2008 — 20 January: Sunday funday Sunday?
Just a placeholder. Today's the day the Mounce brothers (combined age 118 years!) whisk their aged Parent (type female: unique / query humanoid?) out to a pub for a pie and a pint (hah, hah). Suitably slanted report to follow, no doubt. (And, Pauline G, I bet you've forgotten I still have your copy of that fascinating book Toxic Parents — now why would I suddenly think of that?1)
And if you're reading this, Lis, please note a) your man is on excellent form and b) some air got interestingly cleared yesterday during the in-depth fraternal chatting. We are, it seems, of like mind in some areas at least. (I don't know; you're a chap's brother for 56 years and you suddenly realise you hardly knew bits of him!) It's also fascinating to hear an alternative slant on mutually-experienced events from four decades ago. He may have the edge in years, but my memory has the edge in retentiveness. Fascinating. I should write a book!
Sheer luxury... department
It's 07:50 and I'm halfway through a cuppa tea, not made by me, that was brought to me in bed! You know, I actually cannot recall the last time this happened. Certainly not in the last seven months or more.
As to yesterday's throwaway remarks, regarding (respectively) WinSCP, Scalextric, and a certain (as yet unnamed) building society, the emails are now in:
- Brian J has now attained a higher degree of FTP and SSH nirvana in his quasi (crazy?) world of Linux/Windows equivalence by the relatively late realisation that Nautilus (Gnome's Explorer equivalent) has all this stuff built in (he could have asked me, oddly enough!), and have I tried eBay? and
- Geoff suggests as an answer to Christa's preference for the particular building society that's causing me grief a variant Churchillian reason: "the worst [Building Society] except all those others that have been tried from time to time" which, I believe, the Great Man originally applied to the (woefully inefficient2) concept of democracy.
Nice ones, chaps, thank you both. But from the recent problems Mike has had with a rolled-back PayPal payment I'm currently very dubious about the parent organisation, eBay. (He seems to have been stiffed to the tune of one camera, and its payment, despite offering proof of delivery and acceptance by the buyer. After calls to call centres and a trip to the Citizen's Advice Bureau the matter is now in the hands of Hampshire's finest, so I shall say no more.)
Still, I guess now it's time (08:21) to make brekkie before the two of us head north. More later, but not soon, dear reader.
Wait! Here's Big Bro's first-ever direct contribution to my diary. Well, I cut the 197K jpeg he sent me down to an 18K gif first, but I appreciate the thought. It shows the Heathrow arrivals board after that BA Boeing 777 from China crash-landed. Note the terminal:
Decisions, decisions... department
I have (at 18:14) a choice to make, gentle reader. I can spruce myself up, dry my eyes, take a few deep breaths, and launch myself over in the direction of Winchester for a guaranteed "good time" consisting of a meal, a film, great company, sympathetic chat, and general warm-hearted humanity... or I can take the time to gather my thoughts, and then try to capture in words fit to appear on the web, the essence of the Sunday from Hell that was today's visit3 to our dear mother.
Actually, put like that, the choice is easy! See you in a few minutes, Mike.