Playing in the Shambles

Things are at low ebb right now. I feel that I’ve been here before.

Just keeping my fingers crossed, hoping things turn around.

~$ ln -s /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so .mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so

That’s what it took today to fix Firefox, specifically to get it to show Flash content again, after the latest update. I spent a bit of fruitless time reinstalling various packages using synaptic, and also poking around the Ubuntu forum. I kind of had a feeling it was just the plugin not going to the right place, but I was slightly discouraged since there’s so many possible locations. Finally I just said to heck with it and started looking around. To my mild surprise, I fixed it.

Now I wonder if I can make it stop hogging horizontal space with the one useless tab; the fact that it didn’t show a single tab before I considered a plus. There is probably a tweak, but I think I’m going to be too lazy to look for it. Another possibility is that so many people use big monitors/high resolution these days, it was not considered a problem. It isn’t a *big* problem, but it is a little annoying. As long as I can see Flash content, though, I can live with it.

Wow. I may have my first-ever solo gig. Mah frens are having a party/picnic at a park on the 4th, and they’ve asked me to bring a guitar and amp. Look out, eardrums!

Plus, I just got a call from a keyboard player friend. A player he’s worked with is looking for a fill-in; rhythm guitar & vocals, I suppose. If that works out that’s two gigs in the next week. Woot!

Video of the elusive white squirrel. I’ve seen at least two of them at once. The zoom on my camera, which I’ve never used before with video, seems to have rendered it nearly unrecognizable, but at least you might can tell it is a squirrel. This provides me motivation to acquire a real video camera before I go tracking Sasquatch.

Went to the beach for a few minutes the other day. These rays were swimming in fevers and little groups and some even singly. They were all heading east. It is almost as if there were some massive disruption to their west, some catastrophic–oh, yeah.

I went to Pensacola Beach yesterday, right about lunch time. I spent about an hour there, just goofing off, mostly on my big beach towel. I did have to chase down a plastic bag the wind took away from me. Once it hit the water it stopped like a rock, or really more like a soggy, sandy plastic bag. The waves played a game with me, threatening to snatch it out into the gulf, and making me wade in and get my new flip-flops wet (which really needs to be done as soon as possible, anyway), only to then show me that I could have just waited.

As I sat and looked out over the water, it struck me what is going on out there, and who knows what this beach will look like in a few days’ or weeks’ time? Today, it looks like this area might yet be spared, but that’s an awful lot of oil out there. I understand that people who like shrimp are being hit already. I’m sure it’s no picnic for the shrimpers, either.

Quaker Quick oats, with seven prunes mixed in while it’s still nice and hot. Additional additions: a splash of Rice Dream (Original Classic) and a handful or so of cashew halves. Adjunct: a nice mug of Eight O’Clock French Roast whole bean coffee. Mmm. Fairly healthy, and definitely delicious.

My friend Robert, after something like eight weeks, is out of the hospital and back home.

What’s more, I’ve encountered a bit of financial relief. I still have a lot of work to do, but things are better.

A small celebration is in order. It may involve chocolate.

Yesterday, I had $1.21 in my checking account, my truck was nearly out of gas, and I had a cell phone bill and a speeding ticket (oops) totaling over $250 to pay. Today, the phone bill is paid, I have an extension on the ticket (thank you, Donna!), and there is a little money in the bank. What a difference a day can make. I’m still up to my ears in debt, with no real visible means of support, but at least, at this moment, I don’t feel jammed up against the wall.

Enjoy please mah new podcast. It’s me eating milk and cookies. I know, how very exciting! It’s four minutes and six seconds of thrills.

Milk and Cookies

Edit: Apparently I still suck with numbers. I guess it’s four minutes and twenty-eight seconds. I gotta get this stuff right, it’s important.