July 14th, 2009
Current Mood:  cheerful
Current Music: None at present
I haven't posted for ages. I seem to have been a lot busier than usual, although I can't really think what I've been doing, except getting on with my novel while sitting in my lovely flowery yard.Even though we haven't had lots of hot sunshine, still it's been pretty warm out there and the sun comes out from time to time.
Last Friday we had Lucy diagnosed with a blocked radiator, in spite of it being flushed at least twice, so today John took Lucy in to Keith to have a radiatorectomy. Someone is going to collect it from Keith (the mechanic) and flush it out really well, then Keith will put it back in and we'll see whether that's done the trick. If not it will have to be a new, or at least new-to-us radiator. It's so maddening, not to mention the possibility that it will be very expensive.
I was supposed to go to a CT Board meeting in West Bromwich today, but with Lucy in car-hospital I couldn't do it. In any case, I'm not sure it would be good for John's gout to drive so far. It's slowly getting better but he's been really poorly and has had to miss a couple of treats because of it.Anyway, we must get Lucy working properly because my Sis is coming to see us in a couple of weeks and I have lots of days out planned.
My netbook is finally connecting to the network wirelessly in the yard which is great because I can check on stuff in Wikipaedia without having to come indoors, come upstairs, turn on the PC and check from here.Today I've hardly written anything, though, because I'm having to go back and make a timeline précis of what has happened so far day by day; I've started making continuity errors and forgetting who from my dramatis personae my heroine has already met and when she met them. I wouldn't mind, but I'm only on Day Five of the narrative!!! I'm beginning to worry whether I'm going to be able to finish it in a reasonable amount of words; for a fantasy novel, it shouldn't really be more than about 160,000 words.
I'm also worrying whether it's boring; I don't find it so myself, but then I wouldn't, would I? I'm going into a great deal of detail for the first week or so of the narrative and can't help worrying whether other people would find it boring. I suppose I shall just have to finish this introductory period and get someone to read it. I don't know who, though, as Charles refuses to do so. I suspect he thinks it will be rubbish and doesn't want the responsibility of telling me so.
I think I might perhaps send it to Eileen, a small publisher I know who publishes tiny poetry pamphlets. I happen to know she's writing a fantasy novel for children herself, so maybe she would be able to advise me as to whether it's rubbish or not.
Or I could just send it to my friends Heather and Jeanne................. I'm pretty sure they would be candid.
I've been having a really bad time with my knee for several weeks now and haven't been able to go to cardiac rehab at the gym because it's been so painful. However, I finally saw the physiotherapist last Wednesday and even though I'm not doing the exercises as often as she said I should (life is just too short), still it's improved quite a bit. I must make an effort to remember to do them three times a day, because I'd really like to be much better by the time my Sis comes.
It's been a bit sobering for the last couple of weeks when John and I have both had leg problems and have only had two functioning legs between us, because I rely on him so much to do the trotting about for me. Charles is very willing, but he doesn't drive and he has anxiety problems when he has to walk far alone . Not only that but Netto has shut down and it's miles to any other supermarket. We didn't use it much, but it was there just around the corner in case of emergency!
Oh Good Grief! Look at the time. I'm trying to get early nights at the moment now that I can actually sleep after what felt like weeks of sleepless nights owing to knee pain.
I hope we have another pleasant day tomorrow. I find I get far more writing done out in the yard than I was ever able to do here at my PC.
July 13th, 2009
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: The breeze and the birds
For the present I have finally established a connection to my wireless network from out in the yard, but for how long I don't know since it's up and down like a tart's drawers. I wish it would stay connected for more than four minutes so that I can use Wikipaedia while writing!
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Just the breeze and the birds.
Hurrah! I've finally managed to establish a wireless connection from my network to my netbook out in the yard. I have no idea what, if anything, has changed.
That's ded gud, because it means I can look things up on Wikipaedia as I'm writing!
July 1st, 2009
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: None at present
We're off shortly to have a short day out by the seaside. The weather forecast is rubbish, but we're all getting stir-crazy, and we might at least be by the seaside, possibly even enjoying a nice lunch out while it rains/thunders/mists/snows/hails or whatever. At least it's warm and we think it might be less humid by the sea.
I've packed the binoculars, the monocular, the camera and spare batteries, the map and a waterproof poncho, plus a couple of apples. All I need now is my sunglasses, a hat, a bottle of water and Libby, just in case. I don't think I'll bother with the wellies!
The next problem is getting Charles out of bed, even though he agreed in advance that he would come with us. I have already woken him, but we have to leave by 11.00 to get a chance for lunch at The Fishing Boat Inn. Wish me luck!
We will also be testing the remedy for Lucy's constant overheating, ie, a new-to-us fan. I do hope this sorts it out because it's a bloomin' nuisance. We're so lucky that we know of a scrapyard right next to a second-hand Toyota dealer!
Blimey! There's a sort of watery golden glow in the air. Can it be the Sun shining albeit sulkily?
June 28th, 2009
Current Mood:  enraged
Current Music: None at present
It's lbooyd well lbooyd raining a-lbooyd-gain!I'm really sick of it now. It's destroying all the flowers in the yard and the strawberries are going mouldy before they even turn red; it's not at all warm, but the humidity is such that the air feels as though it has to be chewed rather than breathed.
And now, to add insult to injury the glowing weather forecast we had for the next week has turned from the glorious weather everyone else in the country is going to have, via miserable and even more miserable to don't even bother to get up.
And there we were, planning lovely days out days out next week.
I'm so ipssed off that I feel like punching the wall
June 27th, 2009
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: None at present
And still it's a horrible day, even if it's more or less stopped raining. The rain has absolutely drowned my lovely philadelphus and all the blooms which had just come out are drowned and soggy and don't smell of anything. It even broke off a couple of the blooms on my cream/yellow patio rose.It's dull and overcast here with a temperature of about 18C, while everywhere else in the country seems to be having glorious sunshine and a mini heatwave.At least the fog has gone. It appears that it wasn't only local to us, because there was a severe accident in Co Durham last night owing to fog, involving many vehicles, including lorries. I don't know how many were killed, but it seems so unfair for this kind of accident to happen in the middle of June!
The fact that I didn't get to sleep till after 5.00 am and then had to leap out of bed at 9.30 to see to Anne's cats has left me feeling as though I don't want to do anything at all today and the weather is the last straw! At least William had come downstairs and was impatiently waiting to be let out. Tinkerbell came for a cuddle and a little play, but I haven't seen Cush at all.I had a text message from Anne last night from Nice. I hope she's having glorious weather and enjoying herself. I did think it was a bit if a waste going all that way for just a long weekend, but now I think she did absolutely the right thing; at least she's missing this awful weather!
I suppose that at some stage I shall have to go out and do some shopping, but frankly I'd rather live off toast for the weekend. That wouldn't satisfy John and Charles, though.
June 26th, 2009
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: None at present
Unbelievably awful weather today; it started grim and overcast and got steadily worse. When I went over to see to Anne-over-the-road's cats, it was raining light rain. By the time I had to go out at 1.00 pm, it was raining intermittently. Fortunately I dodged the showers in my scooter until John came to pick me up, then it started raining properly.
We went home to collect Charles then went to Maplins, by which time it was raining heavily. Fortunately the Gateshead Maplins has a car park so we parked right outside (thank you Blue Badge!) We managed to find a signal booster for the router, but can't check whether it's doing the desired job until it's dry enough to take the netpad out into the back yard.
The extra memory we need for John's PC was more expensive than we expected, so we shall try the place I got my extra memory on the internet.
By the time we finished dinner, and had to go to see about Anne-over-the-roads cats, it was raining cats and dogs, the sort of rain you expect in November.
Now the entire city is covered in a shroud of fog, which, however, hasn't stopped the unceasing rain. I can barely see the end of the road 50 yards away.
Flaming June!
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: None at present
Yesterday I got up late and after lunch we went over to see D & A.
It turned out to be a glorious afternoon, so we sat on their patio drinking tea and enjoying the garden.
While I was there my mobile phone rang and it was the guy from the bank I'm seeing today asking me what time our appointment was for as he'd lost the diary on his computer.
Now this really surprised me because
a) I didn't think I'd given the bank my mobile number. Ooops! I just remembered that I get a text every Friday morning telling me the balance of my current account.
and b) (and this is much more interesting) because I was in a noted blackspot for mobile phone reception where I've never before been able to send or receive a call. Normally the nearest place anyone can get reception is about 150 yards away at the end of the lane. Neither D nor A is able to use a mobile phone there, and neither John nor I have been able to do so in the past.
It felt rather spooky! As though Big Brother Bank really is watching me. And why did he phone my mobile rather than the land line he used last time we spoke. Charles said he hadn't phoned home.
The person who had phoned was Anne-over-the-road, asking us to take care of her cats while she's away for a long weekend in the South of France, starting tomorrow morning. I can't imagine why anyone would go the South of France for a long weekend; even flying, it can hardly be worth it.
Of course, I didn't remember her cats till about 9.30 am when Charles and I went over. We saw two of the cats, but I couldn't inveigle William down the stairs to let him out (he's the only one who goes out) or to feed him his raw chicken (ugh!) We'll go over again after lunch to see how they are.
Am I the only person who is already sick to death about the Michael Jackson news? Last night before I went to bed I turned on the BBC 24 hour news, hoping to find out what's going on in Iran to find non-stop revolving news coverage of his death for about an hour and a half, when I gave up. This morning the air waves have been full of it too. I was always very sorry for the weirdo, but enough is enough, although I very nearly shed a tear when someone played one of the Jackson Five hits and I remembered what a sweet little guy he was in those days. I really hope the poor chap's at peace now, but I really don't want to hear anything more about it. There are people dying out there in Iran and Iraq, not to mention all the other places and I find it bizarre that even AlJazeera's website is making Jackson the high profile story.
I feel rather worried about the way blogs and other Internet stuff from Iran has dried up over the last couple of days; it makes me feel that the bad guys have done a lot of clamping down.
June 24th, 2009
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: None at present
Another lovely day spent almost entirely in the yard, getting on with my novel. Well, apart from distractions by the cats, John and Charles.
I can't believe that I spent so much time on it and wrote less than 2000 words!
The tomato plants have suddenly started shooting up and the beans are starting to climb their bamboo poles and showing buds ready to flower. I wish they wouldn't all lurk about bushily at ground level but get on with climbing.
I'm waiting for more strawberries to ripen; I may have to buy some tomorrow!
I haven't seen tomorrow's forecast, but when we went out a little while ago to water the plants, the sky had clouded over and there was a nasty chill wind blowing up.
June 23rd, 2009
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: None at present
It's been a glorious summer day today, all day. In fact it was the first genuine scorching hot day we've had for two or three years. Poor Charles has been too hot all day; he really doesn't like this weather. This evening he found the mist spray on the hosepipe and sprayed himself till his T shirt was soaked.
I've spent the entire day skulking underneath the sun umbrella in the yard, reading, drinking coffee, chatting to John and Charles and writing my novel on my netbook (although I still can't connect to the rest of the world from out there!) The cats have spent most of the day out there with me too.
The pink patio rose is now showing the tiniest amount of pink in its buds; I believe this one will be gloriously scented. The remaining one has tightly closed buds with no clue to the colour, and I have lost the label which should tell me what it's like. Tsk!
One of the runner bean plants has finally got flower buds, but I'm worried that it's hardly grown upwards at all. I wonder if I got dwarf plants by mistake.
The house, and particularly my room, is an absolute tip but I'm not prepared to waste this glorious weather tidying up indoors. Yesterday I worked at Caroline's office in the morning, and when I got home, I was so tired I spent the afternoon dozing in the chair in my room. What a waste!
I had an absolutely dreadful night last night with pain in my knee till I suddenly remembered my TENS machine. It didn't take the pain away completely but it reduced it to a grumble for long enough to allow me to get to sleep. I've used it again this afternoon and I shall use it when I get into bed. It would be great to get a long night's sleep.
If it's still lovely weather tomorrow, I plan another idle day reading and writing in the yard. It's lovely out there at the moment and the perfume of the carnations and the purple petunias makes the whole place smell of cloves and the herbs have their own perfume which the hot sun releases and which doesn't blow away on the breeze because of the high walls all around.
Last night, at about 1.30, when I was sitting up in bed trying to distract myself by doing the crossword, Charles came in to tell me that he hadn't closed the cat door properly so that Bramble had been able to get out and run off. Charles had to get dressed and go out in the back lane looking for him and finally found him in the allotments sitting companionably with another pale-coloured cat Charles didn't recognise.
So Bramble has a little friend! But not apparently the beautiful black cat who came into my bedroom last week.
June 21st, 2009
Current Mood:  happy
Current Music: None at present
The weather was rather better today than had been forecast, so I got up straight after The Archers and took my coffee and yesterday's crossword into the yard. It was really warm; no cardigans or fluffy socks required!I spent most of the day out there, reading, doing the crossword, deadheading things, checking all the plants for greenfly, de-flowering the rocket and the watercress, chatting to the fambly, phoning friends and just generally chilling out. After lunch I took my netbook out there to work on my novel. Annoyingly I couldn't connect to our wireless network, or anyone else's, so I couldn't use Wiki when I wanted to look something up. I had to make a list of things to look up later. Isn't amazing how quickly we become used to the convenience of such things? I could go indoors and look things up in John's Britannica, but it takes so long, compared with Wiki.
It's quite strange because the DECT phone connects to its network out there, but the netbook just wouldn't. I'm wondering whether I could add an antenna to boost the signal, such as I have on my PC, but to be honest I have no idea how or where or indeed if, I could plug it in. I suppose I could take it to Maplins and ask their advice. I wonder if it's just down to the engineering bricks they used to construct the back of the house; they're extremely solid and hard and an ordinary drill bit will do nothing to them, but I must say, I didn't think they would be able to block a wireless signal.
I really like the dear little thing, but the so-called on-board "manual" is all about PCs and Laptops and as such doesn't have any relevance for my poor little Advent at all.
When I came indoors and sat in the kitchen using it, I connected to the Internet through someone else's network, cutely called "zoom", since it didn't seem to be able to find ours, which was about 12 feet away through the ceiling. I didn't realise that I was illegally using someone's network for some time; can they tell someone else is using their network?
I had a lovely relaxing day and have done a lot of work on the nuts and bolts of my story, although I haven't actually written any of it today. However, it's probable that I may use some of what I've written today in the future, since it's all been about character description and development and plot development, and some outline descriptions of the Visions of other people my protagonist sees.
Charles and I also had a brainstorming session about the name for my character's special visions and I feel that I'm nearing a decision, although it may well have to be a combination of terms.
Old Bloke's suggestion of Gestalt was pretty good, but it's not a word I could bring myself to use. I've spent a lot of time this evening, when not watching Top Gear, which was ded gud, or James May playing at astronauts (also ded gud) reading about Greek and Norse mythology, which is much more interesting than I remember.
Poor John is so cross because his hearing aid suddenly stopped working this morning; even a new battery has no effect. So tomorrow he'll have to go to the hospital, take a numbered ticket and wait his turn to see someone to get a replacement. I hope it doesn't take too long because I'm working tomorrow and don't want to hang around at Caroline's waiting for John to finish at the hospital. I don't want to take a taxi either, because it would probably cost a tenner or more.
His gout is still quite bad, too, so he'll have to park the car and limp for miles to get to the hospital. If only I hadn't arranged to work, I could have dropped him off at the door and waited in the car park till he rang me on my mobile. He couldn't get an appointment with his doctor until Wednesday, when I hope they will change his horrible and slightly alarming medication for something better. It's a shame he can't use my Blue Badge. Yesterday he couldn't even put his slipper on.
Oh dear, it's past midnight again! I hope I can sleep.
I'm so proud because I made at least half the salad we had with our steak from salad leaves and herbs I picked from the pots in the yard! Pathetic isn't it?
June 20th, 2009
Current Mood:  gloomy
Current Music: None at present
I'm feeling rather blue because it's been raining all day again today. At least it wasn't quite so cold.
As Charles said, the only comfort is that we don't have to water the plants in the yard.
Adrian-who-used-to-be-next-door lent us his hedge-trimmer last Sunday. The stuff we want to cut back has never dried out enough yet!
Yesterday I did manage to repot one of Anne-over-the-road's baby trees, the one I thought was dead, because it was in an old Stork tub with no drainage holes and had about an inch of water over the soil, but which had suddenly sprouted two tiny leaves. I also finally planted all the remaining petunias into one hanging basket and a large pot. The beans aren't doing anything. They're getting very bushy but don't seem to want to climb the bamboo sticks or flower or anything at all really. There's one solitary, very tall Californian poppy which has self-seeded in the pot containing the miniature hazel tree and grown very leggy so that its solitary yellow flower is peeping out of the top of the hazel's canopy.
The osteospermums weren't a very good choice for the weather we're having as their white petals become discoloured with rain drop marks. The petunias all look completely drowned and the strawberry plant has ceased production for a while; I had to buy some strawberries today!
My solitary surviving Morning Glory gave up the ghost some time this week, but the clematis is valiantly blooming away, although not growing any taller. I bought these massive bamboo hoops for it to climb, but it is declining to do so.
The tiny red patio roses are delightful, though. They're about as large as a thimble and just seem to remain as beautiful buds rather than opening. The yellow/cream one is blooming profusely. Of the other two, one has lots of buds and the fourth is resolutely budless up to now. They are, of course, the first things the greenfly go for, and since we're not going to eat them, {(the roses that is), nor indeed, the greenfly!}, I have no scruple in spraying them with Bug Spray.
We had fresh peas from Lidl with our poulet forestiere today. It took me half an hour to shuck them and they amounted to about a spoonful each! They were very nice, though.
I have discovered something very odd. If I can't sleep because I have pain in my knee and I get up and make myself a mug of Green & Black's hot chocolate, it seems to take the pain away. It doesn't help me sleep when I have no pain, however. Charles reckons it's summat to do with the enzymes in the warm milk, at least, I think that's what he said.
We watched one of our Lovefilm rental DVDs yesterday, The Bucket List, and I heartily recommend it. It would never have occurred to me to put Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman together in a film, but it really worked.
Oh look! It's almost 11.00 pm again. I think I shall have an early night and hope to get to sleep early. Why is there never anything worth watching on TV?
June 17th, 2009
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: None at present
I have a concept in the book I'm writing for which I'm groping for a name. Maybe someone can suggest something apt.
The idea is that the protagonist has a special gift of occasionally being able to see people in their totality, that is as a single being comprising everything about them, good and bad, from their birth to their death, or to however far they've come along the path of life. These visions often show the man or woman as some kind of animal spirit, richly decorated, denoting their abilities and gifts as well as their character flaws and wickednesses.
See! I can barely describe what it is I want to say, let alone think of a name for this thing. The nearest I've come is a Totality, a Completion, or a Wholeness, but I'm not satisfied with any of those. Any suggestions gratefully received, but not necessarily adopted.
I'm going to bed now. I didn't get enough sleep last night and I had to get up to go to work this morning. Since I found myself falling asleep at my desk in front of the monitor, I decided to have a proper sleep in bed this afternoon, but about two minutes after I fell asleep, the window cleaner rang the doorbell twice, very loudly and then clattered around outside for a bit. Later the phone went and I ignored it, but John answered it and came in to ask questions about something. That was it, no more sleep for me.
I bet I wake up as soon as I've got into bed.
Current Mood: cold
Current Music: None at present
Come again another day!
And bring some sunshine and heat with you. It's lbooyd freezing here again. The only time I've felt properly warm today was when I was working in Caroline's office.
I'm beginning to feel very hard done by!I have, however, found the ideal map for the first island in my novel, and pretty close to home, too. It's actually Rum, but I can't get Google to let me print out an A4 version of it, buggrit. I want an A4 version of the outline, so that I can put places in myself.
Am I the only person who is beginning to find that the News, of whatever flavour, appears to have been taken over by the Blue Peter team, or maybe Ceebeebies? Who cares if Obama can swat a fly? And how many times do we have to see it? There are people dying out there, you know!
June 14th, 2009
Quiz @ 11:31 am
Current Mood:  amused
Current Music: None at present - Radio 4
Stolen from![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) k425
I know it's supposed to be one word answers only, but this is my LJ, so I'll do what I want!
Kissed any one of your LiveJournal friends? Yes but no tongues.
Been arrested? Not quite.
Kissed someone you didn't like? Yes, hasn't everyone?
Slept in until 5 PM? I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes
Held a snake? Yes
Ran a red light? Accidentally, yes.
Been suspended from school? No
Experienced love at first sight? Yes! Oh wow!
Totaled your car in an accident? Not quite
Been fired from a job? Yes
Fired somebody? Sadly yes; it's the worst part of being a manager.
Sung karaoke? No, although I used to love a sing-song round the piano in a pub. Whatever happened to that?
Pointed a gun at someone? No
Did something you told yourself you wouldn't? Yes, I just joined Facebook.
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes
Kissed in the rain? Many times, many, many times.
Had a close brush with death (your own)? Yes
Saw someone die? Yes
Played Spin-the-Bottle? No
Smoked a cigar? Yes
Sat on a rooftop? Yes, but only a flat roof.
Smuggled something into another country? Yes, the contraceptive pill into Spain.
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? No
Broken a bone? No
Skipped school? Yes
Eaten a bug? Yes
Sleepwalked? Yes
Walked on a moonlit beach? Yes, oh yes!
Ridden a motorcycle? Only as a pillion passenger.
Dumped someone? Yes
Forgotten your anniversary? Yes
Lied to avoid a ticket? No
Ridden in a helicopter? Aaaaaargh!
Shaved your head? No
Blacked out from drinking? Yes (blushes with shame)
Played a prank on someone? Yes
Hit a home run? No
Felt like killing someone? Yes, nearly all the time.
Cross-dressed? Does playing football in a bloke's strip help? The blokes all wore drag, high heels, silly hats and carried handbags and they still won! Those football boots are murder!
Been falling-down drunk? Yes
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? Yes
Eaten snake? No
Marched/protested? Yes
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? No
Puked on an amusement ride? No, I saved that for afterwards.
Seriously & intentionally boycotted something? Yes
Been in a band? Yes, but it didn't last more than a few weeks.
Knitted? Yes, very badly
Been on TV? By accident
Shot a gun? Yes
Skinny-dipped? No
Given someone stitches? I'm not sure what that means, unless it means walking so fast your companion gets the stitch, in which case, Yes.
Eaten a whole habenero pepper? You're kidding, right?
Ridden a surfboard? No
Drunk straight from a liquor bottle? Yes
Had surgery? Yes
Streaked? Not deliberately, although once at Broadstairs the wind whipped my towel away. My boyfriend was helpless with laughter and no assistance at all.
Been taken by ambulance to a hospital? Yes
Tripped on mushrooms? No
Passed out when NOT drinking? Yes
Peed on a bush? Yes
Donated Blood? Yes
Grabbed electric fence? No
Eaten alligator meat? Not yet
Eaten cheesecake? Yes
Killed an animal when not hunting? Yes, by accident. I ran over a red squirrel once and still feel guilty
Peed your pants in public? Once at Chester Zoo, when I was three.
Snuck into a movie without paying? No
Written graffiti? No. Actually, I find that difficult to believe.......surely I must have done!
Still love someone you shouldn't? Doesn't matter any more since he's dead.
Think about the future? Yes
Been in handcuffs? No
Believe in love? Yes
Sleep on a certain side of the bed? I have a double bed to myself, so I sleep in the middle, if the cats will let me.
June 13th, 2009
Current Mood: cranky
Current Music: None at present
Although I swore I would never do it, I've had to join Facebook, just so that I could contact an old friend who moved; for various reasons he couldn't disclose his address to people at the time, but his old e-mail address isn't getting me a reply, either.
Don't any of my LJ friends imagine that you will see me there, because I don't plan to use the account for anything else.
I do hope he replies to my message, otherwise I shall have broken my vow for nothing!
June 12th, 2009
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: None at present
My netbook arrived today; the keyboard is fine, but I simply couldn't get on with the mouse pad, so I went to Maplin's and bought a teeny weeny plug-and-pray USB optical mouse and a replacement for my lost data stick, which is twice as commodious as the lost one but more than twice as expensive..........Sigh! What's the betting the other one turns up shortly?
I simply couldn't get Windows to find our wireless network, although it found umpteen others in the neighbourhood, but of course, the instant I had to give in and ask Charles' help, there it was, poking its tongue out at me.
I've spent the last couple of hours downloading Firefox, Windows Updates and an antivirus program, virus-checking the entire netbook, just in case, and I'm about to download a copy of my novel writing program, so I shall be ready to go when I next go to the library, or even decide to write something out in the garden. I don't intend to buy another copy of Agent, since I don't do Usenet any more and I doubt whether I shall be using it for E-mail very often, so I'm wondering about using Outlook Express, although as far as I can see when watching John using it, it's a pile of poo! Anyone have any suggestions for a good, light-weight free e-mail program? Light-weight is best, because the tiny little thing only has 0.98 GB RAM RAM, although, now I come to think of it, that's only 0.27 GB less than this PC!
Now that I have it, I've fallen in love with it and no longer feel the slightest bit guilty for being so extravagant
June 9th, 2009
Current Mood: guilty
Current Music: None at present
I went to the Lit & Phil this afternoon, for the first time for months and while there a saw a pretty girl using a really nice-looking netbook; I asked her about it and she told me that she bought it for an unbelievably low price from Curry's in Northumberland St. It was just what I want because it uses Windows XP and my novel writing program only runs with Windows. So when I got home, I went online and found it at almost the same low price she told me about, because it is reconditioned. It does, however have a year's guarantee and could only be bought online, with no delivery fees.
So after humming and hawing and discussing it with Charles and John, and looking at the prices on Amazon and eBay, I've ordered a reconditioned Advent 4211 XP Intel Atom on my poor overworked Credit Card. It is allegedly "Professionally checked, tested, refurbished to a like-new standard and offered to me at a fantastic saving" They even spelled "professionally" correctly! That had to be an omen! In fact, considering I haven't been to the Lit & Phil for months and the day I return, this dear little student happened to be there to tell me all about it, it was obviously Meant To Be.
It will be great to have it and I may spend more time at the Lit & Phil when I have it, because it will be much lighter to carry than my ring-binder with all the novel stuff on it. Who knows, I may actually get more written than when I stay at home, because, let's face it, I'm very easily distracted!
If anyone thinks it's a pile of poo, please don't tell me!
It's been another grey cold day today, with the occasional drop of rain, otherwise I would probably have spent the afternoon in the yard; it would have been a great deal cheaper!
June 7th, 2009
Current Mood:  cranky
Current Music: None at present
As if it weren't enough that his domain was invaded by Basement Cat this morning, Bramble is now in disgrace for catching a fledgling sparrow and bringing it home. I had the devil of a job getting it away from him, he growled and struggled and got very angry. Fortunately the poor little bird's neck was broken, so it saved further suffering for it or guilt trips for us about what would be the best thing to do with a mangled but still alive bird.He's the only one of the three of them that ever catches birds. I wish I knew how to stop him, short of putting a bell on him.
He's sitting on my bed glaring balefully at me as I type!
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: None - listening to The Archers
I had a bad night last night so I didn't wake very early, but about 8.50 I heard some strange noises, which I thought was cats scratching at something unfamiliar, plus some odd hiss and grunting.
I sat up just in time to see a beautiful black cat disappearing out of the bedroom door, which is always left open a few inches for cats. Morgan was off after him, and Bramble wandered back into the room going "Duh! Woss goin' on?"
I rushed out to find Basement Cat sitting in the passage; he went spare when he saw me but couldn't get down the stairs because Phoebe was spitting at him from the top step. He leapt through the banisters to a position a few steps down and dashed downstairs where he found John John followed him along the corridor and lost him; later he found Basement Cat under the display unit in the hall, besieged by three cats; he hadn't noticed him before, in the shadow. John chased them off and Basement Cat exited through the kitchen and the back door like a streak of black lightning.
I do wish he was ours. He was soooo beautiful, a completely black shorthair without a trace of white and elegantly slender.
I've pointed out to John that if we had put the new cat-flap in, a strange cat would be unable to get in because he would need a magnet on his collar. This made him rather grumpy as it's a sore subject because when he put the first cat-flap in, he cut the hole much too large and it was only just possible to fit the existing door. So we need a new back door, for the new cat flap, because the design has changed and John won't even try to find one. I know we probably can't afford a new one, but we might find one at a breaker's, or whatever those people who hoard bits of old house are called; we might even find a Victorian one, which would be a bonus.I've now got kitten-broody, but I'm not allowed another one; it's so unfair, because a completely black shorthair was exactly what I wanted when I got Bramble instead, and Morgan wasn't even planned but was passed on to us by people who didn't, after all, want a dear little kitten in their lives. I love all my pussy cats, but there is a black-cat-shaped hole in my life!
It's still bl**dy freezing here. I shall get dressed in my winter uniform in a few minutes, because I want to go into the back yard to plant my basil in a couple of bigger pots before it starts raining again. I have to get up so that I can start off pot-roasting the beef in my slow cooker.
|
