Re-mapping keys on your keyboard

I just found a handy utility and thought it would be good idea to share it, as you too may be looking for the same functionality.

Carla's new laptop has a non-regular keyboard (something everyone with a netbook is going to experience). Her PgUp/Down keys were also cursor Up/Down keys. To use the PageUp/Down you had to press and hold a Function key and then press cursor Up/Down. As PgUp/Dn keys get used a lot in word processing and web browsing, this two-handed gymnastics was not very user friendly. The nice husband that I am, I thought there had to be a better way.

I came across SharpKeys, a utility which allows you to assign any key function to any position on your keyboard. You may find this really handy, especially if you have one of those new multimedia keyboards. Make sure to backup your registry (if running WinXP) or to create a System Restore point (if in Vista or Win 7) before making any changes with SharpKeys.

The utility is really easy to use. Just click on Add, and find the key whose function you want to assign, then find the key where you want to assign this new key. After all the key mappings are chosen, write the settings to registry and reboot. One more thing, don't call me if your computer won't start up. :-)

Hmmm, yummy chocolate

Friday was a good day. I finally found a couple of stores that are supposed to carry Croatian products, so I decided to go and check them out. Luckily, the two stores that I was to visit were only three train stops apart, so I would not have to spend much time traveling between them. The only problem was that it took me 1.5 hrs to get to the first store. :-(

The first store (Ivan's Butchery) was amazing. It felt like I was inside Konzum (a Croatian grocery chain). These guys had lots of Croatian products (Kras, Dorina, Podravka, etc.) along with tons of various smoked meat products hanging throughout the store. The smell was good. Too good!

So I did what every Croatian in a new country would do. I loaded up on Dorina chocolate (cooking chocolate, rice chocolate, hazelnut chocolate - now you understand the real reason for my trip), Podravka ajvar, Podravka chicken soup, Fanta hamburger mix, and lots of other goodies.

I made sure to buy everything I wanted in the first store, as I did not know how good the second store (Pronto Small Goods and Butchery) would be. It is a good thing that I loaded up at the first store, as the second store was tiny. Not worth the trip, but I am glad I went just to know.

We are now well stocked with our Croatian goodies for a month or two . Chocolate, anyone?

Tennis courts

Carla and I went for an exploratory walk around the neighborhood, and found two locations with 6 tennis courts each. One set of courts is barely a ten minutes walk from our apartment, so we should really get ourselves a set of tennis rackets.

Nothing seems to be free here, so playing on the tennis court for an hour costs about 16 to 22 dollars, depending on the time you play. You can buy a membership and then you can pay for free, but we will first try pay-to-play to see if the membership is worth it. The one good thing about a tennis membership here is that you can actually play all year long, unlike for the short summer period in Canada.

Sand storm

Freaky! I woke up early this morning wondering why the bedroom was lit orange. Then I looked outside and could not figure out if it was night or day. Had to take a picture to share with all of you.
Later, I found out that this was a red dust storm that moved in from Northern Territory and enveloped the whole city. Flights in and out of the city were grounded until noon. The sky is clearing up now but the whole city is covered in a fine layer of red dust. Time to clean the balcony!

Staying put for a while

I looked back over the past 12 months to see where I have lived and traveled and I was truly surprised. In the past 12 months, I have spent 4 months in Croatia, 4.5 months in Australia, 2 months in Canada, 1 month in Malaysia, 2 weeks in Hong Kong/China, and about 3 weeks in USA. That means that in the last year, I have lived or spent at least a month on four different continents! That's a LOT of traveling. I think I would like to stay in one place for a while. I know I will get the travel bug soon but, for now, some rest is in order.

We have been living in our new place for three weeks. The apartment is really coming along and now that our kitchen table has arrived, eating meals together is much easier. We used to eat on my tiny laptop table, which could barely fit two plates. The sofa should be here in a few weeks and then we can sit and enjoy the TV at eye level. Presently, we have to lay on the floor to watch TV. Not so comfy!

Swimming

One of the nice things about our building is that it has a pool. And it is a really big pool, not something tiny. It is about 25 meters long and about two and a half swimming lanes wide. It gets crowded pretty quickly, so I am sometimes swimming/navigating between grannies and rowdy kids.

I try to go to the pool at slow times, so I have been able to use the pool with no one around. Feels like a private pool! It is located on the 19th floor with floor-to-ceiling windows, so you get a beautiful view of the neighbourhood.

I can swim for quite a few laps if I stick to breast stroke, but as soon as I switch to front crawl I'm done. I can't even do a full lap! Practice will help, but when I see Carla doing 15 laps with front crawl , I kind of think to myself "What's wrong with me?" I don't think any amount of practice will get me to Carla's level. For now, I will set my goal to do 2 laps. That's a 100% improvement over current performance, nothing wrong with that.

Online at last!

I have been without a working, high-speed connection for too long. Today, the Internet was finally hooked up and I can tell you that I don't think I would have been able to make it one more day without it.

I kept checking the connection every half hour from 8 am hoping that it would work. And then, at 12:15 pm (ok, so I checked every 15 minutes) the miracle happened. My DSL modem made a connection and I could browse the Internet. At a snail's pace! My modem was telling me I should be getting 20Mbps (FAST!) but all I could get on my laptop was 800 kbps (slow). Five hours, one firmware update and a lot of wireless network tweaking later, Carla and I are able to surf the 'net at 19.2 Mbps. Not too shabby!

I have already used 10% of my monthly quota in 3 hours, so I think I should step away from my computer and eat or sleep, as I have been neglecting both. :-)

It feels so good to be back online. You don't know how much you depend on it until it is gone.

Settling in

One more week without the internet. Usually, that would not be a problem, but when you are in a new area, new city, new country and without a phone, it helps to have a fast internet connection. I have all the equipment on the floor, just waiting for Sep 15 to get the DSL link!

Last week was busy. Our fridge/washer/tv delivery got delayed until Thursday. Four days without a fridge. Bad, but not as bad as couple of weeks without the internet. :-)

We love our place. It is small but very cozy. This week we plan to pick out a sofa, and the kitchen table will be here in about 5 weeks. Settling in slowly but surely.