Testing Google Docs forms.

Trials and Tribulations

A couple of trials and tribulations of late.

Since getting my Dad to use anything new on a computer is like pulling teeth with your bare hands, I decided that I needed to use the Dovetail software first. The catch being is that in the current version it's not set up spread the second account across multiple machines. I called tech support and they called back -- very personable and friendly. The next version will support this feature, and I was offered a beta, but I don't like messing with beta versions. So I figure I'll just fiddle with Dovetail on my parent's machine first.

In other tribulations, my Dad also accidentally severed the cable line while gardening. Since they have their phone, cable and Internet services all through Rogers Cable... that means that right now communications are restricted to cell only.

It's going to get fixed today at least.

Working Food in London Ontario

Still haven't made time to really play with Dovetail. And this is despite the fact I think I organize my time pretty well. Of course, Mother's Day made things just a wee bit more complicated this weekend. (That and I had a CIPS meeting this week -- the Canadian Information Processing Society, to which I used to be on the executive for, had an anniversary meeting so I naturally wanted to be there)

Stop updating, people stop coming to your blog, and I don't want that. So I thought I'd post on another favourite subject: FOOD.

No, it's not going to be about the "Strike It Healthy" program that I'm involved in either, although I will post about it soon. This is going to be about one of the places I visit for lunch (I only eat out once a week as a treat)

The Budapest Restaurant (Hungarian & European Cuisine)
Owned by: Marika Hayek
Operating: 50 years and counting
Location: 348 Dundas St., London, Ontario
Website: www.budapestrestaurant.com

While I've heard it's constantly packed during supper, lunch is far more relaxed. If you're looking for a filling, satisfying and delicious hot lunch in London, this is one of the best places to be. There's a reason why it's still going strong after 50 years and is part of Ambassador London.

The lunch menu includes various sandwiches, but if I eat out I want to eat out well, so I get one of the $10 lunch items. Home-made soup and coffee is included with each hearty meal. The soups are incredible; full of flavour and with a different selection every day. Goulash Soup is my personal favourite, but it's basically impossible to make a mistake with any of the soups (unless for some reason you hate soup or must eat bland food only) It's not a vegetarian eatery, although you will get a healthy serving of veggies with the meal too.

If you're eating there for the first time, I recommend getting Goulash or the Blintz. The Goulash is a spicy, lively combination of meat and vegetables, with a sort of pasta side (I'm not quite sure what it's called). The beef is marinated in something I'm not familiar with but it makes it very tender and flavourful. As to the blintz, I can't help but love anything that is wrapped in a crepe.

And if you get dessert, you won't be disappointed by the Cheery Cake. (I don't normally get dessert, but one time I took a very late lunch after some exceptional effort so I gave myself a special reward) Presented wonderfully with drizzled chocolate and icing sugar and served warm.

If you catch Marika working, (which is frequently) she only adds to the experience. I have to admit, I have a hard time understanding her because she still has a heavy accent but she's friendly and fun. The restaurant is definitely old-school and old-world, which is one of its main charms.

Some other time I'll blog about my other lunch regular: The Zen Garden. (It IS vegetarian)

A New Tool

I've recently gotten my hands on the Dovetail Organizer, a software organizer that's also supposed to act as a safety deposit box. The nice thing is it was free, since Dovetail is currently involved with my present company. It comes with two accounts.

I'm neither a professional organizer or security expert, but the product looks good. If you're curious about it, you can find out more about it here: http://www.dovetailorganizer.com/.

I'm about to put it to the ACID TEST: "Can my Dad use it?"

My Dad is intelligent but technologically challenged. He's also got a lot of important information in various categories, but few of us know where to look for it. So if the product does what it promises it could help a lot if anything should happen to him (and we've had a few close calls in the recent past)

Given that I don't have a lot of time, this is going to be an incremental experiment, the results of which I'll post on my blog.

The package I got gave me two accounts -- normally, that'd be all any family would need (primary user, spouse) but since I need to be familiar with the program first (and because my computer is the one with the scanner) I'll be using one.

The only downside is if this thing's really good I might have to shell out for a copy for my Mom.

Wish me luck!

Organize Time to Organize Space

Have I become any more organized? I am embarrassed to admit "No". I just haven't been able to organize my time well enough to have time to organize my space.

One of my co-workers suggested that I try the "Dovetail Organizer", which seems to be both an organizer and digital safety deposit box. The website is here at http://www.dovetailorganizer.com/ but have I even made time to look at it?

(looks down)

No.

Granted, I've been busy. Of course, I'm always busy. There's always something to do, whether it be my web comic, personal projects (there's a long list), my health -- I try to hit the gym regularly -- and today I'm giving blood. I also have a girlfriend and I enjoy spending time with her, so that helps to explain why I never seem to have time to organize, although I do spend about an hour checking on other blogs for ideas. I've also been reading up on security, too. After all, some of the things I need to organize includes governmental personal information crap that simply can't be compromised in this day and age.

If anyone happens upon my blog, please feel free to post comments with suggestions for further reading, blogs on similar topics, etc.

In Case of Death, Break Glass

I stumbled across this article here: http://willknott.ie/2008/01/31/4-ds-of-information-loss-%e2%80%93-death/

Very interesting article. There have been several times when I wondered what could be done in case something happened to me. My girlfriend and I primarily chat over net and phone due our long-distance relationship, but the first contact is usually via phone. If something were to happen to me, I've got no way of guaranteeing anyone I know will necessarily have her contact information to let her know. I don't know if anyone would be able to contact me if something happened to her.

Death is inconvenient that way.

Unpleasant thought, but one thing I should have is some sort of "In Case of Death, Break Glass" contact sheet that would contain the how's of contacting people who should be notified in case of untimely demise. That might even include passwords for stuff... but I'm paranoid about letting information like that slip out in any form.

Granted, if I had more in the way of estate I'd rather have that stuff secured first -- and in comparison, family and friends in the flesh are more important that on-line friends. However, my girlfriend is a flesh-friend I'd very much be concerned about and the information to contact her isn't all that convenient or available.

I'm going to leave this thought 'round the back-oh-my-head area, but it's still something to keep in mind should I ever stumble upon some sort of secure-info storage item that people can break in case of death. The catch I can see is that I'd have to make sure it was up-to-date as it was secure. Something to ponder for later...

Online Income Streams

I found this blog: http://www.anywired.com/why-diversification-is-a-winning-strategy/114/ and that probably neatly explains how anyone can live off the income of their on-line ventures. That's the key point -- ventureS with a great big capital, bold and italicized "S". One alone isn't enough, but multiples is how ya do it. Just something I always wondered about, that's all. Heh.