Heat wave

It was too hot for gardening today. To clear the remaining nettles I need to wear long sleeves but the sunshine was just too strong for that. This has not been a hot summer but today was sweltering. As I walked home I stopped to drink a litre of orange juice.

Today was also a bad do for computing. Yesterday my email client began to play up. At first it refused to accept my password was valid. Then Napster opened unbidden and froze the machine. To make matters worse 78 instances of Outlook covered my screen. Ctr-Alt-Dlt did not work so I had to press and hold the off button on the main computer to put the poor thing out of its misery. I never leave my computer unattended when it is hooked up to broadband for fear of Trojan horses and the like. I am concerned that someone may have tried to seize control of my computer. Just to aggravate my fears I found an article about computer security in the New Statesman. I've been unable to back up to my removable hard disk so I backed up to CDs instead. I fear I may have killed my removable hard disk by injudiciously disconnecting it from the computer at an inopportune moment. I tried ringing up Andre, my mother's computer guru, but he was not working today. I will try again tomorrow.

Red Mount Chapel plus the autumn season

Every day I walk past the Red Mount Chapel, a fifteenth-century building . It was built as a resting point for the pilgrims as they walked to Walsingham. Nowadays bikers and sledgers launch themselves down from the top. There are not that many slopes in this part of Norfolk so I do not blame the kids for wanting their fun but I do worry lest their antics erode the soil.

In a small way I did my bit towards looking after the environment. I cleared some of the nettles from my back garden, filling up two sacks in the process. I want to clear all the beds of weeds so that I can dig in some soil conditioner before the autumn planting season.

Today I also prepared myself for a new software season. I ordered a copy of Dreamweaver Studio 8 partly because it was cheaper to buy the studio upgrade than it was to buy Dreamweaver and Fireworks together and in any case, it won't do me any harm to get familiar with Flash and Contribute (the two other programs included in Studio 8). Dreamweaver is the industry standard for web design and I have already invested a lot of time in getting familiar with Dreamweaver MX 2004 so I don't want to get left behind. I feel a bit aggrieved that I have just acquired proficiency in MX 2004 just as Macromedia bring out Studio 8 but that's the software industry for you. I'll use this blog to chart my learning curve.

Music and sickness

This year I have plans to sit my Grade 7 on the piano. My teacher Aubrey Hood, an organist at St Margaret's Church, has got me going on the scales and arpeggios though we have not tried any of the pieces yet. I veer between enthusiasm and fear. To be an accomplished pianist is one of my childhood dreams. Now as an adult I have the time but not the discipline.

Not that I can exactly be hard on myself today. Last night I was sick and today I just felt washed out like a sack with its contents beaten out of it.

My mother came to pick up her dog Merlin. She looked much thinner. I think she lost a few kilos over her Ugandan trip. Since the both of us had had sick bugs we greeted each other from a distance, neither of us wanting to pass on any germs.

Thoresby College and the CAB

This fifteenth-century doorway is the staff entrance to the local Citizens Advice Bureau at which I work part-time on a voluntary basis. Thoresby College, as the building is known, was built to house priests. It has gone through various uses and nowadays it is used by the CAB, the King's Lynn Festival office, the Youth Hostel Association and various other organisations.

By modern standards Thoresby College is thoroughly impractical. It is hard to access it if you have a mobility disability as it has a lot of steps and stairs and narrow doorways. Smokers on the staff find it difficult as smoking is banned inside the building. The smoke alarms are very sensitive and they are linked up to the fire brigade so if you as much as strike a match there will be a suite of fire engines round to the college at break neck speed. Practicalities aside the building has a lot of charm. If you go through the entrance pictured here you find yourself in a quad complete with lawn and tree.

I cannot really say anything at all about the advisory work I do at the Citizens Advice Bureau as I had to sign a confidentiality agreement when I joined the organisation. Clients are entitled to their privacy but if you want to know more about Citizens Advice follow the link.

Chores

Today has been a day for chores. I've tried to bring the house and garden under control. I filled up the wheelbarrow with weeds very quickly. Unfortunately I had no green bags left otherwise I would have tackled that nettle patch that once was a nice flowerbed but at least I cleared the area around the base of the crab apple tree. I do like the theory of having a garden but I tend to turn a blind eye to weeds until they just about smother the plants that should be there. In the house I haven't done much more than mop up after my mother's dog.

My mother has returned to Linton, her village home. She was still a bit worn out by her stomach bug. She sounded a bit flat and didn't tell me much about Uganda. Instead we chatted about my plans. That was nice enough but I really wanted to know what she had seen and done. I think her trip was a lot more exciting than anything I am likely to do. My circumstances are rather more straightened. I might hope to go to college in the neighbouring city but intercontinental traffic is way beyond my horizons.

I may not be able to travel far but I can at least read. Recently I've felt the need to brush up on my knowledge of media law. I found McNae's Essential Law for Journalists, the bible of the trainee hack, to be pretty turgid reading back in my student days. It hasn't improved. Media Law by Geoffrey Robertson and Andrew Nicol is much more readable even if it is more than double the length. The writing is better and it includes more history and that gives today's legal debates a bit of context. I'll have to go back to McNae's just to prove to myself that I can still do now what I did when I was in my twenties but the style of Media Law is really more memorable.

Welcome to Mum and to Open Source Software

I had a nice phone call today. My mother has come back from Uganda. She has a dirrohea and vomiting bug. She picked that up on the last day but other than that she was well. She did not want to talk for long on the phone so I'll have to wait for news of her trip.

I've made a big step forward today. I've installed Apache. It is working. I haven't managed to get the PHP up and running yet but I'll worry about that tomorrow. The point to grasp for now is that I have successfully installed one piece of open source software. That, for me, is a big step forward.

I did once try to run Linux in a partitioned disk. Windows was in the other half but Windows objected and the whole machine crashed. I had to send the computer back to base for repairs and I got a shirty note back telling me not to partition my disk again. Chastened I steered away from free software until today.

I was sent a book token for my birthday by my old school friend Gillian. I spent it on a Good Housekeeping book on vegetarian cookery and a Teach Yourself book on PHP and MySQL. The thing I liked about the Teach Yourself book was that it was short. I hate the vogue for 1000-page computer manuals. I prefer shorter texts which I can finish more quickly and feel a sense of accomplishment. Even though I didn't manage to get PHP off the ground I got through most of the first chapter and that made me feel good. There are only 14 chapters in the book. I should have polished off the book in two to three weeks. I won't be a wizard but I'll be able to do a few tricks.

More birthday celebrations

I did actually turn 40 yesterday but there's nothing like protracting the occasion. Tonight I dined with Margaret (sister and economist) and Michael (husband/developmental geneticist) and their son Simon (English undergraduate/rower/cyclist). Tonight the menu was steak followed by bramble and apple with cream. Indulgent or what. To mark the occasion Michael removed the table cloth to expose their rather fine wooden table. I did feel honored.

I got home to check my answerphone. Three apologies for failing to send a birthday card. I also discovered a comment on my blog from Stegbeetle of Solid Gone fame. Regular readers of this blog may recall that Solid Gone cropped up in my round-up of King's Lynn blogs. I will return to the networked world of King's Lynn. Small this town may be but it has its characters and Stegbeetle seems to know a good many.

I'm making good progress on reading my birthday presents to myself. Reading books on XML and RSS makes me feel clever because very few people know what I'm talking about but one person who does is Francis Norton, a former neighbour, a good friend and a software developer by occupation. Francis introduced me first to HTML and then to XML and generally managed to persuade me, an arts graduate, that I too could understand technical concepts. All that over numerous pizzas at Franco's in Brixton's arcarde in London.

Birthday today

This evening Angela cooked me a lovely supper to celebrate my birthday. We had salmon, courgettes, fresh bread and lots of wine. A good round-up to a not-so-great day.

I spent most of my time reading my present to myself - a Dummies guide to Syndicating Web Sites with RSS Feeds. That was my birthday present to myself. The book was aimed at business people, not unemployed people like me. One thing that troubles me about RSS is that it muddies the link between source and attribution. I suspect the authority of the source is diminished when the source is RSS. I tried one news aggregator and I didn't really like it. I shall need to experiment with other types a software.

There is one problem I need to sort out. I have a Western Digital hard drive. Its firewire connection to the computer only works intermittently and, even when I do get a connection Retrospect, the software application refuses to back up my files on my external hard disk. I downloaded a 140-page manual. It did not help. I'm worried now that I don't have a back up of my files.

Family

Meet my family.

My father Jeremy Bray was an MP. He is dead but my mother posthumously published his memoirs Standing on the Shoulders of Giants.

My mother Elizabeth Bray wrote The Discovery of the Hebrides: Voyagers to the Western Isles, 1745-1883. She and my father used to sail in the Hebrides and she became interested in the region.

My oldest sister Margaret is an economist at the London School of Economics. Her husband Michael Akam is a Cambridge professor. His subject is developmental genetics. They have two sons. Thomas is a physics student at Oxford and he won a prize for a presentation on the physics of sound systems. His brother Simon is also at Oxford. He studies English, rows and writes for Cherwell.

My next sister Bridget does not have an online presence. She is married with two children.

Finally there is Teresa. She is finance director of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. She has one daughter Stella, an expert craftswoman.

Added that I have eighteen cousins.

King's Lynn Roundup of Blogs

I decided to take a look round my local blogosphere here in King's Lynn. Lynn isn't a very big place so there were only nine blogs to flip through and I confess I gave a miss to two blogs. One was for a nude model and the other was for a transvestite. Three were ghost blogs. That leaves four blogs.

Designology is by a mid-thirties designer/lecturer. Only one post so far. A family man and Neville Brody fan.

West Norfolk News aspires to be "alternative" but he actually sounds pretty conservative. He discusses King's Lynn's local hot chestnut - what should be done with the town's biggest park. Should the trees in the avenues be felled and replaced or should they stay? This blogger says axe them.

SolidGone is a committed blogger with a diverse range of posts. A committed leftie of the badge wearing type. Lots of graphics from worthy organisations adorn his blog. His wife is sick and his daughter is autistic but his range of interests is eclectic. He's blogged on the death of Mo Mowlam, recreational drugs, freedom of speech and his love of cricket. He's quite a prolific blogger so here's hoping he continues.

Then there's Ben's Bits n Bytes. This blogger says: "I'm tall, dark haired, big built(not fat), totally in love with my girlfriend and my computer." And we should say he's besotted by GTA San Andreas. "GTA San Andreas: Not only can you steal cars and kill people, but now you can have haircuts, get tattoos, go weight training, and much more! Enjoying it every step of the way! Can't put the controller down!" This blogger has enthusiasm. Would he wrote more.

Revisiting my Alma Maters

I had another messsage from Mum:

Just to say that I am on my way to Kampala, and we have stopped off for a snack and to visit an internet cafe. It is good to be in touch again. We could not get our mobiles to work, though I tried repeatedly to send you a message to tell you that I am fine and enjoying my trip. I hope that this did not worry you too much. There are parts of Uganda without an adequate reception. No time here to see your blog, but I look forward to exploring it. Back as planned on Friday. I will stay the night with Eleanor. Love to you all including both dogs. Let Margaret know I am OK. Lots of love, Mum

I find it reassuring that there are still parts of the world which are out of range. No SMS. No email. But what a lot my mother will have to tell me.

Uganda may seem an odd holiday destination but that is where my mother grew up. She's only been back there once before. For years the country was too dangerous to visit and then my father, now dead, was too sick to travel. Now that my mother is free of ties it is good that she has taken the chance to travel. I've worried a bit about her galivanting but she is 75 - old enough to look after herself.

The only news I have to tell her is that I have decided to do this Open University Certificate in Web Applications Development. I will also do a few short courses at my alma mater, Long Road Sixth Form College and I will return to another alma mater, Anglia Polytechnic University to do an HND in Internet Management and Web Design. It will take me four years to get through that lot as I will have to study part-time. The disadvantage of the OU course is that it is all distance learning. At Anglia Polytechnic I would get face-to-face teaching and the staff have links with local employers. These various courses don't cover one subject which interests me and that is law as it relates to the internet and the field of electronic publishing. When I was training as a journalist I found media law interesting and there is some overlap between the traditional bounds of media law and computer law. I note that law is covered in City University's course on Electronic Publishing - I did a journalism course at City in 1988/89 so I guess I will have to use my own initiative. I have a couple of books. All I have to do is read them!

Message from Mum

I don't know if I've been wise or tactful. My mother emailed me from Uganda and I replied giving my blog address. I don't want to alarm her about her dog's contience problems. Merlin left another puddle in my hall. There's nothing much she can do at this distance but I'm glad to know she's safe. She's going to have a lot to tell me. I won't have so much news for her.

About the only thing I did do today was to buy a book I have been coveting for some time. It is on accountancy for non-accounting students. Dry stuff but it is useful if you're an activist like me.

Dog care and writing routine

Thanks Francis for the engine noise - neat code link - but Merlin is not an engine. He's a dog. Would that he did make a noise when he shits. Then I might have a chance to get him out of the door but he is silent and surreptitious. I am trying to treat him like a puppy. I take him out every hour so he can perform but he hasn't got the idea yet. My floors have never been cleaned so often.

I don't know what the weather is like elsewhere but it is gloomy here today. The drizzle is non-stop. Not that that stopped me from walking the hounds. I must say it is a lot easier walking the dogs when it is wet as there are no picnickers and there are very few people feeding the ducks so there is less to divert the dogs. I met Wacky, a stiff and elderly Doberman. Wacky had found a dead pigeon. He would not give it up and he wouldn't come near his owner so his owner disappeared into the nearby toilets while I caught the dog. Old Wacky may have been but he was still very strong. I had to struggle to hold onto his collar. Wacky's owner is a nice gentleman, a publican I think. He has recently had a stroke but his speech was much clearer today. Milo loves this man because he usually has treats in his pockets.

I really ought to settle down to writing. I have one article in this month's RehabReview. That is my first since leaving the Western Morning News. I have submitted a feature to a mental health periodical and I am waiting to hear whether it has been accepted. What I really ought to be doing is a submission to the Department for Work and Pensions but I am finding it difficult to settle down to work. I suspect I may roll up at the home of Redmount Roller for coffee and a chat. The manufacturers of this famous trike live down the road and they are very hospitable.

Dog sitting

I'm not best pleased with Merlin, my mother's one-year-old whippet. He left an offering on the doormat. This creature is not properly house trained but I get cash for looking after him while my mother is in Uganda so who's complaining? I need the money after all to pay for my Open University fees. I have elected to do a certificate on web applications. One month's dog sitting pays for two and a bit courses. Then again I need dosh to upgrade my Macromedia Studio. I have invested quite a bit of time in learning that application. Some of the new additions to Dreamweaver look quite neat. Drag-and-drop XML for example. I tried attending a couple of online seminars but the connection was poor. Added to that Merlin went mad just at the point where the sound and the pictures were in synch so I could not really concentrate.