My dad likes to mock me about my over usage of the term "Stuff". But then I found in some of the lecture slides from one of my courses at uni this semester they taught us about "Stuff", so I feel justified now!
A few days ago my little blog here was the first result in a Google Search for Dallin Blog. Now I'm not even in the top 100 results. What's with that?
Man, I love my new mouse! I had actually been getting quite used to the trackpad. And it was always quite convenient having my hands close to the keyboard. Using shortcuts like Alt + Left to go back in a web-browser was great. The first few days using the mouse, it felt like everything was so slow, because I had to move the mouse all the way to the back button, or move my hands all the way to the keyboard.
There is, however, a solution, greater than one could possibly imagine! I decided I would stop using Internet Explorer as my default web browser, just after I got my laptop. I use Firefox (See right). Firefox has extensions, small programs which increase the usefulness of the browser. I found one called Mouse Gestures. It lets you use your mouse to do a lot of common browsing tasks. Very convenient! The ones I use most, rather than the ones shown at the site where you need to move the mouse, are "Right click, Left click" for Back, "Left click, Right click" for forward, and "Right click + Scroll Wheel" to switch tabs.
I now find myself trying to go forward and back like that in Windows Explorer and other programs now too. It's frustrating that I can't. Oh well.
And I'm Dallin Howes, and that's all I have to say for now!
Who ever can guess first what I bought today gets....80 points!
I'll give you a clue, coz otherwise it is probably a bit hard. And you have to be specific, but not too specific. For example, if I'd bought a loaf of bread, you couldn't just say "A loaf of bread" It would have to be "A loaf of white bread" but you wouldn't have to go so far to say "A loaf of Helga's white bread bought at Coles"
Make sense? Ok, cool, now I just need to make the clue....Sweet! Here it is (It's a picture clue)
Take Luck and Be Fun!
**EDIT**
Sorry everyone, the competition is over. Sophie won, with the correct answer of "A Bluetooth Mouse". I got the Logitech V270 from Get Right on Payneham road. I think. I was deciding between this mouse, and the V400, but went with this because of the Bluetooth. That means, it connects directly to my laptop, so I don't have a little dongle hanging out of a USB port to use my mouse.
I was considering the V400 because it is a laser mouse (a lot more precise than regular optical) but in the end the Bluetooth did it for me. I was surprised how few Bluetooth mice exists, and how it is really hard to find one here in Adelaide. But I have my mouse, so it's all good. And I love it. The guy at the GetRight store said he uses the same mouse at home. But, I find that a lot of sales people always use the thing you are looking at buying. Maybe they do. Or maybe they used to until the upgraded. Or maybe they just want you to buy it. But, it worked either way. And I like it, so it's all good!
Except that i am revealing it all here on my Blog....
So, the Sydney trip. It all seems like so long ago now. Probably because it was! It's a week today sicne the last activity! But Oh well. It will be even longer ago by the time i finish this, and people eventually read it!
So, the trip over. We were meeting at the Rice's at 2:00 I think. Dane finished Uni early and came to my place about 11:30 I think, and we got some stuff organised while I finished packing. Dane made up a table to keep track of our expenses, which was realy useful, and allowed us to keep our expenses under $150 each for the whole weekend. It ended up being a bit late by the time we all got to Sarah's but that's ok. We still left by about 3:30 or so as I recall. It was her car, so Sarah took the first shift driving. We almost died at the bottom of Moules Road, when Sarah tried to do a U-turn on St.Bernard's. But we survived, and somehow she got us safely to Renmark.
Peter took over driving after that, and we pulled into the Caravan park in Hay at about 11:30. It was pretty dark. But Peter did a good job on the night driving. Our cabin at the caravan park was pretty small. But it had two "sleeping areas" and so it was good enough for us. Peter took a video of it, which you should hopefully be able to enjoy below, so you can all enjoy our accomodation with us! I somehow scored the very top bunk! I think the audio is a bit out of sync, not too sure why. Dodgy YouTube....
We took off as early as we could in the morning, I think it was about 8:00. The reception didn't open before that, and we had to pay. Peter Dane and I hadto pay extra for bedding too, since we hadn't brought sleeping bags to save room in the boot of the car. But it was a pretty cheap night's sleep: $16 for the girls, and an extra $7.50 for us, I think.
Dane took the first shift driving, and got us to Gundaggai. Yes, we busted out "On the road to Gundaggai" a couple of times. It's too bad I don't know how to spell it! We had lunch there, and then Steph took over. We all fell asleep, and she got us safely to Sydney. Unfortunately the exit I wanted to take off of the M2 didn't exist, and then we missed the next exit, but it was still pretty easy to find where we were staying - with Justin and Ryan Osmotherly (ok, I have no idea how to spell that!) in Epping. The girls were staying with a bunch of YSA girls just down the street.
Friday night there was due to be a Bonfire, but it was raining, so we all went to the Krok's mansion. It was a good night of Pool playing, TV watching, Pizza eating and meeting new people. It was cool, and their house was big! Interestign side note: their son (I think Matt) was the kid on "Hey, Dad!" and the Sorbent ads all those years ago.
We left pretty late, coz we were relying on Justin to show us the way home and he's the Stake YSA rep, so he was staying to the end. Conveniently, his Girlfriend is the female rep. And they make a cute couple....
Saturday morning we were up bright and early to go the the temple. That was nice, we hadn't been to the Sydney temple in years! After we were there we had pancakes for breakfast just down the carpark by the church office buildings. They had this weird Sydney combination of stuff to put on them: Whipped cream and Golden Syrup. But it actually tasted really good! We then played this weird game called "War". I won't try and explain it. It was ok, but once was enough. So I wasn't excited when we played it again on Monday night at the Family Home Evening at the Owen's. Especially since it doesn't scale well to huge groups. It was ok with 20 at the temple, but 50 at FHE was too much.
Satruday afternoon nothing was planned, so I went to Callie and Blair's place with Luke and Jerusha. Blair's parents and his brother Nick and his wife Sarah were there too. And I got to meet my niece Lady for the first time! We hung out, had lunch and then Callie and Blair took me shopping. It's like it's their favourite thing to do or something!
Saturday night was the cruise/dance. That was a lot of fun. The boat wasn't really big, but it was just the right size for the number of people that came. I'm not going to try and guess how many that was though! Our Adelaide group spent a lot of the night hanging out with Phil Benallack (an old Adelaidean himself, who I never knew before) Isy Murphy (Blair's younger sister) and Carolin from Germany. They're all really cool and it was a fun night. It was cold and raining outside (and we even spend a good amount of time otuside on the roof) but it was really, really warm inside.
Sunday we had a good rest in the morning, and then went to Dural ward - Phil and Isy's ward. Callie and Blair were also visiting, coz it was ward conference. it was really good. A few people somehow recognised me as Luke's brother. I dunno....But it was a good ward to visit, I enjoyed it. We even saw Brett Wilmott, who just moved out of our ward less than a month ago!
After church, we rushed off down to Mortdale chapel for the Fireside with Elder Scott. It took about an hour to get there, and it was starting at 5:30. Church finished at 4:00. We were in a bit of a convoy, with Tace Krok leading the way. Phil and Isy were in another car, and then this other random car cut infront of us too. We ended up being 4th in the convoy, and got stuck at some traffic lights. Fortunately Phil had my mobile number. Isy got my number off Phil and called me (which is how I got her number - my only number for the weekend ;)) and together with my really really old street directory, we got there in time. There were a lot of YSA there. And Elder Scott gave a really good talk about getting married and making good decisions and stuff. It was so good it actually got me excited to actually do stuff, and I even went on a bit of a date a couple of days after gettign back! Yay me!
I saw Sam Pickford there too which was really cool. I hadn't seen him since he got home, coz he was in Adelaide for like one day, and then ran off to Bathurst. He's a good kid, I really like him.
Since the fireside was over by 7:00, we stayed around at the chapel for a while, packed up all the chairs (there were a lot. The chapel was just like Modbury, and the whole hall and stage were packed. And the chairs were heavier (and more comfortable) than the ones we have here), and met a few people. Sarah and Peter were in fine form getting numbers and email addresses or something....But anyway, we still got home by like 9:30 or so I think. The night was young, and so we ate, and ate, and were all crazy all night. It was cool. The girls left sometime just after midnight I think, and then we guys stayed up and chatted for another while. I don't even remember what it was really about. Well, it was about girls. But I don't remember much of what was said.
We slept in again on Monday, and called Phil to see what they were up to. We went to Phil's and had waffles for breakfast/lunch. They were good. Nice work Phil and Isy! Carolin was there too, and Isy's bf, Craig. I think....Phil and Dane wanted to go to the beach. It was a pretty nice day. So we did. No one knew how to get to Bondi (don't look at me...I'm from Adelaide!) so we went to Dee Why, which was a really nice beach. Dan and Phil went swimming (with their shirts off!!!), I went with them for a run (they put their shirts on) Andwe all had a good time. We even took some random photos...
That night was the FHE at the Owen's place. He's a councillor in the Stake Pres'cy, and was at almost all the activities. Callie lived with them for a few months before she got married. They're a really nice couple! it was a good night. Sarah got propsed to by this really tall guy called Peter. More on that later. Heim taught a good lesson about....service, as I recall. It was a fun night. AND, we found out that the random car that cut in front of us on Sunday night was a bunch of polynesion girls going to the firside, and they were HOPING that we would be left behind at traffic lights. Grrr...They were really funny though!
We left kinda late (But it's ok, we ha tosay good bye to everyone!) and that's when I got to drive for the first time all trip! We had to go past Callie's place on the way home ot pick up some DVDs for mum. The we dropped in at the temple to get a coupld or photos (They were ok) and then went home to sleep. We were getting up early Tuesday morning to get everythign finished up and aacked up and were hoping to be on the road by 7:00. Before that, Dane and I had the job of getting some chocolates for our hosts, and picking the girls up from their place. We did everything pretty well i nthe morning, and were on the road by 7:30. It was a fair effort. And I got first shift of driving. It was cool. Everyone wanted to drive, and we were always making jokes "hey I need to go to the bathroom. And since we're stopping, we might as well change driver" or "ok, your half hour is up!". Or something. I drove to Gundaggai (Which I still don't know how to spell) where we had a bit of a pre-lunch snack. Then Steph drove. And....everyone fell asleep again! She drove all the way to Balranald, (Bah! I can't spell that either!) where we ate some real food. Late lunch or early dinner or something. Dane got us back to Renmark, and feeling safe back in SA again, Peter took us home. The night driver again!
We pulled in to the Rice's a bit after 11:00, maybe close to 11:30. Peter stayed at mine, Steph stayed at Sarah's. Dane went home. it was good. Peter slept in really late!!
Song of the trip: So Sick, by Ne-Yo Saying of the trip: There's a bit of truth in every joke. Story of the trip: Sarah and the giant Peter! He is actually here in Adelaide now. For Sarah. And he drove all night to get here. I don't want to say too much about what I think of it in this public forum though. But yeah. He's here. So, I think there was some truth behind that propsal joke. From one side at least. but Sarah will be on her mission soon. and I think I'll miss her. Maybe even enough to write to her once or twice!
Anyway, that was Sydney. I'll get around to posting photos and maybe a video or two sometime! But that's all for now!
Just so you know, We all made it home safely from Sydney. We had a great time, and met a bunch of cool people, it was great. But I'm glad to be back in Adelaide. I'll write up a decent entry about what we did some other time. But it was great.
Hey look, I used all caps in the title, and added a whole bunch of extra exclamation marks. That makes me ultra cool....
So, tomorrow (Thurs) we're going to Sydney. It's going to be an interesting drive, 5 people packed in. I think it's me, Dane, Peter Watt, Sarah Rice and Steph McC. Should be a really good trip though, there are some cool activities planned for the YSA this weekend. Elder Richard G. Scott is going to be there live for the fireside on Sunday! Awesome!
It's also going to be great catching up with family over there. I'll get to see my cute little niece for the first time. And I haven't seen Luke, Jerusha, Callie and Blair since Christmas. So it'll be cool to catch up with them all.
But, I guess that means I probably won't be around much over the weekend. So, don't wait up for me on MSN, or expect any emails. I don't even know when we'll be back actually....Wednesday night at the latest I think, certainly in time for institute.
So, everyone else, enjoy your long weekend. I'll catchya later.
So! I have a blog. YAY!! Can you feel my excitement?
That's good, coz I can't....
Anyway, I have said for a long time that I like the concept of a blog, which is certainly true. A public opportunity to voice thoughts and opinions and stuff, where people can give comments in reply. Brilliant!
My problems with it:
What to say.
Who would read it.
Saying stuff in public that I would rather keep private.
making my boring thoughts compact, readable and understandable.
But you know what? I don't care....The wonerfl thing about the digital age, is that if I don't like it, I can delete it. Or, just not update it. And when people complain, I can ignore them...."What, email? Nope, never got it." Or "Nah, MSN was't working properly, didn't get your message at all!" Or, the best one of all "You can't see my newest post? Must be something wrong with the site..."
Unfortunately, I refused to go with MSNSpaces, so I can't really blame Microsoft....
See what I mean about going on forever about nothing? The sum total of this post is nothing. But it is really long. That is how I am. I can't help myself. So, I pity you, my poor readers. Maybe one day I'll change. or something....
Welcome to Dallin's Blog! Don't expect to find anything interesting here! But do expect me to ramble on about nothing, in long, incohesive sentences, with little structure and no fore-thought to their ultimate meaning, on random topics that don't interest anyone but me, and maybe those who think like me, which probably isn't too many of you (I think weird....), every now and then.
Well, I guess I am really a geek. But hey, I think geeks are cool! I like stuff, and have the most awesome group of friends ever. Oh, but this is meant to be about me....
Remind me to put more stuff here some other time....
