Fixing MSN Messenger 2009 - can't do it? Use 8.5

Like everyone else on the planet, I was forced to 'upgrade' to Messenger 2009. Upon doing so, my webcam and mic TOTALLY shut down. The thing was simply loaded with bugs. After trying every fix I could find, nothing worked, and I contacted a somebody I'm very close with who works for Microsoft. He directed me to their discussion/help forum since he didn't know how to fix my problem.

Here's where I ended up:

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/list/en-us/default.aspx?query=video+chat+&dg=microsoft.public.windows.live.messenger&cat=en_us_0f43cf19-5af1-4912-9a55-f5ff1f9fd904&lang=en&cr=us&pt=&catlist=&dglist=&ptlist=&exp=&sloc=en-us&lc=1033 In here, there is a post from Jonathan Kay that explains how to uninstall 2009 and install 8.5. I did it, and it now appears to be working BRILLIANTLY! HUGE HUGE THANKS TO MR. KAY!!!!!!

Now, to change the subject...

I finally splurged and bought a new snorkel. The mouthpiece may be a tad tough to replace if I bite through it like I am prone to doing, but I love it! It's made by TUSA. It's lightweight and very comfortable. It was totally worth the money! It's worked beautifully in the pool, and I'm heading to the beach asap to try it out for real!

Peace and especially peace be upon you if you've had to deal with the 2009 version of Messenger.

Escalator dangers and Itchy Rat is cured

We had a bit of a scary adventure the other night. We were at a local shopping center to have dinner (some of the better restaurants here are in the shopping malls). After dinner, we roamed around a bit just enjoying being out together as a family. Well, inside the shopping malls here, there are long FLAT escalators. You roll your baby buggy, shopping trolley etc right onto the flat escalator and down or up you go. The mall was particularly crowded thus the escalators were packed with shoppers with very full trolleys. We were descending on the escalator when we heard a loud crash, people screaming, and folks tried to climb back up the escalator. All we could think to do was put the kids on the uphill side, face uphill at bit, and brace. We were packed on like sheep. Thankfully, somebody managed to press the emergency stop button and the thing quit moving. Everyone then proceeded down under their own foot power. When we reached the bottom, a trolley had smashed into the glass side sending glass EVERYWHERE, and trolley contents were scattered all over. We were very thankful that nobody was crushed.

Now, on to the itchy rat saga.

Our pet rat, Daisy, has suffered from very itchy skin for a very long time now - over a year at least. I took her to a local vet who diagnosed her with mites. She received 3 injections of Ivermectin totaling over $300 U.S. (which did not help). She continued to itch until she bled. Finally, I got desperate. I glopped 0.1% hydrocortisone ointment on her where she was scabby or itchy. I've done this every night now for two weeks. She is totally cured. Yippeee!!!!! And, she does not seem to suffer any ill effects from the ointment all over her.

And lastly, today's snap is of Munchkin #1 swimming in his most excellent newish mask.

Peace.

Family Time

Today, after returning from our favorite place of prayer, we are taking some much needed 'family time.' With the Husband back in town with us for a while, we're going swimming, playing games together, making a trip to buy a new plant for the living room, and going out to dinner.

Not much else to report except that I'm finally going to get to try my new snorkel.

And please note: The hole in the husband's shorts is showing the liner of his pocket and NOT his underwear!

Peace.

'Piggy Flu' / H1N1? Maybe. You make the diagnosis

Greetings readers! Stand forewarned....you're going to receive WAY too much info in this post!

I have not posted for a while because I have been VERY sick. Was it the H1N1? I think so. Here's how things shook out:

Thursday: Was feeling a bit 'off.' Didn't take the munchkins to their sports since I felt just too tired to get behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Friday: Felt ok in the morning. Made it out to my fave place of prayer, got groceries, made it home. Collapsed on the sofa. Cough and runny nose. Achy and tired. No fever yet.
Saturday: Husband arrives home from business abroad. By afternoon, my fever was at 100.4F or an even 38C. Chest cough really hurts.
Sunday: Bad headaches, limbs hurt to move. Couldn't read - didn't feel good on the eyes. Just slept most of the day.
Monday: Fever starts to break. By morning is down to 99F or so or 37.2C. Potty trouble begins but is not horrible (sorry, no more details on this one! Use your imagination....)
Tuesday: Full day no fever. Middle of the night between Tuesday and Wednesday: potty trouble kicks into high gear.
Wednesday (today): No fever still. No body aches. Hungry. Potty trouble be darned! I'm having a cup of coffee! A touch tired, but not bad. Almost normal again; still a touch of cough. We'll see about the potty trouble.....?

So, has this all been Piggy Flu? I never went and got tested because it would have meant dragging the munchkins through a local hospital. Not to mention, I just don't think I could have sat up in the car awake long enough. I'm not 'at risk' because of previous conditions, so probably would not have been given an antiviral.

Was this miserable? Totally. And, I'm forever thankful for the food from a friend on Friday night and that the Husband made it home just in time to take over the household (he's awesome!!!!!!!).

Stay healthy this was not fun.

A book discussion

I just finished reading one of the saddest books I have ever read, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It is the story of two women in Afghanistan and the hardships they face. Truly, it was an absolutely gut wrenching read. If you've ever found yourself saying, "Women's rights? Whatever....," then you should read this book.

I can't tell you how many times I've come across women who don't consider women's rights an important issue. And part of this is educating girls. Why is it important to focus on education for both boys and girls? My response is, "Well, who raises our children? Who teaches values, faith, morals to our children if the men are busy out working?" The women do.

"Ok", you say reading this from a computer in some country that provides educational opportunities for girls, "But why should I care about this?"

I believe that if women are educated, then they can pass that education on to not only their daughters but to their sons. If women have a way to earn an income, then that money can then go towards feeding and educating the children. Thus, this helps to break the poverty cycle.

Some things to think about........

Cavies

I'm in the middle of uploading computer updates. So, it will be interesting to see if this posts 'ok'.

We have about one more week left in Ramadan this year. It is certainly a good time for reflection. We are hoping that the husband will be able to enjoy a few days off from work with us next week. It may be a special holiday, but the 'blackberry' never sleeps. And so it goes. We so appreciate his hard work and long sometimes crazy hours. We have nothing to complain about.

Today's snap is of our cavies/guinea pigs. The little guys really belong to Munchkin #1, but we all enjoy them. Here you see them enjoying being in the middle of things in their 'play pen' having a bit of veg.

Off to play "Mum's Taxi Service" for the next few hours.

Peace.

Our Mantis Shrimp

Ok. Here's a video of our mantis shrimp.

I was holding the camera side-ways trying to get a better shot. One of our gobies, Peter, wanted in on the act and tried to steal the piece of squid away from the shy mantis.

Yes, I probably have WAY too much time on my hands.

Peace.

Blue Blubber jellies

Yup, that's right. Blue Blubber jellyfish. Catostylus mosaicus

I was strolling along the beach the other day (no camera, rats) when I came across several of the most fabulous jellies I have ever seen! They were electric blue. The tentacles were very short - ie not long, scary and dangerous looking. The Portuguese Man-o-War, which are more like floating colonies I believe, are beautiful but the sting is HORRIBLE (I speak from first hand experience!).

I've come to learn that these are called, Blue Blubber jellies. Supposedly, their sting is not too bad as opposed to the sea nettle that got me a couple of years ago which was nasty painful.

Here's a link with a good photo:
http://blogs.thenational.ae/beep_beep/2008/08/the-best-press-release-ever.html

In the region where I currently find myself, jellies are 'seasonal'. When it's not the season for them, you simply don't see ANY. But, when it's the season, then the beach/ocean is packed. So far, I've seen just a couple of them on the beach. If I can get a good shot of these critters, I'll post it.

Peace.

Wives and Money

It's been an interesting morning. I had breakfast with a large diverse group of ladies. Learned about an acquaintance's husband being laid off. Wow. Our husbands are sort of in the same line of work. Wow. Also got to hear how my husband's business competition refers to themselves - all very interesting enlightening stuff.

So here's a table of ex-pat wives sitting around, having breakfast (that cost WAY too much) and talking about how living here is so not 'the real world.' If you come from one of 'the right countries,' then all of your living expenses are paid for - housing, car, kids' school tuition and fees, everything. Thus, many people live a life they couldn't otherwise afford, ie 'this isn't the real world.' So, there I am sitting in a VERY fancy hotel, having an expensive breakfast in my skirt from a massive discount type place, my top from a truly dirt cheap bargain basement 2nd hand store, jewelry I've had since my teenage years (except the bracelet my husband gave me almost 10 years ago), and I'm listening to how people are dealing with live-in housekeepers. As one woman put it, "This is a very strange place." Right on sister, right on. Living here, I drive a vehicle of choice that back in my home country would be totally impractical, I pay to have place to workout, I have to dress up just to have breakfast out, and to have breakfast out I have to pay big bucks to go to a hotel. Of course, some places will have breakfast type stuff after Ramadan, but it still isn't cheap.

As I think about the current world economy, I wonder how does the world get the money flowing again? Cheap/easy credit? But then everybody would in debt up to their eyeballs, and that's not a good thing. I just don't understand economics. You gotta have stuff. You gotta buy stuff, but you need money to buy stuff. But maybe you don't have money to buy stuff 'cause nobody is buying stuff from you! Sheesh, gives me a headache.

So instead of getting a headache, watch today's fish video.

Time for a coffee, quiet and peace. And prayers for you dear readers that the current world economic situtation is not hurting you or your family.

New info to me on inverts and the goby

I took the snap back in May on our favorite stretch of beach. What you see is a goby and a pistol shrimp in a symbiotic relationship. At the time I took this, I had NO idea what was going on here. All I knew was I saw these two critters sharing a single hole.

I was feeding the critters in my salt tank the other day, and I needed to feed my mantis shrimp. A mantis shrimp, or stomatopod, is a very funny looking little critter. Ours is quite aggressive. When I stuck the piece of fish near his hole, he swims up to the piece of meat and begins furiously grabbing at it making a very loud clicking noise. I could feel the force of 'the click' through the bamboo skewer to which I had attached the bit of fish. Needless to say, I was surprised! But, a mystery had been solved. This little guy was the strange loud 'click' I would sometimes hear late a night!

I wanted to know more about my mantis, so I did a bit of reading. I found this website:
http://www.mantisshrimps.co.uk/articles/pistol.php It talks about mantis shrimp and explains the mystery of the snap from back in May.

And, my mantis shrimp may explain my disappearing hermit crabs. I know a bit about marine biology, but I did not know that some stromatopods feed on other inverts like herms. At least our mantis is now staying happy with his fish and squid.

Here's a link to an article giving an excellent general overview of stromatopods:
http://www.coralscience.org/home/content/view/235/180/lang,english/

Peace.

A video link about a mosque

Greetings again for what the third time today?

Found this video, and thought some of you would be interested.
http://www.gulfnews.com/gntv/videos/10338200.html This is the oldest known mosque in the UAE and gives one a peaceful glimpse of life in this region of the world.

Peace.

News video on the 'burkini' and some feminist thoughts

When I first saw these suits I thought they were really cool. I myself wear a bikini from time to time, but I thought these were a nice alternative to showing off a lot of skin.

Evidently, there is a bit of a controversy in France (?) over these suits. I found a video showing one of these suits in use at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai, UAE through the Gulf News. There is an accompanying interview with the woman who designed them.
http://www.gulfnews.com/gntv/videos/10345195.html

By the sound of the interview, the suits have been called 'unhygienic.' Hunh? Put the controversy to rest....fill two pools. Test each for viruses and do bacterial counts. To the first pool, add 20 men in regular swimwear. To the second, add 20 women in the 'burkinis'. Do a second set of tests for viruses and bacterial counts. Hmm...wonder which pool is gonna be cleaner? (Sorry, I'm very opinionated!)

Peace.

A day in the life.....

You know things are getting a bit weird when you are wishing for a dust storm so that the weather improves.

It's totally weird to be going about your everyday life and have a bus load of tourists take pictures of what for you is just everyday life. I tend to wave at them. Gotta go with the flow...

It's totally weird having to drive an extra 20-30 minutes because many roads are all one way now, and there's no place to make a left turn. The open pit of sand without buildings is looking pretty good about now! 4-wheel drive anyone? (No not really, since that wouldn't be legal).

Things are getting weird when big excitement means trying out a new recipe from the home country in the jumbo slow cooker but trying to make ingredients from this region work. It's very hard to find potatoes that have what for me is the 'correct' texture.

It's weird when you finish your morning drive and go, "Wow. I only got honked at once, and I only honked my horn once. Freaky...."

Peace.

Geeky science excitement!

Warning! You are about to read an extremely geeky post about chemistry!

Ok. I don't always get excited about science news, but this made me hop a bit with joy. A group of scientists in the employ of IBM managed to capture an image of a molecule that shows chemical bonds. The molecule, pentacene, consists of 22 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms (basically, the thing looks like benzene rings stuck together).

I'm including the link to the IBM Press Room. But.....it contains a link to images on 'Flicker' which is a 'blocked' website in some countries. My intent here is to link with the science NOT objectionable images that might be on 'Flicker'.
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/28267.wss

Whenever I have helped a kid over the years (or group of kids) learn about chemistry, I feel like I'm teaching 'magic'. Unless one has access to a simple lab and/or simple equipment, it is hard to get across to the students what's happening at the atomic level. I know this finding has huge implications in the field of nanotechnology, but it also has huge implications in the field of educating young minds. Now, students as well as scientists can actually 'see.' It's cooler than words can describe.

Peace.