Weeks Thirty-Three to Thirty-Five

Rescued from the HDD of the broken laptop. Luckily I still have my external HDD box.

Sunday 8th

Cookie batter. Mmmm. I did what I always say I'll do and ate some, and then felt like I always feel afterwards: sick. Why are mothers always right?

Monday 9th

An arty shot of my rediscovered Marmite that Dave had hidden in the back of the cupboard.

Tuesday 10th

I imagine this is a procrastination photo, as you need to be sitting at the piano to take this.

Wednesday 11th

Nope, not an exciting gig shot. Euros/US currency/a screw on the couch! (understandably rejected by Coinstar, so back in the jar they'll go)

Thursday 12th

Slippers and sheep socks. Mmmm. Getting colder.

Friday 13th

And stormier. How very Friday the 13th.

Saturday 14th

Oh, Matalan. That word does not mean what you think it means.

and...

Writing writing writing.

Sunday 15th

Gorgeous view from Sarah and Ami's wedding: 5th floor of the Apex International Hotel at Grassmarket.

Monday 16th

"Happiness" icecream: mint chocolate chip (coloured purple as we ran out of green colouring) with mini marshmallows. Sprinkles and cracking chocolate sauce on top.

Tuesday 17th

Our last day off before we returned to work was half spent in bed, then the rest of the day a disappointing shopping trip. I had the money and the time to finally look and it sucked. Boo.

Wednesday 18th

A terrible, blurry shot of Britain's Next Top Model, but it's the only shot I took.

Thursday 19th

View from the computer chair.

Friday 20th

Picked up my new bike and its hideous helmet (I'll get a new one at some point). She also gave me a lock, reflective gear and a pump! what a honey.

Saturday 21st

A plumber with classic signage on the way home.

and...

(I just realised that all 3 self-portraits are in this hoody. Heh).

Sunday 22nd

Chippie for dinner.

Monday 23rd

...Yeah. I've seen this in a few places, but seriously?

Tuesday 24th

Earlier sunsets, intermittent rain.. autumn has arrived.

Wednesday 25th

We're wondering how far it'll get before it snaps off.

Thursday 26th

I have no idea where I was on Thursday to take this photo. It looks like Morningside. I wasn't in Morningside. I'm confused. Probably taken on Friday and it's a date issue, unfortunately.

Friday 27th

After service Friday night we moved into the front room of an old church for kiddush. This hilarious sign was outside the main church hall.

Saturday 28th

Ingenious setup, no? I can wash dishes, yet watch Grey's (there's a glass cover on our oven top, so don't worry, I'm not putting a towel on our elements!).

and..

Sorry about the grainy photo. Without the laptop, I didn't want to use my camera, so it's iPhone in the bedroom. Hairy girl. I'm about to get the chop, so of course, my hair is lovely right now.

Laptops, money and property, oh my.

Yeah, so I should have been posting Weeks 33/34 of Project 365, but on.. Thursday night? my laptop decided to die.

This is the 2nd Compaq V2402AU laptop I've had that has died a sad and sudden death. Sure, my brother and I bought them together in 2006, so they're old. But the fault? a power issue.

It's pretty well-established that laptops are just rubbish on battery power. So after 4 years with me (a serial AC-power user), the batteries in both laptops no longer keep the PC going for more than say a half-hour. I've had no problem keeping the laptop plugged in to use it. But there is a serious problem with the soldering on the power supply, which apparently can be fixed by someone who has some sort of decent experience in that, or if you send it away to HP and pay something in the area of £250.

I doubt the laptop is even worth that.

So I've used my blessed new overdraft from Smile/Co-operative Bank (after being seriously impressed with their customer service) to order a new MSI Wind Netbook. Sure, it's small and not really equipped to deal with heavy usage, but what do I use my laptop for these days? watching TV shows on my 1TB external HDD. Looking up bits and pieces on the internet. Playing highly exciting games like Theme Hospital or The Sims 2. (Yes, The Sims 2. I play The Sims 3 as well, but on Dave's computer, and besides, it doesn't let me have pets!).

So a 10" Netbook will do just fine. It has approximately 6 hours of battery life, so if we decide to take a train/plane trip, it'll help keep us entertained. It's very light, blue and comes with a wee carry case. And because I'm ordering it from my brother in London, I also have a RAM upgrade and external DVD drive being thrown in. Hurrah.

But yes, as all this is going on, I only have the internet at work or on my iPhone. I can use D's PC when he's at cricket on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and during the day on Saturday (but only for one more week!), but I haven't pulled my HDD out of the most recent laptop failure yet, so I still don't have any of my shots to share. And I barely can be bothered to use his, to be honest, as my iPhone has my email, and I don't really want to setup a bunch of software in the meantime.

I know I'm cursed when it comes to technology, but come on, really? This whole thing just makes me want to sigh.

In other news, we are house-hunting. Which is terrifying. Why am I trying to buy a flat in a foreign country? We're not seriously looking/mortgage-ing ourselves until September/October at the earliest, but we've started the online search to get more of an idea. Well, I've started the online search. Dave just sorta nods at me and goes along with it. Which I guess is okay!

Requirements are:

* 1 bedroom and a boxroom, or 2 bedrooms. Don't know what a boxroom is? it's a bedroom that legally has to be classified as a boxroom if it has no windows to the outside, and no heating. Often boxrooms have windows at the top of the walls that bring light in from other rooms, but they are usually just used for storage or as a study, anyway, so it's not really necessary. We want that extra room for my piano/equip, Dave's PC, possibly a bookcase. It also makes it easier to sell if it has this extra space.

* A bath. I don't care if the bathroom is neon yellow, it needs to have a bath. I miss having a bath more than I ever thought I would, especially in winter. Brilliant way to warm up and/or get relaxed before bed. Perfect during Dave's football-watching periods.

* Decent-sized kitchen. Not a massive IKEA-fest, though that would be fab. Just bigger than a walk-in cupboard, which is kinda what we have now. If you make dinner, you need to clean up pretty much straight-away, or there is no counter space. And Dave loves experimenting and trying new things, and I think he feels a bit stifled in such a small space. The ventilation is also limiting, so any dishes with intense smells/spices will make anything in the living room smell, and may lead to poor Dave choking with his t-shirt over his nose/mouth.

* Area. I'm not a snob. Okay, okay, I am. I don't necessarily want a fancy place or to live in the rich part of town. I just want out of the area we're in. It's hardly a ghetto, but it used to be a rough part of town, and while it has cleaned up and is a fairly good location close to town, a lot of the neighbours and local population are unfortunately still a bit... interesting. It actually hasn't happened in a wee while, but the fights in the stair were annoying in the middle of the night. We also live in the same street as the football ground, and while this makes for a fun atmosphere and the sound really doesn't bother me at all, getting in and out of Gorgie sometimes can be a bit of a mission. I've realised in the past year or two that I'm really very much a homebody, and love being at home or in my own neighbourhood, so I think I'd be quite comfortable living in an area with families/old ladies. Tragic, but true. So we'll see how we go.

We won't move until February, so I'm trying not to stress about it just yet. It just seems far too adult to own property. Especially in the UK, which I've never considered to be a long-term home. But for a year or two, it's a cheaper (surprisingly! but we have a large deposit) and more comfortable option.

Week Thirty-Two

Sunday

Mural by Bristo Square.

Monday

My amazing Moo.com postcards arrived, perfect flyers for gigs.

Tuesday

Set lists..

Wednesday

Stuart kills a wasp in the office.

Thursday

A hilariously-hideous Edward Cullen painting in the window of the local palm-reader.

Friday

In the queue for Charlyne Yi. She was kinda rubbish. Loads of potential, but completely unfocused talent.

Saturday

I don't know who these people are, but hey! this van is in my street!

and..

I'm thinking of chopping off alllllll of my hair..

Week Thirty-One

Sunday

This photo is marked 25th July, but I suspect it was taken on an earlier day. I think this is my first missed photo day, then!

Monday

Working on a new piece for the gig, stuck in my head.

Tuesday

On an errand for work, totally distracted by the pretty in the window. (My favourite ring was the 2nd row down, 2nd from the left).

Wednesday

Bus reflections.

Thursday

Song nearly finished.

Friday

Looking forward to August, it's gonna be a busy month.

Saturday

Dave wanted to go out with the boys, so I made him buy me icecream. Good agreement.

and..

Writing is taking my time a lot lately, but I'm not complaining.

Troubles, Week Thirty

After we missed out on the flat we were due to move into, I went through a little bit of a crisis. Struggling to find suitable gigs, not enjoying my job, despairing about career prospects for both of us, the last thing I wanted to do was come on here and write.

Things have improved a bit since then, and I'm still planning on being here, doing my best to stay positive, and keep the blogging going, even when things suck. And they can seriously suck at times.

Anyhoo, I wanted to apologise for dropping off the deep end for a few weeks, but I'm back now. More Scottishisms, photo posts and just general thinking posts will be coming, as I make a really conscious effort to stop sulking about what goes wrong and just try and cope, change or move through it.

Sunday

Ancestry-obsessed.

Monday

The light hitting some of the buildings here can be magic..

Tuesday

The bus. Exciting, I know.

Wednesday

Festival gig confirmed, practice underway.

Thursday

The last few days of summer are upon us.

Friday

I was invited to a housewarming barbeque with some lovely people.

Saturday

A week book-ended with computer shots. (Btw, I knew "The Last Song" would be godawful, and it was).

and...