Stupid things that they pre-programmed into the damn computer.....

Sometimes it's the little things about computing, or maybe just Microsoft, that amazes me. Sticky keys that are a source of continual amusement to some children. That stupid thing where you can rotate the screen 90 degrees completely by accident if you happen to press some combination of keys in order (which is surprisingly easy when you're 5).

And then tonight, when my keyboard suddenly decided to give @ instead of ". A little google later and it turns out that the damn thing's designed to do that whenever the ALT and the SHIFT key are pressed together. And what are the odds of that eh?

Stupid, stupid, stupid computers.

Deliberate luddite behaviour .... or "just not getting computers" as they say to me.....

........................ Oh, alright then, since you asked me.
Fixing computers for friends and colleagues. Or friends of colleagues. Or children of colleagues. Fun.

But the most annoying, or perhaps irritating thing about it is that more often than not it's fixing stuff that shouldn't have happened in the first place. Invariably it's broken this or broken that, laptops or computers with huge virus problems.

And no matter how many times I've sent around emails or talked to folks about doing little things like regularly backing up everything or making sure they have the best free anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewalls in place - they rarely have. At which point they bring the computers to me. And I fix them with a smile and a gentle reminder that they should really think about doing regular back-ups and getting all that security software I've been telling them about. And halfway through I can see them forgetting to do it already.

It's at the stage now where I'm beginning to believe that it's actually some form of luddite-ism. Worse, there's almost a deliberate refusal to even think about these sorts of little things that would make their lives so much better and easier. You tell them what they need to do, these smart, educated people, and they look at you with glazed over eyes and always come out with something like "but I don't understand computers"

The thing is, we both know they don't mean don't. They mean wont.

Doing the Mother's Day runaround.....

Today (well, yesterday, but you get the idea) Molly and I decided to sort out the presents for Mother's Day on Sunday. We had a great idea over the weekend, involving fun, chocolate and artwork by Molly. All was sorted, we woke up this morning with an idea of what we needed to get.

Then I realised that it was such a good idea that we'd actually done it three years ago. Oh crap. Massive rethink. And then a wander around Pocklington trying to gather everything together. But we did it, all we have to do now is put it all together, decorate it and Molly has to add all the personal touches that make it all worthwhile. Because you can spend a fortune on flowers, or jewellery or anything. But nothing, absolutely nothing makes a mummy smile like a handmade something, no matter how small or how rough.

The secondary school thing...

Molly has her place at the secondary school she decided she wanted to go to (more on that back here). It's the one up the road. About 5-10 minutes walk away. Not that it was ever going to be an issue. I feel for those families we left behind who are going through the nightmare of trying to explain to their little ones that they don't get to go to school with their best friends and there's nothing mummy or daddy can do about it.

But I still remember the wave of relief that Louise and I felt on our first visit to Molly's primary school when we asked the question about entry criteria for secondary schools in the area. Automatic entry to either the local comp or a Catholic school in York. That just confused us and we had to check. Yes, automatic entry meant exactly what we thought it meant. A little different from the idea we were used to back in Birmingham.

So the thing that would have been giving us nightmares and cold sweats in Birmingham we sailed through in Pocklington. It almost makes us feel guilty. Almost. But it is one of the main reasons we moved up here after all. And it's worked out wonderfully well.

It's all worked out wonderfully well. Pocklington still feels like a holiday destination that we just happen to be lucky enough to be living in. It's a great feeling. But most importantly of all, our little girl, who's not so little any more, is going exactly where she wants to be going for the next 5, maybe 7 years.

Back again, but for how long?

A return to this blog is something I've been meaning to do for such a long time but everything conspires against it. The days rush past, the weeks even moreso. I go out to work, get in, have fun with Molly, maybe finish off some work work and then, once Molly's in bed, I read and I write stuff and I prevaricate and I write some more. Sometimes there's TV, sometiimes a film. Always music.

And yet, in between all that, there's no time to update the blog. It's not like things haven't happened. Molly's getting older and growing up, secondary school is sorted out, we've been places and done stuff. Life is still good up here in Pocklington Bruton mansions.

But none of it gets written down. I should really try to change that. Tomorrow. I promise.