Happy, happy, joy, joy.

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We picked up janis yesterday and, wow, she is looking good. The furniture is all completed and installed and the sink / hob has been fitted. Sadly, Paul didn't have time to do the plumbing or fit the gas kit but that is something I can do myself so no problems. Hazel and I are pretty tired after three hours out last night but we have to keep going for the next three days and then we can relax for our holiday.

Singing in the rain

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Last evening, it was the stage show.

Sal took me to see it at the Theatre Royal, excellent!

Also very cheap with her staff discount, excellent!

Home again, home again, jigetty jig.

Old English nursery rhyme.

We went on a holiday to Kent. I like Kent, it's where my dear wife was born and is called "The garden of England". The bit we went to was not, it was more "The armpit of England". I am biased, of course, the holiday was bad for many more reasons than just the venue. The place we went to was, and still is, between New Romney and Dungeness. It's an old Butlins camp now turned over to caravans and a few chalets. The caravan was old and showed it's age with several non matching door handles on the cupboards. The TV set worked fine until anyone moved near it or the aerial except when on BBC1 when it didn't work at all.

The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway runs through the site so we tried that. It's very well run and a very professional set up but it's also like travelling in a topless tunnel for most of the journey. It's difficult to be dismissive about that feature due to the nature of the railway itself. The company is, after all, a private one and runs for profit not tourists (in general anyway). The problem is mainly due to the fact that the railway was there first and the houses and gardens that flank the track obviously don't want to have hordes of nosy passengers looking into their property each time a noisy and smoke producing train goes past.

On the way up, we dropped janis off to VWPaul for her furniture to be installed. Paul was not well and we left her with him with the hope that he would recover soon. We are due to collect her on Thursday evening.

OK Fred

Song title

My friend Fred came around yesterday and joined me in the attic. He agrees, it's a very relaxing room. The only major issue at present is the heat up there. Until the planning permission issue is sorted, I won't feel much like installing the new Sky dish and until that is in, I can't block access to the roof for the puss cats. As a result, the door to the terrace can't be left open to cool the room. The windows are permanently open to the last safe notch but that only gives a very small exit for warm air. What we need is a great blast of cold air through the door.

Safety in numbers

Yesterday, I decided to make use of the new attic room and went up at about 9.00pm. The room is very welcoming and I played the BBC2 recording of Tubular Bells and read a couple of chapters of a book about Fred Dibnah. Then, when the music stopped, I had a bash at the workstation and tried several times to get it up and running again.

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Then I decided to listen to a Kenny Everett show recorded from BBC Radio 7 and I read a couple more chapters of the book about Fred. Then I went back to the workstation and played around a bit more and............. Lo, there was a breakthrough. I have managed to get the box to boot consistently into safe mode. This is, indeed, a bonus and it points me in the direction of my original suspicions. The whole thing fell over when there was a major update. The system was set to update everything, not just Microsoft files. I suspect it picked up a new NVidia driver which disagrees with my setup. When I re-installed the new drive, I also took the latest NVidia driver from the web site. I will try a new install with the original driver and see what happens. If that works, then I will be able to move forward again.

The lost weekend

Ray Milland film.

Well, the smack in the mouth really laid me out. On Thursday evening, Hazel asked me if I was all right and I just sat there and couldn't answer her or move or anything. Fortunately, she worked out what was going on and left me to it for a few minutes by which time I was able to speak again. I have had a terrible, long weekend and only now do I feel even a little bit better.

No work done on janis of course and very little work done elsewhere. Ian and I did, however, manage to carry the desk up to the attic with some help from Sal so that was a bonus.

A smack in the mouth often offends..............

Especially when you do it to yourself.

It wasn't toothache, it's the aftermath of me banging my face with the car door on Tuesday when leaving work. I didn't remember doing it until yesterday whilst talking to Fred and it suddenly all came back to me. This morning, I am in a lot of pain and there is no question as to whether it's a toothache or not. NOT! My cheek is swollen and I have the beginnings of a nasty bruise appearing. The worrying thought, however, is how I managed to forget something as painful as that bang with the door in such a short space of time............... A senior moment and then some!

Things are swinging.......

Peggy Lee

I will explain that later.

I am over the moon that my assessment of the problem with the satnav audio was so accurate. Not only because it is now working well but also because, if I had been wrong, I would have wasted £18.00. My only concern left is that it shouldn't pick up any interference from the engine.

I woke this morning with a minor toothache. This would not normally be a problem as I have a checkup due in a couple of weeks time anyway. However, I am away for a week in about ten days time and then abroad for two weeks a week after that. We shall see.

I watched the final episode of "First of the summer wine" yesterday. What a great program. Only two series of six and the pilot but very well written, acted and produced. I just wish there could have been more although I can see why they ended when they did.

The explanation.

A song title and also the title of a classic Peggy Lee album.

Tuna anyone?

It was an interesting weekend, Saturday is already documented and the spelling mistake corrected.

Sunday, I spent all day working in janis re-building the mains input to avoid the sharp edges in the roof. The result is almost exactly as I imagined it would be except for the unfortunate fact that I have screwed the box up very slightly askew. Do I take it down and start again or ignore it because there is a fair chance no-one else will notice it anyway?

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I watched a bit of TV last evening and, just as I was about to go up for my shower, the movie "Van Helsing" came on. As it got such poor reviews, I thought I would watch the opening sequence and move on. Two and a half hours later, I watched the credits roll and tottered off for my very late shower.

The sisters are being pampered at present, Hazel is giving them little treats when she thinks I'm not looking. The latest is a tin of tuna between them. Not any old tuna mind, no, they get well drained spring water canned tuna because anything else they would refuse.

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(Very soft but heartfelt scream!)

A small shopping expedition

As we had Samuel with us today, it was decided to embark on a small shopping expedition to keep him occupied and to stock up the larder for the week to come. It seemed like a good idea so we, Samuel, Sally Hazel and I went to the big Tesco at Lee Mill in order to entertain Samuel and buy some small items.Whilst there, we decided to have a meal in the cafe and then get on with the business of the day. The meal was very nice except for the fact that I was bought a steak and ale pie in my absence and it tasted more than a bit strong to a teetotaler like me. However, we all had a good meal and were satisfied so off to the shopping. Whilst in such a big shop, we really had to check out the clothes, after all - there is a wedding at the end of the month. Next we all go looking for a cheap toy for Samuel. Then it's off to just pick up the few small items we need for the following week.

£101.00

Let me just run that past you again with the cost of the meal included.

£118.00

Ye gods and little fishes!

I must go and lie down now, I feel in need of a darkened room.