It is close on 9pm at night on Wednesday I have experienced an itsy bits miracle in that the desk top is back to life again. I am going to try and record the steps taken which led to this important development and which underlines the wisdom of not having panicked or rushed to the repair shop
The day did not begin well in that it was 9 and a very bleary eyes me struggled downstairs without shaving doing me hair and such like. The late starts was my fault. Last night after watching Wallander and the last episode of Desperate Romantics and not ready for bed or wanting to write I decided to do some housekeeping of the lap top and confused a chess game (which I did not like and removed because the board was flat and not three dimensional as the one on the desk top and involved payment,) with games provided by Acer. I started to delete these before remembering that I had not previously tried any. In fact it proved to be a little loss because I had kept four of the score provided and these proved to be demo’s where you can play for an hour and then have to buy if you continue. They were of the kind which requires visual awareness, where there are the objects hidden and mouse dexterity with the shooting kind which reminds that I do have games joysticks from the days where I would spend hours of time playing games of the day before the development of the big idea. These games also require short term memory which sometimes works but usually does not and so are a good ay of keeping the faculties in trim with great effort. I became engaged with a couple oft he Acer games and it was closer to 1.30 than 1 before I went to bed
The story continued to day when I went back to one called Mysterious island at lunch time. The basic design is that of having been abandoned on an island one has collect clues to create a map to get across the island to where a shop calls to take you back to the mainland. There are twelve major stages and five steps within each stage and each stage can take for 2 to 5 minutes to complete. Four of the steps comprises a pack of cards face down with some appearing and where you have to match pairs, using keys to unlock areas, Jokers and Magnet to help you clear the deck. The fifth steps in each stage is to be confronted with an ocean depth scene in which dozens of objects are secret and when you have to identify the location of six to eight items. You use Hint which indicates the small area but not which item one looking for. Identify all the listed objects in each scene and you gain a piece of the island map. The whole game takes between three to five hours and a short while ago I completed. Given the demo play time is only 60 mins it is evident you are allowed to play the whole game if you persist and are able to before it advised that to play again you need to buy the game. The game does not require skill or imagination, just persistence and is therefore ideal for the completer finisher in me to relax and prove a point to myself in between doing all the other things needed to be accomplished.
It had not been a good night as on waking I had the beginnings of cramp in one leg, not once but twice and it was nine am before waking to get up for the day. Then I noticed the weather, persistent rain full grey clouded autumnal sky although it is not cold. Just miserable gloomy. I therefore made a text and sent an email, enjoyed a coffee, cleared the washing up of the previous night and watered the indoor plants which looks as if these need to be thrown out having survived from Christmas. On the agenda before the week is out!
In the set up of the lap top as desk I had enlarged the print size but with the toolbars and adverts there is barely room to read received and written emails so I changed the print back to the original. This took time. One reason for the new problem is that I loaded the AOL radio bar on to the lap top which allows one to listen to the widest range of music. There are adverts with an announcement that they will last 2 mins or whatever so one can turn the sound off, The advantage of this music over Sky is the wide choice so that there are channels for all kinds of choice as well as the opportunity to listen to local live stations throughout the USA. I still use Deezer but in a recent deal with i Tunes the sound quality seems to have deteriorated.
I then checked the writing of the previous two days and found that I needed to add the code for the Blogger which upload first before MySpace as there are usually message to also attend to. Could I remember or find the code and this led to dissatisfaction over the state of the downstairs with so much requiring immediate attention and the decision to make a systematic sort out, sort through, to find the required code and to organise and tackle the outstanding work in a systematic way, and having started this I also decided to make these notes as a reminder to myself that I need be on top of work to be able to enjoy working and my average daily experience. In fact this mishap led the desk top computer working again. Silver lining with every cloud blah blah
First area checked was the trolley by the window. Then emptied the waste bin and shredder and decided to attach the curtain fully to the rail so that it can be drawn properly at night and then vacuum the whole floor, I then went through the various piles of papers until finding the code, and consequently uploaded the latest completed Blog on Google and MySpace. However the clean and sorting and getting everything in order bug had bit so I vacuumed the hallway. I then placed the pile of completed cards into the relevant folders. I had cleared the table except for the laptop disconnected from everything else in order to fix the curtain and then recover with the brown cloth which I had washed and dried earlier in the week. The back of the computer had become very dusty and so I used the vacuum cleaner to clear the dust. I then reassembled just with the monitor and mouse and wunderbar, it worked as if nothing had happened. However one solution always leads to another problem and the printer has come up with a notice about routine maintenance which I need to check and the keyboard does not work which may be the cause of the problem as when the machine went wrong it was almost like a stuck key. However I am not tempting the fates and the intention is to first save on disk everything that I need to do before moving on and closing down although a restart has worked twice. The turning off later worked well but the printer looks as if has not recovered from a paper jam but I went to bed more content that recently. One reason being that a slight reorganisation around the desk and TV unit means that I can get behind to the book case without having to crawl under the table and that I can draw back the curtain properly and tie back which gives greater light space and enjoy all the plants and flowers without moving. Bonza bonza.
Yesterday was a reasonable to good day. I worked until time for the dentist which involved two fillings and the use of new laser equipment. £45 the cost.
I then made my way to the bus station where everyone was uncertain if the yesterday’s strike which affected Sunderland buses was continuing. I wanted the 35 service which appeared to be operating in pairs. The purpose of the visit was the replacement of the glasses and I have a frame similar to my present one with oval lens rather than the square shaped ones. This was less expensive and as a consequence the extra over the insurance worked out at £20 in additional money. It will be ready in three weeks. I have glass lens with are the slimmest varyfocals. It will be great to have pair of spectacles that I am able to wear every day instead of the present lens where the coating was scraped off the right had glass with the fall is visible to others although does not affect my viewing.
I celebrated the event by having lunch. I went to Wilkinson’s to see if they had any of the 40 page volumes and they were sold out and then I noticed the sign to the coffee shop and restaurant on the fourth floor and took the escalator. The restaurant coffee shop occupies the whole of the top floor so there are well over fifty tables across two separately decorated areas. The average price of a meal is £5 but they do pension specials with a choice of roasts and other dishes for £3 50. They operate on the same basis as Morrison’s in that you order the dish and are allocated a number written on a small sheet of paper. Nothing fancy like a display stand as at Morrison’s. When ready an assistant comes out calling the number and sometimes had to walk the length of both areas. My number was 67 and came quickly whereas others who had ordered before had to wait longer. The food was basic. Pork, some cabbage, carrots, mash potato, some peas and a miserable Yorkshire pudding. Nevertheless it was enjoyable and satisfying. Just as well because there was chaos at the bus stop. There are a dozen places along the High street and some buses stop twice at either end so often there are half a dozen stopping coming and going along the one way system throughout the day. Now there were long periods of minutes with not a bus in sight. There were lots of inspectors and other staff in yellow jackets making a note of the time when buses came. I got on the first, the E1. There was no sign of the E2 E6 or 35 which all go to South Shields. This one was packed with standing room squashed. The 35 is the direct route passing near Fulwell to Cleadon and then straight into Shields. The E 1 is next best because it follows the coast road to Marsden then goes in land before going back to the coast along the main promenade area and turns into Ocean Road stopping by the Park close to Law Road and short walk up hill home. Usually the bus empties along the outskirts of Sunderland and then at the stop close to Morrison’s and then in Whitburn. However the majority of people, including many children stayed all way as far as the stop before mine by the South Marine Park and opposite the funfair and beach. The weather was warm and bright although rain was forecast and it was mid afternoon, so the number coming to the attractions and amenities was excellent and I wondered if this was regular during the summer school holidays. If so it is surprising given the splendid beaches at Roker and Seaburn but there are nothing like the amenities and attractions of the front at South Shields.
It is 11.30pm and I have made progress. I am typing this on the re booted to the desk top which had been shut down and rebooted again. I could not get the speakers to work but the headphones are excellent which suggests there may be a problems with some of the USB slots at the rear. I have also commenced making disk of the all the current information on the desk top. I am use once only DVDs writes so I am wasting space by wanting to separate the information. I have to far created a disks for thee MySpace Blog writings 2008 and 2009 and the existing Google disk will continue to write.
The Wallander episodes concerned the problem of illegal immigrants coming to Sweden in container lorries and where an abandoned containers found with everyone dead except for a baby. The episode was intended to raise the issue as a matter of public debate in Sweden as an order of nuns was behind the traffic from the highest motives, using an internal voluntary body who in turn used criminals to bring in the refugees at a price. However in this instance the main motive of the criminals was to bring in drugs. Wallander’s daughter was one of those finding the bodies and this affected her greatly. The police discover that the baby was part of a family where the older children had travelled earlier and the episodes ends with them being allowed to stay because they have became orphans and placed with foster parents. The trade in humans wanting to come Europe to escape poverty, disease and persecution will continue as will the traffic in drugs.
Desperate Romantics came to and end and I wonder if the approach of the writers and editors reflects the life the group led. They quickly became a dislikeable group preoccupied with stealing each other’s women with Rossetti chasing every and any woman and then tiring and going in search of another. The programme also raised the issue of Ruskin’s preoccupation with under age girls although he vehemently denied his interest was sexual. The series ended with the death of Ms Siddons which was presented as suicide covered up as accidental overdose of laudanum. The series was visually stunning and people still enjoy their paintings but they made no other contribution to their society.
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