Winter fun

When I was on my way into the office today, I noted how nice and warm it was, especially after our bout of chilly weather this past week. Of course, as I’ve mentioned on countless occasions, anything here is warmer than at home in Canada this time of year. So to share a bit of the wintry goodness with everyone, I wanted to showcase a before and after photo of the seven-foot snowman that my brother built in December. As most people who have built a snowman can tell you, they don’t last forever, many not lasting more than a day or two before the forces of nature or neighbourhood kids bring it to a snowy grave.

However, a mound of snow the size of that snowman does have some staying power. But a day of rain will have a toll, and the after photo shows a redressing of the tiny bit of snow that was left after a mild and wet Christmas Eve. Not much left of Frosty there.

Many people associate the building of snow-people as a childhood pursuit, and it is definitely something that children living in an appropriate climate will partake in, but I find that most people, regardless of age, secretly enjoy building a good snowman. They may not admit it, and many may not have an opportunity, but it can be a great creative and athletic task. So if you live somewhere with snow, then I urge you to take the chance to get out and put it to good use. And you need not limit yourself to the traditional, think outside the box and build a snow animal or some other creature. Large or small, work with the time and the snow that you have.

I haven’t taken the time in my short visits home the past few years and seeing my brother’s creation, I wish I had. I guess it is one of those small things that I’ve taken for granted.

And speaking of things I take for granted: my laptop. Yesterday my beloved Powerbook underwent a bit of open-heart surgery. After attempting a few different recovery CDs, myself and a co-worker decided it was time to remove the hard drive. I will say this: getting into a Powerbook is so much easier than the iBook. Removing the drive was able to alleviate the booting issues from a disc. So, whether the IDE cable or the drive itself, it was causing a problem on the IDE bus. So hopefully this week I can find out which and be back in business.