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(Monday 11th November)Now Emily's lost her return ticket .... and though I'm sure she's not the first airline passenger to lose a ticket, it's another problem to overcome somehow. Today's a bank holiday in France, which doesn't help, as her teacher is nowhere to be found and the children are scattered around Bordeaux with families who may not speak much English. Can anything else go wrong?
(Sunday 10th November)Lost in France .... an appropriate song I just listened to, for Emily, who arrived in Bordeaux yesterday, but whose suitcase is "probably in Paris" according to Air France. Not the best way to start a holiday!
(Monday 4th November)Thanks John! I had quite a time choosing the colour - this isn't how I would have imagined "lightslategrey" but it's quite attractive!
(Wednesday 30th October)It's a while since I updated this site .... I've been very busy with a new computer upgrade and heaps of associated problems. Just about everything that could have gone wrong, has. I was hoping to be able to demonstrate a method of opening a thumbnail in its own pop up box - however, even Geocities is being obtuse and refusing to upload a perfectly simple file.
It's taken me ages to even access Geocities - something about cookie settings not being right. With AOL's help, I eventually solved the problem, but it's just the latest in a long line of mishaps. Already this evening I've had to once again cope with first Internet Explorer not working, then broadband refusing to connect.
I'm SO sick of computer problems! I haven't even used my new CD writer yet ... I think I'm frightened to even try, because it's bound to go wrong!
(Friday 18th October)I can't let a significant date pass without devoting a web page to it! I've described my overall impressions of the time I spent with Northumberland Strategic Partnership.
Off on holiday tomorrow - no computers for a week! In fact, not even any electricity. I do feel better for having been told that faulty memory was probably behind the upgrade problems - however, that can't be why the network wouldn't function. I think the most annoying thing is the sheer amount of time spent trying to solve all this - time I don't have but have just had to find. It's so frustrating when you can't even track down the cause of a problem, never mind try to put it right. Getting error messages like "file does not match the verification information specified in the component manifest" for instance. I mean, where do you go from there?
(Thursday 17th October)I could devote a whole webpage to the ongoing saga of upgrading my computer! Suffice to say, what I thought would be a learning experience has indeed taught me a lesson - that if you attempt to build your own computer you'll invite so many problems, you'll wish you'd paid the extra and bought one "off the shelf". At the end of the day, the resulting mess will end up at some computer shop, where problems which they would have had the pleasure of fixing free of charge had you bought the computer there in the first place, will eventually be rectified at considerable cost to yourself.
(Friday 11th October)Well, yesterday was my last day at Northumberland County Council. It was quite sad, leaving Telford Court for the last time, but I can't complain. I went there in March for a couple of months, and it's now October - I must be the longest serving temp they've ever had!
Computers certainly know how to wind you up. I decided yesterday, that I didn't have time to come home from work before my evening class, and I would call in at the golf club, carry out my treasurer's duties and get to Gosforth High School at least half an hour early, while there might still be a parking place. The time could be usefully spent, I reckoned, catching up on that day's personal email, something I hadn't had a chance to do at work. It would save me switching on my own computer when I got home, as it would be late and I had a very early start this morning. However, the best laid plans etc! The server (I'm not too sure which server) was "too busy" to let me log onto AOL mail. Never mind, I'd read anything on my Embleton account - not that there'd be much. ACCESS DENIED! said the system. YOUR INTERNET USE IS BEING MONITORED! OK, maybe Any-place.co.uk isn't a trusted site - I'd update my website. ACCESS DENIED! again. Quite why Geocities has suddenly attracted such suspicion, I don't know - I'd had the same message at work, yet I used to frequently update my website from there without any problem. So yesterday will go down as one of the few days (other than holiday times) when I didn't read any personal email.
The motherboard has finally arrived, so this weekend will be given over to building a new computer, out of my Dad's old one and the various parts I've bought, plus anything useful from this machine.
(Wednesday 9th October)City Link have still failed to coordinate the delivery of my parcel with a time when anyone will actually be in to receive it. I was rather annoyed to come home from work to discover yet another card to say someone had called while I was out, especially as I had phoned up to arrange for someone to deliver the packet this afternoon. I mean, why promise to call after 2 pm if you're just going to turn up at 11.30 am?
(Tuesday 8th October)I've just had a lesson in how much more vulnerable we are all becoming thanks to the ever increasing amount of information available and accessible to an increasing number of people. It was also a timely warning that it pays to be careful just what information it is wise to send by email or publish on the net.
In this instance, I discovered to my horror that an article primarily written for my website and sent to the magazine Strider (which is read by hardly anyone I know), was emblazoned across the centre pages of the latest Tyne Tri newsletter! I often have at the bottom of my emails, a signature which is a link to this website, because although to a certain extent I write what I consider a private weblog, I welcome visitors and I normally never give this signature a second thought. However, knowing that a whole lot of people well known to me were going to be reading some of my comments, had me cringing with embarrassment!
It came about through a casual click on the link by the Editor, who discovered my Chevy Chase report, and in a way I was flattered to have it deemed good enough for inclusion in any sort of publication. In fact, I have stated and will reiterate, that I'm perfectly happy for the Cheviot Challenge report to go the same way - that at least doesn't contain any sentence I rather wish I hadn't written!
I've already learned the hard way (an oblique reference exists in an earlier archive) that when you send email the three most important rules are:
Just two more interesting examples of issues that a few years ago, would never have existed.
I'm just waiting for the mobo now, which City Link tried to deliver yesterday and today, but unfortunately everyone was at work. With a bit of luck, I might get this rebuild organised at the weekend - I've waited long enough!
(Sunday 29th September)You wouldn't think it would be so difficult to cash a prescription in Newcastle on a Sunday. As I happened to be in town, I confidently walked into Boots, expecting a 5 minute wait for my tablets. However, they didn't have enough and it wasn't going to be convenient to call back tomorrow, nor was I really keen to have them posted out. Never mind, onto another chemist - this one didn't have a pharmacy, so I tried another branch of Boots. Not open on a Sunday, and neither was the independent pharmacy further down Grainger Street. I knew Superdrug had a pharmacy at their Eldon Square branch, so I called in there but - guess what - their pharmacist had phoned in sick and they weren't able to dispense prescriptions today. So I ended up at Asda in Gosforth, having exhausted all the possibilities of finding the tablets I wanted (quite a common medicine) anywhere in the city. What a wasted couple of hours!
(Saturday 28th September)A week after Ashley rang, I got another momentous phone call from someone else I know mainly just through email. Similarly, it's only the second time since we began exchanging emails that we've spoken in person. It's very strange to finally put a voice to a person you've only known through text - it's hard to believe it's the same guy, and it's also awkward and embarrassing at first, when you think of all the confidential stuff you found so easy to say through email.
(Tuesday 24th September)I had a cool feedback form - however, when I tried it out, instead of emailing me someone's address, all it did was take them to a page which said "Whoops! Can't find your website." so I've removed it. So much for PC Answers tips.
I've given up on Ebuyer. Everything is now ordered from 3 different suppliers and while some of it is out of stock, at least I have a date when it might be expected in.
(Thursday 19th September)9 pm. You know, Ashley Frieze is a really nice guy. Why have I only just realised this? What a day of memories! I think I've only just stopped shaking after that very unexpected phone call! Although maybe it was appropriate that we spoke. At any rate, I feel that although I've been to hell and back this past year, I've finally achieved what I've been desperately wanting all along. Ashley RIP (in the nicest possible way).
(Thursday 19th September)To most people, September 11th 2001 will stick in their minds as a day when they witnessed events on television so horrific that it was hard to imagine they were actually happening. The anniversary this year has no doubt brought those memories flooding back.
For me, September 19th 2001, eight days later, was equally traumatic and will be a day that will live on in my memory for some time to come. I can remember the same sense of shock and disbelief which followed the discovery that I was capable of actions which can only be described as "incredible".
On a previous archive page, I describe some of the lessons I learnt about email as a form of communication from this experience. Now I'm more aware of the pitfalls as well as the much publicised benefits, but when this whole thing started, email was only just taking off and I was new to it. Talk about truth being stranger than fiction - if anyone had told me what was to come, I wouldn't have believed them!
(Wednesday 18th September)Ebuyer's policy of only sending out an order when it's complete, is starting to look as though it will result in my computer not being upgraded until after christmas. As soon as one out of stock component I've ordered comes in, something else goes out of stock. When that item finally arrives, I find that the fan or the memory is now out of stock. It's now well over 2 weeks since I placed the order for stuff that was supposed to ship in 3 days and there's no sign of any of it arriving. Of course, I could change my order to include only those items actually in stock and order the rest separately, but then I'd lose the free delivery as my order would no longer be over £100.
(Tuesday 17th September)A report written for Strider on the recently completed Cheviots Challenge.
Ebuyer are doing my head in! The components I've ordered, although featured on the website, are regularly found to be out of stock - I've lost count of the number of times I've had to convert back to a quote and start again. And why can't they mail me the info instead of sending emails telling me I have a "new enote"?
(Saturday 7th September)An experiment .... try these WAV sounds: