Well, I got three things in the mail today.
First was a set of round cake tins. I've always liked food, so I recently decided to make more of it. Tonight I will be making a Red Velvet cake for my gf for Valentine's. It's her favourite type. While a large cake for one person might be a tad much, I can't be bothered to adjust the recipe.
Second thing was 5 Ubuntu installation disks. For some reason none of the ones I made would work, so I went and ordered one on the internet. Unfortunately the minimum order number was 5, so I got that.
As a result, my computer is now in working order. It will take some time to get used to Ubuntu but I think I might like it.
The last thing was a package from Ukraine. Inside was a PMG gas mask. I've taken to collecting them. I already own a PBF gas mask, and those two are the ones the Civil Protection masks are based on in HL2. It's interesting how different they are. The PBF is an
unusual design, the filters are on the inside, which as far as I know makes it unique. Impractical in a gas attack, the filters can't be changed without removing the mask, but still quite cool.
The PMG is
much more conventional. The bulge that goes across below the eyepieces is an air channel, when you breath in it blows the incoming air past the lenses, defogging them. The disc at the front that looks like a showerhead is a voice diaphragm, it allows the wearer to be able to speak and be understood. The reason the filter is to the side is so the soldier can look down the sights of his rifle without it getting in the way. I notice it seems to be of cheaper construction than the PBF. I can't wear this one, it is a size medium and I have a size extra large head, but it looks like it wouldn't be too comfortable. The PBF on the other hand is extremely comfortable, due to the amount of rubber on the inside giving it a padded feel.
They both come with bags as well. The PBF bag looks like a
handbag, but it looks quite nice and is well constructed. The PMG bag
looks like a satchel or book bag (at least when closed), and is also pretty well constructed. Might work as a drop pouch for airsoft, seeing as how it has a magazine pocket and an extra leg strap so it doesn't swing when running.
tl;dr: Got cake tins, Ubuntu installation disks and a gas mask in the mail, and now my computer works.
[Edit] I was mistaken about the PBF being unique, the US M17 gas mask also has internal filters.
[Edit edit] I've baked the cake. I think it turned out quite nice. Unfortunately the exterior surface of the cake is brown rather than red, but since it is iced that isn't really a big deal. The icing didn't turn out as good. I thought I had forgotten to take down the instructions for it. It turned out the website I got it from had forgotten to put them up, they only had the cake recipe and the ingredients of the icing. I decided to just throw them all in a bowl and mix them together, which worked to an extent. It came out looking like glue. I assume I was supposed to whisk the egg whites until they were 'peaky', but that takes bloody ages to do by hand.
Anyway, at this point it's running off the top of the cake and off the plate. My housemates don't mind, I've told them that we'll only be having two or three slices between us, so they can finish it off after my gf leaves.
You know I'm actually searching for some items too but can't find any in my area, and I'm afraid of wasting money on products from other countries.
I want some steampunk goggles( yeah they can be home-made, but it's very difficult for me to do that) and an aviator helmet(although I heard they're quite expensive).
And there's a military surplus store in the next city over here, they have a few sets of aviator's goggles. Probably chinese military or eastern bloc, they're the same design anyway. The one here has a lot more military clothing, but a lot less interesting bits and bobs. They've got a load of ammo cans though.
I remember reading something about Ubuntu not too long ago, but I can't for the life of me remember what was the name of it or where I read it. It was something like this:
"I got Ubuntu and bla bla bla"
"Don't bother with it - use X, it's like Ubuntu minus the bugs"
I still can't remember what "X" was.
I suppose it's a relatively widespread fetish though. If you just type 'gasmask' into eBay rather than a specific model, you have to wade through a sea of fetish videos and real ones that seem to be modified with latex to cover more than just the face. Some of them are hard enough to get on already, I couldn't imagine what those must be like.
[Edit] Searching for it now on this computer, there's almost no results like that. Assuming eBay remembers searches like Google does I would hate to think what somebody has been using those library computers for. D:
...Teehehe.