Footing the Bill

I am quite batty, I think...I am footing the bill for the registration of our FIRST Lego League robotics team...which is a SIZABLE fee. Let us hope the team pays their dues and the grants materialize. I am also buying a laptop for CAD work [likewise for robotics]. There is a class in Autodesk 3ds Max given by one of the local FRC teams, and 3ds Max requires a Windows operating system  -.-    Spent a few days trawling frantically through newegg.com and pages of robotics forum discussion on what makes a good CAD computer [good graphics card, mostly]. Then this morning one of my friends did some hunting for me and came up with this rather awesome critter. All the specifications, for $800. 


Hrm, I have also kept busy chasing rabbits with feral roars [as witnessed by a friend on Skype >:D ], cutting and drying small amounts of hay, catching escaped goats, running around the homestead with a knife stashed down my shirt [in pursuit of the rabbits], hunting down a pie-cherry tree, subsequently pitting [by hand] a lot of cherries [solo] with music playing in the background [my FIRST robotics competition playlist :D ]

What I've been up to

warning, this may be a very geeky post.


Mebbe I should start a tech blog, where I post successes and failures of the amateur videographer....


Well I was supposed to return the camera to the studio on Wednesday morning after school. Naturally, this mean that I thought I didn't have to start uploading footage off of it until Tuesday night.....yeaahhh. That didn't go so well. I had problems with that, 5 hours of HD video footage eats up hard drive space pretty quickly. Left it to (as I thought) upload all night, only to come down and discover that it had stopped halfway through because Eddie's hard drive was full. There was a lot of dealings with transferring all the footage to an external hard drive.
Wound up returning the camera Thursday instead.


After that we had to decide which computer to edit the footage on. I've never taken the time to learn the ins and outs of iMovie, so I was planning to edit on the (very slow) HP desktop machine running Windows XP, with Sony Vegas Movie Studio editing software. [May I recommend SVMS, it is a very nice and easy-to-use piece of software. However if you EVER plan to switch to a Mac OS, don't buy it, because it is, as I found too late, a PC-only program.]


 Well I thought I had things nailed. I installed SVMS on my dad's computer and lugged the whole setup upstairs. My dad's comp. is from 2002, Windows XP, and only has about 70 gigs of hd space, but it is still really fast because we don't go online with it EVER.  Then the computer and I migrated upstairs to my bedroom, hitherto used for nothing except sleeping [or failing to sleep] because, well, let's just say it's not exactly climate-controlled. Fingers get NUMB in winter.....


The innocent tiny bedroom was turned easily enough into what my dad referred to as a hacker's lair. Come round the corner of the bed and you are confronted by a menacing array of sheer computing power.


Things were all fine and dandy until I actually tried to import some of the video footage into SVMS.
........


This did not go so well.


.......
Hm. No go.


I've had this problem before, the audio comes in but NO VIDEO. Then I attempted the tried-and-true method of drag-and-drop the files into the program, instead of 'File/Import'.  btw, this usually works, try it if you're having trouble opening files.  This did not work EITHER. I was becoming rather ticked.


Next we tried to view some of the video clips using Quicktime for Windows. 'Need to install more Quicktime components to view this file'.   Thinking that this would be fixed easily enough by downloading the newest version of Quicktime, I did so.   NUUP.  I had had warning that this might be the case and further research confirmed that Quicktime for Windows does NOT allow you to play hi-def.  .mov files.   Note that a .mov file IS a Quicktime file. A program doesn't play it's own format of files!  


This caused displeasure on the part of the lordly ME.  Remember all the hoopla a few weeks back with DivX media player and Gspot and all that? Well I took one of the files into Gspot to see if it could diagnose what codec was needed to play the file. NOTHING. File not recognized or somesuch.    .mov is a fairly common file, ONE WOULD THINK. 


All these files played FINE on my Mac. 
There were various other options considered, but in the event it was my non-techie mom who suggested the solution. The studio has Macbook pro laptops running Adobe FinalCut pro [professional, top of the line editing software] available for loan.   Friday I went in and got the laptop. Toted it up to the Lair and Then There Was a Scary Amount of Computing Power in the room. 
Eddie [my own macbook], dad's desktop comp (for show), dad's speakers with (to quote him) Scary Bass, and the loaned 17" macbook. Also an external hard drive and a power strip bristling imposingly. 


We are now on an even keel video-wise, have only to learn the ins and outs of FinalCut......'oh this is such a cool program! massive amounts of computing power! 17" screen laptop! professional-quality!......um how do you edit the volume levels?' 


Then two nights ago I was summoned forth from my lair by my mom, with the announcement that the computer was having a problem. The family PC, that is. Its antivirus (Norton 360) had expired, we knew it was going to happen but going to Atlanta kinda interfered with making arrangements. 


This entailed a good bit of research, and we bought Trend Micro pro version, as suggested by various geeky friends. Installed that today with surprisingly little hassle. 


Hmm, guess that about sums up the techie side of things.....I'm doing me online homework for math, logarithms great fun hehehe......anybody know how to solve an equation involving log squared?  not log (x^2)   but (log x) ^2
My book fails.....

THIS should have been called Über-geek....

Only the other day I was mentioning that 'I have no life'. This was refuted by my worthy compatriot, who has also been quoted as saying that my days don't end, they just slow down a bit.   I am definitely back in the insanity-zone....

Sunday we drove back up to P-town to RETURN the sink we bought two days before. This was after a pleasing interlude in the sink aisle at Home Depot whilst the three of us discussed the respective merits of various sinks. There was some heated debate over whether or not it was important to have a sink that is resistant to scratches, stains and grey marks from pans. I became quite fired up, and mentioned that I planned to write a manifesto laying out a 'Workers' Declaration' that the sole consideration regarding kitchen implements should be Utility and Function, not Aesthetic Appeal.  However instead of Rallying the Troops, I wound up laughing as we trailed through the store looking at countertop materials. 

Monday it was back to the daily grind of school and expeditions into geekery.  After school I went to a robotics meeting for the CHS team, and wound up staying the whole three hours. DIscussed video-considerations with the team captain.....there was a huge amount of things to be hashed over and planned out, and now I am engaged in making a short ad to air on the local community access TV station, and also filming the introduction of the robot at tomorrow's assembly. Yesterday I rendezvoused after school to film the voice-over for said advert.    Today I stayed at school the whole day, in order to be present at the robotics meeting after school and likewise the assembly run-through at lunch. 

Also on the way back from P-town I read over part of the infamous novel I wrote last November, and was surprised at how hysterical it was. Most amusing to read the incoherent copy I wrote at the height of the lack of sleep. And a couple of terribly funny lines that I honestly do not remember writing.... O.o  

Wednesday tech stuff:  I didn't know it was possible to be this much of a geek. I'm wearing a pair of earphones over my earbuds, am working simultaneously on two computers, have two flash drives in play, am downloading a codec for Mac and Windows...all this as preliminaries for editing an advert for robotics. 

I was given a .avi file of Team 997's winning match at the championship games at regionals. This is for use in making the ad to turn in to the broadcasting studio in the next day or two. The file plays with no trouble in VLC media player (a really nifty little free media player, btw...download here) but when I tried to import it to my editing program (Sony Vegas Movie Studio) only the audio was visible. The same thing happened when I tried to play it with Windows Media Player, or (switching to Mac) import to iMovie.  

I have heard this is a problem sometimes, and it requires fiddling with codecs. A little hunting on the internet revealed the VMS editing platform tends to have trouble with certain .avi files, and I found recommendations to download GSpot, a tiny application which diagnoses which codecs are needed to play the file.    Downloaded that...found that the file needed the DX50 codec, supplied by DivX. I downloaded a version for both Mac and Windows.    That is currently being installed, so we shall see.....


and because I have nothing better to do than my bio homework, here's this....
Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Starting time: 18:38
Mood: geeky :P
Outside my window: sun on huge snow clouds
I'm thinking: I hope this codec works.....
I'm reading: Baha! Who has time to read?  Well Great Expectations, on and off...finished 1984.
I'm listening to: Scott's voice-over for the robotics ad  XD
I'm wearing: dark grey tank, black and white plaid shirt of me dad's, jeans with a TON of stuff in teh pocketses
Yesterday, I: went to robotics potluck :)
I'm excited for: Atlanta
I'm sad because: not sad :)
I'm hungry for: salad
The song stuck inside my head is: Another One Bites the Dust
I want: FinalCut Pro
I love: being awesome :P
I loathe: cold wet weather
This week, my goal is: to get the robotics stuff done on time

I'm sitting on a very narrow and uncomfortable bench in front of our woodstove with Eddie [laptop] perched on my legs which are in turn propped up on a BEAST of an amp....there's a library copy of Life, the Universe and Everything [third Hitchhiker's book] on the floor.....another, smaller amp nearby.....Seeds of Change catalog....study guide for the Freshman College Composition test next to me.....test tomorrow, ugh. And rehearsal tomorrow--yayz!

I need to get hold of the fencing swords for tomorrow's practice but goodness knows how I'm going to get hold of them.....

Went to a photo shoot yesterday with the actors from Two Top Hats....great fun and it didn't rain :) We poked round excellent alleys. Feet hurt now from wearing those hot but painful high heels.....

Placed an order at our splendid local library for a C++ book......fun stuffs! Just the thing to hole up with over Thanksgiving. I really really want it to come SOON....

Which reminds me: who besides me thinks it is sad that there will only be 4 people at the table for Thanksgiving? :( :( wahhhh!


Just went out to get the mail.....in the dark and cold.....

Estoy muy occupado mañana.....sweet....I just said my first coherent sentence en español.....not really first, first after listening to erm erm what's the name of the CD set....oh yeah, Míchel Tómas....getting fancy with the option key, lol.....

And here's a cloud of Facebook words..... :) Who would have thought that rehearsal and awesome would be my top words? ;P

Hello World!

Bethany's brain is going ngpgraxngraxxfshlkhhhkp, preceding a classic feeble squawk and death. [explanation: trying to understand Xcode]

Wow it's been a while :)
NaNo is at a stand-still, I'm way behind, and I don't really care. I still want to finish my story but programming is the new thing...yeahhh. I got out a book on C++ from the library the other day and have been plowing through it. Installed Xcode. Tried to get a simple "Hello World!" program to run and ran into road-blocks. Did a lot of poking around forums tenanted by programmers with names like "Hassan" and "FeralDruid-0n-WoW" and such ;)

Finally got it working [yes, it would help if the template I was using was actually for C++....heh]. SO exciting! :)

I have an audio system!!! We will ROCK THE HOUSE on the 21st!!!!!
[oh that's so awesome! I just discovered that my MacBook has a lil green light that goes on whenever you're in caps lock! :) ]

Yeah...Lavaliere wireless mics, on loan from the studio. They run on AA batteries so it's time to pack my pockets o_O

I feel SO DRATTED NERDY!!!!! :) *thumbs up* -congratulate me- *big evil grin*

Fear me, I am a programmer......

all hallows' Eva [lol...couldn't resist]

November 1
Happy All Saints' Day, everyone!
I'm covered in alpaca spit, my calf muscles hurt, I was away from home for 24 hours, I wore high heels for way too long, it was an awesome-awesome weekend!!!

Started out on Saturday morning with market. Then to the Mac store where I posted the jubilatory post below this :) Yes, I am the owner of a MacBook Pro...getting used to the new keyboard o_O

Off to swing dance rehearsal which went well. We are getting pretty good :) Lisa and Felicity managed to nail the epic flip-over-the-back step, yayz! After that it was home for a few hours, packing, chores, before heading off to Eva's.
A side note here: the home-town team [the Beavers] won their game against UCLA!!!! It was evidently a close shave but still woot-worthy. U of O [rival team] won their game too: Oregon was well represented all round :)
Eva's family has 8 kids; it was a LOT more exciting than being at home :D When I arrived [in a rather pretty dress] they were in the midst of pumpkin-carving and the excitement [and pumpkin seeds] was thick in the air. I decided t ditch the pretty [and uncomfortable] dress in favor of jeans and t-shirt, and I actually never put it back on, lol

Dinner was frantic, in the tradition of Halloweens everywhere. We were going to make grilled cheese sandwiches, but there wasn't any bread. Settled on vegetable soup and canned chili and cheese and salad and potatoes. I had a potato...another potato....several potatoes...this wouldn't happen to be an abandoned potato, would it?
Then the younger element headed off for the nocturnal escapades, and Eva and her grandmother and I settled in with cups of tea and one ear fixed on the doorbell. Eva popped off to get a movie at one point. Then [near the end of the evening] I happened to look out and see people on the back lawn o_O It was about half of the family coming back :)
After seeing a batch of trick-or-treaters in mafia attire, I decided I wanted to be sketchy. Sketchy I certainly was. Borrowed a black trench-coat and baseball cap from Eva's folks. The rhinestone necklace added a quiet touch of insanity. My high-heeled black pumps added to the image. They also added to my trials going up the front stairs. Eva and I made one foray out up the hill, to be introduced to the new neighbors.

Later we watched the movie...."Imagine That". Very lame, please don't waste your time with it :D It was a bit funny in parts. Still had a good time :) Around 10:30 the family headed to bed. Eva and I talked for a bit and then decided we needed a midnight snack. Downstairs, very hush-hush, to have a bowl of cereal. Two bowls of cereal, in my case...I luv raisin-bran...
Back upstairs where we chatted about our various writing endeavors, and I mentioned NaNoWriMo in the most enthusiastic terms :)
Got to sleep around midnight, pretty good all things considered. We were sleeping on the floor and somewhere in the wee hours of the night I adopted the ancient family tradition if sleeping with one's neck on a rolled-up t-shirt.
I was up a bit before Eva [as is usual for me at sleep-overs] and meandered downstairs around 8 new time. Had a cup of tea on the porch. Eva's house has the most lovely view out over the valley. Beautiful clear morning. I poured more water on the tea-bag and did some yoga. Breakfast was a casual affair but tasty :) I only had the one tea-bag but I believe I had about 4 cups of tea all total. Hmm....is that an abandoned potato from last night??  

Off to church where I realized that Communion wine on an empty stomach [I'd eaten early and church was late :P] was possibly not the most brilliant idea ever.  (It was Eva's church, not the one I usually attend. Lutheran, hence the wine)
Potluck afterwards and some of the family, myself included, walked home in the sunshine which made me happy.
We had not been home more than about 15 minutes [enough time for me to scrounge another cup of tea] when it developed that there was an expedition to a local organic farm in the offing. I called home and got permission to go. Eva, her mom and grandma and another lady and myself all headed off [still in Sunday best]. The farm-store was closed but we went to the alpaca-farm and shop which was in the same area. 

Very cute alpacas....nice wool-goods in the store...darling alpacas....oh dear. Eva and I both got spat at by the darling alpaca. We were falling about with laughter and trying to wipe bits of partly-digested grass off each other, meanwhile resolving not to ever raise alpacas. We related the happy incident to her dad later. He observed that the grass had probably been around for a while since alpacas are [I think] ruminants. Eva mentioned that that was disgusting. Her dad said she was the one who'd brought it up in the first place. I, ever eager to display my wit, joked that the alpaca was the one who'd 'brought it up' first. Teehee.
Anyways, after the alpacas we decided to head off to the hazlenut farm. Samples. Yum. Hazlenut ice cream, an Oregon specialty. Even more yummy. It was 4 in the afternoon by this time and I'd intended to be home around 1. Oh well. My dad and I stopped at the Co-op on our way home. He'd brought the Mac [to show my grandma] and I was tapping away in the Co-op parking lot, and logged into the Co-op's free wifi. Happy day. I didn't get home til 5. I didn't go to folk dance alas.....it was just too much and I wanted to stay home with my Mac. 

Speaking of which....there seems to be a consensus that I need to name it. I was thinking maybe Eddie [Guide stuff :) ] but do you have any thoughts? Something short and perhaps a bit cute. 

In short, my weekend was beyond awesome!

this is a happy day!

I am typing this from the Mac store, on my new MacBook Pro!!!!!!!! happy day!!!!

Green eggs...MacBook Pros...moldy tofu...

Yesterday our rehearsal went very well, the Director didn't go into hysterics although she came pretty close to it once....afterwards Eva and Dallan and I went into town for a bit. Cold, blustery, typical Oregon in other words. We went into the excellent little resale shop where I found my dress for the play and lo and behold, there was a pair of fabulous shoes, just perfect for the dress! Cute black pumps. :) :)

Eva had to go to ballet alas, but not until after we'd discussed Halloween plans....which brings me to another point: what costume should I wear? One of my friends suggested "a swine flu germ". hehe Any ideas? Something easy and comfortable. I have oodles of historical stuff.

Dallan and I made our way to the farmers' market to buy carrots. We then meandered under the bridge overpass to the Co-op, where we were to rendezvous with my dad. On the way I spotted some yarrow and picked some, on the condition that Dallan would make a tea of it to anoint his knee [a boil, I am convinced]. There was a surprising lot of yarrow. We spotted a bit of graffiti which we thought we recognized, on the side of the bike-path. Co-op. Tofu.

One of my hens laid a green-shelled egg today! Happy happy.

There is a large chunk of moldy tofu in the refrigerator, for next week's biology experiment. I feel like a walking cliché.

After biology class today we went to the Apple store and drooled over Macs. We've pretty much decided on the MacBook Pro....my grandma is paying for it.

Then we went to grandma's and she fed us with tasty food =)

dude! insane!

I'm feeling better today! Yesterday I was very, very sick. Fever over 100 til about 4 in the afternoon, chills, headache, etc. I fasted all day [that is supposed to be the best thing you can do for a fever], stayed in bed, and drank about a gallon and a half of water o_O blub

The fever started gong down in the afternoon and I became simply ravenous but I didn't eat anything. Perhaps owing to the 13 hours of sleep on Monday night, I couldn't go to sleep for a looong time last night. I was awakened from hard-earned slumber at 5:30 AM by an atrocious peal of thunder. At first I could hardly tell it was thunder, it sounded like somebody banging into random things. Only a few miles away I think.
Stomach making loud protest [almost rivaling the thunder], I decided I would not get back to sleep without food. Downstairs in the pitch-dark: eggs, fruit gelatin salad, buttered toast, MORE buttered toast, toast with peanut butter, etc. I'm on the mend, folks! :)

Hopefully my fever will stay down today so I can go to class on Thursday. And have play practice on Friday, and dance rehearsal on Saturday....

Other stuff:
I love Firefox!! Guys, seriously: if you're still working with that piece-of-crud Internet Exploder, go switch to Firefox or Chrome now. Oh the times that I have watched in helpless rage as IE "explodes" a page, opening myriad new windows....or stalls on some innocent page...or freezes the whole computer...these are the days of happiness, now!

I finally figured out how to type the é on a Windows keyboard!! [So essential for lucidity...] You have to hit the "number lock" key on th e right hand side of your keyboard, next to the additional weird little set of numbers. Then Alt+130. It's pretty easy to find a list online of other key shortcuts.

A day in the city

Friday night I was lying in bed at 11 pm when I realized that the sky was NOT clouding over as predicted, and a frost was imminent. I hurried outside [well insulated] and encountered my dad on the same mission. We spent 15 minutes or so, working in the bright moonlight, covering tender lil vegetable seedlings with garden fabric.
Then back inside, which was pleasantly toasty and redolent with the smell of bread baking. Feeling a bit peckish, I decided to stay up til the loaves were out of the oven. Midnight snack, woot! Hot bread, smoked mozzarella, avocado.

Next morning 'twas off to market. Chilly but sunny, a perfect fall day. We bought [after much discussion] two lovely winter squash and a watermelon. My dad and I were both holding these big squashy-looking vegetables when we stopped at The Dollar Lettuce Guy for our salad fixings. He, being a jovial chap, commented on our burdens. "You have matching...eh..." "Problems," my dad supplied promptly. On the way to the car I said "Hang on, let me switch my problem to the other arm," eliciting more humor.

Then we left for the big city [ehheh.] First to a miniature show, where you can bust the price of a MacBook on a 6-inch-tall hand-carved wooden desk [from a burled piece of wood, hence the price]. It was even less interesting than I had expected. Spent way too long there. Off to Powell's bookstore where I was a bit overwhelmed and didn't find anything to buy. Things I read, or at least glanced through: Diseases of feedlot cattle, fashion guides, theatre costuming and makeup books, Things white people like, The end of food, guides on raising chickens, etc etc. and all non fiction.

Thus passed the day. The best part came at the end, in Borders Books, where I located the computer section and spent a happy 45 minutes reading about the ins and outs of Macs.

Am planning more good times this week. Rehearsal scheduling [pulls hair out in frustration]. Goat 4-H club meeting. Folk dance tonight.

Bethany luvs her town :)

After school today I lunched in town with Eva and had a splendid time. Very autumnal weather, chilly and rainy at times. Had turkey panini sandwiches and gelato, then ventured out and down the street to Grass Roots bookstore which is totally my favorite bookstore in town, I could spend all day there :)

Then walked cross-town, passing by a couple of alley-ways. They have poetry and photographs on the walls. Haiku, drawings of plants. The back wall of one store is painted turquoise....you'd never notice it if you didn't look down the alley. I LOVE MY TOWN.

Got asked for directions by a couple of Japanese tourists. Petted a couple of dogs.

Then we found this awesome little consignment shop that I have never seen before. [It's only been there for three weeks, so no surprise :) ] It's fabulous!! Nice, hippy-ish and modern things mixed, fun scarves, cute shirts, natural-looking, very Bethany-ish, lol. I got a nice little plaid faded rose and tan dress, I can hardly ever find dresses that I like so this was a happy day :)

And I'm seriously thinking about buying a MacBook. But should I go for refurbished and save a hundred bucks, and possibly experience the dreaded Random Shut-down Problem???
If you have a macbook, let's talk!!!!!! [I'm currently operating on a HP using Windows XP, aka Windows XD: hahaha why are you using such a piece of misery?]

Bethie is happy :) But wondering how you make the (heart) symbol on facebook chat. ???

Before you go....

I thought of a few more things.

1. This is quite possibly the most random thing that has ever happened to me. Today I was pulling up the zipper on the side of my nice dark leather boot and I managed to scratch my hand with my toe-nail, drawing blood. CRAZY!!!

2. I love goat milk!! I can drink it by the glass. I think I'm slightly allergic to cows milk. Also I have a source for buying raw goat milk, which I am pretty sure is not legal in this state [the one good thing about going to Cal. is buying raw cows' milk] Must protect my source! :) Mehehee

3. Slugs are practically the state animal here. Big brown ones. A few weeks ago my dad stepped on one on the porch, in his stocking feet. He was not happy.

4. Does anyone use Firefox for their browser? I tried to switch to FF the other day and no go. Firewall issues, I believe. I've heard that peeps have trouble sometimes with Norton security and FF. Any input, folks??? I'm not happy.


My mom is on the couch eating watermelon and I can smell it all the way over here at the computer. I got some nice green grapes at the farmers' market, and had a spate of phone-calls regarding rehearsals, both theatrical and swing-dance. That's on Friday.

I just spent way too long on the computer. Drat, and now I have a headache. But it's been good, I was reading in the archives of Minas Tirith [don't you love that scene?] so to speak :) old posts on Carpe Diem.

I love edged weapons! *Rubs hands, evil gleam in me eye* Swords, knives, daggers.
Let's do the run-down of blades that I own/semi-own:
one sabre, edge not sharpened, but with a deadly point
two small pocket-knives, black plastic handle--one was found by me, in a lake. No kidding.
two hunting knives, 4--6 inch blade and sheath, oh how sweet
the awesome Kershaw flick-open pocket knife

I can open an egg with one hand!! I saw a kid doing it in Culinary and decided I could do it too. I tried my hand on it at home this morning, making eggs for brekkers.

I like wearing my hair in two long braids, pinned on top of my head. It never fails to get comments on how Swedish I look. [I actually am 1/4 Swedish, more than 1/4 German, and half everything else. I had one Scottish ancestor, a Minerva Twaddle from Tweedsdale, Scotland.]

I just heard that Grandma sent over some custard, so I guess I'd better see if there's truth in that rumor.....teehee

She sent over some pasta with tofu the other day. I love tofu, for some reason, and I never make it....idk. But I said, pretty much, "Don't worry about the tofu. I'll take care of it for you." and it pretty much disappeared....lol

EDIT EDIT EDIT: I have a new follower!!! Thank you Aquaria Longstream!!!!!!!