I need to get out more!

As promised last weekend, I was in desperate need of a new PC. Well, one has been purchased and I have spent all of this weekend getting the new system up and running. Now, I'm relatively competent with PCs and their insides but this has had me completely stumped. My old PC has a slave hard drive where all my data was stored. The purpose of this rather than storing everything on the C: drive was with the intention of a future upgrade where I could just move the drive over to a new machine with no trouble.

Of course, this is where the trouble started. The new PC has a SATA drive whereas my old drive is an EIDE. Connecting it up was no problem whatsoever, but getting the new PC to recognise the drive was a different matter althogether. I can see it in the BIOS, I can see it in Device Manager, but whatever configuration I use it is not visible in My Computer! After many phone calls to help desks, (Compaq will not help as the old drive is not made by them, Western Digital will not help as the PC is not made by them...) I finally resorted to copying the whole lot onto a stack of DVD's and moving the data across manually. I am not happy, have hardly slept (it tooks hours!!) and now at last have a good clean and fast working system. Now all I have to do is find all those old software discs so I can run what I've been used to running. At least I can blog again.

Three days - Three explosions

They always say that things happen in threes, and the last three days have borne true to this saying with an explosion on each of them.

Friday - Trousers
In my enduring quest to lose a little weight I realised that it wasn't my trousers that were too tight, it was actually my underwear, and the elasticated waistline was gradually cutting off the blood supply to my legs. I IM'ed Barnaby and he suggested I go commando. I thought better of it, just in case of 'emergencies'. Four hours later as I stooped to pick up some dropped change, a tremendous ripping sound could be heard and the crutch came apart at the seams. Hmm, with bulges becoming exposed, I resigned myself to another visit to the slightly larger trouser shop, in the sad knowledge that my waist really has expanded!

Saturday - PC
My PC has been playing up a little lately requiring several attempts to get the damn thing to switch on, so once it's on I tend to leave it switched on. In the early hours a large bang was heard as the PC totally died. As it was it turned out to be only the power supply and a trip to the computer fair behind Tottenham Court Road, a new one was purchesd for the bargain price of £10. However the PC is still acting a little strangely, a new PC will be got next weekend, so apologies in advance if there are no updates for a short while until things are fully sorted.

Sunday - Leicester Square
Tonight sees the premiere of the War of the Worlds starring the newly engaged Tom Cruise. In preparation for this, the square has been transformed into a disaster scene. Very well done in my opinion seeing as Westminster Council would let them move nothing except the bench seating. Click on the pic for a short slideshow of the destruction.

Batman Begins

Seems he got lost and parked in Covent Garden piazza today. At least, being a Saturday he’s exempt from paying his congestion charge, but I hope he gets a parking ticket, the Batmobile’s causing a nightmare with the number of people hanging around trying to get a look.

Forgetting a shopping list

I’m a typical Virgo, which means that I tend to make lists, shopping lists in particular. However once in a while I forget to take a shopping list with me and then I’m stuck. However it’s always nice to know the gods are smiling on me by giving me something to help me recall. Today was the World Naked Bike Ride and with a little help I recalled what it was I wanted. Button mushrooms, shrimps, melons, oh and some saddle soap might come in handy!

Meme - A midweek reason to blog.

I’ve been set a task. Barnaby has blogged his Meme and passed the baton to me to do likewise. So here goes.

Total volume of music files on my computer is: 21.53gigs (5524 files in 426 folders to be precise) and like Barnaby’s it is a VERY eclectic mix of stuff.

Last CD I bought: Black Box Recorder – The facts of Life

Last CD downloaded: Antony & The Johnsons – I am a bird now

Song playing right now: You are my Sister, from the previous album. Haunting, wonderful and a perfect duet between Antony and Boy George

Five songs that mean a lot to me:

• Elton John – Daniel. No one ever forgets their first love, and mine was Daniel when I was 16. Ever since Daniel has been one of my favourite names, one of those names that sort of makes me go weak at the knees when I know I’m going to meet someone of that name.
• Marianne Faithful – Sister Morphine. I so wish that I had been a teenager in the 60’s summer of love and all that. I think that hippy lifestyle would have suited me perfectly.
• Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon. The whole album. Having seen it performed live twice in 1994 in Paris and London, it’s complexity is something that will live with me forever.
• Soft Cell – Bedsitter. Played eternally when I moved into my first bedsit in 1981. My first time living away from home and starting to discover myself.
• The The – The Lonely Planet. “If you can't change the world. Change yourself. And if you can't change yourself....change the world.”

I now pass the baton onto anyone who reads this, drop me a link to yours in the comments below.

Temple revisited

As promised last week, I have taken a journey back to Temple Church to view the interior as it was open this morning. Also, still slightly in pain from my shoulder problem yesterday, so a slow stroll down the road and a wander around shouldn't hurt and would be nice to get out the house. Not a lot to say really, the pictures speak for themselves, but I will go again sometime. This place it totally steeped in history, once of the effigies alone dates from 1144! I don't feel so old now having seen that.

Aaaarghhh Crunch Ouch!!!

Bugger. I've been having some shoulder and back pain for the last few weeks, I guess it's probably more to do with my bad posture when reclining on the sofa watching TV and also more than likely the number of pillows I like to have in bed, (was 10 but now reduced to 6). Not all under my head though, but sort of arranged so that I can snuggle up in the middle of them. Over the last month I've not been able to scratch my back with my left hand and the should had been getting a little stiff and somewhat uncomfortable. So, went to reach into the kitchen cupboard for a coffee mug this morning, and 'crunch' I felt, and heard it, as my shoulder sort of spasmed then felt very dead indeed. I can see a visit to an osteopath or chiropracter coming up very soon so sort this out. Phoned in sick to work and spent the rest of the day laid up in front of the TV, in a different position, mostly on the floor because that was the most comfortable way to relax. Feeling a little better now, a bit looser and not quite so dead any more, but it's still very painful. Have left little post-it notes all over the kitchen to remind me to only open the cupboards with my right hand, in the hope that I don't crunch my left shoulder again.