Elizabeth Weir/John Sheppard Appreciation/Ship/Discussion Thread

[JT-2]

My old as dirt laptop is breaking down. The battery has been shot for over a year. But now each time I open it I have to reset the wireless network adapter twice. *sigh*

The Brits. Doesn't that just figure?

That cracked me up.

*joins in the shuddering* Crossing fingers it doesn't come to that. *hugs*

Thank you! *glomps* (Yes, I know that dates me.)

It is definitely weird.

I was pondering it earlier while waiting for my 1st train home, which was delayed approximately 8 minutes and thus I missed my connection again.

It's going to a theme, I suspect.

Oh dear. How long do you have to wait for the next train?

[Scary Kitty]

Good morning, Sparkies! Happy Pretty Friday!

My old as dirt laptop is breaking down. The battery has been shot for over a year. But now each time I open it I have to reset the wireless network adapter twice. *sigh*

Ugh, the marvels of modern technology.

Thank you! *glomps* (Yes, I know that dates me.)

No worries, it dates me too. *glomps back*

It is definitely weird.

I was pondering it earlier while waiting for my 1st train home, which was delayed approximately 8 minutes and thus I missed my connection again.

It's going to a theme, I suspect.

Oh dear. How long do you have to wait for the next train?

They don't have guaranteed connections and hold the train? That totally sucks.

[JT-2]

The weather is warming up (yay!) but it's going to rain for most of the next week (boo!).

Ugh, the marvels of modern technology.

Right? Thankfully new laptops aren't as expensive as they used to be. I remember my very first computer, that I bought while in college, was over $1000! And that was the early 90s! It wasn't top of the line at all. In fact, I had to upgrade the modem myself (so I could connect to college from home - remember using your phone line to get online?).

Still, it's not an expense I really want right now.

No worries, it dates me too. *glomps back*

Gen X and proud!

[Falcon Horus]

They don't have guaranteed connections and hold the train? That totally sucks.

Some do but no more than 5 minutes.

I'm sorta lucky that one of the connections is a train which has Leuven station as its end station, so it basically ends a trip there and starts it up again. This also means it's already there when I arrive later than expected, which means that when it's really cold and wet (like it was yesterday), I can wait inside the warm and comfy train.

Don't have that luxury in Brussels though. All platforms are out in the open and thus, wet and cold nowadays, and unfortunately due to shady figures, a very high crime rate and not so clean homeless people you want to spend as little time as possible in that station. It's basically a station you do not want to be alone in or near during dark evenings.

****

Anywho... today is March 1st and that means that THE FISH DOORBELL IS BACK!!!

Every spring, fish swim right through Utrecht, looking for a place to spawn and reproduce. Some swim all the way to Germany. There is a problem, however: they often have to wait a long time at the Weerdsluis lock on the west side of the inner city, as the lock rarely opens in spring. We have come up with a solution: the fish doorbell! An underwater camera has been set up at the lock, and the live feed is streamed. If you see a fish, press the digital fish doorbell. The lock operator is sent a signal and can open the lock if there are enough fish. Now you can help fish make it through the canals of Utrecht.

[Scary Kitty]

Good morning, Sparkies! Happy Sparky!Family Saturday!

The weather is warming up (yay!) but it's going to rain for most of the next week (boo!).

I'll gladly take the rain. Our trees can always use it.

Right? Thankfully new laptops aren't as expensive as they used to be. I remember my very first computer, that I bought while in college, was over $1000! And that was the early 90s! It wasn't top of the line at all. In fact, I had to upgrade the modem myself (so I could connect to college from home - remember using your phone line to get online?).

Still, it's not an expense I really want right now.

The sound of the modem connecting is permanently embedded in my brain.

I had to upgrade a modem once myself, and for the same reason, connecting to my college network. Fortunately, it was Plug and Play as advertised, as opposed to Plug and Pray.

Gen X and proud!

Yup!

Some do but no more than 5 minutes.

I'm sorta lucky that one of the connections is a train which has Leuven station as its end station, so it basically ends a trip there and starts it up again. This also means it's already there when I arrive later than expected, which means that when it's really cold and wet (like it was yesterday), I can wait inside the warm and comfy train.

Don't have that luxury in Brussels though. All platforms are out in the open and thus, wet and cold nowadays, and unfortunately due to shady figures, a very high crime rate and not so clean homeless people you want to spend as little time as possible in that station. It's basically a station you do not want to be alone in or near during dark evenings.

Eeep.

Anywho... today is March 1st and that means that THE FISH DOORBELL IS BACK!!!

Every spring, fish swim right through Utrecht, looking for a place to spawn and reproduce. Some swim all the way to Germany. There is a problem, however: they often have to wait a long time at the Weerdsluis lock on the west side of the inner city, as the lock rarely opens in spring. We have come up with a solution: the fish doorbell! An underwater camera has been set up at the lock, and the live feed is streamed. If you see a fish, press the digital fish doorbell. The lock operator is sent a signal and can open the lock if there are enough fish. Now you can help fish make it through the canals of Utrecht.

Yay for the Fish Doorbell! That's so awesome!

[JT-2]

Either the forum went down for a few minutes, or my laptop is throwing things off. I ended up losing my whole post. Let's try this again....

Don't have that luxury in Brussels though. All platforms are out in the open and thus, wet and cold nowadays, and unfortunately due to shady figures, a very high crime rate and not so clean homeless people you want to spend as little time as possible in that station. It's basically a station you do not want to be alone in or near during dark evenings.

Reminds me of some of the stops near my college in Boston. On the first day's orientation, they told us all flat out not to go beyond a certain point on the subway's Orange line.

Please be safe!!

Anywho... today is March 1st and that means that THE FISH DOORBELL IS BACK!!!

That's so cool! What a great idea!!

The sound of the modem connecting is permanently embedded in my brain.

I had to upgrade a modem once myself, and for the same reason, connecting to my college network. Fortunately, it was Plug and Play as advertised, as opposed to Plug and Pray.

Yeah, I remember installing it to be a pretty simple fix. Of course, those were the days with desktops in huge metal boxes with easy to remove screws. Laptops now.... I wouldn't attempt it!!

This was back in 1993-ish, and very few people had home computers yet. I miss feeling so ahead of the curve.

I actually had a really hard time getting any sales person to help me. They took one look at teenage me and assumed I wasn't a serious buyer. Jerks.

Oh, or they assumed I didn't know anything. I asked this one guy what the difference was between 2 of the computers. He actually said to me: "the box is bigger". Needless to say, I didn't purchase it from him.

I had a computer in the '80s too because my sister's boyfriend worked for IBM or something like that, and he bought me one. It barely did anything and there was no such thing as internet access. I still have the office desk it came with, though.

[Scary Kitty]

Good morning, Sparkies! Happy Lazy Sunday!

Yeah, I remember installing it to be a pretty simple fix. Of course, those were the days with desktops in huge metal boxes with easy to remove screws. Laptops now.... I wouldn't attempt it!!

This was back in 1993-ish, and very few people had home computers yet. I miss feeling so ahead of the curve.

Heh! Yeah, I remember feeling oh-so proud of my fancy new Compaq. And even prouder of my very own customized Gateway running Windows NT. (I was dabbling in computer animation at the time and needed the extra horsepower) Those were the days! Still miss NT's Pinball game.

I actually had a really hard time getting any sales person to help me. They took one look at teenage me and assumed I wasn't a serious buyer. Jerks.

Oh, or they assumed I didn't know anything. I asked this one guy what the difference was between 2 of the computers. He actually said to me: "the box is bigger". Needless to say, I didn't purchase it from him.

Ugh!

I had a computer in the '80s too because my sister's boyfriend worked for IBM or something like that, and he bought me one. It barely did anything and there was no such thing as internet access. I still have the office desk it came with, though.

That sounds cool!

[Falcon Horus]

Suddenly I feel very young compared to you fine folks.
And we don't differ that much, I think.

My dad bought a desktop mid-nineties, I think, running Windows 95 maybe... But I do remember the sound connecting to the internet and how we ran up the phonebill because we surfed the web one too many times. Also, keeping the phoneline busy when we did.

***

Also, I have a badge... did I mention that already?
Not through the mail because apparently the request didn't make it into the system like my colleague said so I would have been waiting a very long time.

Was given one on Thursday by the nice lady at the desk at the entrance of the building. She also reccommended asking for a badge for the new building this week or the week after.... cause that request too is probably "lost in the mail".

[Who Knows]

Suddenly I feel very young compared to you fine folks.
And we don't differ that much, I think.

My dad bought a desktop mid-nineties, I think, running Windows 95 maybe... But I do remember the sound connecting to the internet and how we ran up the phonebill because we surfed the web one too many times. Also, keeping the phoneline busy when we did.

Now you make me feel even older. My first computer, a desktop with a floppy "A" drive ran Windows 3.1 over dos (and I have forgotten how to use dos now)
And dial up, fond memories of downloading "Children of the Gods" over 2 days & nights. Fortunately I had two phone lines, one dedicated to data.

***

Also, I have a badge... did I mention that already?
Not through the mail because apparently the request didn't make it into the system like my colleague said so I would have been waiting a very long time.

Was given one on Thursday by the nice lady at the desk at the entrance of the building. She also reccommended asking for a badge for the new building this week or the week after.... cause that request too is probably "lost in the mail".

rNfSd3G.jpg on getting your badge, now lets hope the one for the new building turns up before your new firm moves again.

[JT-2]

I'm typing this from my very new laptop! It was super easy to set up. My last laptop was 10 years old! I didn't even realize it was that old until I started backing up documents and found stuff from 2014.

The only problem is that the power cord goes on the other side of the laptop than my old one did, so the cord isn't long enough. This will require some reshuffling of power cords.

Heh! Yeah, I remember feeling oh-so proud of my fancy new Compaq. And even prouder of my very own customized Gateway running Windows NT. (I was dabbling in computer animation at the time and needed the extra horsepower) Those were the days! Still miss NT's Pinball game.

I loved the Pinball game! And Minesweeper!!

Suddenly I feel very young compared to you fine folks.
And we don't differ that much, I think.

My dad bought a desktop mid-nineties, I think, running Windows 95 maybe... But I do remember the sound connecting to the internet and how we ran up the phonebill because we surfed the web one too many times. Also, keeping the phoneline busy when we did.

Get off my lawn, you young whippersnapper!

Oh yeah, I ate up some phone bills before I got a local connection. And my family would get irritated with me for hogging the phone line.

I'm so glad you finally got your badge!!

Now you make me feel even older. My first computer, a desktop with a floppy "A" drive ran Windows 3.1 over dos (and I have forgotten how to use dos now)
And dial up, fond memories of downloading "Children of the Gods" over 2 days & nights. Fortunately I had two phone lines, one dedicated to data.

Good old DOS! Oh I remember those days.

I ended up getting 2 phone lines for that same reason when I got my first real job and I needed to be able to work from home.

[Scary Kitty]

Good morning, Sparkies! Happy Canon Monday!

Suddenly I feel very young compared to you fine folks.
And we don't differ that much, I think.

My dad bought a desktop mid-nineties, I think, running Windows 95 maybe... But I do remember the sound connecting to the internet and how we ran up the phonebill because we surfed the web one too many times. Also, keeping the phoneline busy when we did.

Yeah, I ran up the phone bill a couple of times too. Over the summer when I wasn't at school; when I was at school, it was within the school network so it was free.

Now you make me feel even older. My first computer, a desktop with a floppy "A" drive ran Windows 3.1 over dos (and I have forgotten how to use dos now)
And dial up, fond memories of downloading "Children of the Gods" over 2 days & nights. Fortunately I had two phone lines, one dedicated to data.

How's this for old: Commodore 64. We had those bad boys at my elementary school in the mid-1980s. Cartridges instead of floppy disks! No internet! The Wild West was ours!

Also, I have a badge... did I mention that already?
Not through the mail because apparently the request didn't make it into the system like my colleague said so I would have been waiting a very long time.

Was given one on Thursday by the nice lady at the desk at the entrance of the building. She also reccommended asking for a badge for the new building this week or the week after.... cause that request too is probably "lost in the mail".

"Lost in the mail." Yep, that's always how it goes. Glad you finally got your badge, and that's good advice from the lady at the front desk.

I'm typing this from my very new laptop! It was super easy to set up. My last laptop was 10 years old! I didn't even realize it was that old until I started backing up documents and found stuff from 2014.

The only problem is that the power cord goes on the other side of the laptop than my old one did, so the cord isn't long enough. This will require some reshuffling of power cords.

Yay new laptop! It's always fun getting your new toys set up.

I loved the Pinball game! And Minesweeper!!

Me too! And now I've suddenly got a hankering to see if anyone's done a port of the old Windows games for Mac.

[Falcon Horus]

How's this for old: Commodore 64. We had those bad boys at my elementary school in the mid-1980s. Cartridges instead of floppy disks! No internet! The Wild West was ours!

My aunt had a Commodore 64 and she would let me play games on it... with a joystick.

***

The new building is epic. I got an informal brochure today and OH MY GODDESS it has a small forest inside the building. I want to work there.
There are also apartments, a hotel, a cafeteria, a coffeebar, a snack area, A FREAKIN' BASKETBALL COURT... I so hope I get to see the inside of that one at least once.

The building itself is build on the location where the 2nd World Trade Center tower was located in Brussels. They tore it down, left the elevator shafts standing and build a whole new building around it. It has 30 floors.

[JT-2]

How's this for old: Commodore 64. We had those bad boys at my elementary school in the mid-1980s. Cartridges instead of floppy disks! No internet! The Wild West was ours!

My elementary school had Apples. That was back when Apple was giving them away to schools in order to indoctrinate entice the young people to their product.

The new building is epic. I got an informal brochure today and OH MY GODDESS it has a small forest inside the building. I want to work there.
There are also apartments, a hotel, a cafeteria, a coffeebar, a snack area, A FREAKIN' BASKETBALL COURT... I so hope I get to see the inside of that one at least once.

The building itself is build on the location where the 2nd World Trade Center tower was located in Brussels. They tore it down, left the elevator shafts standing and build a whole new building around it. It has 30 floors.

That sounds epic!!

[Scary Kitty]

Good morning, Sparkies! Happy Smutty Tuesday!

My aunt had a Commodore 64 and she would let me play games on it... with a joystick.

The best of times!

My elementary school had Apples. That was back when Apple was giving them away to schools in order to indoctrinate entice the young people to their product.

We had one Apple in the lab, so we didn't get to use it much. The teachers played with it instead.

The new building is epic. I got an informal brochure today and OH MY GODDESS it has a small forest inside the building. I want to work there.
There are also apartments, a hotel, a cafeteria, a coffeebar, a snack area, A FREAKIN' BASKETBALL COURT... I so hope I get to see the inside of that one at least once.

The building itself is build on the location where the 2nd World Trade Center tower was located in Brussels. They tore it down, left the elevator shafts standing and build a whole new building around it. It has 30 floors.

Whoa! That's epic all right!

[JT-2]

Speaking of old tech, did any of you have Pong? Since SK and FH are a bit younger than me, maybe they won't. We had it when I was really young.

We had one Apple in the lab, so we didn't get to use it much. The teachers played with it instead.

That's too funny. I remember floppy discs and dot matrix printers. Ah, the good old days.