Sunday 20 February 2011

One computer, two computer, three...

I'm sitting here typing at my computer, with the Sage's laptop on my lap, my iPhone to hand for emailing and the printer churbling away behind me.  It feels a bit extreme, although I could easily get used to it - when I watch a DVD it's always on the computer and I've always read or played cards or sewed or used the computer or something while watching television, and I like to have the full range of options all the time.  They say that this is a fault of children and young people now, that they never give their whole attention to anything - I could always get engrossed in a book but otherwise I found doing just one thing a bit of a bore.

The reason for this appliance overload is simply that Weeza brought the draft catalogue over on a memory stick, but it hadn't loaded up properly, so she emailed it instead.  Because of its size, she couldn't do it simply as a PDF (not on a free programme, that is) so did it on Publisher and I don't have that on my Mac.  And I was exchanging emails with her and others, and didn't want to have to fiddle around so did it on my phone, and then I thought I'd write here while the document was printing - gosh, won't it be fun when we've got an iPad to play with too?  Like having an armful of very well-behaved babies.

No one is interested in taking on a small Jack Russell, 6 years old, which has never been very well trained and so has behaviour issues, I suppose?  Ro has been asked by a friend to ask around.  I'm not sure where the friend lives, I don't think he's local to here.  Ro said, he didn't think I'd be able to take it on, and I'm afraid not.  We haven't got any way of keeping a dog in the garden - that is, the garden has no solid boundaries and there are fields all around and it could get onto the road

Dinner went very well and Zerlina was extremely well behaved and ate lots.  She climbed on her chair, sat still, remarked "Oh, here's my napkin," and put it on her lap and ate neatly.  It all went very well, I cut the potatoes into 1 inch dice and roasted them, also roasted peppers and garlic, sautéed courgettes (I never let water near a courgette in the cooking), cauliflower and spinach.  I marinated the beef, browned it on all sides and then roasted it in a very hot oven for ten minutes, then let it rest while I dished up the veg.  The Sage, who likes meat on the browner side of cooked, cut off a chunk to be roasted a couple of minutes longer and it was ready by the time he'd served everyone else.  There's some cauli left (I suspect tomorrow's dinner will feature cauliflower cheese) and we didn't quite finish the pudding, but all other plates were emptied. Phil and Ro even made inroads into the cheeseboard.  We didn't drink much, by the way, not even a bottle between us.

Tomorrow, I'll retake a photo for the catalogue which, now we look again, realise we didn't get at quite the right angle, and take a few more pictures.  The catalogue has 22 pages, and needs either two more or two less, but there are no illustrations that the Sage wishes to lose.  So I hope it doesn't rain.  We've got until Friday, but Weeza works Monday to Wednesday and doesn't really want to spend more time than she can help on the computer on those evenings.  We'll proof-read too.  And I'll do the Nadfas stuff I've been neglecting.

Housework and gardening?  Probably not.  I'm hoping to go and visit a friend towards the end of the week, though.   And Ro has given me some films he's finished with, so I may spend an evening or two gaining square eyes.

12 comments:

allotmentqueen said...

I feel sad that you always watch a DVD on the computer, because you really aren't getting the best out of it (and I'm speaking professionally here). Computer screens really don't do justice, their refresh rate is too slow.

And I somehow feel that a certain Jack Russell is going to somehow work it's way into someone's heart....

Dave said...

You didn't quite finish the pudding? Shocking. Clearly you need Chris or I to help out.

My brother has a badly-behaved Jack Russell. I certainly wouldn't want one. I can see why you wouldn't want a naughty Russell either.

Z said...

My DVD player has packed in, AQ, I haven't got another option at present. I'll get round to buying another one some time, but in any case the Sage isn't fond of films, so at least I don't inflict them on him.

I haven't met the dog, and don't plan to - I know some delightful Jack Russells, but it's no kindness to a dog to take it on when you know it's unsuitable for your home, and even the well-behaved ones tend to forget everything in pursuit of a rabbit.

Yes, Dave

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badgerdaddy said...

Allotment Queen, I chased through to your blog and dayjob site because I was curious as to what you did for a living and also clocked where you are which leads me to a whole new question... You wouldn;t happen to know Anna who used to work at Phil Brown's in Bristol, would you? Or Juliet aka Jules, who also worked there?

allotmentqueen said...

Oo-er, will Z mind us hi-jacking her comments box? I tried chasing yours and got very confused with the Xylophone thing. OH reckons there used to be two Phil Browns around about 15 years ago - but which one?

Z said...

Not at all, you carry on. AQ, I've got Badgerdaddy's email address so if you want to drop me a note, I'll pass it on to him.

Roses said...

Sounds like dinner was a great success.

I agree with your stance on dogs...and all animals really. You need to be sure of the environment you're offering them.

badgerdaddy said...

AQ, I'm not sure as I only know of one! They leased film gear and that kind of stuff, I think they were/are based in the Triangle area of Bristol. That any help?

allotmentqueen said...

BD - most media people in Bristol are based somewhere near the Triangle as that's round the corner from the BBC. And a lot of small companies come and go, often dependent on who's being made redundant this week. Those of us who've been around a long time now have gone through several metamorphoses, especially since film for broadcast largely gave way to video, and now to other digital media. I probably have met them, but we've never hired much equipment, so would probably have been a fleeting crossing of paths. But then, it's a small world, isn't it?
What's your interest in them, then?

badgerdaddy said...

All good points, AQ. And it is indeed a small world, which is why I asked! I went to school with both of them, and we're all still friends now. Anna was fresh in my mind as she'd been round at the weekend, and then I read the comments, and here we is.

allotmentqueen said...

Well if either of them knew me, there's a fairly good chance they would have either have heard my name or our company name - it's fairly distinctive! But - hey I'm a month older than Z and her memory's a lot better than mine by now!