blog.thequonk.com » Personal

Bookbinding a new annual pastime?

Karen — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:40:00 +0000

One day, I decided I needed an agenda. And instead of buying an agenda, I decided I would make my own. I did a layout, added a weekly Bible verse for a more personal touch, and printed it out. I followed this Instructables on how to bind a book. Made my own book cloth using this Vimeo video tutorial. I suppose I could've bought book cloth, but I was told book cloth was expensive. I decided to look up the price for this post. First link I could find: Hollanders Linen Bookcloth Natural costs $4.75 for 18 by 25 inches. I can purchase 17 inch by 3.25 yards of Heat 'n' Bond Lite at Walmart or Joann's for about $10 and I have fabric available. I had the materials for the hard covers. I used canvas board that I had laying around for many, many years from when I thought I wanted to make miniature paintings for fun. I wrapped them with an old map of Suzhou and I have myself a couple, interesting covers. I just used Mod Podge craft glue instead of Elmer's glue or PVA. It seems to work fine, right now. The spine has been glued for about two weeks now and it's gone through a fair bit of testing. I've been using it without the hard cover until now because I had to get the fabric washed before I could iron on the adhesive and paper backing. I'm thinking the 2013 agenda will have anniversaries printed, too. Larger format? Flimsier cover? I have a year to decide.

Re: Electronic goods perish in my presence; technical support must hate me

Karen — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:28:42 +0000

See: Electronic goods perish in my presence, but I learn a few lessons from them before they do; Alienware M11x R2 hinge problem Wednesday night. No Dell box to send in my Alienware for hardware replacement. "John", the technical support representative I spoke with last week about my Alienware M11x R2 hinge problem, said my box would arrive on Monday or Tuesday. I just got off the phone with Alienware technical support and they have no record of anything being dispatched in the system. Apparently, when you call in for technical support, they're supposed to give you a dispatch number if they're going to send you something. The representative telling me it's going to arrive on Monday or Tuesday wasn't enough. Who knew? How was I supposed to know to ask for a dispatch number if he gave me confirmation that it was going to happen? They have these calls recording, don't they? They just hate me. I put in the support request again. Now, it's Wednesday and the box will arrive in "3 days". I'll get it on Monday. Walk to Purolator on Tuesday. Take "10 business days" to get back to Dell. Take "5 business days" to replace the LCD. Take an unknown amount of time to send it back to me. "Award-winning" technical support, indeed. Bunny ears are cool. Pro tip: Ask for a dispatch number when they say they're going to send you something, otherwise they won't give you one and you'll have to call in again. It's only been 5 days since I called in to Alienware and posted my first article on this issue. Since then, the official article that I linked has changed. It no longer mentions that they will replace the hinges out of warranty, no longer gives the reference numbers to the support articles that you should reference when you call in, no longer says anything but "contact us". Now, I feel as if every time they put me on hold, they're conspiring and trying to get their story straight before they tell me something. My prediction is that they will replace the display, send it back, charge me and tell me that Dell was no longer offering the replacement for free because the article oh-so-conveniently was erased after I called in. I'll tell you in 4+ weeks how it goes. Google Cache to the rescue. Here is the original article: Article Summary: Alienware M11x R1 & R2: LCD Broken Hinges What is happening? Broken hinges on any Alienware M11x system for any R1 or R2 customer worldwide regardless of warranty status. Solution This fix is not meant to be pre-emptive. Please only contact us if your hinge assembly is broken. Like we mentioned before, most R1 or R2 Alienware M11x customers never experience any problems. Down the road, if you do, we will support you. Our goal is to make the replacement as easy as possible for any of our global customers who may have been impacted. If you’re an M11x owner who’s experiencing problems with the hinge assembly, please contact Alienware Technical Support. Here’s how to do it: Customers in the United States or Canada: If you’re an M11x owner in the United States or Canada who has a problem with the hinge assembly, there are two options:

E-mail Dell Support at AWCC-Resolution_Experts@Dell.com; The e-mail address is provided for customers in the United States and Canada and it’s set up to manage this repair order only. When preparing the email, please add your Service Tag, Contact Telephone number and Best Time to Reach you.
Contact standard Dell Tech Support. Here’s how to do it:

Please visit support.dell.com.
Select "Support for Home Users"
Go toward the bottom of the page, on the left hand side under Contact Us and select "Contact Technical Support"
Finally, select your preferred method to contact Technical Support (choose either "E-mail" or "Telephone").
When you talk to Technical Support, you can reference the following documents that outline the issue and the fix:

Delta Knowledge ID: 401161
DSN PSQN Document ID: 376475

Customers outside the United States: If you’re an M11x owner in outside the US or Canada who has a problem with the hinge assembly, please contact Dell TechSupport in your region:

Please visit support.dell.com.
Select your country from the top left drop down menu, then select Support for Home Users
Go toward the bottom of the page, on the left hand side under Contact Us and select Contact Technical Support
Finally, select your preferred method to contact Technical Support (options include: E-mail or Telephone).
When you talk to Technical Support, you can reference the following documents that outline the issue and the fix:

Delta Knowledge ID: 401161
DSN PSQN Document ID: 376475

Other things to keep in mind:

Standard warranty types will apply, so you may be asked to mail your system if your original contract was the "return to depot" variety. Once you’ve contacted Dell, you should hear from someone within the next 5-7 business days to arrange the details of the repair.
Please note the email address and phone numbers I provided in the bullet points above are to support R1 and R2 customers who need hinge replacements. If you are looking for tech support not related to the M11x hinge issue, please contact Alienware Community Forums on Dell.com.

Feel free to ask any questions related to the Alienware M11x hinge repair process in the comments below. Thanks again for your patience. Thank you for your inquiry, The Alienware Support Team Above is a picture of my Alienware M11x R2. You're looking at the left LCD hinge. This is what happens when I open and close the display without bracing the hinge and holding it together. This has caused bits of broken plastic to get inside the display, so I have black dots all over the left side of my display. The bending has caused a crack to form on the front of the LCD display case just above the hinge. The illuminated keyboard is dimmer on the left side. The webcam's gone green on me before because the wires were getting pinched. I don't think this repair is being pre-emptive. I use this laptop for work and personal. I had to find a time to be without it for 4 to 6 weeks, but that time will never come. So I decided to send it in this month. Update (2012-01-27): I decided to pre-emptively call Alienware on Friday--two days after my second time on the phone with Alienware--to make sure that the support request was in their system. I didn't want to wait until the following Wednesday to find out something went wrong again and have to prolong the replacement. After 40 minutes on the phone with the rep, they found my support request and told me that the box is on its way. I received it that afternoon. Yay! The instructions said that I had to have a driver pick it up and I shouldn't drop it off at Purolator, so I had to call in and book a time. I was going to be in Kingston all of Monday for a meeting so I had to push it to Tuesday for a morning pick-up so I could make my noon meeting. Purolator came by and picked up the box. I was expecting three weeks from this Tuesday because that's how long they estimated it to be. But today is Friday, four days after the box left my porch and I have the fixed laptop on my desk. That took about 15 days from my first call to get it fixed. Much shorter than I was led to expect. *cheer* Back to business-as-usual. Except... whites are no longer whites on the LCD but dirty whites or yellowish. I use an external so it's easy to compare. What do I do now? Another call to Alienware?

Electronic goods perish in my presence, but I learn a few lessons from them before they do; Alienware M11x R2 hinge problem

Karen — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:37:13 +0000

I appear to have the worst luck with electronic goods; or as my friend puts it, I just work them too hard. But they were made to be used, so I use them! My first laptop's video card gets fried three months in. My second laptop has a hinge problem that is their fault. Both problems are (or will be) replaced for free. But why can't I have a laptop that only has problems caused by me? I just put in my work order for my Alienware M11x R2 to get the broken hinge problem dealt with. The M11x R1 and M11x R2 both have a problem with "faulty" hinges. At one point, I read it was because Dell tightened the fasteners too much *shrugs*. Whatever it is, your hinge will crack over time. Dell will replace it for free, even if your warranty ran out. My box arrives on Monday. Walk to Purolator, latest by Tuesday. Wait for Dell to receive it in 2 weeks ("approximately 10 business days"). They'll take "5 business days" to replace the display. And an unknown amount of time to ship it back to me. Last September, Dell finally published an official article outlining the procedures for getting it replaced. Call 1-800-ALIENWARE for support when you start to see it happen to yours. They won't replace it if it hasn't started to crack yet. Edit (2012-01-18): Since the post just 5 days ago, they have changed the official article. It used to say that they will replace it out of warranty and gives you the support knowledge ID to reference to when speaking with a representative. My prediction is that they will fix my laptop and charge me and tell me they never said they would do it out of warranty. I'll tell you in 4+ weeks. Laptops give me headaches. My first laptop, a Toshiba, gave me buyer's remorse even before it arrived. I actually had my eyes on an Asus Lamborghini, but that didn't end up happening because I got suckered into the Toshiba-has-better-support-than-Asus ploy. Three months in, video card died one night while I was doing nothing of import, had to get it replaced. I can see why Toshiba needs support if things break down that quickly. I will commend them for having in-person service. That's the convenience I miss with Alienware. Shipping times makes me sad. The plastic case wasn't doing it for me. I used it and ported it around daily. There were cracks on the screen case from pressure from the books in my backpack, even a notebook backpack wasn't enough to keep my laptop safe from me; the wireless switch cover broke off exposing the LED and making it inconvenient to physically turn off Wi-Fi; and my infamous, left palm print on the palm rest from daily use, the silver coating on the case faded into my palm print. The pressure from books in my backpack also caused the plastic case to bend and bruise the screen. While I was in China, the AC adapter died on me and I had to get it replaced because there was no way I was going to buy a laptop while I was over there. One night, the Shift keys decided they were going to retire and stop working--both of them, at the same time. My "W" key is permanent depressed and never returned to its idle position. It's just a mess. I had forgotten about all these problems. A couple nights ago, I pulled out my Toshiba and thought to reformat it so I could at least use it as a replacement while my Alienware was sent in to be fixed. But nooo, the recovery CD didn't work and now the partition is dead and I have to deal with that later when I have more time. That was supposed to be my PVR when I had time to set it up. For shame, laptop! I didn't replace that laptop until it turned 6. Looking back at our time together, I did learn a lot from it. I have, undoubtedly, become more neurotic when purchasing a laptop but I like to call it attention-to-details. I learned what I prefer in a laptop that is supposed to last me years. It's why I chose the Alienware M11x R2. Size. My old laptop was a 15-inch, my new one an 11.6-inch. Lugging around a 15-inch notebook daily in university was okay, the commute isn't that long. But lugging around a 15-inch notebook through customs and huge airports with two suitcases and two carry-ons really turned me off to it. Mind you, I was looking for a semi-portable, semi-desktop-replacement when I originally purchased it. I had no idea I would be journeying halfway around the world. Chassis. Plastic versus magnesium alloy. I saw what plastic could handle, now it was time for something stiff that can protect the screen better. Battery Life. I'm okay with a mediocre battery life. I hardly use my laptop on battery without my AC adapter in my purse and nearby electrical outlets mapped out in my head. Side note, the Alienware M11x R3 battery life knocks the R2 out of the park, coming in at just under 13 hours on power save and 143 minutes on high load. Fast. Since I started customizing my own desktop computers, I was always looking to do things faster. I like to do a range of things on my computer--and usually all at the same time. Someone convinced me that 2 GB of RAM was enough for my Toshiba; I insisted I needed more. I needed more. Lesson learned for #2. For processing power and graphics capability, Alienware had the best option. Everything else at that size were mostly netbooks. Alienware was the logical choice. When I bought the Alienware, I couldn't justify getting an 128 GB SSD for the upgrade price. The hard drive on my old laptop never failed me but after I bought my Alienware, one of my external hard drives died; I attribute it to the external hard drive travelling to and from China with me. It has a lot of bumps and bruises from residing in my backpack and getting crammed into the overhead compartments of airplanes. Laptop #3--4.5 more years down the line--will have an SSD so I don't have any moving parts to break from jostle and tousle on the hard drive. And by then, the price will have gone down. Win!

Cashing old government cheques

Karen — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:49:36 +0000

I was cleaning up a pile of old mail last night and I came across an old government cheque that I forgot to cash in. It’s from 2006. What can I say? It was a hectic year at university? I know the general rule is that a bank will not cash a cheque that is older than six months. But I searched it anyways. Enter the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC). The FCAC makes sure that financial institutions respect the laws that protect us. According to the FCAC, a government cheque (aka Receiver General Warrant):

is never out of date.
can always be cashed at any Canadian bank branch, for free, even if you are not a customer.
can only be refused to be cashed by a bank if the value is over $1,500.

Don’t forget your identification when you go in to cash your cheque.

If the bank won’t cash your cheque,

Ask for a letter saying it will not cash your cheque. The bank must give you this letter. It must also tell you how to contact FCAC.
Tell the bank you want to make a complaint. By law, all banks and federally regulated trust or loan companies must have a complaint-handling process.
Call FCAC. They’re here to help.

You’ve gotta love finding forgotten money. It’s another form of saving money. A gift from above.

chquonk

Happy new year y’all

Karen — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:31:20 +0000

The stats monkey helpers at WordPress.com emailed me a personalized report detailing how my blog did in 2011. The Annual Report. I knew I wasn’t blogging much as of late, but I only posted 4 blogs in 2011! That’s a waste of space. But then again, there’s Twitter and multiple blogs, so I’m kind of off the hook. But as of late, 140 characters doesn’t seem to cut it. I keep typing as if I was still using AznAve2save space. I think it might be back to blogging this year. That’s not a new-year resolution but more of a prediction of how things are moving.

chquonk

Qian Qian’s Story

Karen — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:27:13 +0000

A year ago, my friends met a beautiful, eight-month-old boy and his mother in the streets of China. The boy was born in a poor, farming village with a cleft lip and palate. I'll leave the details to the blog posts I've linked below but in a series of divinely-orchestrated events, Qian Qian's cleft lip has been closed and he is getting ready for his next surgery in November to close his cleft palete. Doctors say it is crucial he gets his surgery done soon or else it will affect his speech. The surgery to close his cleft palete was scheduled earlier in the year but Qian Qian didn't meet the weight requirement and was refused surgery. My friends are working with the family and a friend that lives near the village to make sure Qian Qian has enough provisions to gain the weight he needs to be accepted for the surgery. The following series of blog posts is Qian Qian's story. If you feel called to contribute to his surgery, there is a ChipIn widget in the top, right-hand corner of the blog I've linked here. The money will go towards the provisions for Qian Qian to gain enough weight for the surgery and his transportation and boarding to the city where the surgery and recovery will take place. God bless.

Humanity, Pt. 1 - October 15, 2010 "We were carrying on our merry way over the pedestrian overpass when out of the corner of my eye I saw them..."
Humanity, Pt. 2 - October 16, 2010 "The Bug, eyes wide said, "this is why we are Here...He wanted us to see her tonight!""
Humanity, Pt. 3 - October 18, 2010 "I know that there are many more who need help. But for now, the opportunity to minister to Him exists in little Qian Qian's need...to be His hands and feet...and for His glory alone."
Quick update - October 19, 2010 "That is 7 times the cost estimate of yesterday...but translation is a tricky thing...maybe it was 10,000 for only the first surgery...or maybe the doctor today didn't want to bother with a poor woman who couldn't possibly pay?"
Looking Ahead - October 21, 2010 "But I see now more clearly...it is an IMPOSSIBLE circumstance. How could a "median income" family keep their newborn?"
Qian Qian's Photo - October 23, 2010 "Two organizations can help us, but Qian Qian and his mother would have to travel several hours away for the first surgery alone (and he will need several over time.)"
Qian Qian Update - November 8, 2010 "Now as we are on the verge, Lord willing, of Qian Qian's first surgery, he told me that he sees what is happening as a "God arrangement," too fantastic for coincidence...but a clear indication of a love he believes the world needs."
Hospitality - November 13, 2010 "Both Qian Qian and I are known, loved, and He desires our return of wrshp in response to His love."
More on Qian - We need some Prayer - November 17, 2010 "no matter what others say...or how Qian Qian's family might act (his Aunt also recently offended the native helpers)...that we're doing this because HE said to...and that it is for Qian Qian...and he is an innocent boy who needs help."
Surgery - November 26, 2010 "We are in awe of His mercy and the privilege of watching this healing. What a beautiful way to remember this Thanksgiving. We will continue to lift up Qian Qian's family as they begin a new chapter together."
It's about people... - November 30, 2010 "I very nearly missed the beauty of getting down on the pavement, of sitting with his mother to hear her story...the deeply spiritual experience of looking into his eyes and seeing my Lrd staring back...inviting me to wrshp him by helping this little one, the least of these...in need."
I saw him! - December 1, 2010 "All the way home in the taxi, all I could do was sing praises...the sky was alight with an very unusual sunset...my heart filled to the brim with divine joy...over the horns honking, the radio blaring a Chinese news report, the throngs of people pressing together to get to their homes...I'm pretty sure I could hear the very heartbeat of my Father."
Transformation - December 2, 2010 "He was just as darling as I remembered him from the street that night. He has such personality and was so curious about the foreign woman in his hospital room."
Life on the Range - April 7, 2011 "We have good news on the Qian Qian front...looks like in about 3 weeks he'll be traveling with his parents to have his palate surgery! We've been waiting all winter for him to gain enough weight (now that his lip is closed, it has been much faster) so that he could undergo anesthesia under the hospital protocols."
Strengthen your hands - May 19, 2011 "We thought for sure that in 6 months, a normal 14 months old baby (at this point) should have gained weight. Sadly, we got the call after they had arrived for the pre-op physical that our precious boy had LOST weight in the past 6 months."
Qian Qian Update - June 8, 2011 "We have very limited contacts...almost none outside of our city...but here He has brought us a connection that leads to the very village where QQ's family is! Praise Him. Praise Him, Praise Him."
Back at it... - September 3, 2011 "How thrilled we are that we've been privileged to be a tiny part in the Plan for this boy, his family, and his fellow villagers."
Encouragement - September 4, 2011 "Then they all hear."
Qian Qian - The Next Step - September 28, 2011 "At any rate, he has been gaining (up 1.5 kgs in the past 3 months) and we are setting our sights on November. "

Christmas Soirée 2011

Karen — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 02:41:37 +0000

(Western) Life’s Little Conveniences

Karen — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:25:13 +0000

I started this post with the intention of talking about differences in Chinese life and Canadian life. More of a complaint about why Canadian life is so much more convenient than Chinese life. But as I was typing it, I realized how silly it was and how silly I was. Of course, it’s nice to have things at my fingertips but I have been spoon-fed everything. I can have out-of-season fruit sent from half-way around the world, all for the low cost of unnecessary carbon emissions. I can drive to the corner store or to work in the heart of downtown every day at the low, low cost of a tank of fossil fuels. I can wear winter clothes indoors during the peak of summer for the cost of oh-so-familiar smog-warning days. I can go watch the basketball game and have friends eat the wings of 40 chickens in the span of two hours. We don’t stop to think about these things because Toronto life is so busy and these are things we just do. At least that’s what it felt to me.

Living in China for two years has been the best thing I could have done. My eyes have been opened and my life has changed in so many ways. Even before I came to China, I was already trying to do the gung-ho save-the-world by being the change you want to see in the world deal. Then I came to realize that they still do that in the rest of the world. My grocery store here doesn’t get out-of-season fruits and vegetables. If the farmers here grow them, they sell them. It’s as simple as that. They don’t import from half-way around the world. They sell local, at least more local than, say, Loblaws (aka Canadian Safeway). I love mandarin orange season. It’s probably the sole reason why I don’t get sick here. If my 中百 (Zhōngbǎi) supermarket doesn’t have mangoes, I don’t eat mangoes. What my 中百 has, I buy. But they did bring in a box of Sunkist oranges at one point but I refused to buy them and bought the local ones.

Depending on who you talk to, the population of Wuhan is eight to 12 million people. That’s a lot of people. There’s a lot of cars in Wuhan but you also haven’t seen how many buses we have here. They’re finally starting construction on the subway system, too. I’ve always heard how our subway system is crappy and small, I even thought Montreal had it better than us. But Shanghai’s subway system is huge and they stop at major tourist locations. Hong Kong’s subway system is pretty awesome, too. But Hong Kong, in general, is teeny tiny in comparison to Wuhan. I remember walking on the streets two Octobers ago with a girl friend and walking way too far because we kept looking at the map thinking it was bigger than it actually was. We missed our turn to the jazz club where we met some interesting German characters staying at the Shangri-La.

China isn’t all for saving the environment either, though. When I arrived in Shanghai, my impression was how much waste was being produced by everyone. Take-out containers from street-food vendors. Individual plastic bags, not 4-cup cardboard cup holders, for your drinks from McDonald’s. We have so far to go as a global community to stop our destructive behaviours.

I’m tired. Time for bed.

chquonk

How to Cross a Street in Wuhan

Karen — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 06:34:44 +0000

I was surfing and found this excellent post about how to cross the street in Wuhan. It really does hit the nail on the head. I haven’t been conditioned to cross the street like a local still and I’m in my second year. I live right across the street from my school so I cross the street every morning. A vehicle could be 150m down the road going about 50 km/h, I’ll stop even though I know I can make it across in time if I walked briskly. I think I just hate hearing the horn go off.

Speaking of horns, I hate walking down Liufang, it’s “the village” just up the street from us. I hate it when I’m walking down the narrow streets and hear a van come down it while s/he’s blaring the horn to let you know that they’re there. It’s LOUD! Try standing at the bus stop and have a bus honk their horn 20m away. That’s even louder!

If there are others with me while crossing the street, I let them take the lead. I still hesitate when they decide to cross but I do my little freak-out skip across the street instead of the calm and collected prance of my neighbour.

I don’t think it’s a China-only thing. When I cross at a crosswalk in Toronto, I still don’t cross if there’s a car that looks like they’re still going 30 km/h and barely slowing down. I wait for them to come to a near stop before I walk out. I’d rather be safe than sorry. I can’t assume that they noticed the blinking crosswalk lights with all the distractions in cars.

chquonk

Karen Realty’s grand opening

Karen — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:21:56 +0000

I’m bored and without sound on my laptop. The sound card appears to have come loose or just went plop and died. No sound from the speakers, no sound from the headphones but I can use the microphone. Any guesses? Listening to your iPod over and over again just isn’t the same as having 680 News running in the background. I can’t watch my TV shows either and we’re at the end of the season. *violin plays in the background*

This week, I’m working on a project for my students. Little paper craft houses for our little town. I’m glad I have a small class just finishing up the last few and then I’m off to bed. Anyone want to purchase property in our little town of 12? Contact Karen Realty, you know where to find me.

chquonk