Unimportant News

[Andy]

Finally I realized what was the cause of strange behaviour with my computer display. The colors were going a bit strange and even the resolution switched to low res! This was on Saturday. Sunday, all was fine after installing latest drivers. Now, today the pc didn't boot up at all! Ah, change the graphics card from Nvidia to old ATI, that's it, cured! Just need to download the latest driver to get rid of the sluggishness of the display. Done, reboot. Disaster, blank screen! Fitted even older ATI card and now working! Just took a drop in memory from 128 to 32MB 

During this stressful time I was trying to help my boy get rid of gaps between graphics on his web page with lots of cellpadding=0, border=0, styles and everything =0 !!! Eventually we persuaded the browser to align the images without a pixel gap.

And, it was such a nice day, I hopped onto my motorbike to do some shopping. A little reluctant to start, it finally fired up. Went to the car parts shop to finally buy the thermostatic switch which was stuck on the mini for so many months. Waited ages to finally get served by a typically miserable person who typically in a car parts shop made me fell less than reassured that I had purchased the right part for my needs. Then the bike's battery was flat so had to push start it. Easily started and off I went to Tesco for the next planned purchase. Then, the bike wouldn't start again so I was in the car park sweating my head off push starting my bike to eventually start whilst dodging soo many cars. Finally, I arrived home dripping wet in sweat and needing a shower. But riding bikes is cool!

End of today's unimportant news. 

[Hope]

Andy, it sounds like you had a bad day. Please see the suggestions below to help you through days like that in the future.

1.) Hand the kid an HTML book and go have an Ale at the pub down the street.
2.) Give the shopping list to the Mrs. and go have another Ale at the pub down the street.
3.) Make the Mrs replace the battery on YOUR bike so you can go down the street for that ale.

Ok, so it is a joke. If my other half ever tried that, he would be dead.

[Andy]

Thanks for the advice! The ale went down well. 

[Hope]

I thought the ale might help some.

[Andy]

My kid has now finished school having a poor exam score in most subjects, mostly due to attitude problems.

But he has recently won a computer game design contest and been a runner up before. So it's time for him to earn money and pay for his food, cloths and shelter. I suggested he develops his stagnating web site or goes to work in the local supermarket.  Also, he needs to get away from the computer to get some basic fitness and people skills.

[Hope]

People skills? What are those? You know, if he won the contest, you might suggest he start making some money making games. he can get rich and you can retire while he supports you.

[Andy]

Well yes I supported him with software and hardware for the game design stuff and recognise that he can make a career from it, but i think it's vitally important to get offline regularly and mix with people in social situations.

By people skills I mean the ability to strike up conversations with strangers and be confident talking with people at parties or anywhere else offline.

Or do people think it's not necessary to venture outside the home these days 

[Hope]

By people skills I mean the ability to strike up conversations with strangers and be confident talking with people at parties or anywhere else offline.

Or do people think it's not necessary to venture outside the home these days

I have never been good with people I don't know well. I don't do well is "social" situations at all. Even when the whole family gets together, I tend to sit quietly on my own. I just don't feel comfortable. I have never been a loner, just don't like the attention you get when you speak in large groups.

I think it is very important to get outside the home. I do it a lot, just not with a lot of people.

[Andy]

Hmm.. interesting comments. I guess the web is a great way for people to be outgoing without the problem of shyness and social competitiveness getting in the way? Like, what cloths you are wearing, what your partner looks like, the car you arrived in, what you do for a living etc.

I was painfully shy as a teenager after I had a crokey broken voice and people used to laugh at me, even my own mother sniggered and told me to shut up, plus I had severe nose bleeds and a problem with blushing. I pushed myself to go to university a very long way from home so I had to mix with new people and escape from my introverted life back home. This worked quite well and I have avoided the comfort of my home town for over 20 years now. Now I am nowhere near as shy and enjoy meeting new people on and offline.

My son has a great personality and I would like him to get more used to mixing with people and socialising for his future wellbeing.

[Hope]

I have come a long way as well, but still very uncomfortable. I also never felt the need to need to have a ton of people around me. I like who I am and to be very honest, don't give a hoot what others think about me. I learned a long time ago that a crowd was not for me, I prefer a few close friends who are real friends.

[donecweb]

I'm in total agreement with you Hope.

[Hope]

I think it is a commonality of those who are intelligent and secure in themselves. I am smart enough to know that I don't need others to make me feel important or intelligent. I am smart enough to know that I don't need others to keep my occupied. I am smart enough to know that a real friend is so much more important than having a ton of people around me.

[Andy]

I think we are all real friends here right :-)

[Hope]

Andy, I would have to say that I do consider the regulars here friends.

[donecweb]

Andy, I would have to say that I do consider the regulars here friends.

It's funny because it doesn't make sense to me as I don't really know anyone here but I feel the same way as Hope and do consider the regulars here to be friends.