Type Delete Retype

A day for staying at home

I'm supposed to be here but I'm at home instead. This is due to a few reasons including issues relating to transport. I've said it before and I'm saying it again - our current home is lovely and spacious yet I'm very much looking forward to moving into town where I would be more independent and mobile. Especially with E's travel schedule.   

So, what am I'm doing with my day off? I'm trying to install itunes new system onto my iphone, ipad and itouch. It's time consuming and the hours are flying by. 

Ok - I'm late to the party and just discovering pinterest a few days ago. I like it sooooooo much that I thought twice about evernote and went back to it to use it again and found myself also loving it. 

Meanwhile - I'm losing interest with FB, especially with the recent appearance of ads. Am I the only one?

At home

A day for staying at home and working on my essay which is due tomorrow. Which is very nice, because I haven't had many of these stay-at-home days lately.  

A kind person from E's IT department took a look at the computer yesterday and helped to change the operating language to English. I'm now able to navigate my way through iTunes. I was happy to discover radio on ITunes this morning, including... ...jeng jeng jeng  BBC Radio 4. Why didn't I think of this before?

Wrestling with software

Some good news: E has bought a used notebook from his work place for me to use. This solves my problem of not having a portable computer.  I am very grateful.

But there is a problem: All the software are in Spanish - even the new ones which I've downloaded from the internet like  itunes, dropbox, and every other freaking thing. Why why why? This is despite me downloading the programmes from the English websites and after changing the language of this computer's operating system from Spanish to English. I need IT support! I miss IT support! I would go back to stupid working hours just to get some IT support! (No, on second thoughts, maybe not).

The microsoft office software on the computer  is also causing me a headache. Not only are they in the new versions they are also in Spanish! I can't believe that a Swiss company  actually provides Spanish versions to its employees, just because they prefer the Spanish version. Come on! How silly accomodating can you be? I was already struggling with the new version of Excel in English. In Spanish? Argh and argh. Microsoft, what was sooo wrong with the older excel that you had to improve it and make it soooo user UNfriendly now?  

Ahhhh. Can you tell I'm feeling so frustrated?!  I have a few newly assigned essays to complete and they are all due now now now.

I will be back when I'm calmer.  

The computer curse strikes again

Damnation. This time, its E´s (Spanish) keyboard behaving badly. My last entry took a few hours to complete and involved a change of computers and some hair being pulled out (all mine). Argh. Thankfully, and unlike last week, I'm not constrained by time. Firstly, LittleE is at school and will be at him mum's later. Secondly, BigE will not be having dinner at home. Finally, I did not have classes today and won't be having them tomorrow. Nice for a change. 

My plan this morning was to be super productive - sort out my admin stuff and write out my lecture notes and think about the ideas from last week. What I've done instead is to spend my morning lolling on the sofa, catching up on blogs and surfing the net for trends I can incorporate into my winter wardrobe. I might make myself feel better by going out for a bicycle ride and pretending to start over and tackle my school stuff when I come back. 

So, summer is over. The weather was cool and wet yesterday. Temperatures dipped below 10c. I am in need of layers, my winter stash from HK is still making its way.  So I visited some shops on the way home after classes yesterday and bought myself some leggings and long sleeve vests. I don't dare to buy more, knowing that I should wait till we go to shops in neighbouring Germany or France where clothes cost significantly less.

I started re-organising my wardrobe in my head, while walking home (uphill) in the pouring rain and attacked my task with zeal upon my return (and after a much needed long conversation with the G). All of my summer clothes are now in the spare bedroom's wardrobe. I have about 5 or 6 sets of clothing mostly involving jeans and a black skirt and leggings. I haven't worn my jeans so much since 5-6 years ago.  

Close to 1 week

And I've been itching to update but have been occupied by a number of things:

(1) Playing catch up and avidly reading all the delicious blogs out there - from 2009, when I ceased to write or read blogs regularly, caught up with the busy schedule at work (and also after been chastised by a reader of my blog that I was not doing myself any favours with my various shennenigans...she was right; I was in a nonsensical post break-up period).

Of the many blogs, it is this blog that I´ve been particularly absorbed with these days. I remember R suggesting I read her some years ago, mentioning it would be become a firm favourite. I paid some attention to it then but not as much as now where I am seeking her archives, starting from day 1 (as of this morning, I'm at Aug 2009).

(2) The demise of my lap top's screen - I still prefer a computer over an ipad when I type. Sure, I have both E´s computers at my disposal (one of which I'm using now) but am often demotivated  to use them because of their Spanish prompts and keys: spending inordinate time just to "supr" alphabets because I automatically reach out to"inicio" and battle with the resulting "´¨" when I want a simple ' (ironic when I think about the 4 something years I used F's Spanish computer completing the thesis)(God, maybe that's why I took 4+years!).

(3) Co-parenting Little E (LE)- who is currently with us. He started his new school 2 weeks ago and the transition hasn't been easy for him. Poor love. The good news is that the tears and tantrums are becoming less severe.

Posting from iPhone

I've been posting from my iPhone using the email function for the first time since arriving in Spain. I'm still experimenting with this mode and have no idea how to include several pictures in 1 post nor turn the pictures around (maybe this is impossible?). Delete and reposting (choosing to send smaller size pictures) have ergo been my way. The good news is that the wifi connection is marginally better than at home - that is if I stay close to the router. The bad news is that my published post are often incomplete, disorganised and this drives me crazzzzzeeee. Argh.

My computer related issues continue

  

This time its my lap top - the screen seems to be broken, refusing to be switched on. The computer works fine with an external screen so I will have to wait for my screen to arrive in September (or figure out where I can repair a fujitsu computer in this foreign land and at the same time take a crash course in french, german or both). I've saved the more important files in a thumb drive and am switching my attention to my ipad and also, more reluctantly to E's computer which gives out directions in German and types in Spanish. My love for the ipad has incidentally been rekindled since I started dowloading the kindle app and amazon ebooks and found some pretty blogs. My ipad battery life can't last fast enough for me. Typing on ipad I still find troublesome.  

Slow and sporadic internet connection -

The internet connection here is crazy moody (bipolar disorder?). Frequent disconnections mean simple banking transactions takes at least an hour, as do posting blog entries. I’ve also discovered via a costly way that I am better off removing the new sim card from my iphone as the prepaid credits seem to vanish faster than the whimsical wifi regardless of the change in internet settings. Is it the fault of the modem or the service provider? We are investigating. Until then its back to basics .... Hello Nokia.

 

New phone in new home, 2011