Even more technical...

Last day involed a trip out to the wholesaler, and no small ammount of dismay.

They have decided to de list some of my favourite beers which is of course really bad news, but temporary good news as they had the lot on clearance.

The student I treated to a box of Old Peculiar of which she had just half of one bottle before pouring the rest over her HTC very techical phone. This in turn meant removing the battery and it has woken up this morning having forgotten everything that was laboriously programmed into it last year.

She has engaged in multi harrumphs over this but her DIC will not be immediately employed as she has an important essay due in tomorrow which she is preparing for by diligently playing games on the Ipad.

Technology....

This week, the kids rather aged Compaq did the decent thing and quietly died. Given a lot of options we decided the sensible one was to spend a few quid on a new laptop for the kids.

Today, we diverted and spent the day up in Aber with Bruce, this was of course was an excuse to go for lunch which was a chance for me not to get the navigation right and we ended up a good way away in a lovely pub we last stopped at on the day we brought the T4 home.

But anyway, I digress, home we came and there was the new puter. Management dismayed the kids, taking one look at the new computer and decided it was hers.

Her current computer would be theirs. 

This is of course not good, she might well have a Diploma in Computing, which, I think counted for not a lot in setting up the new laptop.

I think it is pretty accurate to say that most of this evening has been given over to removing all the things she did not want. Loading all her email history onto the external drive and  transferring on to the new computer.

Removing Norton, installing AVG and getting her version of Office installed on the new computer. Somehow the 60 day trial version of Office is defying all attempts to remove it. I've had to try and work out from the settings on  thunderbird how to configure her outlook distress account.

This involved lots of complicated arguments, deep concentration, with what could be described as random stabs at the keyboard.

A bit like watching Rodney Trotter really....

R   

Politics

I have always been interested in Politics, politically active even.

I have most of my life tended towards the left, being on the left of Plaid Cymru. I had a rare old time during the miners strike and of course was quite involved with opposition to the poll tax.

Back in the 90's I had a bit of a crisis of  conviction. This coincided with parenthood and moving to West Wales. I didn't lose my views, if anything the years have made them stronger.

When a young (well, younger than me anyway) woman called Leanne Wood decided to stand for leader of the Blaid it was enough to spring me back into politics. I rejoined Plaid Cymru.  My daughter Bethan and I went to Ammanford to see her launch her campaign. Bethan spent a little while talking with Leanne and is leaving the labour party to join Plaid.

Of course there was another meeting locally where we got to meet the local branch. The upshot of that was Bethan and me both being recruited to stand in the council elections in may.

Against this socialist backdrop there is a full on game of monopoly in going in the living room. Gwion has so much money he has just refinanced the bank!!!!  

life!!!!

Having been wrong, i was not in fact in work two days this week, just the one. Better still it was yesterday!

So today off went the student to do her first exam in 30 years. This was dealt with by a generous helping of stress and angst. It might have helped had she gone to the right room, of course, having been a student myself I should have known where she needed to go and not given her the wrong directions. She hasn't worked that one out yet so I won't be shareing it with anyone.

I was able to be all intelectual myself, producing a conference abstract of a paper which a couple of us have yet to write for a conference which is just a few weeks away. The lecturer in uni has designs on developing this paper and delivering it somewhere vaguely exotic like a conference in Oz for example. I havn't broken it to her yet that she can do that if she wants, but she'll be doing it without me.
 
R

Stress!!!

Stress is particularly bad for your health, she assures me of that. Of course she would know, that's the current essay.

Things are a bit lively here as, to add to our delights Serenity is getting nuptualed in July, a matter which seems to  require significant consolation about dress colours and something called a buttonhole. So long as no one button holes me to bring the step dad cheque book I will be happy.   Just turn up in one of my cars, the big green one will do I know the hotel she has chosen well. There's a bloody big lake and if someone expects me to sit through a wedding and behave myself, I might as well have some fun at the same time.

The weekend has been a busy one with lots of reworking of the water system outside and commissioning the central heating in next door. Of course these old houses take a deal of warming up and the jury is still out as to weather this boiler is man enough to heat it. It doesn't help at all that the chimney has not had proper heat in about 15 years so it's properly cold and wet. The final complication is ventilation. The one thing we did not think when we went for the refurb is doors and windows. Old fashioned doors and windows are a bit hit or miss in the sealing departing modern windows are nothing like. We seem to be dealing with not enough air getting into the building - could be issues to come there.   

This week is possibly going to be quite interesting. The student has two exams and I have two days work, the same two days.  So how that is going to work I am not sure.....

R

time to go shopping

Sometimes the student has bright ideas, sometimes she makes mistakes.

This morning she took 10 minutes off from essay writing to see if she could save us a few bob on the electricity and mobile phone. She filled in a few forms online, including our phone number.

My was that ever an error. I know now what a honey pot feels like if someone leaves it next to a bee hive. The phone has not stopped ringing as sales person after sales person calls to  practise their best over the phone closing technique on someone who trained as tele sales years ago and therfore knows most of them

Only one thing for it, follow the British Army advice about the H bomb, don't be there when it goes off. I will take the same policy with regards too the phone, don't be here when it rings. We're going to Morrisons!!!

I hope she didn't give any of them my mobile number...

Ohh and happy new year to you all, well unless you are trying to sell me something.  

R