News Archives: December 2007

Monday, December 31, 2007

Tech and Hogmanay

I've been attempting to end the year with at least one thing completely finished and dealt with. For some reason, I picked on my email, which I briefly had down to ZERO outstanding. (Maybe I should explain - any e-mail which I haven't replied to, or dealt with the task it refers to, or read the page it links to, or whatever, remains open until I get around to it. Sometimes that's dozens...) Anyway it has crept back up to one now, but at least it was briefly all done. That counts for something, right?

The flip side of this is, of course, that if you think I should be e-mailing you something, I've forgotten and need poked...

***

Biggest, but also smallest, Christmas pressie this year was an Ipod from Claire and her parents. It's the latest "classic" model, with a huge hard drive - big enough to take my entire music collection and still be only a bit over half-full. Now, I'm not writing this to boast, but to ask for help. The interface is rather less intuitive than I was led to expect by the Apple fanboys. What I want to do is specify, on the fly, a list of albums I want it to play one after another. Sort of "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (CDs 1 & 2)" then "In Absentia" then "Blackfield 2" then... I've found one way to do it, but it's a faff, and involves clicking through two different menu hierarchies. So I wonder if anyone can tell me what I'm missing? Also, when the Ipod is already playing a list of albums, is there any way for me to add some more albums to the end of the queue? (If possible, this might, I realise, be the answer to the first question...)

***

New Year will be happening soon. I always get a slight sense of "they don't parties properly round here" on Hogmanay, having grown up in the West of Scotland, where parties started with first footing after midnight, and people knew not to cross arms till the second verse of "Auld Lang Syne". New Year remains perhaps my favourite "excuse for a drunken party", so I'll enjoy the party that does happen. Good friends is 99% of the party, so I'll forgive the slight wrongness, in my superior, when-I-were-a-lad way...

And for those I won't see, I'll hope to see you in 2008. May it be better to you than 2007 was!

Posted by graham @ 07:49 pm

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Every Home is Unwired

Tara's leg keeps her confined to the bed in the sunroom at the back of the house. To keep her company, I've moved my computer through so I can do much of my work next to her. For the first couple of days, this involved trailing several metres of ethernet cable through three rooms. But no more!

Yesterday evening Andy dropped off a wireless router that was surplus to requirements in his family. I've now joined the generation that enjoys net access without trailing ethernet cables. (And, yes, I set a password, and, yes, if you want to use the connection whilst visiting, I'll tell you what the password is.)

Setting up the router took about an hour and a half, primarily because the router makes assumptions about how you will use it, that clash with the assumptions made by all the existing kit on my network. Well, that and the wireless card in my laptop for some reason defaulting to a wrongly-configured static IP address, rather than using DHCP as I need it to. Still, a little swearing during a task greatly increases the satisfaction felt when it is finally over.

The dogs are fine. They greatly enjoyed Andy's visit last night, and would be looking forward to more friends visiting this evening, if they understood enough English to know they are coming.

Posted by graham @ 01:42 pm

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

One better, one to go

Zak visited the vet this morning, for a last check up and removal of the staples holding his neck together. His wound is basically healed, and looks considerably better than it did, although we'll have to wait for the last scabs to fall off and his fur to grow back. He no longer needs to wear his scarf, but I think we might pop it back on for walks in the current cold weather. One dog better, one to go.

Tara remains bored, but otherwise as good as can be expected. I've moved my computer into the same room as her bed, which is helping a little, I hope! Pasta for lunch should help more...

***

Why do some holes in the road sprout traffic lights, while others not? There seems no logic. Along the road from me is a lon, straight section, in a thirty limit. The short hole could easily be passed, yet has traffic lights on a too long sequence. A month or so back, another hole was yards from a near-blind corner, yet no lights.

Perhaps it's down to whether the workmen responsible remembered to pack the lights that morning.

***

Thanks for the comments yesterday. As Malk correctly surmised, I was primarily venting. I should probably clarify one matter - my comment about "don't take sides" is inspired by the not uncommon occurance where a group of friends falls out. This has happened to one group I'm part of recently, and someone who has remained friendly with both sides is being accused of "lack of loyalty". I have been encouraged (perhaps expected!) to join in the accusation, which is the source of my stress.

There is, I think, a clash of principles here. Some nasty words have passed between the two sides, and not taking one side can be seen as not supporting the friends on that side. Arguments about principles and "better in the long run" may seem too abstract when someone is justifiably hurt. That I was never close to the people on the "other" side and have pretty much zero contact with them now is perhaps contributing to the upset. "We're your friends, support us!" A further source of stress, another vent...

Posted by graham @ 02:16 pm

Monday, December 10, 2007

More news on Tara

Tara came home Saturday morning, and has taken up residence on the sofa bed in the sun room. She's finding her big bandage itchy, and is bored, but otherwise doing well.

A stream of family and neighbours have been visiting Tara, which has helped keep her amused. So have games like "Throw my toy off the bed so Mummy will fetch it" and "Find the treats wrapped in paper, inside a little box, inside a cardboard tube, wrapped in paper". Anyone else with time to visit the wounded puppy would be very welcome.

***

Since I started writing this, Tara has been back to the vet. She's now minus the big bandage - a task that took ten minutes and both Claire and I to hold her still. The operation scar is smaller and neater than I expected, and generally her leg is doing as well as can be hoped for. As long as she leavesthe stitches alone, she'll remain bandage free. We've also been taught some gentle flexing exercises to keep her joints supple, which we do three or four times a day, along with massages.

Next milestone is in a week, when the stitches come out.

***

There are certain guiding principles that I think make me (well, anyone) a better person. That I frequently fail to live up to my ideals does not change my belief that these are the ideal to aim for.

Forgive.
Don't hold grudges.
Don't take sides.
Look for the best in others.
Small acts of kindness.
Loyalty can be earned but not demanded.
Act positively, rather than complain negatively.
Admit responsibility.
And so on...

Recently, one group has been inviting, even encouraging, me to act against these principles. "Take our side. Join our complaint. Act from pain." There's been a clear implication that not taking sides is a betrayal, and something I can only be doing because I don't understand what's going on. This is all very stressful, and I'm not far from acting on the principle that "if you can't act positively, walk away".

Venting does help...

Posted by graham @ 09:57 pm

Friday, December 7, 2007

Waiting, Waiting

2.15 pm

Tara's knee operation is happening as I type this. When I dropped her off this morning, I was told it would be finished by now. I don't know whether the operation was delayed, or whether there's some sort of complication, but I know I won't be able to relax until I've got the call saying that it's over and she's okay.

I'm not going to post this till I know. Claire's at work, and I don't want her to feel as scared as I do... Gonna put something complicated in the CD player, see if I can distract myself.

***

3.15 pm

An hour of imagining the worst later, and the vet phones. The operation has gone really well, and she should make a full recovery.

And relax...

Posted by graham @ 03:55 pm

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

The Home for Broken Doggies

As you may have seen from Claire's blog, Tara will be going for a fairly major operation on Friday. She's torn a ligament in her knee that stops the bones parting company when she puts weight on it. To sort it they need to cut a section of bone out just below the knee, and reset everything in such a way that the whole joint is much more stable. That should heal in about two months, then exercise to get her strength back, and she should be back to full mobility by the spring time.

Assuming everything goes well, she'll spend Friday night at the vet's on a morphine IV, then come home Saturday morning for love and attention. I suspect this means I won't make Kieran's stag night (or at best not for very long). Sorry!

In preparation for Tara's op we're clearing the house of extra guests. Belle went to her new home on Monday. She's with a lovely sounding couple up north. Our other foster dog is disappearing to a different foster home on Saturday. I know I haven't talked about him before, but you'll need to ask me in person about that.

Zak's also suffering. On Sunday he came off worst in a three-dogs-and-Graham's-knee pile up. Something (I think a collar buckle) managed to pull a chunk of fur and skin out of his neck, and by the time we reached the vet that had ripped into a four inch long gash. It really looks worse than it is. Zak barely knows the wound is there, apart from occassional itching. He's got a light bandage and a scarf over it, just to stop him scratching, and seems to be enjoying the pate-coated antibiotics and lazing on our double bed.

Posted by graham @ 07:51 pm

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