Monthly Archives: October 2002

Jack came home happy from Thomas’ last night. Eve was already asleep – she was worn out after a happy day. Jude was still going strong. He’s still an early riser… He was awake (just) before I was due to rise this morning & did not settle down. Still actively torturing Louise when I went to rouse her half an hour or so later. Bad morning – confused – & the milk I had put on mine was off – which is bizarre. Took a couple of sour mouthfuls for me to realise. I then went to redo my breakfast but ended up putting milk on Louise’s cereal instead… She noticed it was soggy when she came to eat it… duh. At least Eve is sleeping better in the night – & the last 2 mornings, although she has woken too early – she has not howled about it; slightly confused upset, but not howling.
Louise is suffering from lack of sleep more than I am.
Party tonight – Hamish’s birthday – so we are off to ‘Pockets’ – where Jack had his do. Halloween themed & all that. Hamish, turned up on the doorstep last night ‘trick or treat’ing. Bit early, but I guess that they can hardly do it tonight. Amber the skeleton was dribbling through her mask. I guess it added to the effect…

Cut short typing yesterday as I had to surrender my adjacent seat to a fellow traveller & I do not want to type sat next to someone…. Not that I believe I could think of anything else to say.

Oh – Happy Birthday to my brother. I got him a present I hope he’ll enjoy – as this text is unlikely to reach public view before … well… a long time… I can say that it’s the collected 1st Volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (a comic that is undergoing filming at this very moment). More ‘mainstream’ than anything I’ve bought him, comic wise, in the past few years… so I think he’ll like it. He better not have it already!
Jack got a drawing from a girl in his class yesterday & an invite from another lad to come to tea. So, the picture is on the wall & we are having tea without him tonight. Good for him.
Jack & Eve … well – I’m not sure quite what happened as neither of us were in the room when the incident occurred, but I think they came to blows (He hit me/she pulled my hair). They were both suddenly crying fiercely. I went into the room & thought, “uh-oh” with Eve & asked her to go into the kitchen, & tried to see what was wrong with Jack. He can at least speak when he’s in this state. Eve duly threw up on the kitchen floor – so that was a good tea lost. Louise got mad as this happens all too often. I cleared up & Jack was offended that Louise thought that it was all his fault. Egads! All calmed down soon enough though. Eve right as rain after puking, as usual… which is annoying of her, as it all seems a bit of ‘a demonstration’ – like she feels it’s something she should do. Hey ho – family life. At least she did as I asked rather than puking on the carpet. That’s… sort of an improvement.
Gave Louise her birthday present early last night – new EBTG dvd. Put it on again this morning as I left the house.

Heh – took yesterday off work. Jack does not go back to school until today & Louise thought that it would be a very pleasant idea & so it was; a very nice day. We went off to Huddersfield & pottered about shopping. Quite good booty – like some Halloween themed attire for Eve & Jack who are off to Hamish’s Halloween themed party on Thursday. Glow in the dark ink on the decals. They enjoyed those at bedtime – both going off into their bedroom with the lights of & the door closed – Jack with a ghosty & Eve with a half dozen of so bats eyes all aglow; excitement!
Jack & Eve played very well together all throughout the day, really. It was a pleasure to behold. Not fractious, but cooperative.

Beautiful clear light this morning. It pissed it down last night – water thrashing on the roof & velux windows. I have to say, this is one aspect of sleeping in the attic room I really like. I smile to hear the rain beating down & the wind thrashing about.
I forgot to mention earlier in the week – probably Monday, as I didn’t type on Tuesday, that Jude has cut his 1st tooth (at last). Louise ways that he cut it’s neighbour yesterday – so there are 2 bottom teeth. I could not feel it, & have yet to actually see the 1st one – he likes to keep them covered with his tongue when he concedes to open his mouth…
Looked like Louise had to endure a day of mayhem yesterday. Hamish & Amber have returned from a trip to London, & were round to play a lot. The upstairs rooms seem to have been rearranged a little – chairs moved bedclothes everywhere. hmph. I tidied up their front bedroom when I got home as Louise was out with Jude getting shopping (delayed) & her mum was playing with Jack & Eve downstairs. Apparently Jack & Hamish had done a good job of tidying it already as they had scattered lego & bionicles everywhere – which was gone by the time I got to it. Ah – the world of small advances.

Yesterday was a day of crap ‘no table’ trains. Hey ho.
Also Mac OSX arrived at home with a confirmation of suspicions that it does not have an OS9 upgrade with it… & there’s me in OS 9.0.4 limbo (it won’t work in conjunction with X – bah).
Never mind – I’ll just have to be grown up & patient while I await the redemption of the apple fulfilment thing (You have to PAY a little more – which seems somewhat sharp).
Jack has adapted to the holidays very well. The 1st day he was directionless & was causing a bit of a headache for Louise. He settled down though & is now been constructive & helpful (not ‘over helpful’ either – not, “I want to clean the house from top to bottom”). Eve is not quite over throwing up – but she is less delicate in this matter. She lost her tea last night though – but this was because Jack upset her because she was messing with his sums (sticker) book. He’s been very fond of his sums book. It was something that my brother sent for his birthday, but he was not really ready for it at the time (not much in the way of sums at school). He’s now rather keen on sums & the holiday seemed a perfect time for him to have a go with it. It’s also a sticker book – you don’t write the answer – you use stickers – another very big good point in Jack’s eyes.
Oh – I got into an old password protected diary the other day – from when Jack was born & we 1st got a computer. I’m not really sure why I put a password on it, but I cracked it the other day. It was a little odd reading words from Louise & I from that time. Slightly different world. I’m not really sure if I would put any of it up to accompany this stuff as it’s got Louise in it as well, for one thing – & I know she would not appreciate me doing that.

Well – I had my eyes tested. They are not as sharp with these glasses – so I’ve ordered another pair. I feel as if I’ve been suckered a little – as the price was more than I was anticipating… I can’t shake that. Never mind, it’s done now. I will try not to dwell on it all.

…Still dwelling… damn!

It was a shame I did not get home 5 minutes earlier yesterday. Eve had just gone upstairs before I came home & somehow banged her head. This set her off on an unfortunate chain reaction she often falls prey to. Too upset – hysterical – gulping – puking. All over the upstairs landing…. bah. Louise was annoyed with her, as she had plenty of time to get to the bathroom… but then, she is not yet 3 (almost, but not quite) & such sensible thought is beyond her – especially when hysterical. We now have a smelly landing. It’s going to take a couple more cleans, I think.
Returning home starting off so bad made an even more pleasant contrast at teatime, when the kids sat down reasonably well & certainly ate well. Almost civilised.
OK – tired has got me this morning – I’m going to resort to a snooze.

Louise survived the 1st day of the half term break with sanity intact.
I did not go for my eye test yesterday as they have booked me in on the wrong day, & I didn’t notice. Asked for Monday, got Tuesday. Please check your change before leaving as refunds cannot be made. I go today.
Hmmm – tired this morning. I made more of an attempt to get back to my own bed last night – & thus was going either up or downstairs every hour or so… bluh.
Eve is in fact not that well. It’s odd as when she is ill she usually makes a lot more fuss – following you to protest the fact that she’s not feeling good & wanting to be comforted. This time, she’s more passive – more apt to sit & watch… She fell asleep on me when I got home yesterday, so I popped her on the sofa. The noise from Jack & Jude would ensure that she did not sleep too long, but all the same, she must have got an hour out of it. At tea time she was happy again, until the point where she wanted to sit on my knee, & then wanted a cuddle & then puked everywhere. Fortunately I had eaten most of my tea & graciously, she did point away from me as the vomit leapt forth. Most went under the table, which is fortunate as we put a mat down at teatime so that mess doesn’t get ground into the carpet. Not too difficult a task to clear it all up. It’s funny, but puking really used to make me wanna join in. It still can on occasion (when Louise was ill the other week I had a couple of sympathetic moments) but on the whole I am a lot more hardy where the kids are concerned. I guess you have to be. Change of jeans & shoes though. She was a lot more her usual self after that – a weight lifted (probably literally). She had a little more difficulty that usual getting off to sleep, but that can be put down to late snoozing. Hopefully today she will be feeling better. She was the last to wake this morning, just before I was about to leave, but that means little, as in theory, they should all remain asleep before I go; it’s early dammit!
Noted yesterday morning walking to work from the station that all was orange, but from the streetlights rather than the sunrise of the past few weeks… bah! Still – the clocks change soon & I can chase the sun for a few more morning hours before it slips back under the horizon again.

hmmm
Eve – she fell asleep on me going up to 6:00 yesterday…. poor lamb -jiggered. Put her off to bed with only a small protest, she did very well for it. Stirred only once before bedtime. She & Jack have swapped beds. She was falling asleep in his bed while he had his bath & then I’d move her… but Jack kinda decided that he’d have her bed. This is fine by Louise & I because she’s the one who usually calls out in the night for attention & for someone to come sleep with her. Jack’s bed is a full size (single) mattress & this is a darn sight more comfortable than the other & the futon, which was the other solution for sleeping with her. It all works better. Soon we hope to be getting them a bunk bed, which should be OK for having to sleep with them. Lately I seem to have been sleeping more with Eve than with Louise… which isn’t right… but then Jude sleeps in ‘our’ bed anyway (after he’s done his requisite in his own cot – hopefully it’s after midnight he stirs). If you’re not a parent – all this bed swapping business may seem odd – but parents of young children will realise you sleep where you can. Jack sleeps well nowadays. He rarely wakes up to call out. I’m sure he probably does stir, but he keeps it to himself for the most part. Can’t think when he last called out.
Jack has been very excitable this weekend. He’s had difficulty in … I was gong to say ‘keeping still’ but that’s always a problem. He’s certainly been feeling chipper, & understanding ‘no’ – or rather getting through with ‘no’ has been harder. He wants to – he really wants to. I had to turn the computer off a couple of times over the weekend as he was just getting carried away. With Eve off to sleep early last night we had to continually remind him to lower his voice & to stop jumping about the room… These are very difficult things for a 5 year old to do. Out walking over the weekend, he was either trailing behind seemingly lost in his thought or gleefully skipping on ahead. All this, of course makes Louise worry that this week’s half term break might be a little hard, but as she has said before… If Jack is in a good mood then it makes everything else easy. Of course, if Eve is ‘off colour’ which she well might be, then the balance tips negative again. She’s clingy & screamy when ‘off’. She was very dopey this morning – wanting to lie down & rest, where she’s usually full of beans to be up & about. Jude being awake when I got Louise up helped; he excites her. She was coughing a bit & demanded a drink. I wonder is she has a sore throat? She was also sick just as I was about to go out of the door. Didn’t see what happened, but she was eating some of Louise’s cereal at the time & blearg! Nothing dramatic in reach – just down herself, but still a mess… Quickly cleared before leaving though, & did not have to rush for the train to much.
On the computer front… I believe that I have managed to get it working for the most part – the CD writer, that is. I’ve ‘burnt’ most of my files, & the mac actually saw the disks. Next backup is applications & thence the may be the next big move. I have more memory ordered, & I have (dun-der-daaaaa!) OSX (10.2) ordered. Blimey. So – many more hours spent wrestling with the computer to get the darn thing doing what it’s supposed to do… but… but.. I have been rather keen to move to ’10’. I have a lot of applications that are going to have to stay in ‘classic’ – but nonetheless, I feel it will be worth it. I made up my mind after checking that all my peripherals would be OK – & it seems they will – even the scanner (although the drivers are still beta – but at least they are there!).
The plunge, as it were.

Well – on the stupidity of technology front… I think I’ve managed to burn a couple of CD’s on the burner. Allocating the damn software oodles more memory seemed to make that work a little more normality (not take years to do anything). CD’s were burnt disarmingly quickly (the hardware is, as suggested good), but coming to read the CD’s again on the DVD player that is incorporated into the mac… it didn’t recognise them… It didn’t recognise them when I put them in the CD burner for mounting on the desktop either… Wanted to initialise them… in a PC format as well! If it was not all so frustrating it would be funny… Mind you I’ve got past frustration & have now settled on bemused puzzlement. Oh, & Louise says that she is not against the idea of moving to OS X… coo (for those that do not know of what I speak: I presently use OS 9.0.4, & this would mean an upgrade to OS 10.2… which is a very radical shift as the whole thing changed completely on 10). Although this is an ambition of mine, I’m not so sure as to not think it wise to pursue a couple or other avenues 1st.
On the home front…. Louise got her eyes tested & has gone for a new pair with metal frames! Smaller than the ones that she was looking at the other day as well! Lawks! Oh, & the sunglasses as well – confirmed as the 1st time she will have some.
I collected Jack from school on my own yesterday & he was happy. Coming thru the front garden, he muttered that he wanted to get changed & do some work on the garden. Louise’s mum came back with her as she was visiting today & she & Jack & Eve did a little work in the garden. I have not had time to look at what was done, but weeds were pulled & Jack did a lot of snipping with the securers (as that is what he likes to do).
Jude was a little off form yesterday apparently. He ate his tea OK though & when he was upset a bit later; he did not throw it all up. He seems to be getting to that age when throwing up in protest at something is more commonplace than it should be. He had such a hardy constitution when he was younger (didn’t let anything go). Hopefully this is just a phase. Eve has not quite grown out of that phase yet.

Groggy again this morning as I’ve been pratting about with the CD-RW again. I come to the same conclusion as I did yesterday – that the software that is included with the darn thing is a pile of shit. Well… I don’t know – it could be the way that the extensions make the mac unhappy – it could be the way that the error messages are undocumented & the ‘user manual’ is about as instructive as a blank piece of paper… I don’t really have the time to prat about like this. It frustrates me when things do not work. I am logical enough to work through things & I have enough technical knowledge to figure out problems… but I’ve spent 3 nights at it now, & in theory – it should just work… but… it does not. It rankles. I may consider another approach, I think… See what solutions the net may suggest today.
Right – that’s it for today – I’m tired – I stop as I’m only whinging.