• Unofficial Ubuntu 5.04 Starter Guide
  A bit out of date (Ubuntu is now on 5.10 I believe) but still interesting. [via stmoller]
  (tags: linux)
• Md. court overturns custody ruling against gay father
  A Maryland trial court ruled this week that a gay father, Ulf Hedberg, can retain custody of his son and still live with his partner. (Hedberg is deaf; his partner Blaise Delahoussaye is deaf-blind.) [via usa-l news]
  (tags: deaf queer dcarea)
• BioTrainer
  Measures physical activity and caloric burn. I’m kind of curious about this because for over a year I have wanted to know how many calories are burned by interpreting. [via daily candy dc]
  (tags: diet gadgets)

First, much love for eyes_of_cyrene.

So, yesterday was just bad from the beginning. I had taken something to help me sleep the night before, so I had a really hard time getting up in the morning and I had a headache right from the beginning of the day. I needed gas but I was running late, so I just left for work. On my way, I decided my headache was bad enough that I should go to the drugstore for Advil. Only problem was - the one I chose wasn’t a 24-hour store like I thought it was. I got gas at a nearby station, and made my way back to my usual route. I passed a grocery store and figured I could get Advil there (by this time I was rather late), and I noticed a 24-hour drugstore in the same shopping center, so I got Advil there.

When I got in around 9:00 or 9:15 (my usual start time is 8:30), I found one of my deaf clients had e-mailed me about a 10:00 meeting and a 1:30 meeting. He mentioned the 1:30 one would probably be long, so I should e-mail the interpreter coordinator and ask to borrow one of the other terps that’s in the building Tuesday through Thursday (I’m the only one here Mondays and Fridays, but those are light days anyway). Unfortunately she replied that no one was available, but if anything changed she’d send someone down. Fortunately the 10:00 meeting was canceled, but I had another meeting at 11:00 anyway.

That meeting was okay, I guess. It was long, almost an hour, and there were two deaf clients and a bunch of hearing people who never let the deaf clients get a word in edgewise; I try to just retain whatever the deaf client says and wait for a moment to say it, but they notice that the hearing people are all still talking and want to know what’s going on, and I can’t retain their message and continue to interpret. When that meeting was over it was time for lunch.

I was afraid the client who wanted to go to the 1:30 meeting wasn’t going to show up, but he got there shortly before it started. I worked my ass off until 3:00. I don’t think anybody who is not an interpreter can realize what interpreting entails. Your brain must be performing the task at all times. You cannot let your mind wander, you cannot go to the bathroom - it’s not like anything else, because pretty much all other intense tasks still allow for a moment of thinking about something else. The deaf client’s mind may wander, and sometimes you can tell when that’s happening so you can ease up a bit, but you’re still having to absorb the entire message because when the deaf client looks back at you, you better know what’s going on. Of course, after a long stretch of interpreting your mind does wander and you can’t help it, because the brain is so fatigued it’s forcing you to take a split-second break.

Anyway, at the end of the meeting (which was quite technical) I went back up to my desk. I hadn’t been sitting there two minutes when a deaf client who doesn’t use me very often came to get me for a quick chat with a co-worker. When that was done, my primary client came over and said “oh, I forgot about that 3:00 meeting” so we went downstairs for that. I warned him that I’d just been interpreting for a long time so I wasn’t doing very well, but he said it should be brief and he didn’t really need to be there anyway. Well, guess what - it was half an hour, it was quite technical, and he did need to be there. Sigh.

So I interpreted for almost three hours straight, pretty much. I made it home safely, had dinner, and waited for A to get home; then we took a nap together. We slept for three hours, and when we woke up I felt sick just as I had in the morning. I could have sworn I was actually getting sick but I feel okay today. Whew.

Oh my god. I just got finished interpreting two hours and forty-five minutes of nonstop extremely technical material all by myself. All the terps who read this - and probably a few of the deaf people - know how I’m feeling right now. I think I’m going to cry. I don’t think I am making any sense and I probably shouldn’t even be attempting to write or otherwise communicate with others. For those of you who are neither terps nor sympathetic deaf terp-users, I would just like to say that I am so exhausted and have such a huge headache that I’m not even sure I should drive myself home. Fortunately I have about an hour between the end of interpreting and getting into my car (that hour is halfway through now) so hopefully by then I will be better. But oh my god I can’t even think now. I might update this post later or make a new one with a bit more narrative so you know what the heck I’m talking about but suffice to say that for now MY HED HURTZ.

• Interfacelift
  Beautiful, unbranded, high resolution wallpapers all free for the taking.
  (tags: wallpaper)
• Femfox.com
  Glamorous Firefox marketing. Seems like it might be targeted to men as much as women. Includes wallpaper.
  (tags: firefox wallpaper)

I am writing to you now on my new OS! I managed to get Ubuntu installed - and make my wi-fi work! The OS installation was actually really easy. Partitioning the drives was a little scary (I prepared for that last night by freeing up space and then defragging), but the install went quite smoothly, and it looks great. The hard part was getting the wi-fi working because I needed to use the web to look up information, and I couldn’t use the web without booting into XP, etc. But A let me borrow her computer “for a couple of minutes” (I think it turned into at least half an hour) and after some fancy footwork I got it running. So here I am on Ubuntu! (Yes, firesign3000, this is Linux for dummies.)

Now I just have to figure out how to get the Windows partition mounted. It doesn’t appear to be /dev/hda1 like it’s apparently supposed to be, so for now I can’t access anything on my C:\ drive. That’s okay, though - I have got plenty to play with here on Ubuntu Linux.

Added: Aha! For some reason it was /dev/hdc2 instead. All mounted, problem solved. Thanks xmurf!

• Stickies
  It’s a free post-it note type application with lots of useful frills (like always on top, sleeping, audible alarms, transparency, colors, font control, etc.). [via perigee]
  (tags: software)
• The World According To Google
  Replica of GoogleSightseeing.com, but with some different landmarks. I like that they show what these sights look like from the ground, too. [via metafilter]
  (tags: random)
• Routes of English
  The spread of spoken English around the world. From the BBC. [via metafilter]
  (tags: language)
• Deity Comparison Test
  How does your god stack up? With so many gods on the table, how can you be sure you’re worshiping the very best god?
  (tags: religion funny)

I’ve been feeling disassociated for a few weeks, and it’s getting worse. I’m losing touch with dear friends, regular friends, and acquaintances. I’m taking things far more personally in message boards than I usually do. I’m just feeling so damn sensitive to everything. I’m letting activities I enjoy fall by the wayside. What is going on?

Also, I have ditched Knoppix for Ubuntu, which is much prettier. I don’t know if I can get it to recognize my built-in wireless card without installing the OS, though, so dual-booting may be in my future. Mmmm, partitioning.

• The Truth About Anna Leonowens
  From ThaiStudents.com. The real story of the woman behind The King and I.
  (tags: history)
• Soople
  Topical searches, full-text literary searches, single-site searches, many other interfaces with Google.
  (tags: gmail)
• Listening demos of acoustic simulations of cochlear implants
  What does a CI user hear? Multiple simulations based on number of channels, and electrode insertion depth. [via fairerhiannon]
  (tags: deaf technology)
• Cochlear Implant Demos
  What CI users hear, including music samples. [via kristy2078]
  (tags: deaf technology)

I’m home today because I injured my back this weekend somehow. Anyway, as a followup to my earlier post, I went ahead and wrote to the Baltimore Sun.
(more…)

• Felinerina
  Products for cats and cat lovers. Whimsical gifts, accessories, collars, etc.
  (tags: animals stuff.to.buy)
• The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax
  Halifax is where the maiden voyage of Titanic really ended, with the most lasting legacy from the sinking located here.
  (tags: titanic)