Wednesday 21st April and we have another beautiful, sunny morning.
I received a reply from those nice Typeitin people this morning. Paul informed me, something he should have taken the time to inform me about much earlier than this, that my version of the prog is not compatible with Windows 7!! Oh boy!
So, I downloaded the latest version and tried to install it. No such luck. I then tried uninstalling the earlier version, but no luck there either. Why? Because my computer tells me it can only be uninstalled in 64 bit, but I am now running 32 bit.
I then tried deleting the folder from programme files, but, as you would expect from this recalcitrant machine, that didn’t work either.
But, not to worry, help is at hand in the shape of my boater pal, Ivan, who has promised to wipe the HDD and install Windows XP, along with MS Office 2003 Professional and will give me a copy of both.
Say what you like about XP, but at least it had a good run before Vista and 7 came along, and it was much more reliable. Also, with 3Gb of memory, it should run pretty darned fast. Despite certain family members’ protestations to the contrary, Windows 7 sucks, at least on this laptop it does. I shan’t be sorry to see the back of it.
I am now awaiting the arrival of a new external hard drive, which is twice the size of the one I have now. I propose transferring all my backups to the new one and using the old one for saving important files and other installation programmes.
Meanwhile, back at the buildings, I am hoping my AFM arrives today and, more importantly, that it cures the fault. If not, and we find a repair will be too expensive for the car’s value, we will have to start looking for another one. Shame really, I do like the Alfa, having enjoyed driving one when I was still a working stiff. I dare say the super, duper model I saw in Autotrader has now been sold, because I would dearly love to get my hands on that one.
It is now 9.45 am and the Postman has been but, since Wifey met him outside the office, and hasn’t reported back to me, I must assume the part for the car has not turned up. This really is becoming something of a bore, because I can’t decide about the Alfa that is advertised until I know whether the new part solves the problem, by which time it will probably have been sold.
Now, this current situation leaves me on the horns of a dilemma. Do I a) cut the plywood up for the pretty panels on Sheila’s flower boxes or, do I b), get on with reformatting this laptop and installing Windows 7 again or, do I c), simply ensure I have all my files and programmes available on the external hard drive, and turn the laptop over to Ivan for the installation of Windows XP? Of course, I could go for option d) and simply do nothing. Hmm! Hmm! That’s another fine mess you’ve got me into, Stanley!
What I will do, is save this blog to the external hard drive until I need to update it, which could be a few days.
Thursday 22nd April and, while Wifey has been in Nottingham, I have been carrying out the long and laborious task of recovering the laptop, yet again. I have to say though, that I am getting awfully close to asking Ivan to install Windows XP, because this is still not right. Even as I type this in Word 2003, I’m finding the cursor dragging behind my typing, and when I stop typing, and then go on to a new paragraph, the cursor disappears for a few seconds.
As for the car, well the part arrived this morning and I went straight out to fit it. Strangely, when I ran the engine and waited for the automatic choke to cut out, the idling speed fluctuated for a very short while but, while I allowed the engine to warm up to normal temperature, it didn’t do so again. I tried again this afternoon and had the same result. All I need to do now is take the car for a run and see what happens.
Saturday 24th April and, despite Ivan’s attempts at sorting out this laptop, I still have the same old problems. Still the cursor trails behind my typing, still the cursor disappears when I press Enter and still the document will not scroll down when I first open it. OK, so, I have installed Office 2003 again but, since I am running the 32 bit version of 7, this should not be a problem. I am now considering uninstalling 2003 and putting 2007 Home and Student. But, if I do that, I will still have to install 2003 Publisher, because I like to use it for re-sizing photos and, if you try that trick in Word, the picture always sits to one side of the paper, never in the middle.
I have just been running the inbuilt Compatibility Module on this infernal machine, not for the first time I might add and, all of a sudden, the cursor is keeping track of my typing and Word scrolls down without a hiccup. Also, I ran the Module for .pdf files and they seemed OK too. So, what am I to make of this? Well, the only way to find out is to reboot the laptop and try again, just to see if it really has taken effect.
Nope, I just pressed Enter for a new paragraph, and the cursor disappeared for a few seconds.
Sunday 25th April and, as we are supposed to be taking our boats outside the marina for a bar-b-q later today, it’s raining. No surprise there then?
Yesterday, after much fiddle farting about with this laptop, in a serious attempt to speed up the workings of MS Word, I seem to have had a modicum of success. I am typing here, at a fairly rapid pick and peck rate, and the cursor is keeping up with me. The only thing not quite right, is if I hesitate between sentences, which is when it still hesitates, and when I hit Return for a new paragraph, it still disappears for a few seconds. I really don’t know what else I can do, and so I am going to have to live with it until I can get it into a proper repair shop, or buy another one.
It is now 1.30 pm and, having arranged to use the apartment, instead of taking the boats out for our bar b q, the sun has come out. No turning back now, it’s the apartment or nothing.
I have had in my possession for a very long time now, a disc full of autographed photographs of sports stars and other well known people. This particular disc does not show the names of all the people depicted, which is a shame because, even though I recognise many of them, without their name those photos are pretty useless.
Anyway, there was I, blithely going through my disc boot, when I found another disc that also claimed to hold thousands of pictures of well known people. However, when I opened it I found, much to my surprise, that almost all the pictures are titled. Whoopee! This means that, when I can get around to it, I can arrange the photos in separate folders according to their vocations, and then sell them as prints on eBay.
Tuesday 26th April and today is the day the car goes into the garage. Hopefully they will solve the problem without undue cost to us but, whatever the case, we have decided to keep the Alfa, rather than look for another car. Better the devil you know… etcetera!
As for the book, that is now finished and ready for sale on eBay. I have now reduced it to just one volume of 200 recipes, but I have loads more where they came from, so I can compile a second volume as and when it takes my fancy. If the book does well then that will be in about six months time. I might also publish it as a physical book and sell it through Amazon.
Our bar b q should have been held outside the marina but, due to early rain, it was decided to hold it in the marina apartment. This usually would have cost us a few quid but, as Marion works at the marina and, since nobody was in residence at the time, Paul let us use it free of charge.
It’s just as well we held it there because, with the amount of food Marion put out, she would never have managed it on her boat, or even on both our boats, had Sheila helped with the cooking.
This was a very enjoyable evening, with plenty of laughter going around. One particular funny bit stuck in my mind, and that was when Brian was reading through the Guest Book. One wag had scrawled across a page, “Elvis is not dead. I heard him on the radio” We all pretty much creased up at that one.
The view from the apartment is pretty good, especially on a bright, spring or summer evening, so you can imagine our surprise at another entry that read, “This is a right rat hole”. Some folks are just never satisfied, but we didn’t let that spoil our enjoyment. We all, finally, came away with sizeable doggy bags, so Monday was a snack day. Unfortunately I have been left with a dicky tummy, no doubt from the pork pies and sausage rolls. I suppose I shall simply have to leave them alone completely from now on.
Having run the Compatibility Mode on this wretched machine, I now find that Word runs almost perfectly, except for the odd occasion when the cursor disappears, but I can live with that. However, certain other programmes are still not right, especially Internet Explorer and Outlook, which are both rather slow in responding. So, I shall have to do the same to them to see if I can speed them up.
Wifey has now surfaced, so I must assume it is now breakfast time.
It is now 3.30 pm and I am awaiting the verdict about the car from our local garage. Believe it or not, when I ran the engine this morning, prior to taking it in, it behaved itself, even when I left it running up to normal temperature. When I took it to the garage, it didn’t misbehave once. Goodness knows if they’ll find a fault although, when I mentioned the nasty sounding rattle, they said it could be the Universal Joint. Oh, deep joy!
Well, since I am online, I may as well post this latest screbe.
Cheers me dears from
Dave, Sheila and the Mutt.
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Pillings Lock Marina 2010 #8
Friday 9th April and I am sitting here all on my lonesome. Wifey has traipsed off to Nottingham with Marion and I have no idea when she’ll be back. I’ve had lunch, the pooch has been taken out by our neighbour’s little girl Jess and I’ve been doing stuff to the book.
Now, instead of including clipart to those pages that need a bit of padding, I’ve now decided to add a few pictures. Some of them will be from previous holidays around England, whilst others will come from our store of boating photos. Of course, I’ll need Wifey’s help on that bit, ‘cos she knows where all the old ones are. She also knows where the boating ones were taken, especially which county we were in at the time.
The Air Flow Valve from the car has now been in a petrol soak since yesterday morning and I’ve been using a small paint brush to winkle out any bits of muck, of which there have been many. You would not believe the colour of the petrol now. If the wretched thing still plays me up after this, I will have to find a new part. I’m still waiting for one of the breakers yards to call or email with some details.
This morning I took the flower boxes out onto the stern deck to give them a rub down with a sander. Having already given them both several coats of paint, I then realised they were a little too rough for the canal art I had planned. Duh! As you would expect, I had just got to the last side when the backing pad that holds the sanding part decided to fall off. Another hour later, having re-fixed it with super-glue, I finally finished this small task. Tomorrow, if the weather stays dry, I’ll be out there giving both boxes a coat of paint.
Saturday 10th April and it likes like it could be another warm day. Hallelujah brother, summer has really arrived.
Yesterday, while the girls were off on their jaunt to Nottingham, after finishing sanding down the flower boxes, I chilled out for a while and then, after chatting with Brian, I logged on to eBay to look for this Air Flow Meter. What I found gave me cause for concern, because the items up for sale looked nothing like the item I had been told was an AFM. Oh joy of joys!!
So, having discovered that Steve, our local car mechanic didn’t know what he was talking about, I refitted the item – whatever it is – and, lo and behold, I still had the same problem as before. No surprise there then.
So, back to the laptop to check out the real thing which, according to the vendor who claims his units are not reconditioned, his £80 or so looks far better than Alfa dealers £310 +VAT. I then awaited Wifey’s return to tell her the good and bad news. Today, sometime, we’ll order this part and, with a bit of luck, once fitted, I’ll have no more trouble. But, if I do still have a fault here, I shall take it to a man we met whilst cruising, who has a garage in Loughborough, and ask him to run a diagnostic check to find out exactly what the problem is.
I, categorically, do not have car troubles, apart from the odd puncture and such. Never do I experience this kind of rubbish from any of the cars we have owned. Indeed, just after we sold the Rav 4 to Jayne, the Timing Belt snapped, landing her with a bit of a bill. So, over the years we’ve been relatively free of car problems, until now that is.
Of course, in ordering the AFM today, we’ll be lucky if it arrives by Tuesday and I then have the dubious privilege of fitting the wretched thing, and one thing I really hate, is working on cars. Back in my ill spent youth I quite enjoyed the challenge of pulling an engine apart and replacing valves and big ends and all that kind of stuff. But, as I grew up I grew out of childish things.
But, needs must when the Devil drives, so I will just have to get on with it. Oh, woe is me and lack a day! Actually though, although I’m having this dithering accelerator problem, the car is still driveable and we can still go shopping and pay a Sunday visit to the Fox in Quorn tomorrow, so I really should count my blessings. It’s the money you see, it’s bad enough the boat being a bottomless pit, we really do not need the same with the car. Perhaps we’ll win the Lottery and throw away our financial cares and woes. Yeah! Right!
Monday 12th April and although dry, not quite as warm as yesterday, when we actually did make it to the pub. For some reason best known to itself and folks who know about these things, despite cleaning out the Throttle Control Unit – because that’s what it was, and not the AFM – the pesky car is behaving even more erratically. Perhaps it is because I cleaned it, who knows? I know one thing, I shan’t be sorry when the new part has been fitted and, yes, I will be doing it myself, which will probably astonish certain members of my family. I really am not as useless as some people think I am, it’s just that I take the view, “horses for courses” and would rather let the experts do the job.
Earlier this morning, simply because we were a bit doubtful about using the car, Wifey walked into Quorn for some shopping, whilst I, like any dutiful Hubby, carried on with painting the flower boxes. We now have some pretty green patches over maroon background, onto which our rose and castles will be painted.
Tuesday 13th April and, since it started out with a freezing fog at 6o/clock, I do believe it’s set for a warm day. Hopefully the AFM will turn up and I can get it fitted. Also, hopefully, it will cure the problem.
I am currently I am adding some clipart to the book, but I’m not sure it’s the right way to go. As you all know, I did send for a disc full of food pictures, which is what I would rather use, but, since I didn’t actually pay for the disc, it’s very doubtful I would get away with using any of them. However, all is not lost because I will go online later to see what I can find.
Well, it’s now 7.15 pm and, earlier this afternoon I fitted the new Air Flow Meter, which did absolutely no good whatsoever. So, now what do I do? I am on the horns of a dilemma because, having spoken to a mechanic in Loughborough, I now know that there are time when, by fitting a unit other than an authentic Bosch part, that unit might not work. I have also discovered that, along with Jaguars, the Alfa does not always respond to any other diagnostics machine than that which is installed in an Alfa garage. Oh boy!
Anyway, on Monday morning at 9 o/clock, I will be at that garage and, if his diagnostics machine works, I will discover what is causing this problem. Alternatively the nice mechanic will call in another mechanic, who has several thousand pounds worth of machine which, he assures me, will trace the problem.
Now, whilst I was talking to my neighbour Brian, I spotted a car for sale. It’s an ‘S’ reg Peugeot 206, 2.1 litre diesel estate, and the vendor claims it will do about 60 mpg. That is an improvement on the Alfa and would save me a lot of money when visiting Alan in Harlow. So, if the prognosis is expensive on the Alfa, I could be persuaded to purchase the Peugeot which, at just £595, looks like a bargain. Especially when you consider the 6 months MOT and Tax, electric windows and mirrors, and electric steering wheel adjustment. Then there’s the Air Conditioning and the 6 stack DVD player.
I’m not too keen on diesels as a rule but, needs must when the Devil drives.
Watch this space.
Wednesday 14th April and, although dry, it’s a bit blowy with a cool breeze.
Now, as many of you may remember, I have had on my computers, ever since 2004, a wee programme called Typeitin. This stores all the website addresses and emails that I use on a constant basis.
On occasion, as you also know, I run into problems with my computer. Doesn’t everybody? The result of these problems is, invariably, that my Typeitin reverts to the non-registered version, which is rather limited in the amount of groups and addresses it can hold.
You would think, wouldn’t you, that it would be an easy matter to re-register the thing and get back to normal, but you would be wrong. Having tried registering with the original code and finding it didn’t work, I contacted the programme owners at Wavget.com for some assistance. If you ever purchase this programme be prepared to wait and follow up your original request for help. These people are pretty slow where customer service is concerned.
Anyway, yet again I have suffered problems with the laptop and, yet again, have had to contact Wavget for help. I have tried the original code and also the alternative code, which they sent me last time and which was shorter than the original, although it did contain a string of letters from the original code. With me so far??
On Saturday I emailed them and am still awaiting a reply, having tried both codes without success. This morning I emailed again, but do not hold out much hope of a speedy reply. Would you??
Thursday 15th April and still no response fro those Typeitin people. At the risk of repeating myself ad nauseum, I would suggest to anybody thinking of purchasing anything from Wavget, to seriously consider the lack of after sales service. They really are lackadaisical about helping those who have paid. You have been warned.
Anyway, it is now almost 2.30 pm, I’ve had my lunch and so has the dog, and Wifey has gone off to Leicester with Marion. They should be back around 5ish, but who can tell?
As a point of interest, getting back to the recipe book, I have now re-compiled it. There were one or two errors in the copies I passed around at the family do, which I only noticed a couple of days after posting to eBay. Thankfully nobody made a bid for it, and so it was easy enough to remove it.
So, after giving the matter some thought, I decided to rename it, a task I delegated to my better half, and also to split it into two volumes but, instead of limiting Book 1 to Bedfordshire to Lincolnshire and Book 2 to London to Yorkshire, I have now included all counties in both books, but have split the recipes in roughly half. Thus it is that Book 1 now has 200 recipes and, as for Book 2, until I compile it, I have no idea how many will be in it. Especially since I may find even more before it is edited and compiled.
Now, I have been looking at the problem of copyright infringement and, since the Berne Convention on the subject really isn’t definitive enough, I have enlisted the aid of an online legal group called Just Answer, to advise me on the matter. Many of the recipes, as you all know, are very old indeed and can’t possibly be covered by any copyright. But, some of the more recent ones might just trap me and I would hate to receive a ‘cease and desist’ letter from someone’s solicitor. Better to be safe than sorry.
It will probably take me about six months to compile the 2nd volume of the recipe book which, incidentally, will now be called “Traditional English County Food”, with the sub title of ‘Delicious recipes from around the Counties and Shires’. In the meantime, after we have tracked down all our holiday photos, we are going to collaborate on a book about our travels throughout the UK.
This will take in all the places we visited before we retired to the boat, along with our first three years before the mast, so to speak. But first we have to find those photos. Methinks they are hiding in a tea chest in Alan’s workshop at Valerie’s stables. We surely would not have disposed of them, they are far too precious. We searched the boat, especially under the dinette seats, but all we found there were actual family snaps, no CDs at all. Hopefully they will turn up soon.
Friday 16th April and it is no longer necessary to worry about BA staff going on strike, that volcano in Iceland could continue erupting for quite some time, grounding all flights for months. Indeed, since the offending volcano sits next to another, much bigger one, it could nudge its neighbour into erupting causing a Mount St. Helens situation. Hmmm! I’ll bet that’s given you food for thought.
Now, getting back to the legalities of my recipe book, I have taken legal advice from an online expert in British Law named Nick, who tells me that, all that is necessary to avoid copyright infringement, is for me to acknowledge the source of the recipes. This would be fine had I made a note of those sources in the first place and, with 200 recipes in Book 1 alone, this could take me several days to complete. I have therefore, asked if an Acknowledgement Page would suffice, naming all the sources I have used.
Tuesday 20th April and, as a direct result of all the faffing about with the car and laptop, I fear I owe you all an apology for running so late with this blog.
No doubt I have mentioned the problems with the car? Well, after fitting, what appeared to be, the correct item and finding it didn’t cure the problem, I took it to a garage in Loughborough, who called in a diagnostics man to check it out. The idling problem still appears to be the Air Flow Meter, and so I have had to order another one, but this time a genuine Bosch part, albeit a used part, but a genuine, Bedouin part.
This unit should arrive on Wednesday when, if all goes well, the Alfa will be driveable again. However, if that doesn’t cure the fault, then it will probably be the Engine Management System causing the fluctuating idling speed, in which case it could be rather expensive to repair.
This leaves us on the horns of a dilemma. Do we swallow the cost and have the car repaired? After all it only cost us £700 to start with and, so far, we have spent over £500 on the exhaust system and other parts. Or, as my gut feeling tells me, should we start looking for another car and try trading this one in? Hmmm! More about that when I’ve fitted the next AFM.
For now though, as we have now encroached upon the 9th page of this blog, I suppose I ought to see if I can post it.
Oh, and by the way, apart from a rather strong breeze here, it’s been a pretty good day weather wise.
Cheers for now and good health
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
Now, instead of including clipart to those pages that need a bit of padding, I’ve now decided to add a few pictures. Some of them will be from previous holidays around England, whilst others will come from our store of boating photos. Of course, I’ll need Wifey’s help on that bit, ‘cos she knows where all the old ones are. She also knows where the boating ones were taken, especially which county we were in at the time.
The Air Flow Valve from the car has now been in a petrol soak since yesterday morning and I’ve been using a small paint brush to winkle out any bits of muck, of which there have been many. You would not believe the colour of the petrol now. If the wretched thing still plays me up after this, I will have to find a new part. I’m still waiting for one of the breakers yards to call or email with some details.
This morning I took the flower boxes out onto the stern deck to give them a rub down with a sander. Having already given them both several coats of paint, I then realised they were a little too rough for the canal art I had planned. Duh! As you would expect, I had just got to the last side when the backing pad that holds the sanding part decided to fall off. Another hour later, having re-fixed it with super-glue, I finally finished this small task. Tomorrow, if the weather stays dry, I’ll be out there giving both boxes a coat of paint.
Saturday 10th April and it likes like it could be another warm day. Hallelujah brother, summer has really arrived.
Yesterday, while the girls were off on their jaunt to Nottingham, after finishing sanding down the flower boxes, I chilled out for a while and then, after chatting with Brian, I logged on to eBay to look for this Air Flow Meter. What I found gave me cause for concern, because the items up for sale looked nothing like the item I had been told was an AFM. Oh joy of joys!!
So, having discovered that Steve, our local car mechanic didn’t know what he was talking about, I refitted the item – whatever it is – and, lo and behold, I still had the same problem as before. No surprise there then.
So, back to the laptop to check out the real thing which, according to the vendor who claims his units are not reconditioned, his £80 or so looks far better than Alfa dealers £310 +VAT. I then awaited Wifey’s return to tell her the good and bad news. Today, sometime, we’ll order this part and, with a bit of luck, once fitted, I’ll have no more trouble. But, if I do still have a fault here, I shall take it to a man we met whilst cruising, who has a garage in Loughborough, and ask him to run a diagnostic check to find out exactly what the problem is.
I, categorically, do not have car troubles, apart from the odd puncture and such. Never do I experience this kind of rubbish from any of the cars we have owned. Indeed, just after we sold the Rav 4 to Jayne, the Timing Belt snapped, landing her with a bit of a bill. So, over the years we’ve been relatively free of car problems, until now that is.
Of course, in ordering the AFM today, we’ll be lucky if it arrives by Tuesday and I then have the dubious privilege of fitting the wretched thing, and one thing I really hate, is working on cars. Back in my ill spent youth I quite enjoyed the challenge of pulling an engine apart and replacing valves and big ends and all that kind of stuff. But, as I grew up I grew out of childish things.
But, needs must when the Devil drives, so I will just have to get on with it. Oh, woe is me and lack a day! Actually though, although I’m having this dithering accelerator problem, the car is still driveable and we can still go shopping and pay a Sunday visit to the Fox in Quorn tomorrow, so I really should count my blessings. It’s the money you see, it’s bad enough the boat being a bottomless pit, we really do not need the same with the car. Perhaps we’ll win the Lottery and throw away our financial cares and woes. Yeah! Right!
Monday 12th April and although dry, not quite as warm as yesterday, when we actually did make it to the pub. For some reason best known to itself and folks who know about these things, despite cleaning out the Throttle Control Unit – because that’s what it was, and not the AFM – the pesky car is behaving even more erratically. Perhaps it is because I cleaned it, who knows? I know one thing, I shan’t be sorry when the new part has been fitted and, yes, I will be doing it myself, which will probably astonish certain members of my family. I really am not as useless as some people think I am, it’s just that I take the view, “horses for courses” and would rather let the experts do the job.
Earlier this morning, simply because we were a bit doubtful about using the car, Wifey walked into Quorn for some shopping, whilst I, like any dutiful Hubby, carried on with painting the flower boxes. We now have some pretty green patches over maroon background, onto which our rose and castles will be painted.
Tuesday 13th April and, since it started out with a freezing fog at 6o/clock, I do believe it’s set for a warm day. Hopefully the AFM will turn up and I can get it fitted. Also, hopefully, it will cure the problem.
I am currently I am adding some clipart to the book, but I’m not sure it’s the right way to go. As you all know, I did send for a disc full of food pictures, which is what I would rather use, but, since I didn’t actually pay for the disc, it’s very doubtful I would get away with using any of them. However, all is not lost because I will go online later to see what I can find.
Well, it’s now 7.15 pm and, earlier this afternoon I fitted the new Air Flow Meter, which did absolutely no good whatsoever. So, now what do I do? I am on the horns of a dilemma because, having spoken to a mechanic in Loughborough, I now know that there are time when, by fitting a unit other than an authentic Bosch part, that unit might not work. I have also discovered that, along with Jaguars, the Alfa does not always respond to any other diagnostics machine than that which is installed in an Alfa garage. Oh boy!
Anyway, on Monday morning at 9 o/clock, I will be at that garage and, if his diagnostics machine works, I will discover what is causing this problem. Alternatively the nice mechanic will call in another mechanic, who has several thousand pounds worth of machine which, he assures me, will trace the problem.
Now, whilst I was talking to my neighbour Brian, I spotted a car for sale. It’s an ‘S’ reg Peugeot 206, 2.1 litre diesel estate, and the vendor claims it will do about 60 mpg. That is an improvement on the Alfa and would save me a lot of money when visiting Alan in Harlow. So, if the prognosis is expensive on the Alfa, I could be persuaded to purchase the Peugeot which, at just £595, looks like a bargain. Especially when you consider the 6 months MOT and Tax, electric windows and mirrors, and electric steering wheel adjustment. Then there’s the Air Conditioning and the 6 stack DVD player.
I’m not too keen on diesels as a rule but, needs must when the Devil drives.
Watch this space.
Wednesday 14th April and, although dry, it’s a bit blowy with a cool breeze.
Now, as many of you may remember, I have had on my computers, ever since 2004, a wee programme called Typeitin. This stores all the website addresses and emails that I use on a constant basis.
On occasion, as you also know, I run into problems with my computer. Doesn’t everybody? The result of these problems is, invariably, that my Typeitin reverts to the non-registered version, which is rather limited in the amount of groups and addresses it can hold.
You would think, wouldn’t you, that it would be an easy matter to re-register the thing and get back to normal, but you would be wrong. Having tried registering with the original code and finding it didn’t work, I contacted the programme owners at Wavget.com for some assistance. If you ever purchase this programme be prepared to wait and follow up your original request for help. These people are pretty slow where customer service is concerned.
Anyway, yet again I have suffered problems with the laptop and, yet again, have had to contact Wavget for help. I have tried the original code and also the alternative code, which they sent me last time and which was shorter than the original, although it did contain a string of letters from the original code. With me so far??
On Saturday I emailed them and am still awaiting a reply, having tried both codes without success. This morning I emailed again, but do not hold out much hope of a speedy reply. Would you??
Thursday 15th April and still no response fro those Typeitin people. At the risk of repeating myself ad nauseum, I would suggest to anybody thinking of purchasing anything from Wavget, to seriously consider the lack of after sales service. They really are lackadaisical about helping those who have paid. You have been warned.
Anyway, it is now almost 2.30 pm, I’ve had my lunch and so has the dog, and Wifey has gone off to Leicester with Marion. They should be back around 5ish, but who can tell?
As a point of interest, getting back to the recipe book, I have now re-compiled it. There were one or two errors in the copies I passed around at the family do, which I only noticed a couple of days after posting to eBay. Thankfully nobody made a bid for it, and so it was easy enough to remove it.
So, after giving the matter some thought, I decided to rename it, a task I delegated to my better half, and also to split it into two volumes but, instead of limiting Book 1 to Bedfordshire to Lincolnshire and Book 2 to London to Yorkshire, I have now included all counties in both books, but have split the recipes in roughly half. Thus it is that Book 1 now has 200 recipes and, as for Book 2, until I compile it, I have no idea how many will be in it. Especially since I may find even more before it is edited and compiled.
Now, I have been looking at the problem of copyright infringement and, since the Berne Convention on the subject really isn’t definitive enough, I have enlisted the aid of an online legal group called Just Answer, to advise me on the matter. Many of the recipes, as you all know, are very old indeed and can’t possibly be covered by any copyright. But, some of the more recent ones might just trap me and I would hate to receive a ‘cease and desist’ letter from someone’s solicitor. Better to be safe than sorry.
It will probably take me about six months to compile the 2nd volume of the recipe book which, incidentally, will now be called “Traditional English County Food”, with the sub title of ‘Delicious recipes from around the Counties and Shires’. In the meantime, after we have tracked down all our holiday photos, we are going to collaborate on a book about our travels throughout the UK.
This will take in all the places we visited before we retired to the boat, along with our first three years before the mast, so to speak. But first we have to find those photos. Methinks they are hiding in a tea chest in Alan’s workshop at Valerie’s stables. We surely would not have disposed of them, they are far too precious. We searched the boat, especially under the dinette seats, but all we found there were actual family snaps, no CDs at all. Hopefully they will turn up soon.
Friday 16th April and it is no longer necessary to worry about BA staff going on strike, that volcano in Iceland could continue erupting for quite some time, grounding all flights for months. Indeed, since the offending volcano sits next to another, much bigger one, it could nudge its neighbour into erupting causing a Mount St. Helens situation. Hmmm! I’ll bet that’s given you food for thought.
Now, getting back to the legalities of my recipe book, I have taken legal advice from an online expert in British Law named Nick, who tells me that, all that is necessary to avoid copyright infringement, is for me to acknowledge the source of the recipes. This would be fine had I made a note of those sources in the first place and, with 200 recipes in Book 1 alone, this could take me several days to complete. I have therefore, asked if an Acknowledgement Page would suffice, naming all the sources I have used.
Tuesday 20th April and, as a direct result of all the faffing about with the car and laptop, I fear I owe you all an apology for running so late with this blog.
No doubt I have mentioned the problems with the car? Well, after fitting, what appeared to be, the correct item and finding it didn’t cure the problem, I took it to a garage in Loughborough, who called in a diagnostics man to check it out. The idling problem still appears to be the Air Flow Meter, and so I have had to order another one, but this time a genuine Bosch part, albeit a used part, but a genuine, Bedouin part.
This unit should arrive on Wednesday when, if all goes well, the Alfa will be driveable again. However, if that doesn’t cure the fault, then it will probably be the Engine Management System causing the fluctuating idling speed, in which case it could be rather expensive to repair.
This leaves us on the horns of a dilemma. Do we swallow the cost and have the car repaired? After all it only cost us £700 to start with and, so far, we have spent over £500 on the exhaust system and other parts. Or, as my gut feeling tells me, should we start looking for another car and try trading this one in? Hmmm! More about that when I’ve fitted the next AFM.
For now though, as we have now encroached upon the 9th page of this blog, I suppose I ought to see if I can post it.
Oh, and by the way, apart from a rather strong breeze here, it’s been a pretty good day weather wise.
Cheers for now and good health
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Pillings Lock Marina 2010#7
Saturday 27th March and, after a spell of nasty, horrid wind and rain yesterday, it’s turned out bright again.
Not much to do today, except for a little shopping and a bottle of gas.
Last nights Red Pepper, Ham and Cheese Tart, was rather good, but also rather filling. It also shot my blood glucose reading up somewhat. Next time a smaller portion I methinks.
I’m still wading through the ’book’ in an attempt at turning it into a single volume. Going through the ‘completed’ two volumes, I’m amazed at hoe many boo boos I’ve made, so it’s just as well I took the first listing off eBay.
All for this morning, I think I hear Wifey stirring.
It is now 4.45 pm and I am trying to sort out the compatibility for MS Office, to see if it opens and closes any quicker
Tuesday 30th March and I am now free of the North Middlesex Hospital. Whoopee!! I had my final check up yesterday and have been discharged after five years of probing my nether regions, with telescopes and cameras. But, since the medical profession simply hates to let you go completely, once they’ve got their sticky hands on you, they will be writing to my GP in the hopes that I will continue with follow up appointments. Whilst I appreciate their concern, I do not relish further assaults upon my innards and will probably resist any pressure for them to do so. Enough is enough.
Sunday was yet another excellent day spent with Alan and, I have to say, he fed and watered me rather well. The Guinness flowed freely, and the lamb was plentiful. One or other of them was too plentiful, if the complaints from my stomach are anything to go by. That’s probably information overload for some; suffice to say I slept quite well.
The run down to North Mid was really terrible, I really don’t remember the last time it took me an hour to get there. I left Harlow quite early; about 7.30; but still ran into more traffic than usual. The whole point of leaving early; my first appointment wasn’t until 9.30; was to find a parking spot in the nearby street, rather than pay their exorbitant parking fees. Fortunately I had no problems in that respect, so parking cost me nowt. Since hospitals and doctors’ surgeries always seem to run late, and since my second appointment wasn’t until 11.30, I didn’t get away until well past 1 o/clock, and arrived home just before 3pm.
Today is shopping at Morrisons day, which I always look forward to, because we can bring home some more of their pies.
In my spare time, of which I have a great deal, I am beavering away trying to turn the recipe book into one volume, even though the producers of the programme suggest a maximum of about 100 pages. Also, since there are a few other ads on eBay with the same name, I’m going to change that when it is done.
Easter Day for the first time ever as far as I’m aware, my birthday will be here, again. Goodness knows how I’ve survived 68 of them, but I’m still here and fully intend to enjoy many more of the good stuff, especially cruising, drinks with Alan and family reunions.
Incidentally, when I posted the last blog, I noticed that I had a follower. I don’t recall his/her name, but it’s nice to know that somebody, other than family and friends, is interested enough to check out this blog. Cheers, whoever you are.
Friday 2nd April and the weekend is almost upon us again.
Yesterday was not a particularly good day for me. Sheila went off to Loughborough with Marion, but before she did we went into Quorn for a few bits. On the way back the car started juddering at low revs, almost as if it was starved of fuel. When we arrived at the marina car par, I let the engine run for a while, and saw the revs fluctuating. They were going up and down, almost to a stalling point, then suddenly rose to about 2000, then dropped down to normal tickover. Hopefully it will now stay that way, but I’m not holding my breath, because these things seldom cure themselves.
Actually, a few weeks ago I noticed a certain hesitation when going around the first roundabout on our way to Quorn, and I even mentioned it to Fred when he carried out the service, but he didn’t notice anything untoward. It’s been getting me to Harlow and back ever since, but I don’t know that I can trust it now. We will see what happens today and, if it plays up, I’ll have to have a chat with a man that Brian knows, who has a workshop at the end of the lane.
This weekend I am also hoping to re-format this hard drive and set it up in 32 bit. Of course, I then have to re-install all my other programmes. I’ve downloaded a new backup prog which seems to give the user the ability to select which files to backup. I am hopeful of a good outcome.
Tuesday 6th April and my 68th birthday is now two days past. Nothing else has changed though with regard to the car and the laptop.
However, never say die, say I. I have had a lengthy chat with our local buff who, from the description I gave of my problem, suggested it might be hardware related. In the meantime he suggested I install XP on the partition on the hard drive. This I have tried to do but, alas, my laptop simply will not accept it. But, or Ivan has also suggested that he take this offending article away and run some diagnostic tests on it, in order to determine what is causing this beast to run slow and give me so much grief. Sadly he can’t do this until Friday.
Meanwhile, I have been online searching for an Air Flow Meter for the car. Naturally I first telephoned my nearest Alfa dealer, who quoted me £310 + VAT. Ouch! I then found a site that has umpteen million breakers on their list, and have been advised that I should receive up to 6 quotes within the next few minutes. This should be interesting!!
Returning to the subject of the recipe book, I have now managed to enter all the recipes into one volume, this despite the programme makers saying this would be impossible. I have also ensured that the Weights and Measures page appears in the TOC, which is something I failed to do before. And I have added a few more recipes, which also did not appear in the TOC. All that remains to do is to rewrite the About, Introduction and Foreword pages, at which point I can re-compile it and will be finished with this long running saga.
Wednesday 7th April and I am now back to a two volume book. This has come about due to the fact that, having asked Wifey to come up with a different title – which she did – I then proceeded to change the names of all the big files. Sadly the programme didn’t much like that idea, with the result that, upon opening the project to add information and complete the job, all the information on all the pages, had disappeared. So, I ditched that project and am now working on the new, two volume version.
What will happen when the first volume is finished, is that I shall post it on eBay and then work on the 2nd volume, which I shall post in about six months time.
Tomorrow our friendly, neighbourhood computer whiz named Ivan, will be taking this pesky laptop away to run some tests. Hopefully he will discover what is causing it to run so slowly and, at the same time, do his best not to lose any information I have on it. To be on the safe side I have copied my book files, along with a few other files, to a DVD.
When I asked Ivan how long it would take, his reply was that it could take five minutes, five hours, or five days. Ah well, so long as he gets it sorted, I’ll be happy.
As for the car, I’m still awaiting a call from the umpteen breakers yard. Meanwhile, another acquaintance on the site is going to loan me his star screwdriver set, so that I can remove the offending article and soak it overnight in petrol. Hopefully this will remove whatever is causing the air valve to stick.
Hi Folks,
It’s Thursday morning and, because Ivan will be taking the laptop away this morning for an indefinite period, I’ve decide to post now just in case you wonder where I’ve got to.
Luv n stuff from
Dave, Sheila and Rusty xx
Not much to do today, except for a little shopping and a bottle of gas.
Last nights Red Pepper, Ham and Cheese Tart, was rather good, but also rather filling. It also shot my blood glucose reading up somewhat. Next time a smaller portion I methinks.
I’m still wading through the ’book’ in an attempt at turning it into a single volume. Going through the ‘completed’ two volumes, I’m amazed at hoe many boo boos I’ve made, so it’s just as well I took the first listing off eBay.
All for this morning, I think I hear Wifey stirring.
It is now 4.45 pm and I am trying to sort out the compatibility for MS Office, to see if it opens and closes any quicker
Tuesday 30th March and I am now free of the North Middlesex Hospital. Whoopee!! I had my final check up yesterday and have been discharged after five years of probing my nether regions, with telescopes and cameras. But, since the medical profession simply hates to let you go completely, once they’ve got their sticky hands on you, they will be writing to my GP in the hopes that I will continue with follow up appointments. Whilst I appreciate their concern, I do not relish further assaults upon my innards and will probably resist any pressure for them to do so. Enough is enough.
Sunday was yet another excellent day spent with Alan and, I have to say, he fed and watered me rather well. The Guinness flowed freely, and the lamb was plentiful. One or other of them was too plentiful, if the complaints from my stomach are anything to go by. That’s probably information overload for some; suffice to say I slept quite well.
The run down to North Mid was really terrible, I really don’t remember the last time it took me an hour to get there. I left Harlow quite early; about 7.30; but still ran into more traffic than usual. The whole point of leaving early; my first appointment wasn’t until 9.30; was to find a parking spot in the nearby street, rather than pay their exorbitant parking fees. Fortunately I had no problems in that respect, so parking cost me nowt. Since hospitals and doctors’ surgeries always seem to run late, and since my second appointment wasn’t until 11.30, I didn’t get away until well past 1 o/clock, and arrived home just before 3pm.
Today is shopping at Morrisons day, which I always look forward to, because we can bring home some more of their pies.
In my spare time, of which I have a great deal, I am beavering away trying to turn the recipe book into one volume, even though the producers of the programme suggest a maximum of about 100 pages. Also, since there are a few other ads on eBay with the same name, I’m going to change that when it is done.
Easter Day for the first time ever as far as I’m aware, my birthday will be here, again. Goodness knows how I’ve survived 68 of them, but I’m still here and fully intend to enjoy many more of the good stuff, especially cruising, drinks with Alan and family reunions.
Incidentally, when I posted the last blog, I noticed that I had a follower. I don’t recall his/her name, but it’s nice to know that somebody, other than family and friends, is interested enough to check out this blog. Cheers, whoever you are.
Friday 2nd April and the weekend is almost upon us again.
Yesterday was not a particularly good day for me. Sheila went off to Loughborough with Marion, but before she did we went into Quorn for a few bits. On the way back the car started juddering at low revs, almost as if it was starved of fuel. When we arrived at the marina car par, I let the engine run for a while, and saw the revs fluctuating. They were going up and down, almost to a stalling point, then suddenly rose to about 2000, then dropped down to normal tickover. Hopefully it will now stay that way, but I’m not holding my breath, because these things seldom cure themselves.
Actually, a few weeks ago I noticed a certain hesitation when going around the first roundabout on our way to Quorn, and I even mentioned it to Fred when he carried out the service, but he didn’t notice anything untoward. It’s been getting me to Harlow and back ever since, but I don’t know that I can trust it now. We will see what happens today and, if it plays up, I’ll have to have a chat with a man that Brian knows, who has a workshop at the end of the lane.
This weekend I am also hoping to re-format this hard drive and set it up in 32 bit. Of course, I then have to re-install all my other programmes. I’ve downloaded a new backup prog which seems to give the user the ability to select which files to backup. I am hopeful of a good outcome.
Tuesday 6th April and my 68th birthday is now two days past. Nothing else has changed though with regard to the car and the laptop.
However, never say die, say I. I have had a lengthy chat with our local buff who, from the description I gave of my problem, suggested it might be hardware related. In the meantime he suggested I install XP on the partition on the hard drive. This I have tried to do but, alas, my laptop simply will not accept it. But, or Ivan has also suggested that he take this offending article away and run some diagnostic tests on it, in order to determine what is causing this beast to run slow and give me so much grief. Sadly he can’t do this until Friday.
Meanwhile, I have been online searching for an Air Flow Meter for the car. Naturally I first telephoned my nearest Alfa dealer, who quoted me £310 + VAT. Ouch! I then found a site that has umpteen million breakers on their list, and have been advised that I should receive up to 6 quotes within the next few minutes. This should be interesting!!
Returning to the subject of the recipe book, I have now managed to enter all the recipes into one volume, this despite the programme makers saying this would be impossible. I have also ensured that the Weights and Measures page appears in the TOC, which is something I failed to do before. And I have added a few more recipes, which also did not appear in the TOC. All that remains to do is to rewrite the About, Introduction and Foreword pages, at which point I can re-compile it and will be finished with this long running saga.
Wednesday 7th April and I am now back to a two volume book. This has come about due to the fact that, having asked Wifey to come up with a different title – which she did – I then proceeded to change the names of all the big files. Sadly the programme didn’t much like that idea, with the result that, upon opening the project to add information and complete the job, all the information on all the pages, had disappeared. So, I ditched that project and am now working on the new, two volume version.
What will happen when the first volume is finished, is that I shall post it on eBay and then work on the 2nd volume, which I shall post in about six months time.
Tomorrow our friendly, neighbourhood computer whiz named Ivan, will be taking this pesky laptop away to run some tests. Hopefully he will discover what is causing it to run so slowly and, at the same time, do his best not to lose any information I have on it. To be on the safe side I have copied my book files, along with a few other files, to a DVD.
When I asked Ivan how long it would take, his reply was that it could take five minutes, five hours, or five days. Ah well, so long as he gets it sorted, I’ll be happy.
As for the car, I’m still awaiting a call from the umpteen breakers yard. Meanwhile, another acquaintance on the site is going to loan me his star screwdriver set, so that I can remove the offending article and soak it overnight in petrol. Hopefully this will remove whatever is causing the air valve to stick.
Hi Folks,
It’s Thursday morning and, because Ivan will be taking the laptop away this morning for an indefinite period, I’ve decide to post now just in case you wonder where I’ve got to.
Luv n stuff from
Dave, Sheila and Rusty xx
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