two days of sun

[erastes]

oh bliss.

I will be a bit ee wossit over the next few days because my laptop has had a problem with capitals. I think it's because i rest my hands on the bits that are ACTUALLY designed for me to rest me hands on, and i've noticed recently that when i do, it seems to access the buttons there, like control and shift, probably coz i have heavy hands or something. sigh.  so i'll have to either type with my hands off the keyboard entirely, or lean to one side and rest my elbow on the table. Not ideal!  cannot afford a PC service, so I'll have to see how it goes.

taking dad to doctors tomorrow as he had pains in his fingers (although seems to think that wiggling them will get rid of the pain and "what good will a doctor be?" etc… and because he's had an intermittent cough for a long time. I've lost one parent to lung cancer, so I want him to have a chest xray. He hasn't smoked for 40 years or so, but the damage may already be done.

Technology is wonderful. I have a little usb memory stick – christmas present from pd publishing- and it's 2gb. That's more than my first pc. LOL.

I have a new bunny kicking me in the brain. I don't really want to give into it, because I hate to leave I Knew Him unfinished, but I'm not inspired enough to continue with ikh right now, so perhaps I'll start this. What concerns me is that I could be another year on with two unfinished WIPS. I know me.

ETA: IT'S GONE INTO CAPS AND SIMPLY WON'T COME OUT. LOOKS LIKE A SHOP VISIT IS GOING TO BE INEVITABLE.

ok – pc seems to have calmed down again.and I'm writing the new bunny. I suck

Comments

[aishabintjamil.livejournal.com]

The leaps in technology are amazing. My first PC didn't even *have* a hard drive - it had two 5 1/4" floppies and it's ram was measured in Kbytes, not MB or GB. It was shiny and new and cost me about $1500 US. About a year after I bought it, Windows 1.0 came out.

I remember to when all this lovely web stuff was a new idea. I was working for part of MIT, doing system support from some researchers, and one of our summer interns came in with this new http software he'd gotten from someone at another university that he wanted to play with. I said "Sure, whatever. Go ahead and install it if you want." and forgot about it. Boy does that feel stupid in hindsight.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

I know -- the newer desktops have a TERABYTE of storage. When you consider that the computers used in the Apollo moon landings had less capacity than the average pocket calculator, the leaps in the past half-century have been astonishing.

Have you considered getting one of those little flexible keyboards? Inexpensive - $10-15 around here - and you can roll 'em up for travel and lay them out on any rigid surface. Much less wrist strain and forward-bending, and usually sized better for the human hand. I love my little notebook, but I can't work on the keyboard for any length of time - my sister suggested the flexi, and it's worked well (it's also sealed, so if the tea falls on it, no harm done.)

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

ps - your dad has a point. Wiggling the fingers or shaking the hands at the wrists does increase circulation and often relieves pain, so he's not just trying to avoid a trip to the doc.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

but he does it all day, so it isn't really working,and it seems to be really painful

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Oh, geeze... poor guy. It must be frustrating for both of you.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

brilliant!!!! i had no idea. Just bought one for a fiver. This will be NICE, i can sit BACK in my chair. thank you!

[essayel.livejournal.com]

The first time I used a computer for writing fiction it was a ZX Spectrum and I could only type 2 pages before I had to print it off. Oooh the wonders of modern technology. I've still got the story on paper. Regency pastiche.

I find new bunnies hard to deny so I don't think you suck. Your IKH characters will kick up a shine when they are ready to carry on.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

LOL yes! I read an article the other day where someone remembered thinking "what do we need monitors for? We have punch cards!"

You are right--I'll let the IKH team sit fallow until they start to say "hmm.. perhaps I could do this..."

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Given that you've already got two new books out this year (or nearly) you have plenty of time to work on two more before anyone starts piling on the "so what are you writing now" pressure.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'm the one piling pressure on myself. I see everyone writing--you've written two books in the time it's taken me not to finish one, and everyone writes more. I can really see the temptation to go with these quickie publishers, who can get one's novel out in a month! I could have another book out this year if I went that route, I'm sure.

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I've written a novella and a short story in the time it's taken you to get a good chunk into a new novel. So I do know what you mean. I feel the pressure too. It's very hard, though, when you're looking after someone else, because you have to slot your schedule into theirs and that doesn't necessarily leave you in a good position for writing.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

I haven't been able to write anything since the orcs cut down the pine grove two doors down. Not a damned word. You are NOT the slowest of the slow.

[tiggothy.livejournal.com]

Love all the reminiscing about computers! One of my cousins once told us he got paid to look for porn on the internet when he was a student - before they developed software to recognise 'undesirable' sites & block them, they paid computer science students to find the websites & compile a list that the university then blocked access too...
...how true the story is, is of course another matter entirely!

PS You don't suck. You're writing. I spent the weekend in the garden ;-)

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

I HATE computer troubles. I *still* haven't fixed the problems with my desktop because I can work on my laptop, in lieu.

Wouldn't it be lovely to have a good and extremely computer-savvy friend, exceedingly generous with their time and effort and expertise, to just pop on over and get it all worked out and running again, cheerfully and for free (and answer the thousand and one questions we all have)?

Why do we not know such a person?

*pouts*