Oooh – consumer world! Bought a new Dyson vacuum on the way home yesterday (as you do). The other one we have is out of action (but I think I can fix it in the long run). Oh, the extravagance! heh. So – it’s one of the new flashy models… Jack & I did some hoovering & it fair clings to the carpet. You can feel the blighter sucking the carpet. The customary astonishing amount of greck pulled out that the older model could not get (just as the older model pulled out stacks of yuck that the conventional one could not do all those years back…).

Did some surgery with the eMate. Noticed that it was starting to slow up… poss memory probs – poss some form of conflict – after all I have been abusing it trying out many an application! So – backed relevant bits & did a (shock) ‘hard reset’ – wiping it clean to it’s original install (woo). I’m rather hoping that I haven’t screwed things up too much… I just looked at my address book on here & it oddly only has my brother’s name & address… which is a bit.. um… scary. I don’t want to have to spend all that time adding people’s details again… Ah whatever – it’s back to a very zippy form now – fair whizzes along! A few more applications to add here & there, (see if I can get Ethernet working again) but on the whole I think I should try to keep to the base for stuff I have now.

They came in the night! The railway trees manglers. I heard nothing (which is so typical) but it woke the kids (which woke me). We live near the railway (3 houses down from the top of the cul de sac where the line runs by) & there are a few trees at the top of the road on the railway side of the fence. Now, “they” do not like to have too many trees next to the railway as ‘leaves on the line’ can make it slippery (wet day – leaves get run over on the rails & turn into a slippery goo). They have ‘trimmed these trees before, but they are not large & really, I cannot see them being a nuisance. However – someone within what was Railtrack had signed their death warrant. Probably something long the lines of “all trees such & such distance from the outer track must be removed”. Noisy buggers woke the kids doing it. I mean – tree surgery is not a quite job, & to do it in the middle of the night is sensible for workers (no trains) it’s hardly pleasant for residents… Bastards. Although I sleep through most things, the rest of the family do not. (Publican’s son, me – I went to sleep to the sound of a pub with a juke-box…. ELO & Mr Blue Sky is still a song that reminds me of pleasantly drifting to sleep) Jack was very good with what must have been a quite frightening racket. He called for Louise & she says that he was not weepy or anything, just said that he did not like the noise. She explained what was going on & he seemed calmed. At some point earlier Eve had migrated to our bed (with her birthday dolly) & the noise also woke her. She cried for Louise, & that (eventually) woke me. No – when she wants Louise, a hug from daddy just won’t do. Louise asked Jack if it was OK if she sent me instead of her & Jack was fine with that! This although not sounding much, is quite something. Jack has a preference for Louise over me when in need of someone to comfort him… so there was a good chance that he would not have been happy that Eve wanted her. I staggered over to Jack in their room & he told me what was going on with the railway. I listened & drifted off to sleep… & so did he without fuss.
I checked the trees in the dark this morning & they are… gone. Sad. Just stumps.