2014 — 25 April: Friday

Today may yet turn out to be one of those military-style "Hurry up and wait"1 sort of days. Haven't had many of those since the dark days of Christa's illness, thank goodness. Did I mention it's raining, too?

Still, there's always the next crockpot to be stuffed, inter all too many alia. And the online delivery tracking of my two little incoming toys.

Pointing out...

... how much grasshoppers taste like, and should/could be regarded as, "land shrimp" is more likely to put me off my occasional prawns. (Link.)

I grant you...

... the data are already more than a decade old but, clearly, I would be safer clambering around up in my loft than living life (as it were) in my living room:

Danger zones

I was led astray by this sad tale of risky biscuits (among others) by the chap whose book "Are you talkin' to me?" (on rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama) currently sits on my Kindle...

[Pause]

Monsieur le Crockpot has once again embarked on his thermal adventure. Now I can ponder the mystery of the eBuyer order tracking facility that refuses to load. When I last succeeded in tracking them, last night, my items were in transit. It seems, however, that the Firefox browser history doesn't take heed of tab contents. Or I've managed to dislodge them somehow. And still it rains. [Pause, to make a consoling cup of coffee.] And there's Mr Yodel's van just backing on to my drive. Excellent!

I obviously missed...

... the memo warning me about keyboards becoming so complex you need to load a 20MB driver program to control them!

Keyboard complexity

And, no, I have still not yet become a gamer. I just wanted illuminated keytops that don't erode, basically. [Pause] I think a spot of lunch will do nicely before I rip out the old DVD drive and replace it by its shinier LG cousin, the new Blu-ray drive.

My 40-year search...

... for the long-wished-for second album by Hunter Muskett isn't over yet, dagnabbit. This afternoon's arrival, handed over by a somewhat sodden Mr Postie, is actually a new 2013 CD. I suppose, with a title like "That was then this is now", I should have seen that one coming. Mind you, it's perfectly pleasant listening.

I'm delighted to see...

... that my new optical drive — an LG BH16 that is a completely plug-compatible replacement for the four year old DVD drive — is the first one I've fitted to any of my PCs that is capable of seeing, reading (and thus also extracting) a series of MP3 files that were cut to a data DVD-ROM for me several years ago. The only other device in Technology Towers that could even play them is the latest Oppo BD player.

I never did find out whether dear Mama was amused by this...

The government publisher HMSO has released a list of new publications, and among them is Schizophrenia, by the Clinical Standards Advisory Group. Schizophrenia, says the catalogue, is in two volumes, and comes "shrinkwrapped".

Date: July 1996


... when I sent the clipping to her in one of my weekly letters quite some time ago, but it still makes me smile.

Having kept...

... a casual eye today on the increasing water level in a discarded washing-up bowl that has lived in the back garden (for no very good reason I can now recall) for the last five years or so, I'd estimate we have enjoyed at least one inch of rain, and the clouds hint there may be a few drops still left lying around up there, too. But the evening blast of nutritious crockpot was jolly tasty. I may even get some more sweet potatoes.

  

Footnote

1  I can do that. I just don't much care to.