With the help of a friend of mine, my blog is up and running again.
Thanks Dave.

I had tried on several occasions to get it going again but, it was more than I was able to work out on my own.

The reason the blog (among other things) ceased to operate in the first place is due to the fact that my hardware was old and the motherboard decided to spit the dummy. I used an even older (good enough though) motherboard to get the system working again. And found out that the libraries for python, perl, php (and who knows what else) no longer existed.

The operating system (F)edora (C)ore 5 still ran (mostly) but I couldn’t get either yum or rpm to work. I suppose I could’ve gotten around the yum/rpm problem with the install cd, had I thought of it and been able to find it.

To make things even more interesting - After upgrading the hardware (somewhat), I also changed from FC/Redhat to Ubuntu/Debian (which, for those of you who are only aware of MS Virusware Windows, are both variations of Linux - look it up with your favourite search engine), just because they are both linux, don’t be fooled into thinking they are the same. They are not! Files (configuration or otherwise) for any given program that exist in one version/flavour of linux may not exist at all in the other, nor will they necesarily contain the same data or be in the same folder structure.

The best (though simplistic) analogy I can think of for the different flavours of linux is: English. For example: American English and Australian English - as taught in school (ignoring the dialects and slang), is essentially the same. While the basic pronunciation/meaning of some/many words is the same, clearly the spelling (ie: colour/color) in the two versions of the language is different.

When you’ve spent years using one form of the Operating System (or language) and you change to the other, it takes time to get used to the differences.

Well! It’s been a while since my last post, and even longer since the last one related to my employment.

Today, for the first time, I was given the opportunity to polish panels that had been painted.

This is often required after the top coat has been applied. Sometimes small particles of crap (eg. dust or paint blobs) get stuck in/on the surface of the paint before it dries properly, and they need to be removed.

This is done by “cutting” them away with something like a tungsten block (very sharp edges). The mark that is left is then sanded away with very fine sand paper, 1500 and then 3000 grit which, while fine, is still obvious - to say the least. That part, today, was done by the boss.

Due to the fact that I used to polish bullbars in a previous job, my boss got me to buff the panels (giving him a chance to see if I was up to the job - he’s obviously happy enough as he’s already asked me to do more tomorrow).

The actual polishing is simply a case of applying a polishing compound to a soft sponge-like disk and buffing the scored area until the fine lines disappear and then going over the same area with a second disk that has a smoother polishing compound applied, which helps to bring up the shine.

Perhaps tomorrow I’ll be doing the cutting myself. The biggest problem, will be learning what the boss considers necessary to cut and what to ignore. I’m a bit too picky, which sometimes gets me into trouble.

As of 11:00am today I’m on holidays from work, I go back on the 8th, effectively giving me a three week break.

The only downer here is that I’m a casual employee, thus I have to fund the break myself, still ….

I picked up my mail yesterday and found a letter from Darwin. As far as I’m aware I don’t know anyone living in the Nothern Territory so I was wondering who’d moved there.

Anyway, I opened the envelope to find a letter with a 5 cent coin attached, a Chain Letter Scam which is very much illegal in Australia. I pocketed the coin and consigned the letter to the shredder pile.

I have a piece of advice for anyone receiving or sending any similar letters. Being in jail is likely to conflict with your social life (eg. having a meal with your family/partner) and any travel plans you might consider making (such as getting in you car to go to the shops/pub), so serious thought needs to be given as to whether you really want to take that chance.

Do yourself a favour: Break The Chain!

I assembled the tables (Pictured below) on Wednesday the 28th and gave them to Pam on Sunday 2nd of December.

Although Pam expressed a preference for a stark white, the tables ended up being painted “Antique White”. But, I did tell her: “If she’s not happy with the colour, she can get her money back”

Pam has promised to send me a couple of photos when she’s cleaned up the handles and attached them, so that I can add them to the blog to complete the set. I was going to add a before photo but, I forgot to take one and Pam can’t seem to find the ones she had. If/when she sends them to me, I’ll add one last entry to this series.