Windows

Research is the key . . .

/ Tony / 1 Comment

When I replaced my laptop computer a few years ago, I bought one that did not have a built-in CD/DVD drive. It was a financial decision as I understood that I could get a separate drive for around £20.00, whereas the built-in drive would have added another £50.00 to the price. At the time I wasn’t really watching any of my DVD collection as they are not something K**h and me would watch together.

However, just after Christmas, I decided that I needed some way to watch some of my DVDs and so looked around to buy a portable one. I found one on the internet, at a reasonable price and duly purchased it. There were problems right from the start.

My laptop has a number of ports. There is an ethernet port, an HDMI port, a USB C port, and a Card reader port, but only two USB 3.0 ports. The DVD reader shipped with two USB cables. I needed a multi-port USB hub.

Back to the internet and I found just what I was looking for. I ordered it but received an email explaining that it was currently out of stock, but would be available in two weeks’ time. I was promised that it would be posted, 1st class. So I sat back to wait.

Just over two weeks later my new hub was delivered. It must have been another three or four days before I could plug it in and set up the external DVD. That’s when problem number two reared its head. My laptop just would not see the external DVD. I plugged memory sticks into the hub and they were seen. So were my wireless mouse and external camera (the internal one is not the best).

I contacted the seller about a refund or replacement, only to have pointed out that I had exceeded the return date by two days. It left me no real option but to consign the unit to my so called “tech drawer” in the garage.

Fast forward to the beginning of last week. My eldest son asked me if had an external DVD. I explained that I did have but it did not appear to work. So before letting him have it, I once again checked that it did not work. It was then that I realised. After reading an online article, that USB 2.0 (which was one of the cables) was being phased, being almost obsolete, I tried connecting the unit with just the other cable. Success! It appears that both cables should not be used together as Windows can get confused about which one it should be using.

Lesson learned … do more research.

A bit of a nightmare . . .

/ Tony / Leave a comment

I opened up my laptop this morning as I had a couple of things I needed to do before R*** came home. To my total surprise and annoyance, there was that little box at the bottom right of my screen, telling me that my computer needs to restart to complete the update process. I thought it sensible to do it straight away. After about 10 minutes, the system began to start-up again. But what was that? A pop-up message telling me that my profile had failed to install and was advising me to sign out. This was duly done and the start-up continued. My laptop is always slow to start so I wasn’t worried.

That is when the trouble started. My desktop screen had changed. All my usual icons had gone, only to be replaced with some random ones. It actually made to screen less cluttered which is not a bad thing. I then had to check that a document had been scanned and I needed to print it. This is when the real nightmare began. All the documents I had saved seemed to be missing. Everything for the funding review had gone! Months and months of work were nowhere to be found!

I headed straight to Google, but that produced nothing helpful. After about an hour of frantically pulling out what little hair I have, I decided to search for one of the documents. To my amazement, they were still on my machine, only in a TEMP folder. It seems that when the profile failed, any saved stuff was moved into this temporary folder. All I now needed to do was to move the files back into the main part of the storage area. This is going to take some time.

<><><><><><><>

After a lot more hours on Mr Google things are still not right, but better than first thing. I’m not holding my breath that everything will get back to ‘normal’, this is Windows after all.

<><><><><><><>

I continued with the Googling and profane language when some of the basic apps just wouldn’t work. then hidden on one of the Microsoft ‘help’ pages I spotted something. It appears that I was signed into my machine with a temporary login. The puzzled look on my face got more and more contorted as I scrambled about looking for my normal login. I found it and signed in using this profile, and everything opened up as normal. Everything I had lost was back in the correct place.

I have to admit that the foul language did not lesson very quickly and I was still more than a little angry about the whole experience, but all is good again (until the next time!)

All is good . . . eventually . . .

/ Tony / Leave a comment

Well the update went as well as I had expected. This time it only took 9 hours and 40 minutes a massive improvement on the 11 hours and 10 minutes of the previous update on my secondary machine. Everything seemed to be fine, with no issues, until yesterday morning. Everything seemed to be slower, a lot slower. Three minutes to open Outlook, which used to open in three seconds before, for example. Throughout the evening, it remained as slow as the morning. I wondered if I had got a virus or some malware ad been installed.

I opened up the Windows settings and at the top of the screen there was a message that Windows update needed attention. I opened it up and saw that one recent update had failed, due to some service not running (a bit beyond me) and needs to run again. It also told me that there was another four updates that needed running. They were only small updates and it didn’t take long to run. After a restart, all is good again.

I posted the issue of an IT website, to see if anyone else had had the same issue, and it turns out that the major update (the 20H2 update) that I ran earlier has a tendency to disable tis particular service. I happens randomly and nobody seems to be able to understand why. But there you go, that’s Microsoft for you.

<><><><><>

Here we go . . .

/ Tony / 5 Comments

I’ve been wondering when it would start. I kept checking the update and security page but nothing showed. Then this morning around about 11:00am, I noticed that my laptop was very slow. Files were taking minutes rather than seconds to move. Opening documents was even slower. I wondered if I had got a virus or some malware had found it’s way in. I tried to look at Task Manager to see what was running in the background, but that didn’t seem to want to open. It soon became obvious that I had a serious issue. I opened the settings and then saw it. The Windows Update icon was showing that it “… needed attention …” It could only mean one thing. I had run the regular, what Microsoft calls ‘Cumulative update’ only yesterday and Windows Defender updated at the same time. It must be a system update. Of course when I opened the Update page, there it was … I was being updated to version 20H2 which is the current latest version for my machine.

I literally groaned. This was the update that took over 11 hours to run, on my other machine. The system told me that it was at 46% downloaded, which considering that I only just noticed the problem gave me the notion that it may be quicker this time. At time of writing (14:40) we are now at 89% installed, which seems to be going quite well 🤞.

I hate updates! It’s all the uncertainty that surrounds an update … will it work … will it be slower or faster … will it break the machine? Although, what worries me more, is when will it happen to my youngest son’s machine. His autism would not let him understand why is machine is slow, and why it keeps shutting down and restarting. They have an IT team at his care home, but I’m not sure how they will cope, if one of his care team shut’s his laptop down while it is updating.

<><><><><>

It’s my birthday next week, and it’s one of the ‘biggies’. Yes, on Tuesday I will be an officially, state registered ‘old bugger’. Birthdays and the related age number doesn’t usually bother me. I never feel any different and it’s another day for me. However others seem to think that I need to celebrate! No, I don’t! Somebody once said to me “What am I celebrating? That I have managed to get this far or that I’m just one year nearer the grave.” I don’t quite think along those lines, but I do wonder what the point is. However, I am duty bound to at least try and enjoy the day and I will put a brave face on (hopefully).

We are apparently going out for a meal at a pub/restaurant close to where the eldest son lives. We have been before, but it’s a long time ago. Will have been about 30/35 years ago. I don’t remember much about the place and I probably still won’t when I get there. I have had look at the menus, and I’m not sure. They seem to be these ‘trendy’ menus that have things like ‘Grilled Squash’ and ‘Halloumi chips with sriracha yogurt’. There is the obligatory ‘Vegan’ burger and there is something that they call ‘Shepherdess pie’ which is made with lentils and curried parsnips! It’s going to a long day I think.

All done … for now

/ Tony / 3 Comments

Apart from a bit of snagging on Monday, the main bulk of the work is complete. Eldest lad is going to help me do the painting, but the plasterers said we can’t start until middle of next week. So it will have to be the walls under the windows that we do first.

The main snagging point is that a couple of the windows seem to be wrong. The opener on two of the frames open from left to right, whereas the rest open from right to left. I don’t think it should be much of a problem to fix, but it does look odd.

I’ve asked for the 3rd and 4th of March as leave, so that should give me a week, before the guy comes to do the flooring. What? Didn’t I mention that? Mrs H decided that she wanted the floor recovering with laminate flooring. He comes on the 9th March and Mrs H thinks it will only take one day to do. I can’t see it myself, as he is going to put new skirting in as well.

Problems might just be gone …

/ Tony / 1 Comment

For a few weeks now, I’ve been having performance issues with one of my Windows 10 laptops. I’ve uninstalled software that I rarely use, but the issue seems to have remained. What happens is that I’ll be using for example Microsoft Word and suddenly it hangs with the message “Word is not responding” and this will happen three or four times during the session. I end up having to restart Windows and hope the problem has gone away. Often this fixes the issue, but occasionally it doesn’t.

Today, while I was looking at the Task Manager application, I noticed something called ‘software reporting tool’. I had not seen it before and so I ran an online search and discovered that it is a program that checks to see if any software is going to affect the Google Chrome browser. There were reports that it has a high CPU usage when checking and the check often takes 20 minutes or so to run. The date on the file is 4th October which seems to coincide with the second time I had problems. Things seemed to improve after I removed my other printer, but then problems re-emerged a few days later.

The sites I looked at (and I always check a few to see if they say the same thing) told me that the process is not necessary and can be stopped. They also said that Google may restart the process again whenever the Chrome bowser updates. It gave instructions on how to prevent it running and how to prevent Google from restarting it. The instructions for this can be found at https://www.ghacks.net and searching for ‘how to block the Chrome Software reporter tool’.

It may not fix the problem, but the tool sends scan information back to Google, so there may be privacy issues here.

We shall see if there is any improvement.

<><><><><>

On another point, this was written using the WordPress editor on an iPad Mini. I had not thought of that as an option, but it seems to work quite well. I do need to understand how the HTML style tags work for formatting, but there must be a tutorial out there.

 

Too clever for my own good …

/ Tony / Leave a comment

This is a little techy. I have been having a problem all week with the performance of my main laptop. Applications were slow to open and even slower to close. I scoured the internet for answers and did everything, bar re-installing Windows, that was suggested. But the problem remained, and it was getting worse. Some programs were now not even opening. Then today I had an idea. You see, I have two laptops on my home network, both with an attached printer. At the beginning of the week, I thought it would be good if I could print to both printers in an effort to save ink, as the other printer never gets used. After a couple of hours and a fair bit of stress, I got it working. I then installed the other printer on my main laptop so that it could be seen. Then all I had to do was to ensure the other laptop and printer were switched on and I could print to it. Really quite pleased with myself at that point.

I didn’t really want to have the other laptop and printer to be on all the time, so I shut both down. This was on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, I started to notice the performance issues. As Tuesday was the day when Microsoft updates Windows, I put the problems down to that. When there was a second update pushed on Wednesday, I was convinced that everything would now be okay. Not so. The performance had improved slightly, but not so as you would notice. It was getting so bad that I began to think I had a virus or something. I searched the internet for the problem and the answers were as I expected: run an anti-virus; run an anti-malware; run a disk clean-up even reformat hard drive and start again. Well I tried all except the last one, but nothing seemed to work. Then another search, came up with something. I may have a corrupt drive recently installed. Hmmm … the only driver recently installed was the printer driver for the other printer. I thought I would have a look at that. I removed the printer from the device list (an I assume that removed the driver) and did a full reboot, rather than a restart.

Now (touch wood) it seems to be back to as normal as it was before. I had a quick online chat with the printer help desk (free thankfully). It would appear, that when the other laptop and printer were switched off any software that you can print from would be looking for the printers when the software opens. As the printer was off, it was not visible and so the delays. I’m not entirely convinced, but it does seem to have been resolved.

(Written with Word 365 – blog template)

Just lazy … that’s all … or maybe not …

/ Tony / 1 Comment

I started to write this post on Friday, but put it off. I didn’t have a title then and was trying to think of reasons excuses why I haven’t posted since 5th July. And they were just excuses … ‘didn’t have time’ … ‘nothing to say’ … ‘too late/early/drunk/tired etc ‘ … you get the picture?  The only one that really seems to crop up the most is (not ‘too drunk’ although …) ‘nothing to say.’ I often sit down at one of my laptops, or the iPad with good intentions, and then nothing. So I’m going to try a bit harder over the coming months/weeks, after all now I have a paid blog, I need to get my money’s worth Be right back

-<><><><><><><>-

Now it may sound a little extravagant to have two laptops and an iPad, but there is a reason. Since I got my first PC back in 1995, I have had a money management application (or program as it was called back then) called Microsoft Money. It was discontinued some years ago, although Microsoft did bring out some cut-down versions, but I understand even these are now extinct. It has always worked fine with the upgrades up until Windows 8.1 came out and users were advised that ‘some’ software would not work properly in future editions of Windows. I don’t use it as part of my online banking as it never really worked with my bank, it just keeps a record of my future, past and present incomes and expenses. A a pinch I could use a spreadsheet, but I think that over the years, it would get a little unwieldy.

A couple of years ago, I decided that my laptop was running very slow and convinced K*** that I needed a new one which I got. I thought it would be a good idea to keep the older one, just in case R***’s home laptop gave in. So the old one was consigned to a wardrobe shelf to gather dust. Then, along came Windows 10 and everyone was urged to upgrade with the free upgrade. This latest version was said to be the worst for compatibility of older software, so I held off upgrading for a long time. I then had a thought Thinking smile . What I should do is keep the old laptop on Windows 7 (which I knew would run the Money program) and upgrade my new(ish) laptop to the latest version of Windows 10. That way, if Money didn’t work I could always use the old laptop. Thankfully it did work and I now have Windows 10 on both machines. I’m still very wary when updates come out and I will not update the old laptop until I know Money works on the latest Windows version.

Frantic

/ Tony / Leave a comment

This is my first post using the Daily Prompt. I always need a reason to post, and often my posts just turn into a general rant.

So, here I am, frantically trying to work out how to use a ‘pingback’ when creating a post using Open Writer Live  (OWL). There is a way I’m certain, but until I find it, I’m going to have to use the WordPress App editor. It’s not that I don’t like using the editor, it’s just that I always used to use the old Windows Live Writer and so when I found OWL, I simply started to use that. I’ve tried using the blog template in Word, but there are too many distractions in Word. The old Notepad that came with Windows is okay, but I would like to stick with OWL.

That’s it for now. Just going to wait and see what happens tomorrow.

Full of cold …

/ Tony / Leave a comment

Yep, I’m full of cold. It started with a bit of a cough at the beginning of the week and it’s now reached the ‘messy’ stage. Problem is, that on Saturday, we are all going for our annual ‘flu jab’. I’ve been told, that with any prosthetic heart valve, the flu vaccination is a very good, if not essential idea. Not sure if I will be able to have it. Certainly don’t feel up to having it at this precise moment.

===============

Related image

Bramham All Saints Church

We went to church on Sunday. Not such a big thing you may say, many people do. I used to go often when R*** was a lot younger, but as he has grown up, getting out of the house on his ‘days off’ is a big problem. I can understand too. He goes off to his daycare centre Monday to Friday, so on the weekend, all he wants to do is be in his room, doing the things that he likes to do. A bit like most of us really. If it’s not something you have to do, then why do it? Anyway, he was on respite at the weekend, and it seemed such a good opportunity to go. It was interesting seeing people that we know, but have not seen for a while. We are looking to go again on the 5th November, when R*** is on a weekend respite again. This could become a regular occurrence.

 

=============

Now the bathroom is finished, I’m looking to start on some decorating. I need to tidy up the paintwork in the bathroom, (ceiling and door frame to be precise) but want to have a good go at it without too many break-offs. R*** goes on respite again on Monday, so I could probably do that in one day. I then need to start on the staircase. There is not a lot to paint, but it will be the access that will be the main issue. Hopefully, if I can crack on, I should get it all done before he returns of Friday afternoon. Ideally, I’d like to have all the work done by the end of Thursday, but that may be pushing it a little. It’s all in the planning! I’m thinking though, that the doorframes, may have to wait until the following week.

=============

I have once again used the new WordPress editor to publish this, and the jury is still out. I have yet to work out how to publish as a draft, or in fact if I need to publish as a draft first.

~~~~~~

** I have just discovered the ‘Preview’ button. This seems to work as a draft mode, allowing me to check what the post looks like before posting. So no real need to post a draft first. I have also just found the Windows Store ‘WordPress.com’ app. So the next post will be using that (if I can remember) **

I sometimes hate Microsoft … beware the Anniversary Update my friends …

/ Tony / 4 Comments

I must explain. I’ve never been a fan of Apple software and whenever I have considered new IT equipment, I have always looked for alternatives to Apple. I have never had an iPod, I had a unknown music player.My smartphones have always been Android phones. I would never consider an iPhone. All my PC’s and laptops have all been Microsoft. The only exception was my first computer which was a Texas computer. So you could say, I’m a fan of Microsoft. A big fan.

However … this week has been a trial, even for me. I have two laptops. One, I have had for about four years and the second one for about eight/nine months. It is a long story, why I got the second one, and I’ll not go into it today but suffice to say, it was a wise choice at the time.

So why the post title?

On Monday, I decided that my ‘old’ laptop should be fired up and have all the updates that it needed. Oh sh*t! Windows tells me that there are ‘updates ready to download’. I checked what they were, and right at the bottom of the list was update that had the number ‘1607’ mentioned. The time had come for the so called ‘Windows 10 Anniversary  Update’. This was the one that I have been dreading. I was so thankful, though that it was first coming through to the old lappy. That way I could make sure that I would not have any major issues. You see, my banking software is an old Microsoft programme called Microsoft Money.

I’ve used it since I had Windows XP. I never use the internet functions, simply use it as a computerised bank account/cheque book. When I upgraded to Windows 7, there was the fear that this software may not work. Fortunately, it did and it saved me a lot of worries. Then along came Windows 10, and with it more rumours that Microsoft Money would not work. After a lot of stress and fruitless web searching, I bit the bullet and bought a new machine with Windows 10 installed. My idea was that I would use the old machine, as a internet free machine, just for the banking app.

So back to updating the old machine. What the hell, I thought. There is no choice, it has to be done, and I could always ‘roll back’ if the banking app did not work. Three hours later and Windows tells me that my laptop is “Preparing to install the update” or words to that effect. It does not actually call itself the Anniversary Update. That’s probably a media thing. After another three hours or so, the ‘installation’ is at around 63% and I really need to sleep. So I leave it to do it’s thing and hope that it will be all done in the morning.

Morning arrives (06:30 to be exact) and I’m looking at the laptop with an air of disgust. All I have is that blue/grey  screen that shows between turning on and the desktop appearing. Something amiss I fear! No time to do anything now, so I press the power button to shut down. Speedily move on to me getting home from work. I fire up the machined and after a few minutes the damn thing tells be that it is rolling back to my original set-up. The update failed! Down hearted, but not deterred, I click on the Windows update again and the whole process repeats.

Now with the echo of that film ‘Groundhog Day’ in my head, the same thing happens again. Exactly the same as before. Fail! I am now thinking that a Mac has serious possibilities. I scour the internet for possible causes of the failure, and one seems to strike a chord. Someone with an unpronounceable name that looks about 11 years old, suggests that any peripherals such as a printer or an external hard drive be unplugged. I unplug the printer and start again for the third (and as I said to the wife) final f**king time. Of course, the process needs to be left overnight to finish. Another sleepless night ensues.

It’s now 06:10 Wednesday morning and I’m tiptoeing around trying to see if the update worked. ‘B**lcks’ I say quietly. It looks like the same has happened. Same old blue/grey screen. I press the power and go off to work in not the best of moods. Fast forward again to home time. I power up the cursed machine, expecting the worst. Not at all! The thing powers up and it all looks good. A few checks, and it seems like third time lucky. The update has taken! First thing I do, is check the banking app. It works! Everything I try seems to work. Of course that stupid ‘Edge’ browser thing is still stupid, but I have updated! I survived! I can now concentrate on the real issues of the day. That being ‘Great British Bake Off’ going to Channel 4 and Angeline and Brad splitting up.

Now all I have to do, is wait for my main laptop to tell me the update is ready and it all starts again!

An old friend returns …

/ Tony / Leave a comment

The thing about getting a new computer is that you never remember what software you need, until you realise it’s not on your new machine. Now I thought I had been clever, and had made a list of the stuff I use all the time. Which is fine in as far is it goes. Then you start to do some work or something and you find that you haven’t got that little bit of software that you always use, but never think about. Still, I think I’m almost there now. The old machine is in the spare room (in case I need something) and I’m beginning to get the hang of Windows 10. It has it’s pro’s and con’s, but I think a lot of it is just familiarity. It too me a couple of weeks to get used to Windows 7 after XP, and I still miss some of the things that XP did, but we move on.

=========

Now, to the title of this post “An old friend returns …”! The old friend in question is my first blogging editor (back to Windows XP here) good old ‘Windows Live Writer’  (WLW). I always felt it was one of the best tools for the job, and was very disappointed when Microsoft decided to no longer support it. Since then I have used a variety of editors and am still inclined to use the Blog Post template in Microsoft Word and occasionally I will use the WordPress desktop application.

Yesterday, whilst reading an article about Windows 10 compatibility issues with some older software, I saw a mention of WLW and how much it was missed. There was a list of alternatives, but near the top was a link to a website called ‘Open Live Writer’ which wimageas offering Open Live Writer as a free download. My initial thoughts was that this must one of those awful clones that seemed to perpetuate throughout the internet. After a little bit of research it looks like pressure from users made Microsoft turn WLW into an open source application and the result is Open Live Writer.

I downloaded it this morning and have used it for this post. To all intents and purposes it looks and feels the same as before. Everything seems to be as I remember WLW, and it feels quite nostalgic to be using it again. I shall test it further over the next few weeks and see how it goes, but things look promising.

==========

On a completely different tack, my INR blood test seems to have been a bit off the wall. INR is the International Normalised Ratio and is a measure of how much longer it takes the blood to clot when oral anticoagulation is used. For example, if your INR is 2 the blood is taking twice as long as normal to clot. I have a range which my INR has to fall within, of between 2.0 and 3.5 with a target of 2.5. Since I have been taking an anti-coagulant, my INR has usually been within the range, with the occasional blip. However, since middle of December I have three times been ‘over my limit’ so to speak. I have put it down to what I have eaten and drunk (which does have an effect), but it made me wonder if stress could be a factor. Over the December/January period, it has been quite a stressful time what with Christmas (humbug) and work. I asked the doctor at my medication review, and although he had not heard of stress being a factor, he did say that stress does have an effect on our metabolism so in theory there could be a link. However, I got the impression that he thought it was probably down to food and drink.

New lappy … getting there … ish

/ Tony / Leave a comment

So the new laptop arrived on Monday and I have to say I was a bit worried about how I was going to accept the change. But after a few false starts, I am beginning to get the hang of this Windows 10. I think I have mentioned this before, but I am one of those people who find change for change sake difficult. I’ve been using Window 7 for heaven knows how many years now, and it was a bit of a struggle upgrading from Windows XP. I resisted changing then until I was forced to change.

My main worry in upgrading to Win 10 was the issues surrounding my financial software. I have been using Microsoft Money 2002 since I got my first real PC (back in 2002 as you may have guessed) and it has been really useful. I have never used the so called ‘on-line’ banking facilities that Money 2002 featured, so it was mainly a simple cheque book monitor. The decision I took was that I would buy a new laptop with Win 10 and keep my old one as just a non-connected machine, so that Money 2002 would continue to be of use. So imagine my surprise, when finding a post on the Internet that stated Microsoft Money 2005 was available for free download, and that it had been proven to work on Windows 10. After a nervous download and install, my latest fears were proven to be unfounded. The bloody software works! I’ve not done a full test yet, but things are looking good and when I checked, it looked to have a license key, so no need to register.

It is going to take a few more days to get me back up to scratch, but I will get there. I have so much on my old laptop that I probably will never replicate, but maybe that is a good thing. There is no doubt that much of the software (or ‘apps’ as they now seem to be called) I have accumulated over the past few years is not really used, so it may not take as long as I hoped. Wish me luck.

I sometimes hate MS Windows

/ Tony / Leave a comment

For the past six days, my Windows Start button has been showing this . Now most Windows users know this to mean “Hello person. I have found that some of the files on your computer need updating. So shutdown/restart and we will get it sorted.” That’s what it is supposed to mean. I never update straight away, as I wait until I get the all clear from a website I subscribe to that checks there are no ‘after effects’ to installing the updates.

Today, after checking the site and finding no issues reported, I went ahead with the updates. This was at around 08:30 this morning. At just after 10:20, it finally finished. I had four restarts, one failed system restore and five attempts to install the updates, Three failed to install, so I will have to wait and see what happens there. But surly, it should not be that difficult? Now before all you Mac users tell me to scrap Windows and get an Apple machine, I can tell you that Apple updates can also be fraught with difficulties.

It all seems to be working as it should, but time will tell.

What, when and why blog ?

/ Tony / Leave a comment

     And I think you can add “How” to that list too. I’ve been blogging for a couple of years now, well to be exact, I have had a blog for a couple of years. Over the past few weeks/months, I have been thinking about what it means to me. So I have decided to put down in writing “What, when and why I write a blog. Hopefully it might be generate some interest. I can but try.

What

     Well, I suppose what I write about is me. My opinions. My perspective on life, if you please. I sometimes write on topical subjects, but it is mainly about my life at home and work and family. A lot of the stuff I write is things that anger me. And there are a lot of things that anger me! It is a kind of release, when I can put down in words the frustration I sometimes feel. But then again, I often write, just about things that have happened. Everyday mundane things, and often when I read them back, I think ‘does anyone really read this rubbish’. I’ve often wondered if I would be better picking a subject, and writing about that. That is one of the main thoughts that passes through my head, when I sit down to write a blog post.

When

     I don’t have a fixed schedule for blogging. I just do it when  ever I fell like it. Or if there is something I want to get off my chest. When I first started, I wrote every day. Not large volumes, just a paragraph or two. I soon found that trying to keep that up was difficult. Quite often I write when something has happened that is out of the ordinary. I suppose most of the time, I write late at night, whilst waiting for the youngest to get off to sleep. Mrs H goes off to bed, then for then next half hour or so, we try and get R*** to settle. That 30 or 40 minutes is when I like to write. Very occasionally, I will write something at work, and email it to myself, to write up in the blog later.

Why

     Now that is the big question! Why? Why do I write a blog? In the beginning, I think it was because it appeared to be the thing to do. After all, everyone was blogging weren’t they ? Well I very soon realised that not everyone was doing it. In fact, out of a department of around 70 people, I was the only one blogging. As I was writing something every day, it became like a kind of diary. But that was not what I wanted. I did not want to bore anyone who read my stuff, with mundane day to day trivialities. Now, one of the reasons I blog, to keep up my interest in writing. I want to write more creatively, and have been advised, that I should ‘just write and write often’.

     I was asked recently, if I get lots of comments or hits on my blog. I of over egged and said yes. In reality, I don’t get many hits and I get very few comments, but it does not stop me. So I suppose, that one of the main reasons for writing a blog is to be read. To have something to say that might be of interest to someone else.

How

     My main blogging client, is Windows Live Writer. I have used Blogdesk, which was very good, but does not work with Windows 7. I also tried a strange program (or should I be very trendy and call it an ‘app’) called Raven, or Zoundry Raven. I did not have much luck with that one. I recently had a trial at using Word 2010. It was okay, there was a lot it could do, but as a fellow blogger said “….it was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut…..” and I think that just about sums it up. For the time being, Live Writer ticks all the boxes.

 

Day one …….

/ Tony / Leave a comment

     The above refers to this being the first day of Mrs H’s Bulgarian holiday !!! She has gone off, with her sister, her sisters two kids and her sisters partners youngest, to Borovets (hope I’ve spelt that right) for a break. It’s a well known ski resort, but her and the sister are not skiing. That’s just for the kids. Hmmmm.

     So, I’m here with the youngest, who is going on respite on Monday for four nights !!!! Party time, I hear you say !!!! Nope !!! Youngest is having his bedroom decorated and floor done. So the plan for the week is:

  • Monday – strip out the bedroom, paint the ceiling and hopefully most of the woodwork
  • Tuesday – at work, then out with the eldest
  • Wednesday – wallpaper, and finish any painting
  • Thursday – at work, start to put back the bedroom
  • Friday – finish rebuilding the bedroom, youngest back home.

Busy time for me then !!!

     The next door neighbour has been at it again with the chain saw. This time he has cut down the laurel at the from of his garden. He’s been really savage with it, and taken it down by a third in height, and at least 60% off its bulk. He’s promised to cut down elderberry tree too. It causes a real mess on the drive and the car, and to be honest, it looks out of place.

     The youngest new laptop, is proving a great success, with one exception. Why did MS decided to take out the original Movie Maker program ? The versions that ships with Windows 7, is not a patch on the XP and Vista version. After YouTube, it’s R…’s favourite Windows program, and he hates this new version. Apparently there is a stand alone Vista version, so I’ve promised to download it and install it for him. Fingers crossed it works as everyone says it does.

No let up ….

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   Mrs H still in pain, although I think we both slept a lot better last night. She said that she only seemed to wake up once. The trouble I’ve found, with dental pain, is that it is so intense, that you don’t really notice that the pain is getting less. Then, you wake up and it’s just a background ache. Mind you, I have never had the trouble or pain that Mrs H has, when she has had invasive dental treatment. Even when I had all my top dentures fitted and eight teeth extracted, the only pain I had lasted a couple of days.

   Youngest seems to be doing well with his medication reduction. He has only been having a third of his daily dosage, and he seems to be quite settled with that. I don’t know how school is coping with it. They have not indicated that there is a real problem, except that he seems to take a long time with his lunch. They should see how long it takes at home sometimes!!

   Now, here is a ball ache, Microsoft Internet Explorer !!! even thought I never use IE, I have to apply the latest patch. This will fix the ‘vulnerability’ that allowed the Chinese to hack Google. The problem is that IE is so deeply embedded into the Windows operating system. I can see the next ‘Patch Tuesday’ will try and get me to install the latest version, IE8.

A great improvement

/ Tony / Leave a comment

  I have to recommend Asda’s “Chesty cough syrup” with Guaifenesin (whatever that is). The old cough, is 100% better than it was the same time last night. It’s not entirely gone, but I am at least able to get through more than four breaths without spluttering. Of course, a lot has to be said for Olbas Oil and Vick’s Vapour Rub.

   I did not like the guy that won the Masterchef round tonight. He was a bit cocksure and smarmy. The other guy, look like a little kid, but he was improving. His cooking, looked like the type of food you would get in a good pub restaurant, rather than a Michelin starred place. Oh and by the way, could someone tell Michel Roux Jr, how to pronounce ‘Michelin’. You’d think a Frenchman would have the correct pronunciation.

   I bet the press are, to quote a much maligned phrase, ‘gutted’ that Stephen Gatley died of natural causes !!!  No three-way love triangle. No 8 hour binge drinking session. No ‘unnatural’ sex games gone wrong. It may even have been a hereditary problem. !! How very ‘un rock ‘n roll’ .

   Eldest is home for the night tomorrow. Well, at least we think he is stopping here. I have an idea, that he may ask his friend B** for a lift, after drama. We shall see. Mind you, I got an impression that B** may have felt a little uncomfortable, what with his ex-partner dropping out. He only had one drink, and then left.

   Broadband is a lot better tonight. No problems at all. Transfer speeds back to normal. I did think there should have been a large Windows update today, but I’ve seen nothing yet. I wonder if they’ll try and force IE8 on me again.

What’s new ???

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   It does not look any different !!! Microsoft has decided that I need to upgrade both MSN Messenger and Live Writer. So what is different ?? I suppose I should have looked at the what’s new page, but really, It was working fine before. (I feel a rant coming on here … this may warrant a posting in my Grumpy group)

   This one of the problems I have with Microsoft. You can be chugging along, quite nicely thank you, without any problems, the MS decides you need an upgrade. They are always doing it with Windows, and look at the arse bucket the did with Vista. That has to be the least popular Windows OS ever. Even the hardnosed MS fans, have little good to say about Vista. At work, we are running XP Pro, Service Pack 2 (they don’t like SP3 for some reason), and in the words of the good and great, “We have no plans to upgrade the current operating system at the present time”. If the usual is anything to go by, we should upgrade to Windows 7, just as Windows 10 is announced.

   Just heard, that the eldest has been to see a movie called “The Spell”. It is a local movie project, that he got a part in as an extra. A whole 7 or 8 seconds. He went to see the premier last night, and I think he is quite proud of himself. I told him to quickly add it to his CV. He should also tell the people at the  job place up at Uni. There may be a lot of small parts in movies that students might be making. It will be a way of getting his name around.

Is it only Wednesday ?

/ Tony / Leave a comment

Seems to have been a long two days. Youngest has not been too bad, kicked off a little tonight, but that was out of frustration. He wanted to do something on Windows Movie Maker that could not be done. It is impossible to explain to him. Of course, everyone gets upset, especially the eldest. I think it will be a long time before he comes back for a visit again. It is probably one of the reasons, that he wanted to move out in the first place.

Looking back on today, I do not seem to have done much at all. I managed to knock up a spreadsheet for the eldest. It shows all his income and out goings for the year. It is only very basic, but at least we can check whether there is enough money in the bank for the year.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Youngest is at the hospital for a tinnitus assessment. Eldest is going back to his flat, and then Mrs H is going to the funeral of one of our neighbours. We are then hoping to go into Harrogate for the rest of the afternoon. Don’t hold your breath!!

Done for today. Going to ask the eldest if he wants the computer for a while.

That’s me done for now …..

/ Tony / Leave a comment

Well that’s it. On holiday for 10 days. I’m really glad this week is over. I knew the reports would not be right. They never are. It really angers me, because if the finance bods had done as they were asked, then they would have had the reports they needed. I would not have to suffer the stress of trying to explain (again) that I am not a report writer for the system. I wish I was !!!!! At the last time of querying, a Crystal Report writer was getting on average £400,00 per report/day. It’s probably even more now. I remember talking Karen at C***** who claimed her husband was getting £350.00 a day, and that was back in 2003 !!! Still, I can forget it all for now.

Twitter seems very quiet tonight. Bet they are all watching @wossy on the telly. It does not seem that stable sometimes. Only Tweet I have had in the past 2 hours is from Windows Live. An advert for a ‘free’ Windows Live Translation Service. Parts of it look very much like Yahoo’s Babel fish. The ‘to/from’ drop down box has all the same languages as Babel Fish.

Still no comments on here, except for spam. I know it’s not the most exciting blog in the world, but I though someone may have commented. Even if it’s only negative. At least it would prove that it’s being read. I’ve put the web address on Facebook, and Twitter gets updated if I ask it to. I’ll have a go at putting it on MySpace (for what it’s worth). I wonder if there is any way of harvesting all the posts, into a single text file. I know all the posts made through Windows Live Writer saved on my hard drive. I wonder if I could send them all to OneNote, without opening them. Interesting thought. I ought to try and work out how to use OneNote. Or even work out what the thing is for.

Talking of MySpace …… I’m not sure about this at all. Firstly, I sometimes have problems logging in the MySpace. Secondly … it seems to be very slow at doing anything and thirdly, I find it very difficult to use. It’s a bit like Bebo … I found that a bit of a pain too. I’ve lost my login details for Bebo also, which does not help.

Well I didn’t realise….

/ Tony / Leave a comment

This is good. Using Windows Live Writer to write a blog on here. It’s just as easy as writing online. In fact is is easier and I can post the same blog to both blogs if I so choose. Oooh …… get me … with my sophisticated online presence.

So what will I post on here. Answers on a postcard to ………

Work was ok .. nope that won’t do…… not even I want to know about that.

Must think of a running theme. But not now.