The problem with nice weather.

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Kirk M

The problem with nice weather we’ve been having of late is it means I’m outside most of the day. Not lounging around and enjoying the sun and breezes through the treezes, nothing like that. I’m outside trying to catch up on all the work that needs to be done and there’s a lot that still needs to be done before the snow flies. And at the rate I’m currently able to work It’s going to be mighty close race.

Take yesterday for instance,. I was out from the morning until 8:00 PM moving firewood, running to the hardware store for needed items, working on the woodshed and mowing our rather substantial lawn. That plus the passing out from time to time made for a full day.

With having to shower at the end of all of this there has been absolutely no time to sit down and write up a decent post. And this particular post I’m having to hurriedly pound out before I head over to mind the quilt shop for Laurie. I give her every other afternoon off you see, so she can haul boxes from the garage into the house and unpack them. Mighty nice of me don’t you think?

However, it looks like I have a bit of a break coming as the weather for the next few days is going to be in the 90′s and I ain’t attempting any labor intensive outside work when it’s that hot. It’s okay though as there’s plenty to be done indoors as well. Like fixing our ancient Amana Radar Range, circa 1980. The cats won’t walk by it any longer and I don’t actually have to put my morning cup of coffee into the machine in order to warm it up. I just stand with my cup in hand anywhere within 3 feet it now.

So you now you know what’s been keeping me from writing up the more interesting type of posts but just remember. We get a solid 6 months of winter up in these parts so there’ll be plenty of time to write something more substantial then, yes? That is between shoveling snow, running the snow blower, splitting firewood into kindling, loading the wood box, stoking the wood stove, clearing the ice, clearing the roofs….

Posted in Just Thinkin, Life at home | Tagged | 2 Comments

Firefox extension to fix tiny site fonts.

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Kirk M

Not everyone has 20/20 vision. This has been true ever since the human race has been…well…the human race, and I am no exception. But in these days of the early 21st century those who publish online still don’t seem to get it and continue using tiny fonts on their websites–like this for example:

Too small fontsNow I don’t know about you but even on my 19″ wide screen display (which this screenshot was taken) I find this way too small to read comfortably and I’d much rather have Firefox “Content” settings set to let websites set their own fonts (Forcing all websites to use whatever font and font size I set makes for some pretty funky looking site content and I can’t set on a per site basis).  You’d think the folks who publish these articles still believe it’s necessary to cram as much information as possible into the least amount of space like everyone was still using an old 14″ CRT based monitor. The ironic thing about this is the size of the fonts in the advertisements on the same site are larger and much more readable than the actual content itself.

But I digress.

So for those who are not currently blessed with perfect 20/20 vision that perhaps includes built-in organic zooming features, I found this wonderful add-on for Firefox that takes care of this lack of content readability called; NoSquint.

This lovely little extension gives the user the ability to set font settings plus much more on a per site basis and, if you don’t clear NoSquint site history via Firefox’ “Clear Recent History” feature, it will remember all your site settings in the future so you only have to set them once. I wouldn’t be without it and it’s made my online experience enjoyable again.

That being said, once NoSquint is installed, the default settings are somewhat less than desirable in that it sets the zoom on all websites, text and images, at 120% which, in my opinion, doesn’t make for an initial enjoyable experience. Many websites that already have their fonts set for readability are now so you large that you have to actually zoom back out to 100% in order to read the page. That plus zooming images always makes for lousy looking images. So I recommend setting NoSquint’ Global Settings (overall default settings) as such:

Recommended NoSquint Global Settings your recent history

NoSquint "Global Settings" set for Text only zooming, default: 100%

You’ll notice a magnifying glass icon with “100%” next to it located on the right hand side of your Firefox status bar once NoSquint is installed. Clicking on the “100%” will bring up a dialog box that allows you to set text and image zooming for any given site and you’ll find the “Global settings” button on the lower left of the dialog box. You can also set link colors for those sites where the text color for links blends in too well with the surrounding text, text color, background color plus many other site settings that will all be remembered next time you bring up Firefox*.

However, for quick setting of text size for any given site once your global settings are set as above, just hover your mouse over the “100%” in your status bar and hold down the “Ctrl” key while using the scroll wheel on your mouse to set the site’s font size to your liking.

That’s it. Hope it works as well for you as it does for me.

*Make sure the “NoSquint site history” check box is unchecked in Firefox’ “Clear Recent History” before clearing, otherwise you’ll lose you per site NoSquint settings.

Posted in BackWoods tech, Firefox/Thunderbird | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

I’ve forgotten how to do Windows!

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Kirk M

While helping a good friend of mine work up a new theme for her WordPress powered site, she began to complain that since she switched themes her site wasn’t loading correctly. Since I have my own back end account for her site I’ve been working side by side with her on her theme and checking the results in another tab and I hadn’t seen any loading problem at all.

But I was using the latest Firefox…

…in  Linux Mint…

Okay, no problem. I figured I could just boot up into Windows XP and check her site via Firefox 3.6.8, Firefox 4.0 beta 3, Google Chrome and (shudder) Internet Explorer 8. All went well, her site loading without a problem, until I got to (shudder) Internet Explorer. Then suddenly it was all stop.

I had forgotten what it was like to use Windows.

First surprise I encountered was not being able to use the Desktop as soon as it appeared. It was a bit of a shock to be truthful about it as I was used to booting into my Linux based OS and being able to start working as soon as the desktop appeared and I was a bit taken aback when I booted into Windows after a rather long absence.

For one thing the boot time was soooo slooow as compared to Linux Mint which, from the boot-up to logging in takes less than 30 seconds if I don’t fat-finger my password.

The second thing was that I had to wait…and wait….and wait…before I could actually use the damn OS in the first place and I run a very clean Windows installation. First Windows had to finish loading everything that is…well…Windows. Then the Firewall software had to argue with the Anti-virus software as to which one was going to finish what first. Once they settled their differences, I then had to wait for the anti-virus program to update itself with all the latest signatures and tell me that it was finally safe to actually use the OS catching some awful electronic malady.

I made a cup of tea while I was waiting so it wasn’t a total loss.

I now was able to check my friend’s site in various editions of Firefox, Google Chrome and such but when it came to (shudder) Internet Explorer it was suddenly, All Stop!

It wasn’t that her site wasn’t loading properly in IE, it was the fact that I had completely forgotten that I had never imported my Firefox bookmarks into IE at all. I have been so used to just typing the first few letters of a website into the Firefox location field and having it immediately providing a list of bookmarked websites for me to choose from that I found myself completely stumped when I realized I had to actually type out the full address of her site into the Microsoft’s browser. Well, no problem then. I decided to just take a few minutes and import my Firefox Bookmarks into IE’s Favorites and off we go.

At least I thought so at the time.

I ended up finding myself completely bollixed at the process. I exported my Bookmarks from Firefox without a problem of course but when I came to importing them into IE I found myself staring at the damn browser in utter confusion.

I had forgotten how to import my bookmarks into IE’s favorites.

To make a long, frustrating experience short, I finally “remembered” (read: I looked it up on Google) that I had to go under “File/Import Export” in IE in order to import my bookmarks.

‘Ah’, says I. ‘No sweat now.’

Except that while importing my bookmarks, IE promptly informed me that some of my bookmarks could not be imported which turned out to be a lot of them.

What? Didn’t IE like some of my bookmarked websites or what? It was obvious that this lousy browser didn’t like my friend’s site one bit since my friend’s was one the of those that went missing. So I finally buckled down and wracked my brain for the entire address of her site and pounded into IE’s address bar like I should have done in the first place.

The site loaded fine just as I expected.

So what  did I learn from all this? I’m not quite sure yet as I have to keep Windows around for as long as I wish to help others with their WordPress powered sites. If not for that though, I certainly learned that evicting Windows off my hard drive once and for all would be one of the first things I’d do and without a single regret.

(sigh)

In the meantime I’ve resolved myself to using only Windows for an entire week since I obviously need a refresher course. But I’m not starting until after this coming weekend.

After all, one must always allow some time to prepare oneself for a painful experience.

Posted in BackWoods tech, Blogging, Firefox/Thunderbird, Just Thinkin | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Have I been neglecting you?

Posted on August 14, 2010 by Kirk M

Okay, so it’s been few and far between as far as posts go lately–I apologize. With the new house and all I find myself becoming more and more distracted from my writing by things that just need doing around here.

It seems that no sooner have I mowed our rather substantial lawn that it needs mowing again. Then the wood that has to be moved into the woodshed before the Fall arrives which isn’t moving by itself (I’m working on it). And the 40 year old stockade fence that needs patching and propping up until I can replace it (I’m working on that too). And certain windows where the paint needs touching up (haven’t touched ‘em yet). And the trips to the VA that keep interrupting me (next one’s to Boston for crissakes!).

And this…

And that…

And the other thing…

It’s enough to make your hair turn gray and since it’s already gotten a head start on that area (get it?), I certainly don’t need any help. So please bear with me whilst I attempt to keep up with the chores and a hold of my sanity at the same time. I have no doubt that I’ll succeed, at least as far as the chores are concerned, but if the sanity goes by the wayside then it should just make any future posts all that much more interesting, yes?

And on that note–I have things to do.

Posted in Life at home | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Has the rain stopped yet?

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Kirk M

Has the rain stopped yet? Is it safe to move more firewood into the woodshed without sinking into the yard, wheelbarrow and all?

The last week has been been absolutely tropical. Monsoon season in the Northeast Kingdom complete with tropical downpours that brought 2 to 4 inches of rain in just a few hours–nearly everyday.

The yard is a bit saturated as you might guess.

Saturated lawn in VermontMy neighbor on the other side of the hedge, whose lawn is about 3 feet lower than mine, attempted to mow last evening. He and his lawn tractor sank out of sight somewhere around the center of his property and we’re still probing the ground looking for him. I believe I’ll wait a bit now before mowing myself as I really don’t care to join him.

It rained last night again. Guess who left the windows down on his old Jeep Cherokee?


Posted in Life at home, Life in Vermont | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Monday thoughts at random

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Kirk M

Without allowing for any preamble…

I changed the theme, I didn’t change the theme.

I was using WordPress 3.0′s default 2010 theme. I still am…sort of. It’s 2010 Weaver. The author’s site is down at the moment but credit is where credit is due. Now get your site back up.

Is global warming real?

Is Russia burning?

Does Sarah Palin deserve to be shot?

No. No she doesn’t. Just bound, gagged and taken far away where I don’t have to hear about her any longer.

Obama:

Right man for the job at the right time. Deal with it.

Fox News?

News reporting at it’s worst. Just goes to prove that bigotry and political hack reporting is still alive and well in the USA. Reading the comments is fun though.

Forgot the meds last night.

And I’m paying for it this morning.

iPAD

Apple’s making a seat cushion?

Linux Mint 9 KDE

Lovin’ it. And no, I’m not getting paid for mentioning it.

My 1968 Cub Cadet TL 104

Yes, a man really can have a love affair with a machine. Even if it’s an old lawn tractor.

My Honey

Words simply cannot describe.

Is this blog still worth the trouble?

I’m sorry. I have no response to that.

Running out of thoughts?

Yeah, but that’s okay. I need to pay the bills anyway.

Have a wonderful day, all.

Posted in Just Thinkin | Tagged | 7 Comments

Love us, love our manure

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Kirk M

It never ceases to amaze me when these folks from down country (read: “out-of-state”) make the decision to move themselves and their household up to Vermont or to perhaps buy a second “summer” home because they love all the picturesque scenery, rolling green hills with cows grazing on the slopes, forests everywhere, lakes, rivers and streams, fields of corn, and more cows of course, and then complain about the smell.

Up they come to the land of green mountains and everything is fine and dandy until the time of year rolls around when the farmers start spreading manure, fresh out of the cow or (gasp) the liquid type, upon their fields in preparation for the growing season, during the growing season and after the growing season (and any other time they deem necessary). Then it’s time for another round of complaints about that horrid smell coming from fields. It seems that these folks didn’t realize when they were happily planning their new home in Vermont that cows happen to have rear ends. Rear ends that work very well and very often as a matter of fact. Did they think that these beasts just ate all that grass and hay and held it all in?

Some even complain about the smell coming from a neighboring farm itself when the breezes blow gently across the cow barn, across the liquid manure pit and carry that classic barnyard smell of happy, contented cows into the kitchen window of a summer home 2 miles away. “Good God! It smells like sh**!!” they say. Did they expect it to smell like petunias?

Do these  down-country folks really believe the farmers hauling those manure spreaders behind tractors or driving liquid manure sprayers around a 50+ acre field on a hot day are having tons of fun, reveling in the smells of their profession?

So a warning to all these good folks who might be contemplating a move to the Green Mountain State. Be advised that with all the picturesque views, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, forests, cold and snow to ride your snowmobile upon, there’s also the smell of good old cow shit that is bound to waft your way at one time or another. We’re not doing it just to annoy you, it’s simply a necessary way of life. A smelly one to be sure but necessary nonetheless.

Love us, love our manure.

Posted in Life in Vermont | Tagged | 4 Comments

Visit from the sister

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Kirk M

This post isn’t about a visit of some nun from the local convent as the title might suggest. No, this post is about the yearly visit from my wife’s sister who ventures out from Florida around this time of year and meanders up the east coast via plane and rented auto, visiting various friends and relatives on the way and eventually ending up at our place near the Canadian border. Something we both look forward too with happy anticipation.

This year the visit spanned a full three days. Three full days of talking and going out to eat for dinner at places Laurie and I would not normally visit as we tend to be chronic homebodies. No complaints about that you understand but like I said, the majority of the time is involved with talking, telling stories, relating events and generally laughing a lot–often late into the night. It’s wonderful and exhausting at the same time.

Do people still do this? Talk into the late hours?

I often wonder about this. Is the art of real conversation still alive? I mean outside Faecbook, Twitter and pecking at wee buttons on a mobile phone, is the art of actually talking to one another in more than 140 characters still practiced by the younger generations? You know, conversation that takes place face to face? The kind that happens by taking in breaths, letting them out slowly while flapping your lips and making vocal noises at the same time? Sitting around the deck/living room/kitchen table/wherever telling fart stories and laughing a lot till the wee hours of the morning?

I certainly hope so.

I hope so because my wife, her sister and myself (and our various other relatives, friends and neighbors) are getting rather on in life and there’s not that much time left to teach the younger folk that it’s actually possible to talk to one another without use of a computer, tablet or texting by mobile phone.

Anyway, the point of this post, before I wondered off topic like I usually do, was to point out why I’ve been abstained from my online life for the last three days. I’ve been busy talking, laughing and telling fart stories with my wife and her sister.

She left today to continue her meandering so I now I shall take up the reins of daily routine once more. It’s okay though–I’m pooped!

Posted in Life at home | Tagged , | 3 Comments