#48: He is...therefore I fan.

[annabear]

But think about it! $400 round trip airfare to gay Paree - a cheap hotel in the 7th arrondissement somewhere by the Eiffel Tower (because we're tourists, dammit!), a 3- or 4-day weekend - you gotta admit, that would totally rock! We could go to Clay's thread and invite him - he's cheap too! First week in May - we could do it, mon chere! I'm sure there's a Renoir in a salon just waiting for us!

OMG!!! If I can get a pet sitter for that weekend, I'm soooo IN! I LOVE Paris!!!

[liney23]

Tribeca... Happy Belated Birthday!!!

canfly... you may only come once in a while, but when you do... wow! I LOVED those birthday with Clay thingys you posted. Kewl!!!

Paris for $400... Jiminy Crickets! I'v only been to England for a crop circle tour, so... man, I could almost afford this price. Course, it's probably more from LA, but still. What's the exchange rate now?

Being realistic, I couldn't, but... $400... do you have to flap your wings???

[Couch Tomato]

Tribeca... Happy Belated Birthday!!!

Being realistic, I couldn't, but... $400... do you have to flap your wings???

Happy Birthday Tribeca. Thanks for sharing the date with us.

Bwah...Liney - that does sound enticing doesn't it. Maybe if I have something more stable by the end of March.... dream dream dream dream

[KAndre]

No wing flapping unless you just enjoy that sort of thing - the airlines are simply a little desperate...the $400 is from Houston or NYC, of course - LA is higher, like $590 and not in the first week of May - but if Continental is offering those fares, somebody else will be cheaper still!

[duckyvee]

Hmmmm - I am seeing relatively cheap fares from Houston to places like London, Paris and Amsterdam - antsy feet are beginning to be felt!

I saw flights from Philadelphia to Europe for under $300 - US Air. I can't go in early May, however, as I'll be in the Carribbean. On the beach. Under a thatched hut. In the lazy river. Anywhere that takes no effort. Have fun, though!

[ausdon]

Well, my gmail is back up - at one point gmail told me I had to clear cookies, but I didn't, so there!

Anyway, it is nice to see all my mail - if I look in the spam folder, I even see stuff that that is meant to help me stretch my food dollars in this bad economy......an offer to make my meat stick gigantic!!!!!!

My free local paper had some nifty tricks to try for electronic gadget problems; one of them is to put a crashed disc drive in the freezer.

Crashed hard drive?

Stick it in the freezer

If your PC’s hard drive crashes and can’t be read, don’t be too quick to throw it out. Stick it in the freezer overnight. “The trick is a real and proven, albeit last resort, recovery technique for some kinds of otherwise-fatal hard-drive problems,” writes Fred Langa on his Win­dows Secrets Web site. Many hard drive failures are caused by worn parts that no longer align properly, making it impossible to read data from the drive. Lowering the drive’s temperature causes its metal and plastic inter­nals to contract ever so slightly. Taking the drive out of the freezer, and returning it to room tem­perature can cause those parts to expand again. That may help free up binding parts, or at least let a failing electrical component remain within specs long enough for you to recover your essential data.

No, no. Ice your hard drive. Don’t burn it.

And I am absolutely going to try this, since two people in my home play WOW all the time, and this may make things faster for them (I am directly connected to FIOS, they are not)

To boost your Wi-Fi, be a smart cookie

If your home Wi-Fi router doesn’t reach the other end of the house, don’t rush out to buy more wireless gear. Instead, build a 6-inch­high passive radio wave reflector from kitchen items, like an aluminum cookie sheet. Follow the instructions at freean­tennas. com/projects/ template. Place the completed reflector — a small, curved piece of metal that reflects radio waves just like a satellite TV dish — behind your Wi­Fi router. It focuses the router’s energy in one direction — toward the other end of the house — rather than letting it dissipate its strength in a full circle. No cables, no batteries, no technical knowledge required. It can easily double the range of your network.

I am also v. bad about birthdays, so happy birthday in perpetuity to all!

This is similar to what they do for mobile cell phone batteries that will no longer take/hold a full charge. My parents have an older style phone that they really like and you just can't get new batteries any more. They saw a sign in a shop saying they would "re-condition your old phone batteries" (or some similar phrase). After chatting with the girl at the counter for a while she let slip that all they do is put them in the freezer for a few days. Bet her boss wasn't happy! All you do is wrap up well in plastic and pop them in for a few days and yes, it does work.

Okay.....if you do Paris at the beginning of May? I might just make that one 'cause it looks like we're moving to Denmark in a few weeks and Copenhagen ain't all that far away.

Very exciting KarenEh! No more Baku?

Hmmmm - I am seeing relatively cheap fares from Houston to places like London, Paris and Amsterdam - antsy feet are beginning to be felt!

I saw flights from Philadelphia to Europe for under $300 - US Air. I can't go in early May, however, as I'll be in the Carribbean. On the beach. Under a thatched hut. In the lazy river. Anywhere that takes no effort. Have fun, though!

Ducky I am sooo jealous!

[Lotus]

For any of you, like me, who didn't know how this works there is a interesting article on Clay News network Music contracts 101

I know that recording artists signed to a label get most of their income from tours but this article spells out how little they get from CD sales especially if they don't write their own songs.

What? KarenEh you're leaving Baku for Denmark? Cool!

[ncgurrl]

KarenEh Denmark? Be afraid. Be very afraid. That one is doable for some people I know. Better get a big place.

[djs111]

Kareneh, that is so cool - I worked in Arhus for a little while, we sold software to the phone company. Most beautiful award-winning office building, lots of inner gardens and courtyards, and there were vending machines with beer all through the building!

Aarhus is not what I would call a tourist destination, though.

Copenhagen is awesome, and it is so easy to drive down through Europe from Denmark.

I am feeling wistful!

[FromClaygary]

FromClaygary I hope you don't mind... I have included your explanation for Clack Unlimited's downloading rule in the Glossary. If you check it (top right of the screen) and look for CU and click on more, you will see what I put (just added a little bit of formatting) and I have credited you for the explanation. It is a good explanation so I figured it was a keeper since there will always be someone who may not quite understand "what and why". I am a 'why' person as well, because I find it hard to remember something unless I understand why it is so.

Not a problem at all! Glad the explanation made sense. BTW....it's ALL the vaults, not just CU that operate this way.

Ah, cheap vacations. I wanna go on one too. luckiestdaughter (who is on reading week) took off yesterday morning in her little car, for the sunny south, and called last night from W-S, NC. Then this morning from Orlando, FL. Only cost her $60 in gas to get there which she split with a friend, and they are staying in a resort for $30 a night. WAH! Not fair! Working for a living sucks! I hate -15 degrees Celsius winter wonderland weather! I've had enough snow to last me the rest of my life!

I have high hopes for an OFC relaunch by the weekend, with some exciting 2009 news thrown in for good measure. WTH, I dream big.

I am SO jellus of luckiestdotter! ....and, actually, I'm wondering if she might be able to do me a big favor...I'll PM you.

And your dream....keep that thought, and I will too!!!

[FromClaygary]

Knew there was something I forgot!!

Claynadian FYI....

I was downtown working today, so I stopped off at the huge HMV store in TEC and spoke to the manager there.

I asked about Clay's Playlist CD, and she checked their system for it; it is currently NOT listed, which means one of two things:

-it will not be released in Canada

-it will be released at a later date in Canada (they have listings currently past the end of March)

She did not know, of course, which...so my best suggestion at this point, would be....consider ordering if you want it, or a trip to Detroit or Buffalo. I will likely make a trip to Buffalo...if you want, I can get for you once I can figure out if they'll even BE in stores.

[ldyjocelyn]

Slightly OT, from the CH:

Slightly OT but this is a video from a public Facebook of Reed dancing last night in a benifit called Defying Equality on Broadway.

Defying Inequality

I changed the title of the link to the correct title, and I haven't watched it yet...

[aikim]

Slightly OT, from the CH:

Slightly OT but this is a video from a public Facebook of Reed dancing last night in a benifit called Defying Equality on Broadway.

Defying Inequality

I changed the title of the link to the correct title, and I haven't watched it yet...

FYI..you can only watch it if you have Facebook...unfortunately, I do not.

Kim

[Scarlett]

Can't believe this but I'll probably have to pass on trips for now because I think I'll be traveling a lot later this year on my job and I wouldn't want to spend on something now that I may end up getting for free later.

But Denmark? *little squeee* I've never been there and I just put Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid statue on my "will definitely do in this lifetime if humanly possible" List. Thank goodness our vendor is based in Bergen, Norway -- a couple of my new teammates were just there 2 weeks ago.

[ldyjocelyn]

FYI..you can only watch it if you have Facebook...unfortunately, I do not.

Kim

True. But ask couchie -- Facebook is fun, it's free, and it's a great timewaster! LOL.

[annabear]

Slightly OT, from the CH:

Slightly OT but this is a video from a public Facebook of Reed dancing last night in a benifit called Defying Equality on Broadway.

Defying Inequality

I changed the title of the link to the correct title, and I haven't watched it yet...

Thank you! How bad is it that I kept expecting to hear Clay sing?

ETA: Glad I wasn't the only one, luckiest! It really was a very moving performance with a great message. And Reed is not only a cutie, but a wonderful dancer. Very graceful.

[luckiest1]

Slightly OT, from the CH:

Slightly OT but this is a video from a public Facebook of Reed dancing last night in a benifit called Defying Equality on Broadway.

Defying Inequality

I changed the title of the link to the correct title, and I haven't watched it yet...

Thank you! How bad is it that I kept expecting to hear Clay sing?

Hee, me too! Thanks so much for posting the link ldyj. How cool to be able to see a part of the show.

I know some hold outs to Facebook.......maybe this might convince them to join.

[ausdon]

Can't believe this but I'll probably have to pass on trips for now because I think I'll be traveling a lot later this year on my job and I wouldn't want to spend on something now that I may end up getting for free later.

But Denmark? *little squeee* I've never been there and I just put Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid statue on my "will definitely do in this lifetime if humanly possible" List. Thank goodness our vendor is based in Bergen, Norway -- a couple of my new teammates were just there 2 weeks ago.

My sister and I were just talking about this list the other day . She calls it her "travel bucket list".

Hers had Italy on it and mine featured a lot of Canada. How about everyone else?

[duckyvee]

My sister and I were just talking about this list the other day . She calls it her "travel bucket list".

Hers had Italy on it and mine featured a lot of Canada. How about everyone else?

Iceland. There are other places I know I'll get to first, but that has been on my list for about 5 years. I want to see the flight of the puffins. And swim in the hotsprings.

[spikesmom]

She calls it her "travel bucket list".

Hers had Italy on it and mine featured a lot of Canada. How about everyone else?

Japan. I was born there but left when still an infant so have no memories of it. So I'd like to visit at some point. I suppose I should get more serious about it since I suspect I am in the second half of my life... of course I plan to live to be 100 so I do have a few decades left!

[aikim]

There is a link to the video at the CH for the Facebook-less...it is very powerful.

Here is the direct link: http://www.4shared.com/file/89335219/822e7...6421_21329.html

Kim

[Claymatron]

Wow, Reed is one beautiful dancer! I love watching him move. I think he and Clay are very lucky to have found each other.

[annabear]

My sister and I were just talking about this list the other day . She calls it her "travel bucket list".

Hers had Italy on it and mine featured a lot of Canada. How about everyone else?

Italy, Australia, Egypt, Ireland, Scotland, more of England & France, the rest of the US, Canada.....

Why, yes, I am planning on winning the lottery, retiring and traveling for the rest of my life!

[aikim]

Wow, Reed is one beautiful dancer! I love watching him move. I think he and Clay are very lucky to have found each other.

Yes they do...although I do have to giggle at the irony of Clay ending up with a dancer!

Kim

[spikesmom]

aikim - thanks! that was very nice... now I don't have to ask my son to pull it up on Facebook for me!