Technomelt

So, I’ve been having technical problems – hence the lack of babbling from me.

It’s never just one thing, is it?

At home I have four interweb connectable devices:

Netbook
This is currently in many pieces. Well, actually three pieces really: main computer;
back case and hard drive. There was a minor incident a few weeks ago involving
me, a can of lager, and the tickling fingers of Sleep which resulted in a total fail
of the hard drive. So I bought a newer, bigger, better one. My tiny little netbook
is now going to be packed out with an entire terabite of storage. The only problem
is reinstalling the operating system. It ran on Windows 7 – all the hardware is
configured for Windows 7, but because it doesn’t have a disk drive (or, indeed, an
installation disk for Windows 7) it is proving difficult to reinstall. So I am trying to
put a bootable copy of my Windows XP disk onto a USB stick for installation, and
then just download various drivers in due course. Only it isn’t as simple as it seems.
But I’m getting there.

Bedroom computer
Yes, it may seem a little indulgent to have a computer in the bedroom, but there is
good reason for it. Firstly, all my films and tv programmes are stored on my hard
drive on the main computer. By wirelessly networking these together it means I can
access anything that I want to watch in my bedroom. Secondly, before I had done my
bedroom up, there wasn’t a convenient aerial socket, therefore merely in order to be
able to watch television in bed I had to do so over the internet. And finally it was to
be a backup drive for everything on my main computer. Well, was. By the time I had
costed it up to put together, I couldn’t afford a second hard drive to use as backup (I
don’t like using the same drive as the operating drive). But that was then and I am
slightly more comfortable now, and I was having to order a hard drive for the laptop I
thought I might as well get the three terabite drive for the bedroom computer. Only it
seems to be missing around 2 ¼ terabites for some reason, so the bedroom computer
– though functioning – is sat with its case open because it may well need to have the
hard drive extracted for return.

Mobile phone
Yes, I have a smart phone. Brilliant thing. I was watching a movie on the train only
on Sunday. And this has been my portable internet. The only problem is that it isn’t
brilliantly comfortable to type long essays on it, otherwise I would have blogged via
that. However this itself encountered a problem. You know that dull thud that only
occurs when something with a very fragile screen makes contact rather quickly with
the ground? Well, that happened on Sunday night. I was so annoyed because I’d been
so careful since it happened the last time. So that has had to go off to be repaired.

Lounge computer
This is my ‘main’ computer – the device I use for everything, my main storage
device. This is working perfectly fine at the moment (believe me, I am touching a hell
of a lot of wood). But I’m not comfortable. All it takes is for some tiny accident to occur, or – worse still – someone to break in and steal it, and that is it – everything
gone. I know I should backup onto the cloud, but I can’t find anywhere that will give
me the three terabites I need without it being prohibitively expensive. Hence why I
will only really be comfortable once I have at the very least my bedroom computer up
and running again.

And yes, I’m a Doctor Who geek, so I don’t refer to them by these names. Obviously
the lounge computer is the Master; the bedroom computer is the Companion; the
netbook – because it travels around with me – is the TARDIS; and the smart phone is
the Sonic Screwdriver.

To add to all of this, for a few months now I have had some dust on the CCD of my
digital camera which has been affecting pictures, and I’m going to the Olympics this
weekend, so I want to open that up and have that cleaned out before the weekend.
Heaven help me if that is problematic too!

An unacceptable hiatus

I had every single intention of blogging at least once this week.

However...

My lovely little netbook is currently in many pieces scattered around my lounge.

A couple of weekends ago I went down to London, and at some stage over the weekend I fell asleep with a can of lager in hand whilst using the netbook. Of course, I awoke to find the can of lager on its side and empty, and my netbook malfunctioning.

This is not a dire situation. Everything bar a couple of unimportant documents was backed up, so I have lost nothing other than the hours I am without it, and the hours it will take to recover it.

And so it is that I can't blog on the train, where I normally would. Indeed I have had to resort to a very old portable MP3 player and - get this - BOOKS. In this digital era I have returned to paper and ink for my entertainment.

Restoration to the matter is in order: a new hard-drive is within the ether or the physical delivery services, and should be with me this week.

However, in the meantime the lists extend. Both the list of jobs which I need to, having been added to with a number of net-book related inclusions (replace hard-drive; wash keyboard etc.) and the existing list not being diminished by the corresponding number of hours by which the netbook has distracted me (no gardening has been undertaken this week for example). But it also means that the list of things about which I wish to blog has extended and not diminished. Maybe - hopefully - next week I shall start reducing my obligations.

Holding on ...

I know.

Crap, aren't I?

It isn't as though I don't have things I want to blog about: I do. I have many many many things I want to blog about, just not enough time to formulate proper deliberations. And I know I moan about time all the time, but I finally feel as though I'm starting to get on top of some things at home for the first time in a long while.

Take the ironing and sewing. Last night I completed all my ironing and sewing for the first time since Christmas. So much so, in fact, that I had to find somewhere new to store the ironing board because, having moved rooms, deconstructed a wardrobe and relocated a bookcase in the meantime, its old home no longer existed.

But that's just an example.

And I do have a post pending. It is pretty much complete, save it is awaiting (as am I) confirmation of one fact. I had hoped to post that one this week, but it's looking like next week now.

So, this is just a 'holding' post for now. I'm still here, still alive, still thinking of things to blog, I just haven't quite gotten around to it yet.

Maybe once I've gotten the tomatoes out into the veg patch that still needs weeding.