Saturday
21st November 2015
This sailing2xs blog has been an important part of my
life for the past … years. I have
managed to write daily almost continually.
Every now and then there has been a glitch due to having no internet
access in remote parts of the world. But
mostly my computer and I have managed, one way or the other. It always amazes us how often we get connection,
even if at a glacial pace, in far-flung Indonesian islands, Borneo, Raja Ampat.
So I am a bit gobsmacked to have been stopped dead in
my tracks here in Tasmania, which I consider to be a totally reliable place, with
rock-solid systems, internet connection, whatever. Many things have conspired prevent me from
blogging. My darling little MacBook Air,
light as a feather, gave up the ghost completely a few weeks ago. It said, basically, that it was FULL, that it
had a headache, that it could accept NO MORE from me. I can’t blame it, really…it has hard a hard
few years with me, being lugged around, and being exposed to very VERY hot daily
temperature. (Didn’t do my health and
temperament much good either…) Occasionally
it would overheat to such an extent that I had to pop it into fridge on 2XS to
cool down. Pete bought a little raised plaform
with five whirring fans for it to sit on, but it was too late, its poor little brain
was cooked. So…I bought a new one!
A glorious brand new MacBook, even lighter (1kg) than the
last one. I was all prepared to lveo it
but…all of the stuff form the old one had to be transferred. This took a few days hospitalisation with a
mac technician; no probs. Then…I had to
buy a new Word program. Once again, wave
the credit card, not a problem. Except…the
program wouldn’t load and I spent many MANY hours back in the shop while various
kindly young chaps tried and failed to load it.
Each one in turn would look at me tolerantly and say, basically…It will only take me five minutes, so off
you go for a nice cup of tea and a lie down while I fix it. Then…I would return to find each one of them
in turn tearing his hair, literally.
As well as this…my modem stopped working. I spent many MANY hours in the Telstra shop while
kindly tolerant people said, It will only
take me five minutes, so off you go for a nice cup of tea and a lie down while
I fix it. And in the end, yes they
did fix it. But only after I had spent
more than I really needed waiting…waiting…waiting. My busiest computer day, Tuesday last week,
was supposed to be Bardy and Rose’s Day of Fun in town. Rose is three and a half and I had all sorts
of jolly activities in mind. In the end…we
did see the Cat and Fiddle a few times, and we had a very successful visit to
the CWA shop to buy an old-fashioned doll for her. But the rest of the time poor Rose had to
wait…and wait…and wait… I provide such early childhood experiences for my little
ones!!
Fortunately Rose did indeed think it was all a great adventure. She had her pusher as a home base, and a loaded
snackpack. And her new doll. And, best of all, in the Telstra shop, there
was an enormous TV screen in front of a big squashy couch so she was able to
dance and sing to Playschool on ABC2 for Kids.
Yesterday afternoon everything finally was up and running. I am a bit weary and battle scarred but…all
is well!
Life is wonderful in Tasmania. It is all beautiful; family is great; friends
are great.
But…there are some bad things happening, globally. Turning on the news each day requires a lot of
fortitude.
We still have no news of the hostages taken from Ocean
View marina (Samal Island, Mindanao.)
But they are in grave danger.
This week a Malaysian Hostage, Bernard Then, was apparently holding up the
Abu Sayaf captors as they fled from the army on Jolo Island. He and a friend had been taken from a seafood
restaurant in Sandakan in May. Ransom had
been paid for his friend, but not for him.
So…he was beheaded. This is all
so ghastly I can’t bear to write any more right now.
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