Slinking about the Lair
11/06/2008 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaIzzie's first week of work after our 3 weeks holiday has just ended. Izzie loves lounging about and doing nothing but there are some advantages to being back. Not least because if you are working you are not spending. But most interesting of all - it's the presence of work that makes you value much more highly the rest of your time and not waste it dawdling and snoozing
Got a whole pile of stuff done the last few days. First on the agenda was ringing up the 3 phone company to ask how to register online. All previous attempts have resulted in messages being sent to our mobile number. But since the mobile number belongs to a usb and not a phone, got no idea at all how on earth it is possible to read such messages
Well - the main reason for wanting to register is simply to keep an eye on usage so as not to go over our monthly 1gb allowance. Unlike the ma's internet which reverts to snail's pace once you exceed their 2gb limit, Izzie's charges an excess baggage fee of 10c per mb
Didn't get the info needed from the call centre but the lady was able to tell the Izzie that we'd clocked up 660mb for the month. Most happy indeed as the new billing period begins on the 13th. So that's 300mb in 2 days. Fat chance of going over that. So it was just the excuse to go pigging out on Radio National podcasts and downloading Skype.
But Skype is not playing nice. Downloaded it and went through all the rituals but every attempt to open it - it bounces for a split second before disappearing in a puff of blue smoke
Downloading it again as another user - one with admin perks (memories of the nightmares of setting up the 3 usb and getting this tip off from the Cat) did not help either
Then went peeking for reasons. Seems that it was not only the size of the file - most daunting indeed on dialup that had been the reason for not snatching it earlier. Decides it might be a good idea to check the minimum system requirements. Just scraped the OS box Version 10.3.9 or later. But there's also the minor matter of a big fat 512 memory and the Izzie is still back in the ark with our 256. So assuming that explains it all
Then was the inspired idea to take a peek at the gas heater. Since coming back from the grand European tour in November 2006, the gas pilot light had turned off and every attempt to turn it on again proved unsuccessful not least because Izzie had visions of blowing herself and the house up in the process.
Was too embarrassed to ask Uncle Vernon who never misses a chance to tell Izzie how stupid and lacking in common sense she is and to make snarky remarks about bookish sorts
So after the best part of a year and a half of cold showers, decides to have another go
Figured that this vision of an inferno is nothing more than the inner programming from the pair of them about the stupid serpent who cannot do anything practical
Once again the light kept doing the same thing as before and any attempt to move the arrow to a different position did not succeed. It would always turn clockwise back to zero
But then about ten matches later, it suddenly stuck and the flame stayed. So went inside and turned on the hot tap. Nothing happened. It did not cause the little rows to light up in flames like used to happen. But then noticed there was a bit of paper stuck to the outer panel which was sitting on the ground next to the screw driver. It was very faded and yellow and almost impossible to make out - a bunch of instructions. Turns out that the middle button was the one that activated the gas jets. Managed to move it and it stayed.
Turned on the laundry tap and came out for a peek. Perfect. Rows and rows of little flames
Now that was worth celebrating with a nice big long steaming hot shower. The temperature did fluctuate somewhat but we put that down to the poor thing still thinking that it's in holiday mood and still getting used to the new routine
Other stuff today included pruning oodles of bouganvilleas and moving the baby mulberry tree to a spot where it can get some decent sunshine as well as digging holes for the trees due to arrive soon in the post.
Then the Izzie got to sit watching the sunset gobbling an orange that fell from the tree while farting about with the bouganvilleas next to it.
But some little buggers want to piss on our parade. Part of our afternoon got spent gawking at a bunch of men in hard hats with a crane and digger and all sorts of machinery. The buggers were putting up a new street light exactly opposite the Izzie's front gate on the other side of the street
Most unimpressed indeed. The nasty lightseses is in a location where it cannot be screened by trees and it's going to totally stuff up this serpent's view of the western sky at night. The eastern front is already ruined by another street lamp.
So maybe we got only a week at the most before they connect up the nasty little lightsie and ruin our views of the evening crescent moon.
Izzie so so wants Dumbledore's nifty little Putter Outer.
Got a whole pile of stuff done the last few days. First on the agenda was ringing up the 3 phone company to ask how to register online. All previous attempts have resulted in messages being sent to our mobile number. But since the mobile number belongs to a usb and not a phone, got no idea at all how on earth it is possible to read such messages
Well - the main reason for wanting to register is simply to keep an eye on usage so as not to go over our monthly 1gb allowance. Unlike the ma's internet which reverts to snail's pace once you exceed their 2gb limit, Izzie's charges an excess baggage fee of 10c per mb
Didn't get the info needed from the call centre but the lady was able to tell the Izzie that we'd clocked up 660mb for the month. Most happy indeed as the new billing period begins on the 13th. So that's 300mb in 2 days. Fat chance of going over that. So it was just the excuse to go pigging out on Radio National podcasts and downloading Skype.
But Skype is not playing nice. Downloaded it and went through all the rituals but every attempt to open it - it bounces for a split second before disappearing in a puff of blue smoke
Downloading it again as another user - one with admin perks (memories of the nightmares of setting up the 3 usb and getting this tip off from the Cat) did not help either
Then went peeking for reasons. Seems that it was not only the size of the file - most daunting indeed on dialup that had been the reason for not snatching it earlier. Decides it might be a good idea to check the minimum system requirements. Just scraped the OS box Version 10.3.9 or later. But there's also the minor matter of a big fat 512 memory and the Izzie is still back in the ark with our 256. So assuming that explains it all
Then was the inspired idea to take a peek at the gas heater. Since coming back from the grand European tour in November 2006, the gas pilot light had turned off and every attempt to turn it on again proved unsuccessful not least because Izzie had visions of blowing herself and the house up in the process.
Was too embarrassed to ask Uncle Vernon who never misses a chance to tell Izzie how stupid and lacking in common sense she is and to make snarky remarks about bookish sorts
So after the best part of a year and a half of cold showers, decides to have another go
Figured that this vision of an inferno is nothing more than the inner programming from the pair of them about the stupid serpent who cannot do anything practical
Once again the light kept doing the same thing as before and any attempt to move the arrow to a different position did not succeed. It would always turn clockwise back to zero
But then about ten matches later, it suddenly stuck and the flame stayed. So went inside and turned on the hot tap. Nothing happened. It did not cause the little rows to light up in flames like used to happen. But then noticed there was a bit of paper stuck to the outer panel which was sitting on the ground next to the screw driver. It was very faded and yellow and almost impossible to make out - a bunch of instructions. Turns out that the middle button was the one that activated the gas jets. Managed to move it and it stayed.
Turned on the laundry tap and came out for a peek. Perfect. Rows and rows of little flames
Now that was worth celebrating with a nice big long steaming hot shower. The temperature did fluctuate somewhat but we put that down to the poor thing still thinking that it's in holiday mood and still getting used to the new routine
Other stuff today included pruning oodles of bouganvilleas and moving the baby mulberry tree to a spot where it can get some decent sunshine as well as digging holes for the trees due to arrive soon in the post.
Then the Izzie got to sit watching the sunset gobbling an orange that fell from the tree while farting about with the bouganvilleas next to it.
But some little buggers want to piss on our parade. Part of our afternoon got spent gawking at a bunch of men in hard hats with a crane and digger and all sorts of machinery. The buggers were putting up a new street light exactly opposite the Izzie's front gate on the other side of the street
Most unimpressed indeed. The nasty lightseses is in a location where it cannot be screened by trees and it's going to totally stuff up this serpent's view of the western sky at night. The eastern front is already ruined by another street lamp.
So maybe we got only a week at the most before they connect up the nasty little lightsie and ruin our views of the evening crescent moon.
Izzie so so wants Dumbledore's nifty little Putter Outer.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-11 10:28 pm (UTC)Waving, not drowning
Date: 2008-06-12 01:16 pm (UTC)Didn't even lose a pot plant. The ma and pa lost a tree but it was on the council verge so they're not complaining
Last time was any serious storm damage in the Izzie's street was back in September 98 when a tree fell down and squished our fence. Izzie was not upset at all but extremely grateful as the other direction it could have fallen would be the roof right over our cosy little serpent basket and that would have been one squished little Izzie
Oh and the nursing home - what a wonderful vision. Oh if only. But you know yourself - especially working in a government department that when the shit hits the fan , the management are never at the coal face but all snug and smug in their bunkers uttering platitudes to the masses