I’m going to attempt to write more often, it’s part of my to-do list. We’ll just have to see how it goes…

I have a new obsession, staring into my lavatory. I can’t help it. It’s fascinating. I bought some of those Toilet Duck Fresh Discs that you fire onto the inside of the loo and they work like those hideous old rim-block things that my Dad’s always had a vendetta against as they can easily get flushed and clog up the pipes. They’re also a haven for germs and how anyone could touch one to clean/replace it, well… eugh! These things, though, are fantastic! You push the tube towards the bowl, press the button and push. SPLAT! It leaves a jewel like disk of fresh smelling disinfectant in the bowl. It lasts about a week, you don’t have to touch it to replace it, just zap another disk on, and there’s no risk of it clogging up the plumbing. Such a wonderful idea. (I am easily pleased.)

I recently found a place on eBay selling PSUs for old SFF PCs like my old Shuttle SpaceWalker SV25. I bought one and although the dimensions are perfect, it’s not set out in the same way as the original meaning I’ll have to cut a hole in the side of the case which is not ideal.

I really thought that once I’d plugged the PSU in it’d just be a case of sticking an OS on and away I’d go. I never envisaged the nightmares! I’ve built so many machines now I’ve lost count. Both for work and home. I just wanted a nice lightweight OS like FreeBSD or Fluxbuntu. Nothing would install! FreeBSD gives me a Fatal Trap 12 and reboots every time. All Ubuntu variants have kernel panic at installing files. DSL ran fine from CD but refused to install yesterday.

Today I managed a frugal install, but it wouldn’t boot without the CD. I’ve just given up and tried Windows 2000 (which was on the machine previously) and it did get to the configuration which is further than anything else, but then it crashed. I tried about 4 times. Same outcome. I’m giving XP a go now, more for a laugh than anything else. I’m not even sure it could run XP without the hardware problems! I’ve narrowed the issue down to the HDD, but sadly it’s the only spare IDE HDD I have. I’m not buying another as it completely ruins the whole point of rebuilding this out of spares.

As for my OU Coursework, I was 3 chapters behind due to being ill, playing some time-consuming 360 games(!) and general apathy. I finished reading all about Faraday last night and went though the DVD on him today. So now I’m only 2 chapters behind, but I reckon I can get the Stalin chapter read tonight as there aren’t any other exercises for that one. Then I’m on to ‘The Diva’ from Monday getting me right back up to date again. Phew!

I haven’t had time to blog much lately as I have been soooo uber busy.

Christmas was OK, same as usual really. Fewer presents. Fewer family arguments this year though so that was good.

New Year’s Eve was fun, didn’t bother with going to a pub/club as it’s always such a let down. Went to Lou & Rich’s and played Guitar Hero 3 and Pub Quiz with them, Claire & Tony. Met some interesting people on my walk there/back…

My parents have gone on their first ever holiday which is pretty cool. My Mum’s brother has taken them over to Orlando which is where he spends about half the year. Their flight was delayed by 2 hours and then they got diverted to Canada so it was already exciting for them on their first ever plane journey (they have flown before, but only on Concorde for their wedding anniversary and in helicopters at Game Fairs). Took Mum 12 hours to call me after they’d landed. I’ll remember this… if I’d have left it that late to contact her she’d have been having kittens!

So anyway, this is my first time home alone in this house. It’s pretty cool, although the noises at night can be a bit freaky so I’m leaving lights & the radio on downstairs until I go to bed. It’s just fields right behind the house so in theory anyone could just wander up to the house. The horses keep setting off the security light at the back which scared the crap out of me while I was baking last night! I’ve started using this time alone to get my shit together at home. For the past 6 or 7 years I’ve let my place get into a total state. It started off when work was too much for me, then it got really bad and I just couldn’t face it then as it got worse it looked more & more impossible to sort out. It’s the main reason why I never invite anyone round here. It’s in the middle of nowhere AND it looks like a shit-heap. It took me 4 days (not whole days, but a lot of hours none-the-less) to get my bathroom from dump to minimalistic cleanliness and I feel SO much better for it! I did a bit of a tidy in the bedroom & livingroom and now it’s all starting to look do-able! The plan is to do my bedroom next as that isn’t too bad. Then the living room. Then my walk-in wardrobe which will be horrific I expect as I just throw stuff in without looking. Then it’s the study which will be bad just becuase it’s full of boxes of computer parts! I’ll see what I can sell though and maybe after clearing out the space I’ll think about upgrading my PC so it can play games again.

Right, I have to get back to sorting out bins & stuff! I’ll post up the recipes for stuff I’ve been cooking later I think. This fortnight will be filled with baking!