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