Back (for now)

You can relax now. No need to hold your collective breaths any longer: the laptop is back at home, and I'm online. The BITS people think there's an intermittent fault with the hard drive, and that it will probably get worse. I think I can get it repaired (ie. replaced) under warranty, so that will be good. I may not send the laptop off until out ADSL arrives, so that we don't lose our connectivity.

Today we explored the Black and White Village Trail. It was chilly (-4°C when we dropped the girls at school), but somehow didn't seem as cold as Monday. We spent much of the time driving in fog, so it was a little hard to see some of the countryside, but there's plenty more time for that. The Arrow River at Pembridge was probably the nicest part of our journey, although the Monkland Cheesery (particularly the "Stinking Bishop" cheese - "I wouldn't store it in my fridge" said the shopkeeper) and the Dunkertons Cidery were also interesting. Photos to come, when I get around to it, and if they're up to par.

We're just back from Community Choir at the school, followed by some relaxing at the Colwall Park Hotel, with a friendly group of people. Tomorrow there's a Choral Jazz and Pop day at The Downs, where students in years 4, 6, and 8 from three other schools as well join in to try some large group singing. Stephanie will be part of it. I understand the repertoire includes at least Wind Beneath My Wings, and Bohemian Rhapsody (with a few lyrics edited for the censors).

My new laptop only has a trial version of MS Office on it. I'm tempted to remove it, and just use Star Office and all the other groovy software from Google Pack. I might wait until I have the ADSL lest my mobile download limit find itself swamped.