The Catchup Post.

Why yes, it has been a little while since I’ve posted anything of note. Hope the quote from Sean tided over the tragics who just couldn’t stay away.

There has been quite a bit happening, most of it good.

Dad has come back from Bangkok after his stem-cell operation and the results have been excellent. He’s got far more energy than before, is far more capable physically and mentally – it’s also done wonders for his state of mind and self esteem (he’d been losing the will to live prior to the op, I must admit. Not a pleasant thought..)

To those who doubt the uses of such research or think it’s an offence against their invisible sky person, I say toss your bias aside and look at the wider research. Not all is fetal – Dad’s procedure involved the use of some of his own healthy cells. It was done under local anaesthetic all in the space of an hour and most importantly it has worked – the man has been suffering for years and at this stage it’s lessened that suffering significantly – and that’s the most important thing.

I also had the all-too-brief pleasure of meeting up with my old friend Tina Wallmann at the Regatta Hotel the other week, which pleased me no end as I’ve not seen her for at least a couple of years. It’s always great to see her and I’m proud and impressed by what she’s achieved over the years I’ve known her. Sadly she’s moving to Sydney so our meeting may be the last for a while. ? You will be missed terribly up here by all of us that have known you.

It was also nice of her to introduce me to her friends Michelle and Lynda (who won 3rd @ Miss Regatta, congratulations and well done). Nice girls and I wish them well; if they stick with modelling they’re well set as they’ve learnt from a master (mistress?) of the art. ?

I’ve not been to the Regatta previously (Toowong is a little out of the way for me, but it was for a friend so the effort is worth it) but it’s a good pub, well presented and spacious, drinks not too pricey either. If you’re in inner-western Brisbane it’s worth a visit.

I’ve not spent too much time at the PC of late – reading in my quieter moments, visiting family or just getting out and about. I’ve done a little bit though.
I have been impressed by Eclipse Europa for PHP (PDE) and Perl (EPIC) development – no I’m not a Java developer – and am using them heavily especially at work where I sorely need them.

My ADSL2+ has been rock solid and quick, a boon to folks grabbing my RPMs and browsing the site in general.

Speaking of RPMs, I’ve not built too many lately as the new release of RPM (4.4.2.1) has caused a hopefully temporary glitch vs rpmdevtools, so no builds until this is fixed and my local mirrors sync. I have new arpwatch and asylum packages waiting. Good news is that perl-Geo-IP has finally passed review and will be in the main Fedora repository Very Soon Now.

I’ve also purchased a camera, finally – A Canon PowerShot A550 (on Russ’ advice) primarily for the Miss Regatta Final (but the shots were fairly poor, I should have RTFM) but it will come in useful elsewhere of course. I also replaced the old and busted webcam with a little QuickCam IM; Linux users should try the gspca driver as it works quite well with it.

One for the lazyweb: I’m looking at a new monitor when my pay comes in: suggestions for a 19″?