So. My computer is dead. And in fact it is not merely dead, it's really most sincerely dead.

Fortunately, I have the money to replace the dead components.

Unfortunately, it'll take a week for them to get here.

Fortunately, they're all much faster than what I had previously.

Unfortunately, I'll also have a helluva time getting my system adapted to the new hardware without a reinstall, which would lose my data.

Fortunately, I have the skill to do this.

Unfortunately, the frogurt is also cursed.

I think I need a holiday.

So. I've spent the past three days doing practically nothing but constantly playing Puzzle Pirates.

tarlia, you will pay for this. Oh, yes. You will pay.

***

And now, to make this resemble something approaching a real LJ post, a meme.

Letter meme, tagged by tabbyclaw. To play, comment and ask for a letter, then list ten things you like that start with that letter.

My letter? G.

1. Anyone who didn't guess Greg Grunberg as the top of this list obviously hasn't had me babbling at them enough.
2. Green. Green green green. I love green. As evidenced ... practically everywhere.
3. Games. I like playing them, I like the idea of making them. I just need to start liking work, and I've got it made.
4. Ghosts. By which I mean the interesting, character-type ghosts, rather than the, "Ooh, spooky!" type of ghost. Ask me about my ghost detective some time.
5. Geekery, in all its forms. Science geekery, politics geekery, computer geekery, it's all fascinating and wonderful in so many ways.
6. Germans. I'm not sure what it is -- the accent, the language, the genetics, the cultural personality, or some combination -- but there's something incredibly fascinating and attractive about the German people.
7. Glass. Again, not sure what it is -- something about the texture, I think -- but glass is just an incredibly soothing substance. Water without the wet. I can't help but feel that a bath of glass pebbles would be oddly relaxing.
8. Guns. I don't own any myself, and probably won't for the foreseeable future, but I highly approve of them. Especially when in the possession of #1 on this list.
9. Gizmos and Gadgets. Who doesn't like a Rube Goldberg machine, or a silly but fun little puzzle, or a neat way of sharpening your pencil using tree roots?
10. And finally, last, and least, my lighting designer Shirley Mockowitz. ... er, wait. Sorry. Wrong script. Finally, gastropods. Especially of the oracular type.

When you, while cooking for two people, make enough food for eight, you are Overdoing It. In future, learn to cut your recipes down, 'kay?

Due to certain Circumstances, which as I have signed a non-disclosure agreement with the government I am not at liberty to discuss, for the foreseeable future I will be doing most of the cooking in this house. Fun fun fun. I hope I can at least clean the kitchen first.

The only real problem with this is, however, that I have very few recipes on hand, and even less practical experience with improvising. So, as is my wont, I'm getting other people to do the hard work for me. Anyone have any recipes on hand that they feel like tossing my way? I'm open to just about any kind of recipe at this point, and all proceeds go to a special fund for survivors of the Great Lemming Massacre of 19Disney.

So go on... food me.

Posted at 6 PM: Uranium industry will flourish if Labor lets it: analyst

Posted one hour later: Govt reverses uranium deal with India

For those of you playing along at home, this uranium deal was an agreement by the previous government to sell some of our vast stores of uranium to India, under certain regulatory guidelines agreed to by the contract. It was slated to be a well-welcomed injection of a large amount of money into our economy.

Now, when the government switched to Labor, I knew this was coming. With Environment Minister Peter "Let Us Ban Plastic Bags Altogether" Garrett on one side, and a heavily left-wing, youthful base on the other, it was inevitable that the issue of uranium mining and exports would come up again. But I still think it's a stupid decision. India, if they want uranium, will get it from somewhere whether we agree to it or not. And under the contract, India was under some pretty heavy regulations on the use of any uranium we provided. In a lot of ways it was a win-win situation.

Unfortunately, the radiatimums have scared a lot of Australians into thinking that even looking at fissile material will irradiate you, your family, your pet cat, and anyone you happen to come into. Or at least, that's the impression you get from the way they complain about anything that even remotely concerns atomic physics.

I wonder if any of them realise that this means that the evil, nasty uranium will stay in our ground now, where it can use its insidious powers to destroy the Australian way of life.

Nitwits.

So. 2007 is finally over. About time. Not that I'm under any illusions that incrementing an integer is going to have any major effect on my life, but it does make a nice abstract mark on which to do, "Okay, let's try and fix up our life. Again."

Consider this post to be the last explosion of self-indulgent whining I make before they pull 2007's life support system. I'm sure it won't be long until 2008 finds a way to trigger a similar post.

I just felt a need to draw your attention this marvellous piece of wtf.

The Mental Health of Worms: Top Topic in New Zealand

I have a question.

As is normal and healthy for someone my age, I can't stand my parents. Just like everyone else, really. But... is it normal or healthy to find them not only distasteful, but also completely abhorrent to my moral and ethical values?

Voice posts are fun, right? You get to hear funny accents if your friends are from far, far away. All we really want is to hear your voice, we don't care what you're saying. So here's a list of typical meme questions that would otherwise be boring, but when communicated aloud - well, it's entertaining. Answer these questions in your post, and encourage others with voice-posting abilities to do the same.

1) What's your name?
2) How old are you?
3) Where are you from? Are you living there right now?
4) Is it cold where you are?
5) What's the time?
6) What are you wearing?
7) What was the last thing you listened to?
8) What was the last thing you ate?
9) What was the last thing you watched on tv?
10) What's your favourite tv show? Why?
11) Quick! Find a book, or something with text on it! Flip to a random page and read some of it! GO!
12) What was the last movie you saw? How was it?
13) Do YOU think you have an accent? Talk about that.

VoicePost 657K 3:50

(no transcription available)

I didn't realise I had that odd twang. Hunh.

So, with a little help and shoving from neferde, a lot of help from the ReactOS IRC room, and a willingness to toss out several dozen gigs worth of replaceable data?

I can rescue my data. In fact, barring one partition I don't have room for right now, I have rescued my data.

There are three things this experience has taught me.

1) If you don't have the money to buy a backup solution, you don't have the money to buy a computer.
2) The list of things I'd be willing to delete wholesale in an emergency is larger than I had known.
3) Frozen chops should be in the emergency kit of every good tech.

I am going to marry those people. Srsly.

Okay. So I could handle the loss of air conditioning. It was hell, but I've done it before. And I was pretty fine with the stress of job searching. I struggled a bit when the stress of managing this place for a week on my own was thrown in, but I coped.

I could live with the sudden illness that struck me down for the exact few days when I needed to work hard. I can get past the daily arguments with my family. They're nothing now. I can even handle the financial stresses I'm currently in.

But when the hard drive that contains my life, literally everything that is important to me, fails, suddenly, without warning, and without a chance for me to back up the data... that's it. I'm done. I quit. The universe wins. I am obviously not meant to ever have any sort of happiness, and am forbidden from having a moment's peace between crises. I'll just give up on this whole "life of my own" concept. It's obviously a bad joke on me.

Now there's a kid who's gonna need therapy some day.

I realise that the woman has a legitimate complaint, (one... two... one... two... three?) and I realise that raising two kids instead of the planned one is expensive... but what I don't understand is why she felt "trapped", or in any way obligated to bring the kid up. Even if you have a personal objection to abortion, adoption/foster care is a perfectly reasonable option. Not a highly desirable option, but hardly the devil incarnate.

And the further enroachment of the litigation-led culture continues. Because of course it is better to sue the pants off of someone instead of solving the problem at hand.

Today in Australian Government WTF Weekly: Federal Government bans porn in Indigenous Communities

I don't know where to start, or where to finish with this. There are so many logic flaws in the whole idea, that all I can do is stare and gape.

So, uh... it looks like I'm writing again. In conjunction with tabbyclaw and tartary_lamb, and under pain of pain from neferde to make sure I don't get out of the project, we've started up an effort to get out 200 words each day. The most baffling thing about this is that it seems to be working.

I've got nothing substantial finished yet, but I have, when I'm feeling uninspired on the Main Things, been tossing out some double-drabbles. And I just posted the first batch of three. Psych d-drabbles to be exact.

Anyone who wants to have a peek, wander over here.

Tagged by m31andy, a meme. I apologise for the waste of time.

Comment and I will give you 3 interests on your list, and 3 icons,for you to explain. Then you must post the answers in your own journal and allow others to comment.

( My tag )

So, as a little background, for those not in the know, Australia's Federal election is due to occur some time later this year. For the past twelve years, we've had a Liberal party government under John Howard as our Prime Minister. The Opposition was the Labour party, under Kim Beasley. Last year, Kim Beasley was replaced as leader of the Labour party by Kevin Rudd.

Ever since he took control of the party, Kevin Rudd has been breathing fresh life into a party that had grown stagnant under twelve years of failure. And this being an election year, the Federal Budget proposal is one of the major landmarks in the battle for winning the election.

Earlier this week, Peter Costello, the Federal Treasurer, presented the Liberal party's Budget proposal should they win the election. You can read about that here, and view the actual speech at the video link on the right of there. I must admit, I haven't watched it all the way through, but it's pretty standard election-year budget fare. Tax cuts, massive education budget (targeted at higher education and universities), that sort of thing.

A traditional right of the Opposition is to give a reply speech to the Budget proposal, with their own intended plans should they win the election. You can read about that here, with the same viewing of the speech at the video link (I highly recommend that; Rudd is a good speaker). Rudd's budget proposal was multi-pronged, with a focus on primary and secondary school education, saving money for future tough times once the mining boom ends, improving Internet infrastructure, and subsidising energy-saving and water-saving measures. And his entire proposal was aimed at the long term. It was not what you would call an "election" budget. I think it says a bit that, at the end of his speech, almost all of Parliament gave a standing ovation, and there were even whooping whistles.

Cue. The. Drama.

Costello attacks Rudd Budget 'cliches'

Howard roasts Rudd on 'fiscal conservative' claim

(This being a complaint I agree with partially, in that finding teachers for Rudd's education initiatives will be hard for a while (A detail of the video clip that seems to have been left out of the article, alas). However, his plan is a ten year plan, giving plenty of time to find and train teachers) Rudd's education reply 'a poor effort'

(This one I love. He's complaining about the Labour party, which was practically built by workers, listening to unions) Rudd too weak to confront unions: Howard

(This being said today, after the Liberal party realised that people like Rudd's proposal) PM backs 'spirit' of Rudd's skills plan

As catalase said over IM earlier, the Liberals have really dropped the ball here. Instead of attacking Rudd's plan on its few weak points, they've thrown a massive hissy fit. If there was ever a sign of a government on its way out, that is it.

(And, um, yes, that's Kevin Rudd in my icon. I'm really growing to like him it seems)