is as if they took a flower bud and ground it into the dust. I find any self expression - scary - but you know what ... like this blog - the more you do something  that scares you to death - the more you grow, the more you learn, the more you gain confidence and the will to continue to expand, grow and mature - each step in the process depends on the steps before it; just as this post depends on each letter within  each word. My novel is both science fiction with some mystical/fantasy undertones. It is not a light -hearted story.A great deal of it is serious drama. There is always my quirky humor, also.  I absolutely love my characters and even if I never give them life in other people's minds - at least I finish their story, and, I know they will always live in my own heart. Mellisa, Giordano Bruno, Hilland, Claymore, Craxton, Moreland, William De Landenlas, James the Witch... well, they all really exist - within ME. Its time to write their story. I don't seem happy if I don't write constantly. I always feel that something is missing from my life.

And no, my back room - this study/craft room/sewing room/herbarium/needlework room/library  is not much neater. I keep trying. Too much in too small a space, that is the real problem !!! but I am going to try to get organized, honest, I am.

And, no I am not yet beading as I said I would - I will. Soon.

are vastly exaggerated. I am busy though ... I've started learning Python ( a computer language) because I want to understand more about computer languages, generally and Python is a good place to start... that my husband knows the language, already, is, of course, important.  and I am still working to organize my computer and the files on my Ubuntu Operating system, particularly. I have little time to do much else - even play games. On the needlework front I am making a new purse.. and experimenting with patterns. I am also doing the usual house-wifely things, also, and struggling to lose the pounds between 170 and 160 - which seem particularly stubborn, though it may be the weather... as in its been so miserable that walking anywhere is a wee bit unpleasant. Today was windy, rainy and cold - not quite a wind storm but not exactly a breeze, either.  Leon's hours are a bit weird, also ... try getting up at 2 AM and tell me it isn't just a little --- weird !
Well, must go. take care, everyone !

My Linux/XP adventure.
We reloaded XP yesterday and then reloaded Linux .. found out later we didn't have to reload Linux/Bunny/Ubuntu, after all. We are both learning. Here is the link to that info for anyone working to learn Ubuntu.
I suggest checking just about all questions out on the web and assume nothing when you are working with Ubuntu - there are an endless number of sites giving help, instructions and people having the same problems you are.. it looks like a friendly, helpful community effort to a new Linux user, like me. We call it Bunny, by the way, for short ... so is the mascot a cute little penguin or a bunny? I like the bunny but the penguin is rather cute, too...

 I had the revolving Desk tops and rubber windows weirdness working last incarnation but this incarnation we can't seem to repeat our actions even though I wrote some of them down. It seems we are missing a step or two. I am still looking for Wanda Fish - what menu is she on, I wonder? Where is my Wanda Fish?????????
 We will keep researching the problem with my video card and will write the cure down next time. I didn't lose any of my old files because they were saved on safe hard disks but I lost a lot of the work/effort/changes from the last incarnation - getting things to look and act the way I wanted them will take a day or two. Also, all my settings, are needless to say, gone... I had moved files up and had even got Rhythm Box to work properly with my old Ipod files and now I will need to do that all over again. As far as I can tell, my XP side is just fine the flickering to black and the weird crackling sounds are gone... I will not use it for much more than some old games and several programs like Transparent Language Italian -
a fine program for language learning that has resources for not only Italian but Latin, Spanish, French and God knows what else ! Now, if I would actually work on my Italian I might be able to say more than 'Good day' in it! Owning a language program does not ensure you will actually use it to learn a new language.
Microsoft has announced that it will no longer sell XP - which, is a step on the path to no longer supporting it... though, I am a little confused whether it is June or the end of the year when they do the deed - what they are doing is pressuring the companies that sell computers to no longer XP machines (even though the customers are still asking for  them!)
... so when they do that ( no longer support XP)... well, I will give away or sell all my old XP programs - or find ways to make them work on Linux Ubuntu - or give the programs a little more life by staying off the net on the XP side, entirely.

I will know a lot more by then. We think we have 3 more years before Microsoft cuts us off, entirely. I have already written some about our Microsoft rebellion. I don't think we are the only ones. I felt only anger when Microsoft forced us to call in and get permission to reinstall Windows XP, it was an invasion into our home.. acting like they owned the program I bought from them  - when I buy something, I buy it.. .it is mine for as long as I choose to use it, if I want to reinstall Windows XP next week this time, I will or should be able to ... I compared it to Jo-Anne's fabrics telling me I had to buy new knitting needles in a new wood and could no longer use my old bamboos.

'Like hell, I do' is my instant and unedited response. I don't bow to the gods of MS or to  Bill Gates. There is a strong sense that I will not respect any man or woman just because their egos make them expect my respect.

What learning curb or is that learning curve? I had to reload my Linux Unbuntu system again, last night. Things were not going well - once we fixed one problem another popped up.  Leon is having second thoughts about Big Brother ... oh, I mean Microsoft. I think its chiefly games and Turbo Tax that makes him doubt that we needed Microsoft even in retirement - I think we could manage one microsoft computer - his - and one fully Bunny (Ubuntu) computer - mine - but the future is still a bit blurry, right now, friends..   I've set a new home record though not only for OS reloading but for staying off of EX - 2 days. Take care, everyone who visits this site.. talk more later, I need to do some tweaking ! 

I reloaded my system last night. Ubuntu is a lot faster to reload than XP or even Microsoft '98 and I did it in about 2 hours, most of that time being spent watching an old movie in the living room with Leon while the computer did the hard work. We were having some Issues with both computers and it just became easier to reboot and reload... which, if you ask me is a little like tearing out a knitting or crochet project, and almost as pleasurable - there is irony in this sentence if you are reading it right... Its called frogging, by the way... rip it, rip it, rip it....
Well, now I work on the system most of today and get to dance and jump the way I want it to - like training a dog (a smart person never tries to train a cat!) but it doesn't always bark. I hope I am learning ... I need to read more and use that workbook I bought a bit more. There is a window called 'terminal' that allows you to download and even program that I would like to learn to use.. it reminds me some of the very earliest machines or even dos - it's the real computer - the desktop is just the front door. Oddly, at 56 I am seriously thinking about learning some programming, its never too late to learn, is it?  Leon is no alien to Linux or even Unix so it is not as great a mystery to him, but for me it is all NEW ! He has lead me through some processes at the terminal window but I would like to explore all the free programs that are out there. Last incarnation my browser (Firefox) was very unstable. It would turn gray and lock up - something I had never seen it do when I used it with XP - so far, this incarnation, it seems far more stable. I am not sure what was wrong. I tend to experiment a lot and I may have downloaded or changed something that the Mr. Firefox didn't like.

 It is going to take a long time for me to get used to Ubuntu and even longer to understand it and perhaps a year or two to feel like it is the dog and I am the master, but- heck, I still misspell it now and again, so I wouldn't expect myself to do better than I am doing.
What do I think about it ?
I would put it this way. Microsoft is the Roman Catholic Church - there is a definite Hierarchy, priesthood, holy days and duties to perform to stay right with Microsoft. Stay within her confines and she will get you to computer heaven or nirvana; she is usually a good mama and you don't need to know a lot of computing - or programming- to use her products.  She makes everything easy for you and you always have a button to push or a mouse to move. She is also a jealous church and will call you a heretic or even worse if you don't always do things her way. She will punish you if you try something that jeopardizes her well-being and livelihood. She costs a lot and you must pay your tithe to her god of computing or she will get very angry - may even refuse to give you a new reload code.
Linux - or Ubuntu- is like mystical Gnostic Christianity. You are mostly on your own. You are a stranger in a lot of places because you walk alone.  There are few rules and no theology. No priests, no hierarchy, no tithe, no protecting mama, no assurances of divine award, no catechism. It is a one-to-one relationship with the computer. You can do stupid things, easily, computing as an adventure. Sometimes things go wrong and you don't really know why and have no idea how to fix it.  You can find a lot of advice but you must do the work of find the good advice and rejecting the nonsense.
You must study, read and meditate on what you are doing and trying to achieve what you think is best. You must question everything.   You try new things and if they don't work or 'feel' wrong you drop them and try something else...The buttons aren't always obvious. You have to work hard to keep the relationship going. You don't do what you do because of fear of Mama Microsoft's wrath or to stay right with your friends and fellow users.. you do what you because you just LOVE playing with the processes and details of the system, learning something, exploring and experimenting. There is no certainty of getting to some kind of heaven or nirvana, but you do your best not to worry about the outcome just walking the path with some trust and a lot of willingness to learn something NEW.

I've been setting up my Linux operating system all day. It's not that unlike Microsoft in a few ways while being very different in others... a little more bare,  somewhat more spartan, in many respects, but, incredibly user friendly, also, which is something I did not expect. Our plan is to keep XP as a secondary operating system, chiefly for games and use Ubuntu for everything else. I am not sure will all this will lead us as Microsoft pushes for the passing of EX by refusing to update it any further... of course, one way out of that dilemma is to no longer access the Net from EX or only very rarely.. as for game updates.Neither of us is sure this is what we really want to do. It isn't about money. We have the money. Its about Microsoft, which is getting more and more pushy - more and more dogmatic and bossy as the years pass. It is now more or less claiming that we don't really ever BUY one of their operating systems (Windows); the 200 + dollars is more like a rent charge and  we must ask permission to use Windows on our system, even to the point where we can not use it on both family machines but must buy two copies. This is heavy handed, indeed. When I buy something I buy it... if I have 20 computers at home I should be able to put it on all 20 machines. Microsoft doesn't own me or the copy of Windows I bought from them.
I do.

We've been talking philosophy all day...  the differences between the Microsoft model and the Unbuntu (Linux) model - I see it terms of what I know - the role of the Catholic Church in religion, for instance - or any organized religion, for the matter. Some People stay safely in one religion for a whole lifetime.  They go to church, obey the laws, do their best never to question authority etc. If the church says don't eat meat on Friday, they don't, if the church says God considers not going to church a certain day a mortal sin they always go to church on that day - in short, they paint within the lines made by Pope. I lost that  ability or inclination at 17 and it wasn't just teen-age rebellion ---- I went wandering.. searching for God, truth, beauty, wisdom ... I explored many religions and philosophies, made it (my religion or life philosophy ) up as I went along - made some mistakes, went down a lot of dead ends - but searched for the Divine ONE in my life, always - I meditated, read, studied, prayed, allowed my belief system to change and evolve as I, myself, did. I was all and all a lover of God, of the Divine. What I did I did for the shear joy of the adventure of seeking God.

Now, what does this have to do with Microsoft and computers?
Microsoft is the Pope. (I would say Bill Gates but he isn't quite Mr. Microsoft, any more.)  It tells you what to do, usually to get excited every time it presents a new operating system-- buy, buy buy - walk to the counter with 500-1000 dollars worth of new programs, you are being a worthy adherent of the great Microsoft lord.. buy Vista, buy the new word processor (Office), buy other Vista related and Vista compatible programs, including new security software because your old '98 and XP compatibles are just so old and dusty and certainly useless with Vista.. sometimes, even buy a new computer simply because you need the more memory. You obey Microsoft. You send them money and they promise to help you if you get into a jam. They keep you and your machine safe.
You are safe within the boundaries of mother Microsoft. Dinner is served and it always works - well, sort of ... doesn't it?

Now - there is another way - (and this applies to all of life, not only computers.). Ubuntu is made by developers and is free - not only free in the monetary sense of the word but freely open source code. If I was a developer and wanted a new recipe program I could write one for Unbuntu and give it away freely - others could get my program and fix what ever bugs they noticed. They didn't have to ask my permission, either. I don't get paid and I do what I do for the shear joy of creation. I am exploring, learning, making it up as I go along. Computers as a craft - or an obsession, perhaps.

There are some problems with the Ubuntu model of life - most people, myself, included are not developers - we just want things to work. Updating this post, this morning, I can report I can't find a recipe application worthy of the name and  I've only written one or two very simple programs in my entire life so writing a new one, myself isn't very likely. Also, there is a sort of low level communism to it all ... Microsoft is capitalism written large - unbuntu nearly the opposite. I don't disapprove of capitalism as some do. I approve of it until someone gets hurt or the capitalists start mistaking themselves for gods.

But it is also a heresy; going off the beaten, safe road and exploring computers as an lone individual. I would suggest it is a love-affair.

Leon and I have been involved with computers since the stone ax days of the early 1970's. He says its the difference between the two great old magazines of the early computer revolution... Byte and Creative Computing... the divide between the two ways started even then. Byte was a very formal magazine. Just looking at it you could see it took itself very seriously. Leon reminded me of it and said those people went on to work at Microsoft.  Creative Computing was fun, even I could see that and I was pretty ignorant back then. I have an old book of republished creative computing articles. One article was a picture of Mr. Spock done in numbers, dots and dashes. I saw that and I immediately jumped upon the idea that you could embroider the picture if you assigned the proper colors to the symbols. Of course that was done in published cross stitch programs, many years later. There was a lot of play and fun in the early days of computer age. We saw the birth of new age for mankind. That doesn't happen in many lifetimes and I feel privileged to have seen the beginning of the home computer revolution/age.
 I saw a lot of that same kind of  fun and self amusement in unbuntu as I familiarized myself with the operation of the system that past two days. I do not know if we will stick with it but it wouldn't surprise me at all. Leon is a good self starter student. He may very well master Ubuntu if given time.

This is going to be just a note, really - My honey, that lovely man I've been married to for some 32 years has gone wacky & wild and has installed Linux Ubuntu, which I immediately called 'bunny',  on his machine on the CD drive that we bought today. I am somewhere between awe, skepticism, curiosity and complete terror.. I am a very easy going woman...  Want to put a motorcycle motor in my living room while you are cleaning it? (and yes, he actually did that when we lived in the trailer !) no problem. Accidentally tear into the floor in the living room when you are using the saw? Hey, that is what rugs are for...  Live in a house the size of some postage stamps ... no problem. Make tallow here at home (Did I tell you about my tallow making experience a couple of weeks ago?) It was a great experience. Stunk to highest heaven, but I am going to use some of it to make soap, so it was worthwhile to me to get on board with the black powder pistol adventure.

  But stray from the Mother Microsoft? From the safety of her large skirts...
ARE YOU MAD?
 but I am, also, very curious.

 It is an unclassified, new  territory ... you all have noted I don't always do what everyone else does; my favorite movies are not the blockbusters, my favorite books rarely are best sellers, I don't go to church because I can not bear anyone telling me what to think, my religion is Gnostic - and this list is actually the short list... I disobey authority, naturally, in my mind and often in my heart .. only obeying when I must. Love is the only way to tame me and the only authority I do obey with any consistency are the political/legal laws of the USA because I love the constitution & the bill of rights and strive to be a good citizen. ... I am like one of my cats, walking my own path in my own way : a loner who happens to be married. Leon knows me ... insult my intelligence, claim I can't possibly understand something and you have a war on your hands ... (ME, little old housewife ... me ? ohhhhh, I couldn't possibly understand a NEW operating system !  (eye lashes batting in a feminine way, a  slight smile... using a soft, gentle, almost childlike   voice... ) I am very good at mocking the arrogant. I have had to do it many, many times.
If I get cute, I have a suggestion: Be afraid, be very afraid.
I can think of several reasons I would like to get from under the thumb of the Microsoft  monster.. she has gotten too big and forgotten her roots. She seems to think she can impose her will on us, who buy her products, she is getting too big for her panties, her products have more holes than a piece of tatted lace, they are a bunch of liberals who cause our local taxes to go up because they have no compassion for their middle class neighbors.
So... next year, we stray from the havens of operating-system bliss and explore Linux and its environs. Should be interesting... Leon claims this has NOTHING what so ever to do with rebellion or any other less polite term or phrase that might occur to me (something to the effect of 'doing it to the man..' )  this is chiefly born of curiosity and a need to learn something new, a new hobby for him..NOW how can I possibly refuse him, anything, even my beloved computer's hard disk space? With that kind of appeal to the angels of my better nature or to the better angels of my nature... or.... ??? well you get the point. I must yield. Been like this since day one when I was 23 and he was 21.
Next year : Linux Ubuntu.
(That is, if we can figure Linux out! )
I think there must be some small print on our marriage license I never read....