COMPUTARMACHINE has speakers again!
Posted by KaySquirrel on December 15th, 2005
Yay for these! Very clear sound for the price, and they match my silver desk! The pretty blue power light on the right satellite is a nice touch, too. I’m going to download a bunch of .wavs, and go through my Windows sound settings to celebrate the fact that I don’t have to use headphones anymore! 
Now all I need is a matching.. uh, everything else. 
Why is it so hard to find a natural keyboard in the UK? I brought my Microsoft Natural Pro here with me, but when it dies I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I did find this one but.. it’s not black. *sulks* I don’t want to have to pay extra to get a black keyboard!
Road Trip
We went to Derby on Saturday as Ploes had to pick up a part for his Mini. On the way, we saw a handmade sign on the side of the road that read:
CLEAN
HARDCORE
WANTED
NEXT RIGHT
After my laughing subsided, I was informed that ‘hardcore’ is the term used here for demolition waste like broken bricks and concrete. This explanation did not detract ONE IOTA from my amusement!
A short while later, we saw a sign saying Good Pork - Next Lay-By leading to a pretty dodgy-looking lay-by.. but it wasn’t quite as hilarious. 
After getting the car part, we went to Coventry and rode around naked on a horse walked around the town centre for a while. Having already experienced the fine British dining experience that is Little Chef on the way back from Manchester a few weeks ago, I was taken instead to Nando’s Chicken. Mercifully, they have a Lemon & Herb chicken option for those of us who will die from eating anything spicier than, say.. ketchup.
Took the train to London on Monday, and visited the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum for a while. Free admission is great because you don’t feel rushed to see everything in one day! I’d definitely like to go back again sometime — especially to the Natural History Museum! (The Science Museum was alright, but I just don’t care enough about that kinda thing to really appreciate any of it!) Nature > Science! :Þ
The Natural History Museum’s Earth’s Treasury and Minerals sections were really cool! I swear I was a magpie in a past life! OOH — TEH SHINIES!!! *covets*
The Birds section was interesting, but seeing the stuffed & mounted bird parts was a bit odd. It’s one thing to see a whole bird, but the display of one wing here, a leg here, and a head or two here.. *shrugs* It was like a freaky caveman fast-food menu or something!
The Creepy Crawlies section was of course my favorite, but a bit disappointing. It was designed more for kids, and they didn’t have as many specimens as I’d have liked.
Something worth a mention is that the Queen of their leafcutter ant colony died, so the colony died too. There were still quite a few ants in the live display, but they seemed to be more running about aimlessly than working with any great purpose in mind. You see what happens without a woman around to tell everyone what to do?! They left the AntCam running though, and every so often I’m seeing one or two run past. (All empty-handed, so far!)
Nobody does live bug displays like the Montreal Insectarium, though! I have some photos kicking around from our visit there in 2004 that I should post sometime — including a working leafcutter ant colony and two bugs.. erm.. “cuddling”.
For non-living speciments, you would definitely want to visit The Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum. We went in 2004 and I’d love to go again! (Hint, HINT, HINT!)
Just a brief note about the media coverage on the Buncefield oil depot explosion in Hemel Hempstead: The Evening Standard’s headline on Monday was “POISON CLOUD HITS LONDON TONIGHT”.
We have not been given any conclusive word on the toxicity of the smoke. Obviously, breathing in smoke is bad for you, but.. way to go all OMG IT IS TEH END OF THE WORLD!!11ONE!!!1 on us there, Evening Standard! Besides, by 9:30pm the POISON CLOUD still hadn’t hit London, so you totally lose points for accuracy, too! :Þ
I still maintain that the poster of the actual POISON CLOUD HITS LONDON TONIGHT headline would have looked great posted on the wall behind my PC! I shoulda snagged one!
Bed Update: Bliss. Pure comfy cuddly ROOMY bliss! It is SUCH a sweet bed that I want to have a nap right now so I can enjoy ALL of the übergoodness of it without having to share half. Seriously.