I Want My Bed Back!

I woke up early this morning, my back ached but I was still tired. I had to sit up for a while to let my back sort itself out, so I had half an hour on the computer. I tried not to look too closely at the chaos in the bedroom, we still haven't got our clothes sorted out properly since our holiday. Mentally I pushed that particular job higher up my 'to do' list, but my top priority at that moment was more sleep and I snuggled back under the duvet to make the most of my unhurried Sunday morning.


After a lazy morning Emily and I went shopping to buy a present for my new nephew and of course something for his big brother too. Baby George was easy to buy for, we chose some very cute clothes, then we spent ages trying to find something just right for Oliver. We chose Playmobil sets because Emily always loved those when she was little. It was lovely to spend time with Emily because I haven't seen much of her since getting back from our holiday.


Before we went out I'd asked Robbie to sort out his clothing. He had agreed rather too willingly so I didn't expect much action. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he was up in the bedroom sorting out when we got back. He came trotting down the stairs in his pants to explain that he'd been busy reorganising his Tshirts. He then went on to explain a rather complicated arrangement about what he keeps where, and I have to admit that I 'tuned out' at that point.


I didn't actually go and look at the bedroom until this evening when we got home from delivering my mum's luggage to her house. I am not sure what I expecter but what I saw were piles of clothes like molehills all over the bed. It didn't seem as if there was less 'stuff' around the room, but I couldn't be sure. He insists that he worked hard at sorting his clothes out, but I have a sneaky suspicion that he was sidetracked by his laptop. Who knows, all I can be sure of is that I still need to devote a couple of days to tidy the bedroom. When it was bedtime I had to send the 'mole catcher' upstairs to find the bed before I could get into it!

Perspective

Life has a way of putting things in perspective. It seems as if one thing after another has gone wrong recently, a broken shower, a nail in my tyre, my mobile phone has given up the ghost and worse of all my laptop is apparently beyond repair. Last week I had a painful reminder that they are all just things and in the end none of them matter a jot. We heard last week that Robbie's friend who has been ill for some time has taken a turn for the worse. It is a very difficult time for him and his family and it leaves everyone feeling completely powerless.

Not Exactly Music To My Ears

Robbie usually spends some time in the evening sitting in front of his laptop with his headphones clamped to his ears. If I want to speak to him I have to wave my arms in the air to get his attention, it is so frustrating. Even worse is his inability to be quiet, I am glad that he uses headphones because what he calls music doesn't sound very melodious to me. The problem is that Robbie is not the most tuneful person at the best of times and the headphones make his 'singing' completely tuneless. Unfortunately he gets rather carried away with his music and he sits there rocking backwards and forwards and tapping his fingers, I try to ignore it but it is so difficult. The rocking motion makes the low moaning sound (Robbie calls it singing) fade and increase in volume. His singing is not unlike the sound a cow makes, so with the fading in and out it is more like a cow on a swing! Robbie has many endearing qualities, but his 'singing' is more than flesh and blood can stand!

Fast Forward

We were up until 1am messing around with Sam's laptop, I wish people gave me that much attention when I feel overworked and under valued! Anyway poor old Robbie was nodding off in his chair and leaning at a precarious angle, I tried to send him off to bed, but he insisted that he was wide awake and he would wait for me. I gave up on the laptop in the end and left it to sulk, while Robbie and I got some much needed sleep.

Not surprisingly we overslept slightly this morning, so Robbie had to start the day on 'fast forward', but I think he still caught his train. He loves his job, but he has found the last couple of weeks hard going, even when he is at home he seems to find it hard to switch off. I understand, I've had similar times, but I'm determined that this coming weekend I will find a way to take his mind off work – even if it means going on a train journey!

The laptop is being a little more cooperative this morning, it is defragmenting, very slowly, but at least we are heading in the right direction.

Near Death Experience

Sam's laptop has had a nervous breakdown this evening, it had been asked to do too much, remember too much and store too much – I know exactly how it feels!! The computer just shut down and refused to respond to anyone. Sam was in the lounge sitting next to the computer looking totally distracted and touching the computer from time to time in a forlorn attempt to coax it back to life. Robbie took a different approach he swore at it menacingly until he finally got it to open in safe mode. It took forever but finally the disk clean up announced that there were 7,479993.00 temporary internet files to be deleted! Once that lot was gone the computer was a little more responsive. I had never seen so many programs installed on one computer! Robbie helped Sam to delete all the unnecessary programs, you could almost hear the computer sigh with relief! He still has a massive (and weirdly eclectic) collection of music, 4645 emails to be deleted, and other assorted junk to be tidied up and removed. When you think of it like that it sounds like the virtual version of his bedroom!!

Moved By Music

The children had Guitar Hero (for the Wii) for Christmas. They love it, but it is not exactly designed for spectators, so why can't they take the Wii upstairs and play it in one of their bedrooms? The root of the problem is Robbie! The songs on Guitar Hero have reminded him of all the 'wonderful' music that he has not listened to for a while and he encourages them to try out new tunes (I use the word 'tune' in the loosest sense). So for what seems like hours on end we have someone strumming away, then when they finally lose interest and peace is restored, Robbie starts. He clamps on his headphones and listens to 'music' on his laptop, it wouldn't be a problem if he didn't feel the need to sing along! Robbie has many attributes but his singing voice is not one of them and wearing headphones enables him to achieve new extremes of tunelessness. He sounds like a warthog in distress, then he wonders why I take myself off to the bedroom for some peace and quiet with my radio!

Like a Bear with a Sore Head 05.02.08

Robbie was like a bear with a sore head yesterday. His laptop died on Saturday evening and he is so upset about it. There was no warning, nothing to suggest anything was wrong, it just turned up it's toes and died mid email. Robbie thinks it could be the mother board, but if you ask me there are two possibilities, boredom or exhaustion. His misery was compounded when he found that the only people who support Philips laptops in UK are PC World. I really mustn't share my opinion of PC World because it isn't printable, let's just say that I am deeply unimpressed. Robbie spent ages ringing round to various branches to find out which store had custody of the single brain cell this week, amazingly it was Coventry (I guess Coventry has to have something going for it). So Robbie will be delivering his laptop for a diagnosis (or possibly a post mortem) this morning. I have been very generous in sharing my computer, but he is absolutely lost without his laptop.

He had his first rant before 6am yesterday morning, and his first 'I'm sorry' text arrived before 7am! When he got home he managed to provoke a furious row by asking me not to cremate the peas! When I met him he hated peas, now suddenly he's an expert. Believe it or not we disagree about 30 seconds cooking time. He says that my extra 30 seconds makes the colour fade. I am adamant that I am not a rabbit and I like my vegetables cooked, I gave up playing marbles when I was about 9 and I don't intend to start now! He kept on about the peas until I got cross and decided that if he wanted to be the next Jamie Oliver he could do it by himself, and I left him to serve the meal alone.

I forgave him later, but I don't suppose it will be long before he is in trouble again. I suppose I had provoked him a bit this evening because I had mentioned a name that always brings the worst out of Robbie - Barry Doe. I love reading the Barry Doe page in Rail magazine, but I should know better than to mention it to Robbie because it always makes him swear. I am not sure if his page is meant to be humorous, but it always makes me smile.

A New Career Option 27.09.2007

After our meal yesterday we settled down to a quiet family evening, I hoped for pleasant conversation and perhaps to hear a little about Robbie's day. Instead he parked himself at the table with his laptop, his new noise reducing headphones in his ears and his head was bobbing up and down like a nodding dog. There are times when words simply will not do, but my best Paddington Bear stare seemed to get the message across eloquently. He realised that he was required to take a more active part in proceedings, and when he thought I hadn't noticed, the music went off and the headphones were no longer evident. Shortly afterwards Robbie embarked on one of his 'did you know' conversations and my heart sank. For the next hour of so he told me all about the alterations to the December 08 train timetable for the route he travels on. I'm not sure if I can cope with that level of excitement!

I hear that the National Rail Enquiry service is being slated in a survey published today, apparently a large percentage of the information they provide is inaccurate. They didn't need a survey, I could have told them that for free. Maybe Robbie should set up an independent rail enquiry service, it would be far more accurate and there would be a free offer included - a guaranteed cure for insomnia!

Wishig Stones

Wishing Stones Sunday 19th August 2007

This morning I woke Robbie early to send him off to the shop for a newspaper, I was determined to avoid a repeat of yesterday when he had me driving miles in search of a Guardian. He got up reluctantly and after looking lovingly at his railway magazines he grudgingly agreed that he would walk to the shop for his newspaper. I reached for my computer and Robbie commented that I was so attached to my laptop that I would probably want to be buried with it. I reminded him that I wanted to be cremated and if he had me buried I would come back and haunt him. He said that he hoped I wouldn't have him burned and I replied that I certainly would as it was tidier. He retorted "over my dead body" to which I quite reasonably pointed out that of course it would be as I had no intention of having him burned alive!

The weather was a bit grim today, warm but wet. We went out to an antiques fair, it was fun looking but we didn't buy anything much. Later on we went for a walk and then after a very heavy shower we went walking on the beach looking for wishing stones. I love the beach whatever the weather and today provided a good opportunity to take photos because the light was good but there was no direct sunlight to complicate things. There were lots of wishing stones, these are pebbles with at least one hole going all the way through the stone, I am not sure what causes this beach to contain so many stones with holes worn through them, but ever since the children were tiny we have collected them. I cannot guarantee their ability to grant wishes, there have been times when I have wished with all my heart for things to be different to no avail, but I am still fascinated by the stones.

I don't want the holiday to end but I miss the girls and I want to be back in an environment where women are in the majority. The two men in my life have been causing me serious concern regarding the bathroom, one leaves the seat up while the other puts the lid down, either option can be catastrophic in the middle of the night when I am not fully awake. If they start those tricks at home, the girls will soon be on their case!

Never Underestimate a 12 Year Old Boy! 06.03.07

At the weekend Sam’s laptop spluttered, produced a few last words in what appeared to be Japanese and then turned up its toes. Between us Robbie and I tried everything we knew restore or reset it, but ‘the computer said no’ and the hours of tlc proved fruitless. As a last resort Robbie posted on one of the computer magazine websites to ask for advice. The replies he got made us even more convinced that it was serious and we were thankful we had appropriate cover (we hadn’t bought it from those well known high street cowboy’s!). It was only 2 months old. The next day Robbie decided to have one last try, and to everyone’s astonishment the thing booted up, it was incredibly slow but it did it. I suggested we should try to delete all the temporary files, recycle bin, cookies etc before attempting a full scan. The recycle bin was empty and he couldn’t download anything because he didn’t have administrator rights. However he had more than half a gb of temporary files – quite an achievement in two months! It sprang to life after we dumped that little lot, we then did the usual adwear and spy sweeps as well as a full virus scan. Finally I got to do my favourite bit, a full defrag, there is something especially satisfying about that. Normal service has now been resumed and more frequent ‘housekeeping’ has been scheduled to avoid any further problems. The moral – never underestimate the capacity of a 12 year old boy to accumulate junk! There again I know an almost 35year old who does a pretty good job of hoarding junk too!!

Lost in Cyberspace 11.02.07

I often write about the little irritations and idiosyncrasies of life with Robbie, but perhaps I don't often put enough stress on the pleasures of being married to him. He is loving and thoughtful as well as being fully involved in family life. I will keep some of his 'best bits' to myself in order to spare his blushes, but top among his skills and attributes has to be his ability to make a good cup of tea. He makes me so many cups of tea that I cannot sleep through the night, so you can imagine my surprise when I went for most of Saturday without a drink. I can make my own of course, but Robbie is a creature of habit and I was concerned. Was he upset? more ranting from the Wild Woman perhaps? no of course not, I would have heard that!! I couldn't imagine what could be wrong, so I went downstairs and glanced into the lounge and saw Sam and Robbie sprawled on the sofas, watching Futurama. As always Robbie's laptop was heating the parts that other heaters cannot reach! I still couldn't work out what he was up to so I hatched a plan. I went back upstairs and sent him notification that I had changed my email address to dehydratedwife@myprovider.com. He almost believed it until he read it properly! Shortly afterwards he appeared bearing two mugs of tea and a sheepish look. It appears that he had 'got lost on ebay'. Just like Sam he has an answer for everything and I can't be cross with him when he makes me laugh so much.

A Burning Enthusiasm

Robbie was busy looking at disused railway stations on his laptop last night. It is a really interesting site, but by 11pm and quite a lot of 'did you knows' I retreated to bed exhausted. Considerably later Robbie came to bed - he is incapable of doing so quietly! He appeared to be in pain and he explained that he had to put cream on his legs because he had fallen asleep holding his laptop and burned his legs!!