I have decided to use my webcam again to amuse myself. This partly came about because a friend of mine told me he was using his netbook and a webcam for security purposes. I thought that was a good idea since I now own a place and I also have the necessary equipment around.

I first tried this about seven years ago when I lived at SJC. I didn't have anything interesting to point my webcam towards back then. To be honest, I'm not sure how interesting it will be now.

Just to let you know, the software I'm using is free and as such, it can be a bit wonky. It may not connect to the cam properly. Also, depending on when you're reading this, the webcam might not be up. For example, if you're reading this from the archives and it's 2012 and the zombie apocalypse has started, the webcam probably isn't up (and how to do you have a connection after Z-Day?).

My webcam comes into two flavours: streaming and updating web page. The streaming looks the best but unfortunately times out for some reason quite quickly. If you reload the page it will start again. The updating web page sends you a new image every two seconds, not as good looking as streaming but it's more reliable. Have a look:

Streaming

Updating web page

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So there's probably a few of you who have already experienced what I'm about to describe. For me, this is the first time it's happened, so bear with me.

As some of you know, my first name is Erwin. Actually, who among you read this blog and didn't know my name was Erwin. Anyways, a few weeks ago I'm sitting at my desk at work and my manager comes to me.

"Hey, we just hired a temp FE artist and I think his name is Erwin! Yeah really! Now there's two of you."

I kinda just nodded because I didn't even know we were hiring additional staff. Given the unpleasantness that happened in January, I was surprised we had enough money on hand to get more people. Also, my manager didn't seem exactly sure what this guy's actual name was.

Fast-forward to today when the entire team gets a new e-mail announcing two new hires. One was a co-op that we'd worked with before and the second was, you guessed it, the new temp FE artist. What pray tell is the actual name of the artist? It's Irwan. Yes, it's spelled completely different than my name but let's be honest, just pronounce it. For a while there, I was hoping he preferred it as Ir-WAN as in LAN (SJC Call of Duty represent!) and WAN but that was just wishful thinking. In all likelihood, it's pronounced just like my name.

So now there are two of us (sorta) on the team, just like a Jon and John combo, a Jimmy and Gymmy if you will. I made that last one up. I can't even remember the last time I met another Erwin (or close to it). For all my life, if anyone yelled out "Erwin" I didn't even need to think if that might be directed to another person. I was the one they were yelling at. Now at work, I'll have to think twice, for the first time ever.

I've always thought my name was unique but I have a new appreciation for it now. Having a unique first name does have some advantages (and disadvantages too). I never really thought about how life is if your name is Bob or Steve. What's it like having the same first name as five other guys in a group of ten guys?

I hope I come to enjoy having another namesake (sorta) on the team.

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This evening I was watching part three of the Back to the Future trilogy on DVD. In the process of the viewing, I lost track of time and forgot that I do some ironing before bedtime. Is that a valid example of irony?

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My parents bought me a watch as a gift a little more than a year ago. It was a Citizen Eco-Drive model. It's a nice watch but the plastic strap broke last week. I tried holding it together with some tape but it's not working very well. I took it to various stores but each and everyone told me the strap is not standard and that they'd have to contact Toronto to even get a quote for a replacement. One guy said it be $35-$45 as a ballpark figure. That's a lot of money for a plastic strap.

In the meantime, since I need to have a watch on my wrist (it's a personal thing), I looked around for a replacement. About two years ago, my friend Ron got me a fake Rolex when he was in China. It kinda looked a bit too flashy for me so that's why I never really wore it. Well, push came to shove this week so I've been wearing it all weekend. It's kinda growing on me. Here's a picture of what it exactly looks like. What do you think?

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As I mentioned in a previous post I bought some new shower heads because the builder of my new apartment really cheaped out in this regard. I couldn't install the new heads right away since I didn't have a wrench. On Friday, I borrowed a wrench from a co-worker thus enabling to me to do the install this long weekend.

Though many of you told me to use Teflon tape to help seal the connections, the instructions informed me that no such tape was required. When I took off the original crappy shower head, I saw someone had used Teflon tape on the threads. Not wanting to tempt fate, I decided not to clean the threads (as suggested by the instructions).

The whole installation took less than ten minutes. I had to tighten one connection just once before everything was completely leak-free. The initial shower with the new heads was a delight. The five varied settings offered me a cornucopia of aqua sensations. With the new hand held shower, it's now a snap to clean my bathtub and my pretend dog.

My confidence as a handyman has grown considerably, to the point where I am now considering buying a wrench of my own.

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