The Road to Elysium

So the vacation is finally over. Two weeks of pretty much doing nothing. We had some fun though, we got a new digital videocamera, so we were able to record Michael when we went to the zoo. All in all, I’ve never relaxed so much before, ever. But boy did I notice how tough it was to get up at my regular 5.30am in the morning, sheesh. I’ll get used to it, but it’ll take me a while.

Now on to some other things. I’ve probably mentioned before that I was using FreeNAS along with a server that I inherited from my sister-in-law and her husband. Things were going fine, and FreeNAS was working like a dream. Until the machine died. Again. I had enough, and decided to never touch the machine again. Didn’t matter how much I had to suck up to Marte, I was buying a new NAS-machine. And I did.

I proudly present the Synology DS209j.

It has been working like a charm. I’ve tried both NFS, CIFS and UPnP so far (streaming to the Xbox 360 works GREAT!). The only thing is that the re-indexing takes AGES. When you add some new content to the systemfolders (Video, Music, Photo), the new media has to be re-indexed so that the latest addition is in the database. Thus you have a Re-index button. But the button Re-indexes EVERYTHING , so if you have say 80GB worth of data, it might quickly take 15-20-30 minutes to add everything to the database. Why they just don’t add a “Add latest additions to the database”-button is beyond me. I sent in a support-request for it though, so now to see if they’ll include it sometime in the future. No wonder that it takes a while either, the NAS-machine has 64MB memory integrated into the motherboard, and no option to add some more either. With the DS209+ though you can actually add some more memory, but then you’d void the warranty, and you’d have to pay a bit more for the box itself. I paid about 190€ for the DS209j, including shipment, while the DS209+ costs a bit more at around 240€ or so. Everything is set up in a RAID1 array with two 1TB disks in it.

Also, I’ve been kind of hooked on Anime of late. I’ve been watching Avatar – The Last Airbender, Afro Samurai (series and movie), Elfen Lied, and recently gotten hold of Cowboy Bebop and Death Note, which I’ve heard good things about. I am loving them.

Does anyone out there have any more anime to recommend? I eagerly await your answer. :)

I know, I know, yet again we come to the part where I say “I haven’t written in a while”, but as always, it’s true. It’s been one crazy (but enjoyable) week. Being that all children in Michael’s kindergarten had to take at least 3 weeks vacation during June/July/August, we decided to have Michael at home during the end of July/the beginning of August. So Marte took 3 weeks vacation with him, and I only two. Having suffered through depression and anxiety-attacks, staying at home, without work, for long periods of time makes the comeback worse. So I decided to go for one week’s vacation, one week of work, then another week with vacation. I started working today, and let me tell you, it was HARD to get up, sheesh. Anyway, at the end of this week is another week of vacation, so here’s for that.

My family in Bergen (my parents and sisters) decided to head outside the country for a fancy vacation. So of course they decided to stop by my house, park their car there, eat up my food, and drink up my coffee. You gotta love family, huh. They stayed at our house for two days before heading off, and it was quite enjoyable, more than it has been the previous times. I guess it’s because they connected a lot more with Michael, which I appreciate a lot. He doesn’t get to see them too often, but he seems to know them now, and acts his usual self instead of being all that silent. Marte and I cleaned the house like mad, of course. So upon their drive to our house, my dad lets me know that “Oh, your grandfather is coming as well”. Truth be told, I’d be surprised if my family didn’t shock me the way they usually do, letting me know of last minute guests on their way. It was great though, we even got to take a 4-generation picture. That is, my grandfather, my dad, myself and Michael. :) Speaking of Michael, the little tyke, has become quite skilled at talking! He cuddles more as well, as in when he sees you, he runs towards you and hugs you. I love that about him.

So, after having my parents stay with us for two days, my good friend Kevin came to visit. Having known him first through World of Warcraft, we started talking more, eventually becoming friends (rather good friends if you ask me). I invited him to come to Norway one day, and he said he’d keep it in mind. Little did I know that the bugger would actually take me up on the offer. :P Really though, he stayed here for about 4 days, and it was awesome. :) Was a pleasure finally meeting him. Hopefully he’ll return one day, Fallout 3-sober.

Little Noah is doing good as well! I can actually feel him kicking inside mummy’s tummy these days, and we look forward to his arrival. Perhaps a bit nervous of having to deal with him and Michael, that little monster, but happy nonetheless. :) This Christmas is going to be a special one.

All in all, it has been a busy week, but damn, what a week, and a good one at that.

So, yesterday was the day that we finally went to the ultrasound to see how our new baby was doing. According to the doctor everything seemed just as it should be, good health, good length and width, and weight, nonetheless. :) It seems Michael will be getting a little brother around December! We’ve decided to name him Noah Galvarino, Galvarino being my grandfather’s name. I’ve always noticed that brothers create strong bonds between them, and I always wanted a brother to look up to. Or down. :P In any case, our family is expanding, and words can’t express how happy we are. :) Kids, you’ve got to love them.

I’d like to start this post by having a look at normal people. The definition of normal people first perhaps. Not that I have any clue of what normal is anymore. I mean, can you honestly say that you know what normal is? I guess the definition of normal is “what most people do” or “something occurs most frequently”. Anyway, the reason I start like this is because I sometimes have to laugh when I think of what makes me happy. Getting my Xbox 360 to work with my FreeNAS-server makes me happy. In fact, I feel the urge to do a little victory-dance when just thinking of it. That’s me, always the geek. I often wish I was different though, that I was perhaps doing something that made more sense. Like being a carpenter, plumber. Not sitting on my arse all day working. I am trying to improve though, taking the initiative to be the handyman at home, which is going better.

Anyway! FreeNAS and Xbox, they work damn well together! Finally! I have my decoder and Xbox hooked up to my home cinema system, while Xbox streams the content from the FreeNAS server. Gotta love it!

Now if you’ll excuse me, a victory-dance is in order (again).

I do love discovering new music. I always find myself thinking of a little kid in a candystore, never quite knowing where to start. Yesterday I discovered a band called Operatika. They’ve only two albums though, but boy do I like them. I recently discovered Delain as well, and Adagio. Just my type of music. It’s odd though, I’ve never come to talk to anyone who likes the same type of music as I do. Most nerds these days (those who I have come upon anyway) seem to like techno/trance. Some is good, don’t get me wrong. But there’s nothing like the sound of Gothic Rock in the morning!