"Communication is a problem to be answered"

and I'm sure 10cc were right, even if they didn't mean communications between computers!

Noreen bought a new laptop yesterday. Ironically enough, it was purchased because the old one had a faulty wireless adapter and had a problem somewhere in the comms software stack. Being old, it seemed like it was better value to replace it (and get all her data streamed across) than spend more money on a 4 year old machine.

Connecting it to the router was no problem (enter the "key" and that was it). Connecting to eMail was no problem either (having all the details in a "little black book" helps. And if anyone wonders, isn't black, it isn't a book, and I'm not going to tell you what it is, where it is or what else it contains!). I noticed that the wireless connection "dropped" once, but put it down to gremlins. Connecting to the existing wireless printer proved much more of a problem. The instructions say that I may have a problem with the firewall. Well, that may be so, but I disabled it for the installation. I also noticed that the wireless connection is "dropping" quite a lot.

Yesterday evening, Noreen and the girls were using the internet on the new machine. Everything works well, when it works which isn't all the time. The signal strength is reported as varying from "Good" down to "Poor". Other things (like this laptop) connected to the same router have no problems. I guess it's back to Anthony, the fellow who supplied the laptop, on Tuesday, after the break.

Setting up eMail accounts - capchas

I've just finished helping my wife set up some eMail accounts. Well, I did one and she did two after I had shown her. Such a simple task, but a little tedious. I'm glad I don't have to do loads of them. And of course, it's made that bit more tricky by having a "capcha" in the middle to prevent bots from creating loads of accounts automatically. I understand the need for them, but I do find them irritating. My character recognition doesn't always agree with the machines!

Cleaning, exam marking and contemplation

The two tasks today have been spring-cleaning and marking exams.

Spring cleaning is something that we do traditionally at this time of the year. It's a chore, but it can be fun. It's important to realise that things are scruffy and that clearing them up is a good thing.

Marking exams was just one of those things which needs to be done. It earns an honest shilling and I'm good at it (though I do get bored).

And contemplation... it's a beautiful day. I think I will go for a longish walk this evening. I've also realised that some pent-up anger I was feeling towards some people really served no useful purpose. Unfortunately, it was being angry about something else that made me realise this. Anger is such a useless emotion (except perhaps when it leads to immediate action). I'm not saying I've got rid of the feelings, but I think I am on the way to disposing of them.

A new affirmation

I don't know why, but I decided to change my "affirmation". The new one is:

I am:

• Competent,
• Confident,
• Successful,
• Achieving my goals,
• And Happy.

Part of a New Year's resolution achieved - That's satisfying!

The last year has been very disrupted for me. I changed (or lost) as job and have moved house (country). As a result of "the move" I still have lots of possessions (mostly books and papers) in storage boxes. This in itself is not really a bad thing, but it has created an opportunity for me to put-off some administrative work that I really should have done.


At the same time, I've taken up improving my Russian. I already had a number of textbooks, and I found (or rather didn't find) that the Russian-English dicitionary I wanted was in one of the boxes I had not unpacked. In a funny indirect way, that was the trigger for me to start sorting out the accumulated admin work.

Once I had started I found the task, that I had probably been avoiding, went more quickly and more easilly than I had been expecting. The apparent volume of the papers shrunk when I removed the envelopes and unfolded the papers. The actual sorting took relatively little time.

It was at this point that a little serendipity crept in. I went to the computer to print out the manifest which lists the contents of all the boxes (in a basic sort of way) and noticed that one of the three boxes standing next to it said "Russian" on the label. Sure enough, the Russian dictionary was in there! I printed the manifest anyway, I expect I'll need it in the next few days.

None of this was a "New Year's Resolution", but it was all on my "List of things to do". All in all quite satisfactory!

Learning a new language - Russian

Part of my New Year's resolutions - write something in the diary every day. This is a start.

For the past week I've been warming up my Russian. It's years since I used it at all, and I was expecting to get nowhere. Actually I've been pleasantly surprised. Bits are coming back to me, and not just the numbers and standard phrases that everyone seems to remember. I'm remembering the patterns for the regular verbs.

The thing I find most difficult, is listening to people speaking Russian. I have some software which has a good number of examples. I expect (hope) that the producers used native speakers. Anyway, that's the bit I find hardest. I seem to be making progress. It's as sort of "tuning in" process. My hearing or understanding is becoming more attuned to listening to Russian.

And for the rest of the day, I have some ECDL (European Computer Driving License) scripts to mark. This has been delayed a little because there was a mix-up with the exam papers and the CD containing what the students had done. I was given the wrong CD, and so had nothing to mark. Still, no harm done and it shouldn't take me too long to work through them.

Outside the sun is shining, and reflecting off the frost on the grass. A bright, pleasant day. I may take some of it off to go for a walk.

Does it get any better than this? - Count your curses!

(Written off-line on 3rd July 2010 and added after the event.)

Hint. Only do this if you are feeling pretty confident already!

Today is the first, or maybe the second (depending count) day of my holiday this year. Some things have gone well. Some things have gone less well. It's 11 o'clock in the evening, and I thought I would review the day. Being in a slightly perverse frame of mind, I thought I would look at the things that are not as I would wish them to be:
1) The lock on the tail-gate of my newly purchased car is not working as it should. This gave me an unpleasant surprise when I found it would not remain closed, never mind lock!
2) We arrived too early at the holiday cottage we had booked.
3) When we eventually got in: we found that the cottage does not have a microwave in the kitchen.
4) ... in some places the beams are so low that my head brushes them (and I'm not over average height).
5) The batteries in both my hearing aids decide to give out when I was out this evening.
6) The vilage has only three pubs!
There, I've got that off my chest. It's a reasonably short list...

Let's address them one my one...
1) This is a nuisance, but within a few minutes of realising that there was a problem, I had identified a temporary work-around. A few minutes later, my host had shown me how to make the lock work for the duration of my holiday. The problem can be fixed when I get back to base and I talk with the people who supplied me with the car. (and it isn't a problem they would have known about anyway.)
2) ... so we went and had a look at Cardigan, which is a wonderful town. My wife did some "essentials" shopping and I found two interesting places to eat while she was doing that.
3) ... so we'll (maybe even I'll) have to re-learn how to cook!
4) ... and it oozes character. My wife thinks it is marvelous, and so do I!
5) ... and I've just changed them ...
6) ... and there isn't a dud among them. In fact, it was a quiet night (odd for a Saturday) so I was able to talk with some of the locals. The beer is good too.

Now on the positive side:
*) The village (Cilgerran) has several things which I find really pleasant: It has a castle (pictures, more pictures), and I took a walk down by the river, and then I persuaded the family to come down there as well.
*) The cottage is growing on me already. I shall spend a little time working out how it has developed over the years. Definitely 100 years old, the question is how much more?
*) The garden is great...
*) ...and there are bats! Great!
*) ...and the pubs are really, REALLY good (if you want a quiet drink).
*) ...and there are Ordnance survey maps of the area in the cottage
So I'm really looking forward to tomorrow!

Q: Does it get any better than this? A: It could, but not much.

Postcard:
Hope you are well. Having great time in Wales. Love, OB!