Archives: paul

I feel as though I’m starting to be less ‘generally tired’ so, perhaps, I am starting to feel better. My head is no longer in a fog, & I seem to have some cognitive ability – perhaps even a little will to try to ‘get on top of things’.
I booked a little bit of holiday around Jack’s birthday today. The most likely thing is that I will be trying to sort out stuff around the house that I have not got time for in the normal day to day. Perhaps get the space in the attic sorted & the decorating restarted in what is our room, but will be the kids room. You can but hope, like.
I have real difficulty visualising the whole thing being done before the end of the year – but I really need to try to get it sorted in the summer months – which are now upon us! Drowning or waving?
I’ve been trying to sort my eMate out with the Ethernet card that I have. If you have tried to get your own newt (“Newton” is the name of the Operating System for the eMate) on Ethernet the guide for such a thing is at Chuma. I have followed the instructions there & got myself an allegedly compatible 3Comm card, but when I try to use it I get the error: “-61001 there was a problem with the card” – which is naturally a pisser. I have found some discussion on the error on archived message boards, but nothing as to reason or resolution. Still – I have no absolute concern over this as I can get my eMate & iMac to talk nowadays – & do the mail thing. I have noticed a rather pleasant development for newt owners in general in that someone is developing a driver to enable the use of Compact Flash Memory instead of the increasingly rare Flash memory cards that they currently are restricted to. Basically the sort of memory, that, say, a Digital Camera might use. A lot easier to get hold of & the capacity (amount of memory) could be quite respectable. Woo! Look forward to that when it’s finally released! If I could afford to splash out I’d do some ‘beta testing’ – & use the untested product.
hmmmm… makes a note to keep an eye out for a cheap PCMCIA Compact Flash Adapter on Ebay…

Nothing much to say. No minutia to impart at the moment – nothing particularly bugging me. Louise looks to be coming down with a stinky cold. Spoke to mum & dad over the weekend & they now know Louise is expecting again. Mum’s response was, like, oh yeah – I knew she would be… (!!) Are we that transparent? How did she ‘know’? Granted she had just been working all day & was well fagged out – so it sounded more deadpan than it probably really was. She admitted the same the next morning when I called so that she could speak with Jack – that was why she was trying to last weekend at that time in the morning, but Jack was already playing on ‘the Internet’.
Went shopping yesterday for some clothes for Louise & she actually found a couple of things! Louise is even more fickle than I am when it comes to buying new stuff to wear. Me, I saw nothing… Got ‘The Avalanches’ album tho, which on the whole is jolly good. Nice indulgence. Jack & Eve were very good. Jack got a new coat, as he needs one & virtually chose a new t shirt for himself. I pointed it out to him & he was, “yes, I like that”. It’s aqua green with a big picture of a gold fish on it. He showed it to Louise & she liked it as well, so as we were buying him a coat, we thought we’d indulge in that. He was then keen to stay & buy more things for himself. I think he thought that he must be on a roll – but we had to disappoint him. I think he must like the coat as he wore it in the house that evening – professing that he was cold, when it was not really.
Feeling I’m not keeping on top of things again at the moment. There are not enough hours & I’m too tired. ZUM! is an obvious thing that I feel gets neglected – I have not been able to keep up with the administration involved.
Bah.

Not been writing a lot of recent as not really felt up to it. Been a bit ill with a fever & aches & pains, but – I can still pick up a phone & I can still talk – so – I went to work. This is most likely what Louise had last week as well. She thought it was something to do with the pregnancy, so she says she was probably suffering through it better under that illusion. Anyway – as I have been ill, I’ve not really been paying attention to what’s been going on around me as much as I might.
Perhaps Jack is not feeling that well at the moment either, as he was being a little so & so yesterday evening. Revelling in a lot of things that he knew would annoy us. Whether it’s an unfortunate attention seeking thing trying to divert us from paying attention to Eve, I dunno. It does get monumentally tiresome though… The best approach to such a situation is difficult as well, as he never quite reacts how you would expect. On the whole though – when he is like that, there is not a lot you can do or say that will deter him. sigh…
Voted yesterday. Funny – the whole electoral campaign this time has been as dull as ditchwater. Perhaps it’s due to the perceived inevitability of t all. Turnout was low as well – perhaps due to the same reason? There’s not the desperation that I’ve felt with other elections that the Tories simple must get kicked out… now it’s Labour – & well – although they are not really that great – they at least are NOT the Tories… What a disaster they would be. Oh, it did raise my spirits when i heard that Hauge had resigned this morning. Schuedenfued-thingy hehehe.

ug – still feel awful. Feel more weird today as opposed to ill, as yesterday. Have yet to decide whether this is an improvement or not. Feel OK enough to try a little typing & thinking though.
I was awake in the night – which is a novelty to a stone cold sleeper like me… I am difficult to rouse – for instance here’s an exchange that Louise told me went on, on Monday night…

Jack: Muuuuuuuummmmmeeeeeeee
Louise: I think you should go get him…
Me: mmm – that’s a good idea (thinking Louise was volunteering to get him)
[Pause]
Louise: are you going to get him then?
Me: uh?
[Pause]
Me: Could you please tell me what day it is?
Louise: Monday, I’m afraid.
[I weave off down the hall to see how he’s doing]
My recollection of this is shaky, at best. I think that the ‘what day’ query was to figure out whether indeed to take the alarm clock with me or not.

Spent last Friday night knocking up a new page on my website that would host all my mental meanderings I type on my morning commute. I did actually finish it as well (this is what you are reading!). Was the last of my BBEdit demo application tho. Back to the basics of the ‘lite’ free version… sigh…
Oh, & the pipes sprung a new leak for us… joy. This time’s where the pipes used to go to the old boiler – the stopped end of that bit of piping. Fortunately it’s an easy spot to get to, so a margarine tub has been strategically placed so that any drips can be caught. There is further damage to the ceiling, but as they are coming to repaper it at the end of the month because of the previous damage (work to be paid for by the insurance) then… who cares… I have been turning the water on & off at the stop tap all weekend to minimise the emptying of the margarine tub. Hattie comes today to fix again.
Jack was a ‘coiled spring’ yesterday – ready to go off… He was playing on the computer for the most part, but any provocation & he resorted to slapping. I think I only have myself to blame as he was hitting me earlier in the day as I had told him not to do something (probably as it was either dangerous or silly – I forget now what) & he hit me, so I said don’t (as is annoying) or I’ll have to hit you back. He did not, so I did – & thus the ‘game’ starts there. Sigh.
–Train stops at just past Walsden today – evident why as I look out at some dumb sheep who have got out of the field & are on the line. The driver has to get out of the train to report them. (Bad sheep-naughty sheep – we’ll tell your farmer on you.) Off we go – bye-bye sheep–
Jack & I had a good days work in general though. He woke well, & was in a good mood. He played some kiddie stuff on the Internet (roaming the BBC ‘small kids’ section).
Oog – this is an old train & I don’t think I can type anymore as aside from all the movement making it difficult, it’s making me queasy.
Train home – ‘1st class’ section – nice table to put the eMate on. Yes, well – Jack broke off from the Internet without to any probs so we could go for the seemingly traditional excursion for the supermarket. No histrionics at the cafe :) The afternoon was spent up in the attic – tidying up. It’s still rather a mess. Dust everywhere. The Dyson hoover got a good workout & Both Jack & I got splinters cleaning the floorboards with a damp cloth; he somehow in his leg, me, more normally, in my finger.
Jack like cleaning up – it’s a good game to him.. who are we to argue – heh. He kept going for a good while – essentially as long as I did, & did nothing really untoward or foolish. There was that point when we butted heads re hitting me, but that was out of the attic, & we managed to calm down & get on with things. It was only later, after tea, that the ‘coiled spring’ arose.
Eve spent a lot of the afternoon asleep. She slipped into slumber in the pushchair on the way home. Louise was not feeling great either – sleepy & raging headache – so she took the chance to have a little snooze – leaving Jack & i to get on with things… As I said, a good afternoon’s work. Got a lot cleaned up, but a frightening amount still to clean…
Then cometh the decorating…
After work today I set out for B&Q to get a new set of taps for the bathroom as one of the bath taps is falling to bits (the one I tried to stop dripping last month or so & made matters worse). So, got a chrome set instead of a gold set, as before. Gold bathroom fittings – yuk… They look ‘dirty’ to start with – what a dead (tasteless) loss. All I have to do now is worry about fitting these new ones, dither, put off & call Hattie to ask her nicely if she can fit us in some time to do it.

hehehehehe I got the eMate to collect email this morning… very gratifying… It didn’t work before, as I did not have the time to properly check over the internet setup on the machine to check that it was all sorted proper. worra laff… now then, what shall I do with it… dur….

Train home. Another early night last night. I think I might be starting to get sensible & obeying when I actually feel tired. That means that we got no attic painting done – but nonetheless the will was there, if not the energy.
Still too busy to have updated the web page recently – which is a bit annoying, but if I cannot find the time, I have to concede that there is no time even if my conscience disputes the nature of reality. Damn that reality – it’s so set in it’s ways. I know it keeps a little extra time up it’s sleeve somewhere, but it doesn’t want to tell me about it. Why do you think boredom takes up so much time? It sneaks extra minutes in when you’re not paying proper attention.
Ah, to luxuriate in inane boredom…
Eve has been to the doctors this morning. Just a routine thing as recommended by the health visitor due to our general concerns for her. Jude will also have his chest listened to, as he has an unpleasant cough at the moment. To be honest his cough should have been checked when he had his immunisation jabs last Friday, as I don’t recall him being any better then than he is now. Hopefully there is nothing to worry about in all of this, but a parent naturally worries & lets phantoms of doubt breed.