Bring me back to life
is what this old Toshiba Satellite Pro M10 seemed to scream at me, after its original hard disk quit yesterday afternoon. No thanks to the nut on the keyboard who ran Acronis on it about 5 or 6 times just to get the partitioning right for several Linux-based operating systems to work. Started with DSL or Damn Small Linux desktop just to make sure the machine still works and managed to get a working system after a frugal install (many thanks to ArsGeek), but nooo the nut had to download the latest Ubuntu v 7. 04 Feisty Fawn and install that.
In fairness, the Pakluy (eldest son of nut) had already complained about the slowness of the machine two weeks ago, while it was still on pirata WinXP — well technically it wasn’t illegal, as this machine does have a WinXP license sticker smack on its bottom — but the original owner (not the nut) had lost the restore CD and with it all the attendant drivers.
Enter into the picture the portable mini-HD pasalubong by Kumpare Paran, Diony to all his Friendsters, which when un-cased turned out to be a Toshiba laptop HD! Thus the cogs started to turn in the nut’s noggin — would this be a suitable replacement HD? Only one way to find out.
And found out the nut did, via this really truly useful site called Irisvista.com, which features clear photos of what you should be doing looks like, each and every step of the way.
So the nut managed to swap working HD with fried HD. And successfully install Ubuntu on this very laptop that the nut is writing this post with.
The geek details so far:
Machine: Toshiba Satellite Pro M10
RAM: 256mb
HD: 40gb
Built-in WiFi, SD Card Reader, 2 USB Ports, CD-RW/DVD Drive
OS: Ubuntu v 7. 04 Feisty Fawn
What works so far:
DVDs play with Kaffeine (although it won’t play VCDs)
USB Flashdrive auto mounts
WiFi and wired connections
Local Networking / File Sharing
Skype (need to add the debian skype repository in synaptic manager)
Kodak EasyShare CX7330 – plug & play (added May 1)
VPN Connection to Office Network (added May 9)
What I haven’t yet found out if they work:
SD Card reader
Infrared
Bluetooth – just realized machine is “upgradeable” NOT “enabled” so i’m forgetting about this one
Very very useful links:
http://www.ubuntu.com/
http://www.ubuntu.com/support
http://ubuntuforums.org/index.php
http://wiki.ubuntu.com
https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+addticket
http://www.arsgeek.com/
http://www.fsf.org/
http://www.debian.org/
Reunion
The loss of one baby led to a gathering of the rest. My eldest son Athelstan Emil came to visit over the last weekend of my not-quite-maternity leave and for a few days I had all my babies in one place.
Athelstan Emil “Kuya Pakx” turned 24 last March. He works for a call center in Cebu. He’s put on quite a bit of weight since I last saw him more than a year ago, which is a relief. At least I don’t have to worry about whether he gets enough to eat—it’s obvious that he does. Perhaps all the weight, in pounds and in years, have mellowed him. He no longer shooed his brother off the computer for his turn like he used to, and he amiably bore the spirited playfulness of his kid sister.
Xavier Lourenco “Kuya Maui” is turning fifteen in a few months. He ended 2nd year high school as Boy Scout of the Year, and has buckled down for the summer in front of—where else—his computer. One sure sign that he has matured was that he no longer traded barbs with his older brother while the latter was here. As a matter of fact I spied them sniggering between themselves while looking at a catalog of home theater chairs on several occassions. I didn’t ask them what they were sniggering about.
Himaya Amarantha “Maia” turned three last Valentines Day, and for a time would not go out of the house without her tiara. She has all but graduated from Dora to Barbie, in movies and in games, while passing through a Strawberry Shortcake phase. She is a charming little lassie with an inexhaustible supply of public relations ploys. She likes animals when she sees them on t.v. but she still needs to learn to stop screaming when she sees the real thing in front of her.
I have three babies to be extremely thankful for, an adoring husband, good health, a relatively comfortable life despite the hassles.
Each time I hear about or see someone in less fortunate circumstances I say to myself “There but for the grace of God, go I.”
Crisostomo “Toming” Gaerlan y Padua, 1924-2007
I first met Daddy Toming a mere 5 years ago, as his namesake son’s girlfriend being introduced to the family. Of course these were not ordinary circumstances—I was 39 years old, four years older than his son and with two sons from a previous marriage to boot.
Daddy Toming was 78 at the time, and I daresay he was dismayed by the fact that his second son, a 35 year-old eligible bachelor, the carrier of his name, had fallen in love with “damaged goods”. It just isn’t done.
But even then I think he was more dismayed by the fact that he was nearing his 80th year and he still was not a grandfather. I think that was what softened his heart against the stern propriety that he was born and raised with, to accept me into his house on his 78th birthday. It was on that day when I first held his right hand to my forehead as a sign of respect.
In the following days I was to realize that whatever his reservations about his son’s relationship with me was to melt in the prospect of becoming a grandfather. He soon became cohorts with my second son Maui, gleefully going behind my back when he bought pellets for Maui’s toy rifle, something which I had insisted was contraband. But that’s what grandparents are for: if kids can’t get something from their parents, they can be sure their grandparents will provide.
Hardly a week after Maia was born three years ago, Daddy Toming had held her in his arms. He was wondering why she was so thin at the time, and suggested that I should supplement breastfeeding with formula milk that he himself will buy, just so his granddaughter will grow faster. Of course no such supplementing happened, but he was more than delighted to have seen his first grandchild grow into a happy, healthy, rambunctious little girl.
Perhaps one of my biggest regrets is not having met Daddy Toming sooner, even under different circumstances. He had had by that time suffered the loss of much of his hearing, and only Mama Maring could really talk to him. Even in the later years only talk of Freemasonry could magically restore his hearing, when his namesake went on the path of becoming a Freemason, like himself.
All the stories that I know of my father-in-law I heard from his son. I was never witness to the Toming in the prime of his life, except through the pictures, frayed and faded, that my husband and I scanned in order to preserve them.
But I will remember how a man so rigid in his ways had set aside his opinions and welcomed someone in my circumstances into his family. And I think that says a lot for a man like Crisostomo Padua Gaerlan.
May he rest in peace.
Four the Record
*tagged by Ralph of Mi E Mi Sombras*
FOUR JOBS I HAVE HAD
1. Web team leader
2. Copywriter for an ad agency
3. Writer for a mag based in Cebu
4. copy and layout for a printing press
FOUR MOVIES I HAVE WATCHED OVER AND OVER
1. The Shawshank Redemption
2. Batman Begins
3. Lilo & Stitch (Maia kasi eh)
4. Meet Joe Black
FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
1. Banilad, Cebu
2. del Carmen, Iligan City
3. Antipolo, Makati City
4. Baltao, Paranaque
FOUR TV SHOWS I LIKE TO WATCH:
1. E.R. the old series with George Clooney
2. CSI: Miami
3. Brandy & Mr. Whiskers
4. Judging Amy
FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION:
1. Baguio
2. Tagaytay
3. Dumaguete
4. Davao
FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:
1. Tropical Hut Classic Hamburger
2. Bread Pan Garlic
3. Pasta na ako nagluto
4. Noodles at Lemongrass
FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1. anywhere colder than here
2. like Baguio
3. or Sagada
4. or Tagaytay pwede narin
FOUR PEOPLE WHO WILL ANSWER THIS MEME
1. Sam (syempre)
2. Ayeza
3. Til-as
4. Bingskee
About Me
