We went to see the Mosaics tonight; they were playing at the Ropery in Sunderland. They were very good, but if you've seen them you'll know that's the norm. My children appeared to have scored, although they're both still shaking.
It's been quite a busy week,both in terms of work and leisure. We're supposed to be going to see a band in Centurian, in town, tonight, but we can't face another night out. We must be getting old. While I'm on the subject of our social calendar, here's a picture from St Patrick's day.
And, talking of getting older, I've yet another birthday next week. I usually don't dwell on such events, since I've now had far too many birthdays, but Paula bought me a truly great present ...
This wireless internet on trains thing is pretty cool; particularly now it's free.
My computer-related recycling continues. I found an old TV card in my box of old computer bits last week. I'd stopped using it when I upgraded to Windows 98, because there wasn't anything other than a Windows 95 driver for it. So it'd been unloved for almost a decade, relegated to the big cardboard box under the bed (at the time; it's actually in a cupboard now). However, rediscovering the card inspired me (ok, I was bored) to try to find a driver I could actually use. And I found one. A windows XP driver. As a result, the card's now back in service, installed in the kitchen computer (it's the only one running XP). The original software was long gone, but another quick search found a free program that seems to work very nicely.
Well, I do still need to find a way to get a cable to the TV card, but that's a minor detail.
I can't believe the weekend's almost over already. It's not that I've done anything to make it fly past. I've lost a few hours this afternoon/evening though; a combination of feeling really tired and a cold drove me to bed. I still feel sleepy, so an early night is in order I think. I'm sure I'll be full of energy in the morning and fresh for the week ahead. Well, possibly.
Things have been both horrible and good over the past few months; horrible in terms of all things James related, but good in respect of relationship matters. Or so I thought. I realise it was naive of me not to realise that one could affect the other, but that was certainly the case. The prospect of James returning home unconditionally (I've not written much about the hell we'd been through with James, or his leaving home [and returning] several times) led to an argument. I don't think I'm being unreasonable for wanting an apology (for several bottles of stolen alcohol, quite a lot of missing money and a smashed lock; for starters), with a promise that behaviour will change, before James can return again. Unfortunately, my other half doesn't agree and things are going from bad to worse. To top the whole thing off, we'd promised Sophie that she could stay this weekend. Obviously it didn't happen. I hated dropping her in again; she's only six. It's so bloody frustrating how one kid (who thinks he's an adult of course) can have such an effect on me, my marriage and my grandchildren.
Well, tonight saw another humiliating defeat at the pub quiz. Another defeat, despite having Paula's mate Rachael and her internet capable mobile phone. I'd hate to imagine how we'd have done without her (it).
On our return home, Paula went straight to bed. she did,however, need assistance undressing and wouldn't lie down until she had her additional duvet ... the cries of 'where's my hello kitty quilt?' are still fresh in my mind.
It's been really nice having a few days off work; it's been a week, but doesn't remotely feel it. It was great to see Eels twice, but good too just to have some time to do everyday things that get pushed to the back of the queue. And, of course, a little time to do nothing. Today saw both productivity and nothing; after only a few frustrating hours, with a (second) network cable running down (through) the stairs, we have a 'wireless' print server. Although I'm very pleased with the result, I'm left wondering once more about the need for so many cables for a wireless connection.
