starshadow_rivaulx | an attempt to tweak formatting

So...it would seem that when the browser refuses to burp up web pages, there is nothing for it but to restart the laptop. Whatever works...

Today has been quite the day of discovery. See above for one example. Others:

* After all this time using Ping.fm, I find out that my posts to Multiply are made up of unformatted text. Meep! I do not like this at all. Maybe with some simple HTML code, this could be fixed?

* Installed Epiphany - again. Sue me, I just had to find out why other people found it so easy, when I didn't, on the previous occasions when I experimented with it. Thanks to hints on various user groups, I figured out how to replicate, after a fashion, the Speed Dial function that I enjoy so much on Firefox/Swiftfox.

In other news, I have had an interesting three days. We'll start with Thursday, which was a date day for me and Ramon. We had brunch at Jollibee, then went to see Valkyrie. It deals with the last assassination attempt on Hitler - which failed, as history tells us. Ramon is an amateur student of World War II on the European front, thus, seeing the movie was as forgone a conclusion as the movie's ending. I liked it, it wasn't too heavy on the brooding drama. Lots of suspense, though; and there is a point where you think the conspirators will pull it off, and then it all goes to pieces, ach.

Then we had lunch at Cibo, finally! The food wasn't bad, at least both of us managed to fill up nicely. Naturally we couldn't leave without buying palmieri biscuits to take home!

Strolled to the SM Prestige Lounge, where I left Ramon while I checked out wireless routers at the Appliance Center. Turns out, I found a nice one on sale, with an additional 3% off if I paid in cash. That was the good news. Later on I discovered that Ramon's laptop needed a wireless dongle to make a proper connection with the router - while mine was up and running in about five minutes flat. Mrmph.

*8*8*8*

Friday gave a new spin on "to the ends of the earth". Dad discovered that he is one of those veterans qualified to receive that lump-sum benefit that the Obama administration wrote into the stimulus package. I will leave out the family's opinions about the checkered history behind this lump-sum benefit - that's another post in itself, and perhaps best left unsaid on the internet. Long story short: I for one, much as Dad can irritate me no end, am grateful that he is strong enough to enjoy this monetary windfall; he is one of the lucky few.

So since the requirement is for the living veteran to personally file for the benefit, Dad decides to go to PVAO - the Philippine version of the VA. We wake up at oh-please-wah-thirty in the morning, and we set off for Camp Aguinaldo. We drop off Dad, Ramon and I, and head for the Araneta Center to look for a breakfast place, and end up sitting down at a place called Butter Diner.

No sooner have we sat down and placed our order, than Dad calls, wanting to have his papers processed at the US Embassy. *insert exaperated sounds here as Dad is told to wait till Ramon and I finish bolting our breakfast* Well, if the man expects me to drive from Quezon City to Roxas Boulevard? He better not complain about the driver wanting to do things on a full stomach.

So we picked up Dad at the Veterans Center (aka Last Watering Hole), and made our way through morning traffic to the US Embassy. We stopped for early lunch at Pancake House at Harbor View, then dropped Dad off at the Embassy. Returned to Harbor View, and I had a coffee at Starbucks, while Ramon slipped into a little nap (as I did, while zooming through yet another vintage Mills&Boon title). We had just sat down for afternoon snacks at Jollibee when Dad called, saying he was ready to be fetched. *sigh* Of course he had to wait again, but after that, it was a straight run home.

I so tired after all the driving that I barely understood half of the things I skimmed through when catching up on the online stuff. Fortunately I didn't start running a temperature or anything, but slept like all manner of logs.

*8*8*8*

As a result, I spent most of yesterday morning bonding with my pillows. After lunch, Ramon and I went to Glorietta, where I discovered that Goldcrest - and thereby, Ma's supplier of ginseng tea - has closed for renovation. Trotted back to SM Makati, collected Ramon from the Concourse, and we had our afternoon snack/dinner thing in the Food Court.

Picked up a cushion and a couple of pillowcases at the bed and bath department before heading down to the supermarket. Ramon took up his usual space on one of the Concourse benches, while I maneuvered my way through the aisles of the supermarket. Thank heavens for grocery lists! I got pretty much everything on it, and some extras besides - though I did forget to grab some more Babybels or Eden mini-cheese blocks. Bwah.

Came home tired but feeling accomplished, and life went on as usual.

*8*8*8*

Today was divided equally between running my laundry and going through online stuff while my brain cells were engaged. Nothing much to report, except for a switch from Swiftfox to Epiphany as my main browser, and the resulting tweaking thereof. So this is where I sign off and try to figure why the wireless network is hissing at me.

Catch you when I catch you!