2010 — 5 May: Wednesday
It seems it's just as well I didn't say anything to dear Mama about Big Bro's planned trip to the UK later this month as he's now heading for Brunei instead. She'd have been a wee bit brunied off, methinks...
Wonder if it's anything to do with the latest cloud of volcanic ash. Oh well, he also intends a July holiday trip, I gather. Must be airshow season again. And it gives me more time to find some of those dried-saliva-covered bits of perforated paper he seems so keen on. Plus he's now more likely to end up here while I'm in the middle of the central heating upheaval. That'll teach him.
"Father of the Pride" is a hoot, with at least one good splutter of awed disbelief per episode, but it's getting late. And it's still pretty cold, too. G'night.
Consciousness returns
Assisted — naturally, or otherwise — by a cuppa. It's 08:38 and I have plans for an afternoon tea, with much to do before then. Cygwin/X (for example) is quite an interesting mountain to install, let alone climb. [Pause] It's installed fine, but there's a wealth of assumed knowledge here :-)
A post-breakfast read, methinks. Assisted by another cuppa.
Thank you, Mr ERNIE...
... for my next tank of free petrol (except that your minimum prize no longer fills a tank, of course). It's 09:54 and looking quite bright out there. My spy has told me to avoid the Hiltingbury Community Centre today — just like every other day for the last 28 years or so, then! (An unelected future 'leader' with supposedly blue blood is visiting, I gather.)
Meanwhile Mr Postie has just delivered a chance for me to re-evaluate the Andrew Davies variant last watched in late 2008. It's amazing how cheap these things become if you wait long enough:
Deferred gratification — pah!
I appreciate the sweeping of the gutters and the trimming of the verges, but would prefer the order reversed. Time (11:51) I wasn't here. Let's see. I've been to the tip. Where (and what) else offers fun?
So far (16:39) the list has included Soton (no "Word" yet, and very little Ubuntu server documentation), the delicious Waitrose chicken and mango sandwich with lime mayonnaise I picked up yesterday after our walk, the local B&Q (no joy in the CFL department), and Homebase in Hedge End (success, including a pair of 20W dimmable CFLs to replace the two old incandescent bulbs in the living room before they fold their tents). I also drooled (briefly) over the four models of Canon flatbed scanners in PCWorld, but made it safely home with the wallet unopened. No trip out for tea, however, as my main co-pilot had to stay in to consult with BritGas about his blocked heating system. They've suggested power flushing — I would counsel caution as all it seemed to do for my system in the long term was accelerate the time-to-failure of the remaining radiators...
Amazon to the rescue on the Ubuntu server front. I've also been browsing for scanners. I have a mild hankering for the sort of OCR software I enjoyed using back in those halcyon Acorn RISC days. One more day of avoiding tedious electioneering.1 According to a chap on BBC Radio 4 each UK household owes £7,250 (or so) just to cover the deficit — or possibly each citizen subject. My ears were doing the auditory equivalent of glazing over. Must be nearly tea-time. It's 17:52 and seems to have stayed dry all day.