Friday 8th February
At last, despite the lack of assistance from ‘Three’, I now
have Outlook 2010 sending messages. Even though I had already tried the various
settings suggested by Absolute Email, after sending them screen shots of the
stages I went through, and following up with their suggestions, I finally
managed to send a Test message. I still have no idea why the problem arose in
the first place, and I especially don’t see why, even with the default settings
I had with 2003, but all seems well now, and long may it remain so.
I have now downloaded all the parts to Emma’s Still Life
project. I even made an attempt at starting it, but it is such a mess that I
have decided to start again. Meanwhile, we printed some castle and dragon
pictures yesterday, which I will use as reference photos when I paint our door
panels. So, what with the Still Life and our door panels, I’m going to be
pretty busy with painting.
Tomorrow I will, once again, attempt to drive down to
Harlow. Last Saturday, as you all know, was a disaster, all due to a lorry fire
on the M1, so I didn’t actually make it.
Yesterday was Morrison’s day, so today we can chill out.
This gives me a good opportunity to make a start on the door panels. I’ve
printed out four pictures; two of cartoon dragons and two castles; so all I
need to do first is to trace them through graphite paper onto the boards. Also,
since the pictures are plain, with no backgrounds, I’ll also have to ‘invent’
that part, but that shouldn’t pose too much of a problem. I’m actually looking
forward to the change of pace that these panels will afford me, the Still Life
is going to be a killer I’m sure.
Monday 11th February
I took a run down to Harlow on Saturday, to see Alan and
have a few beers, a pastime that I don’t get enough of, and also to have my
back door panels smoothed down enough to paint on. I also downloaded a
programme called Wipe Drive, which I needed in order to clean up the Toshiba
before I sell it on. Can’t have a third part peeking at my bank stuff and such.
Although it didn’t rain on the way down, the roads were wet
so my wipers were in use all the time. The journey back was even worse because
it rained most of the way.
We had a good few, very enjoyable drinks at The White
Admiral and, for the first time in about 60 years, which was when mum
introduced me to them, I actually had some jellied eels. Delicious, but fatal,
because I suffered an upset tummy as a result. Not as severe as that time last
year, but damned annoying just the same.
The M1 overhead signs warned of severe weather conditions
for Sunday, but the snow didn’t materialise until last night, so that was a bit
of a damp squib.
Rusty was not feeling too good when I got home yesterday,
but she eventually ate her breakfast and seemed to perk up later. However, and
most unlike her, she disgraced herself at 3 am this morning, so Wifey had to
take her out for a comfort break. She woke us up again at 5 am – and there’s me
looking for a lie in – so I had to take her out again. Normally she will sleep
through until 7 am, or even later but, on the very rare occasion when I plan to
get up later than usual, she puts a damper on my plans.
It’s still snowing this morning and we’re supposed to be
going shopping. Some chance!
Anyway, I now have the necessary tool with which to return
the Toshiba to its original settings, and I will then be able to put it up for
sale. So, I’d better check out eBay prices for this thing.
Tuesday 12th February
Early this morning, just as I was going online to check a
couple of things, up popped a rather large section from a company called
Premier Opinion. I was invited to participate in some questionnaire, even
though I had never signed up with this lot. I was pretty mad about this
because, having entered their name into my search box, I discovered they were
in the habit of installing themselves onto my laptop, usually at the same time
as another programme was downloaded and installed.
After uninstalling the programme in the usual way, I then
found I had some items remaining on my Program Files and, despite my best
efforts, those items are still there. I am now in the unenviable position of
trying to find a way of removing this stuff from the registry. Great, just what
I need.
We went shopping this morning, firstly to The Range for a
piece of carpet to put in front of the fire, to catch any odd lumps of burning
embers that fall out when we open the door to top up with coal. We also
purchased a few packets of treats for Rusty, bless her cotton socks.
We also called into PC World and purchased a Wireless Mouse,
because I was insanely jealous of the one my brother had. This is an HP model
and cost just £20 although, when I checked out their little pile of ‘for sale’
stuff, there was a VAIO Wireless Mouse there for £15. On balance I thought the
HP model the better option and, since it works just fine, I have no complaints.
Wifey has spent the past hour skinning and marinating a
chicken for our dinner tonight. Those Bikers do like their spices!!
Wednesday 13th February
That dinner was superb. A very spicy chicken with roasted
vegetables. Pretty hot to the taste, but with a minty dip to soften the blow to
the mouth. Yummee!!
I have no idea what we’re doing today, but I don’t suppose
it will be very exciting. Probably just a chill out day.
Thursday 14th February
Snow yesterday, rain throughout the night, just as they
predicted on the news last night. My, ain’t they clever?
This morning I booted up the Toshiba, just to see if there
was anything else I needed to do before wiping the hard drive. After deleting a
few things and saving a few more, I then went into C Cleaner to tidy things up
a bit. I then took a look inside the Tools folder and, to my amazement, I found
a section that wipes the hard drive! Not only that, but I can choose how many
passes the programme makes, anything from 3 to 25 and I can also choose which
drive to wipe, including external hardware, such as storage devices and memory
sticks. And this is the free version.
Thanks to Alan smoothing down my panels, I have now made a
start and given them an undercoat. I’ve changed my mind about which clipart to
use on the small panels. These will now consist of a fire breathing dragon on
one panel, facing a fire breathing ogre on the other. The bigger panels will
have a castle and dragon. I actually put the panels on the front deck to dry
yesterday but, due to the dampness of the weather, they’re still tacky, so I’ll
have to bring them inside. Hopefully they won’t smell too much.
Saturday 16th February
Wifey had planned a burger for dinner last night but, just
as the Fish Man turned and she was about to get started, I suggested a piece of
fish with some veg. That was easy, only a second or so before she agreed.
Easily led is my missus! So, off I went to join the queue. Twenty minutes
later, when the veg was now nicely cooked, I arrived back. It can take him a
while to cook all that’s needed, especially if he has a few people waiting. The
fish, being straight out of the pan, was piping hot and went down a treat.
Burger tonight now.
First thing this morning I booted up the Toshiba, with the
intention of using C Cleaner to wipe the C:\ drive. I then thought, ‘hold up,
what capabilities are left when that’s done?’ What does this operation actually
do and how much does it delete? Most importantly, will I still be able to boot
the laptop up with the Recovery Disc in the DVD drive? I’m probably being a wee
bit paranoid here, but I would hate to go through the process, only to find I
can do nothing more with the laptop. I’ll just have to give it some more
consideration.
Sunday 17th February
Yesterday was something of a mixed bag for us. All went well
until we collected our mail, when we found the latest quote from our Car
Insurers, a brokers who we have used since our days at the shop, who have since
been taken over by accompany in Sheerness. We are so used to them hunting
around for the most affordable quote; especially now that we only use the car
for five months of the year; that their idea of insurance, at over £430 per
year, came as something of a disappointment.
So, having mulled the problem over for just a few short
minutes, I popped along to our friend and neighbour, Chris, and asked him who
he was insured with. He advised Bradford and Bingley and, after going through
their online quote system, we came away with a saving of more than £100. Now, I
call that a good days work. Bye, bye, Aston Scott, we won’t be dealing with
them again. Which reminds me, I must send them an email, I’m sure they’ll be
happy to see the backs of us dodderers!!
Sadly, I’ve had to abandon the latest pastel painting, which
I just don’t feel comfortable with. After two attempts I can see that I really
don’t have the ability or patience to give it justice. Instead I’m going to
concentrate on the boards for the back doors. However, instead of the
fire-breathing dragon and ogre for the smaller boards, I’ll be painting long
stemmed flowers.
My diet, I’m very pleased to say, is coming along just fine.
I have now down to 14 stone and 1½ lbs. Unfortunately, Wifey has stalled in her
weight loss, but then she doesn’t have as much to lose, so the last few pounds
may be something of a hurdle for her. I fully expect the same problem when I
approach the 13 stone mark because, as much as I would like to get down to my
ideal weight of 12½ stone, I have my doubts about being able to do so. Still,
so long as my BMI is well within the norm, I’ll be happy for something less
than 13 stone.
Monday 18th February
Less than six weeks to go now and we’ll be on our way around
the system again. But, before that we have a week in a cottage up there in the
Derbyshire peak district. This is so that we can get the bottom of the boat
blacked and we can’t live on board while that’s going on. Knowing how Rusty plays
up in the car, the journey will be quite noisy. Still, we’re looking forward to
a week of different scenery and lots of walks.
Tuesday 19th February
Pretty darn cold this morning with thick fog, and we have to
get Rusty to the vet by 9 am for her booster shots.
Now, for those of you who take an interest in such things,
there follows a rough guide to our 2013 cruise. As usual, this is always
subject to change, depending on various situations.
From Mercia Marina; around about the 26th March,
we’ll be heading:
South west, on the Trent and Mersey, to Fradley, then North
west to Great Haywood.
South on the Staffs and Worcester, to Autherley Junction.
North west on the Shroppie to Hurleston Junction, which will
take us onto the Llangollen Canal, where we’ll probably spend six weeks, taking
in the Montgomery Canal.
Returning to Hurleston Junction and then the Shroppie, we’ll
join the Staffs and Worcester back to Great Haywood and the Trent and Mersey to
Fradley.
We then take the Coventry Canal South East to Hawkesbury
Junction and the North Oxford Canal to Braunston.
From Braunston we take a short run along the Grand Union to
Napton and the South Oxford canal to Oxford.
We have no plans for river cruising this year, other than
the loop around on the Thames that takes us back onto the South Oxford and back
to Napton Junction.
Onto the Grand Union again, where we’ll head south down to
our old stamping grounds of Marsworth and Bulbourne, continuing on to Cowroast,
where we’ll catch a bus into Tring.
From there we’ll return to Norton Junction and the Leicester
Arm and take a run up to Foxton Locks and Market Harborough.
From MH we’ll return south to Braunston then head north west
along the Coventry to the Ashby Canal.
Upon leaving the Ashby Canal, we’ll head north west again to
Fradley.
From there, after completing more than 600 miles, we’ll head
back to Mercia on the Trent and Mercia. Hopefully this will be before the next
round of winter weather sets in.
And that, as I say, is the planned route and subject to
change.
Now, let’s get this posted.
All the best for now and have a good week.
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
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