Rabbit Hole 1 - Software that sucks.
Last week I had to download the Tax departments AUSkey software, except it didn't like Windows Vista (hello, who does?), and politely declined jumping on board my laptop. After about 9 attempts to entice it in, Mr BC (let's call him Long Suffering IT Support Angel) decided that we should update the operating system. Windows 7 was $189, and Windows 8 was $69, so the decision was easy, although it did involve a trip to Harvey Norman (ugh!). It was installed, and then............... I had an absolute panic attack.
What the fuck is this? Where is my regular program? My laptop is not a touch screen! I may have hyperventilated and a few tears may have been shed. There where a lot more tears shed when we realised that Outlook hadn't survived the update to Win 8, and would have to be re installed. Because that disc had mysteriously dissapeared some time ago. With half of the grocery money already spent on the stupid looking Win 8, we couldn't afford $180 on new Outlook! We ended up downloading a 30 day trail of it, and here I am, on day 2. Still hyperventilating because What. The. Actual. Fuck. is this stupid thing?
I don't normally freak out at change, but this is just nuts. Everything has moved, everything looks cartoony, steps to do anything seem unnecessarily long and confusing. For example - the screen above is in Tablet Mode. I prefer Desktop Mode (like most grown ups I suspect), but I cannot have the Outlook Icon on Desktop Mode, so I need to swap in and out of screen styles. Those 'links' you see up there are not links to the internet, they are a cached news story in Bing, that doesn't actually lead anywhere. You cannot browse the rest of the paper from this point. And Bing, for gods sake! Who uses Bing?? Internet Explorer and Ask.com are pre loaded, which I actually found quite offensive, and downloaded Chrome as soon as possible, so I could save Google as a favourite. Every other piece of software that I use needs to be reloaded, including iTunes. Fuck you very much, Microsoft.
I should point out that Mr BC worked many hours on resolving this situation for me, and as a bed ridden flu affected emotional cranky person, I may have been less than thankful. So thank you, darling husband, for fixing my laptop.
Clearly, I have a lot to learn before I can drive this comfortably, but I am very unhappy with the software so far. And no, I have yet to download AUSkey from the Tax Department. Hopefully my lovely IT support guy will help me out again.
Rabbit Hole 2 - A Visit to the Psychic
Last Friday, I joined some school mums for a night of wine, nibbles, and a psychic reading. We all chipped in and one by one, dissapeared into the hosts office for 15 minutes, where a nice lady said some spookily accurate things to each of us. She had all of my children's personalities down pat, and spoke reassuringly about concerns I had (but didn't voice) and generally, she was right on the money. She said that my business partner and I where very different and bought different things to the table, but when we got together, magical things happened! She saw us being very busy in the future handing out gift bags. Seriously, I'm not making this up! She was accurate about Mr BC and his work, and his annoying habit of completely zoning out in front of his computer. She did say Well, I don't see any major illness at all, which made my ears prick up because hello, this household certainly has it's fair share of dramatic illnesses. Maybe we are just managing it really well so it didn't show up as a problem?
She then said I see you have a big conference coming up in the Gold Coast very soon. My spirit guides tell me you need to get your act together because you haven't organised your business cards yet.
Never was a truer word spoken.
Rabbit Hole 3 - Down the Garden Path
A while ago, the lovely people at Hills Industries sent me a self watering planter to review, which is awesome because I love Hills products and I love gardening, and also I was really looking forward to making over a small section of the garden that seems to have the same properties as 12 Grimmauld Place. If you don't know Harry Potter, 12 Grimmauld Place is invisible to the general public, unless you know the secret and then a whole house will suddenly appear. Because of some strange quirk of house and garden layout, this spot is invisible when viewed from every doorway and main thoroughfare of the house. I've put some old garden furniture there, it's the perfect place to hide. I was looking forward to putting the planter there and growing flowers for a change. Nek Minit;
- The planter doesn't actually fit where I want it to go, and the planter, when full, will never be moved again so it needs to go somewhere where it can stay happily forever. (in garden terms)
- We shuffle the planter all over the garden and it ends up in another seating area we call 'The Cafe' where it receives a lot of sun. Perfect, I think. Rosemary Hedge!
- Head off to to shop for washed sand and potting mix, and after Bunnings and then a local nursery, end up at the landscapers where everything is cheaper. Except the manager wants to keep our dog and actually encourages her out of the car. Hmm.
- I drag some other smaller terracotta pots around to Grimmauld Place and fill them with Viola's and Pansies. I stack empty pots under them, to make them seem taller and less pot like. Now to paint a small table and sew some cushions for my hidey hole! Oooh, maybe a hanging lantern..
- After a lot of discussion, it is agreed that the beautiful and very large Hills Planter will be planted with Strawberries, because the size and aspect are just so perfect, and the kids are more likely to eat strawberries than rosemary. Whatever...
- Mr BC removes the empty pots I was using as stackers and uses them to plant a small Lillipilli hedge. He also glues together my favourite (but broken) large terracotta pot, which I plan on putting a banana tree in. I don't think he likes this idea. Whatever...
- Now I have 2 areas to give a makeover to - Grimmauld Place and The Cafe. I think The Cafe might need a new table. There are 2 large terracotta pots waiting to be planted with some small trees, but no one can decide what small trees exactly. In the meantime I planted some bush beans, and I couldn't figure out why they where doing so badly until Kora wandered past and ate some. Leaves and all. If she eats these Strawberries she is in Big Trouble.
Look at Kora waiting for the Strawberries to be planted! Also, just how did that pot break anyway, Kora? I will blog more about the Hills Self Watering Planter soon, as well as The Cafe and Grimmauld Place make overs. But in the meantime.....
Please tell me;
Do you have any tips for driving Windows 8? Have you ever been to a psychic? Where can I get business cards in a hurry? What sort of small tree might look good in a pot in in a warm place? I'd really like something tropical that flowers, but feel compelled to get fruit trees. That are hopefully dog repellent.
xx