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So, I’m reinstalling Gentoo on my desktop in the hope that this time I’ll stick with it. I’m getting quite good at going though the install sequence, although since they did major revisions in January and my boot disc was from 2002 I’ve spent some time translating stuff for the new world.

Oh, and Java failed to compile last night, but it was fixed this morning, so that’s all right then.

This has given me a unique oppertunity to discover what the web looks like from lynx, since it’s the only browser I can use whilst the compile is happening. Somewhat to my suprise, Aquarionics works quite well (As do most – but not all – CSS based designs), though ATI lose points for making their “Which driver” dialog javascript dependant, so I’ll have to do that from X. Grr.

Today, whilst Gentoo was compiling, I went shopping. This was primarily to buy things, but also to explore Letchworth. I’ve lived here for three weeks now, and this is really the first time I’ve actually explored the place. It’s nice. It has a great mix of generic branded shops (Dixons etc.) along with the little single shops that I prefer. This means that I’ve acutally mangaged to conform with my oft-intended “Support your local trader” ethos, and get stuff from butchers etc. rather than picking it all up at Sainsbury’s. The primary benefit of a supermarket is that it’s all in one place and you can get everything at once, but since both me and LC are constrained by what we can carry on our bicycles anyway bulk isn’t a useful attribute, so getting stuff in individual shops is actually easier.

Letchworth also has a shop which I fear will be my undoing. It’s called “David’s Bookshop”. It sells both first and second hand books, is next to “David’s Music” which does the same for other media, and contains an Aladdin’s cave of stuff that made me glad I didn’t have much cash on me. As it is, I escaped with merely an old copy of the Good Housekeeping Cookbook (A Real Cookbook. One that tells you how to roast a shoulder of lamb, make dumplings and cook bread rather than a thousand and one uses for olive oil) and an Oscar Wilde complete plays volume. This, I feel, is me getting off lightly since last time LoneCat went in there she came out with a complete set of Agatha Christie books in hard-back.

Oh, and I found some gloves. They’re slightly too small, have embroidered snowflakes on them, and look slightly silly. They do, however, enable me to retain the ability to bend my fingers after cycling to town and back. This is meant to be spring, damnit. It shouldn’t hail on me while I’m cycling…

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