December 30

Jen and Greg came over this evening so I could attempt to recover files from Jen’s MacBook’s failed hard drive.
 
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The “Input/output error during read” is bad enough, but the big “unallocated” where the partitions should be is not a good sign.  There’s still hope that reseating the connectors will regain access, but from the sounds it was making I think it’s likely time for a new drive.

December 29

Parker loves the loft.  We don’t really know why.  He can be quite a pest about it too.  Here he’s waiting impatiently by the door to the Magic Room.

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You can also see that he had his stitches out and is healing nicely.  If it were me I’d be picking at it incessantly; thankfully he does not have the same idea.

December 27

Lis video-chats with her niece & brother using the webcam I got her for the holidays.  You can see the tiny camera and its pretty big microphone in front of the Mac.

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The video & especially voice quality is much better than the webcam built into my netbook.  And we’ll be able to video-chat when I’m traveling.

December 26

Lis got me a FoodSaver vacuum-sealing appliance for Christmas.  You put food in the little bags and insert the end into the machine, and it sucks out all the air and heat-seals the bag.  You can then freeze food for much longer without it getting freezer burned. 

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Here we have duck breasts and legs — super cheap after the holiday — ready to be frozen.

December 21

Nog!

One of the things I love about the holiday season is egg nog.  I like to spike mine with bourbon — or, in this case, Jameson — and top it with plenty of freshly grated nutmeg & cinnamon.  I also like to mix soy nog in with the commercial stuff, to cut the sweetness and thickness just a bit.

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