The
Squamidian Report – March 13 / 10
Issue #407
Including:
From Carol
The Ontarion
Hi All,
The west coast is back to cold and wet seasonal type weather and that can be a good thing. It slows the pollen production to a crawl and washes away the pollen that was produced. Hopefully the colder temps will slow down the grass growth as well because the lawn mower is in the rock room and the door is behind the motorcycles and until its time to get the bikes out I can’t get to the mower. The back yard almost needs to be mowed but not quite yet so I can ignore it for a while. Of course, once we get the bikes out we sure don’t want to be bothered with mundane yard work like flower beds and mowing. Luckily, ‘the wife’ likes doing that kind of stuff so hopefully I’m off the hook.
The somewhat less than nice weather has given me a chance to tackle a problem that arose when I added my Mac computer to my home network of two PC computers. (Used to be more than two but The Wife made me get rid of a couple of very out dated old machines). The problem was, how do you keep files synchronized over a cross-platform network? I’m doing pretty well everything on the Mac now. I have, and want to keep, identical folders and files on all three machines. Otherwise it just gets confusing. I did a lot of searching for Mac software that would be able to copy new and changed files over to the PCs. Nothing really exists. It is easy to simply copy and paste over the network manually but it’s a pain to keep everything up-to-date doing it that way.
I finally stumbled over the solution and it had been right under my nose all along. Good old ‘Karin’s Replicator’. It’s a free replicating, synchronizing program that I’ve mentioned way back in the past somewhere. I’ve been using it all along as a way of keeping my old ‘main machine’ files backed up and current to an external drive. However, for reasons I’ve never been able to solve, that PC has not been able to ‘see’ my Mac, in fact it can barley see my Windows Laptop. And Karin’s Replicator is Windows software, it will not install on the Mac, which can see everything effortlessly. The Laptop’s networking abilities do allow it to see both the Mac and the P4, AND I’ve know all along that Karin’s Replicator works over a network because that’s how I’ve kept the Windows machines in sync. What I didn’t know because there is no mention of it anywhere is that with the right permission granted on the Mac, the replicator program can both read from and write to the Mac over the network from the PC it is installed on if said PC is able to network properly. And I discovered it would work simply by giving it a try.
So now, with multiple ‘jobs’ set up in Karin’s Replicator on the Laptop, I can synchronize folders and files in any direction I need from and to any computer I need. That means if I were to work on a file, or create a new file on any of my machines, I can replicate those changes across my network to the other machines. Works like a charm. One thing you might want to know though, each ‘job’ in Karin’s Replicator can be easily configured to replicate deletions as well. That is a very powerful feature that should be thought through carefully. However, as a safety precaution it can also be configured to delete to the Recycle Bin rather than to permanent obliteration. The replicator program can be run manually or it can be scheduled, which ever way works best for the user. So there you go.
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Have you ever had a tooth yanked that didn’t want to be yanked? Sure does NOT make for a fun time in the dentist chair. It was an old tooth, heck, it was almost as old as I am. It had been crowned about 30 years ago. Then, for no reason what so ever it just snapped off. To make it worse, it snapped off below the gum line. So the dentist decided that the only way it could be saved would be to do a root canal and put some posts in and then build a new top but even at that it would not last long. A better approach would be to remove the root and then do a bridge. That sounded fine because he figured the root would come out quite easily. Ha! Fooled him. By the time he was done he was sweating and exhausted and I was sweating and exhausted. It just would not let go. He didn’t want to carve away any of the bone up in there. He did however have to open up the soft tissue a bit so that meant some stitches. Oh well, living on soup for a day or so never hurt anyone. So once everything is good and healed, I’ll be investing in a nice new bridge. And get this, it won’t be just an ordinary bridge, it will be a cantilevered bridge. Cool.
Oh yah, don’t forget this weekend is ‘turn your clocks forward for daylight savings time’ weekend. Is it just me or does this seem to be happening earlier every year.
doug
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From Carol
Five years ago, at this time, we were busy planning a special weekend for my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. The weekend included a celebration of their anniversary on the Sunday and a musical afternoon and barbecue on the Saturday. We called it the “Brubacher Reunion of Family and Friends”. We enjoyed our time so much that we decided to hold a reunion 2 years later in Nova Scotia and again 4 years later in B.C. Those two reunions were just attended by members of the Brubacher family. Well since that was five years ago a little bit of basic math will tell you that the parents’ 65th anniversary is coming up! Dad thinks that it is past time that we repeated the musical part (besides ever since Al’s birthday he has wanted an excuse for setting up another keg in the new shed). So even though a reunion was held in B.C. just last summer we are planning a weekend “Brubacher Reunion of Family & Friends”. For Saturday, June 12th, we will hold the first annual “Brubacher Invitational”. This will be a day when a variety of musical talent, family and friends, will be invited to perform. The keg will be tapped, jamming and a barbecue will follow the music and it will all take place at the homestead.
On the Friday night (June 11th) the family will celebrate their anniversary and I’m sure something will occur on the Sunday. More details will be forthcoming but please mark June 12th on your calendar, tell those who don’t receive the Squid and we hope you come from far and wide. I just thought, we will have to have another Ontario reunion in 2012 because that year Eve & Ed will mark their 60th.
This year is going to mark milestones for several people. Ron’s 65th is coming up next week. Judy & Bryan will be following Ron into the Old Age security set this summer. Is it just me or do none of them seem that old to you either? The really big milestone comes this June when Aunt Mabel (Judy’s Mom) turns 100!!! I guess compared to Mabel we are all young and I hope all of us age as gracefully. There will be a few birthdays for several others that end in a “zero” this year (an 80, three 60’s, a 40 and two 30’s that I know of) but compared to 100 they are hardly worth mentioning. Whatever age, anniversary or milestone you hit this year I hope you celebrate it, life is too short not to.
Carol
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
I just finished watching John Cusak save the world! Whew! Where the heck would we be without Hollywood? The movie was called “2012” and it’s the result of the Mayan prediction that the world will end in that year. I’m not usually one for that sort of science fiction movie but this one was a nail biter for sure. I was squirming in my seat and under my cozy blanky throughout the whole movie and literally had to breath a huge sigh of relief when he finally saved the day! There aren’t many movies that do that to me these days but this one had all the necessary attributes to keep you on the edge of your seat. It has a puppy, a brother/sister duo of just the right age to keep you hoping for the good guys to win and a hero that went from rejected divorcee underdog father to the guy that saved the day and in this case, the world! Total BS to say the least but enough Hollywood excitement and special effects to be a really entertaining family movie. If you’re into enjoying the odd family night at the movies this one is a good choice that has something for everyone. It’s got a bit of romance, a little tear jerker emotion, real Indiana Jones excitement, a schmoozie plot and the hero saves the world in the end! I know I just gave away the punch line but don’t worry, there’s lots of good stuff that you’ll have to watch this film to understand. When all is said and done, it’s a good flick and it’s worth renting if you like action and good clean fun in a film, this one has it all. Hey, maybe I should switch from weekend columnist to Movie Critic? Naaaaw, I don’t watch enough pics to do that job justice and besides, I tend to give away the ending every time I talk about a movie and that’s not a recipe for success as a critic. Anyway, I’d recommend you rent this one for a good evening’s entertainment!
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Well, since we’ve gotten home from Florida we’ve had some really good weather for this area and this time of year. It’s been in the double digits for the past week and with that we’ve had some very nice sunny days. Carole and I have even sat out on the front porch chairs to soak up some northern sun! I worked so hard on getting a bit of a tan down south that I hate to let it fade away in the first couple of week that we’re home. For the month of March, we’re having a pretty good stretch of nice weather. As you all know this is unusually nice weather for Ontario. I’ve been tempted to get the motorcycle out and go for a spin but as Doug has pointed out this time of year the roads are still too sandy and slippery to be out on a motorcycle. Many other riders have been on the streets of Kitchener in the past week but I just don’t like to take the chance on a first ride of the season until the sweepers have cleaned the streets properly. Today it rained for a few hours and is supposed to do the same for the next 3 days yet. Maybe that’ll clean the roads enough to take a spin. I have a stinking hunch that we’re not out of the woods yet as far as the winter weather goes. I’m sure we’ll get some more snow in our region before Spring is officially here. In fact, we’ll probably get snow AFTER Spring is officially here too! LOL!
When we were in Florida, the place we stayed at had a full gym and Olympic sized swimming pool so I took advantage of the gym and Carole took to the pool every day to try to shape up for spring and summer that’s on the way here. I road a recumbent bike every day for half an hour and also walked a good brisk walk on the treadmill for another twenty minutes. It made me feel very good to get that workout in every day and I’ve been continuing the workout since we got home. Carole is going to attend the local community pool to keep up swimming her laps each day too. We have a rowing machine and a treadmill here at home so there’s no need for me to attend a gym to do my work out. My routine is mostly for cardio due to the plugging artery problem I’ve had for the past twelve years and it seems to help me keep going. It also makes me feel invigorated to get my day started. The rowing machine puts me into a rhythm that is almost trance like. I can close my eyes and row and in no time I’ve got my ten miles in for the day. I’m going to stay with the rower for a month and then add the treadmill for an additional 20 minutes in the mornings. The rowing machine is my favourite machine. It gives one an overall workout. I can feel it in my legs, my abdomen, my back and my arms not to mention my heart rate control. If I could only have one machine I’d choose the rower for sure. I bought this one called a “Concept II” when the fire dept purchased new equipment for their work out room. I think I picked it up for a $130.00 bid and it was worth close to $2000.00 when new. The only problem with it is that it’s quite long so you need a lot of room to accommodate it. Luckily we’ve got a nice sized room that fits both the Rower and the Treadmill. So, at 10 miles per day, by the time the year is over I’ll have rowed pretty much across Canada from coast to coast! I promise to stop in and say hi to Doug and Sue if I do get out that way. Ya gotta admit that would be quite a feat on a stationary exercise machine! LOL!
I guess that’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now…. Greg.
PS: Something To Think About>
Is it time to put the snow blower and shovels away for this year?
I think NOT! But here’s hoping!
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Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.