Annex Quest House

We landed http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifin Toronto about an hour ago, okay, landed is the wrong term ( too much time in the film/television industry which uses just about every word incorrectly form normal American speech.) The Little Bug was really good on the train even though she was unable to get any real sleep the whole trip. All fifteen hours of it, including three hours at the border.

She is right now fighting to be able to sleep in mum and da’s bed, instead of getting relegated to one of the suitcases! Between you and me, I know she’ll stay in the bed with us cause we might be crazy but we aren’t stupid.

The train from New York city was full of people like us ( wink, wink) so when we got to the border the Immigrations Services were expecting us. You know passenger rosters and whatnot, it was all in there. There was the typical declaration of customs and that was all filled out. We got interviewed by a really hardcore US official who must have thought he was fighting the war on terrorism personally. After which he said to me, ” Nathan, you need to speak to the Immigrations Officer. He’ll come find you.”

At this point I began to freak out.

Oh sure it was a real quiet and steady freak out ( I have seen too many spy movies to be big and panicky about it.) But it was a freak out nonetheless.

After what seemed an eternity where I sat there wondering what he could possibly need to speak to me about, he showed up. He pulled me into a private space and asked me, “Have you any felonys or DUI’s? How about misdemeanors?”

“No” I said.

“Ok,” He replied matter-of-factly, “We’ll see.” And he left.

I sat down and then the freak out went to a new internal level. As my mind raced about in tiny little circles it tripped and fell down a deep, dark hole of despair as soon as the memory banks spit out a conflicting answer. Imagine my horror and chagrin as I recalled the Weapons charge against me in Florida, nearly ten years ago.

Oh SHIT! I thought. I’m gonna get pulled off this train and stranded in Niagara Falls, New York because of something I did when I was 24. Walking home from camping trip south of Orlando, Florida. Up I-95. With green dreadlocks, an orange pauncho and a large set of juggling sticks. With a hurricane coming right towards me. I made it nearly as far as Daytona when the State police picked me up. When he asked me one question it totally changed my reaction to this simple border crossing nearly ten years later.

“Do you have any concealed weapons on you?” The trooper said.

“Yes, I got a knife in my pocket.”

So after a night in jail, my mom’s lawyer came and bailed me out, got me to plead nolo contendre and I went home. Now, on the train to Toronto to reaffirm this commitment to a new way of life, my innards got knotted up. In fact, they really didn’t release until we were well into Canada and the sun was slipping below the horizon as we headed west.

Heading to Canada.

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Heading to Canada., originally uploaded by n8k99.

Whatever it is on the floor it’s very interesting. The beginning of the train ride north.

Copyleft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Copyleft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is my new topic of exploration. Copyleft. If you know me at all, you know that all the previous topics will be returned to in kind, however for now this is the new direction that my pursuit of information has begun to be pointed. Ultimately, I believe that I will be running an Open Source OS on a computer in the relative near future, as I also plan to begin learning to program said computer.

With these desires and needs to be fulfilled, I must admit that getting an inexpensive computer with decent power then running only freeware or open source software on it really does appeal to my innermost geek. There are plenty of these applications availible and I’d really like to see how they work. If they are as fun as Firefox, then I think I’ll be really happy.

Anyhow, the legal issues in this article are far from being complete and it will be interesting to see how this plays out in the world.

Packing the bag

Ok, I just realized that I have a problem. Ok, ok, ok, I didn’t really just realize it, but a new head to the hydra just manifested itself. I have my clothes bag already packed. I packed EJ’s bag, and now I am getting my ‘carry-on bag’ ready. It’s not really a carry-on as we are riding the train, business class even. But still it’s the same deal.

I’m certain that the computer will go in there. You know so that I can keep the world updated as to the latest happenings in Toronto. I also will need to wipe the camera’s memory at least twice while I am there. Oh gawd! Doe this mean that I have become that guy! YOu know the one who only sees the world throught he viewfinder of his camera? Gawd I hope not!

So back to the bag. There is a slicker I need because the first day we are scheduled to be there, a forecast for rain has been predicted. I also have the books I am currently reading, as well as my daily pages manual. The camera and all the wires needed to connect it to the cpu. I am even carrying the travel pack with some nappies and wipes for the bub. Plus there is the standard issue artist sketch pad. Gosh, it is only a six day trip, it’s not like I’m gonna go to the moon or on African safari. Although that is a swell idea that one day I’ll have to get off the ground.

Not that I want to hunt lions or elephants, I would like to go and look at the wildebeasts through the viewfinder of my camera and steal the soul of a couple tribesmen. Well, not really steal so much as digitally render it eternal. Well, that is a bit grandiose isn’t it? Anyways, that’s the packing, and I need to get back to it.

EJ in the Jimney

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

EJ in the Jimney, originally uploaded by n8k99.

Hanging out in the back yard on a cool summer day.

When you’re smiling…

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

When you’re smiling…, originally uploaded by n8k99.

…The whole world smiles with you.

Through another day

We made it through another day, grateful and alive. EJ is still beautiful and is even more beautiful when she is asleep. We will be going to Toronto thursday morning for a short trip. We will keep you posted.

Ten till one

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Ten till one, originally uploaded by n8k99.

It’s summer, school is out, there neighborhood kids are waiting for the library to open.

Hipster PDA Case

Xperiment Number 8 is where I posted the follow up to my Hipster PDA thread. If you want to see how I am carrying it around, you should check it out. The next step is to put the templates inside, but that will also be on Xperiment Number 8.

Hipster PDA Case

Hipster PDA So, one of the first items, I put into my Hipster PDA was to create a case for it. And with this project I totally let my inner geek take control. I wanted to be able to carry about business cards and maybe even pictures of my baby girl. The whole project took about forty-five minutes to produce and was quite fun. I used three 5″X8″ index cards glued together to create the long shell. There was an overlap between two of them that allowed for the triple fold around the 3″X5″ PDA.
Hipster PDA Then using another 3″X 5″ card with a slit cut in it, I hacked a business card holder. On the other side of the case, I created a flap that folds in on itself in order that I can carry 3″X 5″ prints of my baby girl!
Hipster PDA Then the last step was to coat the device. I used wrapping paper in my favorite color. Then on the inside of the case, I glued a sheet of white paper to give the edges a totally neat appearance, as if a professional were involved! Once done, I inserted my PDA and voila! a totally hip and cool case to keep my life organized. Hipster PDA