2 March 2012
Not wishing for another episode like that from which I suffered a few nights ago when the respirator stopped delivering air, due to the pipe, connecting it to the machine, having come loose, we switched to a new headset which I had been given, on one of my visits to Papworth hospital, some time ago. Unfortunately, this new headset, which is made of heavy duty plastic, was unkind to my nose and caused a couple of small blisters. As a result, on the second night that I used it, ‘my lovely’ padded out my nose with some lint but, the following morning, in removing it with one swift pull, somehow tore the skin, which, no doubt, was paper thin and left me with open sores on both cheeks. I know we have to be very careful about anything like an open sore as it can take months to heal with the faint possibility of septicaemia setting, in, in the meantime.
Well, the big excitement of the day was ‘Paul the computer’, coming round, early afternoon, to set up my new laptop. and transfer across all the data from my existing laptop I must say that the new Dell, Inspiron, looks very smart and has a few features on it that I didn’t have on the Toshiba. I like to think that I could have managed to set it up myself and probably could. have done after a bit of struggling.
Having said that is amazing how many people who, are not familiar with computers, believe they can walk into a shop, buy one, take it home , plug it in and expect everything to work. Nothing could be further from the truth. The new computer, for example, may not even have a particular software loaded on it, then the purchaser must be aware of precisely what they are getting as part of the package and then, if necessary, purchase the additional software for their particular needs Each programme (software) we download must have the correct driver loaded to run it.. Most of the time. this is not a problem as it will download the driver at the same time as the software, and if there have been recent updates, then it may be necessary to go and find the latest driver.
Then, if like me you are using a considerable number of programmes you may find that some of the more sophisticated ones are incompatible with the programmes , which came with the original purchase Some programs are 64-bit and others 32. Although a 64-bit programme will work with the 32-bit programme, it is usually better if they are all one thing or the other and therefore it may be necessary for you to purchase an upgrade, of a particular programme, to obtain this compatibility as incompatibility between various programs can affect the speed of the processing. Anyway, I will not bore the reader with a more detail but believe me setting up a new computer with 40 or 50 programmes, such as I have, is no walk in the park!.
Paul spent three hours doing all the basic stuff yesterday and then came back today to finish off and left me with, what I had hoped would be a satisfactory working piece of equipment. however, Paul did not quite finished and will need to come back on Monday complete the task. Even when he has finished . I will have to try ouI all the various programmes to check that they work satisfactorily. However, it will only be after a few days trouble-free that I shall I know whether we’ve got everything right or not. My main concern is that by loading all the programmes onto a clean, brand-new machine. we will not get the nonsense from which I have suffered for 7 to 8 months with Dragon,: the voice activation programme. if we do then there is something wrong with the software As much as anything this was one of the main purposes in buying the new computer..
Over the next couple of weeks or so. I really must investigate the potential of this new machine and know what I can do with it by pressing all the various keys. In the past I have been lazy and not bothered to read the instruction book, so inevitably have missed out on some of the various features that were available to me. These features will certainly become more useful to me as I losedo use of my hands.
.Apropos of nothing in particular, but just for the purpose of changing the subject, I saw yesterday, on television, that the weather on Tuesday produced a startling new statistic. From the lowest temperature recorded in the UK., a few days earlier, -15.5 centigrade and the highest on Tuesday, of 18.2°C, the 34°C difference in three days smashed all previous records. The weather forecast for next Tuesday – my geriatric golf day, is forecast at 8°C compared with 15°C. this last Tuesday, so it is unlikely I shall venture forth to the golf club. We just happened to be lucky and we got a freak day at the beginning of March, and I still suspect it won’t be much before May that I will start being able to start going again regularly on Tuesdays.
‘Doreen, the faithful secretary’ came today to do her usual filing and tidying up. The beauty of Doreen’s visit are that she knows precisely where to find any document, and where to file them .
My contribution from my study chair is that I can usually recall in which filing cabinet. the file is located it and where, in a particular drawer, she will find a file ,so between us we manage very well despite my contribution being by remote control.
Today’s little homily is about a golfer who found himself in a dilemma You do not, have to play golf or even have to understand the rules, to realise what a dilemma this man has got himself into, particularly if his opponent concedes the hole, and possibly the match. Assuming the cheat is remorseful and ashamed of what he has done, he should insist on putting out and then, inexplicably somehow twitching and missing the hole altogether, which would be pretty difficult from 6 inches. As you Have little or no understanding of what I’m talking about Click here and all will become clear. Ask yourself what you would do in similar circumstances , hypothetically,, of course, as no friend of mine would ever find himself in this position!