The Man and the Pan
# Tuesday 27th December, 2011 - 11:09pm with 2 comments
Well, it’s been a mediocre Christmas. It isn’t really a big deal here; only two houses in my street put up lights, and one of them was just a single chain along his gutter. The other was a bit more elegant, so don’t worry. We’re not total heathens on my block.
In the aftermath of Christmas in the horrible shopping spree, my dad and I went to a large homewares store in a major shopping centre to get a new Teflon pan. We drove around and around, but there were so many cars waiting eventually I turned off the engine, pulled out the keys and my dad went in to buy the pan himself. I was starting to doze off when a car near me vacated his space, and around half a minute later a man drives into it. As he got out of his car, he gave me a cocky smirk, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Situations like this tickle my God complex a little, where you feel you have a deeper understanding of a scene than others, and are more in touch with the nature of the universe. I couldn’t help but indulge. Hah.
Several weeks ago I bought a small USB microscope from DealExtreme; I frequently shop there for cheap, dodgy stuff. Like vernier calipers with one end of the caliper chipped off; nice one there. The microscope was a pleasant surprise; it worked out of the box with a basic OpenCV camera driver I had knocked together during when I was being assessed for the internship. I had bought it with the intention of checking knife edges; with adjustable focus and built-in, dimmable LEDs, it’s quite good for up-close stuff.
I’m into knives quite a great deal. I enjoy the way they fit in my hand, the sharp crisp snap when you open it, and the effortless way a properly cared for knife will handle things you use it for. I’ve always enjoyed slowly sharpening a knife freehand, I find it helps me relax quite a great deal and it clears my head. The microscope reveals burrs and tiny flat spots on the blade, which I can then polish out further with fine grit-papers.
Another reason I had bought it was to compare what a good factory edge (from a decent company, like Benchmade or Spyderco) looks like compared to something I had done freehand. It will help me improve, I hope, although I’m rather happy with my level of skill so far from what I’ve seen on the scope. I keep a mini Griptilian as a reference knife for comparisons; I think the handle design, blade shape and lock mechanism work together brilliantly and individually too. Although not exactly costly, I find it simply too…good to use (although I’m sure it can withstand anything I throw at it) and instead I use a Spyderco for normal tasks as I’m not afraid to get it wet or grimy, due to the Griptilian’s relatively exposed (and more elaborate) mechanism.
In other news, Georgie and I went to see Bob Evans recently. If you’re reading this you’ve probably read her blog covering it in much better detail, but I must admit it was fun. What she didn’t tell you was that I was reluctant to go until around two days before, but really. I had a great time and I’m glad I went; it was my sort of ideal event setting (I even shook his hand! haha).
I also got a half-year internship at a robotics development lab in my university, where I will be working on vision software for an automated healthcare robot. The software packages are still a bit new to me and I’m a tad rough around the edges, but we’re getting a feel of each other, hoho.
If you made it this far, I wish you a happy New Year. I just hope it’s not the last one, eh. To be honest the blog title has some relevance to the carpark thing earlier, but it mainly came from my dad, who had to write a poem in primary school and he started it off with ‘a man in a pan…’
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A Dungeon, and Dragons
# Sunday 4th December, 2011 - 9:20pm with 5 comments
So, November drew to a close and my holidays began. My exams were quite good, but with three on three consecutive days I was quite tired come the final; on a Saturday afternoon. It was the one I hadn’t been looking forward to, but I did okay, as far as relative personal satisfaction went. It’s up to the markers now, I suppose.
I kicked off my holiday by installing Skyrim; I’d been looking forward to it for ages and it was everything I had wanted and expected, except for a few minor bugs which I’m sure will be ironed out in time, as is the case with most Bethesda products.
The game itself is brilliantly immersive; I won’t go into a review of it, as there are enough out there that you could tell anyone all about the game without playing a second of it yourself. But it’s one of the few games that really draws you into the experience of your avatar such that you lose track of time with ease.
Whether you’re arranging books on your shelf in your house, beating an old widow to death in her own bed (after assassinating her daughter), or sneaking up to a fish stand hoping to pinch some salmon, the sheer quantity of things you can do overrides the mundane nature of some of the activities. But you still end up enjoying them!
I also got a car. It’s a hand-me-down from my aunt, and the car is as old as I am. I’m not personally a religious person, but I try to be good. I see many fake religious people everywhere that use their ‘faith’ as an excuse to pardon themselves for their own flaws. My aunt and her family are some of the very small group of people who I can say have been touched by their faith in a deity, if there is one. I’m not just saying this because of the car; they have always treated me very well no matter what state of mood I am in.
Next Sunday, I am going to see Explosions in the Sky with Georgie (the band’s name ends at Sky). The week after, some dude named Bob Evans. If he’s any good, let me know. I sort of got Shanghai’d into seeing it, to prevent Georgie from going to a super-car race. But she doesn’t know that.
Explosions is a string quartet (I think there are four of them..) hailing from Texas. I stumbled upon one of their tracks, Have you passed through this night? and it is fantastic; should be easy to find on Youtube if you want a listen. It’s quite long, but soothing and intense at the same time which is amazing.
Back to dungeons! And maybe those darn dragons.
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Homemade Oat Thing
# Wednesday 2nd March, 2011 - 4:05pm with 10 comments
So, I’m back at university. Had a great break, and I guess it will be about time I returned to a more productive and engaging routine. Due to clashes with my timetable since first year, I am now doing a programming subject two years too late with some friends who happen to be in the same jam. The vast majority of students in the first lecture (and probably the last I’ll be attending for this subject) were in first year, and for most it was their first class ever.
I don’t mean to criticize, but I think people in late high school/university underestimate their basic human rights. Halfway through the lecture, a student raises his hand and asks if he can go to the toilet, to the surprise of the lecturer and everyone else. Even in high school, I mainly asked if I could use the bathroom out of politeness only. I mean, how many times have you been refused the right to pee? It’s ridiculous when people just walk out of the room, bags and all around this guy and he still feels the need to ask for his permission to drain his bladder.
On another note, my timetable for this half of the year is terrible. Although I get a three day weekend and Wednesdays off which is sweet, on two other days I have gaps at least four hours long. In that time I’d get hungry (duh) and food out there is expensive.
I’ve been home alone for much of today, and out of boredom I decided to resurrect a little project that I had all but given up on when I first started university and discovered the horrors of quadruple lunch hour. It’s…
Homemade Oat Thing!
I am hesitant to call it either a loaf or a bar, because it’s somewhat in between. Also, as I’m using quick oats I guess a more correct term would be ‘Baked Porridge’.
I decided to test this out using a small ceramic dish in our toaster oven; I half filled it with oats, tossed in some almonds and a tablespoon of honey, and finally added enough water to make it all mix. I added a bit too much water, but here it is.
It actually tastes pretty decent, and is quite filling which would make it a good long-day snack. It’s quite moist, a feature I find desirable yet lacking in almost every store-bought muesli bar I’ve had. I’d imagine it stores well in the fridge too; I think it’s time for a larger scale test soon. :3