Xtreme HamsterTracker™ Cool 2 Totally Must Do Have a look (and buy) my "Happy Hamster" book at my publisher Chronicle Books or at Amazon.
Send your loved one a "Happy Hamster" eCard.
Although you might be naturally inclined to give your hamster the best of service...
Sometimes it's better to set your hamster at work;
this time we're talking personal Bedroom Decoration challenges:
" I've put a TP-roll in Lucy's cleaned bedroom,
leaving a few sheets on,
for Lucy to unwrap... " - Mathijs
" I am waiting for Lucy to wake up,
so I can make the Switch ... " - Mathijs
While Lucy was pouchin' some Pine-Seeds,
I quickly switched her bedroom, with the just prepared one...
" Lucy started 'unwrappin' immediately ... " - Mathijs
" Lucy then started on the official TP-roll-'destruction' after that... " - Mathijs
I asked Lucy if she enjoyed this activity:
" No interviews now please!
Can't you see I am busy, Dude ? " - Lucy
After running continiously, for more than 6 years,
the HamsterTracker-Hardware was in need for a check/fix-up.
I've been 'wigglin' a connector for over a year,
letting the system run for a couple of months without error.
Sadly, 'wigglin' is a bad practice, since, eventually your system will stop (indifinately).
So this weekend, I took the system apart, to finally fix it:
" I am not to proud of this connector;
it doesn't really fit the circuit board...
After some measuring I discovered THREE loose connections! " - Mathijs
( That's the result of all that 'wigglin' )
" Fortunately I documented a little...
but it took quite some puzzling
as well as brushing up on my electronics knowledge... " - Mathijs
My experimentation did wake Lucy...
She asked for some time on the couch, since being awake and all.
So I set my testing aside for a moment for me and Lucy to enjoy.
" Lucy started inspecting my camera bag, as soon as she noticed it... " - Mathijs
" Dude... this is soft and nice ... " - Lucy
" Is this my new portable home, Dude ? " - Lucy
Unfortunately it's just for my camera, dear Lucy!
When Lucy didn't find any Pine-Seeds in there, se asked a hand-taxi back to her home.
Which got me back to testing the system:
" It's all working again !!!!
The LCD-screen hasn't shown any data for weeks,
now it's finally FIXED ! " - Mathijs
When Lucy and myself where enjoing some quality 'Couch Time',
which I was fortunate enough to have my camera at hand,
Lucy 'proposed' some suggestions:
" Dude ... with your book being out ... etc ...
I do have a great MOVIE idea !!!
It's a "'Lucy'-Bond (007)" kind of thing ...
Isn't this a Bond-like announcement, Dude ? " - Lucy
" I would be explorin' like an "Indiana Jones" " - Lucy
" Together with me observin' like a "Lion King" ... " - Lucy
" So how's about getting that hyper-space-deep internet,
video communication link established with your Publisher, Dude? " - Lucy
This weekend has been all about "Lucy's Tweeting" ...
It was a software design challenge but I (think I) finally got it working and operational!
Although I never actually checked,
I am sure that Lucy is the first Twittering hamster!
Last night I got it up and running after many, many tests.
Lucy decided to enjoy a very leasurly Treadmill day! (Of course!)
So today, I just simply observed Lucy, after giving her a Pine-Seed:
" Thanks, Dude !!! " - Lucy
" Wait !!! ...
What's goin' on, Dude ??? " - Lucy
" Are you tricking me ??? " - Lucy
" No, Lucy ... I ain't trickin'...
you are just sooo CUTE ! " - Mathijs
We partied, deep into the night...
having that 'one-too-much Pine-Seed' along the way.
So on Saturday... We both slept in late...
Being a hamster; the moment I got up (late), Lucy was in deep meditation-mode...
(being nocturnal, not really surprising)...
Surprised to experience that when I (eventually) went to bed, Lucy was still asleep:
On Sunday, I discovered Lucy's cleaning:
" Blurred by Pine-Seeds ... " - Mathijs
" It took a lot of (enjoyfull) tweaking to get this above photograph in focus ... " - Mathijs
" Lucy has been busy, on the 'After-Party-Cleaning' up,
like I have ... " - Mathijs
" So a nice, fresh & clean bedroom is in order... " - Mathijs
Party hard... CLEAN hard ...
" Nice ... " - Mathijs
Lucy was in her explorer ball, so she didn't notice anything on the cleaning stuff activity... :-)
It's really fun to watch TV with my dear Lucy.
She loves to do that on a regular basis...
In case I forget, Lucy will let me know:
" Dude ... You there ??? ... TV TIME ! " - Lucy
" Duuu-Huuude ... it's 'Pinky & the Brain' TIME !!! " - Lucy
After settlin' on the couch, Lucy was all over the channel-change:
" Channel up ... Channel up ... Channel up ... Channel up ...
Channel up ... Channel up ... Channel up ... Channel up ...
Channel up ... Channel up ... Channel up ... Channel up ...
Channel up ... Channel up ... Channel up ... Channel up ...
Channel up ... Channel up ... Channel up ... Channel up ...
are we anywhere near channel 999 yet ? " - Lucy
( Please don't tell Lucy I just had to press 'Play' on the DVD-remote ... )
Which I did as soon as Lucy settled:
" I am totally READY, Dude! " - Lucy
I now know that Lucy can play a trick on me too:
" Almost there ... " - Lucy
Because I held the (bulky) camera, it took me some time to block her.
Then she was out of sight for only a couple of seconds,
only to mysteriously re-appear again:
" TOUCHDOWN, DUDE!!! " - Lucy
We kept on playing the game for a while...
(No, I will not tell you that Lucy WON, [5 - 0])
I am so into my new camera; reading a book about all it's wonderfull features,
as well as experimenting (1.300+ photographs in 4 weeks), with all the settings.
I got this following tip in the book that I am study-ing,
on the chapter about focus...
These next two photographs perfectly illustrate the "problem" that I've been experiencing:
" In automatic mode; the can is in focus.
Sadly that's all there is in focus. " - Mathijs
" With this manual setting, (which does take some tweaking),
the focus is also on the keyboard.
(You can even see the time on my clock which does need a energy cell change!) " - Mathijs
The above problem (with focus) I was experiencing with Lucy:
" Please note that Lucy's eyes are in focus, although her nose is not! " - Mathijs
After many tweaks on my camera settings (flash DOES wonders!),
I think I finally found the right setting for (wiggly) Lucy:
" Her whole face is in focus, isn't it? " - Mathijs
" Dude, can I get some attention here?
(Or have you fallen in love with that camera-thingy?) " - Lucy
I think it's acually, both of Lucy's mentionings!
Who doesn't love to shoot great photographs of their loved ones!
I am serving Pine-Seeds (for thank you's etc.) to Lucy, as you read this!