Hot evening and Jools Holland playing. But I have to attend to my faithful and despairing audience. (Adjusts hat on swelled head)

Henry phoned to say ‘Dad, you’ve dropped off the radar. Are you OK?’ He’s good, is Henry. (Basks)

Well I’ve had a few minor health thingys - but mostly Herself has been flat-chat on teeny-tinying for Fairs and web-site orders. I’m so proud of her and what she does. And then there’s the computery.

It’s simple, right? We have a Small Office. 3 PC’s and 1 laptop. 4 printers. We used to have a network which is hard-wired. Installed by a PERSON when I could afford to pay someone. Good. Got new m/c’s and want to re-build network. Simple. Oh mother - !!!!

One step at a time. Sneak up on it. Move computers to sites. Yup. Scrabble about under desks (again) to locate network connections and cables. Yup. Connect PC’s to wiring with existing cables. Yup. Being fussy I labelled the original cables - 1, 2, 3. Spare cable for laptop marked ’spare’. Find cable labelled 5. Huh? Move on.

Go to PC World and buy 5 port switch. Bring home. Open box and scratch head. Back of box has 5 ports for ethernet cables and connector for power. Front has 9 little lights with no markings. Huh?

Return to PC World saying - Huh? Nice man (they’re all VERY NICE) phones supplier saying ‘5 port switch in 8 port box what do lights mean?’ Well, apparently that was impossible. And went on for some time.

After all that he said ‘I wouldn’t do it that way anyway’.

Return confused 5 port switch. Buy new box. Open bottle.

What is it with computery?

I’ve signed on to a single interest chat group (if that’s the right term). The interest is an author of childrens’ books and the books he wrote. Innocent - non-political. The people in the group are so horrid to others. Which is so far outside the core themes of the books he wrote. (Alright - it’s Arthur Ransome and the Swallows and Amazons books. If you haven’t read them - you should)

How should we deal with people who are being verbally horrid? By bypassing what they say and looking forward to positive things, not back to negative ones.

Easy to say. Very hard to do. And I fail, from time to time. After all, he WAS rude - wozznit??

Have a peaceful week, friends - Dad

Well. I had a bad night, OK? So when the question of breakfast arose I thought - ‘Stuff it - I want kippers’ Because we have hidden away real Manx kippers. Fried in butter they are GORGEOUS!! Urp!

Then I came to the challenge of installing the new computery. Head in hands. Lying on the floor. Wondering why x didn’t work. And.

But it’s there. Next problem - re-build the network. Not today.

Now shield your eyes, you delicate female persons but I have a problem. NO - NOT that problem.
I’m sick and tired of stupid spam mail about medication and my pesonal bits and pieces. But try this one:

Wow! Check out this huge enlargement patch sale!

Hmm.

This is a sale of a patch that only works for huge enlargements?
The patch to be sold consists of a huge enlargement?
This is the biggest ever sale of h.e.patches?

How can we stop this revolting stuff? I’m old, mildly wise and unsurprised by most things - BUT
I don’t need this - and my dear wife who also sees this stuff certainly doesn’t need it!! And they don’t speak English either!!

Dad’s thoughts today?

Every decade our life objectives change. It seems to work almost exactly at the zero - 10 / 20 / 30 / & etc. Have you revised your objectives for your next decade? You really should. It will change your life and you need to change your life. Go in peace - Dad

I know this thing.

At the Pyrford pub half a pint of lemon & lime is £1.80 and a pint is £3.07. Huh?

How do I know? I foned Spirit Group. 7 times. Listened to so-called music for 15 mins and hung up on 4 times and switched to The Cruise Store call centre in Accrington once. Cor!

FINALLY got a Manager having been told there were none - do they think I’m totally stupid or merely mildly daft?

We got on fine. I said I had been abused and what were they going to do about that? Call back Monday. Also asked how a pint of l & l could cost £3 plus given what 2 litres of lemonade costs in Tescos. Huh.

More news as it unfolds.

Dad

B RILLIANT NEWS!! Herself had an urgent brain scan for a possible brain tumour - ‘It’s probably nothing - -’ - and then learned she had to wait 4 months for the result. Talk about the elephant in the room. The two of us carefully NOT MENTIONING IT. Why not phone the hospital? Actually because having phoned 8 times - always engaged - one loses hope. Why not ask your GP? Perhaps. Well I’m in some danger of taking this up because I love you to bits and this is stupid. Oh well. She did. And he phoned last night and said ‘All clear - nuffink’ All gone elephant, return to what passes for normal living. Please be happy for her (and me - a bit)

Lovely gentle rain for about 4 hours this morning so no need to water the new plants. Mind you the humidity now is about 120% so we’re both working on computers and not moving much. I’ve never thought of wringing out a polo shirt before.

Which brings me to the great computer re-jig. Well. New Toshiba Laptop installed and working. If you remember I scored a £100 plus VAT (!) credit on a special offer price. So that’s a result.

We have been burrowing under desks and clearing out stuff we should have binned ages ago to make room for moving other stuff about. So off to the tip today with a dead fax, a dead shredder and 3 huge bags of paper including a mound of shredded special stuff. Then out with the vacuum cleaner to remove n years’ worth of dust. And we found all sorts of wires and widgets disconnected in the past and left languishing by the folks we used to be able to afford to do this for us. Why leave it lying there? People can be weird. Phew. Despite the rain we were hot and sweaty and it’s a right pain rolling about under desks.

The rain having cooled things down I went for the next phase - moving old PC (renamed PC 3) from Desk 2 to Desk 3 in the Library. Now don’t laugh. For my work over the years I’ve acquired a library of about 1,000 books and they had to go somewhere. So having had one of the original two garages converted to make an office (v. smart it is too) I then quite illegally had a Library with shelves, a big stationery cupboard and a desk etc built into half the remaining garage. The rest of the space is filled with - well - more stuff. Plus a motor scooter with only 500 miles on it and a decrepit bicycle from the days when - -. This PC won’t be on the network (it’s only Windows 2000 which HATES networking) but has much stuff on it and is v. useful.

So we moved it. I got sweaty and dusty but we turned it on and it’s fine. Phew! Now we move PC 2 from Desk 1 to Desk 2 and plumb it in to the network. Puff. THEN we install brand new PC 1 on Desk 1 as a server and finish the network with an internet link through a new hub. Wozzit.

I’m sure you found that fascinating. But it’s like that down here in Dorset.

Meanwhile the birds with their young bring great pleasure - and we now have Mr & Mrs Jay plus two new kids. These birds are so shy that it’s a great treat to see them feeling secure in the garden - eating, bathing and generally owning the place.

I have come to loathe e-mail. People can be so nasty. And it’s so easy to be misunderstood. I joined a blog ring related to a particular interest of mine and having watched for a while posting something meant to be upbeat and positive. But I was a newcomer and NOT part of the establishment. So rocks fell on my head for daring to be challenging (called aggressive).

So my thoughts today are to take especial care over e-comms. Try not to trample on people - not that you would!

We are all governed by perception, not fact. Managing other people’s perception is a key element in effective communication.

Hmm. Sounds like a lecture - so please read it as I intended it, not as you see it. (Perception, see?)

Have a peaceful day - Dad

A funny day today. The Management Committee (Herself and I take the notes) decided that it was too hot for me to go to the gym. Oh well. The part of me that suffers from errors of omission and commission felt guilty. The other bit - with the sweaty socks and underwear - thought ‘That’s a good idea’.

Then there’s the on-going installation of computery. Well, who would expect anyone to crawl under desks in this weather? But I’ll think about it - honest.

So I turned to and wrote significant e-mails to people. With attachments. So that’s OK.

Does music make you cry? In my youf (sic) I was a chorister in both Church and Abbey (a.k.a. Cathedral) and sang in other choirs. No more. That hurts quite a lot, in truth. But today I loaded John Denver on the m/c as I typed away and off he went. There are two songs that reduce me to tears. Sunshine on my shoulders and My sweet lady. Done. Finished. Tears pouring down my face. I’ve thought about that and concluded (rightly or wrongly) that as I have aged I understand much more clearly the significance of the words. This leads to an awful thought - one day I will be old enough to understand it all - and the moment I do I’ll snuff it before I can explain it to anyone. Spooky or what?

I’ve been scanning and sending stuff from my past to sundry people and children. As I said in my last post I missed out on my Dad. But will anyone care a damn about my history? Probably not. Just more baggage.

What a pathetic blog. But I’ll let it stand.

Dad’s thought today?

Winners are part of the answer but Losers are part of the problem. So don’t be a Loser - OK?

Have a peaceful day - Dad

It’s swelteringly hot (100 degs in old money) and Emmy Lou Harris is singing.

New computers today - and what a total pain it is. Plug and play? Plug and swear a great deal.

To make room for the new stuff and fire up the network we have to shift stuff. What stuff? Opening long closed boxes and saying - ‘Grief!’ The Tip is going to get a battering when we get all this old stuff down there. BUT - Wait a moment. Some of this stuff may be of historic value (well a bit, anyway) aaargh. Would my dear offspring like to have this? Oh Hell.

It’s too hot to say much. But - Dad thought -

‘To thine own self be true’ Shakespeare and Hamlet. Yup. What self are you? Perhaps a mix of attentive nature and assertive behaviour? That’s quite good.

Your Self?

Go on - think about it and then LIVE IT!

May your God go with you, friends - Dad

My Father died when I was in my thirties and knocking myself out with my career. So I never asked him about his life - because I know he’d always be thgere and I could ask him next week. Phut. Will my offspring feel the same?