D3 pursuaded me to invest in a Webkinz toy - http://www.webkinz.com/ - and I have been a slave to the wretched thing ever since. It eats like a horse which I suppose is logical since it is very horselike, and it needs to be stroked and entertained to keep it happy. All this needs money and I have to build up enough capital to not only feed her, but build her rooms and furnish them. My dilemma at the moment is that I bought her an extra room but am not sure if she needs a kitchen to prepare the vegetables which we are growing in the virtual garden or if a study with a TV would make her happier. I have a while to decide ... it is snowing in Webkinzland at the moment.
There are ways of making money and I have all but given up on Freecell to play arcade games to earn money for Esmé. Some of the games are fun and take quite a bit of concentration and I tend to stick to them. Webkinz are really children's toys but a lot of adults have them.
I am sending a polar bear to Little Bro for Christmas because he and Bro'swife went to Canada recently and photographed a large number of polar bears - or photographed the same one many times; they all look big, white and hairy so who knows. I am a bit afraid that he will let the poor thing starve; according to the news of the day they are short of food and are eating their young at the moment.
I am being given a Siamese cat for Christmas so I need to get Esmé firmly established before I add to my cyberfamily.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Scanning the Newspapers
I have discovered a new and interesting pastime which is occupying my spare time, and a bit more, at the moment. The National Library is electronically scanning archived newspapers from all around the country and putting them online. The scans are not all that they could be since the newspapers are, some of them, over 100 years old so the public can log in and proofread and correct them. The original scan is in a separate window for comparison. It is a bit like reading and correcting typoese, which I am very good at so I have decided to try to complete one article per day.
I have been searching for my forebears (and correcting their details) and so far have found a divorce which I never knew about - and even not the marriage for that matter - of my great uncle Clarence and have finally found the mysterious wife of my great uncle Dudley. I have been searching for her for years.
I first heard about her - as did the rest of the family - when Uncle Dudley (my grandfather's twin brother) died and his will became known. It transpired that he was a very wealthy man. This fact was not fully realised by the rest of the family because he had lived a very reclusive life, avoiding his family in an extremely executive way. Maybe the vagaries of Uncle Dudley could be explored more deeply in another entry sometime.
Anyway, when the will was read he had left £20,000 to his 'other sister-in-law' by which I mean, not my grandmother. Anyway, Auntie Jeanette was to get the income for life and then the principle was to go to the Salvation Army, which infuriated her. The rest of his estate was left to his divorced wife if she was still alive and if not the money was to go to the Salvation Army. *grin* this infuriated the rest of the family, not because they had missed out on the money but because he had married and divorced without bothering to mention it to his relatives and this was the first that they had heard about it.
Anyway, thanks to the newspapers I discovered the report of the divorce and from there, with some help from the community board of www.genealogy.com we traced her and her very short-lived marriage which lasted a bit over two years.
Both my uncles did the divorcing, accusing their wives of adultery, and since both of them must have been rather strange men the women were probably happy to be freed to pursue their own happiness.
However, I still can't find any trace of my great great grandfather Edward Davies. He seems to have managed to transport his family to Australia from Wales, set up a successful business and vanish without a trace along with all his works. I have found one mention of a daughter - sister to my great grandfather, also Edward Davies - a Mrs Baldwin, but can't find any mention of a marriage and I still have no names. It is very frustrating!!!!!
And your cyberflirt hint for today ...
Develop carpal tunnel syndrome
I really must read the book to find out why that is such a good idea - it is really rather a painful affliction.
I have been searching for my forebears (and correcting their details) and so far have found a divorce which I never knew about - and even not the marriage for that matter - of my great uncle Clarence and have finally found the mysterious wife of my great uncle Dudley. I have been searching for her for years.
I first heard about her - as did the rest of the family - when Uncle Dudley (my grandfather's twin brother) died and his will became known. It transpired that he was a very wealthy man. This fact was not fully realised by the rest of the family because he had lived a very reclusive life, avoiding his family in an extremely executive way. Maybe the vagaries of Uncle Dudley could be explored more deeply in another entry sometime.
Anyway, when the will was read he had left £20,000 to his 'other sister-in-law' by which I mean, not my grandmother. Anyway, Auntie Jeanette was to get the income for life and then the principle was to go to the Salvation Army, which infuriated her. The rest of his estate was left to his divorced wife if she was still alive and if not the money was to go to the Salvation Army. *grin* this infuriated the rest of the family, not because they had missed out on the money but because he had married and divorced without bothering to mention it to his relatives and this was the first that they had heard about it.
Anyway, thanks to the newspapers I discovered the report of the divorce and from there, with some help from the community board of www.genealogy.com we traced her and her very short-lived marriage which lasted a bit over two years.
Both my uncles did the divorcing, accusing their wives of adultery, and since both of them must have been rather strange men the women were probably happy to be freed to pursue their own happiness.
However, I still can't find any trace of my great great grandfather Edward Davies. He seems to have managed to transport his family to Australia from Wales, set up a successful business and vanish without a trace along with all his works. I have found one mention of a daughter - sister to my great grandfather, also Edward Davies - a Mrs Baldwin, but can't find any mention of a marriage and I still have no names. It is very frustrating!!!!!
And your cyberflirt hint for today ...
Develop carpal tunnel syndrome
I really must read the book to find out why that is such a good idea - it is really rather a painful affliction.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Chaos at COTA? NEVER !!!!!
OK kids - here is your next helpful hint from the book "Cyberflirt" (ISBN 0-452-28054-0).
Choose Option D in the questionaire
I said last time that they are rather strange ... you were warned.
Because Himself is 'down south' this week COTA phoned me to ask if I could double up with two clients tomorrow. As I have a client with depression and memory problems I needed to know if she would be one of the double-ups as she needs gentle handling and full attention. The booking clerk said not to worry and that she had just cancelled Himself's client, that I was fully booked until the end of next month when we go into recess ... except for the man who was coming in on 10th December for four (4) hours of Excel because he wanted to get a special project finished this year.
I had told her that I had agreed to teach him Excel, although I wasn't all that happy about it as my spreadsheets have come down from my very first computer with only minor adjustments. I can create new spreadsheets and suspect that he wants to create a template on the cheap. But four hours all at once, when I am supposed to be having a break, was all a bit much and she hadn't consulted me about it. If she had then we might have been able to work out a compromise since all the 'guides' are fully booked until the end of next month - except Himself who only does two hours per week and has no clients on 30th November.
I suggested that Himself could give the man two hours on 30th but he has paid for four and wants all his hours this year. *sigh* Not my problem - I am only a volunteer. One of the difficulties is that the person who does the bookings is not there on the days I go in and things are usually in a dreadful muddle with no-one quite knowing who is coming in - or even if they are coming. There is surely a better way ...
Choose Option D in the questionaire
I said last time that they are rather strange ... you were warned.
Because Himself is 'down south' this week COTA phoned me to ask if I could double up with two clients tomorrow. As I have a client with depression and memory problems I needed to know if she would be one of the double-ups as she needs gentle handling and full attention. The booking clerk said not to worry and that she had just cancelled Himself's client, that I was fully booked until the end of next month when we go into recess ... except for the man who was coming in on 10th December for four (4) hours of Excel because he wanted to get a special project finished this year.
I had told her that I had agreed to teach him Excel, although I wasn't all that happy about it as my spreadsheets have come down from my very first computer with only minor adjustments. I can create new spreadsheets and suspect that he wants to create a template on the cheap. But four hours all at once, when I am supposed to be having a break, was all a bit much and she hadn't consulted me about it. If she had then we might have been able to work out a compromise since all the 'guides' are fully booked until the end of next month - except Himself who only does two hours per week and has no clients on 30th November.
I suggested that Himself could give the man two hours on 30th but he has paid for four and wants all his hours this year. *sigh* Not my problem - I am only a volunteer. One of the difficulties is that the person who does the bookings is not there on the days I go in and things are usually in a dreadful muddle with no-one quite knowing who is coming in - or even if they are coming. There is surely a better way ...
Monday, October 12, 2009
I have hauled out a book called CYBERFLIRT ...
I have discovered my list of things to do in order to "Attract anyone, anywhere on the World Wide Web". From time to time I will post a hint for those looking for romance. Some of them don't make sense but obviously they did when I copied them out so here goes:
Make sure that you are female.
Hmmmm - that is fine if you actually ARE female and are looking for a man but not so good if you are a man looking for a female. I see that I need to read the book again because the next one makes no sense at all. Next time ...
Yesterday I got the all-clear from The Embroiderer. Everything is in place and none of his stitches have broken so I have been discharged unless any more problems turn up. Yeah ...
Himself is back from overseas and has had to take over from The Doctor at COTA whose wife is still in need of rehabilitation. It is quite like old times but I don't know what is going to happen when The Doctor is able to come back but that is unlikely to happen until next year at this stage.
I have been trying to keep ahead of the weeds growing in the garden and failing dismally. The weather has warmed up and it is still raining every so often so they are popping up all over the place. D2 came to stay for one night while her apaartment was having its floor sanded and she spent a day tidying up. She does a great job but tends to leave everything heaped up and needing sorting. Never mind - she cleared the paths and chopped back some branches which were in the way. She also went around the paths with a bottle of glyphosate spraying each individual weed so now I have to wait to see which ones die and which she missed.
I was reluctant to spray the paths on account of Boy-cat but she has no such hang-ups. He went off his food so I have put him onto soft stuff which he seems to prefer now. The problem is that the one I bought the most of is the one which he doesn't like all that much but it is what he is getting anyway because the vet is out of the preferred food. He has enough body fat to carry him for a few days and when he is hungry enough he will eat it.
Family Tree Maker has sent me FTM16 which I hope will allow me to upload my main tree which hasn't been upgraded since 2007. I'll install it as soon as I have backed up all my trees onto the laptop. The laptop is currently upgrading itself so it is going to be a while before I can get onto it and if FTM16 doesn't allow me to upload then people will just have to contact me for any additional information. I have recently been contacted by a descendant of the brother of my great x 5 grandfather - 1706 in Hamburg. I posted a request for information about his brother who died in British New York in America. The most remote relative I have so far connected with. She promised to send any information which she has but hasn't done so - perhaps because she really doesn't know what happened that far back but I would like the info for my Samler tree if she can get it.
Make sure that you are female.
Hmmmm - that is fine if you actually ARE female and are looking for a man but not so good if you are a man looking for a female. I see that I need to read the book again because the next one makes no sense at all. Next time ...
Yesterday I got the all-clear from The Embroiderer. Everything is in place and none of his stitches have broken so I have been discharged unless any more problems turn up. Yeah ...
Himself is back from overseas and has had to take over from The Doctor at COTA whose wife is still in need of rehabilitation. It is quite like old times but I don't know what is going to happen when The Doctor is able to come back but that is unlikely to happen until next year at this stage.
I have been trying to keep ahead of the weeds growing in the garden and failing dismally. The weather has warmed up and it is still raining every so often so they are popping up all over the place. D2 came to stay for one night while her apaartment was having its floor sanded and she spent a day tidying up. She does a great job but tends to leave everything heaped up and needing sorting. Never mind - she cleared the paths and chopped back some branches which were in the way. She also went around the paths with a bottle of glyphosate spraying each individual weed so now I have to wait to see which ones die and which she missed.
I was reluctant to spray the paths on account of Boy-cat but she has no such hang-ups. He went off his food so I have put him onto soft stuff which he seems to prefer now. The problem is that the one I bought the most of is the one which he doesn't like all that much but it is what he is getting anyway because the vet is out of the preferred food. He has enough body fat to carry him for a few days and when he is hungry enough he will eat it.
Family Tree Maker has sent me FTM16 which I hope will allow me to upload my main tree which hasn't been upgraded since 2007. I'll install it as soon as I have backed up all my trees onto the laptop. The laptop is currently upgrading itself so it is going to be a while before I can get onto it and if FTM16 doesn't allow me to upload then people will just have to contact me for any additional information. I have recently been contacted by a descendant of the brother of my great x 5 grandfather - 1706 in Hamburg. I posted a request for information about his brother who died in British New York in America. The most remote relative I have so far connected with. She promised to send any information which she has but hasn't done so - perhaps because she really doesn't know what happened that far back but I would like the info for my Samler tree if she can get it.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Chaos at COTA
Last Thursday was chaos at the computer lounge; so what is new!! Next Thursday could be worse ...
The Doctor's wife is ill and needs extensive rehabilitation so he didn't come in and I was on my own. The problem was that nobody had told the Thursday receptionist, and whoever it is who does the bookings had canceled two of the clients with just a light pencilled crosses next to their names. I arrived to find that there were six client records laid out for me although I only had time for four - I have doubled up before but that is not at all satisfactory, least of all to me since it makes me feel as though none of us has achieved anything. Anyway, only four clients turned up so that was OK. However, one of my clients wasn't able to make it (I had two new ones) which means that there is going to be an extra one if he is back and everyone else turns up.
Now The Boss Lady has gone on holidays. Himself is arriving back from overseas tomorrow evening and has agreed to fill in for now. Thursday morning was always his spot but he has been away overseas for most of this year and The Doctor had replaced him. I am not sure if anyone has been told that he only works mornings so tomorrow I am going to have to phone and make sure that no-one is booked in to him for the afternoon but I suspect that between us we will have seven clients. Boss Lady said that she would organise things from home since she will be checking her email on a daily basis and hopefully she has made sure that no-one is booked for him in the afternoon.
And the clocks on the computers have gone haywire again. They are four minutes fast and refuse to be corrected. They were working for a while but they are obviously determined to do their own thing. I sometimes think that the whole setup is bewitched but perhaps non-profit organisations are always this disorganised ...
The Doctor's wife is ill and needs extensive rehabilitation so he didn't come in and I was on my own. The problem was that nobody had told the Thursday receptionist, and whoever it is who does the bookings had canceled two of the clients with just a light pencilled crosses next to their names. I arrived to find that there were six client records laid out for me although I only had time for four - I have doubled up before but that is not at all satisfactory, least of all to me since it makes me feel as though none of us has achieved anything. Anyway, only four clients turned up so that was OK. However, one of my clients wasn't able to make it (I had two new ones) which means that there is going to be an extra one if he is back and everyone else turns up.
Now The Boss Lady has gone on holidays. Himself is arriving back from overseas tomorrow evening and has agreed to fill in for now. Thursday morning was always his spot but he has been away overseas for most of this year and The Doctor had replaced him. I am not sure if anyone has been told that he only works mornings so tomorrow I am going to have to phone and make sure that no-one is booked in to him for the afternoon but I suspect that between us we will have seven clients. Boss Lady said that she would organise things from home since she will be checking her email on a daily basis and hopefully she has made sure that no-one is booked for him in the afternoon.
And the clocks on the computers have gone haywire again. They are four minutes fast and refuse to be corrected. They were working for a while but they are obviously determined to do their own thing. I sometimes think that the whole setup is bewitched but perhaps non-profit organisations are always this disorganised ...
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Coins and stamps
Last Tuesday I went into town and met up with a representative of the Stamp and Coin Auction House, Stanley Gibbons, or its Australian counterpart.
I was hoping that I could sell my father's stamp collection and my mother-in-laws coin hoard. Father went through a period where he bought a block of four of every new issue of stamps and for some reason he passed them on to me. I think that he did it as an investment because the stamps in those days were extremely uninspiring, not to say boring.
And my mother-in-law's hoard of coins. (I have been reading about dragons lately and hoard is really the only way to describe it.) When my sister-in-law and I cleaned up her house ready to sell it we came across money stashed all over the house to the extent that we used to take time off at lunchtime to take a big bag of coins and notes to the bank where one of my cousins worked and she was happy to count it all out and put it into my mother-in-law's account for us. She also hoarded stamps; not in any sort of organised way and for years I have been raiding her collection when I was short of stamps
However, what was left over was a huge heap of pre-decimal coins dating back to 1910. I put them into an album, filling in as many gaps as I could (face and obverse of each coin).
The Stanley Gibbons man wasn't interested in any of the stamps and advised me to use the decimal ones on my letters. I will probably never need to buy a stamp ever again and the kiddie collectors will probably lap them up.
However, he did take the coin collection which he said might bring in about $100. It was either that or bin them so they have gone off to be auctioned. Someone, somewhere, might love them; I certainly didn't want them.
And, hopefully, someone is coming tomorrow to take away my exercise bike which I have always hated and which I most certainly won't take with me when I move. My proper bike will be coming to Claremont although I recognise that the chance of me riding it ever again is pretty remote. ... but I love it!
I was hoping that I could sell my father's stamp collection and my mother-in-laws coin hoard. Father went through a period where he bought a block of four of every new issue of stamps and for some reason he passed them on to me. I think that he did it as an investment because the stamps in those days were extremely uninspiring, not to say boring.
And my mother-in-law's hoard of coins. (I have been reading about dragons lately and hoard is really the only way to describe it.) When my sister-in-law and I cleaned up her house ready to sell it we came across money stashed all over the house to the extent that we used to take time off at lunchtime to take a big bag of coins and notes to the bank where one of my cousins worked and she was happy to count it all out and put it into my mother-in-law's account for us. She also hoarded stamps; not in any sort of organised way and for years I have been raiding her collection when I was short of stamps
However, what was left over was a huge heap of pre-decimal coins dating back to 1910. I put them into an album, filling in as many gaps as I could (face and obverse of each coin).
The Stanley Gibbons man wasn't interested in any of the stamps and advised me to use the decimal ones on my letters. I will probably never need to buy a stamp ever again and the kiddie collectors will probably lap them up.
However, he did take the coin collection which he said might bring in about $100. It was either that or bin them so they have gone off to be auctioned. Someone, somewhere, might love them; I certainly didn't want them.
And, hopefully, someone is coming tomorrow to take away my exercise bike which I have always hated and which I most certainly won't take with me when I move. My proper bike will be coming to Claremont although I recognise that the chance of me riding it ever again is pretty remote. ... but I love it!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
About Boy-cat
Boy-cat will be turning 15 in about a week. He had a 'senior cat check' last week and passed with flying colours. We already knew that his kidneys are not what they were but they have not deteriorated over the past year. The vet now has a cat blood pressure monitor and he looked so cute with the mini-cuff on his arm. He, himself, didn't think that it was particularly cute but his BP is spot on. There is no sign of incipient diabetes so he is generally in good health except that he is getting stiff and arthritic and I suspect that he is in some pain.
Unfortunately, it was medication for arthritis which damaged his kidneys so I am going to need to consult with Doctor Dave about how we can keep him comfortable. This was brought home to me a couple of days ago when I came home from helping an ex-client with her computer to find that the house alarm had gone off. It makes a terrible noise and always sent both cats heading for the hills at double speed. When Boy-cat finally made it home again this time he was not happy and was obviously hurting badly. He is much better today and the sun is out and the day is relatively warm so he is outside soaking up the heat at the moment.
But this has decided me that I will not be taking him with me when I move. He has been an outdoor cat for 15 years and it will be at least another two before I move so I think that he would be distressed by a change of domicile and being confined in a penthouse. He hates using a litter tray and will only do so if there is absolutely no option. If caught short he prefers the plughole of the spa bath but in the new place there will be no steps down into the bath. To make things even more difficult, he is finding it harder to squat to pee and does it standing up. This is not possible in a litter tray unless he turns around and looks out as he pees, otherwise he misses the tray altogether, even though it is one of those enclosed ones.
So, if I still have him in mid-2011 I will have him euthanased as I have come to the conclusion that it will be kinder to him to do this before, rather than after, the move.
This has resolved one of my most pressing problems about the move and I can simply make the most of the time we have left together. I might add that, since he has more or less got over the death of Girl-cat, he has been spoiled rotten ... to the degree that I sometimes find myself standing up to watch TV since he has realised that if I turn on the TV or boil the kettle I am probably going to sit down and he is going to climb up into my lap and go to sleep. He knows that 'no' actually means that he is not to get onto my lap and is very good about that but he is very good at making me feel guilty. *sigh* and I am supposedly an alpha-cat, too ...
Unfortunately, it was medication for arthritis which damaged his kidneys so I am going to need to consult with Doctor Dave about how we can keep him comfortable. This was brought home to me a couple of days ago when I came home from helping an ex-client with her computer to find that the house alarm had gone off. It makes a terrible noise and always sent both cats heading for the hills at double speed. When Boy-cat finally made it home again this time he was not happy and was obviously hurting badly. He is much better today and the sun is out and the day is relatively warm so he is outside soaking up the heat at the moment.
But this has decided me that I will not be taking him with me when I move. He has been an outdoor cat for 15 years and it will be at least another two before I move so I think that he would be distressed by a change of domicile and being confined in a penthouse. He hates using a litter tray and will only do so if there is absolutely no option. If caught short he prefers the plughole of the spa bath but in the new place there will be no steps down into the bath. To make things even more difficult, he is finding it harder to squat to pee and does it standing up. This is not possible in a litter tray unless he turns around and looks out as he pees, otherwise he misses the tray altogether, even though it is one of those enclosed ones.
So, if I still have him in mid-2011 I will have him euthanased as I have come to the conclusion that it will be kinder to him to do this before, rather than after, the move.
This has resolved one of my most pressing problems about the move and I can simply make the most of the time we have left together. I might add that, since he has more or less got over the death of Girl-cat, he has been spoiled rotten ... to the degree that I sometimes find myself standing up to watch TV since he has realised that if I turn on the TV or boil the kettle I am probably going to sit down and he is going to climb up into my lap and go to sleep. He knows that 'no' actually means that he is not to get onto my lap and is very good about that but he is very good at making me feel guilty. *sigh* and I am supposedly an alpha-cat, too ...
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