Let's Make Some Art, Dammit

November 23, 2023. This is the Starbucks near my office. I stopped in for a quick coffee after lunch. I've been slowly restoring my ability to make coffee in the office (as it turns out, three years old coffee and whitener tasted awful). https://flic.kr/p/2piztwQ

November 23, 2023. This is the bird feeder, with a happy sparrow on it. You may recall that just a few days ago this feeder was filled full for the winter season. The birds, I guess, were famished. That's OK though - we have a lot more birdseed. https://flic.kr/p/2piG6mw

Make sure you have Powershell version 5.1 or better  Open Powershell, type: $PSVersionTable.PSVersion Install update if you don't have it: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/install/installing-powershell-on-windows  Make sure you have the SSH service installed Type: ssh If you get an error, install ssh: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/openssh/openssh_install_firstuse?tabs=powershell Create an SSH key (from: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/openssh/openssh_keymanagement ) Type: ssh-keygen -t ed25519 ('ed25519 is the type of key you're generating) This will produce output: Generating public/private ed25519 key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (C:\Users\username/.ssh/id_ed25519): Type enter to accept the default name or type a different filename and type enter You will be asked to type a passphrase. Enter a passphrase if you wish, or just type Enter for no passphrase This will generate...

November 20, 2023. This is the first photo from my new phone, a Google Pixel 8 Pro. The subject is a houseplant in my office (this plant has survived for some ten years, coming with us from Moncton when we moved here in 2015. The day was dedicated to setting up the phone and working on my newsletter; I then spent the evening working on my European project. Long day. https://flic.kr/p/2phgU2h

November 19, 2023. This is a scene from the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary. We followed the newly restored Heron Train, itself still under construction, but with the boardwalks and one of the loops finished. I also did some work on my European project. https://flic.kr/p/2phik3A

November 18, 2023. This is my game-worn CFL helmet that I got at the RedBlacks locker room sale last Sunday. It now occupies a place of honour in my home office. I spent the day working on the European project, first exploring a federated social bookmarking service, and then later getting blog JSON syndication working properly, https://flic.kr/p/2pgDc2Q

November 17, 2023. So I ended up spending another full day at home as we had a new furnace installed. The old one had quit back on Remembrance Day and after learning the previous 18-year-old model would continue to have problems, we bit the bullet and bought a new one. It's a high efficiency gas furnace - not ideal, but it contributes the minimum CO2 emissions, and is half what it would cost for an electric furnace (not to mention the fuel is still much cheaper). Governments need to stop subsidizing carbon-based fuels, and start subsidizing electricity, if they want people like me to make the right choice. https://flic.kr/p/2pgFvcF

Link to image on flickr.com Sunset November 16, 2023. This is the sunset outside my office after a busy day. I had planned to drive into the office first thing but I was too tired yesterday to prepare my talk at 11 so I stayed home and traded commuting time for preparation time. Then I drove into the city for my appointment to have my stitches removed, after which I went to my office and ordered a new hub for my black laptop.

Link on Flickr Ready for Winter November 15, 2023. We went to Canadian Tire today and restocked on birdseed to carry our little friends through the winter. There was no waiting like in previous years; they found it right away. Another day working from home because I had an early morning meeting, another meeting at 9, and then a longer ethics board meeting in the afternoon. ​ Add a caption, if you like

Link to Photo on Flickr Dawn Trees November 14, 2023. Another early morning, and the sun shining through the clouds behind these trees caught my eye. It was as though the sky was glowing. We've been having furnace issues and so we've been a bit cool recently; Andrea is banking the pipes to get it to drain properly. Worked at home again. ​

November 13, 2023. I was up bright and early this morning in time to see the lightly falling snow. I'm not a fan of snow but this snowfall was really pretty. Today was a holiday but for me what that meant was a full day to work on my European project. https://flic.kr/p/2pgEkvC

November 12, 2023. We finally got out for a walk today; this is a blue jay we spotted in Mer Bleue. Lots of birds today. It was a clear blue day, not too cool, a perfect day for a walk. In the morning we went to the RedBlacks locker room sale and while Andrea got some shirts I got a game-worn CFL helmet, which I'll feature in a future post. https://flic.kr/p/2pgzSZB

Link November 11, 2023. I had big plans for today, but in the end, I did nothing but watch football all day. I don't regret it; I really needed the rest. It was the CFL playoffs - a surprising win by Montreal, an expected win by Winnipeg. Sorry about the quality of the photo, it's off my computer screen.

November 10, 2023. Parked at the Couteau in town. You can see the highway McDonalds to the right (never been in there, probably never will). Snow is still falling and almost melting. Good day to be away from the highways. My back is doing better. https://flic.kr/p/2pgzKS5

November 9, 2023. Woke up to a fresh snowfall. Again, this snow will be shortlived. But that doesn't mean it's welcome. I've been working on my longer term project to move my media files to cloud storage; today was another step forward in that. https://flic.kr/p/2pgzDXV

November 8, 2023. These are what remains of the flowers outside the Tim's. It was another day working at the office, which means going out for lunch. Still struggling to keep up with the daily photos. https://flic.kr/p/2pgxesH

November 5, 2023. This is a designer pumpkin at the Tim Hortons in Gloucester. We went into the Costco today instead of taking our usual Sunday walk because of the stitches in my back. Otherwise, I spent the day working on my European project. It's slow going (as working with code and applications always is) but I've been making good progress. The real challenge is finding the time to work on it. https://flic.kr/p/2pfNpFd

November 4, 2023. Waiting in my car as the train crosses the road here in Casselman. Nice cool day but it's the season of long shadows. Aside from this trip to the store I spent the day coding PHP for my European project (I'm not really a PHP programmer, but there's really nothing to it). Also kept an eye on the CFL playoff games. https://flic.kr/p/2pfKLic

November 2, 2023. I went into the clinic today and they extracted this golf-ball-sized cyst from my back, right near my spine. It didn't look like much from the outside but it was bothering me. It took more than an hour for two doctors to remove it. Very little pain, even after. Applause to the doctors. I will be sore for a while though. https://flic.kr/p/2pfzQ9V

October 31, 2023. Car is in the shop today getting winter tires and some servicing. I was at the office and had to walk for lunch (they don't provide any sources of food at NRC so it's about a 2 km walk). On the way, I took this photo of the CSIS building behind some weeds. Seemed like a good Halloween image. https://flic.kr/p/2pfFJvW

October 30, 2023. Getting ready for Halloween - the decorations have been up for several weeks now - and we got our first snowfall of the year. I'm still recovering from my trip - I caught a nasty cold on the way home and haven't been good for anything. https://flic.kr/p/2pfFG7Y

October 28, 2023. It was the last game of the year and the RedBlacks were not going to make the playoffs, but we still put a good crowd into the stands for what would be an inevitable loss to the Argos. Yes, we'll be back for next season. https://flic.kr/p/2pfzn28

October 27, 2023. I spent the day on the plane from Madeira yesterday, arriving in Montreal too late to drive home. So I stayed at a very unpleasant hotel near the airport, took the shuttle back and then caught my Park'n'Fly to drive home. https://flic.kr/p/2pfzg5i

October 25, 2023. My last full day on Madeira. I encountered this village late in the day, after turning the wrong way (it's tricky when the roads cross over each other in tunnels). I started the day going to the east coast, intending to hike out to the point, but it was too crowded. I went to a less popular lookout, then back down to the hip town of Machico. Then I crossed through the centre of the island to PR1, the trail connecting the highest peaks on Madeira, and spent some time on that. Then I continued westward through the central plateau, after which I found Curral das Freiras. https://flic.kr/p/2pfz7wb

October 24, 2023. This is the view from a little restaurant I ate at after hiking along a 'Levada' trail in Madeirs. The trail winds along the ends of a steep mountain slop along a water irrigation channel. I had the whole day to explore today so I was several hours on the trail. I also explored some old-growth forest a bit further north, the famous Madeira 'laurel forest'. Then I went down to the black sand beach of Seixal on the north coast just as the day was waning. Can't express how much I've been enjoying Madeira. (Many many more photos in the Madeira photo set) https://flic.kr/p/2peKxc8

October 23, 2023. This is the small fishing village I visited after the conference today. I also went to a lookout atop a 600 meter cliff (this was a better photo though). Took the taxi there and a combination of buses back. Enjoying Madeira so much. (I know this photo is really late, more are coming, I promise). https://flic.kr/p/2peviy3