Thursday 26 December 2013

Changes ahoy, what?

AND FINALLY, our new Office 2013 program decides to upload on about the forty-first attempt.

See, our old PC has finally gone to cyberspace heaven – it was over ten years old, and for a computer, these days, that makes it of a decrepit oldness.

Unfortunately, it means much of our old software no longer works, either – or if it does work, not properly. And that includes our old (pirated) version of Office 2003.

I've had to bite the bullet and purchase the new suite – and that's where the fun and games have really begun.

If I was expecting a disk, I was disappointed. For the highway robbery sum of £94 I was sent an empty box!

Or at least, so it first appeared.

In fact they actually sent me a box containing download instructions and a product key number.

The idea is that you log into your Microsoft account, type in the product number and they will download your new program – or app, as they have started calling everything.

Oh dear, oh dear…

Over and over again the app began to download and then hit a problem. That's just what the message said, "We've hit a problem" – without indicting what the problem actually was.

So here am I, fuming with increasing levels of frustration, and for nearly two weeks I'm cursing Microsoft and all its works as the creations of the devil.

And I just decide to seek professional help when, early on Christmas morning, I try the download one last time and miracle of miracles, it starts to work! I'm greeted with a cheery message welcoming me to my new Office suite.

Maybe it's their idea of surprise Christmas present!

Anyway, here I am, typing out my first document on my new Word app, just in time to wish everybody a slightly belated Merry Christmas.

Better late than never, I guess…

Wednesday 2 October 2013

Good to be home



HI, THERE, guys and gals, hope all’s well with you all out there in cyberland.

Once again I must apologise for my inaction on the blogging front – I’ve just come back from holidays, and I’m exhausted! I’m beginning to think I need a holiday from all these holidays!

Trouble is I’m much more active when I’m away than I am whilst at home – I’m driving much more, and pushing My Good Lady around a lot more than usual.

And it must be said rural Provence is not the easiest terrain to be pushing wheelchairs, however beautiful it may be in other respects.

Certainly, the little village where we stayed was hilly enough to get me puffing and panting. And the three-hour drive from Nice wasn’t exactly a pleasure either, especially after a horrendous flight out from Manchester’s terminal one and the brief, sleepless night at the airport hotel.

However, all these pains and frustration faded into nothing as we sat in the open air restaurant in the village square, dining out under the stars. Pure Mediterranean magic!

Unfortunately, we had to repeat the journey out on coming back. Hence my state of near exhaustion. Still, we’re slowly getting on top of things and domestic normality seeps back onto us.

And we welcome back an old friend today, too – a two-hundred year old great grand-father clock that has been out for the last month for it’s regular ten-year repair and service. And the Big Fellah has got his chimes back, too. Glorious to hear him bonging away the hours again after over a decade of silence.

So here we are, boys and girls, home again as autumn creeps up upon us with it’s “mists and mellow fruitfulness”.

And I’m pleased to say it’s good to be home.


Saturday 10 August 2013

Much exercised



WE’RE MUCH exercised, at the moment, with garden matters – as I mentioned in my last posting.

A designer chap has been round with some suggested plans, but frankly we don’t feel any of them really hits the spot.

Trouble is, we don’t quite know what we do want.

I suppose what we’d really love is for Alan Titchmarsh to ring the doorbell with a full set of plans and a team of willing helpers to transform the whole place while we luxuriate in some comfy hotel and not give the matter a second thought.

Failing this, however, we’ve had some serious head-scratching to do.

The various books and web sites on the subject we’ve looked at all agree that the first question to ask yourself is what you want to use the garden for.

And the truthful answer is, not very much. We just want a peaceful place we can sit out in on a warm, summer day where we can enjoy a nice cool drink and a game of dominoes. As much as possible the garden should be home to as varied a selection of wildlife as possible, while requiring as little attention from us as is practical.

A simple enough aspiration you would think? Not so, it seems.

Gardens left to their own devices tend to end up rather like our present one – overgrown and overrun with extraneous green matter to such an extent that we can’t even see the far end, let alone walk down to it.

There’s no such thing, it appears, as a completely labour-free garden.

We are reluctant to go down the all-concrete route to a solution, but what to do?

Like I say, we are much exercised…

Friday 28 June 2013

A new boy in the school



WE ARE SITTING in that institutionalised emblem of middle class respectability – the local golf club.

Rather nice it is, too. What, with windows on three sides, looking out over the greens and out, panoramically, over the spectacular sweep of Morecambe Bay.

They serve a really nice pint of Tetley’s bitter here, too.

And yes, I rather shamefacedly have to admit we are the newest members here.

Personally, I feel like a new boy in the school – it’s all rather strange and unreal and I’m a bit like a fish out of water.

Never in a million years would I have believed I’d ever be member of a golf club. I’ve always been too much of an inverted snob; something in my working class roots rebels at the idea.

And yet, here I am!

Oh, the explanation is simple enough. Quite a few of our friends from the Geriatrics’ Corner of the Pub have migrated here. They’ve been happy enough to sign us in as guests, but after our third or fourth visit we began to feel it unfair for them to keep doing so.

So after a brief struggle with my conscience, I’ve decided to abandon my principles and become a member.

The class war will never miss me.

And the Tetley’s is very good.

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Home ground



YES, INDEED, we’re back from our hols, as readers of My Good Lady’s web log will know.

It was a good one, too – despite the craziness of Italian motorists. Speed seems to be the only thing they care about and nothing and no one is going to slow them down. Not road conditions, not weather – and certainly not careful, elderly English drivers who just want to potter along and admire the scenery.

Still, we’re home safe and sound.

And we’re already booking our next venture abroad – the south of France this time.

In the meantime, we’ve consulted a designer to help us sort out our rather overgrown back garden.

Time was, when we first moved into this property with its rather extensive rear jardin, I was a keen gardener, and happy to have a go at keeping the thing in control.

Ill health and a general lackadaisicalness has put paid to that.

Our present jungle is overrun with self-seeded trees, a badly scratchy lawn, and borders that are a playground for weeds.

The winds of this last springtime have also left their mark, too, with fences down all over the place.

Drainage needs some serious attention to stop it becoming a rice paddy in parts, and as for the crazy paving on the patio – that’s so badly cracked and weed-strewn that it needs a serious overhaul.

All of this of course is music to the designer’s ears – he must think we’ve won the lottery or some such.

Anyhow, he’s promised to bring a tree and plant man round to see what can be done and draw up some sketches of possible improvements.

So, we’re in the market for a garden makeover, and we’re just hoping the cost isn’t too exorbitant.




  

Monday 1 April 2013

March stuff...



YUP, IT’S end-of-month blog time again. Hope everyone’s okay out there in cyberspace land. I’m not doing too badly, although my tum is still giving me a bit of gyp.

Spring has supposedly sprung – I just wish they’d remembered to let the weather know!

I ought to be busy with my vegetables, but I’ve not yet dared to. We’ve had such a string of cold, blowy days and heavily frosty nights that I doubt if anything will “take” at the moment.

Actually, I’m a bit in two minds about growing things again; last year was such a dispiriting wash-out I can’t help feeling it’s a waste of effort and money.

I heard on Gardner’s Question Time (BBC Radio 4, Sundays) the other week one of the experts say that there’s very little point in growing your own tomatoes and peas and green beans and potatoes – it’s cheaper to buy all that at the supermarket. Don’t go for the ordinary, try for the expensive and more exotic.

The problem with this is that I don't know how much more successful at growing the likes of courgettes and artichokes I’d be.

In any case I’m not sure how much My Good Lady and I even enjoy the taste of aubergines and celery and the like… so what’s the point of growing them?

I might give the veg a miss this year, and when the weather finally perks up, I’ll just fill my raised beds with flowers.

Meanwhile my experimental cookery sessions have grown apace – I seem to be doing them three times a week now.

Not always successfully, though, I must admit. Some of my stews and risottos and the like have proved less than enjoyable – or even edible… These one-pot recipes can end up a bit monotonous. We’re bored with them after the second mouthful.

Still my lamb curry tomorrow should be okay.

My Italian language learning has begun in earnest, and I find it a lot harder than my previous efforts in French were. Almost every word ends in tongue-twisting vowel.

MGL has been busy reading up about the area of this coming holiday, and she tells me that we’re more likely to find German spoken in our region – that, or some local dialect that not even native Italian speakers can comprehend.

Sometime I wonder if I don’t make a rod for my own back!

Arrivederci, ciascùno!




Tuesday 5 March 2013

February things...



A SPOT of what I suspect is food poisoning has made me late for my end-of-month posting for February… please forgive.

Anyhow, our month seems to have been taken up with holiday plans – we’ve decided to risk Italy again this year. (I know, I know, some folk never learn from past mistakes!)

At least this time we’re going to the other end of the country, Venice, the Dolomites and the Italian Lakes.

We’ve discovered this dinky hotel up on Lake Molveno, which looks so pretty and peaceful, and if comments on Trip Adviser are to go by, is excellent in matters both of hospitality and cuisine.

And best of all it has an adapted room which is wheelchair accessible – just right for My Good Lady.

Our plan – which is still in the flux stage – is to fly to Venice and drive up in a rental car; a couple of weeks of peace and relaxation and plenty of good books, then a couple of final nights in the Serene Republic itself.

Sounds like bliss – no?

Mentioning books, MGL and I have been wondering whether to invest in one of Kindle type e-book readers.

The honest truth is we’re both a little nervous of technology – it tends to break down on us. Books – proper books – don’t pack up on you just as you reach the story’s dénouement.

Oh, I know you can’t carry hundreds of titles in one slim package – but why should we want to? A couple of good authors each should be plenty to keep us thrilled and entertained.

Pair of Luddites, or what?



Tuesday 29 January 2013

January posting



A NEW YEAR’S resolution – I promise to try to post at least one end-of-month blog.  

How was your Christmas?

Ours was quiet, very quiet. We had been invited to pass the festive day with friends, but decided against it. What, with My Good Lady’s health issues and my own general unsettledness, we thought it wiser to spend the day at home, alone.

Actually, we enjoyed ourselves by watching Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, and then having our traditional Christmas dinner of cooked turkey breast topped with cream and cheese.

It was the first time in about six years that we’ve had the big day at home, and very relaxing it was too.

Health issues continue to preoccupy us. MGL’s pancreatitus and the general lack of feeling in my left arm and leg… Oh, the joys of growing older!

Still, mustn’t complain, things could be a lot worse – and no doubt, before long, will be.

Tomorrow we’re planning to treat ourselves by a trip to the local cinema – we’re off to see the movie of the moment, Les Misérables. Readers will know that this is one of my all-time favourite shows – we went to see it a couple of years ago on the West End stage, and I’m reliably informed that the film is definitely worth viewing on the big screen.

And the local fleapit gives heavy discounts to old crocks and codgers like us on Tuesday afternoons.

I’ve even promised to take MGL for a slap-up restaurant meal afterwards. (A slick bit of bribery here you see, but please don’t tell her!)

(Who says Lancashire lads can’t be smooth?)

So here endeth my first end-of-month posting. Hope I can keep it up.




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