Archives: cdrw

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.

Hey ho… Brain still awaiting catch up on the sleep thing. Nice & Groggy this morning.
Got my new CD-RW working last night after faffing about for a good while. The software the manufacturer supplies is… not great. By that I mean that certain unrequired components seem to freeze the mac on startup. I conclude that it is probably a clash with Login on my verson of Mac OS – which is well stinky.
It’s taken me a couple of nights of pratting about starting with extensions off to come to that conclusion – which is far more time than I’m willing to concede to any problem – but needs must. I now actually have facility to do a proper backup of my files – which is like – really amazing! Hmmm – that sounds a little ‘gosh, wow’ of me – but I have not been able to do a proper backup since I got the computer – which in my opinion is very unwise. I’ve had a few scary moments where I thought I’d lost all – & the risks become greater the more I accumulate. I’ve been taking loads of photos for nearly a year now without any safety net if I suffered major problems. Anyway – now begins the process of putting back extensions & hoping it doesn’t all go wobbly… Hey – That does give me the very good excuse of prattling with the kit to back up all files before doing that.
Thinking of doing some passive newspaper reading.
Summary on the home front: Jude is happy – seems past recent tummy upset. Standing up against everything he can. It is wise not to stand still for too long as he will crawl up to you & stand up against your legs now.
Eve is fractious – she has a back upper right molar which still has not come through proper. This makes her more barmy & volatile than usual. She is now going to Monday afternoon school playgroup as well. She likes it all & is not troubled by Louise leaving any more.
Jack is … well Jack, really; loving & boisterous.
Louise is going for an eye test tomorrow. The 1st in many years. A new pair of glasses! She may even get a pair of wire framed ones & a pair of free sunglasses!! Louise has never, as far as I know, had a pair of sunglasses – let alone prescription sunglasses.